Bible Verses for Reference:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13).

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15).

Relevant Words of God:

There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite it all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one among them is able to know God; still less can any one among them accord with God’s intentions. They are all worthless, vile people, each standing on high to lecture “God.” They are people who carry God’s banner yet deliberately resist God, who carry the label of believing in God while eating the flesh and drinking the blood of man. All such people are evil devils that devour the soul of man, head demons that deliberately disturb people’s embarkation onto the right path, and stumbling blocks impeding people’s seeking of God. They may appear of “sound constitution,” but how are their followers to know that they are none other than antichrists who lead people to resist God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to the devouring of human souls? Those who hold themselves in high esteem in God’s presence are the most abject of men, while those who think themselves lowly are the most honored. And those who think they know the work of God and who are, moreover, capable of proclaiming the work of God to others with great fanfare as they look directly at Him—these are the most ignorant of men. Such people are all without testimony to God, they are all arrogant and conceited. Those who believe that they have too little knowledge of God, despite having practical experience and practical knowledge of Him, are those most beloved by Him. Only such people truly have testimony and are truly capable of being perfected by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. All People Who Do Not Know God Are People Who Resist God

Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the essence of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What is more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not pursue the life truth. And so, even today they still await the Messiah, for they have no knowledge of the way of life, and do not know what the way of truth is. How, say you, could such foolish, stubborn and ignorant people gain God’s blessing? How could they behold the Messiah? They opposed Jesus because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work, because they did not know the way of truth spoken by Jesus, and, even more so, because they did not understand the Messiah. And since they had never seen the Messiah and had never associated with the Messiah, they made the mistake of clinging to the mere name of the Messiah while opposing the essence of the Messiah by any means possible. These Pharisees in essence were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God was: No matter how profound Your preaching, no matter how high Your authority, You are not Christ unless You are called the Messiah. Is this belief not preposterous and ridiculous? I ask you further: Is it not extremely easy for you to commit the mistakes of the Pharisees of that time, given that you have not the slightest understanding of Jesus? Are you able to discern the way of truth? Can you truly guarantee that you will not oppose Christ? Are you able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit? If you do not know whether you will oppose Christ, then I say that you are already living on the brink of death. Those who did not know the Messiah were all capable of opposing Jesus, of rejecting Jesus, of slandering Him. People who do not understand Jesus are all capable of rejecting Him and reviling Him. Even more so, they are capable of seeing the return of Jesus as the misleading of Satan, and the majority of these people shall condemn Jesus returned to flesh. Does not all of this make you afraid? What you face shall be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the ruination of the words of the Holy Spirit to the churches, and the spurning of all that is expressed by Jesus. What can you gain from Jesus if you are so befuddled? How can you understand the work that Jesus does when He returns to flesh on a white cloud, if you obstinately refuse to realize your errors? I tell you this: People who do not accept the truth, yet blindly await the arrival of Jesus upon white clouds, are surely those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, and they are surely the category that shall be destroyed. You merely wish for the grace of Jesus, and merely want to enjoy the blissful realm of heaven, yet you have never obeyed the words spoken by Jesus, and have never accepted the truth expressed by Jesus when He returns to flesh. What will you hold up in exchange for the fact of Jesus’ return upon a white cloud? Is it the sincerity in which you repeatedly commit sins, and then speak your confession, over and over? What will you offer in sacrifice to Jesus who returns upon a white cloud? Is it the capital of the many years of work with which you exalt yourselves? What will you hold up to make the returned Jesus trust you? Is it that arrogant nature of yours, which does not submit to any truth?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. By the Time You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus, God Will Have Made Heaven and Earth Anew

In every step of work that God does on people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements or from human disturbance. But behind every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and it requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a wager with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men and the disturbance of men. Behind every step of work that God does on you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … When God and Satan do battle in the spiritual realm, how should you satisfy God, and how should you stand firm in your testimony to Him? You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear testimony. Though they may seem unimportant from the outside, when these things happen they show whether or not you love God. If you do, you will be able to stand firm in your testimony to Him, and if you have not put the love of Him into practice, this shows you are not someone who puts the truth into practice, that you are without the truth, and without life, that you are chaff!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God

