Now that we have finished fellowshipping on the manifestations of upright and kind people in terms of how they treat others, let us talk about what specific manifestations and characteristics this type of person has when they do something wrong and commit transgressions. As corrupt human beings, if they possess the qualities of uprightness and kindness in their humanity, when they do something wrong, regardless of whether they can be aware of it or not, they will reflect on and examine their own words and actions. If they have caused harm to someone, or if someone gives negative feedback about them or a negative assessment of them, they will examine themselves: “Which of my words were wrong? What did I do wrong? Did I have any intentions when I was speaking then? Was I targeting that person? Is it really my fault that I brought about bad consequences for them? Are they being overly sensitive, or was I not careful enough in my consideration and inappropriate in my choice of words at the time?” They will often examine themselves, and have an attitude of conducting themselves humbly. This attitude comes from their uprightness and kindness, and of course, it also comes from their rationality. That is one aspect. Furthermore, if they discover through self-reflection that they have some problems, or if others point out their problems, they will feel distressed and their heart will skip a beat: “Was I wrong in how I went about this? Should I not have done it like that? I didn’t do it on purpose at the time, and I didn’t have any intentions.” As corrupt human beings, under some special circumstances or in regard to some special matters, they may say, “I didn’t do it on purpose; I had no intention of doing it that way,” in order to salvage their pride, but they will feel guilty inside. During the process of constantly examining and reflecting on themselves, if they discover that what they did truly was wrong, they will once again feel uneasy, feeling that they should not have done it like that; they will feel regretful and distressed, and will try to find ways to make up for what they did or opportunities to correct it, even proactively apologizing and admitting their mistake. Upon discovering that they have done something wrong, people with qualities of humanity will first feel a pang of distress in their hearts, they will become flushed, and their heads will throb; these are normal reactions coming from the conscience. What are these normal reactions based on? They are based on a person possessing the qualities of uprightness, kindness, and rationality within their humanity. They do not have these manifestations because they want to salvage their own pride, nor because they have embarrassed themselves or been looked down upon by others, but because they feel guilty and reproach themselves for doing something wrong, feeling that they should not have done it that way. This is an attitude of admitting their mistakes, and it is also a reaction arising from the condemnation of their conscience and the function of their rationality. They will have a reaction; they will absolutely not be completely numb, nor try to shamelessly argue and justify themselves, nor try to find ways to evade responsibility, but rather they will have an attitude of proactive admission and acceptance, and of being willing to bear responsibility. Because this type of person possesses the qualities of uprightness and kindness in their humanity, their feelings of shame are very obvious. If they do something slightly wrong, the moment someone points it out, they will be unable to hide their shame. If they were to argue a bit, they would feel, “It’s clearly my own fault, and they have already explained it clearly, so what am I still arguing for?” They will directly admit their mistake, feeling completely disgraced and wanting the ground to swallow them up. Are these the effects of conscience and reason? (Yes.) If lots of people know about what they did, they will even more so feel too ashamed to show their face, and they will try to find ways to make up for it and correct what they did. That is to say, after a person with conscience and reason does something wrong, they have a basic attitude of admitting their mistake; they are able to accept this fact and possess feelings of shame. Furthermore, it is not the case that they just admit their mistake and leave it at that; they will also try to find ways to make up for it. Because they have a conscience, they put their heart into what they do; when confronted with some situation, they take it to heart and treat the situation earnestly and responsibly, putting their mind into pondering the problem at hand, and treating it seriously, rather than being perfunctory, going through the motions, or much less shirking responsibility. They can bear responsibility and deal with the matter seriously and with care, and then speak responsibly and act responsibly, striving to minimize the loss. They are absolutely not like people of the ilk of devils. People of the ilk of devils fly into a rage the moment someone