Classic Words on God’s Work of Judgment and Chastisement in the Last Days

II Classic Words on God’s Work of Judgment and Chastisement in the Last Days

1. The work of the last days is to separate all according to their kind, to conclude the management plan of God, for the time is near and the day of God has come. God brings all who have entered His kingdom, that is, all those who have been loyal to Him to the end, into the age of God Himself.
However, until the coming of the age of God Himself, the work that God shall do is not to observe the deeds of man or to inquire into the life of man, but to judge his rebellion, for God shall purify all those who come before His throne. All those who have followed the footsteps of God to this day are those who have come before the throne of God, and this being so, every single person who accepts God’s work in its final phase is the object of God’s purification. In other words, everyone who accepts God’s work in its final phase is the object of God’s judgment.

The “judgment” in the words previously spoken—judgment will begin at the house of God—refers to the judgment God passes today on those who come before His throne in the last days.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

2. In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, expose the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

3. In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes it over the long term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only methods of this kind are deemed judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

4. The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it should naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead. Because judgment is the conquering of the human race through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men. That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

5. God does not judge man one by one, and does not test man one by one; to do thus would not be the work of judgment. Is not the corruption of all mankind the same? Is not the substance of man all the same? What is judged is mankind’s corrupt substance, man’s substance corrupted by Satan, and all the sins of man. God does not judge the trifling and insignificant faults of man. The work of judgment is representative, and is not carried out especially for a certain person. Rather, it is work in which a group of people are judged in order to represent the judgment of all of mankind. … The work of judgment is also thus. God does not judge a certain kind of person or a certain group of people, but judges the unrighteousness of the whole of mankind—man’s opposition to God, for example, or man’s irreverence against Him, or disturbance of the work of God, and so on. What is judged is mankind’s substance of opposition to God, and this work is the work of conquest of the last days. The work and word of the incarnate God witnessed by man are the work of judgment before the great white throne during the last days, which was conceived by man during times past. The work that is currently being done by the incarnate God is exactly the judgment before the great white throne.

from “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

6. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

7. How exactly is mankind to be conquered? It will be done by using this work of words to fully convince man; by using disclosure, judgment, chastisement, and merciless curse to thoroughly subdue him; and by disclosing man’s rebelliousness and judging his resistance so he can know mankind’s unrighteousness and filth, which will be used to highlight God’s righteous disposition. Mainly, it will be the use of these words that conquers man and fully convinces him.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

8. So, what is the main method of conquest? Chastisement, judgment, casting curses, and revealing—using the righteous disposition to conquer people so that they are utterly convinced, being filled with conviction in their hearts and mouths because of God’s righteous disposition. To use the reality of the word and to use the authority of the word to conquer people and convince them fully—this is what it means to be conquered.

from “Only the Perfected Can Live a Meaningful Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

9. The original meaning of conquer is to defeat, to humiliate. In the way Israel’s people put it, it is to completely defeat, destroy, and make one unable to resist Me further. But today as used among you people, its meaning is to conquer. You should know My intent is to completely extinguish and reduce to ruin the evil one of mankind, so that it can no longer rebel against Me, much less have a breath to interrupt or disturb My work. Thus, as far as people are concerned, it means to be conquering.

from “What a Real Man Means” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

10. The result to be achieved from conquering work is primarily for man’s flesh to stop rebelling, that is, for man’s mind to gain a new understanding of God, his heart to thoroughly obey God, and for him to resolve to be for God. How a person’s temperament or flesh changes does not determine whether he has been conquered. Rather, it is when your thinking, your consciousness, and your sense change—that is, when your whole mental attitude changes—that you have been conquered by God. When you have resolved to obey and have adopted a new mentality, when you no longer bring any of your own notions or intentions to God’s words and work, and when your brain can think normally, that is, when you can exert yourself for God with all your heart—this kind of person is someone who is fully conquered.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

11. The work of conquest achieves its effect by taking away the fate and prospects of man and judging and chastising the rebellious disposition of man. It is not achieved by doing a deal with man, that is, by giving man blessings and grace, but by revealing man’s loyalty through stripping him of his freedom and eradicating his prospects. This is the substance of the work of conquest.

