God's words | How the Second Step of the Work of Conquering Bears Fruit
The step of work of service-doers is the first step of the work of conquering; this is currently the second step of the work of conquering. Why is perfection being discussed in the work of conquering? It is building a foundation for the future—this is currently the last step in the work of conquering, and after this, people will undergo the great tribulation, and at that time the work of perfecting people will officially commence. The primary thing now is conquest; however, this is also the first step of perfecting, perfecting people’s understanding and obedience, which are of course still building a foundation for the work of conquering. If you want to be perfected, you must be able to stand firm in the midst of the future tribulation and put all of your strength into expanding the next step of work. This is being perfected, and that is the point when people will be completely gained by God. What is being discussed right now is being conquered, which is also being perfected; however, what is being done now is the foundation for being perfected in the future. In order to be made perfect, people must experience adversity, and they must experience it on the foundation of being conquered. If people don’t have this current foundation, if they have not been thoroughly conquered, then it will be difficult for them to stand firm in the next step of work. Just being conquered is not achieving the final goal—it is just bearing witness for God in front of Satan. Being perfected is the final goal, and if you have not been made perfect, then you will be counted as worthless. When encountering adversity in the future, only then will people’s actual stature be visible, that is, the real purity of your love for God will be seen. Now, people all say: “No matter what God does we will obey, and we are willing to be foils to set off God’s mightiness and God’s disposition. No matter whether or not He bestows His grace upon us and no matter whether He curses us or judges us, we will give thanks to Him.” Your saying this now is just a little bit of understanding, but whether it can be applied to reality depends on whether your understanding truly is realistic. That people have now seen and understood these things is the achievement of the work of conquest; whether or not you can be perfected will be mainly seen when adversity comes upon you. At that time it will be seen whether or not you have genuine love for God in your heart, and if you really do have pure love for Him, you will say: “We are just foils; we are creatures in the hands of God.” And when you spread the gospel to Gentile nations, you will say: “I am just a service-doer and it is because of our corrupt dispositions that God spoke so much that we have seen His righteous disposition. If God hadn’t said those things we wouldn’t be able to see Him, we’d be unable to get a taste of His wisdom, and we’d be unable to gain such great salvation, such a great blessing.” If you really hold that view, then you are doing fine. You’ve now said a lot of things offhand and you always shout the slogans: “We are foils and service-doers; we are willing to be conquered and to be resounding witnesses for God….” You can’t just shout that out and be done with it, which does not prove that you are a person with stature. You must have true understanding, and your understanding must be tested.
Think back to the experiences over this period of time and take another look at these things I’ve said recently, then compare them to what you do. It is absolutely true that you are a foil through-and-through! What degree of understanding do you have now? Your ideas, thoughts, behavior, your words and actions, everything you live out—aren’t they all just a foil for God’s righteousness and holiness? Isn’t everything that’s being revealed in God’s current words about mankind’s corrupt disposition? God’s righteous disposition and holiness are shown through your ideas and your motives, and through what you reveal. He, also living in a land of filth, has not been tainted with filth in the least. He lives in the same filthy world as you, but He possesses reason and insight; He detests filth. You yourself cannot see the filthy things in your own words and actions but He can—He can show them to you. Those old things of yours—your lack of cultivation, insight, and sense, your backward lifestyle—have all been uncovered through His exposure of them now. God has come to the earth to work this way, so that people have seen His holiness and His righteous disposition. He judges and chastises you and makes you understand yourself. Sometimes your demonic nature appears and He can show it to you. He knows mankind’s essence like the back of His hand. He lives the way you do, eats the same food as you, lives in the same kind of home as you, yet He knows much more than you do. But what He hates the most are mankind’s life philosophies and their deceit and crookedness. He hates these things and He is unwilling to pay attention to them. He particularly hates mankind’s fleshly interactions. Although He doesn’t entirely understand some of the general knowledge of human interactions, He is fully aware when people expose some of their corrupt disposition. In His work, He speaks and teaches people through these things in them, and through these He judges people and reveals His righteous and holy disposition. This is how people become foils for His work. It is only God incarnate who can reveal all kinds of mankind’s corrupt dispositions and all of Satan’s ugly faces. He does not punish you, He would just have you be a foil for God’s holiness, and then you cannot stand firm on your own because you are too filthy. He speaks through those things that people reveal and He exposes them so that people may know how holy God is. He will not let go of even the slightest filth in humans, not even the smallest filthy idea in their hearts or words and actions that are not in line with His will. Through His words, the filth in no man and no thing will remain—it will all be exposed. It is only then that you see that He truly is different from people. He is thoroughly disgusted by even the slightest filth in mankind. Sometimes people even don’t understand, and say: “God, why are You always angry? Why are You not considerate of mankind’s weaknesses? Why don’t You have a little forgiveness for mankind? Why are You so inconsiderate to man? You know how corrupt people are, so why do You still treat people this way?” He is disgusted by sin; He hates sin. He is particularly disgusted by any rebelliousness there may be in you. When you expose a rebellious disposition He is disgusted beyond measure. It is through these things that His disposition and being can be expressed. When you compare it to yourself, you will see that although He eats the same food, wears the same clothing, and has the same enjoyments as people, though He lives alongside and with mankind, He is not the same. Isn’t this the very meaning of being a foil? It is through these things in people that God’s great power is thrown into sharp relief; it is darkness that sets off the precious existence of the light.
