The Church of Almighty God | Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “God Perfects Those After His Heart”
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“The group of people God wants to gain now are those who strive to cooperate with God, who can obey His work, and who believe the words God speaks are true, who can put God’s requirements into practice. They are those who have true understanding in their hearts. It is they who can be perfected, and they who will inevitably walk the path of perfection. Those without a clear understanding of God’s work, those who do not eat and drink of God’s word, those who pay no attention to God’s word, and those without any love for God in their hearts—people like this cannot be perfected. Those who doubt the incarnate God, those who remain uncertain about Him, those who are never serious about God’s word, and those who always deceive God, these people resist God and are of Satan—there is no way to perfect such people.
If you wish to be perfected, you must first be favored by God, because God perfects those He favors, who are those after His heart. If you wish to be after God’s heart, your heart must be obedient to God in all His work, you must strive to pursue the truth, and you must accept God’s observation in all things. Has all you do undergone God’s observation? Is your intent correct? If your intent is correct, God will approve of you; if your intent is wrong, this proves that what your heart loves is not God, it is the flesh and Satan. Therefore you must accept God’s observation in all things through prayer. When you pray, although My person is not there, the Holy Spirit is with you, and when you pray to this person, you also pray to the Spirit of God. Why do you believe in this flesh? Because He has the Spirit of God. Would you trust in this person without the Spirit of God? When you believe in this person, you believe in the Spirit of God. When you fear this person, you fear the Spirit of God. Faith in God’s Spirit is faith in this person, faith in this person is also faith in the Spirit of God. When you pray, you feel the Spirit of God with you, God is before you, therefore you pray to God’s Spirit. Today, most people are too afraid to bring their actions before God, and while you may deceive God’s flesh, you cannot deceive God’s Spirit. All that cannot withstand God’s observation is not in accord with truth and should be cast aside, or you sin against God. So, no matter whether it’s when you pray, when you speak and fellowship with your brothers and sisters, or when you perform your duty and do your business, you must lay your heart before God. When you fulfill your function, God is with you, and so long as your intent is correct and is for the work of God’s house, God will accept all you do, so you should earnestly devote yourself to fulfilling your function. When you pray, if you have love for God in your heart, and if you seek God’s care, protection, and observation, if these are your intent, your prayers will be effective. As you pray at meetings, so should you open your heart and pray to God, tell God what is in your heart, and without speaking falsehoods, then your prayers will be effective. If you earnestly love God in your heart, then make an oath to God: “God, who is in the heavens and earth and all things, I swear to You: May Your Spirit examine all I do and protect and care for me at all times. It makes it possible for all I do to stand in Your presence. Should my heart ever cease to love You or betray You, give me Your severest chastisement and curse. Pardon me in neither this world nor the next!” Do you dare make such an oath? If you do not, this proves you are cowardly, and that you still love yourself. Do you have this resolve? If this is truly your resolve, you must make this oath. If you have the resolve to make such an oath, God will satisfy your resolve. When you swear to God, God listens. God determines whether you are sinful or righteous by your prayer and your practice. This now is the process of perfecting you, and if you truly have faith in God’s perfection of you, you will bring all you do before God and accept God’s observation, and if you do something outrageous or betray God, God will “perfect” you according to your oath, and then no matter what happens to you, be it perdition or chastisement, it is your own problem. You made the oath, so you should carry it out. If you make an oath, but don’t carry it out, you will perish. When you make the oath, God will perfect you according to your oath. Some are afraid after they pray, and say, “Oh no, my chance at debauchery is gone, my chance to do wicked things is gone, my chance to indulge my worldly greed is gone!” These people still love the world and sin, and they are certain to perish.
To be a believer in God means that all you do must be brought before God and made subject to God’s observation. If what you do can be brought before God’s Spirit but not before God’s flesh, this proves that you have not subjected yourself to the observation of God’s Spirit. Who is the Spirit of God? Who is the person testified by God? Are They not one in the same? Most see Them as two, believing the Spirit of God is His alone, and the person testified by God is merely a man. But you’re wrong, aren’t you? On whose behalf does this person work? Those who do not know the incarnate God do not have the spiritual understanding. God’s Spirit and His incarnate flesh are one, because God’s Spirit is materialized in the flesh. If this person is unkind to you, will God’s Spirit be kind? What has confused you? Today, none who cannot accept God’s observation can receive God’s approval, and any who do not know the incarnate God cannot be perfected. Look at yourself and ask if all that you do can be brought before God. If you cannot bring all that you do before God, this shows that you are an evildoer. Can evildoers be perfected? All that you do, every action, every intention, and every reaction must be brought before God. That is, your normal spiritual life, your prayers, your closeness with God, eating and drinking of God’s word, fellowship with your brothers and sisters, living your life in the church, and even your service in your partnership are all things which must be brought before God and observed by Him. It is such practice that will help you mature in life. The process of accepting God’s observation is the process of purification. The more you accept God’s observation, the more you are purified, the more you are in accord with God’s will, so that you will not hear the call of debauchery and dissipation, and your heart will live in the presence of God; the more you accept God’s observation, the more you shame Satan and forsake the flesh. So, the acceptance of God’s observation is a path people must practice. No matter what you do, even during fellowship with your brothers and sisters, if you bring your acts before God and seek God’s observation, and if your intent is to obey God Himself, what you practice is much more correct. Only if you are someone who brings all you do before God and accepts God’s observation can you be someone who truly lives in the presence of God.”
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Do you see anything in this passage of God’s words we’ve just read? This is a passage that illuminates people’s insight and shines light upon our hearts. This passage is entitled “God Perfects Those After His Heart.” We all know that God’s work of judgment in the last days is done primarily to perfect those after His heart, and that after they are perfected, those who have no love for the truth will finally be revealed and eliminated, and the wicked evildoers will be condemned and punished, of which Christians speak when they say “God will reward the good and punish the evil in the last days.” Then who are the good that God will reward? Those who pursue the truth. Those who, as they experience God’s work of judgment in the last days, can accept and obey the truth, come to truly live in the presence of God, and who perform their duties adequately and please God in the end are after God’s heart. Some will ask: “How did those after God’s heart come to live in the presence of God? How did they come into accord with God? What do they mainly possess?” You all heard in this passage of God’s word that there is a vitally important practice. What is it? We must accept God’s observation, as Christians each and every thing we do must be subject to God’s observation! If people accept God’s observation, what will be the result? They will do less evil, or none at all, they will not seek debauchery and dissipation, and they will practice restraint, which means they can obey the truth and dare not act wildly. Even if they cannot practice the truth, they will at least do no evil. If someone can achieve this result, is this not a person who accepts God’s observation? And are those who accept God’s observation not after God’s heart? Then what does “after God’s heart” in this passage primarily refer to? It refers to those who can accept God’s observation. Those who can accept God’s observation in all things are those after God’s heart, who are in turn those who truly accept and obey God’s work and those who truly pursue the truth, so the principle of accepting God’s observation can best expose man. If someone practices acceptance of God’s observation, we can call this person a true believer in God, someone who is truly experiencing the work of God. And those who do not accept God’s observation? They have no true faith in God, they do not experience God’s work, they are mere embellishments, followers, gain-seekers, and opportunists.
In the past, we’ve often said people who believe in God need to pursue the truth, and that only those who pursue the truth can be perfected, but today we say God only perfects those after His heart, so does “after His heart” refer to when people are already perfected, or a real condition people should have as they experience God’s work? It refers to a real condition people should have as they experience God’s work. So it comes back to what we often discuss, that this is someone who truly believes in God, is someone who pursues the truth and is truly obedient to God’s work, so we will simply call people like this “correct.” Is the correct person after God’s heart? The correct person can practice true acceptance of God’s observation, he dares to make an oath to God, he seeks truth in all things, he obeys God’s orchestrations and arrangements, and no matter how much God’s work does not fit with the notions of man or whatever he faces that does not fit with the notions of man, he always seeks the truth, remains obedient in God’s presence, does not resist God, and does not pass judgment on God. Put this way, is the correct person someone who reveres God? Only these, the people who are correct, have fear of God and are truly after God’s heart, and these are the people God will perfect. So, whoever pursues the truth in God’s house and is truly obedient to God’s work will be perfected in the end.
Some will then ask: “If we are perfected, will we become sanctified and without defect? Will we become completely able to practice the truth, without any corruption remaining? Can we become absolutely honest, without harboring any deceit?” This is not a reasonable assumption. Those after God’s heart are precisely those who pursue the truth and are considerate of God’s heart, those who accept God’s observation and seek the truth when they encounter issues, and what phrase do we so often use to describe such people? Those who pursue the truth. Today, most of God’s chosen people can discern those who pursue the truth, who do not pursue the truth, and those who refuse to accept and never seek the truth. It means that God’s chosen people, through their experience of God’s work, have come to understand parts of the truth, but to greater and lesser degrees. Are all those who pursue the truth after God’s heart? When God perfects those after His heart, He perfects all who pursue the truth, do you understand? Some people say: “I’m also a pursuer of truth, so why have I still not received it?” How can we explain this? You feel you are a pursuer of truth, but after so many years of faith, it seems like you still haven’t received it. How does not having received the truth manifest? Those without the truth do things without principle, never see things from the right perspective. They have no real discernment, they see small things with some discernment, but very shallow, and in large things they do not comprehend, these are the aspects in which a person expresses that they have not received the truth. Some people say: “I am also a pursuer of truth, I listen to the fellowship and sermons from the above whenever I have time, I understand what I’ve heard clearly, the above is right about everything, I’ve found the path, I practice it, so why haven’t I received the truth?” How do we explain this? They do not pursue the truth with enough resolution. They do not pursue the truth as though they crave and thirst for it, they are merely inclined to pursue the truth, and they only seek the truth in some critical matters, they do not seek the truth in most things, so their understanding of the truth is still too shallow even after years of believing in God, they have gained too little of the truth. Why have you gained so little? Where were you deficient? You think of yourself as a pursuer of the truth, but your pursuit was so inadequate, and time will show the difference against others who pursue the truth. It concerns the degree of pursuit. What does the degree of pursuit determine? Your degree of hunger and thirst for righteousness and love for the truth. Some have three degrees of ten of love for the truth, some have five, some have eight, and those make a substantial difference. Over the course of years, will the fruits of their efforts be the same? Of course not, am I right?
