I have spoken a lot already on the topic of what people believe to be right and good according to their notions—I have repeated Myself over and over in order to make you understand that although these topics are, to an extent, removed from the truth, and they do not reach as high as the truth, they are related to man’s views on people and things, and to man’s comportment and actions. Therefore, do not regard these topics as non-truths, or as a type of knowledge or theory. They are not empty. The things that people regard as right and good in their notions are always in the depths of their hearts, controlling their thoughts, controlling the perspective and standpoint from which they view people and things, and how they comport themselves and act. Therefore, these things must be clearly explained, so that people can understand and gain discernment over them, and thereby let go of man’s notions of good behavior and things of this sort, and never again treat these things as positive, or as the behavioral criteria for their views on people and things, and for their comportment and actions. Those things are absolutely not God’s words, let alone the truth. What you need to do is constantly correct the viewpoint and stance from which you view people and things, and comport yourselves and act, while also constantly examining whether each notion and viewpoint that arises in your mind is in line with the truth. You must promptly reverse your fallacious notions and viewpoints, and then hold to the correct stance, and view people and things, and comport yourselves and act according to God’s words, using the behavioral criteria that God requires. This is the most basic practice of the pursuit of the truth. It is also a sort of direction and goal of pursuit which you should possess when striving to attain salvation and to live out normal humanity. As you have just finished listening to these words, your understanding of them may not be that deep or concrete, but do not worry. After your experience of God’s words continuously deepens, and after you continuously dissect and discern the things that are believed to be right within the notions of traditional culture, you will ultimately be able to abandon the various claims of traditional culture. Never again will you evaluate people’s behavior according to traditional culture; instead, you will evaluate people according to God’s words and the truth. In this way, you will have completely cleared out and abandoned the notions of traditional culture. If you do not understand the truth, and just understand simple doctrines, and you know that the behaviors demanded by traditional culture are invalid, you may think, “I am a modern person, set apart from the worldly masses. I’m not very traditional and I’m really fed up with traditional culture, I don’t like to observe tedious customs and rites.” But when you view people and things, you will still very naturally use your past notions to view and evaluate them. At that time, you will realize that all your claims about being a modern person, who is not old-fashioned or very traditional, and who can accept the truth, were actually false and wrong, and that you were tricked by your own feelings. Only then will you realize that old thoughts, views, and notions had rooted themselves deep within your heart long ago, and that they do not immediately disappear when you change your notions or abandon certain thoughts. Saying that you are a person of the new age, a modern person, is just a surface-level label; it is only because you are born in a different generation and age, but all of those things which are old-fashioned and antagonistic toward God, that are common to all mankind are present in you too, without exception. So long as you are human, you will have these things in you. If you do not believe this, then gain more experience. There will come a day when you say “Amen” to these words of Mine. Those people who do not understand spiritual matters, and those who are haughty and egotistical, think, “I have a master’s and a doctorate. I have lived many years in this society, and I have been exposed to the culture and education of the new age, especially western education. How could I still harbor those old-fashioned things? Traditions are the worst. I loathe those pointless rules. When my family gets together and talks about traditional things and rules, I don’t want to listen at all.” Do not rush to deny it. There will eventually come a day when you let go of these ideas of yours. You will admit that there could not be a more ordinary member of the Satan-corrupted human race than you. Although you did not willingly accept or pour forth the old-fashioned notions inside of you, traditional culture and the ancestors of the human race