Have you really understood all this that I have said? Do you know how to cross into the new age? And do you know what aspects you need to change, what aspects to enter from? Perhaps you do not understand this. Although people gained some entry in the past, yet they were still lacking in many aspects and were unable to meet God’s demands. Now, God speaks so many words to lead people into the new age. Why is it that people always harbor notions about God’s words and His work? It shows that they did not gain the truth before and that they are without the truth reality. Although you may be able to accept God’s words when you read them now, why is it that in your real life you are unable to put the truth into practice, and instead are always acting rebelliously toward God and opposing Him? Why is it that when things happen to you, you always have your own ideas and act according to your own will, yet are unable to submit to God? It is because there are too many fleshly things and things of self-will within you, always thinking that your way is the right way. You feel great when listening to a sermon and harbor no notions, but when something happens to you, you want to practice the truth, but you lose control, and the rebellious things within you show themselves. I say you are too rebellious, and if you do not believe Me, you can keep a record. Every time you hear an utterance of God’s, keep a record of what notions arise in your heart and what your thoughts are, and then unearth the things within you, dissect them, hold them up against God’s words, and you will then know how far your rebelliousness goes. Practicing in this way is beneficial for your life entry. You must dare to face the facts and dare to expose yourself. When you dare to expose yourself, this proves that you have a heart that accepts the truth, a heart that lets go of notions and submits to God. You must rebel against yourself; do not be constantly rebelling against God, for that is wrong. It will not do to believe in God but not know how to submit to Him. At such time as you find it easy to submit to God, that is when you will have peace and joy in your heart; you will find great enjoyment when you then read God’s words, you will find the words to say when you pray to God, and you will grow closer and closer to Him. Those who are always rebelling against God never wish to practice the truth, and when they read God’s words, the words do not sink in—what peace and joy can there be in their hearts? When people encounter issues, their notions and imaginings rise to the surface, and they are unable to avoid them. You must then contemplate and reflect, thinking, “How has this problem come about? How has this kind of notion arisen? Where can its source be found?” You must pray to God, read God’s words, see through this matter, and when the problem is resolved you will have gained life entry. If you do not resolve your problems practically in this way, always believing that harboring some notions is not a big deal, that they will go away on their own after a few days, and that once they are gone then it means you are harboring no notions, you will always think that you have no notions, when in fact when notions arose you ignored them and let them slide. You felt at that time that there was no harm done, and afterward you refuse to acknowledge that you had any at all. Ordinarily, when people do not undergo being pruned, when they are not having to deal with any adverse situation, they harbor no notions and forget that they ever had any. They think themselves amazing, that they really are without notions. When something happens, however, notions arise and they oppose God, and then after a while the notions disappear and they forget about it, and once again they feel they have a wonderful state and that they harbor no notions about God—what is their problem? It is that they do not truly understand the truth and have not resolved their notions at their source. That is why these kinds of notions repeatedly arise, until such time as someone fellowships thoroughly with them about the truth, and then their notions are resolved for good. When it comes to resolving one’s notions, it will not do to not seek the truth in earnest—merely understanding doctrine is useless. Those who do not understand the truth have limited, skin-deep knowledge of themselves. Sometimes when notions arise in them, they are not able to discover them, nor even to sense them. A minor notion that goes unresolved will not trip someone up, but a major notion that goes unresolved will trip them up straight away. To know yourself, you must first resolve your own notions and imaginings, and resolve your wrong views that often crop up. Then resolve all your various corrupt dispositions, from the superficial down to the deeper ones, and by doing this you will gradually enter into the truth reality. Knowing yourself begins with first knowing the notions and imaginings that exist within you. As your understanding of the truth grows ever deeper, you will get to know yourself ever more deeply, too. When it comes to knowing yourself, you must be meticulous. If