Pursuing the truth is very important, but that doesn’t mean that if people don’t pursue the truth, then they cannot make it to the end of the road; that is not for definite. All people are created beings, and as long as they are not devils or Satans, then they will not actively attack God, or actively attack and blaspheme against God in clear awareness. Therefore, God is fair and reasonable to ordinary corrupt mankind, and He gives them all the chance to attain salvation. While man experiences attaining salvation, God is kind to them, He protects them, and looks after them. So, what is God’s attitude toward those people who are devils and Satans? They see God as their enemy and continually judge, attack, and blaspheme against God, destroy His work, and never know to repent. If they interact with other people, they will have some they get along well with, but only when they come before God, they don’t get along with Him at all, not for one minute or one second; they cannot work with God or coexist with Him or reach a consensus with Him on anything, and this shows that they are standard devils and Satans. God absolutely does not tolerate such people, and God’s house absolutely does not keep such people. When one is discovered, they are cleared out; when a pair is discovered, they are cleared out; however many are exposed, that is how many are removed—the day they are exposed is the day they’re finished. You see, when good people are promoted and put to some important use, that is when they are perfected, blessed, and they reap the greatest harvest; when evil people and devils are promoted and put to use, they are naturally exposed and cast out, and their last day has arrived. Think of those around you who were exposed, cast out or cleared out recently or early on, and those who finally had their names delisted. It was when they reached the peak of their “career” in God’s house that they were cast out, their last day had arrived, and a giant period mark was written against their life of faith in God. The nonbelievers come and go in the church and can’t find a suitable place for themselves, nor can they perform any duty. The moment they commit some evil act, they are exposed, and their last day has arrived. Devils like to do big things and make a name for themselves, and the day they are reveling the most in glory is their final day. Why do I say this? Do you know? This is how things are. It is when they are reveling the most in glory that they are the most complacent, and isn’t it when they are the most complacent that they are most likely to forget themselves? (Yes.) When they have no success and no glory, these devils keep their heads down. But just because I say they keep their heads down, that doesn’t mean they’re able to practice the truth, only that they do things very carefully and cautiously, always with a guarded heart and not a God-fearing heart. The moment they see an opportunity, or they find themselves with some power and status, able to command the wind and rain to do their bidding, they become complacent and forget themselves, thinking, “My time has come. It is now time for me to put forth my abilities and strengths and bring my capabilities into play!” And they jump into action. What is the motivation behind their actions and what is the source of their actions? Where do the motivation and source of their actions spring from? They spring from devils, from Satan, and from their wild ambitions and desires. Under such circumstances, can the things they do accord with the principles of the truth? Can they have a God-fearing heart while they do things? Can they handle matters in accordance with what God’s house requires? The answer to all these questions is no, they can’t. And what are the consequences? (They cause disruptions and disturbances.) That’s right, the consequences are that they cause severe disruptions and disturbances, and even cause severe disturbances and losses to God’s house and to church work. So then, in line with the principles of how to handle people in God’s house, how should people who bring about such consequences to the work of the church be handled? If the matter is a minor one, they should be replaced, and if the matter is a serious one, then they should be cleared out. When someone is promoted and put to some important use, or they are arranged to do some work, God’s house will always clearly fellowship with them on the principles of doing work. Many principles and details are told to that person, and it is only when they have understood and comprehended, and they have written it all down, that the handover is considered complete. When they should do some work and perform their duty, however, they set to it with their devil’s claws exposed and the devil they truly are begins to appear. They don’t do things in line with the principles required by God’s house at all, but instead do things completely as they themselves want, doing things however they like, however they wish. No one can control them, and they don’t listen to anyone, thinking, “God’s house, God, and the truth can all stand aside! Here, I’m calling the shots!” This is how devils do things, and it is the attitude devils have toward duty and toward the truth. If you have such an attitude toward the truth, then you will be exposed. If you take the work of God’s house and your duty as trifling matters and you don’t do things according to the principles God’s house has enjoined you to follow, then you will not be treated