Between hardship and humiliation, which one is positive? Is there a difference between the two? (Yes, there is.) Hardship is positive. If you willingly accept judgment, chastisement, pruning, and willingly suffer this hardship, then your interpretation of this hardship will be, “I should suffer this hardship. No matter what God does, even if I don’t understand it and it is hard for my heart to take, and I am negative and weak, everything He does is right. I have a corrupt disposition and should not reason with God. No matter how hard it is for my heart to take, it has been brought about by my own wrongs. God is not wrong; everything God does is right. I deserve to suffer hardship. Who made me have corrupt disposition? Who made me resist God? Who made me do evil? Those things are not given to me by God; they are propelled by my own nature. I should suffer this hardship.” Then is it a positive thing for people to suffer this hardship? (Yes.) If people understand it in a positive way and understand it from God, then this hardship is positive. However, suppose that they say, “I can submit, but although I submit, I must still explain my reasoning clearly, and I must share what I think inside and what I do clearly. I can’t just submit in such a cowardly and muddled fashion. Otherwise, I will die from keeping things pent up inside.” They always want to explain things clearly and plainly, explain the ins and outs of things clearly, talk about their reasoning, talk about what they think, talk about how they pay a price, and talk about how correct they are. They are not willing to be a person who submits to God—to refrain from justifying themselves, defending themselves, or talking about their own reasoning. They are not willing to act like that. In that case, what do they treat submission as? They treat it as enduring indignity. What do they think inside? “I must endure all this indignity in order to make God approve of me and say that I have submitted.” Does this humiliation actually exist? If it does not exist at all, why do they still explain things clearly and plainly in order to cast off this “humiliation”? This is not true submission. Even if the intent with which you do things is right, God wants to orchestrate things this way. You do not need to defend yourself; you do not need to reason. Did Job do things better than you or not? (He did things better.) When Job was tried, if he reasoned and defended himself, would God have listened? No, He wouldn’t have listened. This is a fact. Did Job know that God does not listen to people’s defenses? Job didn’t know, but Job did not defend himself. This was the stature he had; he truly submitted. What bad thing did Job do that God should treat him that way? He didn’t do anything bad. God said Job feared Him and shunned evil, and was a perfect person. Speaking in the context of “humiliation,” God should not have made Job suffer those indignities, and should not have handed him over to Satan and let Satan tempt him and strip him of all his possessions. Looking at it in terms of the logic of people who do not submit, Job suffered hardship and he suffered great indignity, and when he received those trials he was enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy burden in order to obtain even greater blessings from God after the fact. Was this true in fact? (No.) Was this how Job thought and practiced? (No.) How did he practice? How did he approach these trials? He did not need to endure, nor did he think he was suffering indignity. What did he think? (God gave and He has taken away.) That’s right. People come from God. God gave you life and gave you breath. You are wholly from God, so aren’t all the things you obtain things God gave you? What do you have to brag about? Everything is given by God, so if God wants to take it away, what is there for you to reason about? When He gives something to you, you are happy, and when He does not give something to you, you are unhappy, complain about God, ask for it from God, and fight with God. Whether God gives you something is up to God; there is nothing for people to reason about. Is this how Job acted? (Yes.) This is how Job acted. Was there a sense of injustice in his heart? (No.) No, there wasn’t. Looking at it from the surface, Job had sufficient reason to call out injustice, make rationalizations, defend himself, set himself against God, and explain everything to God clearly and plainly. He was the one who was most worthy of doing these things, but did he do it? No, he didn’t. He didn’t say a word, just did a few things: He rent his mantle, shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped. What kind of person did this series of actions make people see him as? A person who feared God and shunned evil, and a perfect person. What is the definition of a perfect person? Someone who does not pass any judgment on what God does, who instead praises and submits to it, and no matter how great a hardship they suffer, does not say, “I’ve suffered an injustice. This is an indignity.” No matter how great a hardship they suffer, they never display one word of this sort, or say one word of this sort. What is this called? Nonbelievers call it “forgoing the self.” Where is the logic here? Is this what it is? (No.) “Forgoing the self” is a mental illness and is nonsense. No matter how big a matter Job encountered, or how painful, he never reasoned with God or fought Him; he just submitted. What was his initial reason for submitting? Fear of God. His ability to submit came from his understanding of God. He believed that everything comes from God, and that everything God does is right.

