Last time, we fellowshipped on the issue of people having notions and imaginings about the incarnate God, which is involved in “letting go of the barriers between oneself and God and one’s hostility toward God,” one of the ways of practicing “letting go” found within the topic of “How to Pursue the Truth,” right? (Yes.) We fellowshipped on how people should treat the incarnate God. So, what truths involving God’s incarnation did we fellowship last time? (Last time we fellowshipped on God not speaking vaguely, which is part of God not enticing people, as well as God’s attitude toward status.) We fellowshipped on the topic of not putting the incarnate God on a par with corrupt humankind, which involves God not enticing people, and we also fellowshipped on how the incarnate God treats status. What did we fellowship regarding this topic? Tell Me what you have come to know. (In the past, I felt that God’s identity was that of the Creator and that His status was very high. Through God’s fellowship, I have come to see that God never carries Himself as having a high status, nor does He ever take pleasure in this status. It’s also not because of this status that God pays a price to save humankind; rather, in doing so He is fulfilling His responsibility to humankind. Furthermore, in the past, I thought that if someone has high status, they have power. It was only through God’s fellowship that I realized that status actually just represents a title, and that for a person to be a leader or a worker in God’s house is equivalent to God giving that person a commission and a responsibility. These are the understandings I’ve gained after listening to God’s fellowship.) No matter what I fellowship, in one respect, it is to allow people to more clearly and accurately know what God’s viewpoints and principles are regarding all kinds of things, and what true manifestations and revelations there are of God’s disposition essence—this is what people need to know. In another respect, fellowshipping on this content gives people some correct viewpoints for treating all kinds of things, allowing them to understand the principles for treating and handling them. Take the way God treats status, for example. In one respect, fellowshipping on this helps you understand what God’s thoughts and views on status are like, and what His principles for handling status are like, when He becomes flesh and comes to earth to become a member of humankind—that is, when He lives within normal humanity. This is something people need to understand. In another respect, fellowshipping on how God treats status is not just so that people understand these truths that they ought to know; more importantly, it’s so that people have correct thoughts and views and principles of practice for approaching and handling this issue, after they understand the truth. In short, no matter what kind of issue we fellowship on, in one respect, it’s to let you know the correct viewpoints for treating this kind of issue, and in another respect, it’s to let you know the principles of practice and the path of practice for handling this kind of issue.

Although the incarnate God has God’s identity and also has status among God’s chosen people, this status is completely different from the status that corrupt humans talk about. To God, in one respect, this status is merely a formulation that involves the truth; in another respect, as far as the life and essence of the incarnate God are concerned, this status is not a kind of position, but is spoken of in terms of the life essence possessed by the incarnate God. In essence, then, the status corrupt humans talk about is actually different from this status of the incarnate God. What is status among corrupt humankind? (A symbol of power.) Among corrupt humankind, status has nothing to do with a person’s identity and essence; it is merely a title. For example, among corrupt humankind, some people are CEOs, managers, or have a certain social status. This is just a title or a division of class and rank among people; it has nothing to do with one’s true identity and essence. Therefore, the so-called “status” of the incarnate God among people is not the same as that of rulers in human society; He is not a ruler, nor is He someone with vested interests. Among people, God’s status is merely spoken of in terms of His essence and identity, and God’s identity and essence is only spoken of because of God’s life, and God’s authority, power, and disposition. God’s status is not a kind of title among people. Therefore, people cannot put the incarnate God on a par with people of status in various social classes. People of status in various social classes, regardless of which class they belong to, are collectively referred to as the ruling class. The essence of the ruling class is that, in one respect, they have work that corresponds to their status; in another respect, regardless of the period or the social environment, this ruling class basically consists of the leaders, standouts, those with vested interests, and so on, among people. This was especially the case more than a hundred years ago—the vast majority of the ruling class with status and prestige in society were those with vested interests. So what is meant by “those with vested interests”? It refers to people who use their power and status to seek benefits for themselves. By what means do they seek benefits? Through their political influence and power, they rule over their subjects; under their rule and governance, these subjects pay tribute to them, or more specifically, pay taxes. However, there is a difference in essence between the status of the incarnate God and the status of the ruling class. Regardless of which class of rulers or individuals with power and status they may be in society or among groups of people, the status of the ruling class is merely a position and a title. They only govern the people they rule over, or those within the scope of their governance and administration in a simple manner—broadly speaking, this is called ruling, and in a narrower sense, it is called governing and administrating. Through ruling, governing, and administrating, they obtain the power and various benefits that their status brings them. Although the incarnate God possesses God’s identity and essence, and has God’s status, the work He does, the essence of His work, and the essence of His status itself are different from those of the various ruling classes in society and among humankind. The work the incarnate God does on people is not ruling or administering them, but rather leading, providing for, guiding, supporting, helping, pruning, judging, and chastising them. God’s aim in doing all this work is to enable people to cast off their corrupt dispositions and break free from them. With all of the work He does on people, its most basic nature is that of providing them with the truth and life, so as to bring them before God. This is the work He does. He takes the work and words that God wants to perform and speak on earth, and performs that work on people and speaks those words to people, so that they can listen and understand, and have a path of practice, and ultimately cast off their corrupt dispositions, submit to God, and become people who truly worship God. In this process, what corrupt humans gain from the incarnate God is primarily the provision of the truth, the provision of life, and the provision of the way. Ultimately, they are able to truly submit to God, become true created beings—created beings that are up to standard—and come to satisfy God, gain God’s recognition and acceptance, and become human beings who worship God. These are the things human beings gain from the incarnate God. Although the incarnate God has this status and has done this work, He does not enjoy the tributes of humankind. Although the incarnate God has status, He does not enjoy the benefits of status that any member of the ruling class enjoys, nor does He enjoy the various kinds of generous treatment afforded to Him by His status. So, although God incarnate has the status of the incarnate God, He is not someone with vested interests, nor is He part of the exploiting class. In doing His work—just as the God in heaven, God’s Spirit, leads all of humankind—the incarnate God provides for, guides, supports, and helps humankind, and never demands any material or non-material things from humankind. Therefore, when the incarnate God comes among people to work, even if He does have the status humans see with their eyes or the status that He holds according to their thoughts and notions, He does not enjoy tributes from people. The work He does and His provision for humankind are free of charge; He does not demand any fees, taxes, or remuneration from humankind. Up to now, have you given Him a single cent? (No.) Have you ever paid to listen to sermons? (No.) Our gathering places do not require access cards, you don’t have to buy tickets to attend gatherings, and you don’t have to pay a single cent. Furthermore, the books you read, the videos you watch, and the sermon recordings you listen to are all free of charge. You have never been charged a single cent. Isn’t that so? (Yes.) No one has been charged a single cent; everything is free of charge. Some people ask, “Do personal offerings have to be a set percentage of one’s income?” That is not the case; offerings are all given voluntarily. The tithe is simply what believers ought to offer, but regardless of whether someone offers a tenth or a fifth of their income, it is entirely voluntary. Besides, many people who believe in God have never offered what they ought to, yet they still attend gatherings and can still read God’s words and listen to sermons all the same. Not a single person has been stripped of their right to listen to sermons, their right to attend gatherings, or their right to do their duty just because they never made offerings—this hasn’t happened to anyone, right? (Yes.)

From the Age of Law to the present Age of Kingdom, God has consistently provided for humankind. From when God’s Spirit began to speak to humankind up to God’s first incarnation, and then to God’s second incarnation, God has spoken countless words, and also done more work on humankind than can be reckoned. He has spoken so many words, and He has provided so much for humankind—it is already beyond measure. And has God ever demanded a single cent from humans? He never has. He has never even demanded a single bag of grain from humans; He merely provides for people like this unfailingly and free of charge. Whether it is the incarnate God or God Himself, although He possesses supreme status, He nevertheless provides for humankind free of charge. Moreover, God incarnate interacts with people on an equal basis, providing for human beings heart-to-heart and face-to-face, and the way in which He leads them is even more hands-on. God leads every step of the way, and personally leads every item of work. Furthermore, God does not use a stand-in when doing His work; God Himself does it personally. In human terms, this would be called approaching the worthy with courteous humility, or moving among the people incognito. God personally comes among people to speak and work, living among people and being face-to-face with them. People can hear God’s voice with their own ears, see the work God does with their own eyes, and personally experience for themselves the work God does. Although people feel that God has status and that there is a distance between themselves and God, with God, there is no such distance as people see or feel. God does not carry Himself as having God’s identity, looking down on humankind from on high, but rather He speaks and works on an equal footing with humans. Hasn’t this been the way I have spoken and fellowshipped in gatherings with you over the years? I am not condescending, and I have never felt that I have great power and high status; I have no such feeling, and I haven’t worked in this way either. Although corrupt humans are full of corruption, full of hostility toward God, and are God’s enemies, in working to save people, God is full of patience, tolerance, mercy, and lovingkindness toward humans. When He works on and speaks to humans, He is full of love—it could even be said that He does so with painstaking earnestness. Whatever humans need, God unsparingly provides it to them. He does not speak to people in riddles, nor does He keep them in suspense, but says whatever is on His mind. He provides the truths you ought to understand without leaving out a single sentence. So long as it’s something you can grasp, He does not hold back one bit. He lets you gain these truths, and makes it so they’re clear to you and you understand them. Especially when it comes to matters you do not understand and find confusing, He all the more goes over them again and again with painstaking earnestness, and emphasizes them repeatedly, until you understand. Thus, the work done by God incarnate and the work done by God’s Spirit have always been the same. Although it is corrupt mankind that He saves, God has never disdained mankind. Although man and God, in essence and in life, are distinct and completely different, in terms of God’s attitude toward man, God has never treated man as His enemy, as truly corrupt mankind, or as a target to be spurned. On the contrary, God treats man as the recipient of His work and salvation. Besides this, a more important point is that, in terms of God’s attitude and mood when speaking to man, as well as His expectations of man, God treats man as family. So, no matter how man himself views God’s status, God has never assumed a position of superiority to view mankind through the lens of high status, but has instead put Himself on equal footing with man, and can even have long, heart-to-heart talks with man; there is no distance between Him and man, and no distinctions of status. Looking at God’s attitude toward mankind and all the work God has done, it is precisely because the incarnate God has God’s essence and God’s life that, although outwardly He seems to be an ordinary person, He can nevertheless treat mankind with a mentality different from that of any member of the ruling class. Only the incarnate God can do this; no human being can do it, much less anyone from the ruling class. No matter what words God has spoken to man or what work He has done on man, aside from not demanding any benefits from man, what’s even more important is that God has bestowed upon man more of the truths he ought to understand, the paths he ought to practice, and the direction for moving forward he ought to understand. At the same time, God has also bestowed upon man the things he needs for his daily life in terms of basic necessities. God is not only the source of man’s life, but also the source of his livelihood. Isn’t that so? (Yes.) Some people always think, “I have followed Almighty God throughout these years, and have given up my personal prospects, my studies, and my marriage to do my duty, yet up to now I haven’t gained anything.” They then feel regretful and complain. This is particularly true for some people who have been cleared out, and those who have been arrested and imprisoned—they believe that they haven’t gained anything from believing in God all these years. Tell Me, is this viewpoint correct? (No.) In what way is it wrong? They do not know what it is they truly ought to gain from believing in God. They think they should gain things they can see and hold onto, such as money, fame and gain, and status, and that if they haven’t gained these things, then they have gained nothing. Actually, God bestows upon man a great many truths; it is because those people have not pursued the truth or accepted the truth that they haven’t gained anything. If, in the course of doing their duty throughout these years, they had been able to pursue the truth, accept the truth, and submit to the environments God set up for them, then they surely would have understood some truths and gained some knowledge of God. Although they may not have gained material things, they would have gained things of greater value, the most precious things in the human world—things that cannot be exchanged for any amount of money or material benefits.

When doing His work among people, although the incarnate God has status in people’s eyes, He does not enjoy the benefits of status, tributes from people, or the power or any form of favorable treatment His status would bring Him, as people of status among humankind would do. He also doesn’t act high and mighty, issue orders, or enjoy this status from a position of superiority, like people of status among humankind would do. It’s exactly the opposite: Not only does He not assume a position of superiority, but He also treats people on an equal basis, living among them to provide for their needs. Aside from providing for people’s needs in terms of life entry, He also provides for some additional needs in their daily lives. The incarnate God also gets involved in people’s daily lives and work when it’s fitting or when it’s needed, helping you live normally and with regularity, and directing and helping you to do your duties well. So, from whichever angle you look at it, although the incarnate God possesses a special status, how He treats status is not the same as any human being with status. Although He possesses this status, in the work He does, in His daily life, and in His principles for how He treats people, He is merely fulfilling His responsibility. For the incarnate God Himself, He is performing His ministry, and for humankind, He is fulfilling His responsibility. He fulfills the responsibility of the incarnate God toward humankind on the basis of possessing the status of the incarnate God. In one respect, His responsibility toward humankind is to provide the truth that humans most need in terms of their life; in another respect, it is to make up for what they lack in terms of their normal humanity, to guide people so that they can live according to the principles that those with normal humanity ought to possess. This is the responsibility I ought to fulfill. But when some people hear Me say these things, they think in their hearts, “We are all adults, and we understand all these things that come up in our daily lives. Do we really need Your guidance?” Although you are all adults, you exhibit far too many shortcomings in your daily lives, and you fall far short of the standards of normal humanity. Without even going into anything else, it’s hard enough for you just to eat in a healthy and appropriate way in your daily lives. Sometimes, when I happen to see that you have a problem in this regard, I offer a little guidance and give some advice for you to consider. Furthermore, when it comes to how you handle affairs involving human life, if I see or hear that you have problems in this regard—or I come into contact with those problems of yours—then I will also give you some advice, help you vet things, correct your mistaken viewpoints and practices, give you some principles, and tell you how to conduct yourselves and how to handle these affairs. Although there are some special matters I have not experienced or handled, when I encounter such things, I can grasp the principles. I know what to do; I will help you vet things, and give you some prompting and advice, so that you can also act according to the principles and standards of normal humanity in the various affairs that come up in life. Don’t go against your conscience, and don’t cross the boundary of morality. You must be rational in what you do; do not behave in an unruly manner like nonbelievers, but rather abide by the rules, handling affairs based on the most basic principle of not going against your conscience or crossing the boundary of morality. When I see these things, I will also give you pointers and help you vet things, regulating the basic necessities of your daily lives. This is beneficial for you in regulating your behavior and the conscience and reason of your normal humanity. Some people might say, “You’re not highly educated, You haven’t participated in many matters in the outside world, and You don’t understand the rules of the game in society. What gives You the right to regulate us?” I say that I am indeed qualified to regulate you. Although I do not participate in those things on the outside, when it comes to the path one walks, one’s pursuit, and matters involving the truth principles, I can help you with these things. I know the principles, and I know where the boundary for one’s self-conduct should lie. I know clearly in My heart whether you have crossed this boundary or violated the principles. I know, but you do not. Why do you not know this? Because you live within your corrupt dispositions and are deeply influenced by the various evil trends of the world. Moreover, most people do not have sound conscience and reason, so they are always fond of taking advantage, always trying to be slippery and take opportunistic shortcuts, and exploit loopholes. They even skirt the edges of the law in order to take advantage, always thinking about how to do some despicable and sordid things. When I see you wanting to do such things, I will give you some pointers, do some vetting for you, and prompt you to refrain from acting that way. If I don’t prompt you or carry out vetting for you, you will always feel that what you are doing is justified. Where does your justification come from? From your belief that “Nonbelievers all do this, so why can’t we? Why should we have to suffer a loss?” That is not called suffering a loss; that is called abiding by the rules. Abiding by the boundary of conscience when conducting oneself is what one ought to do; this is not suffering a loss. This is My principle. You are always afraid of suffering a loss, and not only that, but you also proactively try to take advantage and exploit loopholes. This requires regulation, and this requires correction. So, when I see someone showing signs of handling things this way, I quickly prompt them not to do so; acting like that is disgusting. You feel proud and satisfied in your heart when you take that minor advantage, but what do you sell out in doing so? It is your conscience and your integrity, which earns you a “bad review” from God. Do you know how many good deeds this one bad review can cancel out? You don’t know, and you don’t feel it. Because you don’t know and have no awareness of it, I must prompt you. At critical moments and in critical matters, I must step forward and tell you not to act that way, that you must abide by the rules and not take advantage. In these matters, I am not using My status to constrain you, but rather I am fellowshipping the principles with you, helping you regulate your behavior, making your conscience aware, making it so you have a standard of conscience and rationality, and letting you see what one’s correct goal and direction in life should be. Then, when you think of acting that way again, you won’t be able to square it with your conscience; your face will go red, and the thought of doing something like that will make you feel embarrassed. In this way, My purpose in telling you this is achieved, and it has the intended effect. This is what is called regulation.