courteously. God’s house has principles with which it handles people; those who should be dismissed from their post are dismissed, and those who should be cleared out are cleared out, and that’s all there is to say about it. Isn’t that so? Isn’t this what God’s house does? And isn’t this how those devils are revealed? And isn’t this their motivation for doing things, the source of their actions, and the way they do things? (Yes.) By handling them in this way, is God’s house treating them unjustly? (No.) Is it an appropriate way to handle them? (Yes.) It really is so appropriate! A normal person accepts their duty, receives a promotion, and is put to some important use. They carry out their work according to their own abilities and caliber and, to a greater or lesser extent, in accordance with the work principles they understand, or which God’s house has enjoined them to follow. Despite the fact that they often reveal corrupt dispositions, this does not impact the normal performance of their duty. No matter what difficulties they encounter, what incorrect state they find themselves in, or what disruption they endure, in the end they will achieve some positive results in the performance of their duty, and these results are acceptable to all. Those nonbelievers, however, regardless of how long they have been performing their duty for, never achieve any positive results. They always do bad things and try to ruin things, and this not only affects church work, but it also harms the church’s interests, creating a foul atmosphere around their work and making a mess of it. If one devil disrupts and ruins some work, there must be many people behind the scenes doing the work over again from scratch, wasting the human and financial resources of God’s house, and making many of God’s chosen people wrathful. Once the devil has been removed, the work of the church immediately takes on a bright new look, and the results of the work are different. The devil that caused disruptions and disturbances is banned, people come to have a free and liberated mentality, work efficiency is increased, and everyone performs their duties normally. Therefore, these people who are of devils and Satan appear to be people from the outside and, regardless of how old they are or how educated, so long as they are evil people, then they can perform evil acts, and they play the role of devils and Satan corrupting and disturbing people. For example, you’re making a pot of chicken soup which everyone is looking forward to eating, when suddenly a fly lands in the soup. Tell Me, can this chicken soup still be eaten? There’s nothing for it, you just have to tip it away, and two or three hours of work is wasted. You then have to wash the pot several times, and even after you’ve washed it, it still doesn’t seem clean to you, and you’re left feeling a trace of disgust. What disturbed you? (The fly.) Although the fly is very small, its defiled essence is so disgusting. These people who are of devils are like flies. They find their way into the church and cause severe disruption to the normal order of church life, and they disturb the normal progression of church work. So, do you now have a clear understanding of these people who are of devils? Trying to get them to render some service and perform their duty well is harder than trying to get a cow to climb a tree; it’s like trying to get a duck to sit on a perch. The hardest thing is trying to get devils and Satans to practice the truth, as is trying to get nonbelievers to loyally perform their duty. This is just how things are. If you come across people who are of Satan and nonbelievers, and you need to ask them to help you do something temporarily, then that’s fine. But if you arrange for them to perform some duty or do some work, then you’re being blind and you’re being played for a fool. Especially if you ask them to do some important work, then you’re being even more foolish. If you really can’t find anyone suitable to help you with something and so you ask them for help, then it’s fine to ask them to do something, but you must keep an eye on them and not brush the matter aside. People like that are totally unreliable; because they are not human, but are devils, they are totally unreliable. So now, glance around at the people in charge of teams or team leaders, and at those who perform key duties and important work and see if they are such things as these devils. If you can replace them, then replace them as soon as you can; if you can’t replace them as there is no one suitable there to take their place, then keep a close watch on them, supervise and follow them closely. You must not give devils and Satans the chance to cause disturbances. A devil will always be a devil, they have no humanity, and they have no conscience and reason—you must remember this always! Nonbelievers are all of devils and Satan, and you must not believe them! Let’s stop fellowshipping on this topic here.

