At most it takes eight or ten years, after which even a clever spy will reveal his true nature. How much easier still, then, is it to see through a husband, wife, son, daughter, or other person who is close to you? However, knowing the incarnate God is not easy, nor is knowing merely the same as acknowledging. There are some people who, when they have read all of the word of God, say, “Alright, I’m convinced, it is the word of God. If it were not God incarnate speaking all these words, then what would God incarnate be? I believe this is God incarnate.” After reading very much of the word of God, they acknowledge that God came incarnate in the flesh, and this is easy, but does this represent knowledge of God? Some say it doesn’t. Why does it not represent your knowing God if you acknowledge the incarnate God, believing in heart and speech? It is because God incarnate has expressed all the truths for saving mankind, and as you have not experienced all these truths, you have no knowledge, so you do not know the substance of Christ. How must you know the divine substance of Christ? You must first experience these words expressed by Christ, and when you know all these words, then you can truly know God. These words expressed by Christ are very abundant, and within them is everything that you need. They allow people to greatly open up their vision. Experience and know them, for the mysteries of all humanity are revealed in the words of Christ. How many words and phrases do you know of these truths and these words? We are not talking about all of the words, but it is also not simple for you to know every subject of the words expressed by Christ. How many written pieces are there of the word of God? Altogether there are several hundred pieces of the word of God. If people want to know every single sentence in these hundreds of pieces of the word of God, it would take an entire lifetime to understand even a general sense. But if you can figure out these subject headings, then that is considered having the most knowledge of God. If you are able to know the words of God that we communicate often, then you can be considered having the most knowledge of God, and it is not easy to get to this point.
God says, “My wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s plots.” Is it easy to know this phrase? Ordinary people will not understand this sentence if they lack experience. There is another particularly awesome sentence; in the last passage, God says, “Throughout the universe and the limitless expanses of the firmament, the myriad things of creation, the myriad things on earth, and the myriad things in heaven are each and every one consecrating their whole strength for the sake of My last stage of work.” How large is the scope of “the universe and the limitless expanses of the firmament”? Just this phrase is very hard to understand. In the sentence, “the myriad things of creation, the myriad things on earth, and the myriad things in heaven are each and every one consecrating their whole strength for the sake of My last stage of work,” what, after all, does “b>the myriad things of creation” refer to? Does the extent of the myriad things only encompass things on earth? The scope of things on earth is too small, and the myriad things in heaven are also within the whole universe and the heavenly firmament, and there are also the myriad things in the vast oceans. Look: “the myriad things of creation”—this phrase is more than enough for people to know, and it is very difficult for people to know! There is another phrase, God says: “Surely you do not wish to remain spectators on the sidelines, driven hither and yon by Satan’s forces?” What does “Satan’s forces” refer to? What does the phrase here, “driven hither and yon by Satan’s forces,” refer to? God also says here, “Satan is constantly devouring the knowledge that men hold of Me in their hearts.” What is it after all that Satan is doing? What result does it want to attain? God says, “Satan is constantly devouring the knowledge that men hold of Me in their hearts, and constantly, with teeth bared and claws unsheathed, engaged in the last throes of its death struggle.” How should these words be explained? These words are very profound, and this is the great matter of the spiritual world!