I generally do not intervene in minor matters that do not involve church work, but for some matters involving the physical and mental well-being of God’s chosen people, I occasionally say a few words and offer some advice. So, in what identity, and with what kind of status, do I intervene in these matters? Is it as a parent? The head of a clan? A shepherd? A leader? Or is it as your boss? I don’t think it’s any of these. What role do I play in such matters, then? First of all, there is no distinction in status; I speak and act out of a sense of responsibility. No matter what happens to you, as long as I notice it and am aware of it, I will lead you onto the right path, enabling you to act according to your conscience and based on this most basic, fundamental boundary, which will regulate your behavior and correct your intentions, and enabling you to establish a correct outlook on life, and to handle this kind of thing and view this kind of issue from the correct standpoint and perspective. I will help vet things for you. It may be the case that while I vet things for you, you feel your self-esteem and pride have suffered a blow, but I do not coddle you or pander to you; I help you out of a sense of responsibility toward you, standing on equal footing with you. What do you think of this approach? (It’s good.) I do not spout high-sounding ideas to you, and I do not shout slogans—I just tell you how to do a certain thing and how to do it properly, explaining the pros and cons clearly to you. From your perspective, the words I speak are simple and ordinary. They’re just plain language, not containing any profound knowledge, philosophies, or theories. But after listening to them, you have a path and know how to act. Although the incarnate God has a unique status in people’s eyes, and although it is a very high status, the scope of what He does is not restricted by this high status. On the contrary, He attends to everything, no matter how big or small. Regardless of what kind of problems or difficulties you have, as long as I notice them, I will talk to you about them, and I will not assume a position of superiority; if you are willing to listen, then listen, and if you are not willing to listen, I will not force you. If it is a crucial matter, one that involves church work and the truth principles, I will tell you how to practice, and I will follow up afterward; if it is a matter in your personal life, I will have a heart-to-heart chat with you, sharing My heartfelt views without spouting high-sounding ideas—if you are willing to listen, you can accept it, and if you are not willing to listen, I will not reprimand you or constrain you. If you are able to accept it, I will see that you are a decent person who can accept right and correct words, and then be willing to speak with you more; if I see that you do not accept right words and will not listen to what I say, then I will not speak to you in the future, or I will speak to you less. I have My own choices and My own principles in associating with people. Do you think I speak and act like someone with status? (No.) For example, in past gatherings, whether there were thirty to fifty people or eighty to a hundred, I never used a microphone; I just spoke directly and people could hear Me. Nowadays, in some places, even with only twenty or thirty people at a gathering, some speakers still use a microphone—is that necessary? Are the words you say in any way edifying to others? And yet you must use a microphone to speak—is that not putting on airs? That’s emulating worldly officials. You see, I also often chat and fellowship with the brothers and sisters; sometimes, we just sit in the yard talking, with around twenty people present. There’s background noise, yet everyone hears Me clearly without Me using a microphone. Whatever needs to be fellowshipped is fellowshipped clearly, and nothing gets held up. Is it still necessary to use a microphone? What’s the point of engaging in such formalities? That is a worldly custom; everyone likes to put on a grand display and put on airs, and is particular about panache and ostentation. If ordinary people can act this way, then if one were to have a bit of status, they would think the world of themselves, wouldn’t they? My aim in telling you these things is to let you know a fact: Although the incarnate God has the status in man’s eyes, My feelings regarding this status are different from yours. I just feel like I am an ordinary person, and chatting with you and fellowshipping the truth is fulfilling My responsibility. So what do I require of you? It is that you be able to accept positive things, accept the truth, and do things according to the truth principles; I do not require you to do anything extra. First, I do not require you to prostrate yourselves in worship; second, I do not require you to greet Me in an obsequious way when we meet—acting normal and natural is enough. Is it necessary for family members to always greet each other when they meet? If they don’t see each other often, it’s normal to say hello when they run into each other; this is being polite, and it is something the rationality of normal humanity ought to possess—even animals know to greet each other, let alone humans! However, there is no need, just because I have status, for you to bow and scrape and politely ask how I’m doing when you see Me. This is an unnecessary formality, and it is not something I require of you. My requirements of you are very reasonable and proper. If you possess normal humanity, and you love the truth and pursue the truth, you will be able to meet all these requirements, because these requirements are not empty or high at all; they’re all things that normal people can achieve. If you have understood and comprehended the various aspects of the truth that I have fellowshipped with you over the years, and have experiential knowledge and life entry, then you will be able to act according to the truth principles when all kinds of things happen to you. You will be able to practice according to the truth principles in how you treat people, your work, your duties, antichrists, false leaders, harmonious cooperation, all sorts of things that are not to your liking, and much more—this is what is required of you. The requirements I make of you are all things within the scope of what you can achieve in normal humanity. After I finish speaking, I require that you practice according to these words to achieve the results that should be achieved.

Some people have listened to sermons for so many years but have never made any offerings. Does God’s house press the matter? No, it does not. I also never inquire about who has never made any offerings, or who is always asking God’s house for living expenses. I do not inquire about these matters, and I don’t care about them either. What I care about is how you do your duty, whether you can pay a price, and whether you can accept correct advice; whether you can rebel against yourself and let go of your ambitions and desires when things happen to you; whether you can fulfill your responsibilities and treat people fairly when you have status; whether you seek the principles and have the principles in your heart when doing things; whether you would act according to your own will in matters where you do not understand the principles; whether you can accept it, feel remorse, and turn yourself around when someone points it out after you have acted according to your own will; whether you would hate, suppress, or torment those who criticize you; what your required standards are regarding matters within the scope of normal human life—speaking and acting, as well as the basic necessities for living—and whether you have a boundary. I care about matters like these that involve the truth, one’s principles for conducting oneself, one’s outlook on life, and the path one walks. Additionally, I also inquire about and look into matters involving offerings. If any leader, when doing work involving the expenditure of offerings, does not adhere to the principles, but rather spends extravagantly and engages in the act of squandering offerings, and after being exposed and pruned, they do not have any remorse, nor do they confess their sins and repent, and not only do they refuse to compensate for the losses but they also try to argue and justify themselves—with some of them even forging things and fabricating false evidence, or in severe cases even destroying evidence, and so on—I will inquire about and look into these matters. Don’t all these matters involve how one conducts oneself and the path one walks in their belief in God? (Yes.) Would you say I am justified in caring about these matters? (Yes.) Some people are part of very good families and are quite wealthy; do you think I inquire about how much their family earns a year, whether they have made offerings, or whether they’ve offered tithes? I have never said such things while preaching in gatherings. Some people say, “Is it that You don’t talk about this in public settings, but secretly inquire about it from certain individuals?” You can ask the brothers and sisters who have interacted and associated with Me if I have ever inquired about these matters—I have not. Tell Me, is it that I’m unwilling to ask, or is it that I’m not interested? (You’re not interested.) I am not interested, meaning My mind does not contain these things—these things are not in My mind. This is one aspect of the matter. For another thing, I truly do not know what the economic conditions and social status of the brothers’ and sisters’ families are. Why do I not know? Because I am not curious about them, and I do not inquire about them. Even if I do know about individual cases, it’s just from hearing you mention that their family is wealthy; I only know this bit of basic information. As for what kind of work they do or how much they earn a year, I truly do not know. I never inquire about or care about the economic situation of any of your families, how much income you have, or whether you are wealthy or poor—I do not care about these things. Some people, after interacting with the brothers and sisters a few times, get a pretty good grasp of the basic situations of their families—what their families do, which families are wealthy, which are poor, and how much their families own in terms of assets. They fall just short of investigating what the past three generations of their ancestors did for a living. They are particularly interested in these matters and find out about them especially quickly. Would you say such people are neglecting their proper tasks? (Yes.) After interacting with or meeting someone just once, they know how much this person earns a month, what standard of food and clothing they usually have, and which people with standing and status in society they associate and interact with—they are able to know all these things. Even after I interact with someone several times, I do not know these things. Only if they take the initiative to tell Me what work they do in the world and what their annual salary is will I know a little, but I don’t remember it afterward. Some people say, “You do the work of saving man—is it okay for You to not know about many matters in the outside world?” Tell Me, is it necessary to know about those matters that are unrelated to the truth? (It is not.) I only look into matters that are related to the truth; I only look into issues involving your disposition, your humanity, your self-conduct, and the path you walk. I do not look into how much money you have, nor do I look into where your money comes from. I do not want to inquire about or know about these things, and it is not a hobby of Mine. When I say that I know man like the back of My hand, I mean that I understand man’s disposition, understand the essence and the actual condition of his corruption, and understand the humanity of all kinds of people; this is one aspect of the matter. It also means understanding what kind of essence is involved in the dispositions revealed by all kinds of people, what issues are involved in the various states people reveal, and how to fellowship, provide for them, and help them in order to resolve their problems and enable them to emerge from the state they’re in. In short, I only look into matters that are related to My work and related to the truth.

In doing My work, the responsibility I fulfill toward you is to resolve your problems. On a small scale, that means resolving the problems with what your humanity lives out in your daily lives; on a large scale, it means resolving the problems of your corrupt dispositions and clearly pointing out the path of salvation to you. Therefore, the incarnate God has come among people not to enjoy humankind’s tributes, adulation, or following, nor to enjoy the joys of the human world, but to fulfill His responsibility. He possesses God’s identity and He possesses God’s life; He has come among people to do God’s own work and fulfill the responsibility toward man that God Himself ought to fulfill. Regardless of which stage it is or which group of people it is among, the basic goal of the work God does when interacting with people is to help them resolve all kinds of problems. Although I sometimes talk about some trivial matters of daily life, and you might feel like you are just listening to some stories, in fact, these trivial matters I fellowship with you about include problems that you have, and truths that you ought to understand, which are things you ought to resolve and enter into. After listening, those who focus on seeking the truth principles and focus on practicing the truth will come to understand some truths and understand some principles for conducting themselves and acting without even being cognizant of it. However, people who don’t have spiritual understanding will not understand even after listening, and will even feel that the fellowship just involves trivial homespun matters. Actually, you should also be able to learn lessons from these trivial matters much of the time. This is because no matter what aspect of things we’re fellowshipping on—whether it’s something to do with daily life, something involving one’s duty, or something involving life entry—the principles and understanding we fellowship about are not meant to solve any riddles or unveil any mysteries—rather, our fellowship uses everyday language to explain a fact, resolve the problems with one’s thoughts and views, and resolve the problems of how one views all kinds of things and how one treats all kinds of people. For example, take choosing the style and color of clothes. Whether for daily wear or for making programs, My principles and motives for choosing the style and color of clothing are different from yours. What are your principles and motives? They are to dress yourselves up to look beautiful or handsome—as long as you look charming and attract attention, you are satisfied. What are My original intentions and motives? They are to make you appear modest, upright, and possessed of human likeness and dignity, so that people will hold you in some regard and not dare to look down on you, toy with you, or harbor any crooked ideas or improper thoughts about you. In doing so, I am not stripping you of the opportunity to show off, but rather I am protecting you, making you possess human likeness and making you look like you have an upright presence, so that those with bad intentions will find no opportunity to exploit you, and those wicked people will not dare to take advantage of you or treat you as a plaything. They will have to respect you. In this way, is your integrity not protected? (Yes.) In a matter as simple as choosing the style and color of clothes, you might think I do so to safeguard the interests and the reputation of God’s house, but in fact, this is really not the main purpose; the primary purpose is to protect you. Just on this small matter, My viewpoints are completely different from yours. As for how you dress and groom yourselves in your personal lives, I give you space and allow you to choose freely to satisfy your vanity. These matters rely on people coming to possess normal humanity after the truth has been fellowshipped on and they have understood the truth, so that they can achieve self-restraint and come to be modest, upright, and have human likeness. However, when you appear in public settings, I have to vet things for you. This is purely to protect you, not to control or constrain you. No matter what you think, this is just what My principles for doing things are like, and in this matter, I have the final say. Even if some individuals are a bit dissatisfied, feel a bit peeved inside, or have reservations about this matter, it does not matter; you will understand in the future. In addition, My choices regarding the color, fabric, and style of clothing are not conservative or bound by old conventions; I do not have outdated thoughts and notions. If you are older, I style you to look more vibrant, picking out some brightly colored clothes for you so that you look younger but not coquettish. This is a good thing for you; when people see that although you are older, you still seem to have some vitality, and you look quite put-together and presentable, they will respect you and hold you in some regard, thus ensuring that your dignity is fully protected. This is something you would not think of. It is possible that a few individuals have thought of it, but who can hold to this principle, and who can master this principle? You really cannot master it, right? (Yes.) Some of you say, “I’m old, and old people should look like old people. I have to set an example for young people and get them to hold me in some regard.” You do not dye your graying hair, do not put on a touch of light makeup despite your pale complexion, do not replace your missing front teeth, causing air to whistle through the gaps in your teeth when you speak, and do not wear vibrant clothes, but only gray and black. As a result, people find you to have absolutely no color in your cheeks; you just look sickly. Tell Me, how do young people feel when they see you? When they address you, they have to add the word “old,” calling you “old sister” or “old brother.” Does that make you feel comfortable? You are reluctant to accept it, thinking to yourself, “Although I am a bit older than you, am I really that old?” Who told you to make yourself look so old? Wouldn’t it be fine to choose clothes with colors that enhance your complexion? Dress up a little so that people can see you have vitality, and see that although you are old in age, you are not old in your mindset—wouldn’t that earn you respect? There was someone in her forties, and when I asked her to wear a pink outfit for a performance, she said, “Wearing pink at my age, wouldn’t that be trying to pass myself off as younger than I am?” Her viewpoint was different from Mine. I said, “It’s not passing yourself off as younger than you are; being on camera calls for it. I give you tips and help style you so that you appear to have some color in your cheeks, and look presentable and put-together. If you feel it’s trying to pass yourself off as younger than you are, and that’s the way you see it, then don’t wear it. If you change into a dowdy outfit, you’ll immediately look ten years older.” If you tell her she looks ten years older, she’s unhappy about it, but she also can’t accept you trying to make her look a bit younger. Isn’t this person quite difficult to deal with? (Yes.) Just in these simple matters, if people have correct thoughts and views, they will handle them suitably, properly, and in accordance with principles. However, most people’s thoughts and views regarding these matters are very distorted, conservative, or radical, and some people even put on a facade. Even if My thoughts and views on these matters cannot be called the truth, they are at least suitable, proper, and within the scope of normal humanity. So, sometimes, even on these small matters, I give you some prompts and pointers to one extent or another. If you are attentive and can accept correct thoughts and views, you will come to grasp these things without even realizing it. If you are inattentive, or always have your own opinions and ideas, or if you still hold many old, traditional, foolish, and stubborn thoughts and views inside, then you might not be able to take in or make sense of what I say. But no matter what, and no matter in which aspects, as long as it is in these matters that can be encountered within the scope of the work I do, I try My best to let you benefit, steer you toward the correct direction, help you correct your fallacious thoughts and views, and establish all kinds of correct thoughts and views. This is My responsibility. Just on this point of fulfilling responsibility, the nature of the work done by the incarnate God is completely different from that of the work done by any person with status among humankind, right? (Yes.)