you are never able to know yourself, you will not gain life entry; life entry starts with knowing yourself. If you want to gain life entry, then you must conscientiously seek the truth, take opportunities to resolve your issues, and not let even one slide. Once you have noted down your notions, you must seek the truth, open yourself up and engage in fellowship, and dissect them according to God’s words. When you understand the truth, these kinds of notions will be totally resolved. If you encounter the same matter again and your notions arise once more, and your heart is still constrained by them, this shows that you have not truly understood the truth, but that you have merely understood the doctrine, and so your notions remain. Only when you come to truly understand the truth will your notions disappear completely, and even if they do arise again in the future, they will be easily resolved and you won’t be constrained by them, because you understand the truth. Tell Me, is it difficult to practice knowing yourselves and entering into the truth in this way? Does it take a lot of effort? It does! If your self-knowledge only involves the cursory recognition of superficial things—if you merely say that you are arrogant and self-righteous, that you rebel against and resist God—then this is not true knowledge, but doctrine. You must integrate the facts into this: You must bring to light whichever matters you hold mistaken intents and views or distorted opinions on for fellowship and dissection. Only this is truly knowing oneself. You should not gain an understanding of yourself based on your actions alone; you must grasp what is key and resolve the root of the problem. Once a period of time has gone by, you must reflect on yourself and summarize which problems you have resolved, and which still remain. So, too, must you seek the truth to solve these problems. You must not be passive, you must not always need others to coax you or push you to do things, or to even lead you by the nose; you must have your own path for life entry. You must frequently examine yourself to see what things you have said and done that are at odds with the truth, which of your intents are wrong, and what corrupt dispositions you have revealed. If you always practice and enter in this way—if you make strict demands of yourself—then you will gradually be able to understand the truth, and have life entry. When you genuinely understand the truth, you will see that you really are nothing. For one thing, you have a seriously corrupt disposition; for another, you lack too much, and you do not understand any truths. If a day comes when you truly possess such self-knowledge, you will no longer be capable of arrogance, and in many matters you will possess sense, and be capable of submission. What is the key issue right now? Through fellowship and dissection on the essence of notions, people have come to understand the reason that they form notions; they are able to resolve some notions, but this does not mean that they can see clearly the essence of every notion, it just means that they have some self-knowledge, but their knowledge is not yet deep enough or clear enough. In other words, they still cannot see their own nature essence clearly, nor can they see what corrupt dispositions have taken root in their hearts. There is a limit to how much a person can gain knowledge of themselves in this way. Some people say, “I’m aware that my disposition is extremely arrogant—does this not mean I know myself?” Such knowledge is too superficial; it cannot solve the problem. If you truly know yourself, then why are you still seeking personal advancement, why do you still crave status and distinction? This means that your arrogant nature has not been eradicated. Therefore, change must start from your thoughts and views and the intents behind your words and actions. Do you acknowledge that much of what people say is barbed and venomous, and that there is an element of arrogance in the tone that they use? Their words carry their intents and personal opinions. Those who have insight will be able to discern this when they hear it. Some people talk in a certain way and have certain expressions most of the time when their arrogance is not revealed in them, but their behavior is very different when their arrogance is revealed. Sometimes they will drone on and on about their own high-sounding ideas, sometimes they will bear their fangs and claws and hold their heads high. They think that they are the king of the mountain, and Satan’s ugly face is exposed in this. There are all sorts of intents and corrupt dispositions inside every person. Just like how deceitful people wink when they talk, and look at people out of the corner of their eye—there is a corrupt disposition concealed within these actions. Some people speak in evasive words, and others never know quite what they mean. There are always hidden meanings and tricks within their words, but on the outside they are very calm and collected. People such as this are even more deceitful, and it is even harder for them to accept the truth. They are very hard to save.

