Let’s first review the main content of our fellowship at the last gathering. (Last time, You listed the fifteen responsibilities of leaders and workers, and mainly fellowshipped on the first two: The first is leading people to eat and drink of God’s words and understand them, and to enter the reality of God’s words; the second is to be familiar with the states of each sort of person, and resolve the various difficulties relating to life entry they encounter in their real lives. Based on these two items, You dissected the relevant manifestations of false leaders.) Have you ever pondered which of these two responsibilities you could perform if you were a leader? Many people always feel that they have some caliber, intelligence, and a sense of burden, and consequently wish to vie to become leaders, and do not want to be ordinary followers. So, first look at whether you can perform these two responsibilities, and which one you are more capable of performing, and are able to take on. Let’s not talk for now about whether you have the caliber to become a leader, or whether you possess the ability or sense of burden for the task, and first look at if you can perform these two responsibilities well. Have you ever pondered this question? Some may say, “I don’t plan to be a leader, so why should I ponder it? I just need to do my own job well—this question has nothing to do with me. In this lifetime, I never want to be a leader, and I never want to take on the responsibilities of a leader or worker, so I never need to ponder such questions.” Is this statement correct? (No.) Even if you don’t want to be a leader, don’t you still need to know how well the person leading you is carrying out these two responsibilities, whether they have fulfilled their responsibilities, whether they have the required caliber, abilities, and sense of burden, and whether they meet these two requirements? If you don’t understand or can’t see through these things, and they lead you into a pit, will you be aware of it? If you just follow them in a confused way and are just a dimwit, if you don’t know that they are a false leader, or that they’re leading you astray or where they’re leading you, then you will be in danger. Because you don’t understand the scope of leaders’ and workers’ responsibilities, and you lack discernment of false leaders, you will follow them in a confused way, and do whatever they ask you to do, not knowing whether what they fellowship to you is in line with the truth in God’s words, or whether it is the reality. You will think that because they are enthusiastic, because they rush about and work hard from dawn to dusk and are capable of paying the price, and because, when someone is in difficulty, they extend a helping hand to assist them, and do not ignore them, that they are an up-to-standard leader. You don’t know that false leaders lack the ability to comprehend God’s words, that no matter how long they lead people, those people won’t understand God’s intentions or know what God’s requirements are, that they won’t even be able to discern what doctrines and the truth realities are, and that false leaders won’t know which of God’s words people have a distorted comprehension of, and that people won’t know how they should eat and drink God’s words. False leaders will fellowship with you and go through the motions, but they will be unclear about what state you are in, what difficulties you are facing, and whether they have actually been resolved, and you yourself will not know these things either. Outwardly, they will have read God’s words and fellowshipped about the truth with you, but you will still be living in an erroneous state without any reversal. No matter what difficulties you encounter, they will appear to carry out their responsibilities, but none of your difficulties will be resolved through their fellowship or assistance, and the issues will persist. Is this kind of leader up to standard? (No.) So, what truths do you need to understand in order to discern these matters? You need to understand whether leaders and workers perform every task and address every problem in accordance with the requirements of God’s words, whether every word they speak is practical and corresponds with the truth in God’s words. Additionally, you need to understand whether, when you face various difficulties, their approach to resolving issues leads you to understand God’s words and gain a path of practice, or they only speak some words and doctrines, shout slogans, or admonish you. Some leaders and workers like to help people through exhortation, some through motivation, and others through exposing, accusation, and pruning. Regardless of the method they use, if it can truly lead you to enter the truth reality, resolve your real difficulties, making you understand what God’s intentions are and thereby enabling you to know yourself and find a path of practice, then when you are faced with similar situations in the future, you will have a path to follow. Therefore, the most basic standard for measuring whether a leader or worker is up to standard is whether they can use the truth to resolve people’s problems and difficulties, enabling them to understand the truth and gain a path of practice.