infected and conditioned you with them long ago. These things exist, without exception, in your inner landscape, and in your thoughts and notions. Why is this? Because these aspects of traditional culture are not simple statements, nor are they simple sayings or approaches. Rather, they are a type of thinking and theory. They have the effect of misleading and corrupting man. These sayings and approaches do not come from corrupt humanity, they come from Satan. So long as you are living under Satan’s power, you cannot avoid being conditioned, misled, and corrupted by these things. Now that you have heard My words, you will feel that they are all facts and the truth. When you have experienced these words of Mine, you will discover that, although you do not like traditional culture, or tedious customs and rites, or pointless rules, the bases for your views on people and things, and for your comportment and actions inevitably come from man. They belong to the core of traditional culture, they are things within traditional culture. Your views on people and things, and your comportment and actions are not based in God’s words, with the truth as your criterion. At that time, you will know, you will be able to clearly see that before people have gained the truth, if they do not pursue or understand the truth, then they carry Satan’s poison, a piece of Satan, and Satan’s schemes with them as they live out the most basic normal humanity. Everything they live out is negative, and despised and rejected by God. It is all of the flesh, and has nothing to do with the positive things that God puts forward, and likes, and that conform with His will. There is no overlap at all, there is not even any similarity between them. It is very important to see these problems clearly, otherwise, people will not know what it means to practice the truth. They will forever cling to the good behaviors that man believes to be positive things, so their behavior and manifestations will never meet with God’s approval. If a person loves the truth, they will be able to accept and pursue it. They will view people and things, and comport themselves and act, wholly according to God’s words, with the truth as their criterion. In this way, they will be able to embark on the life path that God has indicated to man. Viewing people and things, and comporting oneself and acting, wholly according to God’s words, with the truth as one’s criterion—this principle of the truth is extremely important and imperative for man. It is a principle of the truth which one must possess when pursuing salvation and striving to live out a meaningful life. You must accept this. There is no room for choice in this matter, and there are no exceptions for anyone. If you do not pursue the truth, and do not accept this principle of the truth, no matter whether you are old or young, knowledgeable or not, no matter if you are a person of faith or a person of little faith, and regardless of what social class you belong to, or what ethnicity you are, without exception, you will have nothing to do with the standards that God demands. What you must do is strive to view people and things, and to comport yourself and act, wholly according to God’s words, with the truth as your criterion. This is the one and only road that you should pursue. You should not pick and choose, saying, “I will accept something as the truth if it fits with my notions, but if it doesn’t, I will refuse to accept it. I will do things my own way, there’s no need for me to pursue the truth. I don’t need to look at people, matters, and things from the standpoint of God’s words; I have my own views, and they are quite noble, objective, and positive. They aren’t that different from God’s words, so, of course, they can replace God’s words and the truth. I don’t need to practice God’s words in this regard, or act according to them.” This kind of view and method of pursuit are wrong. No matter how good or right a person’s views are, they are still wrong. They can in no way replace the truth. If you cannot accept the truth, whatever you pursue will be wrong. That is why I say that you have no choice in the matter of “viewing people and things, and comporting oneself and acting, wholly according to God’s words, with the truth as one’s criterion.” All you can do is dutifully act according to this phrase, and carry out and personally experience it, gradually gaining knowledge of it, recognizing your own corrupt disposition, and entering into the reality of this phrase. Only then will the goal you ultimately achieve be the goal one ought to achieve by pursuing the truth. Otherwise, your hard work, everything you have renounced, and all the prices that you have paid will evaporate, they will all be in vain. Do you understand?

