What is the influence of darkness? This so-called “influence of darkness” is the influence of Satan’s misleading, corruption, binding, and controlling of people; the influence of Satan is an influence that has an aura of death. All those who live under the power of Satan are doomed to perish. How can you escape from the influence of darkness after coming to believe in God? When you have sincerely prayed to God, your heart will turn to Him completely, at which point your heart will be moved by God’s Spirit and you will become willing to fully give yourself to Him, and at this moment, you will have escaped from the influence of darkness. If everything a person does is that which pleases God and is in line with His requirements, then they are someone who lives within the words of God and under His care and protection. If people cannot practice the words of God, if they are always acting in a perfunctory manner toward Him, and not believing in His existence, then these are all people living under the influence of darkness. Those who haven’t been saved by God are all living under the power of Satan; that is, they all live under the influence of darkness. Those who do not believe in God are living under the power of Satan. Even those who believe in God’s existence might not necessarily be living in His light, for those who believe in Him are not necessarily living within His words or able to submit to Him. Man is limited to believing in God, and because he does not have knowledge of God, he is still living within the old regulations, living among dead words, and living a life that is dark and vague, neither fully purified by God nor completely gained by Him. Therefore, it goes without saying that those who do not believe in God are living under the influence of darkness; even people who do believe that God exists may still live under its influence due to not having the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who are without God’s grace or mercy cannot see the trend of the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who are unable to perceive whether the Holy Spirit is working in them or not are all living under the influence of darkness; and most of the time, so are people who merely enjoy the grace of God yet do not know Him. If a person believes in God yet spends most of their life living under the influence of darkness, then this person’s existence has lost its meaning—and what need is there to mention people who do not believe that God exists?

All those who cannot accept God’s work, or who accept God’s work but are unable to meet His requirements, are people living under the influence of darkness. Only those who pursue the truth and are capable of meeting God’s requirements are blessed by God, and only they have escaped from the influence of darkness. Those who feel no release, who are always constrained by certain things, and who are unable to give their hearts to God are people under Satan’s bondage who live amid an aura of death. Those who are not devoted to the duties they ought to do, who are not devoted to God’s commission, and who fail to perform their functions in the church are people living under the influence of darkness. Those who deliberately disturb the church life, who intentionally sow discord between their brothers and sisters, or who form cliques are even more so people who live under the influence of darkness, in Satan’s bondage. Those who have an abnormal relationship with God, who always have extravagant desires, who always want to gain an advantage, and who simply do not wish to pursue dispositional transformation are people who live under the influence of darkness. Those who are always sloppy and never serious in their practice of the truth, and who do not seek to satisfy the intentions of God, who only satisfy their flesh, are also people who are living under the influence of darkness, shrouded by death. Those who engage in crookedness and deceit when working for God, who deal with God in a perfunctory manner, who cheat God, and who always make plans for themselves are people living under the influence of darkness. All those who cannot love God with honest hearts, who do not pursue the truth, and who do not focus on transforming their dispositions are people living under the influence of darkness.

If you wish to gain God’s approval, then you must first escape from Satan’s dark influence, opening your heart to God and turning it toward Him completely. Are the things you are doing now those that God approves of? Has your heart turned to God? Are the things you are doing those that God requires of you? Are they in line with the truth? Examine yourself at all times and concentrate on the eating and drinking of God’s words; lay out your heart before Him, love Him with sincerity, and devotedly expend yourself for God. People who do this will surely receive God’s approval. All those who believe in God, yet do not pursue the truth, have no way of escaping from Satan’s influence. All those who do not conduct themselves in a guileless manner, who behave one way in front of others but another way behind their backs, who give the appearance of humility, patience, and love though they are insidious and cunning in essence, and have no loyalty to God—such people are typical representatives of those who live under the influence of darkness; they are the ilk of the serpent. Those who only ever scheme for their own sake in their belief in God, who are self-righteous and self-important, who show off, and who protect their own status are people who love Satan and oppose the truth. These people resist God and are entirely of Satan. Those who are not considerate of God’s burdens, who do not serve God wholeheartedly, who are always concerned with their own interests and the interests of their families, who are unable to forsake everything to expend themselves for God, and who never live by His words are people outside of His words. Such people cannot receive God’s approval.