Last time, we fellowshipped more or less on the first and second responsibilities of leaders and workers, and we dissected certain manifestations of false leaders in relation to these two responsibilities. Their primary manifestations are a shallow and superficial comprehension of God’s words and failing to understand the truth. It is evident that they consequently cannot lead others to understand God’s words and grasp His intentions. When people face difficulties, false leaders cannot draw on their own experiences and knowledge to lead those people to understand the truth and enter into reality, so that they have a path to follow, nor can they get them to reflect on and know themselves in the midst of various difficulties, and resolve these difficulties at the same time. So today, let’s first fellowship on what the difficulties of life entry are, and what various common difficulties related to life entry there are that people often encounter in their daily lives. Let’s make a specific summary of these things. Does this need to be fellowshipped on? (Yes.) You are somewhat interested in these topics related to life entry now, aren’t you? When I first interacted with you and talked to you, regardless of what was said, you were numb and dull, sluggish, and slow to react. It seemed like you didn’t understand anything, and didn’t possess any stature, let alone life entry. Now, when we talk about matters involving changing one’s life disposition, most of you are relatively interested in this topic, and have some reactions to it. This is a positive phenomenon. If you weren’t doing your duties, could you attain these things? (No, we couldn’t.) This is God’s grace; it’s all due to His favor.

Regarding the difficulties of life entry, let’s first look more broadly at the difficulties related to performing one’s duties. When you face problems in performing your duties that involve practicing the truth, and you cannot handle things according to the principles, is this not a difficulty in life entry? (Yes, it is.) In plain terms, it is the various states, ideas, viewpoints, and certain incorrect ways of thinking that arise when performing one’s duties. So, what specific difficulties exist in this regard? For example, there’s always trying to be perfunctory, slippery, and slack off when performing one’s duties—is this not a state that is commonly manifested and revealed during the performance of duties? There’s also not attending to one’s proper work, and constantly comparing oneself to others while performing one’s duty, treating the place where one performs their duty as a playground or battleground, and thinking about finding a “benchmark” whenever one is performing their duty, saying inwardly: “I’ll see who is better than me and who can provoke my fighting spirit, then I’ll compete with them, vie with them and compare myself to them, in order to see who achieves better results and higher efficiency in the performance of their duty, and who is better at winning over people’s hearts.” Then there’s understanding the principles for performing one’s duty but not wishing to adhere to them, or to act in accordance with the truth in God’s words or the requirements of God’s house, and always preferring to adulterate the performance of one’s duty with personal preferences, saying, “I like to do it this way, I like to do it that way; I am willing to do it this way, I want to do it that way.” This is willfulness, always wanting to follow one’s own will, and acting however one wants according to one’s own preferences, turning a deaf ear to all of the requirements of God’s house, and preferring to stray from the right path. Are these not the real manifestations most people display when performing their duties? Clearly, all of these issues involve difficulties in performing one’s duty. Please add to these. (Failing to cooperate harmoniously with others when performing one’s duty, and always being a law unto oneself.) This also counts as a difficulty. Failing to cooperate harmoniously with others when performing one’s duty, and always wanting to be a law unto oneself and have the final say; wanting to humble oneself to seek advice and listen to others’ opinions when faced with issues, but being unable to practice this, and feeling uncomfortable when one does try to practice this—this is a problem. (Always safeguarding one’s own interests when performing a duty, being selfish and vile, and actually knowing how to resolve a problem when it arises, but feeling that it has nothing to do with oneself, fearing taking responsibility if it goes wrong, and consequently not daring to step forward.) Not resolving a problem when one sees it, considering it unrelated to oneself, and ignoring it—this also counts as performing one’s duty without loyalty. Regardless of whether or not you are responsible for a task, if you can see through to and resolve a problem, you should perform this responsibility. This is your duty and work that falls to you. If the supervisor can resolve it, you can leave it alone, but if they can’t, you should step forward and resolve it. Don’t divide issues up based on whose scope of responsibility they fall under—this is disloyalty to God. Anything else? (Relying on one’s intelligence and gifts to do work while performing one’s duty, and not seeking the truth.) There are many people who are like this. They always think they possess intelligence and caliber, and they are indifferent to everything that befalls them; they do not seek the truth at all, and act solely according to their own will, and as a result, they cannot perform any duty properly. These are all difficulties people face when performing their duties.