What does it mean to pursue the truth? (To view people and things, and to comport oneself and act, wholly according to God’s words, with the truth as one’s criterion.) That is right. Practice these words conscientiously, absolutely, and comprehensively. Make this phrase the goal of your pursuit, and the reality of your life, then you will be a person who pursues the truth. Do not be contaminated in any way, do not be contaminated with any will of man, and do not hold onto any mentality of luck. That is the right way to act, and you will then have hope of gaining the truth. So, is it necessary to fellowship and dissect man’s notions of good behavior? (Yes, it is.) What positive guidance and assistance can it provide you? Can these words become the basis and criterion for how you view people and things, and comport yourself and act? (Yes, they can.) If they can, then pray-read these two fellowships well during your gatherings and devotionals. Once you have a thorough grasp of these words, you will be able to accurately view people and things, and comport yourself and act according to God’s words. That way, you will have a basis and criterion for what you say and do. You will see people accurately, and the perspective and stance from which you view things will be correct too. You will no longer view people and things based on your emotions or feelings, nor based on traditional culture or satanic philosophies. When you have the right basis, the results of your views on people and things will be relatively accurate. Is this not how it is? (Yes.) Therefore, you cannot just take or leave these words. I am not gathering with you and fellowshiping on these topics just to pass the time or just to amuse Myself because I am bored. I do it because these problems are common to all people, and they are problems that people must understand on their path of pursuing the truth and achieving salvation. Yet, people are still not clear on these issues. They often become bound and entangled in these issues. These problems obstruct and bother them. Of course, people do not understand the path to achieving salvation, either. No matter whether it is from a passive or active perspective, or whether it is from a positive or negative perspective, people should make sure that they are clear on and understand these problems. This way, when you encounter problems like this in real life and are faced with a choice, you will be able to seek the truth; the perspective and stance from which you view the problem will be correct, and you will be able to adhere to the principles. That way, your decisions and choices will have a basis, and be in line with God’s words. Never again will you be misled by satanic philosophies and fallacies; never again will you be troubled by Satan’s poisons and absurd claims. Then, when it comes to viewing people and things, which is the most basic of levels, you will be capable of being objective and just in how you see a thing or person; you will not be influenced or controlled by your feelings or by satanic philosophies. Therefore, although recognizing and discerning the behaviors that people believe to be good according to their notions is not a major matter in the process of pursuing the truth, it is closely linked to people’s daily lives. In other words, people frequently encounter these things in their daily lives. For example, say something happens, and you want to act in one way, but another person puts forward a different view, and you are not comfortable with the way that person typically behaves—how should you treat their view? How should you handle this matter? It would be wrong for you to just ignore them. Because you harbor a particular view or assessment of them, or a conclusion that you have drawn about them, these things will sway your thinking and judgment, and they are likely to influence your verdict on this matter. That is why you must approach their differing view calmly, discerning it and seeing it clearly according to the truth. If what they said is in line with the principles of the truth, then you should accept it. If you cannot see the matter clearly, when you encounter a situation or a person like this again, you will always feel confused, unprepared, agitated, and flustered. Some people may even adopt extreme measures to approach and deal with the situation, the ultimate results of which surely no one wants to see. If you use the standards of measurement that God demands to view a person, the ultimate result is likely to be good and positive—there will be no conflict between the two of you, and you will get along. However, if you use Satan’s logic and the standards of man’s notions of good behavior to view the person, it is likely that the two of you will end up fighting and arguing. The result will be that you are unable to get along, and many things will follow from that: You may undermine each other, belittle each other, and judge one another, in serious cases you may even get into a physical fight, and in the end, both sides will be hurt and lose. No one wants to see that. Therefore, the things that Satan instills in people can never help them to view a person or thing objectively, justly, or reasonably. Whereas, when people view and evaluate a thing or person according to the behavioral criteria that God demands and has informed man of, and according to God’s words and the truth, the end result will certainly be objective, because it is not contaminated with impetuousness, or man’s emotions and feelings. Only good things can come from this. In light of this, what do people need to accept: man’s notions of good things, or the behavioral criteria that God demands? (The behavioral criteria that God demands.) All of you know the answer to that question, and can respond to it correctly. Alright, we will leave our fellowship on this topic here. What you need to do next is continue to ponder and fellowship on these things, organize these issues in a systematic fashion, come up with several principles of practice and paths of practice, and then continually undergo and experience them in your daily lives, and enter into the reality of these words. Naturally, entering into the reality of these words is the first reality of the truth that people pursue and enter into. In this way, through the course of experience, people gradually come to varying degrees of understanding and knowledge of each facet of the content of this fellowship, and they progressively make gains from different perspectives. The more you gain, the deeper your experiential knowledge and entry into these words will become. The deeper you enter and experience them, the deeper your entry into and experiential knowledge of your views on people and things, and your comportment and actions will become. By contrast, if you do not enter into these words at all, and just look at and understand the literal meaning of these words, and leave it at that, living as you always have, not seeking the truth when problems arise, and not holding those problems up against God’s words for comparison, or resolving them according to God’s words, then you will never be able to enter into the reality of God’s words. What does it mean to say that you will never be able to enter into the reality of the truth? It means that you are not someone who loves the truth, and you will never practice the truth, because you will never view people and things, or comport yourself and act according to God’s words, with the truth as your criterion. You say, “I still live well even though I don’t take God’s words as my basis, or the truth as my criterion.” What do you mean “live well”? Are things going well so long as you are not dead? The goal of your pursuit is not to achieve salvation, and you do not accept or understand the truth, yet you say that you are living well. If that is the case, your quality of life is very subpar, and the quality of the humanity that you live out is very low. To borrow from a colloquial saying, you are more like a fiend than a person, because you do not eat and drink God’s words and you do not understand the truth, you still live by a satanic disposition and satanic philosophies—you are merely a non-human cloaked in human skin. What quality or value does the life of a person like that have? It has no benefit to you or to others. The quality of this sort of life is so poor—it has no value.

