We Should Know the Significance of God’s Raising Up the Man Used by the Holy Spirit

Picture of The Church of Almighty God

He Yi Zhuanghe City, Liaoning Province

In “Ten Administrative Decrees God’s Chosen People Must Keep” it is stipulated: “In the work or the church affairs, apart from obeying God, you should take orders from the man used by the Holy Spirit in everything and should not disobey any of them but should obey them absolutely. Do not analyze whether they are right or wrong. Whether they are right or wrong has nothing to do with you. You should just obey them absolutely.”However, many people do not understand why God requires us to absolutely obey the man used by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, some of them do not value at all the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit, always thinking that the man used by the Holy Spirit is after all a man and not God, so the work he does is not likely in complete accordance with God’s will and is not necessarily one hundred percent reliable and correct. With such a thought, some are simply unwilling to read the fellowships and preachings of the man used by the Holy Spirit, thinking that they would rather read more of God’s word than “The Fellowship of the Man” if they have time. Others, even though they read “The Fellowship of the Man,” simply skim over it, making no attempt to understand the truth or God’s will from it. And still others only know that no matter whether the word of God fits their notions, they should accept and obey it and should not pass judgment on it recklessly. But as to the fellowship of the man used by the Holy Spirit, if they find in it anything that does not fit their notions, they cannot accept it, and they dare to judge and criticize it at will, saying, “How could the man used by the Holy Spirit speak like this? How could he use some popular sayings, such as, ‘to see whether it is a horse or mule, just let it have a race,’ ‘Pig fights against a demon—can do nothing,’ and so on?” And when any work arrangement does not fit their notions, they have doubts for fear that it may be from man’s will. For example, on the stipulations about expelling and purging people, many of them had this thought: “God’s will is to save man to the utmost. Could these stipulations about expelling people be in accordance with God’s will?” Also when the work arrangement required that people be classified into different groups for meetings, they again had a thought: “If this is carried out, won’t those who do not pursue fall? Isn’t it devoid of love? Could this be God’s will? Isn’t it likely to be a method thought up by the man used by the Holy Spirit?” We have such attitudes toward and opinions about the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit mainly because of three reasons: the first is that we do not understand the substance of the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit, the second is that we do not understand why God raises up the man used by the Holy Spirit, and the third is that we do not know the nature and the consequences of not accepting the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit.

Firstly, let us have a look at the substance of the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit. God says: “As far as the substance of the work and the background of being used are concerned, the man used by God is raised up by God, is prepared by God for his own work, and is one who cooperates with God Godself in doing the work. His work cannot be done by any other man in his stead and is an indispensable work of cooperation in humanity when the divinity works. …The man used by God, however, is a man who is prepared by God and who has proper qualities and has humanity. He has been prepared and perfected by the Holy Spirit ahead of time. He is led completely by the Holy Spirit, and especially in working, he is directed and governed by the Holy Spirit. So, he will not deviate on the path of leading God’s chosen people, because God will surely be responsible for his own work and he is doing his own work all the time.” From God’s words, we can see that the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit is different from the work of any other leader or worker. He is a man raised up by God among men to lead all God’s chosen people, and he is prepared by God for his own work and has been prepared and perfected by the Holy Spirit ahead of time. It can also be said that it is through the man used by the Holy Spirit that God leads people to enter into the reality of God’s word. The work of the man used by the Holy Spirit cannot be done by any other man in his stead and is an indispensable work of cooperation in humanity when the divinity is working, and it is completely a work from the Holy Spirit. It is just like Moses being used by God. On the surface, it was Moses who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt and who issued the law to the people of Israel, but in substance, it was God who did his own work through Moses; all that Moses did was what God commanded him to do and was not something from man’s will. The man used by the Holy Spirit in the Age of the Kingdom is different from the men used by the Holy Spirit in the Age of the Law or in the Age of the Grace. The man used in the Age of the Kingdom is a man who has been prepared and perfected by the Holy Spirit ahead of time. He often has the Holy Spirit’s revelation and enlightenment, he can accurately touch God’s will and complete the work God commits to him according to God’s will, and especially in the aspect of working, he is even more directed and governed by the Holy Spirit and he will not at all have any deviations on the path of leading God’s chosen people. The men used by God in the Age of the Law such as Moses only conveyed Jehovah’s commandments but did not know the purpose and significance of Jehovah’s work. And those men who were used in the Age of the Grace all did the work directly without being perfected. They worked only by the revelation or the guidance of the Holy Spirit and could not accurately touch God’s will. They could only tell people the revelation of the Holy Spirit, their own seeing, and their personal experiences, thus persuading people to turn to God or supplying the churches of that time. Therefore, the man used by the Holy Spirit in the Age of the Kingdom is different from the men used by the Holy Spirit in any other age and is also different from any other leader or worker. He is a man who has been perfected by God, and his work is one part of the work in the age God is incarnated. In other words, after God has finished his own work, he entrusts the rest of the work to the man used by the Holy Spirit. And this man can surely lead God’s chosen people to enter into the reality of God’s word and step toward the right track of believing in God, and the work he does is absolutely according to God’s will.

