Now, the following states are very common in the brothers and sisters: Those who lead the churches only busy themselves with watering the churches; those who preach the gospel only pay attention to winning more people; those who do general affairs only busy themselves with doing them properly; those who do hosting only consider how to host the brothers and sisters properly; those who are not fit for any duty only attend meetings regularly and remain a member of God’s family. In a word, whose who perform duty only rest content with getting things done, and those who are not fit for any duty are only content with attending meeting regularly; none pays attention to eating and drinking God’s word, to pursuing the truth, and to their own life entering. People have the notion that pursuing the truth is not important, and that as long as they can perform duty properly and do not leave God’s family, they can be saved and be left alive.

The fundamental reason why people have these states is that they do not understand the importance of pursuing the truth and do not understand that only those who pursue the truth can follow God to the end and receive the salvation. In the man’s fellowship attached to The Summary of Christ’s Preachings and Conversations, it says: “Only those who pursue the truth and gain the truth are the ones to be saved by God. … If you do not pursue the truth, the Holy Spirit will not work on you and God will not pay attention to you either; if you pursue the truth, the Holy Spirit will work on you and God will grace you. This is because only by making efforts to pursue the truth can man enter the kingdom of heaven. … Only those who pursue the truth will be truly saved and will be able to receive God’s care and keeping when they truly gain the truth and have enough testimonies of victory at the end of their experiencing God’s work. God’s coming to end the age is to first make complete those who pursue the truth and then send disasters to destroy the world. Those who are saved by God will receive refining in the disasters and thus be purified, and they will be left alive in the end, while those who do not gain the truth will collapse and fall when the trials of the natural disasters come upon them, and this is the very end of those who do not pursue the truth.” “God’s work of saving man is to purify and transform man through his word. The more one thirsts for God’s word and pursues the truth, the more he can be truly purified, and his life nature will be transformed accordingly. The process of man’s being transformed from disobeying and resisting God to obeying and worshipping God is a process in which he enjoys God’s word, experiences God’s word, and gains the truth. While believing in God, it is through reading God’s word and gaining the truth that one obtains salvation, and it is also through enjoying God’s word and gaining the truth that he is made perfect by God. … God’s end-time work is a work of saving man and perfecting man. If one does not spend effort on God’s word to gain the truth, then he will achieve nothing.” These two passages clearly tell us that God does the work in the end time for the very purpose of saving all those who pursue the truth. Only by pursuing the truth can one receive the working of the Holy Spirit, receive God’s care and keeping, and finally receive God’s salvation. If he does not pursue the truth, he is one to be deserted by God and one outside God’s work of salvation, and he will definitely be one to be eliminated and punished by God in the end. We all have been corrupted by satan for several thousand years. We have been full of satanic poisons within and have been completely controlled and occupied by satan. By ourselves we have no strength to free ourselves from satan’s power and influence at all. Today God has been incarnated and expressed many truths. These truths contain God’s intention, God’s nature, God’s exposing and dissection of mankind’s corrupt substance, ways to have one transformed and purified, and so on. These truths are the way, the life, and God’s salvation for man. Only by pursuing to gain these truths can people have the power to overcome satan and transcend sin, be delivered from satan’s power and influence, and receive God’s salvation. Otherwise, they can only live under the power of satan, be completely devoured by it, and perish. Thus we can see that the process of pursuing to be saved while believing in God is exactly the process of pursuing to gain the truth. Only by gaining the truth can we be saved. So, this is how important and crucial it is to pursue the truth while believing in God.

In our practical experience, most of us have such experience—in which aspect we have gained the knowledge of the truth, in that aspect we will be able to transcend satan’s power and influence and not be lured or bound by satan. For example, if we have known God’s almightiness and wisdom in God’s word and known that everything is in God’s hand and that there is God’s good purpose behind everything we encounter, then no matter whether we are persecuted by our families or by the great red dragon, we will have the truth and the vision as our foundation, have the strength within, and be able to be kept and stand firm. For another example, if we are clear about the truths concerning the vision such as God’s work, the significance of God’s incarnation, and so on, then when false christs, antichrists, or other deceivers appear, we will be able to see through all kinds of schemes and fallacies of satan according to these truths and will not be devoured by satan or evil spirits. Still for another example, if we have seen clearly from God’s word worldly fame and gain, position, money, and enjoyment, and have understood that only pursuing the truth and pursuing to perform the duty of a created being to satisfy God is the most meaningful life, we will be able to see through satan’s schemes and uphold testimony when we are tempted by money, fame and gain, or position.