Some people say: “I am a pursuer of the truth, but I’ve gained so little of it, it must be because I pursued it too little and without enough enthusiasm.” Is this right or wrong? Then what about your enthusiasm? You are a pursuer of truth, and you desire and thirst for the truth, but to what degree? You love the truth, but to what degree? Be clear about this, and you’ll know what kind of a person you are and whether you love the truth. Some people, when they are dealt with, do nothing but rationalize, giving more arguments than anyone, but to what degree does this person love the truth? Eight degrees? Does he reach six? Does he reach three? Does he reach one? If he does not reach one, he is finished. Is this person a pursuer of truth? None as argumentative as you pursue the truth. You have never sought the truth. How could you be spoken of as one who pursues the truth? The most practical expression of the pursuit of truth is seeking it in all things. Those who seek the truth in all things are those who truly pursue it, and those who are obedient to the truth in all things are those who truly pursue it. If you meet only one of these conditions, either of them, you are a true pursuer of the truth, you are after God’s heart, and you will be perfected by God. If you meet neither of these conditions, you can’t be perfected. If you don’t expend any effort, how can you have results? It’s the same as farmers who rely on planting to survive, but who spend their year playing mahjong and gambling while they neglect the soil, and then hope for a bumper harvest in the autumn. Isn’t that just a fantasy? The old proverb goes, “As a man sows, so he shall reap,” and it’s entirely right! God sees all that man does, and you see how many people follow God and perform their duties, but God also sees all of it, and what does God see? God looks upon every thought and idea of man, every word and deed of every man, to see who is pursuing the truth, how they practice in their pursuit of truth, who does not pursue the truth, and what evils they do. These are all witnessed and recorded. Finally, God will reward the good, punish the evil, and determine whether every man is righteous or evil according to these records, and finally, based on their behavior and whether or not they have gained the truth, decide every person’s final outcome.
Some who have been pruned and dealt with pray in their hearts: “God, where was I wrong? Illuminate me and help me understand! When I understand I will obey!” But then later they reflect, and they understand: “I truly acted without principle, it was rash and arrogant of me, I brought trouble to the house of God, I was truly disruptive. It’s a serious problem, and I was dealt with properly. God is righteous, so I’ll obey Him.” In the end, they pray: “God, I bear no complaint, I realize I was wrong, I acted without principle, it was purely because I was rash and arrogant, I deserved to be dealt with! God, You are so righteous, and I will obey You, I will accept any chastisement You give me without complaint.” An attitude so accepting of God’s observation, and such a sincere prayer, this is an honest person. Why do we say this is an honest person? It’s because this person accepts God’s observation! Some people say: “Why can’t I see his acceptance of God’s observation?” Look at his prayer: “God, where was I wrong? Illuminate me and help me understand!” After his prayer he ponders on what happened, and once he reflects, “Oh no, I acted without principle in this matter, my actions were obviously driven by my own desires, I had personal intentions and goals at the time, and after I did it the leaders, workers, and the brothers and sisters were not satisfied, the way they looked at me told me something was wrong, and that’s when I knew I was wrong!” And then he prays again: “God, You examine the hearts of man, and You miss nothing. What I did was not in accord with Your will, it was unprincipled, purely a wicked deed, and nothing but a disruption. I admit my sin, I want to repent! God, however You chastise me, I accept, for You are righteous.” Is this prayer, when said before God, spoken from the heart? After that prayer, his heart feels at peace. It’s finally over, and he has told God everything, “I will act according to the principles of truth in my duties, if I don’t understand the truth I will seek it, and I cannot allow myself to be rash or arrogant anymore.” When his thoughts reach this point, he makes an oath to God: “If I am ever rash or arrogant, act without principle, and disrupt work in the house of God, I beg You, God, punish and chastise me heavily!” Is one who can swear such an oath not honest? This is someone honest, and he can accept God’s observation. As you experience God’s work, this is how you must obey His arrangements—submit to His pruning and dealing with you, obey God’s enlightenment and illumination, and use your prayers and oaths to commune with God to show Him your sincerity. Any who experience God’s work this way, no matter if they are receiving God’s judgment and chastisement, His pruning and dealing, or His trials and refinements, can open their hearts and commune with God, and after understanding the truth through prayer, can genuinely repent, and then after undergoing several rounds of pruning, dealing, trial, and refinement, can make progress in their life, come to obey some of the truth, and gradually learn to act according to principle. Day after day, as they experience God’s work, they will understand more and more of the truth. As they accept God’s judgment, chastisement, pruning, and dealing, real change will start to occur in them, and if they experience God’s work to the end, after ten, twenty, or thirty years, change will occur in their life disposition, they will be obedient to God, they will also understand much of the truth, they will act according to principle no matter what their duty, and put God at ease. Is this not what it means to be perfected by God? To be perfected means that after years of experience, a real change occurs, you put God at ease, no longer need so many people to supervise you, you no longer require constant pruning and dealing, and you no longer require your leaders to constantly watch you. With some people, others would say, “You have to keep an eye on him. If you don’t, he’ll do something bad the moment no one is watching, and there’s no telling what he’ll do, he’s completely unpredictable!” When the “fever” takes such a man his passion burns hot, but the moment God’s work ceases to fit with man’s notions, he turns cold and distant, complains bitterly, and is ready to betray God until someone stronger comes to stop him, and just as he is about to make a grave mistake, “THWACK!”, the stronger party knocks him to the ground. Unwatched, this man is capable of any wickedness, there’s no end to the damage or problems he might cause, but he is capable of contributing positively under supervision. Is this someone who puts God at ease? Does he have the reality of truth? Does he accept God’s observation? He must be watched, or things will go wrong. If you don’t believe, you may give him a place of leadership, then leave him alone, do not ask about anything, and do not prune and deal with him; he would stand in a confused daze, he could fool you for four or five years without doing any productive work, and he would even abandon himself to a life of pleasure. Is this someone after God’s heart?
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How does a person after God’s heart practice, and what conditions does he meet? Without being watched, he accepts God’s observation, because he has a heart that fears God; without being watched, when he makes a mistake or has a transgression, he goes before God on his own to repent, confess his sins, and accept God’s discipline; without being watched, he reflects on himself every day and examines which of his actions are in accord with God’s will and which are not; without being watched, he is also honest, acts according to principle, and reports his doings truthfully and regularly. If you don’t watch him, the fruits of his labor are the same, the way he pursues the truth is the same, and he seeks truth in things, accepts God’s observation, and fellowships with God in prayer just the same. Is this someone after God’s heart? There are many leaders today who, when their superiors don’t ask after their work for three months, think, “My superiors have forgotten me, this is my chance to indulge myself, I don’t have to be so busy now, because I can fudge my work and get by. I’ll just do the minimum this time, because this time I can finally relax; I’m finally free of controls and restraints, so I’ll take a break.” What kind of a person is this? Is this someone who can be perfected if he follows God to the end? Why not? Because he is neither correct nor honest. This is not an honest man, and he cannot be trusted. He is one way when you watch him, but he changes when you don’t, he’s different. He will say one thing to your face and another to your back, and he conducts himself one way when you look and another when you look away. This is a crafty person! He is two-faced in all his dealings, he has two ways of handling things, he is one person in public and another in private, he does not say what he means, he accepts orders but does not follow them, and he says pleasing things while you listen, but does wicked things in secret. When you give work to such a man, unless you force his hand and watch him, he will mishandle the work, ruin things, and make a mess. Is this someone who can be trusted? He cannot be trusted. If he can’t be trusted, can he put God at ease? No, this person doesn’t put God at ease, because God cannot trust him. Such a man might do anything. He is too unpredictable. Is such a person after God’s heart? Can such a person be perfected by God? People like this are not honest. They aren’t people who can genuinely pursue the truth. They speak pleasingly before others and do evil when no one is watching. Some people, you have seen, are promoted in God’s house, and the moment they are promoted, trouble starts, within just a few days they go outrageously wild. They become so arrogant that they won’t submit to anyone, they will reprimand and prune all, and they will have respect for none. Does such a person have any humanity? He is a monster, a devil in disguise! Do such people exist in God’s house? There is no way for such people to be perfected by God. And how should we practice where they are concerned? We have to scold them every three days, yell at them every five days, deal with them every ten, and prune them every twenty for them to be manageable and perform useful service. Some people do nothing significant for God’s house, instead they cause significant problems. Once such a man has any responsibility or accomplishment, he will cause problems and tyrannize and dress down his brothers and sisters so severely that they are afraid to even exhale around him or look at him in the eye. He castigates and admonishes others mercilessly, without even a shred of kindness. Is this not a cruel person? He is too cruel and has no humanity!