God says, “Do you wish to be captured by its deceitful stratagems at this moment? Do you wish, at the moment that the last phase of My work is completed, to cut off your own life?” What is the meaning of the question, “Do you wish, at the moment that the last phase of My work is completed, to cut off your own life?” When the final work of God is completed, this humanity will come to an end, and at that time the ending of man will be determined. If one has not obtained the truth and life, then he belongs to those who have forfeited their own lives. God says, “Surely you are not still waiting for Me to dispense My leniency one more time?” Here it says that God’s leniency has been “dispensed,” and why does it say “dispensed”? That means it is the special mercy of God, and God deliberately dispenses it. If it were not dispensed, then people would lose their lives and come to their ending earlier. Look at the words below; God says, “Seeking to know Me is the key thing, but neither should you neglect to pay attention to actual practice. I am revealing insights to you directly in My words, in hopes that you will be able to submit to My guidance, and cease to entertain aspirations or designs of your own.” What does “cease to entertain aspirations or designs of your own” mean here? Do not serve yourself, do not entertain designs of eating, drinking, or wearing any clothing for the physical body, or plan later on how to start a family. If you aspire to or plan anything for your physical body, you will simply fail to achieve it and it will just interfere with your progress, causing yourself to be ruined. Do you understand these words? Should you or should you not make plans for your physical body? What is included in making plans for the physical body? Is it all the different kinds of things that you think of? Do these words not all touch on matters within the spirit? The word of God indicates matters within the spirit, so if you do not place importance on the word of God then you will not know how to treat matters within the spirit, or what being delicately sensitive to matters within the spirit is, or in what way being delicately sensitive to these things is suitable. If you do not know how to be delicately sensitive to matters within the spirit, you cannot be earnest in your treatment or fathoming of them, or make them clear and understandable so as to reach a point of perfectly and thoroughly understanding them. Then mistakes will certainly appear in people’s choices and ways of acting, and they may deviate from the right way. When I speak like this, is it clear to you?
Let’s read another passage of God’s words, “I have trodden the universe with My feet, stretching out My gaze over its entire expanse, and I have walked in the midst of all mankind, tasting the sweet, sour, bitter, and pungent flavors of human experience, but man never truly recognized Me, nor did he notice Me as I walked abroad. Because I was silent, and performed no supernatural deeds, because of this no one ever truly saw Me.” When God says, “I have trodden the universe with My feet,” by the words “I have” He means things that He has already done, and this also includes the first time God became incarnate. “I have trodden the universe with My feet, stretching out My gaze over its entire expanse, and I have walked in the midst of all mankind, tasting the sweet, sour, bitter, and pungent flavors of human experience, but man never truly recognized Me, nor did he notice Me as I walked abroad. Because I was silent, and performed no supernatural deeds, because of this no one ever truly saw Me.” Man is quite apathetic and dim-witted, and there is no one who seeks to know God, so why does God speak in this way? First, this is a fact, and everything that God says is a fact. Second, why does God always require people to know Him? There are, perhaps, many people who do not understand these words. Why does God often say the words, “< >man never truly recognized Me,” “no one ever truly saw Me,” yet still demands that people should know God? This matter is richly significant, so significant! Do you all think that people can fathom the significance of knowing God? The significance is too deep, so no one can fathom it! Some people may say, “Could it be that people must know God while they are alive, and if they do not know God, then will they not live in the same way?” What do you think of these words? If you do not know God, you still will live, but what can be lived out in your life? Can the significance of human life be lived out in your life? Can the value of human life be lived out in your life? Can the likeness of a real man be lived out in your life? Can you truly fathom the mysteries of human life? You will not attain any of these. Then what other mysteries does man have? The mysteries of man are also very profound, and the significance of God creating man is very profound too! If you truly do not place importance on knowing God, then when you have lived a life among men and in the end have not known God, your whole life will have been lived in vain. It will have had no significance, and it will have been a life no different from those of animals and beasts, with no distinction between high and low, or noble and lowly. In the eyes of God, what kind of people can receive the blessing of God, what kind of people can live out the meaning of man’s life in their lives, and which kind of person obtains the greatest blessing? This is something that is well prepared for people by God, but the majority of people do not obtain it. It is like how a very rich mother and father treat their children, “If you are truly able to honor me as your parent and truly be considerate of my heart, and understand my mind, how good that would be. I will cause you to enjoy the best wealth and status among people. What a pity that you are insufficient in this, I pity you so much!” Do mothers and fathers not have this way of thinking? But that said, no matter how rich your parents are, what they give you to enjoy is still limited, and only consists of material things—just power, status, and fame—but after all, what is the greatest blessing that the Lord of creation causes the humanity of His creation to be able to enjoy? That significance is certainly of great profundity, so God demands that people know Him, and there is great significance in this. That is the intention of the Lord of creation, and the intention of the Lord of creation toward humanity is certainly extremely profound in its significance. Then if people do not obtain it, and do not enjoy it, will they be able to fathom this matter? They will never be able to fathom this, nor have any means to do so, because the power and deeds of the Lord who created things cannot fundamentally be fathomed by mankind. Even the heavenly emissaries and angels cannot fathom them, so how much more difficult would it be for us who are within humanity and are subject to creation? We truly cannot fathom them. So it can be said that when God speaks this way, demanding people know Him, the significance in this is too profound! To what degree does this profundity reach? It can be said that it is mystery, in brief, that knowing Him is the matter with the greatest significance, and this point is for certain.