In My view, the work humans do regarding status basically consists of two things: One is safeguarding their status, and the other is demanding personal benefits. These are humans’ needs and demands regarding status. Whatever work any person with status engages in, it is not providing the truth or providing life, much less pointing out life’s direction and path for people. Rather, they engage in material or non-material work, managing or controlling people, and making people accept their leadership when it comes to some professional area or some aspect of knowledge, to the production of things, or to various other domains. Afterward, they use their power to establish their authority and consolidate their status, through which they seek personal benefits. These benefits are divided into two types: financial benefits and reputational benefits. Therefore, the nature of the work done by any person with status among people is completely different from that of the work done by the incarnate God. They neither provide for people nor help them, much less do they refrain from making demands of people. Judging from the status and financial benefits they gain after obtaining status and doing work from a position of status, any person with status among people will ultimately and inevitably become someone with vested interests. This is because the status they possess serves them personally, and everything they do is for status and benefits; it is not to provide for or help people. In this regard, it is completely different from what the incarnate God does. Furthermore, no matter what any person with status says or does to people, their ultimate goal is to demand emotional allegiance, financial contributions, and contributions of status from them. That is, if they speak well and do well, and win people’s hearts, causing people to regard them highly and approve of them, then people will have a good opinion of that person in their hearts—that person will have more prestige, more say, and greater renown, and more people will rally around them and be won over by them. This is the emotional allegiance they demand from people. That is, people will idolize them more and admire them more in their hearts, and be more drawn to and won over by their leadership demeanor, their speech and deportment, and their bearing and manner in how they conduct themselves and act. In this way, their status becomes higher and more secure, and this fully consolidates their status among people. Once their status in people’s hearts is secured, at the same time, the financial and material benefits they get become even more abundant. They work to secure their status in people’s hearts actually so that they can obtain more material and financial benefits. This is completely different from the status the incarnate God possesses among people and the work He does. People must see this clearly. Is there a difference here? (Yes.) You see, once someone possesses status and has fans, they do many things for the sake of their status. They polish their image, learn rhetoric, and completely conceal their private life, including their choice of a partner, their marital status, and even their personal residence and other details. They conceal all these things and do not allow others to know about them. They do all of this to safeguard their status and image among people. They have many private affairs that are kept hidden, not openly disclosed, and not known to anyone else. In public, they dress themselves up to seem particularly noble, magnificent, honorable, and beautiful, and their speech is particularly gentle and considerate; they say whatever people want to hear, and perform whatever people want to see. They do ample homework and do all sorts of things to craft their personal image. Once a scandal or a bad thing they did leaks out and becomes known to their fans, they will try their utmost to justify themselves and put up a facade, devising every possible means to cover the matter up. Some such people even completely reinvent themselves, devising every possible means to maintain their image in people’s hearts. Their aim in doing all this is to maintain their status among people; once their status among people is maintained, then the material things, money, and pleasures they pursue are all preserved as well. Therefore, no matter what they do—and whether it’s in public or in private—it’s all extremely deceptive. You will never know what they are thinking in their hearts, what their humanity and character are like, or what their viewpoints and choices regarding various things truly are. You will never hear what they truly think. Even if they make many changes and sacrifices for their fans and their audience, it is done against their true intentions. Why do they act against their true intentions like this? It is to maintain their status. It is because they know that if they publicly reveal their true face for people to see, they will lose many fans, and will also be spurned and cursed by them. When they lose their fans, their status will suffer a disastrous decline, and immediately afterward, the money, benefits, pleasures, and material things they pursue, and even any favorable conditions and generous treatment afforded to them by their status, will all be gone. Therefore, they all do their utmost to safeguard their image and maintain their status. They will pay any price and resort to any means to maintain their status and image—some change their gender, some get plastic surgery, some hide their marriages, and some even commit murder in secret; they will do anything. And yet, among people, what they do to others—and what others can gain from them—is virtually devoid of any positive guidance or positive provision. The role they play among people is merely to satisfy people’s vanity and gratify their ambitions and desires, gathering people under their names and under their power, and then ruthlessly misleading and depriving people emotionally, mentally, and financially. That’s why I say that anyone with status is basically someone with vested interests. This is putting it nicely; I do not want to say anything harsher than that. You can figure it out for yourselves. So, with anyone that has status, it might be that when you see them, you feel that their style of discourse is extraordinary, and that they are gracious, elegant, and charismatic, and you might greatly idolize them. In particular, some people of the opposite sex might even want to devote themselves to them. These are all signs of being misled and brainwashed. Let’s not talk about their life behind the scenes, their true humanity, and their attitude toward positive things—there is no need to find out about these things. If you truly did want to devote yourself to them, once you started living with them you would be dumbfounded. By then, you would know that they are not as lofty and extraordinary as you believed in your heart; you would no longer idolize them, and you would treat them as an ordinary person. With your current stature, is it necessary to go to that extent? (No.)

When people with status in society appear in public, at autograph sessions, press conferences, or live performances, people cheer for them and place great hopes in them. Some people even shake hands with them once and never want to wash their hands for the rest of their lives, and some people hug them once and decide never to marry for the rest of their lives. Don’t you think such people are very stupid? (Yes.) You decide never to marry for their sake, but if one day you run into them on the street and say hello, would they pay any attention to you? (No.) They are people of status, honorable people, upper-class individuals; in their eyes, you are nothing. Do you really think they like you when they give you their autograph, shake your hand, and hug you? You are wrong; you are too naive! When they need you, you are a treasure to them; when they don’t need you, you are just a weed—or, it could be said, you are nothing. Anyone with status in society—even the lowest-ranking official—is out of your reach as an ordinary citizen. It doesn’t matter if you’re an adult or you are capable—in their eyes, you are just a nobody; they do not take you seriously at all. This is the true face of people with status in society. Therefore, looking at their nature essence, people in the human world who belong to the class of those with power and status are basically all people with vested interests. They place no great hopes in you, and bear no responsibility whatsoever, much less do they give anything or make contributions for free—it goes without saying that they don’t provide anything to you. They just want to demand things from you—to have you idolize, admire, and follow them on an emotional level, and then to obtain financial and material benefits from you. Once they have gained benefits and their status is secure, if you want to be their buddy, be their friend, and be on equal footing with them, will they agree? (No.) If you try to force them to agree, what do you think they will do? (They will openly turn against you.) Seeing that you are of no more use to them, they will kick you aside, tell you to “get lost,” and even insult you, saying that you’re a filthy beggar. You’d be dumbfounded, wouldn’t you? (Yes.) It is precisely because humans view status this way, and precisely because status brings them various advantageous conditions or abundant benefits, that they view status as very important and treasure it greatly. However, what anyone with status among humankind does is not fulfilling a responsibility to humankind, it is not a form of provision, and it is not free of charge; rather, there are purposes and demands to it. Every word they say from their position of status has a purpose, and everything they do is also to achieve a certain aim; of course, it is to obtain greater benefits from you—to bleed you dry, even. What they do to you is basically to mislead, numb, and exploit you. To put it in the simplest and most straightforward way, it’s to make you empty your pockets. Empty your pockets for what? To buy their tickets, buy their products, buy their goods, and give them the things they need most. So, once a person has status, benefits naturally follow. When people have status and stand in a position of status, it is easy for them to mislead others, and it is also easy for them to use their status to their advantage to do things. As a member of humankind, because you idolize status, it is very easy for you to be misled, controlled, and instigated by people with status or people standing in positions of status—instigated to do this and that. Especially those stars and celebrities of great renown in society—when they shout from the stage, “How are you all doing? Long time no see!” their fans in the audience wave glow sticks, and they shout and scream, going crazy. How crazy do they get? Some people have tears streaming down their faces right there and then, and some people faint on the spot and are rushed to the ER. Just from those few words, just from listening to those few songs and watching that one performance, they lose their minds like this, acting like they’re sick in the head. Would you say these people are foolish? (Yes.) Then will they continue to attend these performances afterward? (They will.) Is this not being misled? The tickets for that kind of performance are probably quite expensive. You pay all that money, and they just sing a few songs and hop around on stage a bit. Is it worth spending all that money? Aren’t you being scammed? Some people even force their parents to shell out money to buy tickets to their favorite celebrity’s concert or to buy their merchandise. If their family is poor and can’t afford it, they call their parents useless and incompetent. Their parents can do nothing about it; this is just the trend in this society. After being berated like this by their children, some parents even feel quite inferior and do not dare to admit in front of others that they are so-and-so’s parents. Is this not caused by societal trends? (Yes.) So how did this trend form? It formed as a result of humankind’s thoughts and views on status, fame, and gain becoming increasingly wicked, and ultimately developing along with this evil trend up to the present day, harming generation after generation of people. What is it that those people with status do to others? What are the words they shout to people from their high positions? What do they impart to people? They impart fallacious and wicked thoughts and views; they impart evil trends; what they impart are all negative things. In the end, you still willingly scramble to spend your money on their tickets and products, and if you can’t buy them, you even secretly cry and feel inferior. Is this not willingly debasing yourself? (Yes.) This is how the world really is; this is how humankind really is. Among humankind, evil trends always prevail, and these evil trends are also constantly developing and evolving. No matter how they evolve, there is always a group of people with status, power, and prestige riding at the vanguard of evil trends. What will ultimately happen to those who are at the head of this vanguard? I will not say; you can mull it over yourselves.

The purpose of fellowshipping these words is, in one respect, to allow you to know what status is, and in another respect, to let you know and understand the difference between the status possessed by the incarnate God and the status possessed by humans. These are of a completely different nature and essence. The status of the incarnate God is determined by His essence and life; it is not a position, it is not given to Him by humankind, and it is not something He gained from humans’ elevation of Him because He had acquired knowledge and theories and gained sufficient life experience in society. The status of the incarnate God is determined by His identity, and His identity is determined by His life and His essence. Despite having such an identity and essence, He does not act high and mighty, oppress people, draw people in, make demands of humankind, or lord it over people, like those who have prominent status among humankind do. Of course, the incarnate God is not someone with vested interests. He has never demanded any benefits from those who follow Him, including financial and material ones. Naturally, He has not demanded any remuneration from His followers either. Rather, He consistently fulfills His responsibility and does His work with His identity and from His position, providing all the truths needed by those who follow Him. Of course, during the period in which the incarnate God does His work and fulfills His responsibility, He does not call out to people from a high position like the so-called people of status among humankind do, nor does He stand in a high position to create a certain atmosphere, put on a grand display, or make a show of things, in order to win people’s hearts and have them commend Him, and so on. God, in His identity as the incarnate God, does not do any of these things. His identity and status are determined by His own essence; they didn’t come about as a result of humans’ commendation, nor are they the result of some vote by humankind. So how did they come about? It’s only because God expresses the truth and unveils these mysteries that man comes to know that this flesh is God Himself, possessing God’s identity and status. Some people say, “Why does God testify to Himself?” It is because humankind does not know God, and is only capable of resisting and condemning God, and so it is only through God expressing the truth that His own identity and status can be testified to—even if a person has a little enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, they may not necessarily be able to testify to it clearly—God must testify to Himself to achieve the desired result. Can relying on humankind testifying to God achieve the intended result? (No.) Why not? (Man simply does not know God.) That’s right; it is because humankind does not know God—no one does. Therefore, God became flesh, became the Son of man, and began to appear and work, calling out to humankind so that everyone hears God’s utterances and words. The Holy Spirit then began to work, gathering people together, and then God began to speak to people and work among them. At first, a few individuals could not accept it; they had notions about the incarnate God and did not know or understand Him. However, the Holy Spirit does great work, and God Himself upholds His own work. Through these years of speaking and working, haven’t people come to recognize God’s identity and status to some extent? (Yes.)