Previously, when people believed in God, they always settled for having a peaceful home and everything they did going smoothly, and they believed that this meant God surely loved them and was pleased with them. If you merely settle for these things, then you will never embark upon the path of pursuing the truth. Do not settle for how well or smoothly your life is going externally; those superficial things are not important. God’s salvation of people now involves cleansing and changing the deeply ingrained things in people that pertain to Satan, digging them up at the root, and unearthing them from man’s essence and nature. Why is God always dissecting man’s views and intents? It is because man’s nature is so deeply entrenched. God does not look at how you do things, or what you look like, or how tall you are, nor does He look at what kind of family you have or whether you have a job or not—God does not look at these things. The key thing God looks at is your essence, in order to resolve your problems from the essence and root up. Therefore, do not be content merely with a peaceful home and everything going smoothly, thinking then that God is blessing you—this is wrong. Do not pursue these external things and do not allow yourself to be caught up in them. If you settle for these things, then this shows that the goal you are pursuing in your belief in God is too low, and you are falling far short of what God demands. You must concentrate on dispositional change, beginning with your disposition and humanity, as well as your intents and the views you hold in your belief in God. In this way, when you come into contact with people who have just begun to believe in God or who have not accepted Him, they will be able to see from your appearance that you have undergone a change, and that what you pursue is indeed different. They say, “In our belief in God, we pursue making more money, having status, our children getting into college, and our daughters finding a suitable partner. Why don’t you pursue these things? You look upon these things as though they’re dung and totally worthless. How, then, do you believe in God?” You then fellowship with them on what your experience is like, what corrupt dispositions you have, how God prunes you, chastises and judges you, how you reflect on yourself and understand things, and how you repent and change. When people meet you, they get a sense of how very practical your fellowship is, that it provides somewhat for them and is beneficial for them, and that you are not simply giving superficial sermons to coax and exhort people. You will be able to talk about life entry and self-knowledge, and this will prove that you are truly someone of the new age, truly a new person. There are some now who still talk about the things of the past, saying, “I used to believe in the Lord Jesus, and wherever I went to work the Holy Spirit did great work. When I spread the gospel, many were willing to listen to me, and whomever I prayed for got better very quickly….” They still talk about these things, and this is so backward! You should spend more time fellowshipping on the truth, talking about things such as life entry, changes in disposition, knowledge of oneself, and other essential things to do with life entry. Do not talk of matters that have nothing to do with the truth. If you frequently practice in this way, you will gain some truth realities. Given your current stature, you are not able to do work that provides life or use the truth to resolve problems. All you can do is coax and exhort people, saying, “Do not rebel against or resist God. Despite our being so corrupt, God still saves us, so we should heed His words and submit to Him.” After hearing this, people understand doctrines, but they still lack energy and do not know how to practice or experience God’s words. This proves that you, as leaders and workers, are also not in possession of the truth reality. If you yourselves have not achieved entry, then how can you provide for others? You cannot get to the root of other people’s difficulties and corrupt dispositions, you cannot grasp what is key, for you still do not know yourself. As such, providing life in your work in the church is beyond you, and by only exhorting people, telling them to be good and obey in earnest, you are incapable of solving actual problems. This is sufficient evidence that you have not truly understood the truth or achieved any life entry. Most of you know only how to preach spiritual doctrine and empty theological theories, but you cannot provide life; as such, you are too small of stature. There has yet to be a change in your view of faith in God. Your understanding and intents remain the same. Will you have a path forward in asking others to change when you yourself have not resolved your own issues? Will you be able to provide for others? Will you be able to solve their problems? What results can you achieve by asking others to change if you are not able to do any of these things? If all you can do is preach words and doctrines to lecture and exhort people, can you get others to understand the truth? If you have no true understanding of God’s work yourself, would God’s chosen people be able to understand God’s work by listening to your fellowship? How will you get God’s chosen people to perform their duty well when you yourself perform your duty without principles? How will they muster the energy to follow God? Those who act as leaders and workers should comprehend and master the states of all the different kinds of people in the church, which among them have experience and understanding of God’s words and of God’s work, and who among them truly have self-knowledge and truly repent. Those leaders and workers who are able to master these things will be capable of performing some practical work. If those you work alongside in your duty are just like you, lecturing others without any self-knowledge at all, then that proves that you are not in possession of the truth reality either, that you do not know yourself and that there is no difference between you. Have you ever considered these things before? You know only “I have been given power here, I have status, I am an official in the church and I now have a place where I can lecture others.” You focus only on status and prestige, on how to lecture others and give sermons, what to say to get others to listen to you, to give you influence in several churches and win high prestige, and to firmly establish your position. Focusing