J. Wavering

The tenth manifestation is: “Wavering.” What specific manifestations are displayed by people who waver? First of all, the biggest doubts these people have about believing in God are: “Does god actually exist? Is there a spiritual realm? Is there a hell? Are these words spoken by god the truth? People say this person is god incarnate, but I haven’t seen any aspect that makes him appear like god incarnate! So, where exactly is the spirit of god? Does god really exist or not?” They can never figure out these questions clearly. They see that there are many people believing in God and think, “God must exist. He probably does exist. I hope he exists. Believing in god hasn’t caused me any loss anyway; no one has mistreated me. I’ve heard that doing duty can bring blessings and a good destination, and will make it so that I won’t die in the future. So I guess I’ll just follow along and believe.” After believing for a period of time, they see that some people encounter trials and adversities, and they start to ponder: “Isn’t believing in god supposed to bring blessings? Some people got seriously ill and died, some were arrested and persecuted to death by the great red dragon, and others got sick or had disasters befall their families while doing duty. Why didn’t god protect them? So, does god really exist or not? If he exists, these things shouldn’t have happened!” Some well-meaning people fellowship the truth with them, saying: “God is sovereign over all things, and people’s fates are orchestrated by God’s hand. People should accept these matters from God and give themselves to God’s orchestration. Everything that God does is good.” To which these wavering individuals say: “I don’t see what’s good about it! Suffering disasters—is that good? Getting seriously ill or an incurable disease—is that good? Being dead is even worse. Does god exist or not? I don’t know.” They are always filled with doubts about God. When they see many people doing duty, the work of God’s house expanding more and more, and the church flourishing day by day, they feel that God must exist. Especially when they hear the brothers and sisters bear witness to the signs and wonders God has shown and the grace they have received from God, these wavering individuals feel even more strongly that: “God definitely exists! Although people can’t see the spirit of god, the words spoken by god incarnate have been heard by people, and I have also heard so many people fellowship god’s words and experience god’s words. So, god must definitely exist!” When the church is flourishing, everything is going smoothly for it, it’s thriving, and the church’s work is expanding more and more, and especially when the brothers and sisters experience some special circumstances and special matters and see God’s protection, sovereignty, and leadership through these things, they feel that God exists and that God is truly good. After a period of time, however, they may experience frustrations and rough patches, some may experience failures and setbacks, or God’s house may eliminate a portion of people; these things, particularly the last one, heavily contradict their notions and are beyond their expectations. They feel, “If god exists, how could these things happen? They shouldn’t happen! It’s normal for these things to happen among nonbelievers, but how could they happen in god’s house too? If god exists, he should settle these matters and prevent these things from happening, because he is almighty, has authority, and has power! Does god really exist or not? People can’t see god’s spirit. As for the words spoken by god incarnate, people all say that they are the truth, the way, and that they can be people’s life. But why do I not feel that they are the truth? I have listened to sermons for so long, but my life hasn’t transformed at all! I have suffered so much—what have I gained?” They start to have doubts about God, and their enthusiasm for doing their duty diminishes and cools down. They then think about leaving God’s house to go work and earn money to live a decent life—these active thoughts begin to emerge. They think to themselves: “If the god I believe in isn’t the true god, then my not working or earning money all these years while believing in god will have been such a great loss! No, thinking like this is wrong. I still need to believe properly. I’ve heard people say that reading more of god’s words will enable one to understand the truth, solve all problems, and no longer be weak. But I’ve read god’s words and still haven’t understood the truth. Why do I still feel negative? Why do I always feel like I don’t have the energy to do my duty? God isn’t working in me! I have so many difficulties, but god hasn’t opened up a way out for me. So, does god really exist or not? If this is the true way, god should bless people who do their duty with peace, smoothness, and normalcy. So why are there still such great difficulties in preaching the gospel and doing duty? Although I know the religious community has fallen behind, and believing in almighty god is entering the Age of Kingdom, why haven’t I seen how the holy spirit