Some group leaders and supervisors who get replaced cry without end, throw a fit, and get emotional. They think they have suffered an injustice, complain that God is not righteous, and think that the brothers and sisters should feel bad about exposing and reporting them, saying, “You people have no conscience. I was so good to you, and this is how you repay me! God is not righteous. I have suffered such a great injustice, yet God did not protect me; they just dismissed me harshly. You all look down on me, and God looks down on me, too!” They think they have been treated very unjustly and throw a fit. Tell Me, can a person like this come to submit? From what I see, it isn’t easy. So isn’t it over for them? What are you throwing a fit for? If you can accept it, then accept it. If you can’t accept the truth, and can’t submit to the truth, then get out of God’s house! Don’t believe in God—no one’s forcing you. What injustice have you been subjected to? What are you throwing a fit for? This is God’s house. If you have what it takes, go throw a fit in society, and go look for Satans and devil kings to throw a fit at. Don’t throw a fit in God’s house. What’s the big deal if you are dismissed as group leader? You can still live if you’re not a group leader, can’t you? You won’t believe in God if you’re not a group leader? Job suffered such great hardship but what did he say? He didn’t voice one word of complaint, and even praised God, saying, “Blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). Did he praise Jehovah’s name because he received an abundance of rewards and benefits? No. That was just how he understood, and how he practiced. Doesn’t this have to do with a person’s character as well? (Yes.) Some people have low integrity, and when they are slightly wronged, they think they have been treated extremely unjustly, and that everyone under the sun should feel guilty about it and ask them for forgiveness. These people are so troublesome! How would you explain the word “indignity”? Suffering indignity is a common occurrence for nonbelievers, but in God’s house there is a different way of saying it: Suffering hardship and indignity in order to gain the truth is hardship that people should suffer. No matter whether they are pruned or replaced, people who understand the truth do not think of it as indignity. They think they deserve to suffer hardship, and that people cannot submit to it because they have corrupt dispositions, but that that is not indignity. Who truly suffers indignity? It is God who suffers indignity. God saves humankind, but people do not understand. Look, after God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they worshiped idols. When they had nothing to eat they complained about God, and God had to send down manna and other food to them. After a couple of good days, they paid no attention to God, but when they encountered difficulties, they sought Him out again. Wouldn’t you say He suffered a great indignity? Doesn’t the incarnate God suffer a great indignity when He is rejected by the ages? People are nothing, and are capable of nothing. They enjoy so much grace given by God, and enjoy so many truths provided by God, but they feel it is especially unjust when they suffer a bit of deserved hardship. What injustice do people suffer? There are some people who usually have quite a bit of mettle, but when they suffer a bit of hardship—when brothers and sisters prune them, or someone says something unpleasant to them, or no one supports them or flatters them—they feel aggrieved, feel that they have suffered a great hardship, and have been wronged, and complain, “You all look down on me, and no one pays attention to me. I am destined to be mistreated!” What are you throwing a fit for? What use is it to say those things? Do any of those words accord with the truth? (No.) Then what does this amount to—is this humiliation? You are incapable of seeing the hardship you deserve to suffer clearly, and do not accept it. You’ve listened to so many sermons, but do not understand how people should practice the truth, and how they should submit. You don’t know any of this, and still think you have suffered some sort of great indignity. Aren’t you being unreasonable? To people who accept God’s salvation, does this indignity exist? (No.) Even if sometimes brothers and sisters are definitely treating you unjustly, how should you experience it? For example, there is fifty dollars lying somewhere, and after you walk by it, it’s gone, and everybody suspects you took it. What would you do? You would feel aggrieved and frustrated inside: “Even though I’m poor, I still have a moral backbone. I still care about my dignity. I have never taken anything that belonged to somebody else. My hands are perfectly clean. You guys always look down on me, and I’m the first person you suspect when this happens. God has not clarified things on my behalf. It looks like He doesn’t like me, either!” You throw a fit. Does this count as humiliation? (No.) So what should you do in this situation? If you took it, admit it, and promise you will never take anything again. If you didn’t take it, say, “I didn’t take it. God scrutinizes the innermost hearts of people. Whoever took that money knows it, and God knows it, too. I won’t say another word.” You don’t need to say, “You look down on me. You all want to pick on me.” What use is it to say those things? Is it a good