When we fellowshipped on how to pursue the truth before, we talked about two things. What was the first one? (Letting go.) One of them was letting go. What about the other one? (Dedicating.) Dedicating. We talked about the first one, “letting go,” three times. What did we fellowship on last time? (Last time, God dissected the reasons why the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry arise in people from the perspective of the difficulties they face, and their attitude toward God’s work and the truth.) There are many reasons why the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry can arise, but in general they are caused by the objective reason that people do not understand the truth. This is one reason. There is another reason, and that is the primary reason that people do not pursue the truth. When people don’t understand or pursue the truth, and they have no true faith in God, then they don’t truly submit, and that’s why all manner of negative emotions naturally arise in them. In day-to-day life, because of the practical difficulties people experience in their lives and all the different problems they encounter in their thinking, they end up feeling all manner of negative emotions in their objective environments. In particular, the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry which we spoke about last time, all arise because people face all kinds of difficulties and problems related to their fleshly lives. Because when people encounter these problems they don’t seek the truth or believe what God says, much less do they seek the truth they should understand and practice in God’s words, which would allow them to let go of their wrong views, their wrong thoughts and views about these matters, as well as let go of their incorrect ways of handling and approaching these things, the days go by, time passes, and the various difficulties that people face in daily life generate all manner of thoughts that disturb and constrain them deep within their hearts. Unbeknownst to them, these thoughts cause feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry to arise concerning their fleshly lives and all the different issues they face. In fact, when people haven’t yet come before God or they have no understanding of the truth, these issues will cause feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry to arise in every single person to a varying degree—it is unavoidable. For those who live in the flesh, anything that happens to them will cause a certain disturbance and impact to their lives and their thoughts. When this disturbance and impact become more than they can endure and bear, or when their instincts, abilities, and social status are insufficient to hold them up or to solve or dispel these difficulties, distress, anxiety, and worry will naturally arise deep in their hearts and gather there, and these feelings will become their normal state. Fretting about various things such as one’s future prospects, food, drink, and marriage, one’s future survival or health, one’s old age, and one’s status and reputation in society is a condition shared by all mankind upon the basis of man not understanding the truth and not believing in God. However, once people come to believe in God, when they understand a little truth, their resolve to pursue the truth will keep getting stronger. In this way, the practical difficulties and problems they encounter will gradually diminish, and the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry will gradually weaken and abate—this is very natural. This is because, after people have read many of God’s words and come to understand some truth in their belief in God, they will always weigh up and approach the essence, the origin, and the source of the issues they encounter throughout their lives in accordance with God’s words. In the final analysis, they will ultimately come to understand that their fate and all these things they experience in their lives are in God’s hands, and so will understand from a general perspective that all of this is under the sovereignty of God, and none of it is up to them. Therefore, the simplest thing for people to do is to submit—submit to the arrangements and sovereignty of Heaven. They shouldn’t struggle against their fate, but instead, when they encounter any matter, they should always positively and actively seek God’s will and from there find the most appropriate way to resolve the issue—this is a most basic thing people should understand. That is to say, after people come to believe in God, because of the truths they understand and because they basically submit to God, their distress, anxiety, and worry gradually abate. This means that these emotions will not be able to vex them so grievously anymore, or make them feel confused, or bewildered, or that their future is bleak and uncertain, thereby often causing them to feel distressed, anxious, and worried about these things. On the contrary, because they have come to believe in God and understand some truth, and to have some discernment and understanding of all manner of things in life, or to have a more appropriate way to handle these things, their negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry will gradually abate. However, although you have believed in God for many years and have listened to many sermons, your negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry have still not been eliminated or weakened—that is to say, your attitude concerning how you viewed people and things and comported yourself and acted, and your thoughts and views, and the way you handled things before you came to believe in God have not changed—meaning that after you came to believe in God, you didn’t accept the truth or gain the truth or use the truth to resolve these issues after reading God’s words and listening to sermons, thereby resolving these negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry. If you never seek the truth to resolve these negative emotions, doesn’t this show that you have a problem? (Yes.) What