135-B-2 Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God” (IV)

Let’s start this fellowship now. “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God.” We have communicated this piece of God’s word three times. I’m not sure if the majority of brothers and sisters have much of a grasp or understanding of these words of God. Perhaps someone will say, “Why are we still talking about this piece of God’s word? If we believe in God, then just let us believe. Why must we establish a normal relationship with God?” These are the thoughts of some new believers. So we must continue our fellowship to make it clear. Why is it that having faith in God involves establishing a normal relationship with God? This is a subject that every believer must understand clearly in their hearts. We are all clear about how the Lord Jesus did redemption work during the Age of Grace. He was nailed on the cross and died for us. We received the Lord Jesus’ salvation, and our sins were forgiven before we started to pray to God and had a connection with God. Who opened up the road to having a connection with God? It was God who personally established this path when He became flesh during the Age of Grace. If we hadn’t had Jesus’ redemption, would we sinners have had the qualifications to pray to God? Would we be qualified to have a connection with God? Perhaps someone will ask, “Now, if we believe in God and pray to God, God will forgive our sins. We are able to offer ourselves to God and expend for God. Isn’t that all there is to this? Why is it that we still need to establish a normal relationship with God?” Would you say that there is a mystery here? There is a mystery here inside. There is truth that must be sought. You will need to figure it out, “God, what is the importance of establishing a normal relationship with You? I still do not understand. From the Age of Grace until now, we have been praying like this for 2,000 years and You did not say these things. Why do You say these things now during the last days? What kind of meaning is there to this? Where is the mystery? God, may You enlighten and illuminate me.” This is a truth-seeking prayer. After you have finished reading God’s words, you must understand God’s intentions. Why does He require us believers to establish a normal relationship with Him? There is meaning to this! The things that God does, the requirements He has of man, the things He must accomplish, all of these are the most meaningful of matters. Let’s look back at Adam and Eve. In the Garden of Eden, what was it that caused them to leave God? Someone said, “It was because of Satan’s corruption that God chased them out of the Garden of Eden.” Now, why is it that man got corrupted by Satan? What is the reason that man got corrupted by Satan? It is because man did not have an understanding of God and did not have the truth. If we have the truth and we understand God, would Satan be able to corrupt us? Why is Satan unable to corrupt Christ? It is because Christ is the truth and He cannot be corrupted. Satan’s evil teachings and fallacies can confuse mankind but they cannot confuse Christ. Isn’t this the case? What is the end result that we want to achieve through establishing a normal relationship with God? We want to achieve an understanding of the truth and of God. If we understand the truth and God, would Satan be able to corrupt us? Would we be confused by all the different kinds of evil teachings and fallacies of this wicked world? Would all the different kinds of poison of the great red dragon poison us? It cannot poison us. Why is this? It is because we understand God, we have the truth as our life. This is how we can thoroughly distance ourselves from Satan’s influence and be completely obtained by God.

Now, what is the purpose and the result that we want to achieve through establishing a normal relationship with God? The most important is to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. If you do not establish a normal relationship with God, you will be unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. If man is unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, would he be able to obtain enlightenment and illumination in the words of God? Would he be able to achieve an understanding of the truth? If man does not understand all of the truth in God’s words, would he be able to achieve an understanding of God? Definitely not. What can man rely on to achieve an understanding of God and the truth? Can he just rely on his hard work? The most important thing is to rely on the Holy Spirit’s work! The Holy Spirit’s work is of utmost importance. Obtaining the Holy Spirit’s work is the most important. Is it clear? Now can the religious world’s pastors and religious elders obtain the Holy Spirit’s work through their methods of getting close to God? They cannot. Can man be perfected by God if he cannot obtain the Holy Spirit’s work? Definitely not. We can all see that, in the church, there are many highly educated people, people with very intelligent minds. They are especially astute when it comes to outward things, but they are a total mess when it comes to seeking the truth, they do not have the Holy Spirit’s work at all. Isn’t this a very pitiful matter? Not being able to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work is the most pitiful of matters. Now if someone has believed in God for many years, if he or she has believed for their entire lives, but he or she is unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, would this person be able to obtain God’s approval? They would be unable to obtain God’s approval. Would they be able to enter God’s kingdom? Definitely not. Some people cannot see through this matter. They say, “Most religious people aren’t bad. They all love God, they can all enter the kingdom. God will not abandon any of them. If one out of 100 sheep were lost, God would go and find it.” Are these words correct? These words originate entirely from man’s notions and opinions. People say these muddled things only if they do not have an understanding of God. In the Bible, the Lord Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 7:21). What kind of person does “he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” refer to? It refers to the people who have obtained the work of the Holy Spirit and have been perfected by God. So, which people in the religious world can be saved? It can be said in this way, only those who have the Holy Spirit’s work will be able to obtain God’s approval. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit’s work are targets of God’s elimination. Is it accurate to say it in this way? Saying it in this way is in accordance with God’s will. Look at those who do not have the truth. All they talk about is based on the notions and opinions of man. None of it is in accordance with the truth.