thing to say a lot of those sorts of things? (No.) Why not? If you say a lot of those sorts of things it proves a fact: God is not in your heart; you do not believe in God, and you do not have true faith in God. When you tell the truth of the matter, God knows. He scrutinizes the innermost hearts of people, and scrutinizes everything people say and do. How other people want to see it is up to them. You believe that God knows all these things, and there is no need to say a lot. Do you need to feel aggrieved? No, you don’t. Of what consequence is this matter? You feel you have suffered an injustice when you are defamed and judged for believing in God, but can you talk about it clearly? By single-mindedly defending yourself against them you are delaying the proper issue. This is pointless, isn’t it? What use is it to reason with them? This is not practicing the truth.

People suffer much hardship during the process of experiencing God’s salvation. Is the hardship people suffer indignity? (No.) It certainly is not. Why do I say that? (Because people have corrupt dispositions, people should suffer this hardship.) People have corrupt dispositions—this is part of it. In addition, whichever aspect of the truth you don’t understand, and whatever part inside of you is still negative, you can bring it up and fellowship on it. You do not need to keep it pent up inside. What is the goal of fellowship? (To solve problems.) To seek the truth, come to understand the truth, and resolve the problems that are inside. You don’t need to keep them pent up inside you. You don’t need to suffer indignity. You don’t need to endure, saying, “I don’t understand, yet I’m still being made to submit. I must understand before I submit.” If you don’t understand, you can fellowship. Seeking the truth is the correct path. This is not wrong. When some things are fellowshipped on and explained clearly, people will know what to do. You should harbor an attitude of seeking the truth, and resolve problems by seeking the truth. If you do not understand the truth and only practice submitting, ultimately you will still be unable to resolve your problems. Therefore, even if you are required to submit, you are not required to submit in a muddleheaded or unprincipled way. However, there is a most basic principle contained within submission, which is when you don’t understand, you should first submit, have a submissive heart, and a submissive attitude. This is the rationality people should have. After accomplishing this, then slowly seek. This way, you can avoid offending God’s disposition, and can be protected and make it to the end of the road. Are all the words God uses to expose, condemn, and even judge and curse people meant to humiliate people? (No.) Do people need extreme patience to endure all this? (No.) No, they do not. On the contrary, people need extreme faith to accept all this. Only by accepting this can you truly understand what exactly Satan’s corrupt nature is, what exactly people’s corrupt essence is, what exactly the source of people’s antagonism toward God is, and why people are not compatible with God. You must seek the truth in God’s words before you are able to resolve these problems. If you do not accept the truth, and no matter how clearly God’s words state things, you do not accept it, then you will never resolve those problems. Even if you understand that “God’s words do not humiliate us; they just expose us, and are for our own good,” you only acknowledge this in the sense of doctrine; you will never come to understand the true meaning of everything that God says, or what the effect it is meant to achieve. You will also never understand what, exactly, the truth God talks about is. After fellowshipping in this way, isn’t it able, to a certain extent, to make people have a proactive and positive attitude toward accepting being pruned, accepting being replaced, and accepting the work, arrangements, and sovereignty that God carries out which do not accord with people’s notions? (Yes.) At a minimum, people will think that everything God does is right, that they should not understand it in a negative way, and that the attitude they should have first is to actively accept, submit, and then cooperate with it. Everything God does to people does not require strong patience on their part. Meaning, you do not need to endure all of this. What do you need to do? What you need is to accept, seek, and submit. The term “enduring humiliation” that nonbelievers use is clearly abusive toward people. Nothing God does requires you to endure humiliation. You can practice patience, love, humility, as well as submission, acceptance, honesty, openness, and seeking; these things are relatively positive. So, what is the logic behind what nonbelievers are saying? It is satanic philosophy, and satanic lies. In sum, enduring humiliation is not a principle which those who believe in God should observe. It is not the truth; it is a satanic thing. Enduring humiliation is not what God requires people to do, because no humiliation exists here. All of God’s actions toward people are ones of love, salvation, looking after them, and protecting them. The things God says, and the work He does in people are all positive and are all the truth. Not one bit of them is the same as those of Satan, and there are none of Satan’s methods and means. Only by accepting God’s words can people be purified and be saved.