problem does it show? You have been a believer in God for many years and still feel that your future looks totally bleak and gloomy. You still often feel empty and helpless in your heart, and you still often feel lost and that you have no way forward. You don’t know where your life is headed, and you still feel like you are groping in the fog, without a path, without a direction to move forward. What does this mean? At the very least it means that you haven’t gained the truth, right? And if you haven’t gained the truth, what is it you’ve been doing all these years? Have you been pursuing the truth? (No.) If, while you’ve been giving things up, expending yourself, and performing your duties, you haven’t been pursuing the truth and haven’t been using the truth to resolve practical problems, what have you been doing all this time? (Idling and muddling along.) There are many people who perform their duty in a slipshod way, and these people are actually rendering service. Service-doers settle for being able to perform their duties, pay some price, and suffer a little, but they don’t pursue the truth. That’s why, after believing in God for many years, they haven’t changed at all. These people are actually service-doers and, if we say what used to be said, we can say they are engaging in religious activities. Take a look at those religious activities in the religious world—on Sundays people go to worship and hold gatherings, and ordinarily they pray in the mornings, say grace, give thanks for everything, bless people with their prayers, and when they see other people they say, “God blesses you, God protects you.” When they see a likely candidate, they preach the gospel and read a passage from the Bible to them. The better ones go clean the church, and when a preacher comes, they enthusiastically put them up in their homes; when they encounter elderly people with difficulties in their lives, they help them out, and take pleasure in helping them. Are these not all religious activities? Eating Easter eggs at Easter, celebrating Christmas and singing Christmas hymns—these are the activities they engage in. Your activities now are done somewhat more frequently than those done by religious people. Many of you leave your homes and perform your duties full-time. You perform your spiritual devotions in the morning, some church work in the daytime, you go to regular gatherings and read God’s words, and before you go to bed in the evening, you pray to God and ask Him to protect you, to grant you a sound night’s sleep and to keep bad dreams away, and then you do it all again the next day. Your everyday lives are exceptionally regular, yet they are exceptionally insipid and dull. You gain nothing and understand nothing for a long time, and you never reflect on or recognize these most basic of negative emotions, nor have you ever unearthed them or resolved them. In your free time, or when you encounter something that isn’t to your liking in your duty, or you get a message from home saying your parents are unwell, or something unfortunate happens back home, you no longer feel like performing your duty and you become weak for several days. While you are feeling weak, those negative emotions that have been collecting inside you for a long time burst forth again. You think about them day and night, and they follow you like shadows. There are even some who have the thoughts and views they harbored before they believed in God suddenly burst forth again when they’re feeling weak and negative, and they think, “Maybe it would have been better if I had gone to college, if I had studied some major, and found a good job—I could even have gotten married by now. My classmate so-and-so seemed like nothing special when we were at school together, but after school they went to college. They were promoted after they got a job, and now they have the perfect happy home life. They have a car and a house, and they live a wonderful life.” When they think these things and slide into these negative states, all manner of negative emotions burst forth all at once. They think of home, of their mothers, they pine for how things used to be, and good things, bad things, hurtful things, happy things, and unforgettable things all flood their minds, and as they think of all these things, they become sorrowful, and tears roll from their eyes. What does all this show? It shows that the way you used to live and the way you used to conduct your life can arise from time to time and disturb your current life and the state of your life right now. These things can even dominate the way you live your life now and your life attitude, as well as your views on things. They constantly disturb and dominate your life. This is not intentional on your part, but rather it is a case of you naturally becoming mired in these negative emotions. You may think now that you don’t have these emotions, but only because the right time and environment have not arrived. As soon as the right time and environment arrive, then at any time and place you can slide into just these same emotions. Now, when you slide into these emotions, you are in danger, in danger of falling back into your original way of living at any time and place and falling under the domination of your original thoughts and views—this is very dangerous. This danger can strip you of your chance and hope to attain salvation at any time and place, and at any time and place it can carry you away from the path of faith in God. Therefore, regardless