So, what is the significance of establishing a normal relationship with God? It is to allow us, who truly believe in God, to obtain the perfection of the Holy Spirit’s work. In this way, the hopes of our faith in God will be fulfilled and the beautiful dream of our faith in God will become real. If we are unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, the hopes of our faith in God will be shattered and fruitless. Can you accept it if I say it in this way? If you believe in God, you absolutely must read God’s words and look at things according to God’s words, not according to the notions and opinions of man, or the words of the religious world’s pastors, elders and Pharisees. They do not understand the Bible and they do not understand God’s will. This is why all they say are misconceptions, and evil doctrines that deceive people. Now, how can a normal relationship with God be established? This process is very simple but you need to practice for a certain amount of time. It will not do if you do not practice. How do you practice? The most fundamental step is to read God’s words, pray and listen to the preaching and fellowship. In this way, man’s relationship with God will gradually get closer. Once your relationship has gotten closer, when you read God’s words, you will have light. When you read God’s words, it will be easier for you to understand. When you pray to God, you will feel intimacy. When you pray to God, you will feel that God is with you and you will have the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. You will have many things you want to say to God in your heart. If during your prayers you feel that there are a lot of things in your heart, there are a lot of matters, there are a lot of burdens, there are a lot of problems, there are a lot of real situations or there are a lot of difficulties that you want to tell God, would you say that your communication with God is getting more and more intimate and frequent? You should worry if you have nothing to say when you pray to God. When you have nothing to say, it is proof of one word: unfamiliar. When people see a stranger, they do not have anything to say. When they see someone they are familiar with, they have things to say. Man’s relationship with God is also this way. If you have believed in God for years, but all along you feel that you do not have much to say to God, what does this mean? Can it be said that your relationship with God is not normal? Someone said, “I pray quite a bit. I pray many times each year.” I said, “What do you pray about?” He said, “I pray to God about whatever difficulties I have. Whatever physical ailments I have, I also pray to God. I ask God for a cure. Whatever difficulties I have in my life, I also pray to God.” Would you say that this kind of person’s relationship with God is normal or not normal? Is this a real communion with God? You all say that it is not. This is troublesome. This kind of person is a beggar. He needs food and he wants to make use of God to resolve his difficulties. He does not believe in God in order to obtain the truth, obtain life, achieve an understanding of God and moreover, he does not pray to God to bestow grace upon him so he can understand the truth. Additionally, he does not ask God to enlighten and illuminate him through His words so that he can achieve an understanding of himself, so that he can cast off his corruption and be saved. He does not believe in God so that he can be cleansed and saved. He believes in order to receive benefits, favors and enjoy grace. This kind of person believes in God so that he can feed himself, obtain good fortune, avoid disasters and enter the kingdom of heaven. Is this kind of person’s relationship with God normal? This relationship is not normal.