Do you know why I am fellowshiping and dissecting these traditional notions and traditional culture today? Is it just because I do not like them? (No, that is not the reason.) Then what is the significance of fellowshiping on these topics? What is the ultimate goal of it? (It helps us to examine which behaviors and manifestations we still harbor that are dictated by traditional culture, and living by satanic philosophies. After we come to understand the truth and gain discernment, we will be able to live out normal humanity according to the demands and criteria that God has given us, and walk the path of pursuing the truth.) This is correct, but a bit wordy. What is the simplest and most direct answer? There is only one ultimate goal of fellowshiping these topics, and that is to make people understand what the truth is, and what the practice of the truth is. Once people are clear on these two things, they will have discernment over the good behaviors that traditional culture promotes. They will no longer treat those good behaviors as standards for practicing the truth or for living out human likeness. Only by understanding the truth can people cast off the shackles of traditional culture, and cast off their erroneous understandings and views about practicing the truth and the good behaviors that people ought to possess. Only in this way can people practice and pursue the truth correctly. If people do not know what the truth is and they take traditional culture to be the truth, then the direction, goals, and path of their pursuit will all be wrong. They will have parted from God’s words, contravened the truth, and strayed from the true way. As such, they are walking their own path and going astray. If people who do not understand the truth are incapable of seeking it and practicing it, what will the end result be? They will not gain the truth. And if they do not gain the truth, then no matter how hard those people believe, it will amount to nothing. Therefore, today’s fellowship and dissection of these traditional notions and these claims of traditional culture is a very important and highly significant topic for all believers. You believe in God, but do you actually understand what the truth is? Do you really know how to pursue the truth? Are you sure of your goals? Are you sure of your path? If you are not sure of anything, how can you pursue the truth? Could you be pursuing the wrong thing? Could you be straying from the path? This is extremely likely. So, although the words that I am fellowshiping on today seem very simple on the surface, words that people immediately understand as soon as they hear them, and from your perspective, they do not even seem worth mentioning, this topic and this content directly relates to the truth, and concerns God’s demands. This is what the majority of you are not aware of. Although, in terms of doctrine, you understand that traditional culture and mankind’s social sciences are not the truth, and that ethnic customs and practices are certainly not the truth, do you actually see the essence of these things clearly? Have you really cast off the shackles of these things? Not necessarily. God’s house has never required people to put effort into studying ethnic culture, customs, and practices, and God’s house certainly has not made people accept anything from traditional culture. God’s house has never mentioned these things. However, the topic that I am fellowshiping on today is very important. It is necessary for Me to say this clearly so that you understand. The goal of Me saying these things is none other than to make people understand the truth and God’s will, but can you all understand what I am saying? If you put in some effort, pay a bit of a price, and put some energy into it, you will ultimately be able to make gains in this area and succeed in understanding these truths. And by coming to understand these truths, and then seeking to enter into the reality of these truths, it will be easy for you to get results.

