Only Knowledge of the Six Kinds of Corrupt Dispositions Is True Self-Knowledge (Part Three)

You should also be familiar with the sixth kind of corrupt disposition: wickedness. Let us start with when people preach the gospel. Some people reveal a wicked disposition when they preach the gospel. They do not preach according to principle, nor do they know what kind of people love the truth and are possessed of humanity; they only ever look for a member of the opposite sex that they click with, who they like and get on with. They don’t preach to people they don’t like or who they don’t get on with. It doesn’t matter whether a person aligns with the principles of spreading the gospel—if it’s someone they’re interested in, they won’t give up on them. Other people might tell them that the person does not fit with the principles for spreading the gospel, but they still insist on preaching to them. There is a disposition inside them controlling their actions, making them satisfy their lascivious desires and achieve their own aims under the banner of spreading the gospel. This is nothing short of a wicked disposition. There are even those who know full well that they are wrong in doing this, and that doing so offends God and violates His administrative decrees—yet they do not stop. This is a kind of disposition, is it not? (Yes.) This is one of the manifestations of a wicked disposition, but not only should the revelation of lascivious desires be described as wicked; the scope of wickedness is broader than just the lust of the flesh. Have a think: What other manifestations of a wicked disposition are there? Since it is a disposition, it is more than just a way of acting, it involves many different states, manifestations and revelations, that is what defines it as a disposition. (Following along with worldly trends, not letting go of things related to the trends of the world.) Not letting go of wicked trends is one kind. Being attached to the wicked trends of the world, chasing after them, being preoccupied with them, pursuing them with great passion. There are some who never let go of these things regardless of how the truth is fellowshipped, no matter how they are pruned; it even reaches the point of infatuation. This is wickedness. So when people follow along with wicked trends, what manifestations indicate that they have a wicked disposition? Why do they love these things? What is involved in these wicked worldly trends that brings them psychological satisfaction, that satisfies their needs, and satisfies their predilections and desires? Say, for example, they like movie stars: What is it about these movie stars that drives this obsession and makes them follow them? It is the panache, flair, looks, and celebrity of these people, as well as the kind of extravagant life that they long for. All of these things they follow along with—are they all wicked? (Yes.) Why is it said that they are wicked? (Because they run counter to the truth and positive things, and they are not in line with what God asks.) This is doctrine. Have a go at analyzing these celebrities and movie stars: their lifestyle, their demeanor, even the public persona and outfits that everyone worships so much. Why do they lead such a life? And why do they inspire others to follow them? They put a lot of effort into all this. They have makeup artists and personal stylists to create this image of theirs. So what is their aim in creating this image of themselves? To attract people, to mislead them, to make them follow them—and to benefit from this. And so, whether people worship these movie stars’ fame, or their looks, or their lives, these are truly stupid and absurd actions. If a person were to be possessed of rationality, how would they worship devils? Devils are things which mislead, trick, and harm people. Devils do not believe in God and they have no acceptance of the truth whatsoever. Devils all follow Satan. What are the goals of those who follow and worship devils and Satan? They want to emulate these devils, to model themselves on them, in the hope that one day they will become a devil, just as beautiful and sexy as these devils and celebrities. They like to enjoy this feeling. No matter which celebrity or eminent individual a person worships, the ultimate goal of these stars is the same—to mislead people, to attract people, and to make people worship and follow them. Is this not a wicked disposition? This is a wicked disposition, and it could not be more obvious.