from “Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

12. The biggest problem with man is that he thinks of nothing but his fate and prospects, that he idolizes them. Man pursues God for the sake of his fate and prospects; he does not worship God because of his love for Him. And so, in the conquest of man, man’s selfishness, greed and the things that most obstruct his worship of God must all be eliminated. In doing so, the effects of man’s conquest will be achieved. As a result, in the earliest conquest of man it is necessary to first purge the wild ambitions and most grievous weaknesses of man, and, through this, to reveal man’s love of God, and change his knowledge of human life, his view of God, and the meaning of his existence. In this way, man’s love of God is cleansed, which is to say, man’s heart is conquered.

from “Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

13. In fact, perfection occurs at the same time as conquest: As you are conquered, the first effects of being made perfect are also achieved. Where there is a difference between being conquered and being made perfect, it is according to the degree of change in people. Being conquered is the first step of being made perfect, and does not mean that they have been completely made perfect, nor prove that they have been completely gained by God. After people have been conquered, there are some changes in their disposition, but such changes fall far short of those in people who have been completely gained by God.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

14. The final stage of conquering is meant to save people and also to reveal people’s endings. It is to disclose people’s degeneration through judgment and thereby get them to repent, rise up, and pursue life and the right path of human life. It is to wake up the hearts of the numb and obtuse people and to show, through judgment, their inner rebelliousness. However, if people are still unable to repent, still unable to pursue the right path of human life and unable to cast off these corruptions, then they will become unrescuable objects for Satan to swallow up. This is the significance of conquering—to save people and also to show their endings. Good endings, bad endings—they are all revealed by the conquering work. Whether people will be saved or cursed is all revealed during the conquering work.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

15. The conquering work done on you people is of the deepest significance. On the one hand, the purpose of this work is to perfect a group of people, that is, to perfect them into a group of overcomers, as the first group of people made complete, meaning the firstfruits. On the other hand, it is to let created beings enjoy God’s love, receive God’s greatest salvation, and receive God’s full salvation, to let man enjoy not only mercy and lovingkindness, but more importantly chastisement and judgment. From the creation of the world until now, all that God has done in His work is love, without any hatred for man. Even the chastisement and judgment you have seen are also love, a truer and more real love, a love that leads man to the right way of human life. On the third hand, it is to bear testimony before Satan. And on the fourth hand, it is to lay a foundation for spreading future gospel work.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

16. Through what is God’s perfection of man accomplished? Through His righteous disposition. God’s disposition primarily consists of righteousness, wrath, majesty, judgment, and curse, and His perfection of man is primarily through judgment. Some people don’t understand, and ask why it is that God is only able to make man perfect through judgment and curse. They say that if God were to curse man, wouldn’t man die? If God were to judge man, wouldn’t man be condemned? Then how can he still be made perfect? Such are the words of people who do not know the work of God. What God curses is the disobedience of man, and what He judges are the sins of man. Although He speaks harshly, and without the slightest sensitivity, He reveals all that is within man, and through these stern words He reveals that which is essential within man, yet through such judgment, He gives man a profound knowledge of the essence of the flesh, and thus man submits to obedience before God. The flesh of man is of sin, and of Satan, it is disobedient, and the object of God’s chastisement—and so, to allow man to know himself, the words of God’s judgment must befall him and there must be employed every kind of refinement; only then can God’s work be effective.

from “Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

17. God uses His judgment to make man perfect, He has been loving man, and saving man—but how much is contained within His love? There is judgment, majesty, wrath, and curse. Though God cursed man in the past, He did not completely cast man into the bottomless pit, but used that means to refine man’s faith; He did not put man to death, but acted in order to make man perfect. The essence of the flesh is that which is of Satan—God said it exactly right—but the facts carried out by God are not completed according to His words. He curses you so that you might love Him, and so that you might know the essence of the flesh; He chastises you in order that you might be awakened, to allow you to know the deficiencies within you, and to know man’s utter unworthiness. Thus, God’s curses, His judgment, and His majesty and wrath—they are all in order to make man perfect. All that God does today, and the righteous disposition that He makes plain within you—it is all in order to make man perfect, and such is the love of God.