One aspect of the things that people believe to be right and good according to their notions that we fellowshiped on before was man’s good behavior. What was the other aspect? (Morality and the quality of man’s humanity.) In simple terms, it is man’s moral conduct. Although corrupted humans all live according to their satanic dispositions, they are exceptionally good at disguising themselves. In addition to sayings related specifically to surface-level approaches and behaviors, they have also produced many sayings and requirements concerning man’s moral conduct. What sayings about moral conduct are circulated among people? List ones that you know and are familiar with, then we will pick a few common sayings to dissect and fellowship on. (Don’t pocket the money you pick up. Derive pleasure from helping others.) (A kindness received should be gratefully repaid.) (Sacrifice your own interests for the sake of others.) (Requite evil with good.) (A woman must be virtuous, kind, gentle, and moral.) (Be strict with yourself and tolerant of others.) Yes, all of those are good examples. In addition, there is, “When drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dug it,” “If you strike others, don’t strike them in the face; if you call others out, don’t call out their shortcomings,” and “Execution does nothing but make heads roll; be lenient wherever possible.” These are all requirements put forward regarding man’s moral conduct. Are there any others? (The kindness of a drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring.) This is also a requirement that mankind’s traditional culture has put forward concerning man’s moral conduct, and a standard for evaluating people’s moral conduct. What else is there? (Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire.) This one is a bit simpler, it also counts. There is also, “I’d take a bullet for a friend,” “A loyal subject cannot serve two kings, a good woman cannot marry two husbands,” “One should never be corrupted by wealth, changed by poverty, or bent by force,” and “Bend to a task and strive to do your utmost until your dying day.” Are these not some other examples? (Yes, they are.) As is this one, “The silkworms of spring will weave until they die, and the candles will weep their wicks away.” Look at how high their expectations are for man’s conduct and comportment! They want people to burn through their entire lives like a candle and become ash. A person is only deemed to possess high moral character when they comport themselves in this way. Is this not a high expectation? (Yes, it is.) People have been influenced and bound by these aspects of traditional culture for thousands of years, and what is the result? Are they living out human likeness? Are they living out meaningful lives? People live for these things that traditional culture demands, sacrificing their youths, or even their whole lives for them, all the while believing that their lives are very proud and glorious. In the end, when they die, they do not know what they died for, or whether their deaths had any value and meaning, or whether they met the demands of their Creator. People are completely ignorant of these things. What other sayings and requirements does traditional culture have concerning people’s moral conduct? “Every person shares responsibility for the fate of their country,” and “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” these fit the bill. There is also, “A gentleman’s word is his bond,” this is a requirement that concerns man’s trustworthiness. Is there anything else? (Grow like a lily from the mud unsullied.) This phrase has some overlap with this topic. I think we have listed enough examples. The sayings that we have just covered include requirements that have been put forward regarding man’s dedication, patriotism, trustworthiness, chastity, as well as principles for interacting with others, and how people should treat someone who has helped them, or how to repay kindness, and so on. Some of these sayings are simpler, while others are a bit deeper. The simplest are: “Derive pleasure from helping others,” “Don’t pocket the money you pick up,” and, “One should never be corrupted by wealth, changed by poverty, or bent by force.” These are demands that concern man’s comportment. “A loyal subject cannot serve two kings, a good woman cannot marry two husbands,” is a demand relating to people’s moral integrity and chastity. These more or less fall within the scope of the concepts of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness of traditional Chinese culture. How many sayings did we list just now? (Twenty-one.) Read them out for Me. (“Don’t pocket the money you pick up,” “Derive pleasure from helping others,” “Be strict with yourself and tolerant of others,” “Requite evil with good,” “A kindness received should be gratefully repaid,” “Sacrifice your own interests for the sake of others,” “A woman must be virtuous, kind, gentle, and moral,” “When drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dug it,” “If you strike others, don’t strike them in the face; if you call others out, don’t call out their shortcomings,” “Execution does nothing but make heads roll; be lenient wherever possible,” “The kindness of a drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring,” “Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,” “I’d