Those who do not understand the truth must first remember that when they have notions, they should seek the truth to resolve them. They must never spread them or speak carelessly, saying, “I have freedom of speech. It’s my own mouth, after all; I can say what I want, to whom I want, and in any setting I want.” Speaking this way is wrong. Some good or correct words may not necessarily benefit others when spoken, but words that are notions or Satan’s temptations can result in immeasurable consequences when spoken. Based on these consequences, if you have a notion that you insist on expressing, and you feel that doing so feels good and makes you happy, your actions will have to be characterized as evil deeds, and God will record them against you. Why would they be recorded against you? You have been told many positive methods, paths, and principles of practice, but did not choose them; instead, you chose a path that brings harm to people—this was intentional, wasn’t it? Is it excessive, then, to call your actions evil deeds? (No.) You can completely choose to resolve this issue yourself through experience and through prayer to God and seeking, rather than bringing out your notions to disturb and mislead others. This is the way a person with conscience and reason should choose. So why don’t you choose this way? Why choose a way that harms and hurts others? Isn’t this what Satan would do? Evil people do things that harm others and themselves. If you also do such things, does God hate it? (Yes.) Even if God does not condemn your notions, you must seek the truth yourself to resolve your notions and you must have a path to practice the truth. If your way of dealing with notions is to spread them to intentionally mislead and harm others, disturbing church life and the life entry and normal states of the brothers and sisters, then your actions are evil deeds. When encountering such a situation, what choice should one make? A person with humanity who pursues the truth will not choose a way that misleads and harms others; they will choose to practice and adhere to proactive, positive principles, come before God to pray and seek the truth, and ask God to help resolve the issue. Some say, “When I ask God to help me, I always feel like His help is intangible and invisible. Can I choose to seek help from people instead?” Yes, you can choose someone who understands the truth more and has more stature than you, someone you believe can resolve your problem without being disturbed and influenced by your notions into becoming weak, someone who has experienced similar issues and can tell you how to resolve them—this path is also appropriate. If you choose someone who is usually quite muddled and cannot see through anything and, upon hearing about this matter, they immediately cause an uproar, want to broadcast the notions everywhere and cause disturbances, and wish to stop believing—then your actions will have inadvertently disturbed church life. Won’t your actions then be characterized as evil deeds? (Yes.) Therefore, when it comes to how you ought to handle notions, you must be careful and cautious, you must not act in a muddled or impulsive manner, and you absolutely must not treat notions as the truth—no matter how correct human thoughts are, they are not the truth. This way, you will feel much calmer, and your notions will not be able to cause any trouble. Having notions is nothing to be afraid of—as long as you seek the truth, they will ultimately be resolved. Some people say, “But notions aren’t easy to resolve.” Some notions are indeed difficult to resolve, so what should be done? It’s simple. Some notions are never resolved in the thoughts and minds of some people. This is already a fact, but no matter how difficult a notion is to resolve, it is still not the truth. As long as you understand this point, the problem is easy to handle. There is a fact here that I must tell you: God does not require everyone to fully understand or clearly grasp everything that He does; He does not require everyone to know the truth within it or why He acts a certain way. This is not what God desires; He does not require these standards of people. If your caliber is good enough, any level of understanding you achieve is good—just do your best. If you cannot understand, as you grow older, and your experiences continually grow deeper and deeper, and you accumulate more experience, your understanding of the truth will also gradually deepen, and your notions will decrease. However, most people are incapable of comprehending some special matters and never understand them. Does God force them to understand these matters? He