Today's Gospel Reading: Here are selected gospel readings that will help resolve your confusion and problems about faith, so you can know God's work and follow God's footsteps.
How should one experience God’s judgment and chastisement in order to attain salvation? (Part 2)
Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:
The work of God in the last days is judging through His word. If we want our corrupt disposition to be cleansed and to achieve salvation, we must first put in some effort on God’s word, genuinely eat and drink the words of God, and accept God’s judgment and revelations in His word. No matter how much God’s word cuts to the heart, how harsh it is, or how much it makes us suffer, we should first be sure that God’s word is all the truth and the reality of life that we should enter into. Every utterance of God’s word is to cleanse and change mankind, to make us shed our corrupt disposition and achieve salvation, and even more so to let us understand the truth to achieve the knowledge of God. So we must accept the judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing of God’s word. If we want to gain the truth in God’s word, we must be able to suffer for accepting and obeying God’s word and the truth. We must seek the truth in God’s word, feel out God’s will, and reflect on and know ourselves, reflect on God’s word to know our own arrogance, deception, selfishness and despicableness, how we take advantage of God, deceive God, toy with the truth, and other satanic dispositions, as well as the various impurities in our belief in God and intentions to receive blessings. In this way, we can gradually get to know the truth of our corruption and the essence of our nature. After we understand more of the truth, our knowledge of God will gradually grow deeper, and we will naturally know what kind of person God likes and dislikes, what kind of person He would save or eliminate, what kind of person He would use, and what kind of person He would bless. Once we see through these things, we will start to understand God’s disposition. These are all the results of experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God’s word. All those who seek the truth pay attention to experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God’s word, pay attention to seeking the truth in everything, and pay attention to practicing God’s word and obeying God. Such people will be able to gradually understand the truth and enter reality through experiencing God’s word, and achieve salvation and be made perfect. As for those who don’t love the truth, they can recognize God’s appearance and work from the truth expressed by God, however, they think they can definitely achieve salvation as long as they abandon something for God and fulfill their duty. In the end, they still cannot gain the truth and life after believing in God for many years. They understand only a few words, letters, and doctrines, but think they know the truth and have reality. They are lying to themselves and will surely be eliminated by God.
Excerpted from Classic Questions and Answers on the Gospel of the Kingdom
When we read God’s words today, the most important thing is that we accept God’s judgment and chastisement. The key point is to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, and this is the most fundamental thing. … You all say that you are willing to bear the suffering of judgment and chastisement. Since you are willing to bear this suffering, how will you submit? How will you accept it? If you see God’s words of judgment and chastisement, will you accept them as God’s judgment of you? Or will you maintain that these words are judging others, that they have nothing to do with you, and thus avoid the judgment and chastisement of God? Which path will you take? If you are willing to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, then you should not avoid these things when you are reading the word of God. No matter how cutting or stern the words are, you should accept them all. You pray to God: “God, I am willing to accept Your judgment and chastisement. Your words of judgment are directed toward me. I am this kind of a corrupt person, I have these problems of corruption, so I should accept Your judgment and chastisement, as this is Your love for me, it is Your exaltation. I completely accept and obey them, and I am grateful for Your love.” As soon as you pray in this way, you will accept them easily, and you will not find it difficult. Then compare God’s words to your own states to deepen your understanding. This is how it can be done. This is an expression of submission to God’s judgment and chastisement. But if you see words of God that are quite stern, and say: “God, these words are not a judgment of me, they are the judgment of others, they are the judgment of Satan. They have nothing to do with me, so I don’t need to read them,” then this is avoiding the judgment and chastisement of God. If some brothers and sisters prune and deal with you, what should you do? You should quickly pray to God: “God, I thank You! This is Your love coming to me. You have moved my brothers and sisters to prune and deal with me because of Your love for me. I submit.” You must pray. If you do not pray it will be easy for you to refuse, easy for your flesh to revolt, easy for you to get into conflict with others, easy to complain and it will be even easier for you to be negative. Therefore, you must quickly go and pray. After you have prayed, your mind will be calm, and you will be able to submit. Once you are really able to submit, you will have enjoyment in your heart, and you will say: “At that time I didn’t lose my temper but accepted it. It was because I prayed. Now I can finally submit to God.” You see a glimmer of hope and you gain some stature; this is how a person grows.
Excerpted from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life
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