The title of the passage of God’s word we just heard is “God Perfects Those After His Heart.” God perfects those after His heart, but what about those not after His heart? What kind of people are not after His heart? Which people are not after His heart? Everyone recognizes that they are those who do not practice truth, those who do not seek, those not obedient to the truth, and those who refuse to accept no matter how their brothers and sisters fellowship with them. Do these kinds of people love the truth? They have no love for the truth at all. When such a man hears fellowship on the truth, he understands the superficial meaning of the words and thinks, “I’m fine, I understand, and you might lecture me, but I understand more than you. You want to fellowship about the truth to me? Well, listen to what I have to say!” He believes he understands everything, and the result is that he does not practice any part of the truth, he never practices the truth. When others fellowship about the truth to him, he refuses to accept, instead he resents them and seeks retribution on them. Does someone like this understand the truth? No. He doesn’t understand, but he thinks he understands more than anyone. Is this not conflict? People like this are harder to deal with than anyone, aren’t they? Yes, they are! Can anyone truly describe their disposition and nature? No, only God can do that, and still they do not accept. No one can explain to them because they are stronger and more arrogant than anyone. They think they are the most intelligent and capable, and that nothing is a challenge for them. They respect no one. Can someone like this be perfected by God? Not only can he not be perfected by God, in the end people will abandon him, and he will be reviled by all. And if a person reaches such a point among men, he is finished! Are there those who reach this point? To be the subject of the accusations and derision of everyone, one must be more evil than the great red dragon. How evil is the great red dragon? Out of the more than a billion people in China, few dare publicly curse the great red dragon, because if you do, it will cut out your tongue, bash out your teeth, and cut off your head. If you curse the great red dragon, it will kill you where you stand, it will take your life, so all Chinese people fear it. Very few have no fear of death, so they hate in their hearts but dare not speak. They merely raise their fist and slam it on the table, furious but afraid to act. The great red dragon inspires that level of hatred. And isn’t this how evildoers are hated in the church? If a man has come to be the subject of mass hatred, there is no longer any meaning in life. It is not simply utter failure, it is a sentence to death and the fires of hell. To be the subject of such hatred will finish a man. The crowd will accuse him: “He is too arrogant, too evil, he does not practice truth!” You see how many people fail to fellowship about the truth clearly, but they are much more sensitive to the presence of a devil. Everyone knows the great red dragon is a devil, but the false leaders and antichrists in the church are also devils, and the antichrists are even more evil. That’s why antichrists are like “rats crossing the street” in God’s house, everyone shouts and tries to get rid of them. There are still a few antichrists everywhere. The antichrists who held power have mostly been expelled, but there are still a few that remain. Many people are also wicked. The essence of their nature is that of an antichrist, but they have not yet grasped power. Anyone who is arrogant and doesn’t accept the truth will become an antichrist as soon as he holds power. You see how some perform their duties, they are given a task and turn arrogant after only a few days, and if you leave them alone for a week or two, the beast within them kicks, and they begin to tyrannize and dress down others, seek leverage over others, and deal viciously with anyone they don’t like, until finally they bully everyone into orderly submission and obedience. Why do they always seek to make others submit? Why do they always reprimand others? I ask such a man: Do you have truth? Do you have reality? Can you bring any benefit to others? Can you help others enter into the reality of truth? Can you help others understand the truth? Can your fellowship illuminate the truth? He makes no contribution to others’ entry into life, yet he reprimands others left and right, is this person not an antichrist? This is absolutely an antichrist. To him I say, if you truly led others into the reality of God’s word, if you truly could communicate the essence of the truth, if you helped people gain the truth, and if all you did brought benefit to people and helped them grow, then none would complain when you prune and deal with them. What would they say? “What he does is to lead me into the reality, what he does is to help me experience God’s work, what he does is to benefit me, what he does will help me change my life disposition, understand the truth, and gain the truth, so no matter how he prunes or deals with me, I can only thank and praise God, because this is part of God’s arrangements.” If you can accomplish this, then you’ve truly become a shepherd, and you are not a false leader. Why don’t people submit to false leaders and antichrists? Because such a man does not provide for people, nothing he does helps people enter into life, all he does is deceive, harm, suppress, control, and bind people, and if given years to do his work, he will make the church disunited, leave God’s chosen people dispirited and lost, ruin the church life, and finally spoil all the work of the church. When an antichrist holds power, is this not the result? When a wicked man holds power, this is the result. He won’t finish until he spoils the work of the church. He has plans and arrangements, the end of all of which is to ruin the work of the church, accuse all the good of false crimes and expel them, and put his supporters, followers, and lackeys in high positions and reward them. These are the doings of an antichrist. When an antichrist holds power, does it not mean that Satan holds power? There are many antichrists among men, people who don’t seek the truth. Are they after God’s heart? This is how you must discern if you wish to truly understand the matter. Who is after God’s heart? How does it manifest? We’ve already discussed that, you all know they are people who can seek truth in all things, obey the truth in all things, accept God’s observation in all things, obey God’s chastisement, judgment, pruning, and dealing, during their trials they can truly commune with God and stand witness for God through their understanding of the truth. These are the people after God’s heart. So at the conclusion of God’s work, those perfected by God are those who are after His heart, and those who are eliminated and not perfected are those who are not after His heart. Those not after God’s heart are those who do not pursue the truth at all, and they also want to hold power, hold sway, oppress God’s chosen people, and make everyone obey them, worship them, and bow down to them. They are the antichrists and wicked men who have been revealed in God’s work of the last days.
Some will say, “As you fellowship about this passage ‘God Perfects Those After His Heart,’ what we need to know is who is after God’s heart, and that’s all we need to know. You don’t need to fellowship about antichrists, who are not after God’s heart, or why they can’t be perfected by God, we already know about these things.” I ask all of you, is there a need to fellowship about this topic? The moment we talk about God perfecting those after His heart, some people feel they are after God’s heart. That is arrogant, irrational, and shameless. Reflect and ask yourself whether you are truly after God’s heart. What roads have you walked? Do God’s chosen people approve? Some people conceitedly count themselves among those after God’s heart when the topic arises, but in the end, not only are they not perfected, they deceive God’s chosen people. Can we afford to not see the truth of this issue? There are those no different from devils and antichrists, and once dealt with, what do they say? “Well, under a low roof, one can’t help but stoop. It wasn’t God who dealt with me. I am after God’s heart, and I say you’re the one who isn’t.” They are still as over-proud and outrageous as ever. When God’s house prunes and restrains them in the slightest, they cry, “This is rebuke and reprimand! I say you are the ones not after God’s heart!” Some will ask, “You expose these people so thoroughly and describe them so clearly, aren’t you afraid of demoralizing them? What if you cause them to be passive? Who will continue to do service like this?” Is that the proper question? Is it better that they are passive or ardent? What will they do when they are ardent? Wicked deeds that disrupt God’s work. If they are demoralized and dispassionate, we have them in a passive state of compliance. That is beneficial to God’s chosen people! They are monsters who consume people whole, they reprimand and tyrannize the dutiful with no end. When they take power, some of the dutiful, especially those who are not adept at speaking or sermonizing, suffer badly at their hand. We should not allow wicked men to be insolent. They must be exposed and made to comply until they are demoralized and stop. This is beneficial to God’s chosen people, but also to the work of God’s house, because if they are too ardent, they cannot be controlled or restrained. They always want to do things, yet when they do, they always disturb and disrupt the work of God’s house. If they were to not act and stop trying to do things, they wouldn’t pose such a threat. That’s the way it is. So if we scold them lightly once every three days, heavily once every five, they will be much more compliant.
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Questions & Answers
Question 1: Brother, how can we speak true words, speak the words in our heart, and speak of our true condition? At times when you asked about our condition, I spoke proudly, and felt I was speaking what was in my heart, but once you began to analyze it, or as you taught us how to speak of our conditions, I realized that all I said was false. I spoke in haste and with scant attention to detail, I didn’t say what I felt in my heart. I’m very confused, because I seem unable to discern the words that are truly in my heart, and unable to speak honestly on my true condition or what is in my heart. Please fellowship about this question.