Besides, we must know that the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit today is another kind of work from the Holy Spirit, and that the work done by the man used by the Holy Spirit is to cooperate with the work of Christ and is one part of the work of the Holy Spirit, and it is completely from the Holy Spirit and cannot be said to be done by a man or from man’s will. When the man used by the Holy Spirit does the work, he does it completely according to the word of God and the revelation and direction of the Holy Spirit, and his leading is the leading from the Holy Spirit and is completely a particular way in which the Holy Spirit leads people. So, with the man used by the Holy Spirit to lead people, they will not go astray or be deceived but will be able to step onto the path of being saved and perfected as soon as possible. In The Manual of the Principles for the Church Work, it says: “People can all recognize that Christ’s work is God’s work, but they may not recognize that the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit is completely another kind of work from the Holy Spirit. This is because the word the man used by the Holy Spirit speaks or the work he does is purely of a man’s word, with a man’s style and a man’s tone, and is purely of the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge a man has gained in experiencing God’s word, and it represents a man’s experience, a man’s knowledge, and a man’s being, and simply cannot compare with God’s word. It is obviously a man’s work. However, what makes it different from other men’s work is that the man used by the Holy Spirit has been perfected by the Holy Spirit and has a deeper experience of God’s word, otherwise he would not be able to lead people in this way. … In the steps of God’s working in the end time, God has purposely arranged the leading of the man used by the Holy Spirit, and this is significant and even more is beneficial to the work of saving mankind. God’s work needs the cooperation in humanity, and there is deep significance in this. Though people cannot know it thoroughly, they must know that the work of the man’s cooperation is absolutely the leading from the Holy Spirit and is also one part of the work of the Holy Spirit. Although it is a man’s working, yet the words he fellowships are all from the Holy Spirit’s revelation and enlightenment rather than from corrupt mankind’s thoughts and viewpoints, it is exactly according to God’s requirements that he leads people to enter into the word of God, and it is also according to the administrative decrees and the principles in the word of God that he arranges and assigns all the works of God’s family. … If one always thinks that what God’s family arranges is done by a man and not by God, he has something wrong with his viewpoint on the thing. If he is a wise person, he should follow Christ and obey the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit, for these are all God’s arrangements and are all the Holy Spirit’s work, in which there is no mistake at all.” From this, it can be seen that to all appearances the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit is the work of a man, but in substance it is of the work of the Holy Spirit and is completely another kind of work from the Holy Spirit. This is because he is used by the Holy Spirit, he is led, directed, and governed by the Holy Spirit in doing the work, and he is a man prepared by God to cooperate with God in doing the work and lead God’s chosen people in the end time. God raises up the man used by the Holy Spirit to do the work to lead people, and this is a way in which God does the work to lead people, and of course, it is also a way in which the Holy Spirit leads people.