Lots of people have believed in God for many years while still having no knowledge of Him—and while having many notions and imaginings, or adulterations of human will, regarding His identity and status, in particular—yet from God speaking and working, fulfilling His responsibility toward people, and expending Himself for them over all these years, one result can already be seen. Do you know what this result is? (I think this result is that people have been conquered by God’s words, and have had to acknowledge God’s essence.) It is correct that people have been conquered. Although people still have some ways to go before they are gained by God, they have already been conquered by Him. So what is the evidence that people have been conquered? At the very beginning, when God testified that this person is the incarnate God, many people had notions, felt resistant, and were unwilling to acknowledge or accept this fact. Now, however, you people—including those of you who initially did not want to acknowledge that this person is God, the incarnate God, at all—are able to sit down, full of patience and anticipation, and quietly and earnestly listen to Me fellowship. This alone is enough to prove that people have been conquered by God, right? (Yes.) Over ten years ago, in My gatherings and fellowships with you, after I had been speaking for about forty minutes, there were many people who could no longer sit still. Some would go to the restroom, some would drink water, some would whisper to each other, and some would yawn and stretch. Practically more than sixty percent of people would be all worked up. They could not understand what I was saying, could not grasp it, and could not take it in. Tell Me, was it not tiring for Me to fellowship with you? I saw that your stature was too small, and that you could not sit still to listen to sermons—weren’t you just like kindergarteners who could not take in what people said to them? So I had to be patient, and fellowship and guide you patiently. Later, as people listened more and understood some things, and started to become interested in the truth, gradually, there were fewer and fewer people whispering to each other, and fewer and fewer people yawning and stretching. During gatherings, most people could now listen to sermons with rapt attention; they could sit still and take them in, and grasp the basics of the way of life. There is also another good indicator: When I talk about some aspect of the truth principles, many people hurry to take notes. Upon hearing important and crucial words, they quickly jot them down so that they can ponder them afterward. This is wonderful! These people truly have comprehension ability; they have started to put effort into the truth and know to focus on reality. Whether it’s in My usual fellowship or when chatting with people, as long as the content involves the truth principles, people listen and take notes earnestly; this is a good indicator. As you can see, throughout this journey, step by step, people’s states have been getting better and better. In addition, as seen from the experiential testimony videos and films produced by God’s house, many people have had some genuine experiences from when they first started doing their duties up to now. So what has people’s greatest gain been? It is that they can view and experience all kinds of things based on the various truths I have fellowshipped over the years. They have all understood some truths and are able to resolve some problems; they have gained some comprehension and understanding of God’s intentions, they have come to submit to God, and there have been changes in their life dispositions. Aren’t these things what they’ve gained? (Yes.) In the past, when you first started listening to sermons, you could not sit still. Some people said it might be due to you being young. Actually, that is not the case; even people in their forties and fifties could not sit still, because they could not understand and it was beyond their reach. They felt that every word they heard was right, but as soon as they heard something that did not accord with their notions, they could not accept it inside, and then they would start slouching, swaying, or whispering to each other, without the slightest normal human likeness. So I had to speak with patience. I spoke for so many years, speaking bit by bit about all kinds of issues, enabling everyone to grasp the basics. Although many people do not have much experience regarding life entry now, and much of the time they have no life entry, at the very least, what is the feeling that they have? They have become interested in the truth and have an awareness of it, and they have developed some fondness for the truth in their hearts. They have some concept of the truth and positive things, some concept of how to conduct themselves, some concept of acting according to the truth principles, and some concept of attaining salvation. Therefore, they can sit still and take it in when listening to sermons. Having a concept of these things means that they have been conquered by these words and these truths. They have acknowledged that these words are the truth, acknowledged that there is a difference between positive and negative things, and acknowledged that all that God says and does is the truth, and is all for the sake of saving man. You see, for people to go from being unable to sit still, to being able to sit still and acknowledging that God’s words are the truth and that all God does is salvation—how many years did it take to make such a huge leap? How many words did I have to speak, and how much work did I have to do? Just in terms of the work I’ve done on man—exposing his corrupt essence, changing his thoughts and views, resolving his corrupt dispositions, helping him understand the truth and achieve submission to God, bringing him onto the right track of attaining salvation—how many words did I have to speak to achieve these results? Tell Me, could a human have done this work? Who among those with status could do this work? (No one could do it.) For one thing, man cannot do it. For another, even if some person were speaking and acting, and the words they spoke were all correct and others were interested in them, if the Holy Spirit did not work, could so many people listening to and preaching this person’s words achieve the results we have now? (It could not; it couldn’t move people’s hearts.) God’s words and God’s Spirit are working in tandem to do this work. The incarnate God speaks and works in coordination with God’s Spirit, while God’s Spirit simultaneously coordinates with the words expressed by the incarnate God to guide and enlighten people in their daily lives. The combination of these two aspects has achieved the results we now have, as well as the results that will be achieved in the future. Tell Me, is the status of this ordinary person—the incarnate God—merely a status? It is not. This status of His is not some kind of position. It is not a symbol of someone’s lofty image or power as humans might refer to it. What is it, then? (It is a symbol of God’s essence.) His status is a symbol that He possesses the truth, the way, and the life. Tell Me, when any corrupt human being with status does things, do they have the cooperation of God in heaven? (No.) Therefore, the status of the incarnate God is not status in a simple sense, but rather a symbol of God’s identity, essence, and life. What do I mean by saying this? That you should not treat the incarnate God as you would treat any person with status in the world. When you treat people with status in the world, you use philosophies for worldly dealings to associate with them. You have to bow and scrape to them, read between the lines and watch their expression, and say nice things to please them; you cannot speak honestly, you cannot show any strength, you cannot steal their thunder, and so on; otherwise they will suppress you or make you suffer. However, when you associate and interact with the incarnate God, what you should adhere to are the truth principles. If you associate and interact with Him according to the truth principles and can treat Him correctly, then even if you don’t take His status seriously, hold Him in high regard, revere Him, or look up to Him, and you don’t fawn over and flatter Him, He will still treat you correctly, right? (Yes.) You say “Yes,” but can you truly manage to treat the incarnate God according to the truth principles? (I feel like I can’t manage it yet; I can only strive toward it.) You must work hard to strive toward it. The most important point is that you must pursue the truth, and seek the truth principles in all things; then you will gradually be able to manage it. If you focus on the truth, you will feel that although the incarnate God possesses this special status, He is completely different from people with status among corrupt humankind. When you realize this, and you acknowledge that He is someone with divine essence and God’s identity, you will treat Him according to the truth principles. You will have love and respect for Him in your heart, and you will treat Him openly and honestly. At the same time, you will also be obedient and submissive from the position of a created being; you will wish to be like this, and you will have such manifestations. If you do not realize this, you will always ponder, “Look at how much style people with status in society have; wherever they go, they are thronged by people. They are educated and speak in a refined manner. Their appearance, style of dress, and grooming give them an air of class, and their expressions and the way they walk are graceful. One look and you can tell they’re not ordinary people. And look at the setup they have: They have personal assistants to help them with life and work, teams of personal chefs for their dining needs, teams of personal secretaries to write articles for them, and teams of advisors and think tanks to discuss major matters with. They have personal chauffeurs for when they go out, and personal pilots for when they need to fly, and they stay in star-rated hotels wherever they go. These are all first-class arrangements. Since God has status, why doesn’t He receive such treatment? If He received such treatment, wouldn’t we followers also gain prestige? Having a red carpet rolled out for Him in whichever country He goes to, and having many people line up to welcome Him in whichever place He visits—how prestigious that would be!” When you gain knowledge of God, you will no longer have these demands or these thoughts.

Although the incarnate God lives among corrupt humankind, He is not a member of corrupt humankind, so He does not have the needs that corrupt humans have regarding things like so-called standing and status. Why does He not have the needs that corrupt humans have? Because He does not share the same viewpoints as corrupt humans regarding status and one’s so-called “worth.” He has not undergone processing or been corrupted like corrupt humans have, and He does not share the same thoughts and views as corrupt humans regarding hierarchy and the enjoyment of status. So, for Me personally, I do not have these things in My heart when it comes to status and one’s worth. All there is in My heart is simply a fondness for being together with people like a family, talking about matters of life and work, and talking about people’s various difficulties. I do not like putting on any grand displays, and even less do I like so-called elegance. I have told you many times, and this is something you may have remembered: In My own life, I do not have any personal maids, personal assistants, or personal secretaries. I have none of these. Look at those high-ranking figures in society; they have people who just do their laundry, people who just cook meals and bake pastries for them, and personal chauffeurs. They do not need to take care of anything in their lives; there are people who specially manage things for them. The higher-ranking someone is, the more extensive their setup is. Even an ordinary mayor or provincial governor has an official mayoral or gubernatorial residence, not to mention those even higher up. Does the incarnate God have an official residence? (No.) Then have I asked the church to provide Me with one? (No.) I have not asked the church to provide Me with an official residence, nor have I asked for an entourage or guards to be assigned to Me, much less have I made any other demands. The only thing is that the people in the proofreading team smooth out the wording of My sermons and fellowship, compile them into text, and distribute them. They can be considered specialist staff in the work, but they are doing their duty; they are not doing things for Me personally. This is the work of the church. So, have I ever troubled you with My personal matters? (No.) Doing laundry for Me, cooking for Me, cleaning My room, personal travel—have I ever troubled you with these things? Have I ever asked the church to provide Me with personal maids or personal assistants? I have never made such demands. Tell Me, does not having such things vex Me? Does it make Me sad? Should I reproach you and tell you that you’re devoid of conscience? I have never reproached you over such matters, much less have I made any demands of you. I take care of My own food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Usually I dress in casual wear, and during gatherings I wear a formal suit; it’s as simple as can be. I rarely take My clothes to be dry-cleaned; they’re basically all washed by hand or by machine. When I keep a dog, it’s not some luxury breed. Most people follow and imitate what renowned figures and people with status in the world eat, wear, and use. Do you find Me to be the same as them? When some people see the breed of dog a celebrity owns, they want to get the same one. Nonbelievers all have this viewpoint; even in owning a dog, they pursue trends and have to get a luxury breed, the kind of dog that celebrities have owned. The dog I keep is just an ordinary dog. As long as the dog has a good personality, is affectionate and loyal, obedient, understands things, gets along with people, and does not indulge in comfort, that is fine. Some people say, “Wouldn’t it be so easy for You to keep a luxury breed?” It would be very easy, but I wouldn’t like that. I never inquire about what famous people wear or use, nor do I put effort into looking it up. I am not like some people who, once they have status, think, “I am a renowned figure too now. I have to copy whatever renowned figures eat, wear, use, and whatever cars they ride in when they go out. I cannot fall behind.” I have never put effort into these things. I do not know whether I am a renowned figure, nor do I care. In any case, in whatever I do—with all aspects, such as My daily life and work expenses—I have My own principles, My own needs, My own range of choices, and My own standard. This standard is simply to be very ordinary and very simple; just being average is fine. As long as My dress, grooming, and food, accommodation, and transportation are such that people grant Me respect when they see them, and at the very least I look like a dignified and upright person, that is enough; it’s as simple as that. As for whether people will hold Me in high regard, and what status I will hold in their hearts, after they see the way I dress, style Myself, and look, none of this matters to Me. Do you think I have any excessive demands regarding status? (No.) This is something that you cannot conceive and that you cannot see through. In short, I only require that you manage to believe what I’m telling you. This in itself is very difficult for you. You know for yourself what’s in your own head and what you’re thinking. To be able to believe these words I have spoken, accept them as the truth, and accept them as fact, is very difficult for you. On what foundation must this be built? It must be built on the foundation of trust, right? (Yes.) These are My thoughts and views toward status, and these are My corresponding manifestations. Although I don’t have the usual trappings of status that are vaunted in man’s eyes or that man demands, this does not affect the work I do at all, nor does it affect Me in fulfilling My responsibility toward you. I would never glamorize Myself to get you to hold Me in high regard for the sake of status. As it turns out, you have been listening to sermons up to now and are still doing quite well, and judging by your current manifestations, you are all developing in a positive direction. Therefore, pursuing status, image, and the trappings of status is useless. Only the truth can conquer man, and only the truth can change man. God’s words can change mankind and can also create everything. In one respect, this is the result achieved by the power of God’s words and the authority of God’s words. In another respect, it is also the result achieved by the work of God’s Spirit. Man has nothing worth boasting about; it is that God’s words are good, the truth is good, and God’s work and the work God’s Spirit has done on man are just too good. With God doing work in this way and achieving this result in man, can you then see that the phrase “God’s words are salvation to man” is true? (Yes.) God is faithful, God’s words never fall short, and God is also almighty—no matter how insignificant the incarnate God appears to be, or how little strength He appears to have, it does not matter; none of this can affect His expressing the truth, nor can it affect the results His words achieve in man. Even though the incarnate God may outwardly seem very insignificant, may appear to be normal and practical, and may be looked down upon by man—and man may even develop notions and hostility toward Him at any time—because He possesses God’s essence and God’s life, the truth He expresses is fully capable of conquering man. Ultimately, He is also able to bring man before God, and rid him of his corrupt dispositions so he can be gained by God, accomplishing God’s six-thousand-year management plan and bringing this plan to a close. Therefore, the status, image, and other such things involving the incarnate God are not important. What is important? (That the incarnate God has God’s essence; that He is the truth, the way, and the life, and He can express God’s words.) What is important is that this incarnate God not only has God’s status, but He also possesses God’s identity and essence. He can express God’s words, and His words are able to conquer man, save man, and perfect man, allowing him to be completely gained by God. This is what is most important.

