What trials are you able to withstand today? Dare you say that you have a foundation, are you able to stand firm when faced with temptations? The temptations of being hunted and persecuted by Satan, for example, or of status and prestige, of marriage, or wealth, are you able to overcome these temptations? (We can more or less overcome some of them.) How many grades of temptations are there? And which grade are you able to overcome? For example, you might not be afraid when you hear that someone has been arrested for believing in God, and you may not be afraid when you see others being arrested and tortured—but when you are arrested, when you find yourself in this situation, are you able to stand firm? This is a great temptation, is it not? Say, for example you know someone, someone of pretty good humanity, who is passionate in their faith in God, who has given up family and career to perform their duty and has suffered much hardship: A day suddenly comes when they are arrested and sentenced to jail for their faith in God, and you hear that they were subsequently beaten to death. Is this a temptation of you? How would you react if this happened to you? How would you experience this? Would you seek the truth? How would you seek the truth? How, during such a temptation, would you make yourself stand firm, and understand God’s intention, and from this gain the truth? Have you ever considered such things? Are such temptations easy to overcome? Are they something extraordinary? How should things that are exceptional and contradict human notions and imaginings be experienced? If you have no path, are you liable to complain? Are you able to seek the truth in God’s words and see the essence of problems? Are you able to use the truth to determine the right principles of practice? Is this not what should be found in those who pursue the truth? How can you know God’s work? How should you experience it in order to obtain the fruits of God’s judgment, purification, salvation, and perfection? What truths ought to be understood to solve people’s myriad notions and grievances against God? What are the most useful truths you should equip yourselves with, the truths that will allow you to stand firm amid various trials? How great is your stature right now? What degree of temptations are you able to overcome? Do you have any idea? If you don’t, then this is questionable. You just said that you could “more or less overcome some of them.” These are muddled words. You must be clear about the kind of stature you have, what truths you have already equipped yourselves with, what temptations you are able to overcome, what trials you are able to accept, and during which trials you should possess which truths, what knowledge of God’s work, and choose which path to satisfy God—you must have a good idea about all of this. When you encounter something that doesn’t fit with your notions and imaginings, how will you experience it? How, in such things, you should equip yourself with the truth—and with which aspects of the truth—in order to pass through smoothly, not just resolving your notions, but attaining true knowledge of God—is this not what you should seek? What kinds of temptations do you ordinarily experience? (Status, fame, gain, money, relations between men and women.) These, basically, are the common ones. And with regard to your stature today, in which temptations are you able to keep a hold of yourself and stand firm? Do you possess the true stature of overcoming these temptations? Can you really guarantee that you will perform your duty properly, and not do anything that violates the truth, or which is disruptive and disturbing, or defiant and rebellious, or which upsets God? (No.) So what must you do to perform your duty properly? For one, you must examine yourself in all things, to see whether or not your actions are in accordance with the truth principles, to see whether or not your actions are perfunctory, whether or not there are rebellious or resisting elements. If there are, you must seek the truth to resolve them. Additionally, if there are some things you do not know about yourself, you must seek the truth to resolve them. If you are pruned, you should accept it and submit. As long as people speak in accordance with the facts, then you absolutely cannot argue and engage in sophistry with them; only then can you come to know yourself and truly repent. People should achieve the requirements of these two aspects of things and have true entry. This way, they can achieve an understanding of the truth and enter into reality, and perform their duty to an acceptable standard.

Some people say, “Most of the time when something happens to me I do not know how to seek the truth and even when I do, I find no answer. I have prayed, searched, and waited but to no effect. I don’t know what to do. I wish to find the words of God to solve this, but there are so many of them, I don’t know reading which section of God’s words would be applicable, and could solve this problem.” What should they do then? There is a minimum standard for this: When something happens to you and you don’t know what to do, the most fundamental thing that you should do is to follow your conscience; this is a lifeline, it is a baseline that should be adhered to above all else, and it is also a principle of practice. So how much of a commanding position does conscience have in each person? When a person does not understand the truth, how great a role their conscience can play depends on what their humanity is like. If this person does not understand the truth and does not act according to their conscience, and you can neither see any aspect of their actions that shows any consideration for God’s intentions nor can you see any God-fearing heart in them—if you cannot see any of this, then can this person be counted as possessing a conscience and humanity? (No.) What kind of person is this? This sort of person is precisely defined as someone without humanity. He does things neither based in reason nor according to conscience, exceeding the baseline for human conduct. Some people do not understand many truths. They do not understand the principles in anything they do, and when they encounter problems, they do not know the proper way to handle them. How should they practice in this situation? The lowest standard is to act according to conscience—this is the baseline. How should you act according to conscience? Act from sincerity, and be worthy of God’s kindness, of God having given you this life, and of this God-given opportunity to attain salvation. Is that the effect of your conscience? Once you have met this bare minimum of standards, you will have obtained protection and you will not commit grievous errors. You will not then so easily do things to rebel against God or shirk your responsibilities, nor will you be so liable to act in a perfunctory manner. You will also not be so prone to scheming for your own status, fame, gain, and future. This is the role that conscience plays. Conscience and reason should both be components of a person’s humanity. These are both the most fundamental and most important. What kind of person is one who lacks conscience and does not have the reason of normal humanity? Generally speaking, they are a person who lacks humanity, a person of extremely poor humanity. Going into more detail, what manifestations of lost humanity does this person exhibit? Have a go at analyzing what characteristics are found in such people and what specific manifestations they present. (They are selfish and base.) Selfish and base people are perfunctory in their actions and stand aloof from anything that does not concern them personally. They