Wicked dispositions are also manifested in another way. Some people see that gatherings in the house of God always involve reading God’s word, fellowshipping the truth, and discussions of self-knowledge, the proper performance of duty, how to act in accordance with principles, how to fear God and shun evil, how to understand and practice the truth, and various other aspects of the truth. Having listened for all these years, they begin to get more fed up the more they listen, and they begin to complain, saying, “Isn’t the purpose of faith in God to gain blessings? Why are we always talking about the truth and fellowshipping on God’s word? Does it ever end? I’m sick of it!” But they don’t want to return to the secular world. They think to themselves, “Faith in God is so dull, it’s boring—how can I make it a little more interesting? I must find something interesting,” so they go around asking, “How many believers in God are there in the church? How many leaders and workers are there? How many have been replaced? How many are young university students and graduate students? Does anyone know the number?” They treat these things and this data as the truth. What disposition is this? This is wickedness, commonly referred to as “vileness.” They’ve heard so many truths, but not one of them has inspired sufficient attention or focus in them. As soon as someone has some gossip or internal news, their ears immediately prick up, they’re afraid of missing it. This is vileness, is it not? (Yes.) What characterizes vile people? They don’t have the slightest interest in the truth. They are only interested in external matters, and tirelessly and rapaciously seek out gossip and things that have no bearing on their life entry or on the truth. They think that figuring out this stuff, all this information, and holding it all in their head, means that they possess the truth reality, that they are well and truly a member of God’s house, that they will surely be approved of by God and able to enter God’s kingdom. Do you think that is really the case? (No.) You can see through this, but many new believers in God can’t. They are fixated on this information, they think knowing these things makes them a member of God’s house—but in fact, God loathes such people the most, they are the most vain, superficial, and ignorant of all people. God has become flesh in the last days to do the work of judging and purifying people, the effect of which is to give people the truth as life. But if people do not focus on eating and drinking of God’s word and are always trying to find out gossip and trying to find out more about the internal affairs of the church, are they pursuing the truth? Are they people that do proper work? To Me, these are wicked people. They are not believers. People like this could also be called vile. They only ever focus on hearsay. This satisfies their curiosity, but they are loathed by God. These are not people who truly believe in God, much less people who pursue the truth. They are, quite simply, the servants of Satan, who come to disturb the work of the church. More than that, people who are always examining and investigating God are the servants and minions of the great red dragon. God hates and is disgusted by these people most of all. If you believe in God, why do you not trust in God? When you examine and investigate God, are you searching for the truth? Does searching for the truth bear any relation to the family into which Christ was born or the environment in which He grew up? People who are always putting God under the microscope—are they not disgusting? If you constantly have notions about things to do with Christ’s humanity, you should spend more time pursuing the knowledge of God’s words; only when you understand the truth will you be able to resolve the problem of your notions. Will examining Christ’s family background or the circumstances of His birth allow you to know God? Will this allow you to discover the divine essence of Christ? Absolutely not. People who truly believe in God devote themselves to God’s words and the truth, only this is conducive to knowing the divine essence of Christ. But why are those who constantly scrutinize God constantly engaging in vileness? These trashy people who lack spiritual understanding should hurry up and get out of God’s house! So many truths have been expressed, so much has been fellowshipped during gatherings and sermons—why must you still scrutinize God? What does it mean that you are always scrutinizing God? That you are extremely wicked! What’s more, there are even those who think that learning all this trivial information gives them capital, and they go around showing it off to people. And what happens in the end? They are loathsome and disgusting to God. Are they even human? Are they not living demons? How are they people who believe in God? They devote all their thoughts to the way of wickedness and crookedness. It’s as if they think that the more hearsay they know, the more they are a member of God’s house, and the more they understand the truth. People like this are utterly absurd. In the house of God, no one is more disgusting than them.

Some people constantly focus on unrealistic things in their faith. For example, some people are always examining what the kingdom is like, where the third heaven is, what the underworld is like, and where hell is. They are always examining mysteries instead of focusing on life entry. This is vileness, it is wickedness. No matter how many sermons and fellowship they hear, there are those who still don’t understand just what the truth is, nor are they aware of how they should put it into practice. Whenever they have time, they probe into God’s word, poring over the wording, searching for some kind of sensation, and they are also always scrutinizing whether God’s words have been fulfilled. If they have, they believe that this is the work of God, and if they haven’t, they deny that this is the work of God. Are they not absurd? Is this not vileness? Are people always able to see when God’s words have been fulfilled? People are not necessarily able to see when some of God’s words have been fulfilled. Some of His words, to people, don’t seem to have been fulfilled, but to God they have been. People have no way of seeing these things clearly; they’re lucky if they can comprehend even 