I. God’s kingdom has come on earth; God’s person is full and rich. Who can stand still and not rejoice? Who can stand still and not dance? Oh Zion, raise your banner of victory to celebrate for God. Sing your song of victory to spread His holy name over the world. Countless people praise God with joy, countless voices exalt His name. Look at His awesome deeds; now His kingdom on earth has come.
II. All things on earth, make yourselves clean; come and make offerings to God. Stars, return to your nest in the sky, show God’s might in the heavens above. On earth voices rise up and sing, pouring out infinite love and boundless reverence to God. He attently listens to them. Countless people praise God with joy, countless voices exalt His name. Look at His awesome deeds; now His kingdom on earth has come.
III. On that day all things are revived, God in person comes to the earth. Flowers burst out in joyful bloom, birds sing and all things rejoice. See the kingdom of Satan fall as the salute of God’s kingdom sounds, trampled down, never to rise again, drowned beneath the anthem of praise. Countless people praise God with joy (with joy), countless voices exalt His name (His name). Look at His awesome deeds; now His kingdom on earth has come.
IV. Who on earth dare rise to resist? When God stands among men, He’s brought His wrath and all disasters to earth. The world has become God’s kingdom. Clouds roll and toss in the skies, lakes and streams stir up a merry tune. Resting animals leave their caves, and man is awakened from their dreams. Now that longed-for day has arrived and all honor God with their songs, the most beautiful songs of all time. Countless people praise God with joy (with joy), countless voices exalt His name (His name). Look at His awesome deeds; now His kingdom on earth has come.
What do you think about every time you sing this song? (Very excited; thrilled; think about how glorious the beauty of the kingdom is, and mankind and God will be joined forever.) Has anyone thought about the form man must take on in order to be with God? In your imaginations, how must a person be in order to join with God and enjoy the glorious life that follows in the kingdom? (They should have a changed disposition.) They should have a changed disposition, but changed to what extent? What will they be like after it has been changed? (They will become holy.) What is the standard for holiness? (All their thoughts and considerations are compatible with Christ.) How does such a compatibility manifest? (They don’t resist God, don’t betray God, but offer absolute obedience to God, and fear God in their hearts.) Some of your answers are on the right track. Open your hearts, all of you, and share what your heart is telling you. (People who live with God in the kingdom can do their duty, faithfully do their duty, by pursuing the truth and not being restrained by any person, event, or object. And it becomes possible to break away from the influence of darkness, align their hearts with God, and fear God and shun evil.) (Our perspective of looking at things can be aligned with God, and we can break away from the influence of darkness. The minimum standard is to not be exploited by Satan, to cast off any corrupt disposition, to achieve obedience to God. We believe that breaking away from the influence of darkness is the key point. If someone cannot break away from the influence of darkness, cannot break free from Satan’s bonds, then they have not attained God’s salvation.) (The standard for being perfected by God is man being of one heart and mind with God. Man doesn’t resist God anymore; he can know himself, put truth into practice, attain an understanding of God, love God, and align with God. That’s all one needs to do.)