criticizes them for having done something wrong, think of every possible way to evade responsibility and shirk responsibility, and think of every possible way to shift all of their responsibility onto others, putting on the airs of a saint who never does anything wrong. For those reincarnated from animals, it is even more so the case that they do not know what’s correct and incorrect with anything they do. If you point out that they did something wrong, some admit it, some do not, and some are even beyond reason. Even if some can admit that they did something wrong, if you ask them where they went wrong, they say, “I don’t know, but since you say I’m wrong, then I’m wrong.” Yet when they encounter this kind of thing again, they will still do it in the same way. No matter how many wrong or evil things they do, or how many corrupt dispositions they reveal, they ultimately always fall back on those same few lines: “What did I do wrong? Was it wrong for me to suffer and pay a price for so many years? If I didn’t believe in God and didn’t have conscience and reason, would I be able to suffer this much?” Those who are reincarnated from animals are simple-minded, always ending up at those same few lines. But people of the ilk of devils are much more cunning than those reincarnated from animals; they will employ different means and methods to commit evil and mislead people, and some people who are small in stature and have no discernment can truly be deceived. In a nutshell, devils will absolutely not admit it when they do something wrong. Not only do they not admit that they are people with corrupt dispositions, but they even want people to think they are sacred and inviolable, and flawless people who never make mistakes. No matter what wrong they do, they always profess the reasons why they did it, and always try to justify themselves. Ultimately, they profess that they are incapable of wrongdoing, that even if they do something wrong they have a reason for it, that they are not people with corrupt dispositions, that they will never do anything wrong, and that they are simply saints and flawless people. However, people who possess the qualities of conscience and reason within their humanity are different. Because they are upright people who are not crooked or deceitful, if you say they have done something wrong, even if they didn’t do it or it has nothing to do with them, they are willing to accept it first. When others tell them, “Are you stupid? If you accept it, you will have to bear responsibility,” they say, “I also had a part in what happened; I was also involved.” They are able to accept it; their attitude is honest and upright. Sometimes they will also want to evade responsibility, but then they ponder: “Why evade responsibility for something that anyone with eyes can see happened? Moreover, God scrutinizes people’s innermost hearts. If you’re implicated in what happened, God won’t let you off the hook. Before God, all people are laid bare, and all their actions and deeds are out in the open. Can you manage to escape before God? Therefore, this matter should be handled by the book; responsibility must fall where it belongs. If I am at fault in this matter, I will bear the responsibility. I am willing to accept punishment, and I am also willing to accept pruning. I will accept however God’s house deals with me; I was the one who chose to do wrong, after all.” You see, when they do something wrong and face being pruned, in one respect, they have an attitude of acceptance; in another respect, they are able to comprehend it correctly. In yet another respect, because this type of person puts their mind into pondering the situation and reflecting on themselves after doing something wrong, when they encounter the same kind of thing again, they will think about how to avoid making mistakes. Because they possess feelings of shame, and they care about their pride, they are able to repent when they do something wrong.

Nonbelievers often say, “One can live in a dumpster without thinking it stinks.” For people without conscience and reason, even if they do the same wrong thing a hundred times, they have no feelings of shame and no sense of guilt. They are not human! If one is human, after doing the same wrong thing once or twice, they will feel, “I’ve really done it now. When will I ever change?” They will become worried and anxious, and come before God to pray and confess their sins. They will even wonder if they are beyond help—they will have this misconception. Because they care about their pride and have feelings of shame, they feel, “I’ve made this kind of mistake several times now; will I be dealt with by the house of God? Has God given up on me? I’m too ashamed to be saved by God!” Regardless of what misunderstandings they have about God, in short, after doing something wrong, this type of person will absolutely derive some experience and draw lessons, and try to find every possible way to make up for and correct their mistakes, striving not to make them again. They will think to themselves, “I don’t seek to