How one treats their prospects and destiny is also a significant issue related to life entry. Some people are willing to pay the price if they believe they have hope of being saved, and they become negative if they think there is no hope. If God’s house doesn’t promote and cultivate them, they are unwilling to pay the price, and they do their duties by just going through the motions without taking responsibility. Regardless of what they do, they always consider their prospects and destiny, asking themselves, “Will I actually have a good destination? Have God’s promises mentioned what the prospects and destination of someone like me will be?” If they don’t find an accurate answer, they lack the enthusiasm to do anything. If they are promoted and cultivated by God’s house, they become full of energy, and in everything they do they are particularly proactive. However, if they fail to do their duty well and are dismissed, they immediately become negative and they give up their duty, abandoning all hope. When faced with pruning, they think, “Does God not like me anymore? If so, He should have said so earlier, instead of hindering my pursuit of the world!” If they are dismissed, they think, “Aren’t they looking down on me? Who reported me? Am I being eliminated? If that’s the case, they should have said so earlier!” Moreover, their hearts are filled with transactions, demands, and unreasonable requests of God. No matter what the church arranges for them to do, they consider them having good prospects and a good destiny, along with God’s blessings, as prerequisites for doing it. At the very least, being treated with a nice expression and attitude, and being approved of, are their prerequisites for accepting and submitting. Are these not manifestations of how they treat their prospects and destiny? Add to these. (If deviations or issues arise while doing one’s duties and they are pruned, they complain about God and guard against Him; they feel afraid of being revealed and eliminated, and always leave themselves a way out.) Feeling afraid of being revealed and eliminated, and always leaving a way out for themselves—these are also manifestations of how they treat their prospects and destiny. (When one sees that God’s words of exposure and determination match up with them, or when they face pruning and feel ashamed, they conclude that they are muddle-headed, a devil and a Satan, and that they are unable to accept the truth. They determine that they have no hope of being saved and become negative.) When it comes to their prospects and destiny, people cannot entirely let go of their own intents and desires. They consistently treat them as the most important things and pursue them accordingly, considering them the driving force and prerequisite for everything they pursue. When they face judgment, chastisement, trials, refining, or being revealed, or they encounter dangerous circumstances, they immediately think, “Does God not want me anymore? Is He spurning me? The tone He speaks to me with is so severe; does He not want to save me? Does He want to eliminate me? If He wants to eliminate me, He should say that as soon as possible, while I am still young, so as not to hinder my pursuit of the world.” This gives rise to negativity, resistance, opposition, and slackness in them. These are some states and manifestations involving how people treat their prospects and destiny. This is a significant difficulty that relates to life entry.

Let’s take a look at another aspect—interpersonal relationships. This is also a significant difficulty related to life entry. How you treat people you dislike, people whose opinions differ from yours, people who are familiar to you, people who have a familial relationship with you or who have helped you, and people who always give you prompt warnings, and speak true words to you, and help you, and whether you can treat each person fairly, plus how you practice when disputes arise with other people, as well as jealousy and conflicts arising among you, and you not being able to interact harmoniously, or even cooperate harmoniously in the process of doing your duties—these are some states and manifestations related to interpersonal relationships. Are there any others? (Being a people pleaser and not daring to speak up upon discovering another person’s problems, for fear of offending them.) This is a state that arises when one is afraid to offend others. (Also, how one treats leaders and workers, and those with power and status.) How you treat leaders and workers, or people with power and status—whether with flattery and sycophancy, or by treating them correctly—this is a specific manifestation of how you deal with those who hold power and influence. These are more or less the difficulties of interpersonal relationships.