Answer: What does it mean to speak the truth and what is in your heart? What are falsehood and lies? Where truth and lies are concerned, people’s discernment is always based on the principle of “I believe this is true, so if I speak it, it’s the truth, and if I speak what I believe to be false, it’s a lie.” Such a man judges what is true and false by the standards of his own heart. He discerns truth and lies to the degree he understands them, by standards he judges to be right. There is a fact we all acknowledge, which is that when people do not understand the truth, their notions, imaginations, and judgment are always mistaken. Do we all acknowledge this fact? As an example, look at how the unbelievers refuse to accept the work of God. They don’t understand the truth. All truth comes from God and God’s word, which they do not read, so they don’t understand the truth. They don’t understand the truth, then by what standards do they judge truth, lies, right, and wrong? Their own notions and imaginations. If we further say anyone who doesn’t understand the truth has mistaken notions and imaginations, all without basis, are we correct? We are correct. For example, how do the unbelievers know a good person from a bad person? The unbelievers think anyone who doesn’t do wicked deeds, who isn’t a murderer, arsonist, thief, or robber is good, and that all who do wicked deeds, murderers, arsonists, thieves, and robbers, are evil. This is how their standards of right, wrong, good, and evil are decided. Are their standards correct? Do they conform to the truth? No. Why don’t they conform to the truth? The essence of people’s natures is the same, they all have been deeply corrupted by Satan and have satanic natures. All people have a satanic nature, but their outward actions, choices, and the bottom line in their conduct are different. Consider that people all have greed, but some people are only greedy for some things and not others. Some are content with embezzling a million, and some are not content despite embezzling a hundred million. Both have the same desire to be officials, but one obeys heaven and leaves it to destiny, and the other stages a revolution to take the position by force. So, the unbelievers also have their own different principles and methods. Some say they won’t steal ordinary people’s money, only the government’s and the country’s; some act like bandits, who protect their neighbors rather than rob them, instead only stealing from corrupt officials and ministers; some thugs fight in the name of righteousness and try to do good works for ordinary people. They are all different. So how can we tell the difference between good and bad people? What is the standard? Do we judge by their behaviors and their bottom line and principles in their conduct, or do we judge them purely based on their actions, without looking at their nature? Some say we should judge by their nature. That’s right. Without the truth, we can only examine outward conduct to determine who is good and bad. Some kill with guns, but others do not kill with guns. Instead they speak of peace until the key moment, when they drop an atomic bomb. Which is the more bloodthirsty devil? How are we to discern between them?! Someone is outwardly virtuous, known for being especially good to ordinary people, giving his coats to the cold and bringing meals to the hungry, but if that same official enforces Communist Party’s policy, he will throw Christians in prison to freeze and starve to death. Is this a good official or a bad official? An official who appears to care for people, but whose eyes are full of rage at God and whose mouth is full of curses for God, what kind of an official is that? How should we evaluate this? Everyone has a different viewpoint and way of looking at things. The unbelievers call him a good official, but we Christians say, “Look at his attitude toward the truth and God. He is an evil demon! And this demon is skilled at disguise, cunning, and a master of deceit. How much more potent is the poison in his heart!” We cannot see the essence of the problem without the truth. Before people gain the truth, their notions are incorrect, and their views are mistaken and go against fact. God’s word has been expressed, the truth has come, so how does God evaluate people? Only God’s word contains the truth concerning who is good, righteous, and evil in God’s heart, and if you try to make the determination by the notions, imaginations, and standards of man, rather than using God’s words, your effort will end in humiliating failure. If you choose someone and say, “This man is my king,” and one day he ruins you, you will know your mistake in the end, but by then it’s too late. There is no chance to repent and no going back! The Pharisees worshiped their chief priests and scribes, “We would rather have our chief priests and scribes than follow Jesus.” In the end, they all went to hell, it was only in hell after they died that they understood, “This isn’t heaven, I thought I could get into heaven by keeping the law.” In the end, they all died in hell.
What is the truth? Truth can give people eternal life, light, and a good end, it can alter everything about a person, it can purify, change, and perfect people, it can be people’s life and change their destiny. Finally, when the truth becomes a person’s life, he gains the way of eternal life, he truly belongs to God, and he is truly compatible with God, which are the fruits of his understanding of the truth. If you don’t understand the truth, you will rely on man’s notions, imaginations, and theology, so you will never be compatible with God, and even if you have no desire to resist God, you will be unable to avoid doing it. Even if you have done nothing wrong, your mistaken viewpoints and methods mean you already resist God and that your path is incompatible with God’s, which pushes you further and further from God, which gradually causes you to form notions, judgment, and accusations about God. You’ll finally bring disaster upon yourself by resisting God. This is the result of a mistaken viewpoint. When you first see these viewpoints and words, you think, “That’s right! That’s also a good idea! If I do things this way, if I live according to these words, maybe God will approve of me as well.” Thus, you unknowingly step onto the path of making an enemy of God. This is how intellectuals are destroyed. They believe knowledge can change their destinies. In the end, the various viewpoints, understanding, and ways of man have become their lives, and they live out their lives according to the knowledge and ways in books. They believe, “The road I walk is correct, and the things I’m learning are wonderful! They’re not evil or immoral, they’re perfectly acceptable, and publicly recognized, otherwise why would they be in textbooks and universities? This is correct as well!” If you preach the gospel to them and bear testimony to God and the truth, they will measure it by the knowledge they learned, and say that it is not the truth and the knowledge they worship is their truth; they refuse to accept God, so the intellectuals are deceived and bound by knowledge and ruined. What ruins he who does not pursue the truth? His conceptions, imagination, and judgment sentence him to death. In his notions and imagination, he thinks, “In my faith in God, I only need to follow God to the end, never depart from His name, and never leave His church, and I’m sure to gain salvation.” Such a notion can send him to his death without him ever understanding how it happened. Another idea some might imagine, “In my faith in God, I need only avoid fornication, not steal offerings, and avoid struggling for position; if I am elected as a leader I will do my job, but I won’t fight for position; I need only keep these three rules, I need only avoid committing these three sins, and I am guaranteed to survive.” Is this the truth? If you manage to keep those three rules, if you avoid committing those three sins, are you guaranteed to survive? There exists an even greater sin than these, your satanic nature remains and you still resist God, so you deserve death. You are a wrong person; although you keep these three conditions well, the cunning disposition, deception, pretense, hypocrisy and the sins of the Pharisees you show are graver still, I say graver than even the sins of murderers, because you deceive and harm too many other people. Is that not the case?
Some people say, “In my faith in God, I do whatever I’m told, I obey all of God’s arrangements and perform whatever duties my leaders arrange for me. I obey everything, and this is how I will follow Him to the end, so I’m guaranteed to survive.” Is this the truth? It is an imaginary notion. If you do not pursue truth, and if you cannot understand much of the truth, none can assure your survival, because no matter how well you observe these regulations, it is not the standard by which God judges. If one man commits no sin and does whatever he is told, but understands nothing of the truth, while another commits many transgressions, but in the end comes to understand the truth, know God, change his life disposition, which of them will gain salvation? He who has changed his life disposition, right? If that is so, how should we follow God and experience God’s work? Which path is correct? Which path will allow us to be perfected by God? Pursuing the truth and achieving dispositional change. So, you should be honest and listen to God’s words. You should believe in the manner God asks. God said He would eliminate those who do not pursue the truth. This is accurate. Do not say, “If I keep my rules and do not sin, I will not be eliminated.” This is mistaken, and it is not the truth. Some then say, “It’s all about the same, everyone is right, my idea is good too!” A good idea is not the truth. Why? Because keeping three rules does not make you a good person. You sin in your heart every day, you maintain conceptions about God and you judge God and resist God, what good are your three rules? You believe that if you keep so many things hidden away inside, God will see you as holy? You are mistaken, you have no truth, and your heart is impure.
128-A-5
If one does not pursue truth, and in the end has no truth, even though he may have abided by certain rules and committed no major sins, he can’t gain God’s approval. Why? Because he possesses no truth. God says, “I decide the destination of each man not on the basis of age, seniority, amount of suffering, or least of all, the degree of misery, but on whether they possess truth. There is no other choice but this.” Without the truth, no amount of outwardly appearing to be good will matter. Without the truth, even if outwardly you commit no major sins, your spirit is dark and evil. Tell me, can a person without the truth abide by rules? Though outwardly he does not sin, he has sinned countless times in his heart, and though he appears not to lie, his heart is full of deception. Can a heart overflowing with deception remain concealed? Which is to say that without pursuing the truth, the evil in the hearts of deeply corrupted men can never be cleansed. The one who asks this question doesn’t know what it means to tell the truth and to lie. Why? I don’t mean this person lacks the ability to determine the truth or falsity of spoken statements, I mean he lacks the perception to understand certain hidden facts, “You say the Pharisees were hypocrites, then what is a hypocrite?” He doesn’t know, so everything he says is judged by standards based entirely on what man can glean from his subconscious understanding, and the result is that the false and deceptive essence of some things that remain hidden, he cannot discern or penetrate with his mind. So what is the reason behind such a question? Could it be that his experience is very superficial? He can’t see through to the deeper order of things. For example, some say, “Do you understand the truth in your faith in God?” “A little.” “Then do you still lie?” “Very little, most of the time not at all.” “But at times the viewpoints you express are doctrines, what do you call that? Isn’t that lying?” Some people don’t have the discernment to perceive this. Some say, “I think this doctrine is correct, so I speak it, how is that a lie?” But when you speak it, is it truly something you are? Is it something you possess? If not, what you say is doctrinal, the only reason you speak it is to cover the fact that you lack the truth. Is this not falsification? Is this not deceiving God? You use this doctrine as a disguise and call it your reality, is this not deception? If this is deception, then aren’t you lying? You may have not lied about outward matters or simple things, but where your spirit and life are concerned, you have falsified too much, you have spoken your letters and doctrines to deceive your brothers and sisters, you have spoken your letters and doctrines to make others look up to you, and you have spoken your letters and doctrines to disguise yourself and make yourself appear to be a saint. What is your essence of such acts? Are these not acts which deceive God? Then why do you argue and plead so for your reputation and status? Are your words in accord with the facts? At this realization, some people are stunned to discover, “That’s absolutely right! I’ve believed in God for so many years, why haven’t I thought of that before? When you put it like that, I lie quite a lot, and I falsify quite a lot. I also deceive God. I’m nothing but a hypocrite! When you put it like that, I realize how serious this is. I have years of experience of being an honest person, why haven’t I experienced it to that degree? This is a very serious question!” The realization suddenly hits people after such fellowship. How much of what you’ve said in the past has been deceit or a lie? Are those who speak letters and doctrines honest people? Why do we say they aren’t honest people? Can you answer this question clearly? I’d often spoken of something in my sermons and fellowship in the church, and I also spoke of it when I still believed in the Lord Jesus. It is an experience in the 1990’s when I clearly felt the Holy Spirit work on me, enlighten me, and illuminate me. That experience gave me some practical words to share, but at the time my heart was like a mirror—I knew everything I was saying was enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, I didn’t possess the reality of it, so what did I say? I said, “What I’m saying is not of what I am. The Holy Spirit enlightened me and showed me these things, I do not possess the reality of this truth, I have only been inspired by the Holy Spirit. Don’t assume that because I’ve come to this point in my sermon, I’ve possessed all the reality of this truth. I have not. These are only things I’ve seen. But, this is my desire, this is how I want to practice, this is how I want to experience my entry.” That’s what I said at the time. And what have I said with regard to this in recent years? I said that I’ve gained a little experience and entry with what I fellowship. I dare not say I’ve gained any deep entry, but I have experienced a little. Even more often I’ve said that entry into the truth is endless and boundless. In the Age of Grace, I possessed no entry, and the things I fellowshiped about were only things I saw; in the Age of Kingdom, today, I have gained some entry, I can’t deny that, but it’s only a little, not nearly as deep as people imagine. I’ve gained some entry in being an honest person, in obeying God, in consideration for God’s will, and in loving God, I’ve made some progress in all these areas, but I’m not satisfied yet. I’ve said in my hymns that I am not satisfied, because my entry has been too superficial and too limited. I’ve said this before. So, once you make clear to yourself just how much of the truth you understand and whether you have gained any entry, the words you speak will be true. If you don’t thoroughly understand the reality of these truths, if you simply say “I understand, and I believe that I gain entry by simply understanding,” what kind of talk is this? It is false, a lie, and in terms of its consequences, it is deceptive and misleading. You see how serious of an issue it is.