satisfy others, but at the very least I must be at peace with myself. Only when I am at peace with myself can I answer to God in His presence. If I’m not even at peace with myself, how could I have the audacity to face God?” If one has such thoughts, they’re absolutely driven by the qualities of conscience and reason in their humanity. If you do not have such thoughts, you will make the same mistakes again and again, and what’s more, you won’t want to listen to or accept what anyone says; you might even never have an attitude of repentance, nor ever want to admit the facts or admit your mistakes, let alone bear responsibility. There are also those who hate whoever points out their mistakes; they contend with them, give them a hard time, and even attack and retaliate against them. Such people are beyond help; these are people without qualities of humanity. However, people who do have qualities of humanity will absolutely not act this way. After making the same mistake once or twice, they will ponder, “Why is it that I can still make this mistake?” They are able to seek the truth to resolve this. Would you say this is an attitude of making a turnaround? (Yes.) Being able to reflect on oneself when doing something wrong and being willing to correct one’s mistakes—this is an attitude of making a turnaround. Then what kind of people possess an attitude of making a turnaround? Is this not an attitude that can only arise in people whose humanity possesses the qualities of conscience and reason? (Yes.) If people do not possess the conscience and reason of humanity, will they make a turnaround? (No.) Will they feel remorse and hate themselves? (No.) Will they take to heart the wrong things they have done and the transgressions they have committed? They certainly will not, right? To be exact, people without conscience do not have hearts, so they will not put their hearts into what they do, nor will they take it to heart when they do something wrong. Since they do not have hearts, they will not reflect on themselves, nor will they accept the truth; they do not have this faculty. It’s only people with conscience who can, when they hear others say that they have done something wrong, treat the matter earnestly and with all their hearts, take the matter to heart, and then feel guilt and remorse. Only on the basis of feeling guilt and remorse can they make a turnaround, and only when they make a turnaround can they have the opportunity to submit to God’s words, and practice and conduct themselves according to God’s words and the truth principles. However, people without conscience never feel guilt or remorse; they never take it to heart no matter what wrong they do. No matter how others expose their problems, they do not take it seriously and turn a deaf ear to it. Because they do not have conscience, they will not treat the matter earnestly and with all their hearts, nor will they ponder and reflect on it with all their hearts. Without putting their hearts into reflecting on themselves, they will not feel remorse or guilt, and without remorse and guilt, they will not make a turnaround. In that case, it’s absolutely impossible for this type of person to accept the truth and submit to God’s words; they are simply people with absolutely no hope of attaining salvation. Therefore, from a human perspective, it’s not that God doesn’t save these people who don’t have qualities of humanity; rather, it’s because someone doesn’t possess qualities of humanity—the basic condition for attaining salvation—that they cannot accept or submit to the truth, putting their hope of attaining salvation practically at zero. With this in mind, there is a direct relationship between possessing qualities of humanity and attaining salvation; this is exactly how it is. If you do not possess qualities of humanity, you won’t even admit it when you do something wrong, nor will you take it to heart, treat it thoughtfully, ponder it earnestly, feel guilt and remorse, and then correct and change it. If you cannot make a turnaround when it comes to something as simple as making a mistake, then you’ll be even less capable of making a turnaround when it comes to revealing corrupt dispositions. Because corrupt dispositions are in direct opposition to God, in terms of their nature and essence, corrupt dispositions are much more serious than doing something wrong. If you fail to know your corrupt dispositions and do not seek the truth to resolve them, then your corrupt dispositions will be very difficult to resolve. Because corrupt dispositions are inherently deep-rooted, if you are not someone who pursues the truth, you’ll have no way to resolve your corrupt dispositions, and consequently, you’ll have no way to realize a change in your life disposition. In that case, attaining salvation will not be a question of difficulty for you—it will be an impossibility. Therefore, one’s attitude and reaction after they do something wrong or commit a transgression directly hinge upon whether they possess qualities of humanity. It is very important to see this clearly.