Of course He’s not intentionally using you as a foil, but when this work shows results, it shows mankind’s rebelliousness as a foil for God’s righteous disposition. It is because you have acted as foils that you have the opportunity to know the natural expression of God’s righteous disposition. It is because of your own rebelliousness that you have been subject to judgment and chastisement, but it is also because of your rebelliousness that you have acted as foils and have gained the enormous grace God has bestowed upon you. It is your rebelliousness that is a foil for God’s almightiness and wisdom, and it is because of it that you have gained such great salvation, such a great blessing. Although you have repeatedly received My judgment, you have also gained great salvation that those before you never did. This work is incredibly meaningful for you. This “foil” is really very valuable for you—it is because of acting as foils that you have gained salvation and grace. Isn’t being this kind of foil very valuable? Isn’t it very meaningful? It is because you live in the same realm as God, because you live with Him in this filthy land that you have become His foils and have gained such incredible salvation. If He had not become flesh, who would have mercy on you, and who would look after you lowly people? Who would care about you? If God incarnate were not working amongst you, at what point would you be able to gain this salvation that no one has ever had before? If I had not become flesh to care for you and to judge your sins, wouldn’t you have fallen into Hades long ago? If I had not become flesh to humble Myself amongst you, what right would you have to be a foil for God’s righteous disposition? Aren’t you acting as foils because I have become flesh among you so that you could gain such great salvation? And isn’t that entirely because I became flesh? If it weren’t for God incarnate living amongst you, would you be able to discover that you are living in a hell on earth, which is worse than a pig or a dog? Haven’t the judgment and chastisement that you have gained been because you are foils for My work in the flesh? The work of being foils is very suitable for you because you have gained the salvation of God’s judgment due to this. Don’t you feel that it’s the blessing of your life to be able to act as a qualified foil? All you’ve done is the work of being foils, but you’ve gained salvation you’ve never had or imagined before. Being a foil is your duty now, and the eternal blessings that you will enjoy in the future will be the reward you deserve. The salvation that you gain is not momentary insight or knowledge today, but it is a greater blessing, an eternal continuation of life. Although it is through being a foil that you are conquered, you should know that this salvation, this blessing is entirely to obtain you; it is conquest and also in order to better save you. Being a foil is a fact, but it is because of your rebelliousness that you are foils and have gained blessings that no one has ever gained. Today you see and hear, and tomorrow you will gain, and will receive even greater blessings. So isn’t being this kind of foil the most valuable thing? It is through the foil of your rebellious dispositions that the current work of conquering bears fruit, that is, the peak of the second chastisement and judgment is to make your filth and rebelliousness into a foil so that you may see God’s righteous disposition. When you once again become obedient in the second chastisement and judgment, His entire righteous disposition will be openly revealed to you. That is, the time when your undergoing of the work of conquest has concluded will be when you have fulfilled your duty of being a foil. It is not intentionally slapping a label on you, but it is completing the first work of conquering through your role as service-doers, revealing God’s righteous, unoffendable disposition. Through your acting as a foil, through your rebelliousness as a foil, the fruit of the second work of conquest has been achieved. His righteous disposition that was not fully revealed to you the first time has now all been opened up to you so that you can see His entire righteous disposition, see all that He is, which is the wisdom and wondrousness of His work, His holiness and purity. These fruits of His work have been achieved through different periods of conquest as well as various degrees of judgment. The more His judgment reaches its peak, the more He is able to expose people’s rebellious disposition and the more He is able to achieve the result of conquest. All of His righteous disposition is revealed through this kind of work of conquering. The work of conquest is separated into two steps which are carried out at different times and are at different levels. And of course the results attained are also different; that is, the degree of people’s obedience becomes deeper and deeper. From this point on it will finally be possible to bring people onto the right track of being perfected. After all of the work of conquering has been completed (when the second judgment has achieved its final results) God will finally no longer judge mankind, but will have them enter into the right track of experiencing life. This is because judgment represents conquest, and the form of conquest is judgment and chastisement.