If we practice the truth, can we become honest people? In what style will we live? Will it be that of an honest person? By what standard should we judge? One is the degree to which you understand the truth; the other is the depth of your experience practicing the truth. In the practice of truth, the depth of your experience with God’s word determines your practical understanding of the truth. If you have experienced too little, is it possible for your understanding of the truth to be very deep? If someone’s experience with the truth is not deep, but he speaks with grandiose doctrines, is he not lying? His words are lies, deceit, and disguise. And what does this deceit and disguise add up to? What is the essence underneath? Hypocrisy, plain and simple. He covers himself up so well. He tries to hide his true face, but who does he think he is fooling? From this fact, we can clearly see that anyone full of letters and doctrines is a hypocrite. That’s exactly right. Some say, “I’ve read the Bible, so why can’t I fully penetrate what makes a hypocrite and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees? What are hypocrites usually like? What do they usually say? What do they do?” What about now? Now do you understand? You can see it in the false leaders who always speak letters and doctrines. To understand the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, “Look to the false leaders, hear the high-sounding words they say, see how they always lord their authority over others, pray in front of crowds, and constantly praise, stand witness, and raise themselves up.” Make no mistake, these are the signs of a hypocrite. When you ask them to raise questions, they say, “Brother, there is a problem I’ve never been able to penetrate, how do you think I should practice?” In insignificant things, such a person raises questions to make you think, “He seeks truth even in such small matters! If he seeks truth in such small matters, then I needn’t ask him about large matters, because there he must be seeking truth even more carefully.” But he doesn’t seek truth in significant matters at all. “Straining out the gnat while swallowing the camel.” He prays and becomes distraught over trivial matters, but stays silent when he accuses, judges and forms notions about God in his heart. That is the very meaning of hypocrisy! So many people raise such trivial issues with me, and inside I think, “What a master of disguise! So calculating and detailed in small things, and having done so much damage in important things, and yet you don’t speak a word of it. You do not understand yourself, you do not repent, and you do not reflect.” What is a hypocrite? Now do you understand? Such a man does two things, first is the use of letters and doctrines to deceive people, show off, raise himself in the eyes of others, and make people think he is clever and has truth; second is that outwardly he uses tricks to deceive people in small matters, and commits every manner of sin in large matters, all the while hiding it and never speaking of it. Those two facts alone are enough to prove this person is a Pharisee. When we fellowship about experience and witness, he always describes his small testimony and affairs in great detail, but he remains silent about his wicked deeds in major things and the rebelliousness that foments in him. His disguise is airtight, and should anyone expose his misconduct in major affairs, he immediately turns on that person. This is a hypocritical Pharisee. He usually has a loving heart and brings warmth and comfort to others. No concern is too small for him. Outwardly he is virtuous as he cares for orphans, fetches water for widows, and does chores for the lame, and he does all of these things very well, but the moment one of his brothers or sisters catches a glimpse of what lies beneath or reveals the wicked deeds he does in secret, he immediately bears a grudge and wants to banish them from the church, he wants to eliminate them, he wants to make them vanish into thin air and disappear from the church forever. Is this virtue? His heart is as toxic as a scorpion, his methods are ruthless, and he disguises himself better than anyone. This is the meaning of hypocrisy.
In the past I asked some leader, “As a leader, do you have any mottos? What evil deeds can you promise you will never commit?” “I will never disrupt or disturb the work of God’s house.” I told him that speaking such a high-sounding promise was useless. I said to him, “If one day one of your brothers or sisters says something compatible with the truth, and says it better than you, can you assure me you won’t feel jealous or want to suppress him or her? That’s my first question. The second is, if one of your brothers or sisters exposes the fact of your corruption, can you assure me you won’t seek revenge or try to discriminate against him or her? Can you promise me both of those things? If you can meet those conditions, very well, you can stand; if you can’t meet those conditions, nothing else you say will matter, because it will be impossible.” Are these two conditions easy to meet? Ordinary people all feel jealousy, “You are stronger than me, you do better than I ever could, but we’ll see if that’s so after I destroy you.” Also, if someone exposes your ugly side or personal secrets, you will hate them so much you want them to disappear. You’ll want to exterminate them! And if you have the desire and carry through with it, you are finished. You are more evil than an evildoer, and more toxic than a snake. But if you can guarantee such a thing won’t happen, if you can make such an oath, then you are essentially doing your duty as a leader, and may not be bound for elimination.
Question 2: What specific principles should we grasp when speaking? Sometimes when I open my heart and speak with people, I worry that I will hurt the listener if I speak about my true state, and I feel restrained in speaking the truth, so I’m not sure how to handle this issue.
Answer: If we don’t speak the truth because we’re afraid of hurting the listener, does it count as falsification? Not really. In this case, why do you bottle up your words inside? Out of good intentions. “I don’t want to hurt my listener or cause trouble or negative consequences for anyone.” What virtuous intent! If you don’t speak these harmful words, will God deem you to be lying? Has God ever said you are lying if you refrain from saying something? Never. You don’t say it because you love people and you want to protect them, what a kind thought! Why wouldn’t you be happy with it? Why do you feel that you would be restrained? “I feel restrained in speaking the truth, so I’m not sure how to handle this issue.” Isn’t this a simple problem to solve? Where is this person’s mistake? The asker believes that choosing to keep silent about the truth is wrong, that it’s lying. He thinks, “If I don’t say this, I am lying, and if I do say this, I’m afraid of hurting others or causing negative consequences for them, so I’m stuck. This is a difficult position, so what should I do?” Isn’t this his question? The solution to this problem is simple, isn’t it? First, your intent in not speaking is correct. Second, God will not convict you or call you a liar for not speaking, because you do it out of kindness. God not only won’t call you a sinner, He will call you kind! This is good! You won’t be restrained, will you? No, not at all!
128-A-6
Question 3: Brother, sometimes when you analyze and expose us, and ask us whether we have any thoughts or whether we can accept your analysis, while I certainly have my own ideas and arguments, a conflict in my heart keeps me silent. Even when you ask us repeatedly, my answer is often, “No opinions, I accept,” which means I am covering up my true state and not speaking the truth. Afterward I blame myself, because I feel like this is hypocrisy, disguise, and deceit, but the next time it happens, I still can’t stop myself from lying and deceiving. What should I do about this?
Answer: I’ve asked you all to raise questions, and look, everyone is saying what’s in their heart. No matter if it’s out loud or on paper, these are words from the heart! Now, how should we address this problem? If you think you can’t say what’s in your heart, keep it in, hold it inside as long as you can, and if keeping it in really gets too painful, and you say, “No, I can’t hold it in, I have to get it out and solve this pain at the root,” then you can tell me, and we’ll fellowship about it, alright? To solve this problem, what is the first thing you need to understand? First, ask yourself if holding it in feels good, that’s the first thing we have to know. Second, “If I say it, I don’t know if the brother will accuse me, or if he’ll be able to help me, or if he’ll scold me. If he’s going to scold me, I’d better hold it in.” Tell me, if you decide to tell me what’s in your heart, will I scold you for it? Some say no, but something’s wrong here. If this person didn’t think I might scold him, would he be holding in what he has to say? If he didn’t think I might scold him, he wouldn’t hold it in. There are people who know I won’t, but the ones who hold in their words think I might, “That must be what happens, I can’t let this out no matter what. I’d rather hold it in than say it and be served his dealing.” Do people like that exist? You still don’t understand who I am. Do you know anything about the kind of person I am? “A holy man, a man who speaks with the weight of holy writ.” Is that viewpoint correct? Some say no, but then what kind of a man am I? Tell the truth. Are you afraid to speak again? “A petty, despicable man who holds a grudge against any who offend him, I’m sure about this.” Is this correct? Others say no. This is wrong, that’s wrong, so what kind of a person am I? I’m just someone with a sharp tongue and a soft heart, I’m actually very soft-hearted. Sometimes harsh words may come out of my mouth, but I regret them after I say them. I’m not calculating when I deal with anyone, and after the incident passes, I forget. If you have viewpoints or opinions that clash with mine, and you share them, I won’t hate you, and I won’t scold you, absolutely not. I promise. Have you ever seen me deal with someone with vicious or merciless punishment, or belittle and abuse someone? Have you? Some say, “You’ve really never punished anyone?” You caught me. How could I not have? How could God’s house expel so many antichrists without punishing people? “Then have you ever hated anyone?” Yes, who do I hate? Antichrists and evildoers. They disturb the work of God’s house and harm God’s chosen people, those are the kind of people I hate. Those I hate are antichrists. I don’t especially hate false leaders, but some false leaders are poor in caliber, focus purely on their desire to do work. They wish to work, and they are driven by enthusiasm, but they are poor in caliber, they have no entry into the truth, and they only speak letters and doctrines. These people can be saved, so they should be given a chance, shouldn’t they? Does God’s house expel false leaders? We only expel antichrists, we don’t expel false leaders. False leaders can be dismissed, given other duties to perform and the chance to repent, and then the issue is forgotten.