If many things come upon you that do not align with your notions but yet you are able to put them aside and gain knowledge of God’s actions from these things, and if in the midst of refinements you reveal your God-loving heart, then this is standing firm in your witness. If your home is peaceful, you enjoy comforts of the flesh, no one is persecuting you, and your brothers and sisters in the church obey you, can you display your God-loving heart? Can this situation refine you? It is only through refinement that your God-loving heart can be shown, and it is only through things occurring that do not align with your notions that you can be perfected. With the service of many negative things, and by employing all sorts of Satan’s manifestations—its actions, its accusations, its disturbances and misleading—God shows you Satan’s hideous face clearly, and thereby perfects your ability to distinguish Satan, that you may hate Satan and rebel against it.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement

You should not be afraid of this and that; no matter how many difficulties and dangers you might face, you ought to remain steady before Me, unobstructed by any hindrance, so that My will may be carried out unimpeded. This is your duty; otherwise, I shall bring My wrath upon you, and with My hand I shall…. You will then endure endless mental suffering. You must endure all; for Me, you must be ready to forsake everything and follow Me with all your might, and be ready to pay any price. Now is the time that I shall test you: Will you offer your loyalty to Me? Can you loyally follow Me to the end of the road? Be not afraid; with My support, who could ever block this road? Remember this! Remember! Everything contains My good intentions and is under My scrutiny. Can you follow My word in all that you say and do? When the tests of fire come upon you, will you kneel down and call out? Or will you cower, incapable of moving forward?

You must possess My courage within you, and you must have principles when it comes to facing nonbelieving relatives. For My sake, however, you also must not yield to any dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow any of Satan’s conspiracies to take hold. Do all that you can to place your heart before Me, and I shall comfort you and bring you peace and joy. Do not strive to be a certain way in front of other people; does making Me satisfied not carry more value and weight? In satisfying Me, will you not be even further filled with eternal and lifelong peace and happiness? Your current suffering indicates just how great your future blessings will be; they are indescribable. You know not the greatness of the blessings that you shall have; you could not even dream of it. Today it has become real; so very real! This is not so far away—can you see it? Every last bit of this is within Me; how bright is the road ahead! Wipe away your tears, and feel no more pain or sorrow. All things are arranged by My hands, and My goal is to soon make you the overcomers and to bring you into glory alongside Me. For all that happens to you, you should be correspondingly grateful and full of praise; that will bring Me deep satisfaction.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 10

As created beings, people should fulfill the duties that they ought to, and stand firm in their witness to God in the midst of refinement. In every trial they should uphold the witness that they should bear, and do so resoundingly for the sake of God. A person who does this is an overcomer. No matter how God refines you, you remain full of faith and never lose faith in Him. You do what man should do. This is what God requires of man, and man’s heart should be able to fully return to Him and turn toward Him in every passing moment. This is an overcomer. Those whom God refers to as “overcomers” are those who are still able to stand firm in their witness and maintain their original faith and their loyalty to God when under the influence of Satan and while being laid siege to by Satan, that is, when they find themselves amidst the forces of darkness. If you are still able to keep a pure heart before God and maintain your genuine love for God no matter what, then you are standing firm in your witness before God, and this is what God refers to as being an “overcomer.” If your pursuit is excellent when God blesses you, but you retreat without His blessings, is this purity? Since you are certain that this way is true, you must follow it until the end; you must maintain your loyalty to God. Since you have seen that God Himself has come to the earth to perfect you, you should give your heart entirely to Him. If you can still follow Him no matter what He does, even if He determines an unfavorable outcome for you at the very end, this is maintaining your purity before God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Maintain Your Loyalty to God