Does fellowshipping on these topics concerning God incarnate help man know God? (Yes.) No matter what topic I fellowship with you on, including the various topics concerning God incarnate, it’s never to make you look up to and revere Me, and then force you to accept God’s sovereignty and accept God’s control, constraining you so that you do what God says. You must understand My attitude toward you. Whenever I provide you with some aspect of the truth, I fellowship clearly on it so that you can understand it, and then ponder and experience it for yourselves. Those who have the willingness to accept the truth and who love positive things will try to accept little by little these views and statements that I fellowship, and then practice according to these words to resolve the difficulties and problems in their own lives. If someone is not willing to accept the truth and accept positive things, and merely feels in their heart that these words are good while never actually practicing them—instead just storing them in their brain as a kind of theory and leaving it at that—we do not condemn such people. What is the reason we don’t condemn them? For one thing, people have the right to choose what path to walk. For another, it may be that some people are truly young right now, with a small stature and a shallow foundation. They have to undergo great refinement and tribulation, and undergo some major hardships in life, before they can reflect on positive things and on human life. For some other people, it might not be because they are young, but because they haven’t experienced enough things and have not yet awakened. They have no concept whatsoever of positive things and negative things, or of pursuing the truth to attain salvation. In other words, their minds have not been opened yet, and they do not know the purpose and significance of believing in God. They just think that believing in God is a form of religious ceremony, that believing in God is good, that believing in God just means being a good person and not doing bad things, and that it also allows them to have a good destination and a good outcome—that’s how simple they think it is. Thus, they have no concept of pursuing the truth or of positive things and negative things. Perhaps a portion of these people will step up after experiencing some special matters, and they will be able to accept the truth and accept positive things, and truly turn themselves around. Meanwhile, there is another portion of people who have never experienced any major hardships, or who remain particularly intransigent even after experiencing them; they never truly turn themselves around, they remain unable to accept the truth and accept positive things, and they still like to follow their own will and do whatever they please in how they act, only satisfying their own desires. Consequently, this group of people will ultimately fail to step up and will not gain the truth. Regardless of what people experience during their time believing in God, those who can accept the truth will ultimately be able to attain salvation. Those who cannot accept the truth will ultimately never truly repent, and never truly accept or submit to the truth. Such people believe in vain, and ultimately they will not be able to attain salvation. It may be that they perform good deeds while doing their duties during this period; in that case, they will at best just be able to survive in the end. As for Me, My attitude toward you is that I will do My best to fellowship with you on various aspects of the truth, including the truth concerning God incarnate, from multiple angles and perspectives. The truth involving how to approach status, which we just talked about, is meant to help you understand how you should approach status and to help you establish the correct thoughts and views on status. My thoughts and views regarding status, as well as My lifestyle, arise because of My special identity. Then are My thoughts and views on status, which are a result of My special identity, the truth? Are they positive things? Are they what corrupt humans must possess to attain salvation? Are they what created beings should possess? (Yes.) Since what I’ve covered are truths and positive things, then no matter the identity with which I approach this status, and no matter what My attitude is, you should accept these words as the truth. These are My thoughts and views, but they are the truth, so you should accept them, absorb them, and approach status according to the correct viewpoints. My aim in talking about these topics and fellowshipping this content with you is to let you understand an aspect of the truth. I don’t talk about these things as a way of justifying or defending Myself, much less do I do so to let you know that I am different from the rest or that I am an extraordinary person. If you merely realize that the incarnate God has no corruption, that the incarnate God is not an ordinary member of humankind, and that He is a special person, then this is not entirely the truth I want you to understand. Regardless of what content I fellowship on, and regardless of what specific examples are involved, ultimately it all comes down to helping you understand the truth. Everything I provide to you and fellowship with you involves views on how to approach all kinds of things. My requirement for you is that you be able to understand and accept correct thoughts and views, and recognize and forsake those incorrect thoughts and views. That is, you must be able to discern positive things as well as negative things, accept positive things, and let go of negative things. Judging from the topics regarding how to approach status that I have fellowshipped on, would you say that My thoughts, views, principles, and methods concerning status are positive things? Do they accord with the truth? Are they truth principles that you should abide by? (Yes.) If you have understood Me, then I have not spoken these words in vain. What are the thoughts and views of nonbelievers regarding status? Are there any aspects of them that accord with the truth or with humanity? What is the essence of their thoughts and views regarding status? Is it despicable and wicked? (Yes.) Their thoughts and views are all selfish, despicable, and wicked; they are corrupting and devastating for everyone. Regardless of whether you have status among people or not, if what you accept are these fallacious thoughts and views, then even if you have status, you are one of the victims of these thoughts and views; even if you are someone with vested interests, you are one of their victims; even if you belong to the ruling class, you are one of their victims. What does it mean to be a victim of these thoughts and views? It means that you’re also someone who’s been corrupted and devastated by such thoughts and views, and by such evil trends. Because what you accept are fallacious and wicked thoughts and views, and because you not only accept them but also apply them, you are one of their victims. Then how can one emerge from this corruption and devastation, and avoid being further harmed by it? There is only one way, and that is to accept correct thoughts and views. What correct thoughts and views? Thoughts and views on how to approach status correctly: not being controlled or bound by status, not using status to seek personal gain, not using status to devastate and corrupt others or exploit others—not forcing others to do anything. When you have status, in everything you do, you are able to seek the truth principles, let go of your personal interests, and even rebel against and reject the conveniences and favorable conditions that status brings you. Rather than enjoying the benefits of status, you are able to fulfill your responsibilities, fulfilling the responsibilities that you ought to according to the status you hold. Although the content of these few sentences is not much, putting them into practice is no easy task for corrupt humans. When you don’t have status, you feel that “not enjoying the benefits of status” is just a matter of doing what’s said, and is easy to achieve. But when you possess status, “not enjoying the benefits of status” is no longer just a matter of following a prescription. It requires you to give things up, it requires you to rebel, it requires you to let go of things, and it requires you to practice according to the correct principles of practice, treating everyone justly and treating every matter justly and objectively. When you need to put this saying into practice, that involves your interests. When you don’t have status, you say, “I don’t enjoy the benefits of status; I’m unwilling to enjoy the benefits of status.” Anyone can say these words. But when you are in a position to enjoy the benefits of status, letting go of them and only seeking to do your duty well to repay God’s love is not so simple anymore, right? (Yes.) This comes down to whether you love the truth and whether you can rebel against the flesh.

What we fellowshipped just now concerned the topic of how the incarnate God treats status. Now that we have finished fellowshipping on how one should view status, let’s fellowship on how one should view suffering. This is a topic people often talk about with one another. How one views suffering involves their thoughts and views, as well as their principles of practice. How do people view suffering? Suffering is something that people frequently encounter and experience in their lives or in the course of believing in God, and it is also a topic they often discuss. Most people associate suffering with their personal capital, their standing, and their status, as well as their future destination. Therefore, most people have certain thoughts when they suffer, and attach great importance to it. In particular, what hardships one has suffered; what kind of suffering one has undergone; how long one has suffered; how many other people know about one’s suffering, how many other people have seen it, and how many other people recognize it—these are all topics that concern people greatly. In addition, how one can use suffering to gain status in other people’s hearts, how one can use it to gain the things one wants, such as benefits, prestige, status, the high regard of others, and personal glory, and even how to gain the fondness, recognition, acceptance, and remembrance of God’s house or of God through suffering—these are also things people focus on in their hearts. Therefore, the issue of suffering carries more weight in people’s hearts than practicing the truth does. So, how exactly should one view suffering in a way that is correct and in accordance with the truth principles? How do I view suffering? Over the years, when I have fellowshipped with you—and during My day-to-day interactions with you—have I ever talked about what hardships I have suffered, how long I have suffered, what the purpose and significance of My suffering were, or what My feelings were after suffering? To your recollection, have I ever talked about these topics? Is there any record of this in written text, or in the audio recordings of sermons, or in the words you have heard? (No, not to our recollection.) In the past, I heard it being circulated among you that one year during the Chinese New Year, I had nowhere to go and was without a home to return to, that the brothers and sisters did not host Me, and that later I wandered the streets; it was said that I had endured this suffering. Did this actually happen? (God said in a previous sermon that You never experienced this. This was a story circulated by people.) I Myself didn’t even know about this. How could I know about something I never experienced? What I did was clarify this matter, right? This situation simply never happened. So as far as you can remember, I basically don’t talk about suffering, right? (Yes.) Regarding the issue of suffering, most people believe that suffering is a very good form of practice for gaining personal capital, earning the high regard of others, and getting them to have a favorable impression of oneself; they believe it’s the most basic practice involved in believing in God. Regardless of how people view it, listen now to what My thoughts and views on the issue of suffering are.

There are several kinds of suffering. The most common kind of suffering is people enduring some suffering to safeguard their own status, to maintain their prestige among others, and to gain good prospects and a good destination. This includes staying up late and getting up early in the performance of one’s duties, and not eating good food or dressing nicely. There are also some people who forsake their families and careers to preach the gospel and do their duties. Not only does the government arrest and persecute them, but their families also do not understand them and even persecute them and hinder them. Some spouses even threaten divorce, and there’s also the idle gossip, slander, and rumormongering of their relatives. They have endured a great deal of suffering. However, in order to gain good prospects and a good destination, and to preserve their status and prestige, no matter how much they suffer or how great their suffering is, the people who suffer in this way continue to do the work as always, never giving up. In short, people like this suffer for the sake of their status and prestige, and for the sake of their prospects and destination. They rush about away from home for long periods of time, getting the cold shoulder from others, and being ostracized and misunderstood by others, enduring much suffering that ordinary people do not endure. Tell Me, is there any value in suffering for the sake of one’s status and prestige or for the sake of one’s prospects and destination? (No.) Does God remember this? (No.) Their sole purpose in suffering is to make the leaders and workers, as well as the brothers and sisters, hold them in high regard and admire them, so that the brothers and sisters will continue to elect them as leaders in the next election. They treat suffering as the goal of their pursuit. To preserve their status, they can endure any kind of suffering. They give up their worldly prospects and careers, and even leave their superior living environments, enduring a great deal of suffering. After people of this type endure this suffering, they flaunt everywhere, often fellowshipping about how they suffered during gatherings or when pruning others. Their purpose in doing so is very simple: It is just to safeguard their own pride and safeguard their own status and vanity. Thus, the suffering they endure is of no value. They do not come to know themselves through this suffering, much less do they become able to practice the truth. This kind of suffering is not even worth bringing up. Some people just suffer for the sake of their status and reputation, and for their prospects and destination. They can put up with all manner of toil to safeguard their status and reputation, and can endure any kind of suffering in order to gain blessings. However, they never step forward to do a bit of work or say a single word to safeguard the work of God’s house, safeguard the interests of God’s house, or safeguard the interests of the brothers and sisters. Even if doing so would require no suffering or would take only a single sentence, they cannot do it. Therefore, all the suffering endured by people of this type is in vain, and God does not approve of it. People of this type are purely hypocritical Pharisees; they are people who mislead others and are spurned by God. For the sake of their status, they can rise early and stay up late to do their duties, and can endure suffering and fatigue. They can work long hours without stopping, or even take no days off all year round. They rush about busily just for their own status, and everything they say is to safeguard their own status, pride, and reputation. When someone does something that truly goes against the work arrangements of God’s house, they never criticize them, much less stop them. So, their suffering is purely for the sake of their own reputation and status, and for their personal interests. Not only is it not remembered by God, but it is also condemned. In particular, they use suffering as personal capital with which to frequently lecture others and try to bargain with God, hoping that God will see their suffering and give them a good evaluation. They also frequently test God to see if He is satisfied with their suffering and whether they can gain blessings for the suffering they’ve endured. Therefore, based on the nature of such people’s suffering, not only is it not remembered, but it is even condemned; and not only is it not a kind of good deed, but it is a kind of evil deed. People of this type frequently boast about how far they have traveled and how much they have suffered for the sake of doing church work and their duties, as well as the severe illnesses they come down with and how much medicine they have to take. When they take medicine, they often do it in front of the brothers and sisters so that they see them taking it. They devise ways to let more people know how much work they have done, how much they have suffered, and how much of a price they have paid, and that they take medicine only after making themselves sick from overwork. They do this so that people will hold them in high regard, admire them, and worship them. Aren’t people of this type disgusting? (Yes.) So, the suffering of people like this is not worth a penny; it’s nauseating. It’s even the case that a large portion of people of this type cannot do any real work. They just do work for appearances’ sake to create a facade for others to see. They don’t say a single word or do a single thing that might offend anyone. When it comes to matters involving safeguarding the church’s work, they don’t utter a peep or do the slightest bit of work. When they encounter someone causing disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work, they do not treat that person according to principles, but rather act based on feelings. If they see someone they dislike causing disruptions and disturbances to the work, they will speak up a bit and do a little something, availing themselves of the opportunity to show off and accumulate personal capital, and when the time comes they’ll try to claim credit and get rewarded. But if the one causing disruptions and disturbances to the work is someone they like or someone who supports them, not only do they not expose or stop them, but they also accommodate, shield, and cover up for them, using the nice-sounding excuse that “Their stature is small, so we must exercise patience and support them.” In actuality, it is for the sake of safeguarding their own status that they try not to offend anyone. Even so, they still want to make use of their suffering to get people to hold them in high regard and make use of their suffering to safeguard their own status. Some people usually pretend to be very busy. When eating, they purposefully soak a little rice or steamed bun in plain boiled water and have some pickled vegetables with it, and go to a gathering right after they finish eating, making the brothers and sisters see that they can really endure hardship. They always wear the same piece of clothing, not washing it even when it’s dirty, and they tell other people, “Look, I’m so busy I don’t even have time to eat or do my laundry!” Some people chat idly with others and waste time while doing their duties, and yet pretend that they’re having a gathering and fellowshipping with them. It looks as though they’re busy doing their duties from morning until night, and they even sleep slumped over the computer at night when they should be resting. They do this so that people see how much they suffer and how much of a price they pay in doing their duties. They frequently have disheveled hair and dirty faces, and they even go for long periods without changing or washing their clothes or taking a shower, just to let people know how much they suffer and how much they can pay a price. Tell Me, what value is there in enduring this suffering? Isn’t it all just a facade? (Yes.) Some of the work in God’s house is a bit busy, but not to the point of leaving people with disheveled hair, dirty faces, and no human likeness, right? Some churches have relatively poor living conditions, but not to the point that the people there only eat steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day, no? Perhaps this is the case in a few specific places, but it’s not possible that most places are like this. No matter how hectic the work of God’s house gets, at the very least, you must maintain eight hours of restful sleep—it’s not the case that you can’t even get eight hours of sleep, right? This is excluding the occasional special circumstance that might persist for a day or two. In mainland China, some of God’s chosen people go on the run to avoid arrest and persecution by Satan’s regime. Sometimes they sleep and rest in caves, haystacks, and stables. These are special circumstances. After coming overseas, if people deliberately create some “environments of suffering” and deliberately “train” in how to suffer, aren’t they basically ascetic monks? Why would we call them that? Because all they’re doing is just deliberately enduring some suffering, abiding by some regulations, and disciplining their bodies, after which they feel that they have changed. They then boast in front of others about how much they have suffered, hoping to move both Heaven and the common people, and thus seek prestige and benefits for themselves, and obtain the good destination they want. This path is unfeasible. When God determines someone’s outcome, He never looks at how much they’ve suffered or whether they have toiled and made great contributions, nor does He ever look at their age. What does God base His determination of people’s outcomes on? He bases it on whether or not people have the truth. If you only focus on suffering but have not gained the truth, then no matter how much you’ve suffered, it has been in vain. If you suffer without principles, and you also create hardships for yourself and deliberately suffer, then you are just destined to suffer. Your suffering is not worthy of pity; you brought it upon yourself. God has not asked man to suffer. God judges and chastises man, and tries and refines man, not to make him suffer, but to save him from his corrupt dispositions. Much of the suffering man endures is caused by his corrupt dispositions; it has never been God’s intention to make man suffer.

