Some people have been in contact with Me for a long time and are more familiar with Me, and although they do not treat Me like their buddy, or someone who is on equal footing with them, they don’t feel restrained at all, and as time passes, they become increasingly emboldened, and the boundaries in their hearts disappear progressively. They always think that they comprehend everything and they often tell Me the things that they understand, thinking that nobody but them understands anything. What disposition is this? (Arrogance.) This is arrogance. Those external things can be understood at a glance, and yet these people think themselves very clever, which is sickening. If a person’s arrogant disposition reaches a point where they lose all reason, it can lead them to do evil, and their arrogant disposition will then become a vicious disposition. If someone is smart, if their words and actions are always full of schemes, if they are a formidable character, and when you are with them, they always want to control and take charge of you, do you feel that this person is kindhearted or vicious? (Vicious.) You fear them, and think, “This person always wants to control me. I have to get away from them as soon as I can. If I don’t do what they say, they’ll think up a way to get revenge on me, and who knows what methods they’ll use to punish me.” You can sense that their disposition is vicious, can’t you? (Yes.) How can you sense it? (They always make people do things according to their demands and ideas.) Is it wrong for them to demand that others do things in a certain way? Is it necessarily wrong if other people make demands of you? Is this logic correct? Is this in accordance with the truth? (It is not.) Is it their methods or disposition that makes you feel uncomfortable? (Their disposition.) That’s right, their disposition makes you feel uncomfortable. It makes you feel that this disposition comes from Satan, that it does not accord with the truth, and that it is disturbing, controlling, and binding you. Not only does it make you feel uncomfortable, but it makes you feel afraid, and it makes you think that if you don’t do what they say, there is a possibility that they could punish you. The disposition of this kind of person is so vicious! They don’t just casually say something—they want to control you. They make such strong demands of you to do things, and demand that you do them a certain way, and this is laden with a certain type of disposition. They don’t merely demand that you do something, they want to control you. If they control you, you will become their puppet, a doll in their hands. If you listen to them completely in whatever you say, whatever you do, and how you do it, then they will be happy. When you sense this disposition, what do you feel in your heart? (I feel afraid.) And when you feel afraid, how do you define this disposition of theirs? Is it responsible, is it kindhearted, or is it vicious? You feel that it is vicious. When you perceive someone’s disposition to be vicious, do you feel pleased, or do you feel detestation, aversion, and fear? (Detestation, aversion, and fear.) These bad feelings arise in you. When you feel detestation, aversion, and fear, do you feel liberated and free, or do you feel bound? (Bound.) Where do these kinds of sentiments and feelings come from? They come from Satan. And what feelings do people enjoy from the things that come from God? (Liberation and freedom.) Your heart is very liberated and free. Even if you are pruned, reproached, disciplined, or judged and chastised, what is that sentiment and feeling like? (There is a sense of indebtedness and remorse in my heart, and the feeling that I have done something wrong, and then I am able to truly repent and head in the right direction. Although I feel some pain in my heart, my spirit enjoys God’s love and peace and joy.) The result that’s attained is positive, and this is God’s doing. What are the consequences of Satan’s actions? (It puts people in bondage, and they cannot find release. They suffer in their hearts and don’t know how to free themselves.) It constrains people, it imbues them with an inexplicable, strange fear, it binds and constrains their hearts. As soon as they try to act, it binds them hand and foot, and it scares them out of their wits. That is Satan’s doing, and this comes from Satan. What disposition is revealed when Satan and antichrists act in this way? It is a vicious disposition.