Only by God becoming flesh in the most backward and the filthiest place can He reveal the entirety of His holy and righteous disposition. And through what is His righteous disposition revealed? Through judgment of people’s sins, judgment of Satan, disgust toward sins, and hatred of His enemies who rebel against and resist Him. What I’m saying today is to judge people’s sins and their unrighteousness; it is to curse people’s rebelliousness. Their deceit and crookedness, and their words and actions, all things that are not in line with His will undergo judgment, and people’s rebelliousness is condemned as sinful. He speaks according to the principles of judgment, and He reveals His righteous disposition through judging their unrighteousness, cursing their rebelliousness, and exposing all of their ugly faces. Holiness represents His righteous disposition; His holiness actually is His righteous disposition. The background of My words today is speaking, judging, and doing the work of conquest in light of your corrupt dispositions. Only this is real work, and only this can completely put God’s holiness into sharp relief. If you didn’t have a corrupt disposition at all, God would not judge you, you also wouldn’t be able to see His righteous disposition. As you have a corrupt disposition, God will not let go of you. It is through this that His holiness is revealed. If man’s filthiness and rebelliousness is too great and He saw it but did not say a word and did not judge you or chastise you for your unrighteousness, it would show that He wasn’t God at all because He wouldn’t hate sin, but He would be just as filthy as mankind. My judgment of you today is because of your filth; My chastisement of you today is because of your corruption and rebelliousness. It is not to display power and prestige among you or to intentionally bully you, but it is because you who live in a land of filth have been sullied with so much filth. You have simply lost your integrity, your humanity, and you are no different from swine that live in the vilest of places. It is because of these things in you that you are judged and that His wrath is visited upon you. It is because of these judgments that you have been able to see that God is the righteous God, that God is the holy God. It is because of His holiness and righteousness that He has judged you and visited His wrath upon you. Because He can reveal His righteous disposition when seeing mankind’s rebelliousness, and because He can reveal His holiness when seeing mankind’s filth, this is enough to show that He is God Himself who is holy and without taint, but who was also born in a land of filth. If He were a man who sullies himself along with others and if He did not have any elements of holiness or a righteous disposition, He would not be qualified to judge mankind’s unrighteousness or to be the judge of mankind. If man were to judge man, wouldn’t it be like slapping their own face? How could someone have the right to judge the same kind of person, who is just as filthy as they are? The only One who can judge all of filthy mankind is the holy God Himself, and how could man judge man’s sins? How could man be capable of seeing man’s sins, and how could they be qualified to condemn man? If God didn’t have the right to judge man’s sins, then how could He be the righteous God Himself? When people’s corrupt dispositions are revealed, He speaks out to judge them, and only then can they see that He is holy. Judgment, chastisement, and exposure of mankind’s sins—not a single person or thing is able to escape this judgment. All that is filthy is judged by Him. It is only through this that His disposition is said to be righteous. Otherwise, how could it be said that you are worthy of being called foils?