from “Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

18. Today man sees that with the grace, love, and mercy of God alone, he is incapable of truly knowing himself, much less is he able to know the essence of man. Only through both the refinement and judgment of God, only during such refinement can you know your deficiencies, and know that you have nothing. Thus, man’s love of God is built upon the foundation of the refinement and judgment of God. If you only enjoy the grace of God, with a peaceful family life or material blessings, then you have not gained God, and your belief in God has failed. God has already carried out one stage of the work of grace in the flesh, and has already bestowed material blessings upon man—but man cannot be made perfect with grace, love, and mercy alone. In man’s experiences he encounters some of God’s love, and sees the love and mercy of God, yet having experienced for a period of time, he sees that God’s grace and His love and mercy are incapable of making man perfect, and incapable of revealing that which is corrupt within man, nor are they able to rid man of his corrupt disposition, or make perfect his love and faith. God’s work of grace was the work of one period, and man cannot rely on enjoying the grace of God in order to know God.

from “Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

19. 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.

from “How the Second Step of the Work of Conquering Bears Fruit” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

20. God has many means of perfecting man. He employs all manner of environments to deal with the corrupt disposition of man, and uses various things to lay man bare; in one regard He deals with man, in another He lays man bare, and in another He reveals man, digging out and revealing the “mysteries” in the depths of man’s heart, and showing man his nature by revealing many of his states. God perfects man through many methods—through revelation, dealing, refinement, and chastisement—so that man may know that God is practical.

from “Only Those Who Focus on Practice Can Be Perfected” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

21. Refinement does not mean removing people from before God, nor does it mean destroying them in hell. It means changing man’s disposition during refinement, changing his motivations, his old views, changing his love for God, and changing his whole life. Refinement is a real test of man, and a form of real training, and only during refinement can his love serve its inherent function.

from “Only by Experiencing Refinement Can Man Truly Love God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

22. You ought to know that perfecting men, completing men, and gaining men have brought nothing but swords and smiting for their flesh, and brought endless suffering, the burning of fire, merciless judgment, chastisement, and curse, as well as boundless trials. Such is the inside story and truth of the work of managing man. However, all these things are aimed against man’s flesh, and all spearheads of hostility are mercilessly directed toward man’s flesh (for man was originally innocent). All of that is for the sake of His glory and testimony, and for His management. This is because His work is not solely for the sake of mankind, but it is for the entire plan and to fulfill His original will when He created mankind. Therefore, perhaps ninety percent of what people experience is sufferings and trials of fire, but there are very few or even no sweet and happy days which man’s flesh has yearned for, and they are even more unable to enjoy happy moments in the flesh spending beautiful evenings with God. The flesh is filthy, so what man’s flesh sees or enjoys is nothing but God’s chastisement which is not favored by man, and is as if it were lacking normal reason. This is because He will manifest His righteous disposition which is not favored by man, does not tolerate man’s offenses, and loathes enemies. God openly reveals all of His disposition through any means necessary, thereby concluding the work of His six-thousand-year battle with Satan—the work of the salvation of all of mankind and the destruction of the old Satan!

from “The Purpose of Managing Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

23. In truth, the work being done now is to have people forsake Satan, forsake their old ancestor. All judgments by the word aim to expose humanity’s corrupt disposition and to enable people to understand the essence of life. These repeated judgments all pierce people’s hearts. Every judgment directly impacts their fate and is meant to wound their hearts so that they can let go of all those things and thereby come to know life, know this filthy world, and also know God’s wisdom and almightiness and know this Satan-corrupted mankind. The more of this kind of chastisement and judgment, the more man’s heart can be wounded and the more his spirit can be awakened. Awakening the spirits of these extremely corrupted and most deeply deceived of people is the goal of this kind of judgment. Man has no spirit, that is, his spirit died long ago and he knows not that there is a heaven, knows not that there is a God, and certainly knows not that he is struggling in the abyss of death; how would he possibly be able to know that he is living in this evil hell on earth? How would he possibly be able to know that this putrid corpse of his has, through Satan’s corruption, fallen into Hades of death? How would he possibly be able to know that everything on earth has long been ruined beyond repair by mankind? And how would he possibly be able to know that the Creator has come to the earth today and is searching for a group of corrupt people whom He can save? Even after man experiences every possible refinement and judgment, his dull consciousness still barely stirs and is virtually unresponsive. Humanity is so degenerate! Although this kind of judgment is like the cruel hail that falls from the sky, it is of the greatest benefit to man. If not for judging people like this, there would be no result and it would be absolutely impossible to save people from the abyss of misery. If not for this work, it would be very difficult for people to emerge from Hades because their hearts have long ago died and their spirits long ago trampled by Satan. Saving you who have sunk to the deepest depths of degeneration requires calling out to you strenuously, judging you strenuously, and only then will that ice-cold heart of yours be awakened.