For questions like this, I think you should say it if you feel you’ve been restricted. If you tell me, I won’t deal with you, nor will I take you as an enemy, I’ll simply fellowship about the truth to you, and help you solve your problem. If you don’t tell me, I can’t help you solve it. This is an easy question to answer, isn’t it?
Question 4: How can I have a heart-to-heart exchange? When my brothers and sisters share words from the heart with me, I can often share what’s in my heart as well. I feel like I can open up and share my true state. But when others don’t open up to me, I often can’t open up on my own, and sometimes I even go tit-for-tat with them, “If you won’t open up to me, I won’t share my true state with you either.” I know such a state is wrong, but I don’t have the strength to forsake the flesh.
Answer: That’s a child’s pettiness, the reaction of someone with no knowledge or experience. His principle for opening up and sharing words from the heart is that his listener has to open up to him first, only then will he open up. “If you don’t open up to me, I won’t open up to you.” But is there not something wicked in the principle by which he practices the truth? Something is wrong with this disposition. Isn’t such a disposition just a little unreasonable? He makes a demand in his practice of the truth, which means you have to open up to him before he opens up to you, and if you don’t open up to him, he won’t open up to you. Is this someone practicing the truth? If he truly loved the truth, would he live by such a wicked principle? Impossible. If he were to be obedient in his practice, what demands would he make? “You have to obey me before I obey you.” Is he in a position to make that demand? If he were to obey God’s work, he would say, “God’s work has to be compatible with my notions before I’ll obey it, and if it isn’t compatible with my notions, I won’t obey it.” Wouldn’t he say such rebellious things? People with such wickedness inside are capable of any evil thing you can imagine, and they’ll spout all varieties of false, ridiculous reasoning, are such people practicing the truth? No, they aren’t practicing the truth. People who practice the truth don’t make unreasonable demands on others, “Practicing the truth is my duty, it’s my responsibility, I don’t seek anything from you for my practice of the truth, nor will I make any demands of you.” It requires no demands to love God, and even less are their own intentions a part of loyalty and obedience to God. They do these things for no other purpose than to satisfy and honor God, simply because they feel these things are what a man should do. But the asker of this question makes demands of others in his practice of the truth, “Before I entirely open up to you, you have to open up to me, and if you don’t, I won’t open up to you.” This is his demand with everyone else when he practices the truth, this is his bottom line, and if others don’t practice the truth with him, he won’t practice the truth with them. Then I’m curious, when a devil lies to you, you lie to the devil, a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, and this is right. But if, when your brothers and sisters lie to you, you lie to your brothers and sisters, or when your brothers and sisters deceive you, you deceive your brothers and sisters, or when your brothers and sisters don’t love you, you don’t love them, then when will you be able to practice the truth? Can you make demands like that of God in your practice of truth? You demand God be obedient to you before you are obedient to God, you demand God’s obedience before you give yours, this is the logic by which you practice the truth! If we practice the truth with such satanic reasoning, are we really people who love the truth? Is my analysis a bit over the top, considering the question? No, this analysis is exactly right. He says that when his brothers and sisters fellowship, they have to open up to him before he’ll open up to them. That’s the demand he makes in his practice of truth. He demands that others do it first, and that kind of intent is wrong.
Here he says, “I don’t have the strength to forsake the flesh,” so what’s the problem here? He also knows he can’t do it, and that these kinds of demands aren’t right, but he’s not strong enough to forsake them. Does it sound like he needs God’s judgment and chastisement? Sometimes, when we experience God’s judgment, we find strength. We start to hate ourselves and slap our own faces, sometimes so hard it hurts, so do we lack the strength to forsake the flesh? If he lacks penetration into the truth of corruption by Satan, if he understands nothing of the essence of the principles, bottom lines, and requirements for practicing the truth, will he have the strength to forsake the flesh like that? He has conditions for practicing the truth, he can’t simply practice it, he requires others to practice the truth toward him a certain way before he is willing to do so with others, is there still truth in this person? Does he have truth but not practice it? Or does he lack the truth and the ability to practice it? Does he need to watch how others practice the truth and follow their paths and examples before he can practice the truth? What’s at the root of the problem here? He says he doesn’t have the strength to forsake the flesh, and that he actually understands and wants to practice the truth, but the fact is, he only understands the external forms of one way of practicing this truth. He doesn’t understand the real essence of this truth, nor does he understand the intentions required by this truth, nor does he understand that practice of this truth is an inherent part of normal humanity. He merely understands a few methods of practicing the truth. Does this count as real understanding of the truth? If he were someone who really understands the truth, wouldn’t he be able to forsake the obstructions, interruptions, and disturbances of the flesh? Could someone with a real understanding of the truth possibly lack the will to forsake the flesh? Could he lack the strength to practice the truth? No. So where is the root of his problem? He doesn’t understand the truth, and he lacks the penetration to understand his own intentions, demands, bottom line for practicing the truth, and the essence of this question. This person is somewhat despicable, he’s selfish, and he regards practicing the truth like doing good deeds, “If you are good to me, and give me benefits, I can give you benefits in return; if you are unkind to me, and don’t give me benefits, then I certainly won’t give you benefits either.” He takes practicing the truth as a tool to repay others, he considers it a form of restitution or reward for others. Isn’t that his problem? How is his attitude toward the truth? He regards it merely as a tool, just a token of exchange, “If you practice the truth with me, I’ll practice the truth with you. I’ll use my practice of the truth to repay you, and if you don’t practice the truth with me, I won’t practice the truth with you. I won’t practice the truth with anyone but those who practice the truth with me, I’ll repay those people by practicing the truth with them, because I consider practicing the truth as a tool for exchange, a gift to be given to others, a gift ordinary people are unworthy to receive.” Isn’t this his attitude toward the truth? Have we found the root of the problem now? His attitude toward the truth is wrong, he thinks practicing the truth is just a way to repay others, and ordinary people aren’t worthy of it. He doesn’t know that the truth can be man’s life, and that the pursuit of truth is to solve man’s satanic disposition and banish all things of the flesh. He doesn’t know pursuing the truth is the way to forsake and transcend the flesh, live out the truth, and repay God’s love. He doesn’t realize that. Now we understand how to answer his question, don’t we?
Question 5: In my duties I often need my superiors to push me and supervise me, otherwise I become lazy in my duties, and often otherwise I feel no compulsion or drive. I know such a state is wrong, and that this is tricking and deceiving God, but I can’t seem to change, I need to be pruned and dealt with before I can perform well for a time, but it never lasts long. What should I do about this kind of state?
Answer: This is just like a child who hasn’t grown up. If your demands are too high, he can’t reach them, so you have to guide him this way until he grows up and can solve problems on his own. First, his spiritual stature is too small, and second, he lacks the penetration to understand what the truth is and why he should pursue it, and that lack proves his spiritual stature is small. So how do we deal with the problem of a small spiritual stature? We should take time to experience things, and if we’re pruned and dealt with a little bit more, we’ll make a little bit more progress. If the pruning is frequent, lessons are frequent, and as we experience failures, setbacks, and suffering, slowly, we’ll grow. Is this a problem we can solve right away? Killing the sprout with overfeeding won’t work, that won’t do any good. Some people believe for a decade, and what do they say? “I look back on some of the things I did and wonder how I could have been so childish. How could I have been such a fool? How could I have put myself in that situation, acted like that, said those things, done those things?” The very idea astounds them. If you ask them, “Would you still do those things now?” “No,” they will say. So what’s the problem we’re looking at? Isn’t it a matter of spiritual stature? To talk about this problem, to solve this state, we have to see that this is a kind of natural law. There are several situations here, and we need to understand them. Some people are new in their faith, they have believed at most for eight or ten years, they haven’t been pruned or dealt with enough, so their corrupt dispositions, perfunctoriness, deception, laziness, and cheating are slow to change, but for those with real love for the truth and true faith in God, every time they are pruned and dealt with becomes a lesson, and every time changes them a little bit. This is a normal man’s state, and most are this way when they first believe. But there’s another type of state, one very different. Some believe for twenty or thirty years and are pruned and dealt with countless times, but they never change, is this a problem of spiritual stature? No. This kind of person never loves the truth and never pursues the truth, so they could believe for centuries and it would still be useless. The existence of these problems after believing for a short time is a matter of spiritual stature, but if these problems still exist even after believing for a long time, it shows that this is a person who doesn’t pursue the truth, he doesn’t accept the truth, and even if you deal with him eight times a day, he won’t pursue the truth. He might think, “I was wrong, I’m sorry” in the moment, but after he repents, he won’t change. That’s why, much of the time, if he says things you want to hear, you shouldn’t believe him, because he’s been through this many times, and he won’t change. Is the problem with people like that a small spiritual stature and too little experience? Some say no. Then what kind of a state does he have? He doesn’t pursue the truth, he’s a wrong person, and he won’t ever change, so he isn’t after God’s heart, he can’t be perfected by God, and he will be the same until the day he dies, do you understand? If someone asks me, “Do you think I can change?” My response is, “If you think you are someone who pursues truth, you can change, but if you think there is no way you’ll ever pursue the truth, then you won’t change.” That’s my answer.