The work done in Israel is vastly different from today’s work. Jehovah guided their lives but did not judge or chastise as much as what is done now because at the time, people understood too little of the things of the world and had few corrupt dispositions. At that time, the Israelites were obedient to Jehovah in every way. When He had them build altars they would rush to do so, and when He had them wear the robes of priests they would obey. At the time Jehovah was just like their shepherd herding a flock of sheep on earth, and the sheep all followed where the shepherd led to eat grass in the pasture. Jehovah guided their lives; He was the guide for their food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. That was not the time of revealing God’s disposition because the people of that time were newborns, and there were very few people who were rebellious or resistant, and they were not too sullied. So they could not be foils for God’s disposition. God’s holiness is revealed in the people in a land of filth. And now these people in the land of filth reveal their filthiness, and later God will pass judgment. This way, what He is is all expressed in His judgment. And why does He judge? It is because He is disgusted by sin, and so He is able to issue words of judgment. If He were not disgusted by mankind’s rebelliousness, would He be so wrathful? If there were no disgust, no dislike within Him, if people are rebellious but He paid no mind, that would show that He was just as filthy as mankind. The reason that He is able to judge and chastise mankind is that He is disgusted by filthiness. Everything that He is disgusted by is what He Himself does not possess. If He also had resistance and rebelliousness within Himself, He would not be disgusted by resistant and rebellious people. If His work in the last days were still done in Israel it would have no significance at all. Why is the work of the last days being done in China, the darkest, most backward of places? It is to reveal God’s holiness and righteousness. In short, the darker a place is the better His holiness can be revealed. The truth is that doing all of this is for the sake of God’s work. You only now know that God in heaven has descended to earth and stands in your midst, and He has been highlighted against your filthiness and rebelliousness, so that you have begun to have an understanding of God—isn’t this a great uplifting? The truth is that you are a group of people in China who have been selected, and because you people have been selected and have enjoyed God’s grace, and because you people are not fit to enjoy so much of His grace, it shows that all of this is a great uplifting for you. God has revealed Himself and His entire holy disposition to you, and He has bestowed all of that upon you, allowing you to enjoy ample blessings. You have not only tasted His righteous disposition, but more importantly, you have tasted His salvation as well as His redemption and limitless love. You, the most filthy of people, have received such great grace—isn’t this being blessed? Isn’t this being uplifted by God? You are of the lowest status and you are not fit for such a great blessing, but God has uplifted you despite that. Don’t you feel ashamed? If you cannot fulfill your duty, in the end you will be utterly ashamed of yourself. You will chastise yourself. He is not currently disciplining you or punishing you; your flesh is safe and sound, but in the end His words will bring you shame for yourself. Up to now I have never publicly chastised anyone. I have spoken severely, but how have I been toward people? I have been comforting, I have exhorted them, and I have also warned them. This has been for no purpose other than to save you. Could it be that you really don’t understand My intention? When I say this all of you should understand and you should be inspired by these words. There are many who are finally clear on this now: Is this blessing not earned by acting as a foil? Isn’t being a foil the most blessed of things? In the end, when you spread the gospel you will say: “We are typical foils.” They will ask you: “What do typical foils mean?” And then you will say: “They refer to those of us who serve as a foil for God’s work and God’s might. It is through our rebelliousness that we serve as a foil for all of His righteous disposition. We are the serving objects and adjuncts for God’s final work—we are tools.” When they hear that, they will be intrigued. Then you will say: “We are also the specimens and models for His completing the work of the entire universe, and the conquering of all of mankind. Regardless of whether we are holy or filthy, we are more blessed than you, because we have seen God. God’s might has been set off through the opportunity of His conquering of us, and it is because of our filthiness and corruption that His righteous disposition has been set off. Are you capable of bearing witness to God’s work of the last days? You have no right! This is purely us being uplifted by Him! Although we are not arrogant, we are proud to praise God because no one else can bear such a great promise, and no one else can enjoy such a great blessing. It’s a wonder that such filthy people can actually do the work of being foils in God’s management, and we truly are grateful beyond words.” They will ask: “So then, what is a specimen and model?” And you will say: “We are the most rebellious among all of mankind as well as the filthiest. We are those corrupted most deeply by Satan and the most backward and the lowliest humans that belong to the flesh. We are the typical representation of being used by Satan. Now we have been selected by God to be those who have been conquered first among mankind. We have seen God’s righteous disposition, we have inherited His promise, and He will conquer more people through us. This is why we are the specimens and models for those who are to be conquered among mankind.” This is your best witness, and this is your best experience.
Source：The Church of Almighty God
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