God created the heavens and earth and all things for mankind—the sun, moon, and stars, sunlight, air, soil, water, the four seasons, as well as all kinds of material things necessary for mankind’s life and survival. There are things to eat, drink, use, and look at; all kinds of living things across the four seasons are in full supply, aren’t they? (Yes.) There are grains, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, things growing on trees and in the ground; all sorts of different material things are highly abundant, with a full supply of every flavor and color. God means for man to enjoy the provision that comes from Him; the provision man receives from God is rich and abundant, and man is nourished by it. As you can see, what created beings receive from the Creator is rich and abundant, endless and inexhaustible. God is perfectly willing to let man enjoy all of this, and created beings should rightfully enjoy all of this provided by the Creator. What created beings enjoy from God is blessings, not suffering. God’s original intention in creating mankind was not to make man suffer, but to have man enjoy the provision that comes from God while he experiences the journey of life. The various kinds of living creatures and living things created by God are in full supply; nothing is lacking. This includes things to hear—look at how God has even thought of the chirping of birds and the singing of crickets for man. That is, God has thought of everything that brings contentment, comfort, and tranquility to man’s inner world. What God has prepared for created beings is in full supply. When created beings enjoy everything God has bestowed, they are enjoying blessings. Those people who are like ascetic monks believe that God just wants to make man suffer, that He just does not want man to enjoy blessings, that even if the conditions allow for it, He does not let man enjoy them, but just makes man suffer. They believe that God is happy, satisfied, and has achieved His goal when man faces extreme suffering and fatigue. Tell Me, don’t people of this type harbor bad intentions? Isn’t this a twisted interpretation of God’s intentions? (Yes.) Where did this idea come from? It came from Satan, didn’t it? (Yes.) God created all things, but Satan does not acknowledge this. It does not know how to manage or maintain them, and it does not want all these living things to continue existing. It thus ruins and destroys them so that man cannot enjoy all that God has created. It misleads and corrupts man in order to make man have a good impression of it, and make man worship it and hold it in high regard. Satan does its own thing and opposes God in everything. God allows mankind to enjoy all of this, whereas Satan deprives mankind of the right to enjoy it, does not let mankind enjoy it, and just makes man suffer. God lets mankind manage all things and enjoy all things, whereas Satan ruins all things. It ignores the existence of all things, despises the existence of all things, condemns the existence of all things, and deliberately makes man seek out suffering. Look at the laws God has ordained for man: When the sun sets and it gets dark at night, one should rest one’s body. The fatigue from a day’s labor is relieved through rest. After resting for a night, one’s physical strength is restored, and one is full of energy. The next day, when the sun rises, one feels refreshed and begins another day’s labor. This is such a wonderful law! Some people do not abide by this law. They only start working when it gets dark at night, and stay up until four or five in the morning before going to sleep, wanting to turn the schedule of work and rest upside down. God says that when the sun sets and the moon rises, man should stop his labor for the day and gradually wind down and begin to rest; he should work or rest according to the laws that govern the movement of the sun, moon, and stars, and should not go against this law. These people who “suffer” insist on doing the exact opposite. When they should be resting, they do not sleep; they deliberately stay up late, and even get especially excited. When others are sleeping the soundest is when they are the busiest, when they are suffering and tiring themselves out. Then, when it’s time to work during the day, do they still have energy? Can their energy still sustain a day’s work? (No.) They have no choice but to sleep for an hour or two before getting up to continue working. In the morning, when others are eating, they are sleeping. During the day, when others are working normally, they are dozing off and groggy. But at night, when others are resting, they perk up and start working and getting busy. Isn’t this turning the schedule of work and rest upside down? Isn’t this abnormal? (Yes.) And yet they feel quite pleased with themselves, thinking that no one else can endure as much suffering as they can, that other people are all just average Joes. At midnight, when others are about to rest, they even say, “You’re resting this early?” The other person says, “It’s midnight; that’s already very late. Besides, I don’t have any energy left; the efficiency of my work will suffer, and I won’t get good results. When it’s time to rest, we have to rest.” They say, “Going to sleep at midnight is too early! I start working at midnight and don’t go to sleep until four or five in the morning.” There’s something wrong with their heads, isn’t there? Not only do they torment themselves, but they also constrain others. When others rest at midnight, they even judge them, saying, “You indulge in fleshly comfort and don’t have the resolve to suffer. Since God has given you such an important commission, you must work late into the night and suffer; you must stay up until at least two in the morning before going to sleep. Only this is being devoted to your duty.” If someone stays up until two in the morning before going to sleep, will they still have the energy to do their duties during the day? (No.) According to the natural laws that govern the human body, if someone goes to sleep at two in the morning, they won’t be able to get up until seven or eight in the morning. After they get up, they’ll be physically exhausted, mentally groggy, their legs will be swollen, and they’ll feel uncomfortable all over. Even if they take a nap in the afternoon, their body still won’t recover, because they went against the laws ordained for man by God, right? (Yes.) They not only suffer like this themselves, but they also demand that others suffer just like them. If others do not do things their way, they come up with a theoretical basis to condemn them. Muddleheaded people who are of small stature and don’t have discernment are thus constrained; they follow suit, forcing themselves to stay awake bit by bit, gradually getting to the point where they rest after two o’clock. They even think, “Having the resolve to suffer is truly not easy. We must learn to endure, learn to rely on sheer perseverance, learn to rebel against the flesh, and learn to go against the natural laws. If we really are unbearably sleepy, we should practically torture ourselves to prevent our flesh from sleeping. Only this is being devoted to God’s commission and having the resolve to suffer, and only people who do this can attain salvation!” Look, isn’t this drive of theirs pretty much the same as that of the monks and nuns in temples? (Yes.) Just like ascetic monks, they only know how to endure suffering; understanding the truth, practicing the truth, and attaining salvation are completely absent from their hearts. Can such people attain salvation, then? Are they not ruined? (Yes.) How does this come about? It’s the result of being brainwashed by erroneous thoughts and views, of being influenced and devastated by erroneous thoughts and views. All of this is caused by people not understanding the truth; it is caused by them being deeply harmed by erroneous thoughts and views and being unable to practice according to the truth principles. So, is it ultimately other people who are misleading and corrupting you, or is it Satan that is misleading and corrupting you? In short, the erroneous thoughts and views that man accepts come from Satan, not from God; they are negative things, not the truth. Outwardly, it seems you have accepted certain thoughts and views from other people. In fact, however, these thoughts and views do not come from God, but from Satan. Outwardly, it looks like other people are speaking to you, but in fact, it is Satan instilling these viewpoints in you. Are the viewpoints instilled in man by Satan not also propagated through man? If you do not understand the truth and can’t uphold the truth principles, you will ultimately be misled. Once misled, you will be just like ascetic monks, only knowing how to suffer and abide by regulations every day, while still thinking that you are practicing the truth. In the end, you will be punished and die without having gained anything. Does enduring this kind of suffering seem worth it to you? (No.) Where does enduring such suffering ultimately lead people? (To hell.) They wind up in hell, where they report to Satan. Did God want them? (No.) Such people endured so much suffering and believed themselves to be so devoted to God, so how did they end up reporting to Satan in the end? Why didn’t God want them? Is this a pity? (No, it’s not.) In believing in God, if people only focus on abiding by regulations and suffering, only pursue gaining blessings but do not pursue the truth, cannot submit to God, still live by satanic dispositions, and are still of Satan, then no matter how much such people suffer, it will be impossible for them to attain salvation. This is all determined by the path people themselves walk.

When some people see someone with a great resolve to endure suffering—regardless of whether the suffering that person endures is meaningful—they especially yearn to become a person who can endure suffering. In particular, they yearn to become the kind of person who can discipline their body, rebel against their own flesh, and rebel against the extravagant desires of the flesh; they have a special admiration for those who are capable of suffering. The kind of person they yearn to become seems to be someone who is detached from worldly life and lives in a vacuum, with no human ambitions or desires, nor any personal hobbies, interests, or even personal choices—someone who has none of these things at all and is free of desires and wants. They particularly admire people of this type in their hearts, saying, “How come they don’t have selfish motives? How come they don’t have any personal preferences or desires, and are so capable of suffering? Why can’t I suffer? I am too deeply corrupted! I can only say that my corruption is deeper than theirs.” Once they have such thoughts and views, they launch an offensive against themselves: When they are hungry and want to eat, they restrain themselves and do not eat; when they are thirsty and want to drink water, they control themselves and do not drink; when it is time to sleep, they deliberately do not sleep; whatever they want to do, they deliberately do not do, and whatever they do not want to do, they deliberately do—they just do the exact opposite. They pay no attention at all to what is needed, what should be done, what responsibilities and obligations should be fulfilled, and what rules and principles of life should be observed in terms of normal humanity, and instead intentionally go against these things. Some even go so far as to deliberately act in violation of the rules and deliberately seek out suffering. For example, when it is time to rest at night, they force themselves to endure their fatigue and not sleep. If they like sweet food, they eat only spicy or bitter foods. When working, they specifically choose the tasks they do not like. They just train themselves to overcome difficulties and train themselves to be able to suffer, rejecting and rebelling against everything they need and like, and accepting everything they dislike and do not need. They feel that acting in this way is practicing the truth, and that God will definitely really like and accept it; they think that the greater the suffering they endure and the more discomfort and pain they feel, the more God will feel glad and accept it. Tell Me, what kind of thoughts and views are these? Isn’t this extreme? (Yes.) There are even some people who, in order to suffer and discipline their bodies, sit in front of the computer all the time, whether they have things to do or not, and also set themselves a rule that they must work for twelve hours every day, regardless of whether this gets results or whether they’re efficient. They do not rest even when their minds become foggy, and do not go to see a doctor even when they get sick. They believe that this is rebelling against the flesh, thinking, “I cannot let this old flesh get its way; the flesh must not feel comfortable. If it feels comfortable, it will do bad things, so I must make it suffer. Once it suffers, it will know how difficult it is for God to work, and once it suffers, it will be able to become quiet before God.” What kind of logic is this? Judging from their drive, they seem to have a bit of resolve and to be willing to practice the truth, but isn’t their method and approach a bit skewed, a bit extreme? (Yes.) They believe that suffering represents practicing the truth, that suffering represents doing their duty with devotion, and that suffering represents doing their duty efficiently. They think suffering is the highest truth principle and the most accurate form of practice, and that this is pursuing the truth. This way of comprehending things is extremely problematic! They believe that whether someone can suffer and how much they suffer is the standard God uses to judge what outcome they will ultimately have; they believe this is the truth. Is this viewpoint of theirs correct? (No.) Then why do they still persist in it? (Because they are influenced by Satan’s erroneous thoughts and views.) This is one aspect of the matter; it also has to do with people’s comprehension and their notions. They just sustain themselves on illusions, living amid their notions and imaginings, thinking that suffering can be exchanged for a good outcome and destination. They never seek the truth in this matter—they never seek to understand how God views suffering, what standards God requires of man, or what significance there is in God having man suffer. They also never reflect, and think to themselves, “Is the kind of suffering I’m undergoing in accordance with the truth principles? Is such suffering God’s requirement for man? Can it achieve the effect God intends to achieve through His work on man? By enduring this suffering, can man achieve an understanding of the truth and an understanding of God’s intentions? If not, then it proves this path is wrong, and I should turn back.” People of this type suffer because their thoughts and views are problematic. They have many human notions and imaginings about suffering. This also has to do with people’s ambitions and pursuits. Some people want to exchange their suffering for a good destination; some want to use suffering to boast about themselves and get others to hold them in high regard; and some want to use suffering to prove they have disciplined their bodies and possess the truth reality, aiming to replace the practice of the truth with the act of suffering. Some people are like this because their intentions and ambitions are problematic, and for others it’s because their comprehension is problematic. Regardless of where the problem lies, if you have not achieved an understanding of the truth, then the suffering you endure has no value. In another respect, if the suffering you endure is self-inflicted, then it simply has no significance. This is not suffering that’s been set up for you by God, nor is it suffering that you, as a normal person, must endure for the sake of pursuing the truth. Therefore, the suffering you endure has no significance whatsoever. Suffering for the sake of your destination or for the sake of status is not proper. It is futile and entirely devoid of significance; God does not approve of it, and He does not remember it. Then what should you suffer for in order for your suffering to be meaningful? Suffering for the sake of practicing the truth, suffering for the sake of changing your disposition, and suffering for the sake of attaining salvation is meaningful—this is the suffering you must endure. If you suffer in order to safeguard your status and satisfy human notions and imaginings, then the suffering you endure has no significance whatsoever; it is superfluous. What does “superfluous” mean? It means it’s entirely unnecessary. You have gone astray, and the path you walk is wrong. No matter how much you suffer or how great a price you pay, God simply does not remember it, and God does not approve of it. Because your suffering has nothing to do with practicing the truth, has nothing to do with attaining salvation, and has nothing to do with submitting to God, God simply pays no attention to it. Do you understand? (Yes.) This is the most worthless and meaningless kind of suffering.