Look at the people around you, and discern whether, after doing something wrong, they proactively admit and accept it, whether they feel remorseful and upset, and whether they turn themselves around after a period of time—that is, whether they make a turnaround in terms of their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. If they do not turn themselves around, then they are one hundred percent not human. If, through eating and drinking God’s words, the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, the influence of their environment, or the help of brothers and sisters—no matter through what means one turns themselves around—they have an honest attitude of accepting the truth in their heart, they justify themselves less and less—even to the point of stopping altogether—and, judging from their words and actions, they feel remorseful and upset about the mistake they previously made and want to find an opportunity to make up for it, then this person has hope of attaining salvation; this is a person who possesses qualities of humanity. However, some people do not take it to heart after making a mistake. They never speak of the mistake they made, nor do they admit their mistake, dissect themselves, or feel upset. They seem to have no intention of turning themselves around whatsoever; they are numb and dull-witted, spending all day in blithe giddiness, and do not feel at all that they have made a mistake. Even if they admit it, they just gloss over it lightly and leave it at that. Just like scoundrels, they admit their mistakes one moment and make mistakes the next, and keep admitting their mistakes as soon as they make them. It’s as if they’re joking or playing around; they do not take the matter seriously. They treat it as child’s play, as a procedure and a formality, rather than accepting what happened and changing from deep within their hearts. What kind of person is this? This is not a human being. They do not know how to conduct themselves, nor do they know what kind of path to choose for their self-conduct. They don’t understand these things; they view them as very simple and superficial. After doing something wrong, even if they don’t say anything at the time, they always think of ways to justify themselves and clear their name afterward. Using the opportunity presented by gatherings or times when everyone brings the matter up, they always want to let everyone know and understand the things they want to say in their own defense—what they were thinking and how they acted at the time, that their intentions were good, that their goals were right, that they did not do anything wrong. Not only do they feel no remorse for their mistakes and transgressions, but they also do not want to admit them, and even want to evade and be exempted from responsibility, hoping to salvage their image in everyone’s eyes. Although people like this sound nice when they speak, judging from their manifestations in all areas, they do not admit or accept the fact that they have made a mistake. Then would you say they will turn themselves around? They will not. They bring this matter up from time to time, and even have to recount it to everyone who doesn’t know about it. After recounting it, they think of every possible way to put on a good performance when doing other things to make up for their image which was damaged in that previous matter, so as to win people over. Once they have behaved well for a period of time and everyone has forgotten what they did before, they once again start thinking about exalting and bearing witness to themselves. They constantly tally up how many contributions they’ve made to God’s house, how many good things they’ve done for God’s house, and how many losses they’ve spared God’s house from. They simply have no intention of turning themselves around; they don’t have a sense of shame. When people who lack a sense of shame make mistakes and commit transgressions, not only do they not turn themselves around, but they become even worse. They think to themselves: “Who hasn’t made mistakes? That mistake I made before was basically nothing. And besides, I wasn’t the only one involved. But I can’t say that. I have to let everyone see that my performance is acceptable and that I have an attitude of contrition, and then I’ll do some good things to make up for it in order to divert everyone’s attention and win them over a bit—won’t that do the trick?” In their hearts, they do not believe that God scrutinizes everything. They want to do these things in front of others; they think God cannot see what they’re thinking in their hearts—to them, God scrutinizing people’s innermost hearts is just a doctrine. They do not know that God is scrutinizing, and they do not acknowledge or believe that God can scrutinize people’s innermost hearts, so everything they do is for others to see. Deep down, they are intransigent and resistant. They resist the truth, resist accepting the facts, resist admitting their mistakes, and resist turning themselves around even more. They do not turn themselves around—isn’t this indicative of a problem? No matter how great the mistakes they make or how great the transgressions they commit, they do not turn themselves around. They’re just like Paul, who opposed God and was directly struck down by God, yet still thought he was pretty good. This type of person thinks: “If I run around and expend myself, and gain lots of people and bear lots of fruit from preaching the gospel, making contributions to atone for my sins, then God ought to give me a crown. Crowns belong to people like me. If I don’t get a crown, who will? What’s the big deal with making a mistake? As long as, after I have opposed God, I’m willing to correct this, that’s fine. If I just preach the gospel more in the future, God will not remember my transgressions.” You see, what is their attitude toward God? What is their attitude toward the truth? This is an attitude that is devoid of humanity; this is the attitude of a devil. They never view God’s words, the truth, or the right path in life as things they should choose and pursue. They’ve never had any intention of turning themselves around, and they will absolutely never bow their head and confess their sins, nor will