Some people believe in God for many years, listen to many sermons, and understand many doctrines, so they think they have obtained the true way, obtained God, and they think that they have obtained life; but in ordinary matters, they still strive for fame and gain. They even hurt and exclude others, totally exposing their selfish and despicable ugliness. Why can they not accept the truth or practice it at all? They only know how to speak some words and doctrines, and they mistakenly think they have obtained life. Is this not the pitiable state of man? They cannot even set aside their own interests, nor can they suffer this small amount; so what can they suffer? From beginning to end, they see their own interests and selfish desires as more important than anything else. They are this way when they start believing in God, never having changed up to the present; they still feel that they are good. Why is this? They think they have believed in God for many years, doing their duty up to the present; they think that they have suffered somewhat, and that their contributions are significant, that they are superior to others in every way—in particular, these people who have listened to many years of sermons have a feeling of superiority, and they mistakenly think that they have obtained God. The oaths they swear and the determination they express are exactly the same as when they first began to believe in God. Neither their determination nor oaths have changed at all, nor have their enthusiasm or will. The energy they expend for God is still great, but there are also things that have not changed, that is, their arrogant, rebellious, deceitful, intransigent dispositions have not changed at all. So I wonder, what have these people been doing all these years? They believe in God and do their duties from dawn to dusk each day, expending most of their lifetime, so they think that they have already obtained God and the true way. Is this the fact of the matter? Have their feelings been confirmed by God? What does God want to see? Is this not an issue worth pondering? If there is a clear conflict between a person’s feeling that they are good and the way that God looks at them, which one has the problem? (The person.) That is for certain, because God cannot be mistaken. The standard that God requires of man has never changed; rather, man is constantly misinterpreting it, constantly understanding it in a way that is beneficial to them. Some people think: “These people have believed in God for most of their lifetimes. If God really does not approve of them, are they not so pitiable?” Are such people worth pitying, worth sympathizing with? If you say they are not worth pitying, not worth sympathizing with, is this not too cruel to them? No. Why do I say this? (Because God has already given people enough opportunities. They themselves do not pursue, and the blisters on their feet are their own fault.) To say it a little less nicely, they deserve it, and they are not worth pitying. If I speak of other people, you all think: “You deserve it! The blisters on your feet are your own fault. No one prevented you from listening to God’s words! God does not want you, and I neither sympathize with nor pity you. You deserve it!” But if this were to happen to you, would you examine your own consciences and introspect? What should you think? How should you think rationally, with reason and conscience, in the role a created being ought to be, and with the thoughts and attitude they ought to have? How should you think and act in order to give the most reasonable and fair accounting possible to God and man? (God, I want to say a little about my own feelings. I think that I have believed in God for many years, but have not obtained the truth. This is not because God has done something wrong, nor because God’s works have not achieved results, but rather because I have not pursued the truth. I think of the example that the Lord Jesus drew: The wages of those who enter the vineyard early and of those who enter the vineyard late are the same. For those who accept God’s work early and those who accept His work late, God is extremely fair and reasonable in what He gives to them all. If a person does not pursue the truth, and in the end does not obtain the truths that God bestows upon people, this is not because He has not given them enough time, but rather because they do not treasure or accept the truth; one by one, they forfeit and lose the opportunities that God has given them. Some people have believed in God only a short time, but nevertheless are able to accept and pursue the truth. After experiencing several years of the judgment, chastisement, and pruning of God’s words, they obtain some transformation, and are able to be saved. All this that God has done is righteous. These are some of my feelings after listening to God’s fellowship.) Very good! Let us first address this issue from a human perspective. If God had not been incarnated to save mankind, then in what situation would all those who believe in God be? They would live entirely under the power of Satan, in the tides of wickedness, and among corrupt mankind. Living among corrupt mankind is equivalent to living in the prison of devils, living in a den of demons, or living in a great dyeing vat. If someone does not believe in God, they very naturally will do whatever they desire, doing bad things or evil. Their corruption grows ever deeper, and they become increasingly wicked, increasingly unreasonable, and in the end, they become living demons. From their words and deeds they appear human, but their whole mentality and disposition has already become that of a living demon. What is