only on these things proves that you have gone astray. To enter into a new age from an old age means not only that people’s ways of doing and saying things change, but it also requires them to have a higher entry, to pay a higher price, to be able to rebel against their flesh once and for all, to give up the predilections of the flesh, to pursue only the truth as their life and live out a true human likeness. Only in this way can they truly undergo a thorough transformation. In doing new work, God must necessarily make new demands of man, and by clinging to those old, traditional notions, man only slows things down. Some people have blind faith in the Bible and never depart from it—are they capable of gaining life and knowing God by doing this? No, absolutely not. For generations, the Pharisees read the Bible, until ultimately they nailed the Lord Jesus who was expressing the truth to the cross—how could that happen? If they had truly understood the Bible then they should have known God, and when the Lord Jesus came, they should have welcomed Him and not condemned Him. There are still many people who are not able to penetrate this matter with understanding. In their hearts, they are always thinking that no matter how many utterances God makes now, they must still read the Bible and must not depart from it. This means that they end up being able to remember much that is written in the Bible, but not able to understand the truths God now expresses or put them into practice. In the end, they bear no real experiential testimony at all and they are eliminated. Is this not shameful? In actual fact, there are now many people who still often read the Bible but who read God’s words too little—is this a smart thing or a foolish thing to do? Previously, when they believed in the Lord, people believed that great enthusiasm meant a great life and good faith. When it is said now that, with only enthusiasm and without dispositional change, one shall not be approved of by God, some people always think that God treats such people unjustly. I have pruned some people like that before and some of them did not accept it, and defended such people, saying, “They’ve believed in God for so many years. They’ve paid the price and suffered a great deal, and they’ve worked hard even if they haven’t made any contribution. How can You treat them like this?” Some people are not able to rectify their views. Is this difficult to understand? People see how others do things externally, whereas God sees their essence, and that is a very different thing. You see only how pious someone appears on the outside, how well they are able to speak, and how much they run around and pay the price. How come you do not say how many notions they are harboring, or how self-righteous and arrogant they are? Why do you not see those things? That is why I say your views on things are still too old and backward. God does not now look at the price people pay externally; He does not speak of the price paid or of your capital, nor of how much you have suffered—He looks at your essence. What were the principles for making use of people in the previous age? Whoever was greatly enthusiastic, whoever could run around and expend themselves, whoever had believed in God the longest, and whoever was the oldest and unmarried—the more someone fit this description, the more prestige they had and the more they were capable of becoming a leader. Those things are not important anymore. It is a person’s essence that is important, because what is key to believing in God is what a person’s essence is like, whether they are able to worship God, and whether they are able to accept God’s new work. If, now that God has come in the flesh, you do not know Him, what does that say about your essence? Is it not that your essence resists God? This depends on whether or not your views and intents can accord with God. If you are able to accept the true way and rebel against your past intents and notions, then people such as you will be able to be accepted and blessed by God. There are principles to how God makes use of people in His work. He does not look at your capital, family background, prestige or status. He does not make use of those who resist Him—would that not only delay His work? People are always talking about their capital, arrogant beyond measure—they are devils! We do not talk about things like offerings, expending oneself, capital, and prestige—it is useless to talk of those things! Whosoever is most sincere to God and most willing to submit to God will be in possession of the truth reality, and we approve of such people. Is there any point in looking at the outside? Some things may change externally for a person, but many things within their nature will not have changed, and upon a time they will emerge. That is why you must know these things and unearth them. There are so many things within a person’s nature! Of course, the nature of man is arrogant, self-righteous, and rebellious, and these are the largest, most rooted problems. Besides these, there are also a number of corrupt dispositions within man. Therefore, knowing oneself is not a simple matter. Those with some measure of caliber will easily become aware and understand when they do something wrong or commit some sin. However, the things within their nature, the things within their disposition, and in particular those things which relate to their vital weaknesses, are what they find most difficult to see and to know. Do not think that, when you do something wrong and you pray to God, or you commit a sin and confess it to God, then that means you know yourself—that is a far cry from self-knowledge! If you do not believe Me, then you go right on ahead and see. Perhaps a day will come when you encounter some issue and fall down, or maybe a time will come when you are arrested and in the space of one night you become a Judas, and you will be dumbfounded. If you wish to have life entry, you must first know yourself; if you wish to achieve dispositional change, then even more so you must reflect on and know yourself through God’s words. When you come to have a way forward in self-knowledge, when your self-knowledge grows deeper, and when you know how to put the truth into practice, you will naturally gain life entry. Dispositional change begins at this point, too. If you are truly able to know yourself, then you will have a way forward with life entry and dispositional change, and these things will become easier for you.

Late 1995