Secondly, let us have a look at the significance of God’s raising up the man used by the Holy Spirit. God says: “People do not at all have the ability to live independently, except the men specially instructed and guided by the Holy Spirit, for all people need to be ministered to and shepherded by the men used by God. So, in each age God raises up different men to run and labor for his work to shepherd the churches. That is to say, God’s work has to be done through the men God favors and approves. The Holy Spirit does the work through the desirable parts in men; and through the Holy Spirit’s perfecting, they become fit for God to use. … With such a man who can do the work of cooperation in humanity, more of what God requires of people and more of the work the Holy Spirit wants to do among people will be accomplished through this man used by God. It can be said that God’s purpose in using this man is that all those who follow God can better understand God’s will and meet more of God’s requirements. Because no one can directly understand God’s word or God’s will, God raises up a man used by him to do such work. The man used by God can be said to be a go-between through whom God leads people and an ‘interpreter’ through whom God communicates with people.” “When God comes into the flesh, if he only did the work of divinity without several men who are after his heart cooperating with him, people could not understand his will and would have no way to contact him. God has to use the normal men who are after his heart to complete his work and care for and shepherd the churches, so that his work can be within the reach of human thinking and human brain. In other words, God’s work in divinity is ‘translated’ by several men who are after God’s heart, so that it can be opened up, that is, the words of divinity are rendered into words of humanity, so that all people can comprehend and understand them. If the work were not done this way, people could not understand God’s words in divinity, because those who are after God’s heart are few after all and people’s understanding ability is poor. So, only when God is incarnated to work does he work in this way.” From God’s words, we can see that the man used by the Holy Spirit is a go-between through whom God leads people and an “interpreter” through whom God communicates with people. God’s purpose in raising up the man used by the Holy Spirit is that all those who follow God can better understand God’s will and meet God’s requirements more. If there were not the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit but only the work of divinity, people would not be able to understand God’s will or touch the substance of God’s word, much less would they know how to practice the word of God. Because people’s understanding ability is too poor, although the work of God incarnate has brought people accurate words and clear goals to pursue, they still cannot truly understand the inner meaning of God’s words and what God’s words actually refer to. Thus, even if God did more works and spoke more words, the due results still could not be achieved in us. The man used by the Holy Spirit is an “interpreter” through whom God communicates with people. He fellowships with people about his experiences of God’s words and the knowledge of the truth that he has gained under the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and fellowships with people about God’s will and God’s specific requirements for people; that is, he turns words of divinity into words of humanity so that all those who follow God can understand God’s will accurately and meet God’s requirements more. Only then can God’s work produce results in people.

For example, God requires us to prepare enough good deeds for our destination. However, because we do not have the ability to understand God’s word, we do not know at all what the “good deeds” in God’s word refer to but think that good deeds mean doing some things good in the sight of man, or giving up some of our own interests and expending a little outwardly. Actually, this is merely our own imagination and has nothing to do with God’s requirement at all. If we keep pursuing according to this knowledge, in the end God’s word will surely yield nothing in us, and we will fall into disasters for not preparing the good deeds required by God. It is only because of the fellowship of the man used by the Holy Spirit that we know what “good deeds” mean, what “enough good deeds” include, and how to practice so that we can prepare enough good deeds for our destination. Another example, in God’s word, we are required many a time to be an honest person, but because we do not understand the significance of being an honest person, much less know the specific states and manifestations of being dishonest, therefore many times we express dishonesty, yet we are unaware of that. It is through the fellowship of the man used by the Holy Spirit that we understand the significance of being an honest person, we know that being an honest person is the gate through which we enter into the transformation of our disposition and is the basis for being a man and that only by being an honest person can we be saved, and we also know the final outcome of the crafty people, the manifestations of an honest person, and how to be an honest person, thus having the ways to practice being an honest person. Still another example, from the word of God, we all know that being arrogant and self-conceited is the typical image of satan, but because we do not know the specific states and manifestations of being arrogant and self-conceited, we are unaware of it even though we express it, let alone have it transformed. It is after the man used by the Holy Spirit enumerates the states of being arrogant and self-conceited that we suddenly realize that these states are all present in us and see the extreme ugliness of our arrogant and self-conceited disposition. And only at this point do we have the willingness to pursue the truth and have ourselves transformed. One more example, when God’s working does not fit people’s notions and they fall into a passive state for not knowing God’s working or understanding God’s will, the man used by the Holy Spirit fellowships with them about God’s will and the cooperation they should give, to remove their notions and clear up their misunderstandings about God, with the result that they come to know God’s working and understand God’s will to save man. For instance, when the “seven-year trial” came, many of us misunderstood God and lived in a passive state, thinking that God’s working was to play tricks on us, and even wanting to give up our faith in God. At that time, the man used by the Holy Spirit promptly fellowshipped with us about God’s will behind his letting us experience seven years of trials. Through several of his fellowships, such as “See Man’s Nature From His Reactions to the Seven-year Trial,” “Sufferings and Trials Are Man’s Real Wealth of Life,” and so on, we came to know our satanic nature of being too arrogant and self-conceited to obey God’s working and only pursuing to receive blessings but being not willing to pay the price to gain the truth, and we also came to understand God’s kind intention in trying man and know what man should pursue so as to be saved when believing in God. Again, to give another instance, during the period of the tribulation, when we were at a complete loss and felt utterly helpless in the face of various difficulties in the churches, of the persecution by the great red dragon, and of the disturbances of antichrists and evildoers, it was the fellowship of the man used by the Holy Spirit that made us know God’s working and realize that all these were the great feasts God had prepared for perfecting us. After we understood God’s will, we no longer avoided these circumstances but were willing to experience them by faith. From the above facts, we can see that if the man used by the Holy Spirit had not been perfected by the Holy Spirit or had a deeper experience of the word of God, he would never be able to lead people in such a way. And every one of us has also realized that we need such shepherding and watering greatly. Because the word the man used by the Holy Spirit speaks or the work he does is purely of a man’s word, with a man’s style and a man’s tone, and is purely of the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge he has gained in experiencing God’s word, this is even more beneficial to our understanding the truth, entering into the word of God, and being saved by God. It is thus clear that God’s raising up the man used by the Holy Spirit is really of great significance. It is not only the need of God’s work, but much more the need of us who pursue to be saved by God.