the outcome of such people? Do they not meet the same outcome as Satan? (Yes.) They have been taken captive by Satan. They are Satan’s partners, have become Satan’s accomplices and lackeys, and are just as resistant to God as Satan. Thus they have no more room to maneuver, and in the end, their outcome is to be punished and destroyed. This is speaking regarding humans. If you do not believe in God, then God will not save you. You might be very free in this world, be able to do whatever you desire, and act however you want; you might not need to be restrained by conscience and reason, nor need to accept or practice the truth, much less accept pruning and discipline. You only live according to your own preferences, live by following the trends of the world, until you completely change to have no reason, no perception of conscience. You utterly and completely degenerate into a living demon, a living Satan, a living devil within and without; you do not need to be disguised or wrapped up—you are a genuine Satan, a devil. This is the result of unbelievers living under the power of Satan, and in the end, they must be destroyed by disasters. Suppose that someone believes in God, but is never able to accept the truth, never able to know themselves, and does not truly repent; they have believed in God for many years, but they have not changed at all; their conscience and reason have not recovered, and their way of life is the same as that of an unbeliever. Regardless of how God judges and chastises people, and regardless of how the house of God fellowships on the truth, they do not pay attention to it at all. Such people are nonbelievers, the wicked who have infiltrated the house of God. God has given many opportunities to obtain the truth and salvation, and people believe for many years without paying any attention to God’s will; they still pursue the enjoyments of the flesh as usual, eating, drinking, and making merry. They have no conscience, no positive elements of humanity; they have already gone beyond the point of being saved, beyond the point of turning back. God gives up on them, and does not save them; their outcome need not be spoken. At this point, their life of believing in God ends; their course of believing in God is finished. Their outcome is set—this is their outcome. What feelings would someone have in their heart when they have this outcome? Their hearts would ache faintly, they would be truly distraught and sorrowful, feeling that they had been abandoned by God, as if they were in a limitless ocean, unable to clutch at their last straw, utterly wretched and utterly helpless. When you have not sunk to that level, you cannot feel that kind of pain, but as soon as you get to that point, you cannot turn back. In this situation in which God will not save people, this is how people eventually walk toward this kind of fate, and toward this kind of outcome. But is it any loss to God for people to have this kind of fate, this kind of outcome? Is it any loss to God if the people He created are corrupted by Satan, if they do not accept His salvation at all, and walk toward the road of destruction? Absolutely not. Would God stop being God because one of His created beings was destroyed? Would He lose His identity and status as God, His essence as God? Would this change the fact that He is sovereign over all things? (No.) It would not. What does this mean? Regardless of whether people accept God’s work, whether they are able to attain salvation, it is no loss to God. This is one aspect of things. Even if people don’t believe in God and God doesn’t work to save people, God doesn’t lose anything at all. Satan is still Satan; God is still God. The One who has dominion over all things is still God, God is still the One who created all things, and He is still the One who holds sovereignty over all things. The fate of mankind, the fate of Satan and the fate of all things are held in God’s hands. There can be no change to God’s status, God’s uniqueness, God’s disposition and God’s essence. God’s holiness will also not be sullied, and His work will suffer no loss. God is still God. This allows people to understand one fact: No matter how numerous mankind gets, in God’s eyes it is just a number. It does not amount to any kind of force and it poses no threat to God. No matter what course mankind follows, they are held in God’s hands. No matter what outcome mankind faces, whether they believe in God or acknowledge His existence or sovereignty, none of it can affect God’s intrinsic identity or status, and neither can it affect God’s essence. This is a fact that nobody can change. But there is something that people have perhaps not yet understood clearly or experienced. If any one among mankind is abandoned by God, and He doesn’t save them, then their final outcome will be destruction, and that is irreversible. In the entire universe and all things, no matter how big they are, no matter how many planets there are, how many lives there are, they cannot change the fact of God’s existence, and the fate of the universe and all things is held in the hands of the One alone. From a living organism to a star, nothing can affect God’s existence, nor affect God’s sovereignty, much less can anything control any idea God has. This is a fact. Some people believe: “I don’t believe in You, so You are not God.” “Not many people believe in You, so You are not God.” Is this a tenable thing to say? (No, it isn’t.) Some others say: “Only we believe in You, so Your power to hold sovereignty over all things and mankind is only this great, only extends this much.” Is this the case? (No.) People who have such views are so ignorant, so foolish!