20 percent. Some people spend the whole time studying God’s word but pay no attention to practicing the truth or entering reality. Is this not disregarding one’s proper duties? They have heard so many truths yet still do not understand them, and they are constantly searching for proof of prophecies being fulfilled, treating this as their life and motivation. For example, when some people pray, they say things like, “God, if You wish me to do this, make me wake up at six o’clock tomorrow morning; if You do not, let me sleep until seven.” This is often the way they act, they use this as a principle of theirs, practicing it as if it were the truth. This is called vileness. In their actions they always rely on feelings, focusing on the supernatural, relying on hearsay, and other unrealistic things; they are constantly focusing their energy on vile things. This is wickedness. No matter how you fellowship the truth with them, they think the truth has no use, and is not as accurate as relying on feelings or validation through comparison. This is vileness. They don’t believe that God holds sovereignty over and arranges people’s fates, and though they say they acknowledge that God’s words are the truth, in their hearts they still do not accept the truth, they never see things through God’s words. If someone well-known says something, they believe it is the truth, and go along with it. If a fortune-teller or face-reader tells them they will be promoted to manager next year, they believe them. Is this not vileness? They believe in divination, fortune telling, and supernatural things, and these vile things alone. It’s just like how some people say, “I understand all the truths, but I just can’t put them into practice. I don’t know what the problem is.” Now we have the answer to this question: They are vile. It does not matter how you fellowship the truth to such people, it will not get through to them, nor will you see any effect. These people are not only averse to the truth, but also possessed of a wicked disposition. What’s the most important manifestation of being averse to the truth? It’s that a person understands the truth, but they do not put it into practice. They do not want to hear it, they resist and resent it. They know that the truth is right and good, but they don’t put it into practice, they are not willing to take this path, nor do they wish to suffer or pay a price, much less suffer any losses. Wicked people are not like this. They think that wicked things are the truth, that that is the right way, and they chase after these things, and try to emulate them, and constantly focus their energy on them. God’s house often fellowships the principles of prayer: People can pray whenever or wherever they wish to, without any time constraints, they simply need to come before God, speak the words in their heart, and seek the truth. These words should be heard often and they should be understood easily, but how do wicked people put this into practice? Every morning during the dawn chorus, they unfailingly face south, get down on both knees, and put both hands on the ground, prostrating themselves in prayer before God as much as they can. They think that only at such times will God be able to hear their prayer, because this is when God isn’t busy, He has time, and so He listens. Isn’t this ridiculous? Isn’t it wicked? There are others who say that the most effective time to pray is at one or two o’clock at night, when all is quiet. Why do they say this? They, too, have their reasons. They say that at that time everyone is asleep; God only has time to deal with their affairs when He is not busy. Isn’t this absurd? Isn’t it wicked? No matter how you fellowship the truth with them, they refuse to accept it. They are the most absurd people and they are incapable of understanding the truth. There are others who say, “When people believe in God, they must do good things and be kind, and they must not kill or eat meat. To eat meat is to kill, to sin, and God does not want people who do this.” Do these words have any basis? Has God ever said any such thing? (No.) So who said this? This was said by an unbeliever, by an absurd type. In fact, the people who say this don’t necessarily not eat meat—or it may be that they don’t eat it in front of other people, but they eat a lot of it in private. These people are really good at pretending, and spread fallacies everywhere they go. This is wickedness. Such people are so vile. They treat these heresies and fallacies as commandments and regulations, and they even practice and stick to them as if they were the truth, or God’s demands, energetically and shamelessly teaching others to do the same. Why do I say that these people’s way of doing things, their way of phrasing things, and the means by which they pursue, are wicked? (Because these have no connection to the truth.) So anything not connected to the truth is wicked? Such an understanding is highly problematic. There are things in people’s everyday lives that are unconnected to the truth. Does it not twist the facts to say that they are wicked? That which is not condemned by God cannot be said to be wicked, only that which is condemned by God can be described as wicked. It would be a major mistake to define everything unconnected to the truth as wicked. The details of life’s necessities—eating, sleeping, drinking, resting, for example—are these connected to the truth? Are these things wicked? These are all normal needs, they are part of people’s daily regimen, they are not wicked. So why were the actions I just mentioned classed as wicked? Because those ways of doing things take people onto a path that was wrong and ludicrous—it takes them onto the path of religion. Their practicing in this way and their teaching others to act in this way takes people onto the path of wickedness. This is an inevitable result. When people worship wicked worldly trends and walk the path of wickedness, how do they end up? They become depraved, they lose reason, they have no shame, and ultimately, they are completely carried away by the trends of the world, and they walk to destruction, no different from the unbelievers. Some people not only regard these heresies and fallacies as regulations to be followed or commandments to be obeyed, but they also hold onto them as the truth. This is an absurd