works?” What kind of people are these? They are people with no spiritual understanding. They read God’s words but do not understand the truth. No matter how much truth is fellowshipped, they cannot grasp its meaning. They always view things based on their notions and imaginings, and are constantly filled with doubts about God. How could such a person possibly understand the truth? Some people see that preaching the gospel is quite difficult, so they think: “If this were the true way, the holy spirit would be working greatly. Wherever the brothers and sisters went to preach the gospel, it would be smooth and unhindered. Even more so, government officials would also start believing and give the green light to everything. This really would be the doing of the true god. But now, looking at the facts, that’s not the case at all. Not only do presidents and officials in various countries around the world not believe in god, but they also do not support belief in god. In some countries, governments even persecute believers and obstruct people from believing in god. So, is the god we believe in really the true god? I don’t know; it’s hard to say.” There’s always a huge question mark in their hearts. Every time they hear some kind of news, it feels to them like an “earthquake” whose impact is neither huge nor unnoticeable, causing them to waver. Some people say: “Is it because they’ve believed in God for only a short time that they always waver?” That’s not the case—some people have believed for three years, five years, or even over ten years. Is that considered a short time? If someone believed for three or five years during the work of the Age of Grace, it wouldn’t be considered long, because they hadn’t heard God’s utterances and words in the last days; they only understood a little biblical knowledge and spiritual theories from the Bible and from people’s sermons. That’s far too little to have gained. It’s different when someone accepts the work of this current stage—as long as they do their duty and follow God for three years, what they experience, understand, and gain surpasses what someone could have gained from believing in the Lord for twenty or thirty years, or even a lifetime, in the Age of Grace. But these people who waver, even after believing for three, five, or even more than ten years, still cannot determine whether this stage of work is done by God or not, and they even have doubts about God’s existence. Would you say that such people are very troublesome? Do they have the ability to comprehend the truth? (No.) Do they have the way of thinking of normal humanity? (No.) They are unable to comprehend the truth. No matter what situation arises in the church, it can always cause them to waver—the question mark in their hearts constantly triggers “earthquakes” for them. If antichrists cause disturbances in the church and some people are misled, or if someone they idolize does something they didn’t expect—like stealing offerings or engaging in licentious activities—and gets cleared out, it causes their hearts to waver, and they start doubting God: “Isn’t this the stream of god’s work? Then how could such lawless things happen in the church? How could god allow the appearance of antichrists and evil people? Is this really the true way?” Everything that happens in the church which goes against their notions causes them to develop doubts and start questioning whether this is the true way, whether it is God’s work, and whether God really exists. They simply do not seek the truth to view the matter correctly. This alone is enough to prove that from beginning to end, they have fundamentally never believed that this stage of work is done by God. From beginning to end, they have never known what the truth is, nor why God expresses the truth. God has spoken so many words and done so much work—all this is God’s doing. So many people have verified and become certain about it, but they refuse to view matters on the basis of these things. They always use human perspectives and human thinking to make judgments—they trust in themselves too much. When there are some loopholes or deviations in the church’s work or in church life, or when the church is suppressed and persecuted by the government, they start to question again: “Is this really the true way?” When antichrists and false leaders appear in the church, they also start questioning. They say: “Look at those pastors and elders in the religious churches—they truly love the Lord, and there aren’t any antichrist incidents in their churches. Now that’s the true way. If what you have here is the true way, why are these things still happening?” This is how they make comparisons. And how do some other morons make comparisons? They say: “Look at those people believing in god in the Three-Self Church—they have state approval, and the state even issues them certificates and grants them land to build churches. It’s all legitimate and legal. Do you have a public church? Are your churches registered? The state even assigns pastors to the Three-Self churches, and those pastors have licenses. Do your leaders and workers have licenses? The state doesn’t