When God created people, it was so that they could enjoy His abundance and genuinely love Him; in this way, they would live in His light. Today, all those who cannot love God, cannot be considerate of His burdens, cannot give their hearts fully to Him, cannot take His heart as their own, and cannot shoulder His burdens as their own, do not have God’s light shining upon them, and therefore are all living under the influence of darkness. These people totally contradict God’s intentions, and there is not a shred of truth in anything they do. They are wallowing in the mire with Satan; they are people who live under the influence of darkness. If you can often eat and drink the words of God and be considerate of His intentions and put His words into practice, then you are chosen by God, and you are a person who lives within His words. Are you willing to escape from the power of Satan and live in the light of God? If you live within the words of God, then the Holy Spirit will have an opportunity to perform His work. If you live under Satan’s influence, then the Holy Spirit will have no such opportunity. The work that the Holy Spirit performs on people, the light that He shines on them, and the faith that He gives to them last for only a moment; if people are not mindful and do not pay attention, then the work of the Holy Spirit will pass them by. If people live within the words of God, then the Holy Spirit will be with them and perform work on them. If they do not live within the words of God, then they live in Satan’s bondage. If they live within corrupt dispositions, then they do not have the presence or the work of the Holy Spirit. If you live within the boundaries of the words of God, and in the state that God requires, then you are one who is chosen by Him, and His work will be performed on you. If you do not live within the boundaries of God’s requirements, but live instead under the power of Satan, then you are decidedly living within Satan’s corruption. Only by living within the words of God and giving your heart to Him can you meet His requirements. You must do as God says, making His words the foundation of your existence and the reality of your daily life; only then are you one who is chosen by God. If you actually practice in accordance with God’s intentions, He will perform work on you, and you will then live under His blessings, in the light of His countenance; you will grasp the work of the Holy Spirit and feel the joy of God’s presence.

To escape from the influence of darkness, you must first be loyal to God and have a heart that pursues the truth; only then can you have a correct state. Living in a correct state is precisely the prerequisite for escaping from the influence of darkness. Not having a correct state is not being loyal to God, and not having a heart that seeks the truth, in which case escaping from the influence of darkness is out of the question. My words are the basis of man’s escape from the influence of darkness, and people who cannot practice in accordance with My words will not be able to escape from the bondage of the influence of darkness. To live in a correct state is to live under the guidance of the words of God, to live in a state of loyalty to God, to live in a state of seeking the truth, to live in the reality of sincerely expending oneself for God, and to live in a state of genuinely loving God. Those who live in these states and within these realities will slowly transform as they enter into the depth of the truth, and as the work goes deeper; and in the end, they will certainly become people who are gained by God and who love God genuinely. Those who have escaped from the influence of darkness can gradually grasp God’s intentions and gradually come to understand them, eventually becoming confidants of God. They not only harbor no notions about God and do not rebel against Him, but they also detest even more their past notions and rebellion, and genuine love for God arises in their hearts. People who are unable to escape from the influence of darkness are all completely occupied with the flesh and full of rebellion; their hearts are filled with human notions and philosophies for worldly dealings, as well as their own intentions and plans. What God wants is a singular love from man; what He wants is for man to be occupied by His words and by a heart full of love for Him. To live within the words of God, to find within His words that which he should pursue, to love God because of His words, to run because of His words, to live because of His words—this is what man should achieve. Everything must be built on God’s words; only then will man be able to meet God’s requirements. If man is not equipped with the words of God, then he is nothing but a maggot possessed by Satan! Weigh this: How much of the word of God has taken root inside of you? In which things are you living in accordance with His words? In which things are you not? If God’s words have not completely occupied you, then what exactly does occupy your heart? In your everyday life, are you being controlled by Satan, or are you being occupied by the words of God? Are His words the foundation upon which your prayers are based? Have you come out of your negative state through the enlightenment of the words of God? To take God’s words as the foundation of your existence—this is what everyone should enter into. If His words are not present in your life, then you are living under the influence of darkness, you are rebelling against God, you are resisting Him, and you are dishonoring His name. Such people’s belief in God is a pure farce and disturbance! How much of the time do you live in accordance with His words? How much of the time do you not? How much of what the word of God has required of you has been fulfilled in you? How much has been lost in you? Have you looked closely at such things?

Escaping from the influence of darkness requires both the work of the Holy Spirit and man’s utmost cooperation. Why do I say that man is not on the right track? People who are on the right track can first give their hearts to God. This is a lesson that takes a long time to enter into, for humankind has always been living under the influence of darkness, and has been under Satan’s bondage for thousands of years. Therefore, this entry cannot be achieved in a mere day or two. I raised this issue today so that people can gain a grasp of their own states; once people can discern what the influence of darkness is and what it means to live in the light, entry becomes easy. This is because you must know what Satan’s influence is before you can escape from it; only after that will you have a way to gradually break free from it. As for what to do thereafter, that is human’s own business. Enter into everything from a positive aspect, and never wait passively. Only in this way can you be gained by God.