person utterly lacking spiritual understanding. Ultimately, they can only be eliminated. Could the Holy Spirit work in anyone whose comprehension of the truth is so distorted? (No.) The Holy Spirit does not work in these people, in which case the evil spirits do, because the path these people walk is the path of wickedness, they are hastening along the path of the evil spirits—which is precisely what these evil spirits need. And the result? These people are possessed by evil spirits. Before, I said that “Devils and Satan, like roaring lions, stalk abroad, searching for people to devour.” When people walk the crooked and wicked path, they will inevitably be snatched away by the evil spirits. There is no need for God to give you to the evil spirits. If you do not pursue the truth, you will not be protected, and God will not be with you. God will not care about you if He cannot gain you, and the evil spirits will take this opportunity to slide in and possess you. This is the consequence, is it not? All those who are averse to the truth and who constantly condemn the work of God’s incarnation, and who go along with worldly trends, who blatantly misinterpret God’s words and the Bible, who spread heresies and fallacies—all these things they do are born of wicked dispositions. Some people pursue spirituality, and because their understanding is distorted, they concoct many fallacies to mislead people, and they become utopians and theorists, which is also committing vileness. They are wicked people. Like the Pharisees, everything they did was hypocritical, they didn’t practice the truth and misled people into looking up to them and worshiping them. When the Lord Jesus appeared to work, they even crucified Him. This was wicked and in the end, they were cursed by God. Today, the religious world not only casts judgment on and condemns the appearance and work of God but, what is most loathsome is that it also stands on the side of the great red dragon, joining with wicked forces in persecuting God’s chosen ones and standing as an enemy of God in tandem. This is wicked. The religious community has never hated the wicked forces of Satan, it does not hate the wickedness of the country of the great red dragon, but instead prays for and blesses them. This is wicked. Any behavior that is linked to or cooperating with Satan and evil spirits can collectively be called wicked. Those ways of practicing that are truly deviant, evil, extreme, and immoderate—these are wicked, too. Some people constantly misunderstand God, and these misunderstandings cannot be cleared up no matter how the truth is fellowshipped to them. They are always preaching their own reasoning, insisting on their own fallacies. And is there not a little wickedness to this, too? Some people have notions about God; after the truth has been fellowshipped to them multiple times, they say they understand, and that their notions have been cleared up, yet afterward they still stick to their notions, are always negative, and cling tightly to their own excuses. This is wicked, is it not? This, too, is a kind of wickedness. In sum, anyone who has done something unreasonable and refuses to accept it no matter how the truth is fellowshipped to them is vile, and is somewhat wicked. It is not easy for these people who have wicked dispositions to be saved by God, because they cannot accept the truth and refuse to let go of their wicked fallacies; there really is nothing that can be done for them.

We have just fellowshipped a total of six dispositions: intransigence, arrogance, deceitfulness, being averse to the truth, viciousness, and wickedness. Has dissecting these six dispositions given you a new knowledge and understanding of changes in disposition? Just what are changes in disposition? Does this mean getting rid of a certain flaw, rectifying a certain behavior, or changing a certain character trait? Absolutely not. So are you now a little clearer about just what disposition refers to? Can these six dispositions be described as the corrupt dispositions of man, as the nature essence of man? (Yes.) Are these six dispositions positive things or negative things? (Negative things.) They are, quite simply, the corrupt dispositions of man, they are the main facets of man’s corrupt dispositions. Not one of these corrupt dispositions is not hostile to God and the truth, and not one of them is something positive. Therefore, these six dispositions are six aspects, which are collectively referred to as corrupt disposition. Corrupt dispositions are the nature essence of man. How can “essence” be explained? Essence refers to the nature of man. The nature of man means the things that man relies on for their existence, the things that govern how they live. People live by their natures. No matter what you live out, what your goals and direction are, what rules you live by, your nature essence does not change—this is inarguable. And so, when you do not possess the truth, and you live by relying on these corrupt dispositions, everything you live out is against God, contrary to the truth, and at odds with God’s will. You should understand this now: Can people attain salvation if their dispositions do not change? (No.) That would be impossible. So, if people’s dispositions do not change, can they be compatible with God? (No.) It would be extremely difficult. When it comes to these six dispositions, regardless of which one it is, and irrespective of the extent to what is manifested or revealed in you, if you are not able to free yourself from the constraints of these corrupt dispositions, then regardless of what the motives or aims of your actions are, and whether you are acting deliberately or not, the nature of all you do will inevitably be against God, and will inevitably be condemned by God—which is an extremely serious consequence. Is being condemned by God what everyone who believes in God ultimately wishes for? (No.) And since this is not an outcome that people wish for, what is most important for them to do? They should know their own corrupt disposition and corrupt essence, understand the truth, and then they should accept the truth—gradually, bit-by-bit, casting off these corrupt dispositions in the settings created for them by God, and attaining compatibility with God and the truth. This is the path to changes in one’s disposition.