Now, what kind of relationship with God is normal? Can you tell me? Now, there are a few forms of relationships with God that are not normal. What is a normal relationship? What must we first understand? First, we must understand what kind of relationship is the relationship between man and God. It is a relationship between the creation and the Creator. Am I right? Now, how many principles must be involved in the relationship between the creation and the Creator? Which aspects must this relationship possess if it is to be a normal relationship? What manifestations does the relationship between the creation and the Creator have? Is there a mystery here? Is there a truth here that must be sought? When you encounter this subject from reading God’s words, how do you pray? After you finish reading, do you just pass them by carelessly? You must ponder them and you should seek the truth. What aspects must man’s relationship with God possess in order for it to be normal? What manifestations are present in a normal relationship with God? This is a subject that you should ponder. If you are someone who seeks the truth, you must communicate with others about this. You ponder it together and pray silently together. You pray silently and try to figure this out at the same time. How do you pray silently? “God, please enlighten me. Why can I not see through this subject? Why do I not understand this? God, if You do not enlighten me, I will not be able to figure it out.” If you pray silently in this way, is it okay? Is it appropriate? This way of praying is appropriate. When eating and drinking God’s words, should we ponder in this way? This is how we should ponder it. Then you should ponder over another matter: What manifestations does an abnormal relationship with God have? God did not express all the positive and negative manifestations through His words. God did not list this out. This is a subject that we should ponder over and resolve. We must use our experience and our prayers to seek and obtain the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. This way, we can list out both the positive and negative manifestations of this so that we can understand God’s words. Isn’t this the case?

Right now, we cannot exactly confirm the positive aspects of this, but are we able to confirm the negative aspects? If man’s relationship with God is not normal, what are the manifestations of this? Let’s summarize this. The first manifestation is that a believer never gives their heart to God. They never seek God through God’s words. They only seek God when they encounter a situation, difficulties or disasters. Is this a normal relationship? This kind of manifestation does not exist in a normal relationship with God. The second kind of manifestation is that someone only believes in the name of God. In reality, they do not believe in the words of God. They only believe in their own understanding and their minds. They only rely on themselves when they do things, as if they can seize their fate in their own hands. Is this believer’s relationship with God normal? The third kind of manifestation is that a believer only has faith so that they can enter the kingdom of heaven. They persistently expend for God and suffer while spreading the gospel thinking that if they do these things until the time that the Lord comes, they will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven and receive a crown of righteousness. With this kind of faith do they have a normal relationship with God? The fourth kind of manifestation is that a believer, externally, looks like they truly believe in God, but they do not feel out God’s intentions, and they do not understand the truth. As a result, in all matters, they look up to other people and they listen to other people, especially pastors and religious elders. Does this type of faith constitute a normal relationship with God? If you listen to and obey religious pastors and elders in all matters, do you obey God? Is this obeying God? Isn’t this obeying man? This is worshiping and following man! This kind of person believes in God only in name. In reality, God is not his Lord. Pastors and religious elders are his lords. Look at those who listen to and obey pastors and religious elders in all things. Once they investigate the true way, even if they feel that it is rational when they hear it, they think, “This way is right! But, I must ask my pastor and elders. If they say it is right, then I will believe. If my pastor and elders say it is not correct, then I won’t believe.” In the religious world, are there many such believers? There are a lot many! These kinds of people are muddled to a certain degree, and they have a confused faith! Now, does this kind of faith constitute having a normal relationship with God? The fifth manifestation is that a believer never seeks the truth and does not feel out God’s intentions. They seek benefit from God, they seek blessings from Him. When they have difficulties, they ask God for help. When they do not have any difficulties, they do not have any contact with God, they have nothing to say to God. Is this way of believing in God normal or not normal? There are even more of these kinds of people in the religious world. During easy times, when things are stable and quiet in the country and in society, there are very few people in the church. Once disasters arrive, “pow,” the gatherings in the church are filled with many people. When the disasters have passed, “pow,” the people scatter again and there only remains a few in quiet isolation. There are many people like this in the religious world. Does this kind of faith constitute a normal relationship with God? There is one more manifestation. People believe in God but worship man. They worship famous people or great people. For example, Paul, Witness Lee, Watchman Nee, particular pastors and elders are held very highly in their hearts, and they do not allow anyone to touch them. In contrast, the Lord’s status is very small to them. The position of man, great people, and famous people is especially high in their hearts. How high is it? It does not matter who speaks badly of their idols, they will fly into a terrible rage! When I expose Paul and the pastors and elders of the religious world, there are many people who become furious. They are very dissatisfied with me. I disturbed their idols; how could they tolerate it! Would you say that this kind of person has a normal relationship with God?