In what ways does the act of “enduring humiliation” that Satan speaks of manifest in people? It manifests in people in the form of harm, abuse, ravaging, and trampling. In sum, it brings calamity upon you. Regardless of whether you have suffered hardship or suffered indignity, in short, what people ultimately gain from the things that Satan subjects them to is certainly not the truth. What do people gain? Pain. What Satan effects in people is innumerable forms of humiliation and ridicule, as well as abuse and corruption. So what does it achieve in people and make them feel? It gets people to endure grievances and make accommodations in order to preserve themselves, and even makes them become warped inside. People learn to use all sorts of tactics and methods to handle and approach all of this, and learn to butter people up, pretend, and speak falsehoods. When people reveal and manifest all these things, are their hearts willing, happy, and at peace, or angry and in pain? (Angry and in pain.) Does the anger in people’s hearts increase or decrease the more they endure humiliation in this world? (Increase.) Then, do people view humankind in an increasingly hostile way, or an increasingly loving way? (Hostile.) People view humankind in an increasingly hostile way and hate everyone they see. When people are young and have just entered society, they see everything as wonderful, and trust people with particular ease. When they reach their thirties, they do not trust others so much anymore. When they reach their forties, they don’t have trust for most people, and when they reach their fifties, their hearts are full of hatred and they are given to turning around and harming others. Before they become filled with hate, what do people endure? It is all indignity and pain. When you don’t have the capability and power that others do, when others say you are something you must quickly nod your head in acknowledgment, and when they curse you, you must listen. There is nothing you can do, but what do you think on the inside? “One day when I have power, I will kill you with my own hands and wipe out three generations of your ancestry!” The hate in your heart grows stronger and stronger. This is the consequence that enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy burden brings upon corrupt humankind. People think that enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy burden, which is praised and promoted by society, is a positive thing, and that it is a sort of mentality and way of thinking which enables people to work hard and strive to become stronger. So, why does it ultimately effect anger and hatred in people? (Because it is not the truth.) That’s right. It produces this negative consequence because it is not the truth. What gives rise to generations of resentment and revenge killings in society and in gangs? (After people suffer indignity, the hate in their hearts grows and they kill out of revenge.) That’s right, that is how killing out of revenge arises. Generation after generation, people brutally kill each other until humankind is destroyed by disaster. This is the consequence. Humankind has lived according to Satan’s philosophies and logic and gradually evolved until the present time under Satan’s power. The relationship between people is increasingly twisted, increasingly distant, increasingly lacking in trust, and increasingly cold. What point has it reached now? It has reached the point where the hearts of two people who have nothing to do with each other are filled with mutual hatred and mutual hostility. In the past, neighbors were in frequent contact and often interacted with each other, but now, a person could be dead for five or six days and their neighbor would not know; no one would check in on them. How did things get to this point? It got to this point because of this mutual hatred. You don’t want others to be hostile to you, yet at the same time, you are hostile to others—this is a vicious cycle. It is a negative consequence and disaster brought upon humankind by Satan’s laws. The views and impressions people have of others in their hearts are increasingly unfavorable, so they get better and better at enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy burden, and the anger and hatred in their hearts grow, until they finally say, “It would be better if they were all dead and not a single one was living!” Isn’t everyone’s heart full of this sort of hate? They wish this world would be destroyed as soon as possible: “People are all bad to the bone. They deserve to be destroyed!” You say other people are bad to the bone, but what about yourself? Can it be that you have truly changed? That you have attained salvation? At the same time as hating others for being bad to the bone, you should be better than them. If you are just as bad as the people of the world, then you have no reason. When a person with reason sees that humankind is bad to the bone, they should pursue the truth and live out human likeness to satisfy God—this is what is suitable. This way, when God destroys this wicked human race, they will be spared.