Let’s talk a bit about human feelings. What issues relate to feelings? First is how you evaluate your own family members, and how you approach the things they do. “The things they do” here naturally include when they disrupt and disturb the church’s work, when they pass judgment on people behind their backs, when they engage in some of the practices of disbelievers, and so on. Can you approach these things impartially? When it is necessary for you to write an evaluation of your family members, can you do so objectively and impartially, putting your own feelings aside? This relates to how you approach your family members. Furthermore, do you harbor feelings toward those who you get along with or who previously helped you? Are you able to view their actions and comportment in an objective, impartial, and accurate way? If they disrupt and disturb the work of the church, will you be able to promptly report or expose them after you find out about it? Also, do you harbor feelings toward those who are relatively close to you, or who share similar interests with you? Do you possess an impartial and objective evaluation, definition, and way of dealing with their actions and behavior? Suppose that these people, who you have a sentimental connection with, are handled by the church according to the principles, and the outcome of this isn’t in line with your own notions—how would you approach this? Would you be able to obey? Would you secretly continue to be entangled with them, and would you be misled by them and even incited by them to make excuses for them, justify them, and defend them? Would you come to the aid of and take a bullet for those who have helped you, while disregarding the truth principles and ignoring the interests of God’s house? Aren’t these various issues to do with feelings? Some people say, “Don’t feelings only relate to relatives and family members? Isn’t the scope of feelings just your parents, brothers and sisters, and other family members?” No, feelings include a wide scope of people. Forget about impartially evaluating their own family members—some people aren’t even capable of evaluating their good friends and buddies impartially, and they twist the facts when they speak about these people. For example, if their buddy doesn’t attend to his proper work and always engages in crooked and wicked practices in his duty, they will describe him as quite playful, and say that his humanity is immature and not yet stable. Aren’t there feelings within these words? This is speaking words that are laden with feelings. If someone who has no connection to them doesn’t attend to their proper work and engages in crooked and wicked practices, they will have harsher things to say about them, and may even condemn them. Is this not a manifestation of speaking and acting based on feelings? Are people who live by their feelings impartial? Are they upstanding? (No.) What is wrong with people who speak according to their feelings? Why can’t they treat others fairly? Why can’t they speak based on the truth principles? People who are double-tongued and never base their words on facts are wicked. Not being impartial when one speaks, always speaking according to one’s feelings and for one’s own sake, and not according to the truth principles, not thinking of the work of God’s house, and just protecting one’s personal feelings, fame, gain, and status—this is the character of antichrists. This is how antichrists speak; everything they say is wicked, disturbing, and disruptive. People who live among the preferences and interests of the flesh live among their feelings. People who live by their feelings are those who do not accept or practice the truth at all. Those who speak and act based on their feelings have no truth reality at all. If such people become leaders, they will undoubtedly be false leaders or antichrists. Not only are they incapable of doing real work, they may also engage in various evil deeds. They will definitely be eliminated and punished.