To sum up, the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit is one part of the work of the Holy Spirit and is completely from the Holy Spirit. As there is such a man who can do the work of cooperation in humanity, it is more beneficial to the work of transforming people and perfecting people God does in the end time and can better help people to be saved and perfected. This is enough to show that it is very necessary to accept the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit. If we do not accept the work and the leading of the man used by the Holy Spirit but only rely on ourselves to eat and drink and to practice the word of God, we will not be able to understand God’s will accurately, and not only so, but we will easily deviate in our practice and go astray. In that case, no matter how much time or effort we spend, we will not easily enter the right track of believing in God, much less will we be able to gain the transformation of our disposition and be perfected by God. Moreover, as a result of not accepting or obeying the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit, we will become ones resisting God and denying the work of the Holy Spirit and thus be condemned and eliminated by God. This is like the people of Israel in the wilderness at that time. They constantly complained against Moses, saying that he should not have brought them out of Egypt; in substance, they were complaining against God. Eventually they provoked God to anger, with the result that a large number of people died in the wilderness. In the Age of the Kingdom today, of those antichrists that have been rejected, haven’t most been eliminated because they are so arrogant by nature that they condemned and denied and resisted the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit? If we still cling to our own erroneous opinions, unable to obey the leading of the man used by the Holy Spirit, we will never be saved or perfected by God but will surely become the “mighty warriors” who died in the wilderness. Just as it is said in The Manual of the Principles for the Church Work: “If he is a wise person, he should follow Christ and obey the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit, for these are all God’s arrangements and are all the Holy Spirit’s work, in which there is no mistake at all. Those who can truly obey God will surely be able to obey all the work of the Holy Spirit. Through this issue, all those who are arrogant and self-conceited and who submit to no one will be exposed; this is God’s wisdom. Those who can obey all God’s work will certainly be blessed by God. Woe will definitely be to those arrogant and self-conceited people if they cannot know their nature and cannot conscientiously and honestly obey God’s work. Nobody is to blame for this; they can only blame themselves for being so snobbish that they submit to no one in their hearts, always expecting to be led by the God in heaven, but not obeying the Holy Spirit’s work. As a result, they trip themselves up.”

Therefore, we should draw lessons from those failures and clearly know that if we do not obey the leading of the man used by the Holy Spirit, we are disobeying God, because the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit is one part of the work of the Holy Spirit and is completely a work from the Holy Spirit. No matter whether or not a fellowship or a work arrangement of the man used by the Holy Spirit fits our notions, we should never pass judgment on, deny, or resist it at will, nor should we analyze whether it is right or wrong. Rather, we should just obey it completely and absolutely. If there is anything we do not understand, we should only seek to understand and know it gradually in our practice and experience. After we experience it, we will see that all that is of the Holy Spirit’s leading is good and is of benefit to our life. Now the man used by the Holy Spirit is leading us to enter the right track of believing in God. We should have true faith in Christ and obey the leading of the man used by the Holy Spirit. Only by doing so can we enter into the reality of God’s word, gain the transformation of our disposition, and be perfected by God.

From A Collection of Sermons for Supply