There is also another kind of suffering, which is caused by man having corrupt dispositions. Man’s life, his pursuit, and the path he walks are all governed by his corrupt dispositions. Since man has corrupt dispositions, he inevitably has rebelliousness and resistance; since man has corrupt dispositions, he is still living under Satan’s power. If man wants to cast off his corrupt dispositions and attain salvation, he needs to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, and he must experience much pruning and disciplining, as well as the various trials and refinement set up by God. Some people even have to experience some great tribulations. All of this is to enable man to gain the truth, cast off his satanic dispositions, and ultimately attain salvation; this is the necessary process for anyone to attain salvation. To cast off their corrupt dispositions and attain salvation, every corrupt human being must endure a great deal of suffering. In one respect, when they reveal corrupt dispositions while doing their duties, they must accept judgment and chastisement, accept pruning, and accept trials and refinement; this is suffering that must be endured. In another respect, in order to do their duties well, people must overcome certain personal defects and the inadequacies of their own conditions, and they need to acquire some professional knowledge. This also requires people to suffer and pay a price. Especially when people do duties in dangerous environments with poor living conditions, they also have to endure some suffering. Additionally, when people live within satanic dispositions while doing their duties, they act according to their own will, and even do things that cause disruptions and disturbances, so they need to reflect on themselves every day and accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. They also have to endure the suffering of being chastened, disciplined, and refined, or the suffering of being revealed, dismissed, and eliminated. All this suffering is what people must endure. If you do not endure this suffering, it will be very difficult for you to ultimately cast off your corrupt dispositions and attain salvation. Whether it’s being exposed and judged by God’s words, being pruned by the brothers and sisters, or facing the environments God sets up to try people and refine them, these are all kinds of suffering that people must endure. They are processes that every corrupt human being must experience in order to attain salvation, and they are all meaningful and valuable. The purpose of enduring these kinds of suffering is so that you can ultimately attain salvation and be gained by God. This simply is not some kind of personal capital, because you are not enduring this suffering for the sake of other people. You do your duty for yourself, you practice the truth for yourself, and you expend yourself for God and endure all kinds of suffering for your own sake. In addition, your practicing the truth to resolve your corrupt dispositions, rebelling against your ambitions and desires, letting go of your various preferences and demands, and so on—all of this is so that you can ultimately attain salvation, achieve submission to God, and become a person who worships God. You endure this suffering so that in the end you can survive and become a member of the new humankind; although it is valuable, it is not a contribution to God. Why do I say it is not a contribution? Because the suffering you endure is not some kind of personal capital; you endure it entirely for your own sake. It’s just like eating and drinking: You eat and drink just so that you can survive. Every activity you engage in during your daily life is to maintain your physical life and survival. It is not for the sake of other people, but only for yourself. Therefore, even if you endure a lot of suffering, and even if you experience some difficult processes, this doesn’t mean you’ve acquired some kind of personal capital. It’s not worth mentioning—it is what you ought to endure. You cannot say, “When I eat, I do it for the sake of God, and I live my life for the sake of God!” You do not do these things for the sake of God; you do them for yourself. There is nothing worth boasting about in this. So, some people always say that, for the sake of believing in God and doing their duty, they have forsaken their jobs and given up their studies, or they talk about how much pruning they have endured, how many tears they have secretly shed, and how much they have secretly suffered. They always mention these things, thinking that the great deal of suffering they have endured for the sake of doing their duty and attaining salvation is a form of personal capital. This is entirely wrong. Corrupt humans ought to suffer in order to attain salvation; it is right that you suffer. Why is it right? Because you have been corrupted so deeply by Satan, you have corrupt dispositions, and you have a satanic nature. If you are to attain salvation, and be able to accept the truth and achieve an understanding of how deeply you have been corrupted, you must endure a great deal of pain; in particular, casting off your corrupt dispositions requires enduring even more pain. It’s just like a woman giving birth: She must go through labor pains and endure the suffering of childbirth. You cannot escape it even if you wanted to. The suffering you endure to attain salvation is something you endure for your own sake; you cannot say that you are enduring pain for God. You endure judgment and chastisement, pruning, and trials and refinement all for the sake of your own salvation. This is the suffering you ought to endure, and it is a necessary process. So, do not boast about how much you have suffered to do your duty, how much you have suffered to attain salvation, how much work you have done for God’s house, how much you have run about for God, or how many people you have gained by preaching the gospel. None of this amounts to having personal capital, and by no means should you claim credit for these things. You do not even know whether you have gained the truth, and you also do not know whether your disposition has changed, yet you always try to claim credit for such things. This is a manifestation of not having any reason. If you claim credit, God could reward you a hundred times over right now, giving you a materially abundant life and fleshly comfort, and letting you enjoy the glory and riches of the human world. However, if you believe in God merely to receive these things in return, and you do not pursue the truth, then your corrupt dispositions cannot be cast off, and you will not be able to attain salvation. You can enjoy this life, but God will not allow you to enter the world to come. However, if you do not believe in God in order to enjoy this life, but in order to attain salvation and become a member of the new humankind, and to cast off your corrupt dispositions and become a created being who worships God, then the suffering you endure is what you ought to endure, and it’s not worth mentioning beyond that. Bringing it up to anyone would be a manifestation of not having any reason. The goal, value, and significance of your suffering are for you yourself to attain salvation; there is nothing worth boasting about in this. Isn’t that the case? (Yes.) Some people always talk about how much they have run about and how much they have suffered since they started believing in God, and how much pruning, judgment, and chastisement they have experienced. They are always flaunting the “glorious chronicle” of their suffering. Let Me tell you: This is shameful, disgusting, and nauseating! These are all things you ought to do and ought to endure. You should not try to vindicate yourself. You haven’t earned any merit with anyone. Even if you do church work, leading a church, and provide some support and help to people, that is merely part of your responsibility and what you ought to do. Why is this so? For one thing, you are doing the duty of a human being. For another, even if you support, help, and provide for people, that’s just fulfilling your obligations as a human being after understanding the truth, allowing others to benefit from it. The truth, however, is not yours; it comes from God. You have merely relayed it and shared it. The truth is not your private property; it is God’s life, and it is God’s provision. So, when you do church work to support and help people, that’s not some kind of merit; you are fulfilling an obligation and a responsibility. If you do it well, you’re merely fulfilling your obligation and possess a bit of conscience and reason. There is nothing worth boasting about in this. If you do not do it well, you should examine and reflect on yourself. No matter how many people you may have once led while doing church work, or how many people you may have once supported and helped, in God’s eyes, these are merely good deeds remembered by Him. As far as people are concerned, however, you have not earned any merit with them whatsoever. Even if in doing this work, you paid a great price, endured a lot of suffering, and missed a lot of sleep behind the scenes, with some of you even falling ill and enduring the torment of illness, this does not mean you’ve earned any merit. All of this suffering is what corrupt humans ought to endure to gain the truth before they can attain salvation; it’s not worth boasting about in the slightest. Therefore, you should not demand glory for it, nor should you demand merit for it. I have fellowshipped the truth with you and provided for you for so many years, yet I do not feel I have earned any merit with you. You, meanwhile, have merely understood the truth through suffering and paying a price, and then shared it with others—does this mean you have earned some merit? Even if your actions have been of some help to others, that’s merely the result achieved by God’s words and by the truth. If God hadn’t expressed these words or these truths, what would you have to help people with? All you would impart to people is corruption, and human notions and imaginings; there could not possibly be the truth. The truth can only come from God. God is the source of the truth, and He is the source that provides life to humankind. You receive a drop of water from God, from the source, and then share it with other people. Even if it quenches their thirst, you have merely fulfilled your responsibility and obligation. For those people, it is absolutely not some kind of grace, favor, bestowal, or provision; at best, it is merely help. You have merely fulfilled the responsibility that a created being ought to fulfill. Through your experiences, you share and pass on God’s words and God’s intentions to others, allowing them to receive nourishment and provision from them. Thus, in My eyes, any suffering endured by corrupt humans during the period in which they are accepting the truth and attaining salvation is what they ought to endure. Since man has corrupt dispositions, and has been ravaged and corrupted by Satan, severely trampled underfoot by Satan, and instilled with and influenced by Satan’s various thoughts and views, and its heresies and fallacies, it is difficult for human beings to accept the truth. The process of a human being accepting the truth and attaining salvation is like a severely ill patient receiving treatment: They must endure suffering, without which they cannot be cured. In order to attain salvation, corrupt humans must accept the truth, accept judgment and chastisement, and accept trials and refinement. Only by enduring a great deal of suffering can they ultimately undergo a thorough transformation and become members of the new humankind. Without going through various environments of suffering, it is impossible for man to accept the truth so naturally and as a matter of course. Man’s corrupt dispositions are deep-rooted and have already become his life. Thus, man must accept the refinement of various kinds of suffering and must endure a great deal of pain in order to rebel against his corrupt dispositions, rebel against various human ambitions and desires, let go of various fallacious human thoughts and views, and accept the truth. What man gets in return for this suffering is salvation and the casting off of his corrupt dispositions; what he gets is submission to the truth and genuine worship of God; what he gets is God’s recognition of him, a created being. Therefore, this suffering is of the greatest value. No matter what kind of suffering you endure to cast off your corrupt dispositions, remember one thing: This is the suffering you ought to endure, and you should not broadcast it everywhere. If this suffering is what you endure willingly and is what you ought to endure, then you should approach it correctly and accept it from God. You should turn it into your own genuine appreciation and wonderful experiences, and share it with others through writing or speaking about it, rather than talking about your experiences of suffering to show off and grab personal capital for yourself. No matter how much you suffer, it is not your personal capital, and it doesn’t mean you have seniority. God does not measure whether a person ultimately has the qualification to attain salvation by how much they suffer. Is viewing suffering this way correct? (Yes.)

Tell Me, do these thoughts and views regarding suffering that I have spoken of, which man should possess, accord with the truth? (Yes.) Shouldn’t suffering be viewed this way? (Yes.) If you can view things this way, there will be rationality and humanity to your actions, and your arrogant disposition will lessen quite a bit. First accept the correct thoughts and views, and then use these thoughts and views as a point of comparison against your own corruption and to resolve it. As you do things, practice according to the principles of practice of these thoughts and views, and your corrupt dispositions will be resolved without you realizing it. Much of the time, corrupt dispositions are cast off by a person accepting a correct thought and view, and first undergoing a change in their viewpoints, and then a gradual change in the way they act and in their dispositional revelations. Regarding the matter of suffering, you must first have the correct thoughts and views, and be certain what suffering is all about, why you suffer, and whether the goal and direction of your suffering are correct. If you have the correct thoughts and views on suffering, and you endure it so that you can cast off your corrupt dispositions and abide by the truth principles, and in enduring this suffering, you are following God’s way, then this suffering is an obligation you ought to fulfill as a created being. It is the practice you ought to have, and it is also your duty; it is what you ought to do as a true created being. This is a responsibility you cannot shirk; that is, this suffering is what you ought to bear. It’s just like how, when parents give birth to children, they must raise them; raising them to adulthood is the parents’ responsibility. No matter how much suffering they endure in the course of raising their children, this is the responsibility parents ought to fulfill, and there is nothing worth boasting about in this. This is how people have raised their young generation after generation. To raise children, one must bear this pain, which is itself a responsibility. To attain salvation, to practice the truth, and to uphold the truth principles and stand firm in one’s testimony, people also have to endure a lot of suffering. However, one thing is certain: This suffering is absolutely not a pointless sacrifice, and it is not meaningless suffering; rather, it is meaningful and valuable. If the goal of your suffering is to bear witness to God, to safeguard the existence of the truth, safeguard the existence of positive things, and safeguard the existence of just causes, and to uphold the truth principles and thus stand firm in your testimony, then the suffering you endure is valuable and meaningful. If the goal of your suffering is correct and positive, then this suffering is what you ought to endure. What does it mean that it is what you ought to endure? It means it is a responsibility you ought to bear and an obligation you ought to fulfill as a human being and as a created being under God’s dominion; in a word, you are “duty-bound.” What does it mean to be duty-bound? It means doing something without demanding anything, without trying to make a deal, and without seeking merit; it is simply what you ought to do. It’s just like when God commissioned Noah to build the ark. Noah paid the price of a hundred and twenty years to build the ark, but with whom did he try to claim credit? He did not try to claim credit with anyone. How much suffering did he endure while building the ark over those hundred and twenty years? No matter how much he suffered, in God’s eyes, whatever suffering he endured in accepting this commission was what he ought to have endured. This is because he was a human being, and he had to accept this pain while shouldering this responsibility, and this pain and his responsibility appeared at the same time, and ran their course simultaneously. As a human being, once you have accepted God’s commission, you must accept every kind of pain included within it; you are duty-bound to do so. What did Noah ultimately get in return for his suffering? He was able to survive in the ark and become the ancestor of the next generation of humankind; he exchanged his suffering for survival. Therefore, no matter how much he suffered while building the ark, he never felt that it was a contribution to humankind or to God. He had rationality; he never said such things. He felt that it was God’s salvation and God’s grace. Humankind today should also have this attitude. If you willingly do your duty and willingly accept God’s salvation, and no matter what duty you do, or how much you suffer and what you experience in doing your duty, your goal is to fulfill the commission and the duty given to you by the Creator, and to attain salvation, then what suffering shouldn’t you endure? Any suffering you endure is a responsibility and obligation you ought to fulfill. To put it plainly, it is your responsibility and obligation to endure it; it’s not worth boasting about. People always think, “I have suffered and paid a price. I must praise myself; I must let God know, and I must let people know, so that people have a good impression of me in their hearts, and so that I have high status and prestige among people.” This is superfluous and unnecessary. Through suffering, you have already gained what you ought to have gained. The truth and the life that God bestows upon you are the most precious things. No prestige, status, or high regard from others can compare to the truth you have gained. Since you have already gained the most precious thing, is there still any need to boast about your suffering and the price you’ve paid to get others to hold you in high regard? There is no need for that. Since you suffer and pay a price to gain the truth and attain salvation, you should not boast about enduring this suffering. Those with conscience and rationality will treat this matter correctly. What’s more, if you come to understand more truths through suffering and you come to understand God’s intentions more accurately, you will thank God for setting up these environments for you and be thankful for the suffering you endured. You will say, “Thankfully, there were those environments of suffering. Thankfully, there were those illnesses, disappointments, setbacks, dismissals, pruning, and judgment and chastisement set up by God. Thankfully, I have had these things to accompany me.” If you did not have these environments of suffering accompanying you, you could not possibly have the gains you have today. You must thank God, rather than treat suffering as capital that you can use to claim credit and recount before others. You see, when man has an accurate understanding of a certain type of thing that is in accordance with the truth, his viewpoints on such things will become accurate, his stance will be right, and his rationality will become normal. The root cause of abnormality in man’s rationality is that his opinions, viewpoints, stances, and perspectives on many things are fallacious and are based on the thoughts and views instilled in man by Satan. You therefore use fallacious thoughts and views, and view these things from a fallacious perspective. You always feel that, in suffering, you have been deeply wronged and put upon; you always want to vindicate yourself, always want to pour out your grievances to someone, and always want to be highly regarded by others, and gain a sense of satisfaction from their high regard. However, now that you recognize the value and significance of suffering, you can correctly accept the suffering that comes from God, and you are no longer resistant to it. When your stature grows a bit larger and your life grows somewhat, some of you will pray like Peter did, asking that God’s chastisement and judgment never leave you. Do you have this stature now? (Not yet, but we are willing to strive for it.) Just keep pursuing the truth and striving for it. As you understand more of the truth, the way you view things internally will change bit by bit, and your life will gradually grow.

