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  • We work hard for the Lord and keep His name.

  • If we watch for His arrival like this, we'll be taken into His kingdom.

  • The Lord Jesus clearly said, only those who do the will of the heavenly Father

  • can enter the kingdom of heaven,

  • and not that hard work and keeping His name

  • awards man entry into the kingdom of heaven.

  • Then what does it mean to do God's will?

  • Doing God's will means to obey the work of God,

  • to view practicing God's word and obeying God as being above all else.

  • Only then do they do God's will.

  • What you say accords with the Bible.

  • But I have a question for you.

  • Okay. Thank God.

  • For years we've believed in the Lord, and have followed the example of Paul.

  • We've been faithful to the name and way of the Lord, (Ah, yes.)

  • and the crown of righteousness surely awaits us. (Amen.)

  • We should focus on working hard for the Lord and watching for His return.

  • Thus, we can enter the kingdom of heaven.

  • For the Bible says,

  • We believe the Lord's promise:

  • He'll take us into the kingdom of heaven at His return.

  • Could there really be anything wrong with this?

  • Please fellowship with us. (Okay.)

  • I approve of Pastor Yang's views.

  • Brother Paul said,

  • So we work hard for the Lord and keep His name.

  • If we watch for His arrival like this, we'll be taken into His kingdom. (Amen.)

  • Nothing is wrong with this! (Indeed!)

  • Sister Zhu, what you speak are the words of Paul. (Indeed.)

  • Paul's words don't represent the Lord's words. (Right.)

  • Paul's words don't ensure entry into God's kingdom.

  • The Lord Jesus clearly said, only those who do the will of the heavenly Father

  • can enter the kingdom of heaven,

  • and not that hard work and keeping His name

  • awards man entry into the kingdom of heaven.

  • We know Jesus is Lord of the kingdom of heaven.

  • Only Lord Jesus decides who will enter His kingdom and gain a crown. (Indeed.)

  • The path we take in our belief in God

  • should be according to the words of the Lord Jesus. (Yes.)

  • If it is according to Paul, we'll be going against the Lord's will and way.

  • Ultimately, we will only bring ruin upon ourselves. (Yes.)

  • And so, we'd best seek and listen to the understanding of others. (Yes.)

  • Then won't it be perfectly clear? (Yes. We'd best seek.)

  • Brothers and sisters,

  • in watching for the arrival of the Lord, most people believe

  • that they need only work hard for the Lord, and follow the example of Paul

  • in order to be directly taken into the kingdom of heaven when He arrives.

  • To them, it seems right to practice like this and no one disagrees.

  • Yet we who believe in God should always seek the truth.

  • It may match people's conceptions, but does it match God's wishes? (Is it?)

  • We should know that God's words are the principles of man's actions

  • and the standard by which all things are measured.

  • If people follow God's words, they'll surely receive God's approval.

  • If they go against them and practice by their own conceptions,

  • they will be rejected by God.

  • As to if people can enter the kingdom of heaven

  • by watching, waiting, and working hard for the Lord,

  • let's look at what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23,

  • In the words of the Lord Jesus, we see that Jesus said,

  • He did not say

  • all those who work hard and keep His name can enter the kingdom of heaven.

  • Indeed.

  • Is this not fact?

  • Right. He didn't say hard work brings entrance to the kingdom of heaven.

  • To me, these are our conceptions and imaginings.

  • If it's as some think

  • that all who work for the Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven,

  • why did Jesus say some of those who prophesied in His name committed evil?

  • Indeed.

  • This shows that working hard for the Lord

  • is not necessarily the same as doing the will of God.

  • And why is that?

  • Because many people work hard for the Lord so that they may be blessed,

  • and not for truly obeying God.

  • Their satanic disposition remains.

  • They still have notions of God and oppose God.

  • There are even some who hate the truth, the same as the Pharisees.

  • No matter how hard they work for the Lord,

  • how could such people do the will of God? (Indeed.)

  • In nature, such people oppose God.

  • To enter God's kingdom simply by hard work is intolerable to Heaven.

  • Don't you all agree? (Indeed. Yes. I agree.)