People who have a vicious disposition always want to control others. What does it mean to control people? Is it just forbidding you from saying certain words? Is it just forbidding you from thinking in a certain way? Certainly not—it’s not a problem of a word or a thought, it’s that their disposition is vicious. Based on the word “vicious,” what are the things that a person might do when they reveal this disposition? First of all, they will want to manipulate people. What does it mean to manipulate? It means that whatever happens in the church, they will want to intervene, interfere, and make arrangements. They will set a rule for you, and you must then keep to it. If you don’t, they will get angry. They want to manipulate you: If they tell you to go east, you have to go east, and if they tell you to go west, you have to go west. They have this desire, and then they act in this way—this is called manipulation. These people want to take charge of a person’s destiny, to take charge of and control a person’s life, mind, behavior, and preferences, so that this person’s mind, ideas, preferences, and wishes accord with what they say and what they want, rather than according with what God says—this is called manipulation. They always want to arrange for people to do this or that according to their own will, they do not act based on the principles, but based on their own intentions and preferences. They don’t care how you feel, they forcibly order you, and you have to do whatever they tell you to; if you don’t act according to their will, they’ll handle you and make you feel that you really have no choice and that nothing can be done. You know in your heart that you’re being duped and controlled, but you still don’t know how to discern it, much less dare to resist. Are their actions not the behavior of Satan? (Yes.) This is Satan’s behavior. Satan fools people like this and controls people like this, so a satanic disposition manifests itself in people as always trying to control and manipulate others. Regardless of whether or not they can achieve this objective of controlling and manipulating others, all people have this kind of disposition. What is this disposition? (Viciousness.) This is viciousness. Why is it called viciousness? What are clear revelations of this disposition? Does it carry a sense of coercion? (Yes.) It carries a sense of coercion, which means that no matter whether you listen or not, no matter how you feel, whether you enjoy it or understand it, they forcibly demand that you listen to them and do what they say, without any discussion, without giving you the opportunity to speak, and without giving you any freedom—does it not have this layer of meaning? (Yes.) This is called “ferociousness,” which is one aspect of viciousness.^[a] The other aspect of viciousness is “evil,”^[b] what does “evil” refer to? It refers to people using methods of coercive indoctrination and suppression to achieve the result of controlling you and making you heed their manipulation, and thereby satisfying themselves. This is called “evil.” In its actions, Satan wants to stop you from having free will, from learning to ponder and discern, and from understanding the truth so that your life can mature. Satan doesn’t let you do those things, and it wants to control you. Satan doesn’t let you seek the truth and understand God’s will, and it doesn’t bring you before God, instead it brings you before itself and makes you listen to it, as if it is the truth, and whatever it says is right, and as if it is the center of all things, so you have to listen to it and not try to analyze whether its words are right or wrong. The disposition of coercively and violently manipulating and controlling people’s behavior and minds is called viciousness. Do you not see these manifestations often in your daily lives? (Yes.) When you come into contact with them, do you realize that they are revelations of a vicious disposition? (I didn’t realize it before, but now I understand.) If other people do such things to you and reveal such a disposition, you can sense and discern it, but if you yourselves do such things and reveal such a disposition, will you realize that this is a problem? Will you realize that “This kind of disposition is vicious! Acting in this way is a very big deal! Always having the desire and ambition to dominate people, to forcibly control people is wrong, it is of Satan, it’s a satanic disposition. I can’t act like this, I have to seek out a way to treat and interact with people that conforms to the truth”? Will you come to this realization? (No.) If you are incapable of realizing this, and you often reveal this disposition, what will be the consequences? Do you know? (Brothers and sisters will be unwilling to spend time with me, and they will reject me.) That’s one of the consequences. A person like this cannot get along harmoniously with others, and people will have a great aversion toward them. They’re like a plague; as soon as they arrive, everyone has to leave, and why is this? No one wants to be controlled by them. People believe in God and are willing to follow God, and they are unwilling to follow Satan, and yet this kind of person always wants to control others, so how can people not reject them? First of all, they will often be rejected by the brothers and sisters and make people abhor them. If they cannot repent, such a person may not even be able to fulfill their duty properly, or for a long period of time, because they cannot work harmoniously with others. So, they will have to be eliminated. In addition to this, what are the other consequences? (The life of the church will be disturbed.) This is another consequence. That person will become a black sheep among the brothers and sisters, and they will disturb the life of the church. What will they lose out on personally because of this? (They will be unable to grow in life.) They will definitely be unable to grow in life, so what will be the ultimate result? They will certainly be punished and eliminated. Someone who is always rejected by their brothers and sisters, who never grows in life, and who always wants to control people, to make people listen to them, to take God’s place in their hearts, and is ultimately isolated, and who still doesn’t repent and never changes, how will God handle such a person? Tell Me, does God save human beings or non-human beings? (Human beings.) So how does God define a person like this? (As a non-human.) God defines such a person as a non-human, and God doesn’t save them. Then is their outcome not then set? Such a person has no hope, no value in living. Being defined by God as a non-human is so pitiful!

