It is very just for people to pursue to gain the truth while believing in God, but to truly gain the truth is not so easy a matter. Some think that they have gained the truth because they can preach some messages and resolve some difficulties of the brothers and sisters. Some think that they have gained the truth because they can receive some inspiration and enlightenment when reading God’s word and have gained some knowledge of the truth of a certain aspect. Some think that they have gained the truth because now they can fellowship three or four days without running out of words when having a meeting, while in the past they would have nothing to say after fellowshipping only one day. Still others think that they have gained the truth because they are very familiar with God’s word and can find the very words in the book of God’s word when they preach or fellowship about them. Then, do such states and manifestations prove that they have gained the truth? What are the states of having truly understood the truth and gained the truth?

Let us first read a passage in the man’s fellowship attached to The Summary of Christ’s Preachings and Conversations: “Whether a person has gained the truth has nothing to do with how much experiential knowledge of God’s word he can talk about. Rather, it has to do with whether what he does meets God’s requirements and is after God’s heart, that is, whether he has entered into the reality that God requires man to enter into. If one has entered into the reality required by God and has lived out the reality of God’s word, he is a person who has gained the truth.” “Being able to communicate letters and doctrines but unable to speak about the substance of the truth clearly is not equivalent to having understood the truth. Only those who have understood the truth and who can also practice the truth and live out the truth are the ones who have gained the truth.” From these words we can see that having gained the truth means that one can understand the truth and also practice the truth and live out the truth, and that what he does can meet God’s requirements and be after God’s heart, that is, he has entered into the reality that God requires man to enter into. If a person has truly gained the truth, undoubtedly he is one who knows God, and his work and service can become a true testimony. Those who have gained the truth are the ones who have gained the transformation of their life nature, and they can be in perfect harmony with God and can manifest and glorify God. Those who have gained the truth are the ones who have succeeded in their belief in God and also the ones who have been made perfect by God. Such people seldom commit sins or form notions to resist and disobey God. They can fully rely on the truth in God’s word to overcome satan and transcend the power and influence of darkness. However, we can only communicate some knowledge of the truth of a certain respect, and have only received a little bit of inspiration and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, but have not lived out the reality of God’s word. This shows that we have not truly understood the truth and gained the truth at all. Actually, anyone who has some will to pursue the truth can receive some inspiration and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit during his pursuit and can communicate some knowledge. This is especially true of us who have worked for some years. As we have read much of God’s word, have heard much fellowship, and have had some working experience, it is natural that when encountering some common problems, we know what words of God we should fellowship about to resolve them. However, we regard the working of the Holy Spirit as our own entering in and regard our working experience accumulated over the years as the sign of having gained the truth.

Let us then look at a few examples so that we may have a concrete knowledge of ourselves and form an objective and accurate judgment about ourselves.

For example, having followed God for several years, we had understood some of the truths concerning the vision such as God’s three-stage work, the mystery of God’s incarnation, the differences between God’s work and man’s work, etc., and could also communicate a lot of knowledge of these truths. So, we thought that we had gained the truths of this respect and would never be deceived or form notions to resist God. However, not long ago, when the above asked us how we should view it if the matter rumored in the Western world that Jesus took a wife and begot a child was true, most of us directly denied and drew conclusions about it according to God’s word, and some even said that if Jesus really did so, he was not God. From our reactions and words, it can be seen that we are as bold and assured as the Pharisees were when they rejected and condemned the Lord Jesus. This is sufficient to show that we still do not know God and that even today we still do not know the principle of God’s doing things: God does not consult with man, nor is he restricted by man. God has his own freedom and he does not need man to supervise him. When doing things, God does not need man to decide for him what to do, much less need man to check on the things he does. God does whatever he wants to do, and this is determined by God’s dignity and God’s nature. As we are created beings, unconditionally obeying the Creator is the sense that we should have. We are not qualified to participate in God’s work, and even less should we interfere in anything God does. Besides, even if Jesus really took a wife and begot a child, it would in no way change his divine substance. We believed in Jesus because he had the substance of God and he was Christ, the redeemer of mankind. None of us believed in Jesus because he did not take a wife or beget a child. Then, how could we say such word as “If Jesus really took a wife and begot a child, he was not God”? Such a manifestation of ours shows that we have neither the sense of a created being nor the true knowledge of God. How then can we say that we have gained the truth?

Another example, some time ago, God’s family required us to refute the fallacies of the false christs and antichrists. In the face of those fallacies, we were at a loss and were unable to see their substance clearly and did not know where their errors lay. As a result, the refuting articles we had written missed the point and could not resolve the fundamental problems, and we even agreed with some of the rumors and fallacies. This also shows that we have not yet truly understood the truth and gained the truth.

Still another example, at ordinary times we often fellowship with the brothers and sisters about the truth concerning obeying God. We know that obeying God means obeying God’s work and word, the work arrangements from above, and the inspiration and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and we know that we should absolutely obey everything from God without any choice of our own, and that any obedience in which there is our own choice cannot be called obedience. Moreover, we are also able to list many states and manifestations of them. However, when we encounter a matter not in accordance with our notions or an unpleasant circumstance in the real life, we simply cannot obey and even become negative and utter complaints. This shows that although we can communicate much knowledge of the truth concerning obeying God, we cannot truly obey God in the real life and still have no reality of obeying God. This means that we have not yet gained this truth.