of how strong your resolve and desire to perform your duty is now, or how profound and lofty you think the truths are that you understand, or how great your stature is, as long as your thoughts do not change, as long as your outlook on life does not change, as long as the way you live your life does not change, and as long as your desire for what you want in life does not change—all of which are under the direction of these emotions—then you will be in danger at all times and in all places; when you can be devoured, overwhelmed, and carried off by these thoughts and views at any time and place, then you are in danger. Therefore, don’t make light of these negative emotions. At any moment and in any place, they can strip you of your chance to attain salvation and destroy your chance to be saved, and this is not a small matter.

All of man’s negative emotions are caused by their various wrong thoughts, wrong views, wrong ways of living, and wrong satanic life philosophies. There are also some things that happen in your real lives, in particular, at times when you’re unable to clearly comprehend the essence of these things, you can very easily become frightened and hemmed in by how these things appear, and can very easily slip into confusion, thereby falling back into old ways of living; you will unconsciously protect yourself, abandon God, abandon the truth, and use your own methods and the ways you believe to be the most traditional and reliable to seek a way out, search for how to live, and look for the hope to go on living. Although, on the surface, these negative emotions present as just emotions, and if we describe these emotions in words, then they seem understated when taken literally and are not so serious, some people cling tightly to these negative emotions and won’t let them go, as though clinging to a straw that will save their lives, and they are tightly bound and fettered by these things. In fact, their being bound by these negative emotions is really caused by the various ways upon which man relies for their survival, as well as their various thoughts and views that dominate them, and their various attitudes toward life and living. Therefore, even though the feelings of depression, distress, anxiety, worry, inferiority, hatred, anger and so on are all negative, people still think these things can be relied upon, and only when they slip down into these emotions do they feel secure, and feel that they’ve found themselves and that they exist. In actuality, that people become mired in these emotions moves in the opposite direction from and strays far from the truth, as well as from the correct ways of thinking, the correct thoughts and views, and the correct attitude toward and views on things which God tells them to have. No matter what negative emotion you are experiencing, the more deeply you sink into it, the more bound by it you will be; the more bound by it you are, the more you will feel the need to protect yourself; the more you feel the need to protect yourself, the more you will hope to be stronger and to be more capable and competent to win opportunities to live and find various ways of living to surmount the world, claim victory over all the difficulties you face in the world, and overcome all of life’s difficulties and hardships. The more you slip down into these emotions, the more you actually want to control or resolve all the difficulties you come across in life. Isn’t that so? (Yes, it is.) So then, how do these thoughts of man arise? Let’s take marriage as an example. You feel distressed, anxious, and worried about marriage, but what exactly is the issue behind all of this? What are you worried about? Where does this worry come from? It comes from you not knowing that this marriage is arranged and ruled by fate, and that it is arranged and ruled by Heaven. Not knowing this, you always want to decide things for yourself, to plan, propose, and plot, thinking repeatedly such things as: “What kind of partner should I look for? How tall should they be? What should they look like? What kind of personality should they have? How educated should they be? What kind of family should they come from?” The more thorough your plans, the more you fret, isn’t that so? The higher your requirements get and the more requirements you have, the more you fret, right? And the harder it becomes to find a partner, yes? (Yes.) When you don’t know if someone is suitable for you or not, the greater your difficulties become, and the greater your difficulties become, the more severe your feelings of distress and anxiety become, right? The more severe your feelings of distress and anxiety become, the more these emotions get you into a tangle. So, how do you resolve this problem? Say you understand the essence of marriage, and that you understand the correct way forward and direction to go—what then is the correct approach to take to marriage? You say, “Marriage is a great event in life, and no matter what people choose, it has all been predestined long ago. God long ago ordained and arranged who your spouse would be and what they’d be like. People mustn’t be too hasty or rely on their imaginations, much less on their preferences. Relying on one’s imaginations and preferences and being too hasty are all manifestations of ignorance and do not accord with reality. People mustn’t allow their fancies to run wild, and all imagining is at odds with reality. The most practical thing to do is to let things take their natural