Pursuing life entry requires examining one’s words, deeds, thoughts, and ideas in all matters of daily life, grasping one’s own state, and then holding it up against God’s word for comparison, seeking the truth, and carrying out as much of it as one understands. In the process of practicing and experiencing, one also needs to constantly examine their own state, looking to see what other negative states and things that obstruct them from practicing the truth remain in their heart, and after digging them out, they need to pray to and beseech God to resolve these abnormal states—this will ensure that they can put the truths that they understand into practice. Constantly resolving negative states, notions, and imaginings is the only way of ensuring that one can put the truth into practice. No matter which aspect of the truth is being put into practice, there will be certain difficulties, and when the environment and context changes, new difficulties will arise. Furthermore, people’s various notions, imaginings, and adulterated intentions can prevent them from practicing the truth, so they must open up and fellowship with those who understand the truth often, and seek a path for entering into the truth reality, and seek the truth principles, in order to ensure that they can practice the truth in accordance with the truth principles in various environments and contexts, and in all sorts of matters. Entering into the truth reality can only be achieved by seeking and practicing entry in this way. If people don’t reflect on themselves often, they won’t be able to grasp their own states, and they won’t know where the difficulties lie in practicing the truth and how great the hindrances to it are, so they won’t be able to ensure that they can put the truth into practice. Only those who know themselves and have a grasp on their own states can rely on God and look to Him, and easily put the truth into practice. Those who do not know themselves always follow regulations based on their notions and imaginings, so the obstacles they face are numerous and their difficulties are great. In fact, the greatest difficulty that people face lies in their corrupt disposition, followed by not understanding the principles of practice. Once these two problems have been solved, it is easy for people to put the truth into practice. In order to become someone who submits to God, and to enter into the truth reality, one should first work on putting the truth into practice; if one is able to put several aspects of the truth into practice in the different matters they encounter each day, then they have already entered into the truth reality. If you constantly train in this way, and reflect on yourself and find a path of practice in God’s word, you will gradually be able to solve your own corrupt state, and you will have a path for practicing and entering into the truth. At the same time, you will gain a basic grasp of the principles for putting all aspects of the truth into practice. When a person has a true understanding of these states and of all aspects of the truth, their heart feels fulfilled, and they become increasingly enriched; they no longer appear numb and dull-witted, or poor and pitiful. Nowadays, most people can talk a bit about external matters, but when asked to express correct viewpoints on matters of right and wrong, and to talk of their understanding of these matters, as well as their methods for dealing with them, and paths of practice, most people lack a clear understanding and are completely blank inside. Some people may say, “You’re wrong, we’re not completely blank inside. We know that God has sovereignty over the rain, that God arranges for the trees to bud in the spring, that God’s ordained laws determine when the birds build their nests, and why various flowers are different and come in so many colors, and why the leaves of trees are green—these are the laws of God’s creation of all things, and they are ordained by God. We know that we should live according to God’s ordained laws, getting up in the morning, going to bed at night, and eating three meals a day, and we also know that there are laws of birth, aging, sickness, and death for human beings, and that no one can break them. Moreover, we don’t complain about God—we thank God for being able to live today, and we will likewise thank God if we were to die tomorrow. We’re not impoverished, numb, and dull-witted.” Is merely understanding these doctrines the same as understanding the truth? Is it entering into the truth reality? (No.) Understanding these things is only the first step, and they’re also things that people must understand, but what they need to understand most of all is how they should live, what they should live by, and what duties they should perform. If you can’t seek the truth to solve your corrupt dispositions, you will have no life entry, and you won’t gain the truth and life, and isn’t this kind of faith in God empty? This means that you are completely blank inside. Others say, “In the past, I was small in stature and didn’t know that everything that befalls me is orchestrated by God, and I didn’t know how to view or deal with these things, and when these things happened, I felt at a loss and dealt with them using human methods. Now I understand that the things that occur every day, no matter how minor, are all orchestrated by God, and that everything is ordained by God, and I will say, ‘God, I thank You for Your sovereignty, and I’m willing to put my fate in Your hands and at the mercy of Your orchestration; I don’t want to rebel, I want to listen to Your words, and I’ll certainly fulfill my duty well and give my loyalty and all my effort to it!’ I understand all this, so how could I still be poor and pitiful?” In fact, they are poor and pitiful. Why do I say this? (Because they lack knowledge of their satanic disposition and their nature essence; they can talk about so many spiritual doctrines, but when something happens, they still live according to their satanic disposition, and after years of believing in God, their life disposition hasn’t changed a bit.) What they understand is just a false spiritual cloak that they wear; they appear to have the likeness of a believer in God and the propriety of a saint, and they seem to have mastered some profound and spiritual theological theories, but what they understand is not the truth, but only a kind of theological theory. It can’t change the direction of a person’s life, or a person’s views on things or principles for worldly dealings, much less can it change a person’s corrupt disposition. These theological theories, these spiritual doctrines, absolutely cannot make a person’s relationship with God normal, or enable them to recognize their own corrupt dispositions, or make them cast off these corrupt dispositions, much less enable them, through experiencing God’s work, to reach the point of knowing and submitting to God. Therefore, these so-called spiritual words and doctrines bring not the slightest benefit to people, but only make them arrogant and conceited, and increasingly rebellious and resistant to God, for these rotten things have nothing to do with the truth and are all hypocrisy that should be thoroughly relinquished and renounced.