128-A-7
Question 6: To protect my own position and self-respect I often cover up the truth, for example when I realize I’ve done a bad job, or when I don’t do things as well as others, I don’t want to face the fact. It’s as if admitting it will make me inferior, so I use this kind of attitude to avoid it, or I try to explain my way out of it, because I don’t want others to look down on me.
Answer: This is a question of saying what’s in your heart. We all have this kind of state, don’t we? Some people seem especially pure and open, they speak honestly about everything they did, do you believe they don’t have such misgivings? They do. Why can they speak so purely and openly? They practice this way because they have penetration into this matter. Actually, even if you don’t say anything, everyone knows, and if you say it, everyone will understand. The problem will become insignificant or disappear. Someone always wears a hat, and others ask, “Why do you always wear a hat? Something must be wrong with you.” One day they might be fooling around, and the asker takes the opportunity to knock the hat from the wearer’s head and sees the problem—bald spots. And at that point, someone else will stand up and say, “It’s just bald spots, isn’t it? You should have told me earlier, I know how to treat bald spots.” Is this person not getting in the way of his own treatment? Some things which, once you gain the penetration to understand them, become insignificant when they are exposed. Some brother says, “There’s a sister in the church, and whenever I look at her, I like her, and I always think of ways to get closer to her, speak heart-to-heart, and be her boyfriend, but I got embarrassed. I have the courage to say what I thought now, but at the time I dared not say it, I thought others would laugh at me. But later someone else laid bare something similar, and others said, ‘Everyone goes through what you’re feeling right now!’ They understood, so I found the courage to speak.” He found the courage to say it, but is it a good thing that he did? No. Why not? The moment you say it, if that woman says, “You want to be my boyfriend? Why didn’t you say something earlier? I want to be your girlfriend!” Uh-oh. Now there is trouble! When we open up about things, there are some things we can’t say openly. There are some things that can’t be said in public. Before you say something publicly, think. If saying it won’t incur any great wickedness or consequences, then you can say it, but you have to examine whether or not saying it will have negative consequences, or whether it will cause hurt for others, damage their interests, or create a negative influence for them. If there are no negative consequences, there’s usually nothing wrong with opening up and sharing a corrupt disposition. But some secrets can’t be told, and some secrets have to be told in a certain way. You can’t simply blurt out the person’s name.
A good example to use is if you don’t perform well in your work for the church. That shouldn’t involve personal secrets, that should be something we can speak openly about, right? If someone has misgivings about opening up on this subject because of his self-respect, he is too vain and covers up his own shortcomings, too dishonest and cunning. So there are some things we shouldn’t open up about, out of wisdom and consideration for the interests of others, and that’s allowable. Some things should be public, some things are major issues which need to be made public to help everyone understand the truth. How one fails to perform his duties properly, the nature of taking the path of an antichrist, or personal intentions, these are things which should be made public so everyone can seek the truth, search for God’s will, and gain penetration into the true essence of the problem. That helps people grow, doesn’t it? Things that edify people should be public and spoken about openly, and if you don’t open up because of your vanity, you are cunning. More than simple vanity is behind this behavior, that isn’t the problem here, this is cunning. Their essences are different. Doesn’t that mean we’re dealing with two types of conditions? The first involves personal secrets, which is allowable in considered circumstances, but things related to duties and corrupt disposition, things about committing evil acts and issues of principle, these things need to be openly shared and fellowshiped, because if we all use these matters to fellowship about the truth, it benefits all of us. If you don’t open up and speak the truth about these things, a few individuals with discernment may benefit from your problem, but those who lack the discernment won’t benefit at all, isn’t that right?
Also, he says he always tries to explain his way out of problems or avoid them because he doesn’t want others to look down on him. This is someone with a gravely arrogant disposition. He fears that his image in others’ eyes will be tarnished. The essence of the problem is serious. What is that but a Pharisee? Was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees not to establish their image in the hearts of others? Was it not to gain status in the hearts of others? If you don’t want to make people worship you and fear that you will gain status in their hearts and do harm to them, then you need to open up, lay bare the truth about yourself, allow others to see through yourself, stop others from worshiping you, and encourage them to treat you correctly. That’s better for everyone, isn’t it? We need to fully understand this issue. The truth is, no matter whether you open up or what your intentions may be, you appear as you are in God’s heart, and you will eventually appear as you are in the hearts of men. This has nothing to do with your actions, no human actions can change this. No matter how you try to establish yourself or how you lay bare your degradation and ugliness, people will see you as you are. The more you fear people will look down on you, the more they will, but if you act without that fear, people might actually look up to you, “He has courage, courage I don’t have. Look at how purely and honestly he opens up about this, he lays bare his own ugliness, why don’t I have that courage? In this thing he does better than me, he is above me, he practices the truth with more courage than I do.” Isn’t that how people will see it? If that’s how people see it, then the consequences of some things are different than we think, they’re exactly the opposite of what we imagine. The more you degrade and expose yourself, the more people will admire and approve of you, but the more you pretend, the greater your hypocrisy, the more people will look down on you and expose you. Isn’t that what the great red dragon does? It has established itself for years, made everyone treat it as the “red sun,” like their own parents, and the result is that everyone hates it, it’s become “a mouse crossing the street,” something that makes people scream in alarm and try to kill it. The more it tries to establish itself, the more it dooms itself. You may as well go straight to the seat of judgment and admit that you are a sinner and a devil. If you admit that you are a sinner and a devil and should be abandoned by people, they will at least know how to deal with you correctly. That’s a fact, and once you understand its essence, you will know how to practice in an appropriate manner.
Question 7: I’ve realized I rely too much on my imagination when I speak. Sometimes I understand or intuit a few things about an issue without any real penetration, and then I express viewpoints because of my arrogant nature, which ends up misleading people. That’s how I realized my own words were untrustworthy. How can I solve this type of state?
Answer: This is someone who shows understanding of his own state. It shows he has some experience, that he exposed his own state, spoke about it, and laid it bare, isn’t that a good thing? How should we look at his question? This is someone with experience. He became aware of his own hypocrisy, and saw clearly the truth and substance of how he spoke blindly and blurted things out without penetration; he understood that being dominated by his arrogant nature, he was especially arrogant and conceited, and so he was able to act this way and say these words. This level of penetration shows that his experience isn’t shallow, most of people don’t gain this level of penetration without eight or ten years of experience. This is a university-level spiritual education, that’s how far his experience has progressed. He can say these words, so who would look down on him? He sees his own words as untrustworthy, and when others look at him, they say, “Your experience goes deeper than mine, your spiritual stature is bigger than mine, I still think I’m a good, trustworthy person. I still don’t think I’m arrogant, I think I’ve solved most of my arrogance, but I’m actually a hypocrite. You’re the one who truly understands himself!” Isn’t that how people see him? That’s why, at times, when you speak about yourself, it might appear from the outside that you know yourself, that you’re exposing yourself and laying bare your own ugliness, as though you want to stamp yourself out of existence, but what everyone says is, “I go through the same things you lay bare, we all do, so why don’t I have the courage to do the same? Merely for the fact that you can lay bare these things about yourself, you are bigger in spiritual stature than those of us who can’t! You have the courage, and it’s not easy to practice the truth with such courage. How many more years of experience before I’ll have that kind of courage? How much more experience do I need before I have the resolve? I’ll need at least another two or three years before I reach that level!” This is how those with understanding see problems, it’s exactly the opposite of what you worry about. Isn’t that how it always turns out?
In the church, there are those who are pure and open and always try to learn more about themselves; they always feel that their practice is too shallow, or that they haven’t learned to accurately conduct their practice according to principle, and they always feel that they are biased and deficient, and it pushes them to keep learning. When others look at such a person, they will say, “So many can’t fellowship anything practical after reading God’s word, but he can, he has that level of understanding. We all have the states he fellowships about, everyone does, but even though everyone has them, other people don’t understand them, so why does he understand them? His spiritual stature is bigger than ours.” That you have these states without understanding them shows your understanding isn’t as deep as his, nor is your spiritual stature as large. It’s similar to how some blush when they lie, while others can lie without it showing. How should we look at this? Those whose faces go red when they lie are honest, those whose faces don’t change at all are deceitful. That’s the difference, isn’t it? The person whose face goes red when he lies, who can’t lie without the redness on his face betraying his ineptitude at it, this person can be saved, this person can gain salvation through experiencing God’s work. The person whose face doesn’t change, who doesn’t give any hint that he’s lying, this person is doomed, he will be eliminated, he is destined to perish. Don’t evaluate people by a set of rules. Every person is different, and we need to learn to evaluate them by their nature and essence, rather than by external appearance. External appearance often contains disguise, deception, and false images. But if people’s nature and essence don’t change, those false images can’t persist for very long. The truth about them will be revealed sooner or later, won’t it?
Look at some leaders, they can’t communicate any reality of the truth, but some of them admit they don’t have any reality of the truth. “What I’m saying might be letters and doctrines, just superficial understanding, it might not contain any reality of the truth, but this is all I have in my heart, so if my fellowship is deficient, I hope my brothers and sisters can forgive me.” Such a leader also has no truth like some others, but he can say such words, so which of them is a good leader? The one who is honest. This is honesty, “I don’t know if there’s any real understanding of the truth in my fellowship, it seems to me like letters and doctrines, or maybe I feel it’s almost the same as letters and doctrines. If it isn’t practical, if it doesn’t benefit my brothers and sisters anything, please forgive me, and if brothers and sisters point out that ‘this is doctrine,’ I won’t do it anymore.” Those are the words of an honest person. Which kind of person will God pity? If someone is blatantly deceitful and speaks letters and doctrines, all the while saying he has the reality of the truth and holding himself up as an example to follow, and responds to anyone who prunes and deals with him with argumentation and sophistry, he rejects the truth! He doesn’t accept the truth. Those who don’t accept truth resist God, are done for. That’s hardly a small problem! You can see a person’s essence from his outward behavior, and you can see his ending. The moment you have penetration into the end people like him come to, once you understand where such people stand in God’s heart, and which of God’s words are directed at such people and describe their end, once you find those words, you will know how to treat them. The asker’s question comes from experience and understanding, and there is hope for such people. They can gain entry into the reality of truth.