  • Then what does it mean to do God's will?

  • Doing God's will means to obey the work of God,

  • to view practicing God's word and obeying God as being above all else. (Indeed.)

  • Thus, they can abide by God's commandments,

  • perform their duty as required by God,

  • and truly dedicate themselves to God

  • without thought of what they might gain in return.

  • All they do is practice truth, obey God.

  • Only then do they do God's will.

  • Oh, so that's how it is.

  • Though they work and make great sacrifices,

  • many of those who believe in the Lord do so

  • in order to enter the kingdom of heaven and be rewarded. (Yes.)

  • It isn't to love God and obey Him.

  • Such devotion to God is nothing more than making a deal with Him.

  • Despite working hard for God,

  • many people have never put the truth into practice,

  • nor do they exalt or testify to God.

  • Instead, they often make an idol of themselves,

  • and make others worship and follow them.

  • Everything they do is to maintain their own position and income.

  • Are such people those who put God's word into practice and obey God?

  • Are they those who do the will of God? (No, they're not.)

  • Such people serve God but they also oppose Him. (Yes.)

  • They're the hypocritical Pharisees.

  • It can be said that they are evildoers.

  • How could such people enter the kingdom of heaven?

  • No, they will not.

  • From this, we see that those who appear to be working hard for the Lord

  • yet have never put the truth into practice

  • are not testifying to God because they wish to carry out His will.

  • Such people are not performing the will of God.

  • They work hard to receive His blessings and enter the kingdom of heaven,

  • yet they still oppose God.

  • There's no change in disposition.

  • Like the Pharisees,

  • they pretend to be good, but will ultimately be cursed by God. (Yes.)

  • Let's look at a passage of the words of Almighty God. (Okay.)

  • Almighty God's words make it clear.

  • Entering the kingdom of heaven is not based on how much they work or suffer.

  • Indeed.

  • It's based on if they practice God's words, if they follow God's commandments,

  • and whether or not they do God's will.

  • That's the criteria to enter God's kingdom.

  • Their fellowship is so clear.

  • And yet, there are those who blindly hold to Paul's words,

  • They take Paul's fallacious views

  • as the theoretical basis for entry into the kingdom of heaven.

  • So regardless of how much they sacrifice, they can't receive God's approval,

  • nor enter the kingdom of heaven. (Right.)

  • It's lucky we heard their fellowship today.

  • Or else we couldn't enter in our lifetime.

  • For years I've preached, yet not known how to do the heavenly Father's will.

  • All I knew was to work and sacrifice for the Lord.

  • I paid no attention to seeking the Lord's will. (True.)

  • Today I have discovered that nothing is more crucial than doing God's will.

  • Indeed.

  • I overlooked this.

  • I'm so ashamed!

  • Yes. We used to all believe

  • that if we worked hard for the Lord, and to Him dedicated ourselves,

  • then we could enter His kingdom at His return.

  • After hearing you, I realize that our views of pursuit were wrong.

  • Indeed. Thanks be to God.

  • Though we spent for the Lord and worked hard,

  • we did not practice the Lord's words nor obey Him. (Indeed.)

  • Everything we did was in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.

  • All was so that we might be blessed.

  • In this, weren't we deceiving God?

  • We were!

  • God looks within the depths of people's hearts. God is righteous and holy.

  • Amen. Yes.

  • How could we possibly receive God's approval in that way, (Yes.)

  • or enter the kingdom of heaven? (Right.)

  • How lucky we are to have heard their fellowship today!

  • We have just fellowshiped

  • that people can only enter God's kingdom by doing the heavenly Father's will.

  • What then are God's requirements

  • for watching and waiting for the Lord's arrival? (Yes.)

  • Many people believe

  • that they need only work hard, suffer as they bear the cross, keep Lord's name.

  • By doing so, they believe they're watching,

  • and will not be forsaken by the Lord.

  • In fact, Jesus spoke very clearly about watching and waiting.

  • Oh? Very clearly?

  • In Matthew 25:6,

  • Amen.

  • There's also Revelation 16:15,