Previously, there were those who viewed changing their dispositions as very easy and straightforward. They believed that “As long as I force myself to not say things in opposition to God or do anything that will disrupt or disturb the work of the church, and as long as I have the right perspective, my heart is right, and I understand a little more of the truth, put in more effort, suffer more, and pay more of a price, then after a few years I will definitely be able to achieve a change in my disposition.” Do these words hold water? (No.) Where is their mistake? (They have no knowledge of their corrupt disposition.) What is the aim of knowing your corrupt disposition? (To change.) And what is the outcome of this change? To gain the truth. Measuring whether there has been a change in your disposition requires looking at whether your actions are congruent with the truth or in violation of the truth, whether they are born of human will or of satisfying the requirements of God. To see the extent to which your disposition has changed is to look at whether you can reflect on yourself, and rebel against your flesh, motives, ambitions, and desires, when you reveal a corrupt disposition, and whether you can practice in accordance with the truth when you do this. The extent of your ability to practice in accordance with the truth and God’s words and whether your practice is completely in line with the standards of the truth prove how great the change in your disposition has been. This is proportional. Take the intransigent disposition, for example: At the start, when there hadn’t been any change in your disposition, you did not understand the truth, nor were you aware that you had an intransigent disposition, and when you heard the truth, you thought to yourself, “How can the truth always lay bare people’s scars?” After hearing it, you felt that God’s words were right, but if, after one or two years, you have not taken any of them to heart, if you have not accepted any of them, then this is intransigence, is it not? If, after two or three years, there has been no acceptance, if there has been no change in the state within you, and though you have not fallen behind in performing your duty, and you have suffered much, your intransigent state has not been resolved at all or lessened in the slightest, then has there been any change in this aspect of your disposition? (No.) Then why are you running about and working? Regardless of the reason you do so, you are running about and working blindly, because you have run about this much and worked this much, and yet there has not been the slightest change in your disposition. Until a day comes when you suddenly think to yourself, “How is it that I am unable to speak even a single word of testimony? My life disposition hasn’t changed at all.” At this time you feel just how serious this problem is, and you think to yourself, “I am truly rebellious and intransigent! I am not a person who pursues the truth! I hold no place for God within my heart! How can this be called faith in God? I have believed in God for several years yet still do not live out the image of man, nor is my heart close to God! I have not taken God’s words to heart, either; nor do I have any sense of reproach or inclination to repent when I do something wrong—is this not intransigence? Am I not a son of rebellion?” You feel troubled. And what does it mean that you feel troubled? It means that you wish to repent. You are aware of your own intransigence and rebelliousness. And at this time, your disposition begins to change. Without realizing it, there are certain thoughts and desires within your consciousness that you want to change, and you no longer find yourself at an impasse with God. You find yourself wanting to improve your relationship with God, to no longer be so intransigent, to be able to put God’s words into practice in your everyday life, to practice them as the truth principles—you have this consciousness. It is good that you are conscious of these things, but does it mean you will be able to change straight away? (No.) You must go through several years of experience, during which time you will have an ever clearer awareness in your heart, and you will have a powerful need, and in your heart you will think to yourself, “This isn’t right—I must stop wasting my time. I must pursue the truth, I must do something proper. In the past I’ve been neglecting my proper duties, only thinking about material things like food and clothing, and I was only pursuing fame and gain. As a result, I’ve gained no truth at all. I regret this and I must repent!” At this point, you embark on the right path of faith in God. So long as people begin to focus on practicing the truth, does this not take them a step closer to changes in their disposition? No matter how long you have believed in God, if you can sense your own turbidity—that you have always just been drifting along, and that after several years of just drifting along, you have gained nothing, and you still feel empty—and if this makes you feel uncomfortable, and you begin to reflect on yourself, and you feel that not pursuing the truth is wasting time, then at such a time you will realize that God’s words of exhortations are His love for man, and you will hate yourself for not listening to God’s words and for being so lacking in conscience and reason. You will feel regret, and then you will want to conduct yourself anew, and to truly live before God, and you will say to yourself, “I cannot hurt God anymore. God has spoken so much, and every word has been for the benefit of man, and to point man on the right way. God is so lovely, and so worthy of man’s love!” This is the beginning of people’s transformation. It is such a good thing to have this