allow you to believe in god; it arrests and persecutes you. You don’t even have a fixed place for gatherings; you always gather in secret. Is this really the true way? If this were the true way, why would you always gather and do your duty in such a secretive manner?” They can’t see through even this matter. Any situation can cause them to waver and develop doubts about God. Tell Me, can a person like this stand firm? (No.) Although they haven’t outwardly left the church, they are on the brink of danger in their heart. They can never be certain about God’s work and the truths expressed by God, and they are always half-believing, half-doubting; this makes it impossible for them to have true faith. They cannot see that all the persecutions, suppression, and arrests that have occurred over these years of God’s work have all been under God’s sovereignty, and all fall under God’s orchestrations and arrangements. Therefore, they have notions and are able to question whether God can be sovereign over all things. They always believe that all the work of God’s house is done by humans, being unable to see even the slightest sign of God’s deeds. Are they not a disbeliever? If such a person has only been newly believing for six months or a year and hasn’t clearly grasped various truths, it is understandable for them to have doubts and waver when they see things that go against their notions. But some people have believed in God for several years, have listened to plenty of sermons, and have had the truth fellowshipped to them when encountering difficulties. At the time, they understood what they heard doctrinally. Afterward, however, when faced with matters again, they still question God and God’s work. This shows that such people have no ability to comprehend the truth, lack the thinking of normal humanity, and don’t meet the standard of being human.

How should people who waver be handled? In terms of humanity, these people don’t amount to evil people, but they are indeed a troublesome type of people, because they lack the ability to comprehend the truth and don’t have the thinking of normal humanity. Most importantly, they can’t even confirm the many truths that God has expressed, nor do they know whether these words are the truth, or if they are God’s expression and God’s work. Judging from their comprehension ability, what kind of people are they? It’s correct to say they are disbelievers, and it’s also correct to say they are muddleheaded people. Although people of this sort haven’t committed any obvious evil and don’t qualify as evil people, since they are muddleheaded to this extent and can do many things that disrupt and disturb, aren’t they good-for-nothings? (Yes.) No matter how long they have believed in God or how many sermons they have listened to, they can never understand the truth. They can’t even confirm God’s existence or God’s sovereignty. What kind of caliber is this? These people have absolutely no ability to comprehend the truth. They are people with very poor caliber; or you could say they have no caliber at all—they are brainless good-for-nothings. Tell Me, what duty can good-for-nothings do? (They can’t do any duty.) They can’t do any duty and are always doubtful and wavering. So, how should people like this be treated and handled? The most appropriate way to handle such people is to not let them do any duty. Even if they request to do duty, they should not be permitted. Why not? Because once people like this begin to do duty, especially when they have endured hardship and paid some price, sooner or later they will want to settle accounts with God’s house. If they are arrested or face natural disasters or man-made calamities, they will regret having expended themselves for God; they will complain bitterly, and go about spreading remarks like: “I’ve suffered so much for the church’s work and for doing my duty. I’ve eaten so much less food, gotten so much less sleep, and earned so much less money. If I hadn’t done duty, I could have put the money I earned in the bank, and it would have earned interest! I’ve taken on so many risks—how much is each hour of risk worth? How much is the labor fee?” They will try to settle financial accounts with God’s house and will even threaten that if God’s house doesn’t compensate them, they’ll report God’s house. Wouldn’t letting people like this do duty bring endless trouble? Dealing with such lowly individuals will lead to an entanglement that’s impossible to resolve. No matter how many things they handle for the church, they keep a little ledger in their hearts, recording every single account clearly. Whatever they do for the church, they never do it willingly. Because they are unwilling, they want to settle accounts. Why is this? It’s because, in their hearts, they don’t acknowledge God’s existence or believe in God’s existence. They don’t acknowledge that God’s words are the truth or that God’s work can save people. So, what kind of reward would it take for them to feel satisfied with having paid a little price, suffered a bit, done some duty, and expended some human and material resources for the so-called god they