take a bullet for a friend,” “A loyal subject cannot serve two kings, a good woman cannot marry two husbands,” “One should never be corrupted by wealth, changed by poverty, or bent by force,” “Bend to a task and strive to do your utmost until your dying day,” “The silkworms of spring will weave until they die, and the candles will weep their wicks away,” “Every person shares responsibility for the fate of their country,” “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” “A gentleman’s word is his bond,” and “Grow like a lily from the mud unsullied.”) Today, we will do an advance study of all the sorts of “good” qualities that mankind has summarized regarding moral conduct. Traditional culture’s various claims about moral conduct put forward different requirements for man’s humanity and moral conduct. Some require people to repay kindnesses that they receive, some demand that people take joy in helping others, some are methods for dealing with people that one dislikes, while others are methods for dealing with other people’s flaws and shortcomings, or with people who have problems. In these areas, they provide people with limits, and put forward some demands and standards. All of these are demands and standards that traditional culture has regarding man’s moral conduct, and they are all things that are circulated among people. Anyone who grew up in China will have heard these sayings frequently, and know them by heart. These claims about moral conduct from traditional culture more or less all fall within the scope of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Of course, there are some sayings that fall outside of this scope, but the major ones more or less all fall within it. You should be clear on this.

Today, we will not fellowship in a concrete way about what a particular statement on moral conduct is all about, nor will we analyze in a concrete way what the essence of any particular saying is. I will get you to do a bit of preparatory study first. Look at what differences there are between traditional culture’s claims about moral conduct, and the standards that God demands of man for living out normal humanity. Which sayings from traditional culture clearly conflict with God’s words and the truth? If interpreted literally, which sayings resemble God’s words and the truth, or are somewhat connected to them? Which of these sayings do you believe to be positive things, and which of these sayings did you once strictly hold yourself to after you came to believe in God, practicing and complying with it as though it were the criterion for your pursuit of the truth? For example, “Sacrifice your own interests for the sake of others.” Are you all familiar with this saying? After coming to believe in God, did you not think that you ought to be a good person like this? And when you sacrificed your own interests for the sake of others, did you not think that you had pretty good humanity, and that God would surely like you? Or, before you believed in God, maybe you believed that people who possess the quality of “requiting evil with good” were good people—you were just not willing to do it, you were unable to do it, and could not hold to it, but after you came to believe in God, you held yourself to that standard, and you were able to practice “forgiving and forgetting” toward those people who hurt you in the past, or whom you used to resent or dislike. You may think that this saying about moral conduct aligns with when the Lord Jesus said to forgive people seventy times seven times, and thus be very willing to restrain yourself according to it. You may even practice and adhere to it as though it were the truth, and think that people who practice requiting evil with good are people who practice the truth and follow the way of God. Do you possess thoughts or manifestations like these? Which saying do you still think is similar to the truth and God’s words in its essence, to the extent that it could even replace the truth, that it would not be too much to say that it is the truth? Of course, it should be easy to discern the saying: “Every person shares responsibility for the fate of their country.” Most people can see that this saying is not the truth, and that it is just a misleading, high-sounding slogan. “Every person shares responsibility for the fate of their country,” is something said to unbelievers who do not have faith in God; it is a requirement that a country’s government makes toward its people, to teach people to love their country. This saying is inconsistent with the truth, and it has no basis at all in God’s words. It can be said that this saying is fundamentally not the truth, and that it cannot replace the truth. This saying is a viewpoint that comes entirely from Satan and originates in Satan, and it serves the ruling class. It has nothing at all to do with God’s words or the truth. That is why the saying “Every person shares responsibility for the fate of their country,” is absolutely not the truth, nor is it something that a person with normal humanity ought to uphold. So, what kind of people are capable of mistaking this saying for the truth? People who are always devising ways to acquire reputation, status, and personal profit, and those who want to