“What Do You Know of Faith?” This phrase represents the subject of God’s word that we will be looking at today. Just what does it mean to have faith in God? Why do we need to have faith in God?
Perhaps each of you have your own perspective. It does not matter what your perspectives or thoughts are when it comes to this subject. The key is whether or not your faith is able to achieve God’s intentions and commands. When it comes to God’s words on the matter of “What Do You Know of Faith,” is this not a very important truth? What are your reasons for having faith? What is the objective of your faith? What result are you looking to achieve? This is God’s intention. This is also the problem that God’s work in the last days is looking to resolve. This is why God’s expression of these words is full of meaning. Very rich in meaning. In every stage of God’s work, how exactly the people’s faith in God is like and whether or not it is in accordance with God’s intentions, this is all made clear by these words. We all have our own reflections after seeing this. We see just how pitiful the faith of the people in the religious world really is. Now, can our faith actually fulfill God’s intentions? This depends on how we seek Him. God has expressed His truth to us. After we have read God’s words, we can say that we have a bit of understanding. However, does our faith actually possess this understanding of God? Can it bear witness for God? This is the problem that we face. This is the problem that we must resolve.
There are many people who have finished reading the truth that God has expressed in the last days. It seems like they understand a bit of the truth. They can even say, “Wow, I have obtained a lot.” However, are they able to bear witness for God? This is the issue. A lot of people feel perplexed and they say, “What does it mean to bear witness for God? We understand so much and we have obtained so much. Why can we not bear witness for God?” Let’s fellowship about it. Now, you say you understand a lot and that you have obtained a lot. What does bearing witness for God mean to you? What kind of witness have you borne? Is it easy to answer this question? Perhaps a lot of people, after hearing this, will not know how to respond. They will say, “Bear witness for God? From our perspective, bearing witness for God is being able to communicate the truth. It means being able to speak of a real understanding of God. It is being able to spread the gospel in order to bear witness for God. It is being able to obtain people. Isn’t this bearing witness for God?” Would you say that this is bearing witness for God? A lot of people can’t see this clearly. We don’t deny that there are some people who can give testimony, witness God’s work and communicate an understanding of witnessing what God has and is. Yet, can this witnessing be described as beautiful and vibrant? This is one issue. Another issue is, God does the work of cleansing and perfecting man. What result is He trying to achieve in the end? God is infusing us with all of His truth so that it becomes a part of our life. In the end, we will have been saved and be able to receive His promise. Is this it? “God’s objective is to save us so that we can receive His promise. Thus, we can enjoy God’s blessings.” Is it this simple? If you can’t understand this matter, then you don’t understand God’s intentions. From this piece of God’s word, we can understand one thing a little more clearly. God does His work through us. What is His objective? The objective is so that we can bear good witness for God. Now, why does God require this from us? God says, “for I have given you too much and much have you seen from Me. Therefore, I ask you to bear witness for Me as former saints have done, and this is My heart’s only desire.” These are God’s words. They have been spoken clearly. With these words, God explicitly makes clear His intentions and His expectations of us.
In the past, it seemed that people believed in the Lord Jesus just in order to obtain eternal life. They had some understanding about the Lord Jesus, “Jesus is the Lord of mercy, He is the Redeemer. It is the Lord Jesus that has forgiven our sins. It is the Lord Jesus that has saved us from Satan’s sin.” They acknowledged that Jesus is the Redeemer and He is the Son of God. Is this kind of faith in accordance with God’s intentions? This kind of faith is far lacking. However, at that stage, God didn’t ask too much of man because man did not have any understanding. They had just been redeemed from Satan’s domain. They couldn’t cast off their sin, they lived in the midst of sin every day. Every day they prayed to God. If they were not admitting to sin, they were begging. They were like children. That is why God did not ask too much from those that believed in the Lord. In the last days, Almighty God does the work of judgment. He has revealed all the mysteries as well as His management plan to rescue humanity. In the end, God clearly expresses why He needs to save man, what His desires for man are, and what His intentions are. If He has said all these and we still don’t understand God’s intentions, if we still can’t bear witness for God, then what is the problem? Is this not a deliberate sin? Is this not disgraceful? A lot of people say, “We have gained a lot. We understand a great deal of the truth.” Then why do you not fulfill your duties well? If you don’t fulfill your duties well, then are you actually bearing witness? Those that don’t fulfill their duty well, do they faithfully bear witness? These kinds of people believe that they understand many truths and have obtained a lot from believing in Almighty God. If this is the case, then why do they not fulfill their duties well? Why do they not put the truth into practice in fulfilling their duties? Why do they not fulfill their duties according to the principles? Why do they not love God and satisfy God’s heart when they fulfill their duties? What kind of issue is this? There are many people who have believed in Almighty God for many years, yet they don’t fulfill their duties. What kind of problem is this? If they don’t even fulfill their duties, how can they be expected to bear witness? They are completely unable to bear witness! On the other hand, even faithful service-doers can bear witness a little. They say, “Why do I have a faithful heart and am willing to serve? It is because God loves me. God has given me too much. If I am not willing to serve, then I do not have a conscience. If I am willing to serve but do not have a faithful heart, then I am not worthy to be called a man! I can’t ask for anything. I would be satisfied if I could repay God’s love with my faithful service.” Isn’t this witnessing? This is witnessing. If someone really doesn’t fulfill any of his duties, then can he bear witness? He absolutely has borne no witness. Some people will ask, “What does it mean to bear witness for God? Can it be that fulfilling one’s duties is bearing witness for God?” We will now fellowship about just what it means to bear witness for God.