Right now, what is the crucial thing that believers in God need to pursue? (A change of disposition.) Can talking about a lot of doctrines change a person’s disposition? (No.) What exactly is a change in disposition? Does a change in disposition mean that a person’s character changes, and that they become incredibly easy-going, easy to get along with, and liked by everyone? Does a change in disposition mean that a person becomes silent and reluctant to speak or laugh? Does a change in disposition mean that a person becomes weather-beaten, seasoned and mature? (No.) So what is a change in disposition? What is the first thing that must be understood in order to change one’s disposition? First of all, one must understand what the basis for achieving a change of disposition is, that is, they must first recognize what man’s nature essence has become and what man’s disposition has become after being corrupted by Satan. This will enable them to recognize the truth of their own corruption. For instance, some people are especially deceitful, and this deceitfulness is their nature and also their disposition; some people are especially arrogant, and this arrogance is their nature and also their disposition. I will give an example. Say that when something befalls you, you have your own intentions. When these intentions appear, what is it that is in control? Firstly, it is certainly not your personality that is in control, nor is it your family background, and much less is it any other person. Your intentions are under the control of your disposition. So, first of all you must examine yourself to find out which disposition this is, whether it is arrogance, wickedness, viciousness, or intransigence. When you have understood it, examine yourself further to discover what states this disposition will cause. Say, for example, it is deceitfulness. When people engage in deceit, what intentions does this come from? What aim are they trying to achieve? Without exception, it is to achieve fame, gain, and status; in a nutshell, it is for the sake of their own interests. And what lies at the root of the pursuit of self-interest? It is that people see their own interests as being more important than everything else. They engage in deceit in order to benefit themselves, and their deceitful disposition is thereby revealed. How should this problem be resolved? First you must discern and know what interests are, what they bring to people exactly, and what the consequences of pursuing them are. If you can’t figure this out, then forsaking them will be easier said than done. If people don’t understand the truth, then nothing is harder for them to give up than their own interests. That’s because their life philosophies are “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost” and “Man dies for wealth as birds do for food.” Clearly, they live for their own interests. People think that without their own interests—that if they were to lose their interests—they wouldn’t be able to survive. It’s as if their survival is inseparable from their own interests, so most people are blind to all but their own interests. They see their own interests as higher than anything else, they live for their own interests, and getting them to give up their own interests is like asking them to give up their own lives. So, what should be done in such circumstances? People must accept the truth. Only when they understand the truth can they see through to the essence of their own interests; only then can they begin to relinquish and rebel against them, and be able to endure the pain of letting go of that which they love so much. And when you can do this and forsake your own interests, you will feel more at ease and more at peace in your heart, and in so doing you will have overcome the flesh. If you cling to your interests and refuse to give them up, and if you are not in the least bit accepting of the truth, in your heart, you may say, “What’s wrong with trying to benefit myself and refusing to suffer any losses? God hasn’t punished me, and what can people do to me?” No one can do anything to you, but with this faith in God, you will ultimately fail to gain the truth and life. This will be a huge loss for you—you will not be able to attain salvation. Is there any greater regret? This is what ultimately comes from pursuing your own interests. If people only pursue fame, gain, and status—if they only pursue their own interests—then they will never gain the truth and life, and ultimately, they will be the ones who suffer a loss. God saves those who pursue the truth. If you do not accept the truth, and if you are incapable of reflecting upon and knowing your own corrupt disposition, then you will not truly repent, and you will have no life entry. Accepting the truth and knowing yourself is the path to growth in life and to attaining salvation, it is the chance for you to come before God to accept His scrutiny, judgment, and chastisement, and to gain the truth and life. If you give up on pursuing the truth for the sake of pursuing fame, gain, and status and your own interests, this is tantamount to giving up on the opportunity to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, and