Some people get uncommon or hard-to-cure illnesses in the course of doing their duties. Through experiencing these illnesses, they ultimately gain something. Regardless of whether the illness worsens, stays the same, or is cured, in short, what they ultimately gain from experiencing this suffering is an understanding of God’s intentions and knowledge of their own problems in various regards. They no longer treat God and the truth with the erroneous attitudes and methods they used to use. This gain is something you cannot get through any other kind of experience—it can only be attained through suffering. At that time, you will be thankful for this illness, saying, “Fortunately I had this illness; otherwise, it would be impossible for me to have such gains.” So, when you fellowship and share this experience with others, you will be fellowshipping about what you gained from your experience, what you reaped from it, and what truths people should understand within it, rather than emphasizing the suffering you endured. You will not be exalting and testifying to yourself before others about how much you suffered, how distressing it was, and how you ultimately came to have the resolve to suffer. You will not be doing it to testify to and praise yourself, but rather to share your own experiences and bear testimony to God. The issue of suffering must be comprehended in this way. The primary thing is what your goal in suffering is, and what the value and significance of your suffering is. But no matter what it is, whatever suffering people endure and however much they suffer, their suffering can never be a form of personal capital for them. In addition, corrupt humans live in the flesh. Even if you do not believe in God, do you not suffer in order to survive among people? (Yes, we have to suffer for this too.) Is it possible for the flesh to not suffer at all? (No.) Even if one does not believe in God, they still have to endure a lot of suffering. In one’s pursuit of fame, gain, status, academic success, and wealth, as well as in raising children and so on—all of these things entail suffering. Who doesn’t suffer? Living in this human world, people must endure suffering; it’s just that some suffering is devoid of value—the kind in which people rush about for the sake of survival and for fame and gain, vying with one another, trying to exclude one another, and framing one another. In the end, when they finally manage to get their fame, gain, and status, they are always worried about losing them, and they endure more suffering so as to not lose their status. With much difficulty, they do preserve their status, but they wind up physically and mentally exhausted, and emotionally drained. In this world, both the rich and the poor suffer. The rich have miseries of their own, and the poor have theirs as well. In short, it’s not easy living in this human world; everyone suffers. People who believe in God suffer relatively less in terms of their living and survival, because after they accept the truth, many of their thoughts and views become different from those of nonbelievers, and they are able to let go of many things, no longer making those pointless sacrifices or engaging in futile struggles—thus, they suffer relatively less in this regard. They are able to be content with just having food and clothing; they spend the rest of their time pursuing the truth, pursuing salvation, and fulfilling their duty as created beings, right? (Right.) People have to endure some suffering for the sake of their fleshly lives: They must suffer the pains of fatigue and illness, the enticement of various evil trends in the world, being ostracized, and the fighting and strife between people—they must endure all of this suffering. In addition, some people live in poverty and have no money for medical treatment when they fall ill. Many things don’t go as they wish, and they often feel helpless, but they endure all of this suffering. People suffer either way, but however much suffering you endure for the sake of the flesh is deserved; it is what you ought to endure. If you want to live, you have to suffer. Although the suffering endured by people who believe in God is somewhat similar in form to the suffering endured by nonbelievers, what believers ultimately gain is the truth, as well as worship of and submission to God. This suffering, then, is incredibly valuable and meaningful. You should thank God for setting up these suffering-filled living environments for you, making it so you can learn lessons and learn to submit to God and stand firm in your testimony each time you experience suffering, rather than using the experience of suffering as capital with which to flaunt and exalt yourself. Always exalting and testifying to oneself by talking about the suffering one has endured, in order to win others’ high regard—people of this type are shameful. People who are devoid of reason do nothing but shameful things. When people with reason do something that is lacking in reason, they feel ashamed; they put a stop to it and go no further, right? (Yes.)

I have fellowshipped a lot regarding the issue of suffering. Has My fellowshipping in this way been helpful to you? (Yes.) How has it helped you? (After hearing God’s fellowship, I understood that the kinds of suffering endured by the flesh are what man ought to endure, and that the suffering of experiencing judgment and chastisement, pruning, tribulations and trials, and so on, is also what man ought to endure. This is because man has satanic corrupt dispositions, and if man does not endure this suffering, his corrupt dispositions cannot be cast off. In addition, God just mentioned that whatever suffering man endures in order to fulfill his duty as a created being is his obligation and responsibility, and he should not use this as capital to try to claim credit from God. After God’s fellowship, I feel that I can now view suffering rationally.) After fellowshipping like this, some people who always pursue suffering will be liberated. Some people always think, “I must suffer, or else the brothers and sisters will look down on me and won’t elect me as a leader or worker next time. I must be able to put on a show, and learn to suffer in front of others.” You do not need to put on a show. If you have the time to do that, you would be better off spending it reading more of God’s words, understanding more of the truth, fulfilling your responsibilities and obligations, and doing your duties well, ultimately reaping gains in terms of the truth. Regardless of whether others hold you in high regard, if you yourself have reaped gains in terms of the truth, and if your corrupt dispositions have been cast off—and you ultimately earn for yourself the chance to be saved and the Creator’s acceptance—this is the most valuable thing; this is what a smart person would choose. If you always put on a show in front of others to make them hold you in high regard, and always claim credit and seek rewards in front of others, testifying about how much you have suffered, how many grievances you have endured, how you have expended yourself for God, how much of a price you have paid, and how much you have offered up, then this is a foolish way of doing things. Since you have paid such a great price, offered up so much, and suffered so much, then share with everyone your experiences from enduring this suffering and paying this price, and what you’ve gained from it, so that everyone can derive some benefit and find a path of practice. You should present the results you have gained and reaped—which aspects of God’s intentions you have understood, and which aspects of the truth have taken root within you and become your life. You should fellowship and share these things. When the brothers and sisters do not understand a certain aspect of the truth, or do not know how to act according to the truth principles in a certain matter, you should fellowship your personal experiences to provide help and guidance. Since you have suffered so much, you must have gained quite a lot, so share it; many people want to get help from you. You do not need to talk about the process of your suffering, or about how much you have suffered. Just talk about which aspects of the truth you have come to know after suffering. Use your knowledge and what you’ve gained to bring people before God, resolve their conflicts with God, and resolve their incorrect thoughts and views toward Him. Bringing them before God is bringing them into the truth reality. This is all that is asked of you; see if you can achieve it. If you can, then you have fulfilled your responsibility and obligation, and your suffering is valuable and meaningful. If you cannot even meet this requirement, then just keep your mouth shut; the suffering you endured is useless. If you are always talking about how much you have suffered, you are flaunting and you are revealing corruption; you are testifying to Satan, testifying to corrupt dispositions, and testifying to Satan’s thoughts and views—you are misleading people and causing disturbances. If you say you have suffered a great deal and paid a great price, that you have been judged, chastised, pruned, and disciplined by God’s words, and that you have experienced much pain and refinement, then you should take your experiences from your period of suffering—how you submitted, how you were able to treat God’s words with correct thoughts, views, and attitudes, how you accepted the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, and how you sought the truth to emerge from the pain and refinement—and fellowship about them and share them with everyone. Many people are hungering and thirsting for righteousness, waiting to hear these things. Most people know without being taught how to suffer, how to pay a price, how to show off and testify to themselves after suffering and paying a price, and so on. They all know how to show off and flaunt their merits. What are the only things they do not understand? They do not understand what way of acting is practicing the truth and doing things according to the truth principles, and what way of acting is distorted; what way of acting satisfies God’s intentions, and what way violates them; what incorrect thoughts and views people have within them; how to know and dissect themselves when they encounter things and reveal corruption; or what way of acting means they have turned around, and what way of acting means they have changed and grown. These are the things that most people lack. According to human nature, what the life within people naturally reveals and lives out is self-exaltation, testifying to oneself, and flaunting to make others hold oneself in high regard; this is what people are best at and most adept at. There is no need for you to fellowship or share the things people are most adept at; share some of your experiences, knowledge, and appreciation regarding God’s words. These are the things people need. Fellowship something that people need, topics that are helpful for people’s practice, people’s experiences, and people’s attainment of salvation, and which help them resolve their conflicts with God. This is valuable. You say you have suffered a great deal, that you have expended lots of energy and much of your heart’s blood in your suffering, and that you also have submission, so what have you gained? Say it out loud so everyone can hear. Sharing with everyone your knowledge and appreciation regarding the truth—which people need—is most welcome. It is what people need. Doing so is a true good deed, and it is your responsibility and obligation. If, for the sake of showing off, you testify about what kinds of suffering you’ve endured, and flaunt the capital you believe your suffering has afforded you in order to get people to regard you highly and worship you, this is a departure from God’s intentions. Doing this is not your responsibility or obligation; rather, it is a manifestation of having lost your conscience and reason. If you really cannot hold back and want to flaunt, you can talk about it a bit with a few individuals to satisfy your vanity, but you should know when to stop. Be absolutely sure not to flagrantly broadcast it in public settings; this is called being ostentatious, and it is called making a fool of oneself. What does it mean to be ostentatious and make a fool of oneself? It is equivalent to stripping naked in public for people to look at—that is how disgusting it is. What kind of person does such a thing? It is something done by mentally ill people, by people who have no sense of shame and no rationality. If you have reason, you absolutely mustn’t do this kind of thing. Suffering is what you ought to endure, but what have you gained after suffering? Do not hold this back; you should share it without reservation with all the brothers and sisters who follow God and pursue the truth. If you share it, God will bless you, and He will bestow more upon you. If you do not talk about topics concerning life experiences and testifying to God, but instead always talk about how you suffered and paid a price and how much capital you have, always presenting a polished version of yourself to others, elevating your image and raising your profile, speaking and acting for the sake of your own fame, gain, and status, and shamelessly flaunting everywhere, then not only will God not bless you, but He will even take away what you originally had. This is because your actions are not accepted or recognized by God, but are condemned by Him. That’s why I’m telling you, you absolutely mustn’t choose this path. No matter how much you have suffered, and regardless of whether it’s what you ought to have endured or not, or whether you suffered willingly or passively out of helplessness, you absolutely mustn’t treat your suffering as capital to flaunt. And never fellowship about how much you have suffered as if it were the truth in order to get people to hold you in high regard, or to get them to emulate your resolve to suffer, your way of suffering, or your attitude toward suffering. Never do this; this would be following your own path. God never looks at how much one suffers. He only looks at how much suffering you go through, how many grievances you endure, and how great a price you pay for the sake of the truth, for the sake of upholding justice and safeguarding God’s work, for the sake of doing your duty well, for the sake of submitting to God’s arrangements and the truth, and for the sake of adhering to the truth principles. He looks at what your goals, intentions, and motives for suffering are, rather than how great your suffering is or how much you suffer. If your goal in suffering is to safeguard your own pride and personal interests, then your suffering is not worth a penny. If you suffer to safeguard the interests of God’s house, even if you merely say a single sentence that ends up offending some people but safeguards the interests of God’s house and is beneficial to the church’s work, then this single sentence will be remembered by God. He will view this sentence as precious, and He will bestow more upon you, giving you faith to make you strong, so that when you encounter things, you will not fear evil people or hostile forces. He will give you clarity of mind, and enable you to have knowledge, insight, light, and enlightenment regarding the truth. As you can see, God’s blessing is so great!

What we fellowshipped just now are the correct thoughts and views regarding suffering. No matter how you used to act or how you used to view suffering, when you understand the truths concerning suffering, you should turn yourself around, accept the correct thoughts and views, and set your intentions and goals straight, using the correct thoughts and views to guide the principles, ways, and direction of your actions. In this way, you will be able to gain the truth. If one’s mentality is not right and they do not accept the truth at all, only speaking about the words and doctrines they understand to flaunt and show off so that people hold them in high regard, and they act however they please when doing things, not changing at all despite believing in God for years, then this is someone who does not love the truth and does not accept the truth. People who accept the truth embrace the correct thoughts and views and take them to heart after hearing them. When they encounter things, they use the truth as the criterion to regulate their behavior, and to correct their wrong intentions and fallacious thoughts and views. Then they use the correct thoughts and views as principles and as a path of practice to restrain themselves and direct their behavior. In the end, what they live out and reveal will no longer be corrupt dispositions, but will be in line with the truth principles, which shows that they have experienced true change. Isn’t this a good thing? (Yes.) This is exactly how people should pursue the truth. Once you understand the truth, God’s words will naturally hold power in your heart; that is, God’s words will become the life within you, and you will be able to live out God’s words. When God’s words take charge within you, and it’s no longer the case that your corrupt dispositions are running the show, then you have the truth as your life, and you are someone beloved by God. Are those whom God loves happy? (Yes.) Their happiness is entirely rightful; they may suffer, but it is still an honor. What they experience is suffering, but what they gain is something sweet. Although this happiness may currently be out of reach for you—or perhaps even very remote—if you diligently pursue in this direction, sooner or later there will come a day where you reap this joy and feel this happiness, and this joy and happiness will no longer be so remote for you. Just strive toward and pursue this goal. Sooner or later there will come a day where the truth becomes your life, and where you are no longer controlled or bound by corrupt dispositions, and then you will think, “Enduring this suffering is worth it! When I used to suffer, it was distressing and painful, and I thought that suffering was something difficult. I’d suffer a little and then think I had capital. Now I feel that suffering is not capital at all, nor is it worth anything—I have corrupt dispositions, so I ought to suffer. It’s good to suffer a little; the flesh ought to suffer. Fortunately, this suffering has been with me; only in this way have I been able to gain the truth, break free from the bondage and control of corrupt dispositions, and live in joy and happiness. After suffering comes sweetness.” You see, those who have tasted it know; those who have gained it know. When that day comes, things will feel quite different, won’t they? (Yes.)

Alright, let’s end our fellowship here for today. Goodbye!

November 16, 2024