be officials. They practice this saying as though it were the truth in order to curry favor with the ruling classes and achieve their own aims. There are some sayings that are not easy for people to discern. Although people know that these sayings are not the truth, they still feel in their hearts that the sayings are correct and in line with doctrine. They want to live according to these sayings and comport themselves in that way in order to raise the level of their morality, and heighten their personal charisma, and at the same time, make it so that others think that they have humanity and that they are not non-human. Which sayings were hard for you to discern? (I think that “A kindness received should be gratefully repaid,” was very hard to discern. I treated it as though it were a positive thing, and thought that those who gratefully repaid kindnesses were people who possessed conscience. “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is another one. It means that since one has accepted a task from someone else, they should do everything they can to make sure that it is done well. I felt that this was a positive thing, and something that a person with conscience and reason ought to do.) Who else? (There is also, “The kindness of a drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring.” I thought that a person who could do this was someone of relative humanity and morality.) Anything else? (“A gentleman’s word is his bond.” I thought that if someone did what they said and was trustworthy, that was good moral conduct.) Before, you thought that this was good moral conduct. How do you see it now? (We have to look at what the nature of that “word” is—is it right or is it wrong? Is it positive or is it negative? If somebody says to evil people and antichrists, “I will protect you. A gentleman’s word is his bond,” and then, when the house of God investigates and looks into the situation, this person protects those evil people and antichrists, then they are doing evil and resisting God.) This discernment is correct. You must look at the nature of this “word”—whether it is positive or negative. If someone is doing something bad or evil while practicing “A gentleman’s word is his bond,” then the footsteps of their evildoing are like the mad rush of fast horses, running straight into hell and dropping into the bottomless pit. But if their “word” is in line with the truth, and it has a sense of righteousness, and it protects the work of God’s house, and pleases God, then it is correct to practice “A gentleman’s word is his bond.” From these examples, you can see that you must be discerning toward the words of traditional culture. You must discern between different situations and backgrounds, and you cannot use these words indiscriminately. There are some words that obviously do not correspond with reality, and are clearly wrong. You must be particularly cautious when dealing with these words. You must handle them like heresies and fallacies. There are some words that are only right within certain contexts and scopes. In a different context or environment, the words no longer hold up; they are wrong and harmful to people. If you cannot discern them, you are likely to be poisoned and harmed by them. No matter whether the words of traditional culture are right or wrong, or whether or not they hold water in the eyes of man, none of them are the truth and none of them are in line with God’s words. This is certain. The things that man views as right are not necessarily the things that God views as right. The words that man views as good are not necessarily beneficial toward people when they are put into practice. In any case, regardless of whether people practice them or not, or whether they have use for them, things that are not in line with the truth, that are not the truth, are all harmful to man, they should not be accepted and must not be used. There are many people who are unable to discern these things. They treat things which man views as right, or which corrupted mankind commonly agrees are right, as the truth, and adhere to them and practice them as though they were the truth. Is this appropriate? Can one gain God’s approval by practicing false truths and pseudo-truths? Anything that mankind commonly agrees is right and the truth is false, an imitation, and should be rejected forever. Now, are the things that you think are right and positive actually the truth? In thousands of years, no person has ever denied these words; people all believe that these words are correct and positive, but can these words actually become the truth? (No, they cannot.) If these words cannot become the truth, then are they themselves the truth? (No, they are not.) They are not the truth. If people treat these words as the truth, and mix them in with God’s words and practice them together, can those words and sayings rise to the level of the truth? They absolutely cannot. No matter how people pursue or cling to these things, God will never approve of them, because God is holy. He absolutely does not permit corrupted humans to mix satanic things in with the truth, or with His words. All of the things that arise from man’s thoughts and views come from Satan—no matter how good they are, they still are not the truth, and cannot become a person’s life.