128-A-8
Question 8: My experience of being honest has helped me lie less and fool around in my duties less than I did before, but I’ve also faced revelations, being pruned, and being dealt with by God in my experience which have made me see I have none of the reality of the truth, despite years of belief, nor has my disposition changed, nor can I truly obey God. I only seem capable of worrying about my fate, I can’t truly give my heart to God. My question is: How can I gain deeper entry into being an honest person? How can I give my heart to God and stop worrying about my future fate?
Answer: This is a question from a seeker of truth. He has some entry into how to be honest, and he lies less and fools around in his duties less than he did. That’s progress, isn’t it? Fooling around less, lying less, these are gaining entry, these are real changes, so what’s the problem that confuses him? “I’ve also faced revelations, being pruned, and being dealt with by God in my experience which have made me see I have none of the reality of the truth, despite years of belief, nor has my disposition changed, nor can I truly obey God. I only seem capable of worrying about my fate, I can’t truly give my heart to God.” He is anxious when he realizes he has this problem, and he wants to solve it as quickly as possible, he wants to know how to practice so he can gain deeper entry into being an honest person. This problem is a fact faced by many who pursue the truth, they all want to know how to practice so they can gain deeper entry into being honest and achieve real change. This is human psychology, everyone hopes for it, and today you see more and more people striving for the truth, that is, there are more who truly thirst and yearn for righteousness, it’s not a small number. We just exposed some problems and spoke about some people’s practical states, which kind of people God pities, and which kind of people can be saved, and now we understand these issues. Those who can be saved are those capable of saying what’s in their hearts, facing the facts, and seeking the truth. These are honest people, their desire to seek the truth is genuine, and their desire and yearning to solve problems is genuine. These are the typical attitudes of those who pursue the truth.
So, let’s fellowship about what kind of experience can give you deeper entry into being honest. There’s something we always used to say, “It’s not easy to know yourself.” Why do we say it isn’t easy to know ourselves? It’s impossible to do with our own understanding, because much of the time people are controlled by their nature, and when your nature is in control, it’s impossible to predict what might happen or what you might do tomorrow or the day after, there’s no way for anyone to guess. If someone doesn’t even know what he might do, does he have any real understanding of himself? Absolutely not. That’s why most of the time we have to rely on God’s work to reveal these things. Everything that happens to us is planned and arranged by God. Every day and every hour, everything we experience is according to God’s plans and arrangements. The people, events, and things in our lives are lessons placed there so we can learn, experience, and gain deeper entry in these lessons. During these lessons, if you are someone who pursues the truth, you will learn the lessons. What do we mean by learning lessons? Learning lessons here refers to making progress in the truth, understanding and gaining truth. Without learning these lessons, you can’t gain the truth. If you experience tremendous failures and setbacks, but don’t gain any of the truth, you’ll have suffered and experienced for nothing. Some go to jail for years without gaining the truth; some are eliminated from leadership positions time and again, yet they never gain the truth; some are abandoned and expelled by the church and disdained by God’s chosen people, and they gain none of the truth. Why does this happen? Because they don’t seek the truth and they don’t study their lessons, they do none of their homework. Those who go to school but don’t do their homework are eliminated and held back; those who believe in God but don’t do their homework or study their lessons are eliminated. Isn’t that the case? Then if you are pruned and dealt with through all the people, events, and things you encounter, and you obey God’s judgment and chastisement, seek truth in all things, and do your homework, won’t your entry into the truth gradually become deeper? Your entry into all aspects of the truth will grow deeper, won’t it? Some lessons are to teach us to obey God, some are to teach us to know ourselves, and some are to teach us how to be honest people, and the more lessons we learn in one aspect, the more entry and progress we will gain into that aspect. That’s to say that experience to gain deeper entry into being an honest person is accomplished by studying your lessons, do you understand?
So now I ask you, how can we experience to gain deeper entry into being an honest person? Are there any methods? I’ll tell you, one fastest way is to accept being pruned and dealt with, learning your lessons through trials and refinement is another, and there’s one more, learning your lessons through failure and setback. Imagine someone holds a leadership position, and then suddenly someone else beats him from his place and replaces him. Why did that happen? Because of what we just talked about. He should think about why, he should ponder and reflect until he understands, and once he does, perfect, he has learned his lesson, he understands why he failed and was replaced, he understands why he was pruned and dealt with and why he was rejected, and once he understands, once that is illuminated, he sees the true condition of his own corruption, the essence of his nature, and what kind of person he is, everything is revealed. Isn’t that the fastest way to learn the lesson? What were the fastest ways to learn we talked about? First, being pruned and dealt with. When someone reprimands you to your face, when their finger points at your nose as they reprimand you, you’ll understand instantly, you have no objections, nothing to say. You fall to your knees, pray, confess your sins to God, and repent. I’ve said this is one of the fastest ways, you understand instantly, you see results instantly, the effect is instantaneous. Another way is failures and setbacks, here no one deals with you, you simply contemplate alone, and for two or three days you are unable to sleep because this bothers you, it bothers you so much you can’t escape it, it tears you up inside! This is also one of the fastest ways, isn’t it? And is deeper entry into life not the result these things achieve? Isn’t that what these things do for you? These things are always the turning point for people’s entry into life, and in our lives! If a major failure or setback becomes the turning point in someone’s life, is this a blessing or disaster, a good thing or a bad thing? It’s a good thing. Some people lack penetration, and when they are pruned and dealt with, when they encounter failures and setbacks, their negativity is mind-blowing, “I’m through! I’m done believing!” They want to take their toys and smash them. What kind of a person is this? Someone who is weak. He suffers failure and setback, he is pruned and dealt with, and he feels too ashamed to live, he wants to kill himself, end it all, die and forget it. What a loser! He doesn’t know that this is his chance to study. “I’ve worked so hard for so long, I’ve been driven by my enthusiasm for so long, and now I have a result, I have a conclusion, so I should study it and find out why I failed, I need to learn lessons, this is homework I have to do.” We mature in life through these experiences. We mature and change amidst these kinds of lessons. Are the people, things, and events that surround every one of us through which God works not part of God’s overall arrangements? God gives you words to eat and drink, contemplate, and weigh, but He also uses all kinds of people, things, events, circumstances, and unexpected turns to supplement His word to help you seek the truth and gain practical entry into truth. Both elements are complementary. God’s arrangements are seamless, they utilize everything! So the people, things, and events around us all serve to give us practical entry into God’s word and the truth, is that fair to say? Seen from this perspective, the great red dragon serves us, as a foil. Our fleshly relatives, parents, and friends and family who are unbelievers all serve us by helping us grow in life. This is why God has arranged so many people, things, and events around us, to perfect us and grant us salvation by giving us lessons to study. I’ll give you an example. When I first started believing in the Lord Jesus, I spread the gospel without principle, I witnessed to those possessed by demons, the sick, everyone I knew, and as a result I suffered more than a few dead ends, failures, and lectures, nor did I gain many people, maybe two out of ten. What did I learn from my failures? Don’t preach to those who have the work of evil spirits. Don’t preach to the seriously ill, because if they don’t recover, they blame God. Don’t force others to believe, just fellowship about the truth. Those who can accept it will, so allow those who don’t accept to make their choice. Don’t kill the sprout with overfeeding, it’s the same as if you were a salesman, don’t do that. This is one of the most important principles to know in performing your duties, and in general! When I watered the church, I was desperate for my brothers and sisters to understand the truth right away, I wanted to see them mature instantly, and the result was that I spoiled the bud with overwatering, that didn’t work on some people. Such people, in a moment of passion, quit their jobs, got divorced, they forsook everything, and in the end that caused problems. I watered without an understanding of principle. But those were the failures that made me understand my methods were of man, and not after God’s heart, so gradually, I changed. Isn’t that the natural law for growth in life? Haven’t you had the same experience? I experienced many failures and setbacks, I was often pruned and dealt with, and even more so I experienced the judgment and chastisement of God’s word, trials, and refinement, too much to count. After all that, I grew into who I am today, I’ve understood some of the truth and gained some entry, but not deeply enough, and even though I have some reality of the truth, it’s nothing I can boast about. It all came from God’s grace and pity, it has nothing to do with how good, persistent, or intelligent I am.
So in terms of how can we experience to gain deeper entry into being an honest person, do you understand the method now? Have we found faster ways to do it? Are there any supernatural methods? No. We have to experience, learn our lessons, seek the truth in all things, hand ourselves over to God, and accept God’s observation. Day by day, we will understand more of the truth, our understanding will grow deeper, and we will lie less, be pruned and dealt with less, and finally see our love for God grow more true, we will become more effective in our duties, and our loyalty to God will grow deeper. In the end, we will be able to live without our wives or husbands, but not without God. We can leave and cast aside everything, but not God or His word. We just need to experience, and we will reach this point in our lives, do you understand? Learn the lesson in all things. When things happen, if we don’t learn the lesson, if we let it pass without studying it, we will never grow up, and never gain anything!
From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life
Source from The Church of Almighty God
Recommendation：
Eastern Lightning, the Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.