course and await the person whom God has arranged for you.” So, with this theory and this practical understanding as your foundation, how should you practice regarding this matter? You should have faith, await God’s time, and await God’s arrangement. If God arranges a suitable partner for you in this life, then they will appear at the right time, in the right place, and in the right environment. It will happen when conditions are ripe, and all you have to do is be the one who cooperates with this matter at such a time, and in such a place and environment. The only thing you can do is wait—wait for this time, wait for this place, wait for this environment, wait for this person to appear, wait for all of this to take place, being neither active nor passive, but rather just waiting for all these things to happen and arrive. What do I mean by “wait”? I mean having a submissive attitude, being neither active nor passive; this attitude is a seeking and submissive attitude, without importunity. Once you have adopted this kind of attitude, will you still feel distressed, anxious, and worried about marriage? (No.) Your individual plans, imaginings, wishes, predilections, and all your ignorant thinking that is at odds with the facts disappear. Your heart is then calm, and you feel no more negative emotions about the matter of marriage. You feel relaxed, liberated, and free regarding this matter, and you let things take their natural course. Once you come to have the correct attitude, everything you do and everything you express becomes rational and appropriate. The emotions that are manifested from within your normal humanity naturally cannot be distress, anxiety, and worry, but rather they are peaceful and stable. The emotions are not depressing or radical—you just wait. Your only way of practice and attitude regarding this matter in your heart is to wait and to submit: “I wish to submit to all that God arranges for me. I have no personal requirements or plans.” Haven’t you then let go of these negative emotions? And isn’t it so that these emotions will not arise? Even if you did feel them, wouldn’t you then gradually let them go? So, what kind of process is the process of letting go of these negative emotions? Is it a manifestation of pursuing the truth? It shows that you are both pursuing and practicing the truth. The end result achieved through pursuing the truth is that of practicing the truth—it is implemented through practicing the truth. When you attain the level of practicing the truth, your distress, anxiety, and worry will no longer follow you like shadows; they will have been thoroughly removed from your innermost heart. Is the process of removing these emotions the process of letting go? (Yes.) Practicing the truth is this simple. Is it easy? Practicing the truth is a transformation of thoughts and views and, even more so, it is a transformation of one’s attitude toward things. To let go of a simple negative emotion, one must practice and achieve these processes. First undergo a transformation of one’s thoughts and views, then a transformation of one’s attitude to practice, before then undergoing a transformation of the way one practices, one’s principles of practice, and one’s path of practice. Won’t you then have let that negative emotion go? It’s this simple. The ultimate result you achieve through “letting go” is that you are no longer disturbed, perplexed, and controlled by this negative emotion, and at the same time you are no longer haunted by all manner of negative thoughts and views caused by this negative emotion. In this way, you will live feeling relaxed, free, and liberated. Of course, feeling relaxed, free, and liberated are just human feelings—the real benefit people truly gain is that they come to understand the truth. The basis of man’s existence is the truth and the words of God. If people rely on their imaginings to live within various negative emotions for self-protection, if they rely on themselves and rely on their own abilities, means, and methods to safeguard themselves, and they walk their own path, then they will have strayed from the truth and from God, and will naturally come to live under the power of Satan. Therefore, when you’re faced with these same difficulties and situations, you should have understanding in your heart, and will naturally think, “I don’t need to worry about these things. There’s no point in worrying. People who are intelligent and wise will rely on God and will entrust all these things to God, submit to His sovereignty, await all the things God arranges, and await the time, place, person, or thing that God arranges. What man should and can do is only to cooperate and submit—this is the most sensible choice.” Of course, if you don’t do this and practice in this way, then everything that God arranges will still happen in the end—no person, no event, and no situation can be changed by the will of man. The distress, anxiety, and worry of man are just a meaningless sacrifice, and they are just the foolish thoughts and ignorant manifestations of man. No matter how profound or severe your feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry, or how thoroughly you think over a matter, it is all useless in the end and must be discarded. The final facts and results cannot be changed by the will of man. Man must live under the sovereignty and arrangements of God in the end; no one can change these things, and no one can break free of all these things. Isn’t that so? (Yes.)