Indulging in the comforts of the flesh is also a serious issue. What do you think are some manifestations of indulging in the comforts of the flesh? What examples can you provide from what you’ve seen in your own experiences? Does enjoying the benefits of status count? (Yes.) Anything else? (Preferring easy tasks to difficult ones when doing one’s duties, and always wanting to pick light work.) When doing a duty, people always pick light work, work that isn’t tiring, and that does not involve braving the elements outdoors. This is picking easy jobs and shirking hard ones, and it is a manifestation of coveting the comforts of the flesh. What else? (Always complaining when their duty is a little hard, a little tiring, when it involves paying a price.) (Being preoccupied with food and clothing, and the pleasures of the flesh.) These are all manifestations of coveting the comforts of the flesh. When such a person sees that a task is too laborious or risky, they foist it off on someone else; they themselves only do leisurely work, and they make excuses, saying that they are of poor caliber, that they lack work ability, and cannot take on this task—when in fact, it is because they covet the comforts of the flesh. They do not wish to suffer, regardless of what work they do or what duty they perform. If they are told that once they finish the job there will be hongshao pork to eat, they do it very quickly and efficiently, and you don’t have to hurry them along, push them, or keep watch over them; but if there is no hongshao pork for them to eat, and they have to do their duty overtime, they procrastinate, and find all sorts of reasons and excuses to put it off, and after doing it for a while, they say, “I feel lightheaded, my leg is numb, I’m exhausted! Every part of my body hurts, can I rest for a while?” What is the problem here? They covet the comforts of the flesh. There’s also when people always complain about difficulties while doing their duty, when they don’t want to put any effort in, when, as soon as they have a little downtime, they take a rest, chatter idly, or partake in leisure and entertainment. And when work picks up and it breaks the rhythm and routine of their lives, they are unhappy and dissatisfied with it. They grumble and complain, and they become perfunctory in doing their duty. This is coveting the comforts of the flesh, is it not? For example, in order to maintain their figure, some women do workouts and get their beauty sleep every day at fixed times. However, as soon as work becomes busy and these routines are compromised, they become unhappy, saying, “This is no good; doing this job delays things too much. I can’t let it affect my personal affairs. I won’t pay attention to anyone who tries rushing me; I’ll stick to my own pace. When it’s time for yoga, I’ll do yoga. When it’s time for my beauty sleep, I’ll get my beauty sleep. I’ll keep doing these things as I did before. I’m not as foolish and hardworking as you all. In a few years, you’ll all turn into old, plain-looking women, your bodies will go, and you won’t be slim anymore. No one will want to look at you, and you won’t have any confidence in life.” For the sake of satisfying their fleshly enjoyment, for the sake of beauty, being liked by others, and to live with more confidence, they refuse to give up the pleasures and preferences of their flesh, no matter how busy they are with doing duties. This is indulging in the comforts of the flesh. Some say, “God is anxious, and we should be considerate of God’s intentions.” But these women say, “I haven’t seen that God is anxious; I’m good as long as I’m not anxious. If I show consideration for God’s intentions, who will show consideration for mine?” Do such women have any humanity? Are they not devils? There are also certain people who, no matter how busy and pressing their work is, won’t let it affect how they dress and what they wear. They spend hours every day on makeup, and they remember as clearly as their own address what clothes to wear each day to match certain pairs of shoes, and when to do beauty treatments and massages, without getting confused about these things at all. However, when it comes to how much of the truth they understand, what truths they still don’t understand or haven’t entered into, what things they still handle in a perfunctory manner and without loyalty, what corrupt dispositions they have revealed, and such other issues relating to the truth that involve life entry, they don’t know anything about these things at all. When asked about them, they are completely ignorant. Yet, when it comes to topics related to the pleasures of the flesh—eating, drinking, and entertainment—they can prattle on endlessly, it’s impossible to stop them. No matter how busy the work of the church is or how busy their duties are, the routine and normal condition of their lives is never disrupted. They are never careless about any small details of the life of the flesh and control them perfectly, being very strict and serious. But, when dealing with the work of God’s house, no matter how great the matter and even if it might involve the safety of the brothers and sisters, they deal with it carelessly. They do not even care about those things that involve God’s commission or the duty they should do. They take no responsibility. This is coveting the comforts of the flesh, is it not? Are people who covet the comforts of the flesh suitable for doing a duty? As soon as someone brings up the subject of doing their duty, or talks about paying a price and suffering hardship, they keep shaking their heads. They have too many problems, they are full of complaints, and they are filled with negativity. Such people are useless, they are not qualified to do their duty, and should be eliminated. As far as coveting the comforts of the flesh goes, we will leave it here.