appreciation! If you are so numb that you don’t even know these things, then you are in trouble, aren’t you? Today people realize that the key to faith in God is reading more of God’s words, that understanding the truth is most important of all, that understanding the truth and knowing oneself is crucial, and that only being able to practice the truth and make the truth their reality is entering the right track of faith in God. So how many years of experience do you think you must have in order to have this knowledge and feeling in your heart? People who are shrewd, who are insightful, who have a strong desire for God—such people may be able to turn themselves around in one or two years and begin entry. But people who are muddleheaded, who are numb and dull-witted, who lack insight—will pass three or five years in a daze, unaware that they haven’t gained anything. If they perform their duties with enthusiasm, they may pass more than ten years in a daze and still make no obvious gains or be able to speak on their experiential testimonies. It is not until they are sent away or eliminated that they finally wake up and think to themselves, “I really don’t have any truth reality. I really haven’t been a person who pursues the truth!” Is their awakening not a little late by this point? Some people drift along in a daze, constantly hoping for the day of God to come but not pursuing the truth at all. As a result, more than ten years pass without them making any gains or being able to share any testimony. It is only once they are harshly pruned and warned that they finally feel God’s words pierce their heart. How intransigent their hearts are! How is it okay for them not to be pruned and punished? How is it okay for them not to be severely disciplined? What must be done to make them aware, for them to react? Those who don’t pursue the truth won’t shed a tear until they see the coffin. It is only once they’ve done a great deal of demonic and evil things that realization comes to them and they say to themselves, “Is my faith in God over? Does God not want me anymore? Have I been condemned?” They begin to reflect. When they are negative, they feel that all these years of believing in God have been a waste, and they are full of resentment, and are inclined to give up on themselves as hopeless. But when they come to their senses, they realize that “Am I not just hurting myself? I must get back on my feet. I was told I do not love the truth. Why was I told this? How do I not love the truth? Oh no! Not only do I not love the truth, but I can’t even put the truths I do understand into practice! This is a manifestation of being averse to the truth!” Thinking this, they feel somewhat remorseful, and somewhat afraid, too: “If I carry on like this, I will surely be punished. No, I must quickly repent—God’s disposition must not be offended.” At this time, is their level of intransigence reduced? It is like a needle has pierced their heart; they feel something. And when you have this feeling, your heart is stirred, and you start to feel interested in the truth. Why do you have this interest? Because you need the truth. Without the truth, when you are pruned, you cannot submit to it or accept the truth, and you cannot stand firm when you are tested. If you were to become a leader, would you be able to refrain from being a false leader and from walking the path of an antichrist? You would not. Can you overcome having status and being praised by others? Can you overcome the situations you are put in, and the tests you are given? You know and understand yourself all too well, and you will say, “If I do not understand the truth, I cannot overcome all of this—I am trash, I am capable of nothing.” What kind of mentality is this? This is needing the truth. When you are in need, when you are at your most helpless, you will only want to depend on the truth. You will feel that nobody else can be depended on, and that only depending on the truth can solve your problems, and allow you to make it through prunings, trials, and temptations, and help you make it through any situation. And the more you depend on the truth, the more you will feel that the truth is good, useful, and of the greatest help to you, and that it can solve all your difficulties. At such times, you will begin to yearn for the truth. When people reach this point, does their corrupt disposition start to diminish or change little by little? From when they begin to understand and accept the truth, the way people see things begins to change, following which their dispositions also begin to change. This is a slow process. In the early stages, people are not able to perceive these tiny changes; but when they truly understand and are able to practice the truth, there begin to be essential changes, and they are able to feel such changes. From the point when people begin to have a longing and hunger for the truth, and wish to seek the truth, to the point when something happens to them and, based on their understanding of the truth, they are able to put the truth into practice and satisfy God’s will, and not act according to their own will, and are able to overcome their motives, and overcome their own arrogant, rebellious, intransigent, and betraying heart, then bit-by-bit, does the truth not become their life? And when the truth becomes your life, the arrogant, rebellious, intransigent, and betraying dispositions within you cease to be your life, and can control you no more. And what guides your comportment at this time? The words of God. When the words of God have become your life, has there been a change? (Yes.) And afterward, the more you change, the better things get. This is the process by which people’s dispositions change, and achieving this effect takes a long time.