to attain salvation. You are choosing fame, gain, and status and your own interests, but what you are giving up is the truth, and what you are losing is the life, and the chance to be saved. Which means more? If you choose your own interests and give up on the truth, is this not foolish? To put it in vernacular terms, this is suffering a great loss for the sake of a small advantage. Fame, gain, status, money, and interests are all temporary, they are all ephemeral, whereas the truth and life are eternal and immutable. If people resolve the corrupt dispositions that cause them to pursue fame, gain, and status, then they have hope of attaining salvation. Moreover, the truths that people gain are eternal; Satan cannot take these truths away from people, nor can anyone else. You relinquish your interests but what you gain are the truth and salvation; these results are yours, and you gain them for yourself. If people choose to practice the truth, then even though they have lost their interests, they are gaining God’s salvation and eternal life. Those people are the smartest ones. If people give up the truth for the sake of their interests, then they lose the life and God’s salvation; those people are the most foolish ones. What a person chooses—their interests or the truth—is incredibly revealing. Those who love the truth will choose the truth; they will choose to submit to God and to follow Him. They would rather abandon their own interests to pursue the truth. No matter how much they have to suffer, they are determined to stand firm in their testimony to satisfy God. This is the fundamental path for practicing the truth and entering the truth reality.

Corrupt dispositions are deeply rooted in all people, and no one is more corrupt than any other. People’s views on things, notions, imaginings, and degree of rebelliousness do not differ greatly and are largely the same. All people live under the power of Satan, and all of them live by satanic dispositions. What is equal is that God gives each person the same opportunity, God has the same attitude toward everyone, and God’s provision of the truth and the life is the same for everyone, so God’s standards and requirements for each person are also the same. If you think you’re irredeemable, that you’re more corrupt than others, and that God will not save you because you’ve revealed some corrupt dispositions that others have seen and are averse to, and you write yourself off as a lost cause and can’t work up any enthusiasm, and don’t have the heart to do anything, and think there’s no point in living, and that it would be better for you to die, what kind of attitude is this? This isn’t a manifestation of maturity and it isn’t what God wants to see; God doesn’t like this kind of person or this kind of attitude. In the process of pursuing the truth, people need to reverse many incorrect states, and they need to constantly correct their views on their pursuit, and constantly come before God and ask Him to scrutinize them, and ask Him to enlighten and guide them. God will give help and grace to them, and God will lead each and every person with enormous patience, kindness, mercy, and forgiveness. So, you should not doubt people’s correct attitudes and desire to pursue the truth and to yearn for justice and light, and you should also not doubt that God’s essence is that of saving mankind and of mercy and forgiveness toward mankind. You must remember these words! What is the meaning of telling people these words? It means that they should not give up pursuing the truth at any time, that they should not write themselves off as lost causes, or be negative. When you fall into negativity, you have to think to yourself: Why has God expressed so many truths? It is to supply even more people in understanding the truth, and in solving their own real problems. Not only do you directly gain a lot from God’s words, but you also gain a lot when you fellowship on the truth with your brothers and sisters—isn’t that the same as God supplying you at that time? If you think so, and you can sense this, then why do you want to give up? Why do complaints arise in your heart? Why do you doubt God’s sincerity in saving you? People can be foolish, small in stature, and weak, but they cannot lose faith when it comes to salvation. I hope that one day when I talk to you and interact with you again, I will see that you do not appear poor and pitiful, or numb and dull-witted, but that you have obtained and gained something. You’ve heard a lot, you’ve seen a lot, you’ve understood a lot, but whether you’ve obtained the truth or not, and whether you can be made perfect or not, depends on your pursuit. It is a fact that if someone pursues it, they can obtain it, but if they don’t listen and pursue it, they’ll never receive it. As long as you truly pursue the truth, and pursue love for God and a change of disposition as Peter did, you will win God’s approval; that is certain.

February 6, 2018

Footnotes:

a. The original text does not contain the phrase “which is one aspect of viciousness.”

b. The original text does not contain the phrase “The other aspect of viciousness is ‘evil.’”