Do you hate this wicked human race? (Yes.) Most people who believe in God have some humanity and reason; their hearts are kinder, they yearn for the light, and they yearn for God and the truth to hold power. They do not like wicked things, and do not like things which are unfair. They should be filled with hope, love, and tolerance for humankind, so how can they hate humankind? Some people say, “Thinking back to when I was in school, the teacher picked on me, but I didn’t dare speak up about it; I just had to endure it. So I made up my mind to study hard and get into university in the future. I will show you all what I’m made of, and then I will be the one who picks on you!” Some people say, “Thinking back to when I was working, formidable people in the company always picked on me, and I thought, ‘Just wait until the day I outperform you with my achievements. Then I will make your lives miserable!’” There are others who say, “Thinking back to when I was doing business, the vendor manager always swindled me, and I thought, ‘When the day comes that I make a big fortune, I’ll get back at you!’” No one’s life is easy, and everyone has times when they are picked on—they have people who they hate inside and want to settle the score with them. This is what the world has come to; it is full of hatred and full of hostility. People’s hostility toward each other is too extreme, and they cannot get along harmoniously and are not on amicable terms. This world will be finished soon; it has reached the end of the line. Everyone has heartbreaking stories inside them from back when they were picked on by someone, somewhere, or back when they were picked on, looked down on, tricked, or harmed by others in some company, organization, or group of people. These things happen everywhere. What does this prove? It proves that humankind no longer has any people like Noah among them. Isn’t that the case? (Yes.) Everyone’s heart is full of wickedness, and full of hostility toward the truth, toward positive things, and toward justice. People are already beyond saving. There is no person, no teaching, and no theory which can save humanity—this is the fact of the matter. Some people still hope: “When will there be a world war? After the war, everyone who deserves to die will be dead, and the people who remain can have a fresh start. A new era will begin, and a new country will be established.” Is this possible? No, it’s not. Some people place their hope in all sorts of different religions, but now the sun is setting on every religion and they are breathing their last. Every religion is rotten to the core and has a poor reputation. What do I mean by these words? They are meant to make people understand a fact: If God didn’t use words and the truth to save humanity, the hatred and vicious disposition deep inside humans would only grow worse and worse, and more and more rampant. Ultimately, the only possibility for humankind would be for them to end in self-destruction from people brutally killing each other. At the present time, many people want to avoid this wicked human race and go live alone deep in the mountains and forests, or in a place with no trace of human life. What is the result of this? Humankind will no longer multiply and there will not be a next generation. Humankind will go extinct after the present generation—there will be no descendants. Humankind’s resistance to God is too severe, which stirred His rage early on. They will be finished before long. Why are there so many people who do not get married? Because they are afraid of being tricked, do not believe there are any good people anymore, and are filled with hostility toward marriage. Who should be blamed for this? Blame it on people being too deeply corrupted, blame it on Satan and devils, and blame it on people willingly accepting corruption. You hate others, but are you really better than them? You don’t have the truth, and hating others is of no use. If people don’t have the truth and don’t understand the truth, ultimately they will reach a dead end and fall into disaster and be destroyed. This is the end that they will meet. If God does not save humankind, there will be no one in corrupt humankind who can understand the truth.