do not consider the interests of God’s house, nor do they show consideration for God’s intentions. They take on no burden of performing their duties or testifying for God, and they have no sense of responsibility. What is it that they think about whenever they do something? Their first consideration is, “Will God know if I do this? Is it visible to other people? If other people don’t see that I expend all this effort and work industriously, and if God doesn’t see it either, then there is no use for my expending such effort or suffering for this.” Is this not extremely selfish? It is also a base sort of intent. When they think and act in this way, is their conscience playing any role? Is their conscience accused in this? No, their conscience is not playing any role, and it is not accused. There are some people who do not take any responsibility regardless of the duty they are performing. They don’t promptly report problems they discover to their superiors, either. When they see people being disruptive and disturbing, they turn a blind eye. When they see evil people committing evil, they don’t try to stop them. They don’t protect the interests of the house of God, or consider what their duty and responsibility is. When they perform their duty, people like this don’t do any real work; they are people pleasers and are greedy for comfort; they speak and act only for their own vanity, face, status, and interests, and are only willing to devote their time and effort to things that benefit them. The actions and intents of someone like that are clear to everyone: They pop out whenever there is an opportunity to show their face or to enjoy some blessing. But, when there is not an opportunity to show their face, or as soon as there is a time of suffering, they vanish from sight like a tortoise retracting its head. Does this kind of person have conscience and reason? (No.) Does a person without conscience and reason who behaves in this way feel self-reproach? Such people have no sense of self-reproach; the conscience of this kind of person serves no purpose. They have never felt reproach from their conscience, so can they feel the reproach or discipline of the Holy Spirit? No, they cannot.

The work of the Holy Spirit is principled, and it has prerequisites. On which kind of person does the Holy Spirit usually do His work? What prerequisites must a person fulfill in order to receive the work of the Holy Spirit? Those who believe in God must understand the very least they must possess in order to receive the work of the Holy Spirit. At the very least, they must possess a conscience and an honest heart, and their conscience must have an element of honesty. Your heart must be honest and accept God’s scrutiny. Those who dare not accept God’s scrutiny are not honest people, and they do not sincerely believe in God. People always say that God scrutinizes people’s innermost heart, that He observes all, and that man sees the outside, while God sees the heart, but why can they not accept God’s scrutiny? Why can they not listen to God’s words and submit to Him? The explanation is that people only understand the words and doctrines, but do not love the truth. Why are some people never able to receive the work of the Holy Spirit, always in a negative, depressed state, without any joy or peace? If you carefully examine their states, they are generally without awareness of their conscience, without an honest heart, of a low caliber, and they do not put forth effort toward the truth, so their states are very seldom normal. Those who love the truth are different. They always put forth effort toward the truth, their state improves as they understand parts of the truth, and they are able to resolve some real problems as they understand parts of the truth, so their states continually improve and become increasingly normal. No matter what happens to them, they are rarely negative, and they are able to live in the presence of God. Throughout any period of experience, they always have gains and knowledge, and they always have achievements in doing their duty. They are able to win people over in spreading the gospel, and whatever their duty is, they do it in a principled way. Where do these gains come from? These are results achieved by often reading God’s words and obtaining enlightenment, illumination, and an understanding of the truth, results achieved through the work of the Holy Spirit. Only when you possess an honest heart, the conscience and reason that humanity ought to possess, can the Holy Spirit perform His work upon you. Do you all have a sense of the rules about the work of the Holy Spirit? On what kind of person does the Holy Spirit do His work? The Holy Spirit usually does His work upon those who are honest in heart. He works upon those who have difficulties and seek the truth. God pays no heed to those who do not have any humanity, who do not have any conscience or reason at all. If someone is honest, but their heart temporarily departs from God, not wanting to try to be better, stuck in a negative state, neither praying nor seeking the truth to resolve all this, unwilling to cooperate—in this state of temporary darkness, temporary degradation, the Holy Spirit does not do His work. How much less will He do it for someone who fundamentally has no awareness of humanity? He certainly will not do it. What does God do about this kind of person who has neither conscience nor reason, who does not love the truth at all? He pays no heed to them. Is there any hope for these people? There is a single thread of hope. The only way out for them is to truly repent, to become honest people, and only then can they receive the work of the Holy Spirit. How does one become an honest person? First of all, you must open your heart to God and seek the truth from Him, and when you understand the truth you must be able to put it into practice and submit to God’s arrangements, which all amounts to giving your heart to God. Only then can you be accepted by God. You must first rebel against your flesh, give up your own vanity and pride, give up your own interests, throw yourself into your duty, both body and mind, do your duty with a submissive heart, and believe in your heart that as long as you satisfy God, it does not matter what you suffer. If you encounter difficulties, and you pray to God and seek the truth, see how God leads you, and whether or not you have peace and joy in your heart, whether or not you have this evidence. If you want to receive the work of the Holy Spirit, first, you must truly repent, give yourself over to God, open your heart in His presence, and give up on the rubbish you so treasure, like fame, gain, and status. If you continue to pursue these things, but still want to demand great blessings from God, will He acknowledge you? The work of the Holy Spirit has prerequisites. God is a God who abhors evil, and He is a holy God. If people always pursue fame, gain, and status, and from beginning to end, they cannot give these things up, if their hearts are closed to God, if they do not dare open up to Him, if they always reject His work and guidance, then He does nothing. God does not have to perform His work upon every person, compelling you to do this or that. God does not compel you. Only evil spirits compel people to do this or that, even forcibly possessing a person to control them. The work of the Holy Spirit is especially gentle, such that when He moves you, you do not even feel it. You would think as if you had unconsciously understood and awakened. This is how the Holy Spirit moves people. So if someone wants to receive the work of the Holy Spirit, they must truly repent and truly cooperate.