imagine in their minds? If they didn’t receive anything in return, would they be satisfied? If one day they realize they’ve been eliminated for not pursuing the truth, what will the consequences be? They will think that God’s house tricked them, that the leaders and workers tricked them, and that they were kept in the dark and fell victim to a scam. Then, they’ll have a bone to pick with God’s house and demand compensation, dragging things out endlessly. Do you think God’s house would want to get entangled with such a person? God’s house absolutely won’t do something so stupid! God’s chosen people do their duty to fulfill the responsibility of created beings—it’s entirely their own choice, something they are willing to do. God’s house never forces or compels anyone. But once disbelievers start doing duty, it’s only a matter of time before trouble arises. When they’re in a sour mood, they will definitely start grumbling and complaining, saying to others: “You all spoke so nicely and tricked me, saying that believing in god would allow me to gain the truth and eternal life. But none of you mentioned that there would be antichrists in the church misleading people, evil people disrupting and disturbing church work, or that the church would clear out or expel people. You never told me any of this would happen in the church!” They can even turn around and accuse you, saying: “You never explained these things to me clearly. I just followed you in believing in god and doing my duty. As a result, now I have no prospects in the world; you’ve kept me from making big money. You need to compensate me for my losses!” Don’t you find it disgusting when they start settling accounts with you? Would you be willing to get entangled with them? (No.) Who could possibly make things clear to people like this? They don’t accept the truth, they can’t see God’s existence, and they can’t sense God’s existence through their experiences. Tell Me, who could cram this fact into their minds? No one could. They don’t have the faculties to accept the truth, so asking them to pursue the truth would be making things very difficult for them, it’d be putting them in a tough spot—doing so is simply unrealistic. They believe in God just to receive blessings. As long as they do a little duty, they demand a reward. If they don’t get what they want, they start hurling abuse: “I’ve been tricked and cheated! You’re all frauds!” Tell Me, would you want to bear that name-calling? (No.) Who tricked them? Isn’t it that they themselves have ambitions and desires and want to receive blessings? Didn’t they believe in God precisely to receive blessings? They haven’t received blessings now, but isn’t that because they don’t pursue the truth? Isn’t that their own problem? They don’t even believe in God, yet they still want to receive blessings from God—how could it be so easy to receive blessings? Weren’t these matters explained to them clearly long before they began doing duty? (Yes.) But can you reason with them? You can’t—they’ll just say you tricked them. Tell Me, in God’s house, regardless of how long the brothers and sisters have believed in God, who among them isn’t doing duty voluntarily? Even though there are rare cases where children don’t believe in God and are dragged into believing and doing duty by their parents or relatives, these are still very few. Even if your parents drag you into it, it’s for your own good—you should understand that. But that’s your family dragging you—the brothers and sisters of God’s house do not drag you or force you. Believing in God and doing duty are entirely voluntary. Right now, anyone who wants to leave may do so; the doors of God’s house are always open. However, once you leave, coming back won’t be so easy. Those who do duty full-time in God’s house are selected carefully—not just anyone is accepted. There are standards required and principles, and only those who meet the qualifications can stay in the full-time duty church. People who waver think, “You didn’t explain such an important matter clearly to me. At the time, I only did duty because I was confused.” What wasn’t explained clearly? The brothers and sisters fellowship the truth together every day while doing duty—if these people didn’t understand, it’s because they’re muddleheaded and blind. They can’t blame anyone else for that. But they won’t reason with you about this; they just feel they’ve suffered a huge loss and want to settle accounts and argue with God’s house. Aren’t such people unreasonable and extremely disgusting? So, once you know the true colors of such people and see clearly that they are muddleheaded, completely useless, can’t do any duty, and are constantly focused on receiving blessings, with their hearts consumed by thoughts of gaining blessings, and that all they know is that doing duty can bring blessings, salvation, entry into the kingdom, and immortality, and they know only these few phrases without understanding anything else—not knowing what the truth is, how to practice the truth, or how to submit to God—then, even if they want to do duty or request to do duty, can they be arranged to do it? (No.)