does not; God does not forcibly instill understanding in them. For example, there are many mysteries among all the things created by God that people want to know but cannot. However, in God’s words and work, He only focuses on expressing the truth to purify and save people. He rarely mentions other matters, and even when He occasionally does, it is only in a brief manner; God never explains these matters to people in great length. Why not? Because people do not need to understand these things. In the work God does on people, in one respect, He reveals His disposition essence; in another respect, God has His thoughts, His plans, the sources and goals for the things He does, the ways and methods He uses to work on different people, the ways and methods of how He holds sovereignty over all things, and so on. God has never said that people must understand and enter into all truths in order for them to be considered saved. This is because God is too almighty! His ways of acting, speaking, working, and holding sovereignty over all things naturally reveal His disposition, essence, identity, and so on. Even though God naturally reveals these things that He has and is, He does not demand that people understand or apprehend them all. This is because God will always be God, and He is almighty, while created humankind is miniscule and entirely lacking in power; there is a chasm of difference between man and God! Therefore, it is very normal for people to develop some notions and imaginings about God. God does not take this to heart, but you always take it so seriously and stubbornly fixate on it. This approach will not work. If you are someone who pursues the truth and possesses high caliber, as long as you understand the truth and have true knowledge of God, these notions and imaginings will naturally be resolved. If you do not pursue the truth, and no matter who fellowships the truth with you, you do not accept it and always cling to your notions, what will the consequence of this be? The consequence will be that even if you reach the end of your life or the point where God’s work is completely finished, you will not have gained the truth but will have been led to death by your notions and imaginings. Even if you see God’s spiritual body appear, you still won’t be able to resolve your notions and imaginings about God. Would God tell you all the facts and what is true just because you can’t resolve these notions? In one respect, it is unnecessary for Him to do that; in another respect, there is a fact, which is that the human brain and mind do not have the massive capacity necessary to receive these things. The work God does is beyond human imagining and beyond all things. Compared to all things, humans are like a grain of sand on the beach. This description is close to the facts and can be considered appropriate. Even if God wanted to tell you everything, do you have the capacity to take it all in? Some people say, “Why can’t I take it all in? If God said more, I could understand more and gain more. In that case, I would be favored!” That’s a pipe dream; those people are overestimating their own capacity. That is not how things really are. In God’s eyes, the things He tells you are all very simple and obvious; they are the things that people can comprehend. In fact, there are many things that God hasn’t spoken about because people cannot comprehend them. Therefore, it is very normal that some of your notions cannot be resolved in the end. The things that God needs you to understand and wants to tell you, or that you can bear and comprehend, you will understand. As for the things that you cannot bear or comprehend, that your physical eyes cannot see through, even if God tells you them, it would be useless and a waste of effort. Consequently, God does not tell you these things. Regarding such notions, even if by the time you die or by the time God’s work is finished you still do not understand, what does this affect? Does it affect your submission to God? Does it affect your assuming the role of a created being? Does it affect your knowing God’s identity and essence? If you are not affected in any of these ways, then you will have been saved. So, does this kind of notion still need to be resolved? It does not. This is the last kind of notion, the kind that cannot be resolved even at the point of death. Some people say, “O God, I still do not understand this work You have done, these words You have said, and this environment that You have arranged. Can You tell me before I die so I can die in peace?” God ignores such requests. You may go in peace; you will understand everything in the spiritual realm.