How do you go about giving your heart to God? When things happen to you, you should declare to God that you will not rely on yourself. Giving your heart to God means allowing God to be the Master of your house. Additionally, you must give up on the things that obstruct you from practicing the truth, like reputation, status, vanity, and pride, allow God to lead you, allow your heart to submit to Him, allow Him to rule over your heart, and act according to His words. Once you are able to give up the things the flesh enjoys, and God sees that you are no longer carrying burdens, but instead come before Him with a submissive heart, willing to listen to His words and submit to His arrangements and plans, allowing Him to act, allowing Him to lead—once God sees that you are thus sincere, then the Holy Spirit will do His work. First, you must truly repent, turn your heart to God, show consideration for His intentions, and put forth effort toward the truth. You cannot be negative or lazy, much less headstrong. If you always want to be in charge, to be the master of your own house, and to act according to your own preferences, what kind of attitude is this? What kind of state is it? This is rebellion and resistance. Do you think that God has to save you, that He cannot be without you? Is this the case? Why has the work of God in the last days turned to the Gentiles? Why does He not do it in Israel? Why does He not do it in the religious world? It is because they are too rebellious and resistant to God that He has turned this work to the Gentiles. How does God view this matter? God saves those who accept the truth. It does not matter whether they are converted from within religion or they are nonbelievers who accept this work—God is gracious to and saves those who accept the truth. Are you all clear on these matters? Every single thing God does is most meaningful, and has the disposition and wisdom of God within. Of course, people have nothing to brag about when they understand the desires of God or submit to His arrangements. Do not think that you are smart, or that you love the truth, or that you are much stronger than other people. Just because you are smart in one matter does not mean you will necessarily be smart in another, so you must often pray and seek the truth in all things. You must examine all your actions to see whether or not you have a God-fearing heart, whether or not they are in accordance with the truth, and whether or not they are able to satisfy God’s intentions.

Whether or not your humanity is up to an acceptable standard, or is up to the standard of normal conscience and reason, God is only pleased with those people who pursue the truth. The pursuit of truth and life entry is unending. If someone only possesses a conscience, and acts according to their conscience, this principle is not up to the standard of the truth. They must also pay the price to put forth effort toward the truth, behave according to God’s requirements, and do their duty well according to His requirements. Only by pursuing in this way can they achieve life entry, understand and obtain the truth, and satisfy God’s intentions. There are people who have some humanity, who possess some conscience and reason, and so they think: “Doing my duty according to my conscience will be worthy of God.” Is this correct? Can the standard of conscience replace the truth? Can you submit to God by acting according to your conscience? Can you follow the will of God? Can you hate and rebel against Satan? Can you truly love God? Can you shame Satan? Is acting according to your conscience a true testimony? None of this is achievable. What constitutes the standard of conscience? A conscience is a feeling in someone’s heart, a judgment of the heart, and it represents the preferences of normal humanity. Oftentimes, many articles of the law and notions of morality are founded on feelings of the conscience, and thus the feelings of the conscience easily use the articles of the law and notions of morality as a standard. So, the feelings of the conscience fall far short of the standard of the truth, and moreover are subject to emotional constraints, or they are deceived and misguided by nice-sounding words, which gives rise to many errors. If people do not understand the truth, then they are subject to devils’ deceptions, and they allow Satan to exploit an advantage over them. So, acting according to your conscience falls far short of God’s requirements. You must also put forth effort toward the truth. Only when you understand the truth and do your duty according to principles can you fulfill God’s requirements. The standard of the truth far exceeds the standard of the conscience. If you merely do your duty according to your conscience, then can you receive God’s approval? You cannot. Because the conscience cannot replace the truth, much less God’s requirements, you cannot be satisfied with doing your duty according to your conscience. This cannot earn you God’s approval.