they ever admit their mistakes and concede defeat. The words “failure” and “mistake” don’t exist in their dictionary, let alone the word “transgression,” so this type of person will not repent. Then would you say this type of person has conscience and reason? Do they possess the qualities of uprightness, kindness, and feelings of shame in their humanity? (No.) They absolutely do not. No matter how great a transgression they have committed, even with the facts right before their eyes, they feel no guilt in their heart. This is frightful! If you are someone with a conscience, you will definitely feel guilty when you do something wrong and commit a transgression. If you truly make a major mistake and bring losses to God’s house, you will feel so much grief that you’ll wish you were dead, you’ll curse yourself, and you’ll feel that you’re unworthy of living before God; but people who are like Paul do not have this kind of remorse. In God’s house, we often see that some people feel constantly reproached in their hearts after telling a single lie or doing a single thing that violates the principles, and it’s only after they admit their mistake to others that they feel as if a heavy weight has been lifted off them. There are quite a few people like this. No matter what mistakes they make, they are able to reflect on themselves, and at the same time, they can take it as a warning and admonish themselves not to make the same mistake again. If a person cares about their pride, has a sense of shame, and on top of that has reason, when they do something wrong, they feel too ashamed to justify themselves and too ashamed to evade responsibility and shift the blame onto others. Instead, they’re willing to take responsibility, they feel guilty and upset from time to time, and then they turn themselves around. Some people feel disgraced when they do something wrong and commit transgressions, feeling too ashamed to face God and the brothers and sisters, whereas those without qualities of humanity do not have these feelings. You see, though both types of people are human beings, for some, if a rumor that they’ve been hooking up with someone is spread behind their backs—and this may be something they just briefly entertained in their heads—once they hear a few people talking about it, they feel completely disgraced and too ashamed to face anyone. People with a sense of shame will have such manifestations. Yet some people, even when they get caught in bed with someone, still say, “What did I do wrong? Wasn’t I just having a roll in the hay? What’s the big deal with that? Isn’t this a common occurrence nowadays?” You see, this is obviously different, isn’t it? If people with qualities of humanity hear others merely discussing them, they feel so ashamed and sad that they are unable to eat, feeling too ashamed to show their face and feeling that they cannot go on living, whereas some people do not care even when they get caught in bed with another person. People are just different from one another; if a person has no sense of shame, they are not human. Can people without a sense of shame gain the truth? People without conscience and reason do not love the truth. This is because they do not hate sin, wicked things, or negative things. In addition, they have no sense of shame when they do something wrong, and brazenly try to evade responsibility. As a result, this type of person will never proactively come before God to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, proactively admit their corruption, or willingly submit to the truth; they have no such need, they think it is unnecessary, and that they do not need it. However, for people who truly have conscience and reason, because their principles and boundaries for their self-conduct in all aspects make them feel that God’s words and God’s requirements of people are what they need, they are willing to practice according to God’s words; if they do not do so, they feel uneasy inside. If they hear and understand God’s requirements but do not act according to them, in one respect, they feel that the brothers and sisters have their eyes on them, and in another, more important respect, they feel that God is watching them in secret, and that they cannot escape His scrutiny no matter where they go. They think, “God knows whatever you say. If you do something wrong but you don’t admit it, don’t feel remorse, don’t take it to heart, don’t correct it, and don’t turn yourself around at all, how will God view this?” This question—“How will God view this?”—comes, in one respect, from their belief in and acknowledgment of God, and in another respect, it mainly comes from the function of their conscience and reason. So, when all is said and done, a person’s conscience and reason determine the needs of their humanity, the path they walk, and even more so their principles and attitudes toward all kinds of things. Of course, they also determine whether a person can embark on the path of pursuing the truth, and to an even greater extent they determine whether a person can ultimately attain salvation.

The content of today’s fellowship has all been about various trivial matters in life that involve one’s humanity, touching upon whether a person likes to take advantage of others in how they conduct themselves and deal with things, whether a person is warmhearted and willing to help and sympathize with others, whether they’re willing to give, and what their principles for treating others are, and what a person’s attitudes and viewpoints are when they do something wrong. Although these things are trivial matters in life, some very unremarkable manifestations of humanity in people’s daily lives, what they reflect behind the scenes are the qualities of a person’s humanity. Driven by conscience and reason, people with qualities of humanity will abide by basic moral boundaries, while people without qualities of humanity simply do not understand what the boundary of humanity and the principles of self-conduct are. So, whether a person has conscience and reason determines the path they walk. It could also be said that it determines a person’s future and destination—that is just how it is. Alright, let’s end our fellowship here for today. Goodbye!

May 18, 2024