God has His own standard for saving people; it isn’t based on how well you’ve resolved your notions or how many of them you’ve let go. Instead, it’s based on how fearful you are of God and how submissive you are to Him, whether you genuinely fear and submit to Him or not. There is meaning in everything God does, and whether it is easy for you to accept, or difficult for you to accept and likely to cause notions in you, in any case, the identity of God does not change as a result; He shall always be the Creator, and you will always be a created being. If you are able to not be limited by any notion, and still maintain with God the relationship of a created being and the Creator, then you are a true created being of God. If you are able to not be influenced or disturbed by any notion, and are capable of true submission to God from the depths of your heart, and if, regardless of whether your understanding of the truth is profound or shallow, you are able to put notions aside, and not be constrained by them, believing only that God is the truth, the way, and the life, that God will forever be God, and that what God does is never wrong, then you can be saved. In fact, everyone’s stature is limited. How many things can be packed into people’s brains? Can they fathom God? That’s wishful thinking! Do not forget: People will always be infants before God. If you think you’re clever, if you always try to play clever, and try to figure everything out, thinking, “If I can’t understand it, then I cannot acknowledge that you are my god, I cannot accept that you are my god, I cannot acknowledge that you are the creator. If you don’t solve my notions, you’re dreaming if you think that I’ll acknowledge that you are god, that I’ll accept your sovereignty, and that I’ll submit to you,” then this is troublesome. How so? God does not argue over such things with you. Toward man He shall ever be as follows: If you do not accept that God is your God, He shall not accept that you are one of His created beings. When God does not accept that you are one of His created beings, a change occurs in your relationship with God as a result of your attitude toward Him. If you are unable to submit to God, and to accept the identity and essence of God, and all that God does, there will be a change in your identity. Are you still a created being? God does not acknowledge you; there’s no point in arguing. And if you are not a created being, and God does not want you, do you still have hope of salvation? (No.) Why doesn’t God regard you as a created being? You are unable to fulfill the responsibilities and duties that a created being ought to, and you do not treat the Creator from the position of a created being. So how will God treat you? How will He view you? God will not view you as an up-to-standard created being, but as a degenerate, a devil and a Satan. Didn’t you think you were clever? How is it that you’ve made yourself into a devil and a Satan? This isn’t clever, it’s stupid. What do these words help people understand? That people must stay in line before God. Even if you have a reason for your notions, do not think that you are possessed of the truth, and that you have the capital to clamor against God and delimit Him. Whatever you do, don’t be like that. Once you lose your identity as a created being, you will be destroyed—this is no joke. It is precisely because, when people have notions, they take different approaches, and adopt different solutions, that the outcomes are entirely different.

Do you have principles for how to practice in regard to notions? Do these principles protect you so that you can conduct yourselves as created beings properly? Is this path good? (Yes.) Then summarize it. (If it is a relatively easy-to-resolve notion, we must pray and seek, finding the truth which dissects this type of notion from God’s words, and we can also fellowship with brothers and sisters who understand the truth; in this way, we will be able to see through the fallacious aspects of the notion, thus resolving it. There are also some notions that are not easy to resolve, but we must not cling to them. We need to have an attitude of accepting the truth and submitting to God, knowing that we are created beings and that what God does is definitely right, and it’s just that we haven’t realized this. Whether we understand or not, we cannot spread notions. We should learn to often pray to God and seek, and gradually these notions can also be resolved. The third situation is that some notions may remain unresolved in the end. In such cases, as long as we are not constrained by these notions and do not spread them, it is fine. Even if these notions are not resolved in the end, as long as we do not cling to them and do not commit evil because of them, God will not condemn us, and it will not affect our salvation.) How many principles are there in total? (Three.) There are three principles in total. You’ve noted them all down, yes? Once you understand the truth and grasp the principles, your notions will naturally be resolved. You must not let notions hinder or trip you up; resolve those notions that can be resolved as best you can, and for those temporarily unresolvable ones, at least do not let them affect you. They should not impede your performance of duty, nor should they affect your relationship with God. Your bottom line is to at least not spread notions, not commit evil, not cause disruptions or disturbances, and not act as a servant of Satan or a conduit for Satan. If, no matter how much effort you apply, some notions can only be superficially resolved and not thoroughly resolved, then simply ignore them. Do not let notions affect your pursuit of the truth or your life entry. Master these principles, and under normal circumstances, you will be protected. If you are someone who accepts the truth, loves positive things, is not an