Just how long changes in disposition take depends on the person; there is no set time frame for this. If it is someone who loves and pursues the truth, then changes in their disposition will be seen in seven, eight, or ten years. If they are of average caliber, and also willing to pursue the truth, it may take around fifteen or twenty years before changes are seen in their disposition. What’s key is the person’s determination to pursue the truth and how insightful they are, these are the determining factors. Every kind of corrupt disposition exists in every person to varying degrees, they are all the nature of man, and they are all deeply rooted. However, by pursuing and practicing the truth, and by accepting God’s judgment, chastisement, pruning, trials, and refinement, varying degrees of change can be achieved in every disposition. Some people say, “If that’s the case, are changes in disposition not just a matter of time? When the time comes, I will know what changes in disposition are, and I will be capable of entry.” Is this the case? (No.) Absolutely not. If time is all it takes to achieve changes in disposition, then all those people who have believed in God their whole lives should have achieved changes in their disposition as a matter of course. But is this how things really are? Have these people gained the truth? Have they achieved changes in their disposition? They have not. People who believe in God are as numerous as hairs on an ox, but those whose dispositions have changed are as rare as unicorns. For people’s dispositions to truly change, they must rely on pursuing the truth to achieve this; they are made perfect by relying on the work of the Holy Spirit. Changes in disposition are achieved through pursuing the truth. On the one hand, people must pay a price, they must pay a price when it comes to pursuing the truth, and no amount of hardship in order to gain the truth is too small. In addition, they must be validated by God as the right kind of person, a person who is kindhearted, and a person who truly loves God, for the Holy Spirit to work and make them perfect. People’s cooperation is indispensable but gaining the work of the Holy Spirit is even more crucial. If people do not pursue or love the truth, if they never know to heed God’s will, much less to love God, if they have no sense of burden toward the work of the church, and no love toward others—and if, in particular, they have no loyalty when performing their duty—then they are not beloved of God, and can never be made perfect by God. So people must not make blind assertions, but must understand God’s will. Regardless of what God says or does, they must be able to submit, and to protect the work of the church, their hearts must be right, and only then can the Holy Spirit work. If people wish to pursue being perfected by God, then they must have a heart that loves God, a heart that submits to God, a heart that fears God, and when performing their duty they must be loyal to God, and bring satisfaction to God. Only then will they be able to gain the work of the Holy Spirit. When people have the work of the Holy Spirit, they are enlightened when they read God’s words, they have a path to practice the truth and principles in the performance of their duty, God guides them when they are in trouble, and their hearts are joyous and at peace no matter how much they suffer. As they undergo the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this way for ten or twenty years, without even noticing it, they will change. The sooner the change, the sooner the peace; the sooner the change, the sooner they can become happy. Only when people’s dispositions change can they find true peace and joy, only then can they lead truly happy lives. Those who do not pursue the truth have no spiritual peace or joy, their days grow ever more empty, and ever harder to bear. For those who believe in God but do not pursue the truth, their days are filled with pain and suffering. And so, when people believe in God, nothing is more important than gaining the truth. To gain the truth is to gain the life, and the earlier the truth is gained, the better. Without the truth, people’s lives are empty. To gain the truth is to find peace and joy, to be able to live before God, to be enlightened, guided, and led by the Holy Spirit’s work, there will be more and more light in their heart, and their faith in God will grow ever greater. So now, is the truth relating to changes in disposition clearer to you? (Yes, we understand now.) If this is truly clear to you, then you have a path, and you know how to be effective in pursuing the truth.

April 28, 2017

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