The Outcome’s Weight in People’s Hearts
It seems like you have got something in your hearts about the way you should walk in and you have developed a good grasp and understanding of it. But whether everything you said turns out to be hollow words or actual reality depends on what you pay attention to in your day-to-day practice. You have reaped a harvest from all aspects of the truth over the years, both in doctrines and in the content of the truth. This proves that people nowadays put an emphasis on striving for the truth. And as a result, every aspect and every item of the truth has surely put down roots in the hearts of some people. However, what is it that I fear the most? That though the subjects of the truth, and these theories, have put down their roots, the actual content just doesn’t hold much weight in your hearts. When you encounter issues, faced with trials, faced with choices—how much will you be able to put the reality of these truths to good use? Will they help you pass through your difficulties and emerge from your trials having satisfied God’s intentions? Will you stand firm in your trials and testify loud and clear for God? Have you been interested in these matters before? Allow Me to ask you: In your hearts, in all your daily thoughts and contemplations, what is it that is most important to you? Have you ever come to a conclusion? What do you believe is the most important thing? Some people say “it’s putting truth into practice, of course”; some people say “of course it’s reading God’s word every day”; some people say “it’s placing myself before God and praying to God every day, of course”; and then there are those who say “of course it’s doing my duty properly every day”; there are some people yet who say they are only ever thinking about how to satisfy God, how to obey Him in all things, and how to act in harmony with His will. Is this how it is? Is this all there is? For example, there are some who say: “I only want to obey God, but when something happens I can’t obey Him.” Some people say: “I only want to satisfy God. Even if I could satisfy Him just once, that would be fine, but I can never satisfy Him.” And some people say: “I only want to obey God. In times of trial I only want to submit to His orchestrations, obeying His sovereignty and arrangements, without any complaints or requests. Yet almost every time I fail to be obedient.” Some other people say: “When I’m faced with decisions, I can never choose to put truth into practice. I always want to satisfy the flesh, always want to satisfy my personal selfish desires.” What’s the reason for this? Before God’s test comes, have you already challenged yourselves multiple times, and tried and tested yourselves multiple times? See if you can really obey God, really satisfy God, and be certain not to betray God. See whether you can not satisfy yourselves, not satisfy your selfish desires, but only satisfy God, devoid of your individual choices. Is anyone like that? Actually, there is only one fact that has been placed before your very eyes. It’s what every one of you is most interested in, what you most want to know, and that is the matter of everyone’s outcome and destination. You may not realize it, but this is something that no one can deny. I know there are some people who, when it comes to the truth of man’s outcome, God’s promise to humanity, and what kind of destination God intends to bring man into, have already studied God’s word on these matters several times. Then there are those who are repeatedly looking for it and thinking it over in their minds, and they still get no result, or maybe arrive at some ambiguous conclusion. In the end they still aren’t certain about what kind of outcome awaits them. When accepting communication of the truth, when accepting church life, when performing their duty, most people always want to know a definitive answer to the following questions: What will my outcome be? Can I walk the path right up to its end? What is God’s attitude toward man? Some people even worry: I’ve done some things in the past, I’ve said some things, I’ve been disobedient to God, I’ve done some things that have betrayed God, there were some matters where I did not satisfy God, hurt God’s heart, made God disappointed in me, made God hate me and loathe me, so perhaps my outcome is unknown. It’s fair to say that most people feel uneasy about their own outcome. No one dares say: “I feel with one hundred percent certainty that I will be a survivor; I am one hundred percent certain that I can satisfy God’s intentions; I am a person who is after God’s heart; I am a person who God praises.” Some people think it’s particularly hard to follow God’s way, and that putting truth into practice is the hardest thing of all. Consequently, these people think they’re beyond help, and don’t dare to get their hopes up about a good outcome. Or maybe they believe that they can’t satisfy God’s intentions, and can’t become a survivor, and because of this will say that they don’t have an outcome, and can’t attain a good destination. Regardless of how exactly people think, everyone is wondering about their outcome many times. On questions of their future, on questions of what they’ll get when God finishes His work, these people are always calculating, always planning. Some people pay double the price; some people abandon their families and their jobs; some people give up on their marriage; some people resign to spend for God; some people leave their homes to do their duty; some people choose hardship, and begin to take on the most bitter and tiring task; some people choose to dedicate wealth, dedicate their all; still some people choose to pursue truth, and pursue knowing God. No matter how you choose to practice, is the manner in which you do so important? (Not important.) How do we explain that it’s not important, then? If the manner isn’t important, then what is? (Outward good behavior is not representative of putting truth into practice.) (What everyone thinks is not important. The key here is whether we have put truth into practice, and whether we love God.) (The fall of antichrists and false leaders helps us understand that outward behavior isn’t the most important thing. They outwardly seem to have forsaken much, and they seem to be willing to pay the price, but upon dissection we can see that they simply don’t have a heart that fears God; in all respects they oppose Him. They are always standing with Satan at critical times, interfering with God’s work. Thus, the main considerations here are which side we stand on when the time comes, and our viewpoints.) You all speak well, and it seems like you already have a basic understanding of and a standard for putting truth into practice, God’s intentions, and what God demands of man. That you’re able to speak like this is very moving. Although there are a few inappropriate words here and there, your statements are already nearing an explanation worthy of the truth. This proves that you have developed your own real understandings of the people, events, and objects around you, all of your surroundings that God has arranged, and everything that you can see. These understandings are nearing the truth. Even though what you said isn’t totally comprehensive, and a few words aren’t very appropriate, your understandings are already nearing the reality of the truth. Hearing you speak this way makes Me feel good.
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