from “Only the Perfected Can Live a Meaningful Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

24. God does the work of judgment and chastisement so that man may know Him, and for the sake of His testimony. Without His judgment of man’s corrupt disposition, man would not know His righteous disposition that allows no offense, and could not turn his old knowledge of God into a new one. For the sake of His testimony, and for the sake of His management, He makes His entirety public, thus enabling man to achieve the knowledge of God, and change his disposition, and bear resounding testimony to God through God’s public appearance.

from “Only Those Who Know God Can Bear Testimony to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

25. In the past, His means of salvation was showing the utmost love and compassion, such that He gave His all to Satan in exchange for the whole of mankind. Today is nothing like the past: Today, your salvation occurs at the time of the last days, during the classification of each according to kind; the means of your salvation is not love or compassion, but chastisement and judgment in order that man may be more thoroughly saved. Thus, all that you receive is chastisement, judgment, and merciless smiting, but know that in this heartless smiting there is not the slightest punishment, know that regardless of how harsh My words are, what befalls you is but a few words that appear utterly heartless to you, and know that, regardless of how great My anger, what comes upon you are still words of teaching, and I do not mean to harm you, or to put you to death. Is this not all fact? Know that today, whether it be righteous judgment or heartless refinement and chastisement, all are for the sake of salvation. Regardless of whether today there is the classification of each according to kind, or the laying bare of the categories of man, all of God’s utterances and work are in order to save those who truly love God. Righteous judgment is in order to purify man, heartless refinement is in order to cleanse man, harsh words or chastening are all in order to purify, and for the sake of salvation.

from “You Should Put Aside the Blessings of Status and Understand God’s Will for the Salvation of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

26. God has not come to kill, or destroy, but to judge, curse, chastise, and save. Prior to the conclusion of His 6,000-year management plan—before He makes plain the end of each category of man—God’s work on earth is for the sake of salvation, it is all in order to make those who love Him totally complete, and bring them into submission to His dominion. No matter how God saves people, it is all done by making them break away from their old satanic nature; that is, He saves them by making them seek life. If they do not seek life then they will have no way to accept God’s salvation.

from “You Should Put Aside the Blessings of Status and Understand God’s Will for the Salvation of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

27. All of you live in a place of sin and licentiousness; you are all licentious and sinful people. Today you not only can see God, but more importantly, you have received chastisement and judgment, received such deepest salvation, that is, received God’s greatest love. All that He does is true love for you; He has no ill intention. It is because of your sins that He judges you, so that you will examine yourselves and receive this tremendous salvation. All this is done to work man. From beginning to end, God has been doing His utmost to save man, and He is certainly not willing to completely destroy the men He created with His own hands. Now He has come among you to work; isn’t this even more salvation? If He hated you, would He still do work of such magnitude to personally lead you? Why should He suffer so? God does not hate you or have any ill intention toward you. You should know that God’s love is the truest love. It is only because of people’s disobedience that He has to save them through judgment; otherwise, they would not be saved. As you do not know how to lead a life or how to live, and you live in this licentious and sinful place and are licentious and filthy devils, He does not have the heart to let you become even more depraved; neither has He the heart to see you living in the filthy place like this, being trampled by Satan at will, or the heart to let you fall into Hades. He only wants to gain this group of you and thoroughly save you. This is the main purpose of doing the conquering work on you—it is just for salvation.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

28. Though I have said many words of chastisement and judgment, they have not been done unto you in deed. I have come to do My work, to speak My words and, though My words may be stern, they are spoken in judgment of your corruption and your rebelliousness. The purpose of My doing this remains to save man from Satan’s domain, to use My words to save man; My purpose is not to harm man with My words. My words are stern so that results may be achieved from My work. Only through working in this way can man know themselves and break away from their rebellious disposition.