Now we can see what this corrupt humanity is able to attain—is it not very limited? First, our lifespan is so limited, and it can be said that in these four or five thousand years, the lifespan of people has always been seventy or eighty years, and those who live for a hundred or so are extremely rare cases, pretty much one in a hundred thousand or a million. Ordinarily it is seventy years, and people who are robust can get to eighty. Three thousand years ago, Moses made this matter known, so certainly this was the case even three thousand years ago, because at the time of Moses, it was just this way, and if we extend it back to four or at most five thousand years ago, the lifespan of people was within this range, more or less. Now, this lifespan, within the range of this fixed limit of years—is it not so that what humanity can learn and know in this period is too limited? It is too limited. Let us look at the people of China some hundred years ago, or two or three thousand years ago, what was the highest knowledge? It was that knowledge of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Confucian way, the learning of Confucius, and the knowledge of Mohism, was it not just these things? Looking at it now, are the theories of Confucius not all merely fallacy? They are nothing but fallacy! No one sees, hears, or reads, and they are all untenable fallacies, and will get a person nowhere. Confucius himself said that he was working for the sake of protecting the benefit of the ruling class; he babbled on about such wild misconceptions and theories, to trick the ruling class into giving him a good position of power, so his learning and theories are all totally fallacious. Scholars in China in the past one or two thousand years all relied mainly on the way of Confucius and Mencius, and when they had studied those old worn-out things they thought themselves to be great intellectuals. What is all this with respect to the present? There is no one studying those worn-out old things. What do people study in the modern era? Humanity has become empty, and they study useless things. But in the last days, when humanity is most empty, the work of God establishes the Age of Kingdom, and has opened up a new era, and the word of God appears just like a ray of the true light within the world of darkness, and we chosen people of God begin to formally eat and drink the word of God, and experience the work of God, and meet face to face with God. Is this not a blessing from God for humanity? It is God caring for and taking pity on humanity! In the last days, God personally becomes flesh and expresses the truth to cleanse and save humanity, but these words are spoken directed toward the people selected by God in the last days, and indeed not spoken directed toward all of this corrupted humanity. The work of God in the last days is indeed not in order to save all of the corrupted humanity, so this stage of the work is very hidden. What is the significance of God secretly descending to do work among the people? It is to reveal Himself only to one part of humanity, and not to everyone, so most people do not know even after having seen Him, and not understand even after having heard Him. This is what happens. Is this not a matter of the spiritual world? It is all a matter of the spiritual world and a matter within the spirit, and one must be delicately sensitive to this matter! There are some people who say, “I am eager for when scientists come to accept this; I cannot wait for intellectuals to accept this, eager for the entire religious world to come accept this, eager for all the unbelievers who acknowledge the existence of God to come accept this.” This “eagerness” that you speak of is not the intention of God, and not what God has planned and so is of no use. If it were that way, then God would not be hidden, and He would simply perform several great signs and wonders and descend in the open. God would speak directly with a thunderclap from heaven, and all people would come to believe in God, and what use would our spreading His gospel and bearing witness be then? One must understand the intention of God, and must be delicately sensitive to matters within the spirit, and not substitute one’s own conceptions and imaginations for the intention of God, for it is falseness and bias on the part of man.
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