Bearing witness for God, in practice, is taking our understanding of the truth that we experienced, our understanding of God and giving it to those that do not understand God. This is one aspect of bearing witness. Additionally, bearing witness, in and of itself, has another meaning. That is, we must live out the reality of the truth. We must make ourselves a bright and resounding testimony to God. Once we are able to live out the truth we understand, the result is that we will truly obey God and truly worship God. Therefore, bearing witness for God can accurately be summed up with two main points. Firstly, we must bear witness for God by spreading the gospel, communicating the truth and our understanding of God. Secondly, we must perform well our duty as God’s creation, and live out the reality of the truth of God’s words, in order to glorify God, satisfy God and thoroughly put Satan to shame. These two aspects are the most important. If you have these two aspects of witnessing, then your faith in God will include a beautiful and vibrant witnessing. If you only have one of them, for example, all you can do is bear witness to God by spreading the gospel, but you can’t live out the truth and God’s word, that is, you cannot fulfill your duties, can your witness be considered beautiful and vibrant? No, it can’t. So, if you can perform your duties well as God’s creation, truly live out the reality of the truth of God’s word, you can glorify and satisfy God in this way, then you can beautifully and vibrantly bear witness. Can you accept this? So what exactly is bearing witness for God? Is it clear now? Some people say, “According to what you just said, bearing witness is simple. We will just do all that we can to fulfill our duty and in this way, we are bearing witness.” Do these words make sense? Externally, it seems like what this person is saying is okay. However, adequately fulfilling your duties is not only dependent on your diligence. Is it enough if you only focus on fulfilling your duties? If all you do is work hard, is that enough? If you do not seek the truth, will you be able to fulfill your duties well? If you do not have true obedience to God, will you be able to fulfill your duties well? If you do not have a heart that loves God, that is considerate of God, are you able to fulfill your duties well? If you do not understand the truth and know God, then you can’t fulfill your duties well. Some people will also say, “My caliber is average, my understanding of the truth is shallow. However, I am able to obey the plans that God has arranged. What God’s family wants me to do, I will do. Whatever duty I am asked to fulfill, I will fulfill. I will do all this without any complaint.” Would this be considered fulfilling duties well? If you are like this, when an antichrist comes to deceive you, you will not be able to differentiate. You will follow the antichrist and do whatever the antichrist tells you to do. Is this kind of person able to fulfill their duties well? This person cannot. This person would also disturb the work of God’s family. If the antichrist starts disseminating his notions on the work of God, this person would listen, become negative and arbitrarily and rashly fulfill his duties. He can’t handle the disturbance and will end up being resigned to his backwardness. Is this adequately fulfilling one’s duties? If you fulfill your duties in this way, you are not devoted to God, you do not revere Him, you do not have any obedience. Fulfilling your duties in this way is considered resisting God. That is why it is said that fulfilling your duties involves principled action and living out the reality of the truth. You must have an understanding of the truth, and you must be able to put the truth into practice. Only in this way would your duties be fulfilled adequately. Only then will it have value. Only then will you have real results. Only then, will it become a form of real witnessing. Now, someone has said, “Does bearing witness for God only involve fulfilling one’s duty? If I do not fulfill my duties, then I cannot bear witness for God?” These are good questions to ask. Let’s say you do not fulfill your duties. When you encounter a trial, you pray to God and seek out God’s intentions. You stand your ground and you do not retreat. This is another form of bearing witness. If you do not fall during a trial, and you stand your ground, this indicates that God has mercy for you. However, if you are unable to fulfill your duties during normal circumstances, are you devoted to God? Are you obedient to God? Have you fulfilled God’s requests? It does not matter how well you handle your trials, if you are unable to fulfill your duties, this is, in essence, an extreme debt to God. I will give you an example. Suppose someone says she shows respect for her parents. However, she is busy with her own work and no matter what goes on with her parents, she never puts them first. At most, she just takes out a bit of money and gives it to them. Is this really respect? Of course not. You say you believe in God, yet you cannot even do the most basic things. You cannot complete the most basic request—fulfilling your duties as a creature. Yet, you say that you can bear witness in other areas. Would this witnessing be considered beautiful and vibrant? Do you think you can obtain God’s praises with this kind of witnessing? Are these matters important enough for you to seek the truth in them?
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