from “You Should Put Aside the Blessings of Status and Understand God’s Will for the Salvation of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

29. The function of My judgment is to get man to better obey Me, and the function of My chastisement is to allow man a better transformation. Although what I do is for the sake of My management, I have never done anything that was unprofitable for man. That is because I want to make all the nations outside of Israel just as obedient as the Israelites and make them into real men, so that I will have a foothold in the lands outside of Israel. This is My management; it is the work I am accomplishing in the lands of the Gentiles.

from “The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also the Work of Saving Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

30. Although chastisement and judgment are refinements and merciless disclosures to man, meant to punish his sins and punish his flesh, none of this work is intended to condemn and extinguish his flesh. The severe disclosures of the word are all for the purpose of leading you to the right path. You have personally experienced so much of this work and, clearly, it has not led you to an evil path! All of it is to enable you to live out a normal humanity; all of it is something your normal humanity can achieve. Every step of the work is done based on your needs, according to your weaknesses, and according to your actual stature, and no unbearable burden is placed on you. Although you are unable to see this clearly now and you feel as if I am being hard on you, although you keep thinking that the reason I chastise and judge you every day and reproach you every day is because I hate you, and although what you receive is chastisement and judgment, in reality it is all love for you, also a great protection for you.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

31. Only God’s work of cleansing will cleanse humanity of their unrighteousness, and only His work of chastisement and judgment will bring to light those disobedient things among humanity, thereby separating those who can be saved from those who cannot, and those who will remain from those who will not. When His work ends, those people who remain will be cleansed and enjoy a more wonderful second human life upon the earth as they enter a higher realm of humanity; in other words, they will enter into humanity’s day of rest and live together with God. After those who cannot remain have undergone chastisement and judgment, their original forms will be entirely revealed; after this they will all be destroyed and, like Satan, will no longer be allowed to survive upon the earth. The humanity of the future will no longer contain any of this type of people; these people are not fit to enter the land of the ultimate rest, nor are they fit to enter the day of rest that God and man will share, for they are the targets of punishment and are the wicked, and they are not righteous people.

from “God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

32. The last days have already arrived. All things will be classed according to their kind, and will be divided into different categories based on their nature. This is the time when God reveals people’s outcome and their destination. If people do not undergo chastisement and judgment, then there will be no way of revealing their disobedience and unrighteousness. Only through chastisement and judgment can the end of all things be revealed. Man only shows his true colors when he is chastised and judged. Evil shall return to evil, good shall return to good, and people shall be classified according to their kind. Through chastisement and judgment, the end of all things will be revealed, so that the evil will be punished and the good will be rewarded, and all people will become subject under the dominion of God. All the work must be achieved through righteous chastisement and judgment.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

33. In the end, He will burn away all that is unclean and unrighteous within men in the entire universe, to show them that not only is He a God of mercy, lovingkindness, wisdom, wonder and holiness, but even more, He is a God who judges man. To the evil among all mankind, He is burning, judgment and punishment; to those who are to be perfected, He is tribulation, refinement, and trial, as well as comfort, sustenance, supply of words, dealing, and pruning. And to those who are eliminated, He is punishment, as well as retribution.

from “The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

34. You should see that the will and the work of God are not as simple as the creation of the heavens and earth and all things. For the work of today is to transform those who have been corrupted, who have grown extremely numb, and to purify those who were created then worked on by Satan, not to create Adam or Eve, much less to make the light or create all manner of plants and animals. His work now is to make pure all that has been corrupted by Satan so that they may be regained and become His possession and become His glory. Such work is not as simple as man imagines the creation of the heavens and earth and all things to be, and it is not akin to the work of cursing Satan to the bottomless pit as man imagines. Rather, it is to transform man, to turn that which is negative into the positive and to take into His possession that which does not belong to Him. This is the inside story of this stage of God’s work. You must realize it, and should not oversimplify matters. The work of God is unlike any ordinary work. Its marvel cannot be conceived by the mind of man, and its wisdom cannot be attained by such. God is not creating all things, and He is not destroying them. Rather, He is changing all of His creation and purifying all things that have been defiled by Satan. Therefore, God shall commence work of great magnitude, and this is the total significance of the work of God.

from “Is the Work of God So Simple as Man Imagines?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

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