evil person, is unwilling to cause disruptions or disturbances, and does not purposefully cause disruptions and disturbances, then when you typically encounter the issue of notions arising, you will generally be protected. The most rudimentary principle of practice is this: If a notion arises that is difficult to resolve, do not rush to act upon the notion. First, wait and seek the truth to resolve it, believing that what God does cannot be wrong. Remember this principle. Additionally, do not put aside your duty or let the notion affect your performance of duty. If you have notions and think, “I’ll just muddle through with this duty; I’m in a bad mood, so I won’t do a good job for you!” this is no good. Once your attitude turns negative and perfunctory, it becomes troublesome; this is notions acting up inside you. When notions act up within you and affect your performance of duty, that means that by this point your relationship with God has actually already undergone a change. Some notions can affect your performance of duty, which is a serious problem, and they must be resolved promptly. Other notions do not affect your performance of duty or your relationship with God, so they are not major issues. If the notions you develop can affect your performance of duty, causing you to doubt God, not do your duty diligently—and even feel there will be no consequences for not doing your duty—and not have any dread or a God-fearing heart, this is dangerous. This means you will fall into temptation, and be duped and captured by Satan. Your attitude toward your notions and the choices you make are crucial; regardless of whether the notions can be resolved, and irrespective of the degree to which they can be resolved, the normal relationship between you and God must not change. For one thing, you should be able to submit to all the environments orchestrated by God, and affirm that everything God does is correct and meaningful, and this knowledge and this aspect of the truth should never change for you. For another, you must not put aside the duty that God has entrusted to you, you must not unburden yourself of this. If, internally or externally, you have no resistance, opposition, or rebelliousness toward God, God will see only your submission, and that you are waiting. You may still have notions, but God does not see your rebelliousness. As there is no rebelliousness and resistance in you, God still considers you one of His created beings. In contrast, if your heart is full of complaints and defiance, you are looking for an opportunity to retaliate, and do not wish to do your duty, wishing instead to unburden yourself of it—even to the point that, in your heart, there are all manner of complaints about God, and certain manifestations of defiance and resentment are revealed in the course of doing your duty—then, at this time, your relationship with God has already undergone a huge change. You have already switched from your position as a created being; you are no longer a created being, but have become a conduit for devils and Satan—and so God will not show you any kindness. When someone gets to this point, they are approaching dangerous territory. Even if God does nothing, they will not be able to stand firm in the church. And so, in everything they do—particularly when it involves issues such as resolving notions—people must take care to avoid doing things that offend God, or that are condemned by God, or that hurt or harm others. This is the principle.

The problem of people having notions about God is not a small matter! It is crucial for people to maintain a normal relationship with God, but what most affects this relationship is people’s notions. Only when people’s notions about God are resolved can a normal relationship with God be maintained. Currently, many people have a serious problem. Regardless of how many years they’ve believed in God, although they may be able to endure suffering and pay the price in their performance of duties, yet throughout, their notions cannot be completely resolved. This seriously affects their relationship with God and directly impacts their love for God and their submission to Him. Therefore, no matter what notions people develop about God, it is a serious matter that must not be overlooked. Notions are like a wall; they cut off people’s relationships with God, making it so they are unrelated to God’s salvation work. Thus, people having notions about God is a very serious issue that cannot be ignored! If people have notions and cannot promptly seek the truth and resolve them, this can easily give rise to negativity, resistance against God, and even hostility toward Him. Can they still accept the truth then? Their life entry will come to a standstill. The path of experiencing God’s work is uneven and bumpy. Because people have corrupt dispositions, they can take many detours, and they may wind up forming notions in any situation. If these notions are not resolved by seeking the truth, people can rebel against God and defy Him, walking the path of hostility toward Him. Once people take the path of antichrists, do you think there’s a chance of salvation left for them? It’s not easy to handle at that point, and there will be no chance left. Therefore, before God denies you as His created being, you should learn how to be God’s created being. Do not attempt to scrutinize the Creator or attempt to find out how to prove and verify that the God you believe in is the Creator. This is not your obligation or responsibility. What you should be thinking about and pondering in your heart every day is how to fulfill your duties and become an up-to-standard created being, instead of how to prove whether God is the Creator, whether He is indeed God, or scrutinizing what God has done and whether His actions are correct or not. These are not what you should be scrutinizing.

June 19, 2021