I just fellowshipped about how if God did not save people, then mankind would be headed toward destruction, but God’s identity and status would not be affected at all, much less His essence. You see this fact clearly, right? (Yes.) Regardless of whether or not mankind accepts the truth or is able to attain salvation, God is still God—His status, identity, and essence will not change. But there is a great variability when it comes to the fate of mankind. Who controls that variability? Is it people themselves? Is it a country? Is it a ruler? Is it a force? No. The One in charge of your fate and the fate of mankind is God—all is in His hands. So, you must see this fact clearly: By saving mankind, and saving you, God is showing you grace; it is a great salvation, which is the greatest of graces. Why do I say it is the greatest of graces? Because God’s salvation of mankind is not an inexorable law, nor is it an inevitable trend, nor is it a necessity. God chooses to do it freely. Would it be alright if God did not save you? Surely, He does not have to save you? At the outset, God may have predestined you, but if He does not want to choose you now, and He does not save you, then you cannot obtain this grace. So, what should you do? You must perform well, and try by every means possible to use your actions, your heart, and your true faith to move God and obtain His grace. This is certainly not infeasible. When the Lord Jesus was spreading the gospel back in the day, there was a Canaanite woman—what did she do? (Her daughter was possessed by a demon, so she asked the Lord Jesus to help her. The Lord said: “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” The woman said: “The dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” The Lord Jesus said that the woman’s faith was great, and fulfilled her wishes.) What about her did the Lord Jesus approve of? (Her faith.) What actually was her faith? How should we understand her faith? (She acknowledged that the Lord Jesus was God.) The Lord Jesus said she was a dog, so why was she not upset? You are not able to speak very clearly about this matter. These are the facts: Why did the Lord Jesus approve of this person’s faith? He did not approve of the fact that she was willing to be a dog, nor did He approve of her willingness to eat crumbs—these were all secondary. So, what did the Lord Jesus approve of? It was that she did not care whether the Lord Jesus treated her as a dog, a person, a devil, or a Satan—it did not matter to her how He treated her. The most important thing was that she treated the Lord Jesus as God, firmly believing that He was the Lord and God, and that this was a truth and a fact that could never change. The Lord Jesus is God and the Lord, and He was the One she recognized in her heart. That was enough. Whether the Lord Jesus saved her or not, whether He treated her as someone who ate with Him, as a disciple, as a follower, or treated her as a dog, it did not matter to her. In short, the fact that she acknowledged the Lord Jesus as the Lord in her heart was enough—that was her greatest faith. Do you have this kind of faith? If one day I said that you all were the guard dogs of God’s house, would you be willing to accept this? If I said that you were the little darlings of God’s house, God’s people, and angels, you would find this quite satisfactory, but if I said that you were a dog, you would be unhappy. Why would you be unhappy? Because you view yourself as very important. You think: “I acknowledge that You are God, so how could You call me a dog? I acknowledge that You are God, so whatever You do, You ought to be fair and reasonable. The two of us are equals, we are buddies! I believe in You, which shows such great courage, love, and faith on my part. How can You say that I am a dog? You do not love man! We are buddies, we should be on equal footing. I respect You, I fear You, and I admire You—You ought to respect me, and treat me as a person. I am a person!” What do you think of this attitude? (It lacks reason.) When people want to be on equal footing with God and to treat God as their buddy, does this not spell trouble? You say: “You look ordinary—I actually look better than You, and I am taller than You. You also cough when You catch a cold, and You also get tired when You talk a lot—I’m healthier than You. You just have the truth, and in that respect You are stronger than me. If I believe in God for many years, and understand more truths, then I will not be so much worse than You. What’s more, I have a skill that You don’t! By that comparison, You’re not so much greater than I am.” What do you think of this viewpoint? (It is wrong.) What do you think of this method of comparison? Humans cannot possibly be compared to God. What kind of mistake is being made through this method of comparison? (That person is not standing in their proper position, and they are not treating God as God. They are treating Him as an ordinary person. They only see the humanity of the incarnate God, but they do not see His divinity.) To speak plainly, it is that they have neither conscience nor reason—they have no humanity. Additionally, people have not seen God’s spiritual body, so they treat His incarnation as a human, and think that this ordinary person is neither great nor impressive, and that He is easy to bully and fool. That’s just how it is. Humans are just such corrupt things. If you do not pursue the truth, this is what will happen as time goes on; you will have neither a heart that is frightened of God nor a God-fearing heart. The point of people pursuing the truth is for them to be able to submit to God. No matter how He acts, what form He appears in, or in what way He talks to you, God’s place in your heart will not change, nor will your fear of Him, nor your relationship with Him, nor your true faith in Him. God’s essence and status in your heart will not change. You will handle the relationship between you and God very well, appropriately, and rationally, with standards, and with restraint. But if you do not pursue the truth, this will be very difficult for you to achieve—it will not be easy for you to do. If people do not pursue the truth, they will never be able to see God’s essence, nor His divinity. They will not know what things make up His disposition or His true outpourings. People will not be able to see these things. Even if they are told to you, you will not be able to see them, nor will you be able to recognize them.

We just talked about what people’s outcome would be if God did not save them. What outcome is that? (Destruction.) What about God? (It would have no effect on God at all.) This is speaking from the perspective of God not saving people; God would not be affected at all, but people’s fate and outcome would be miserable—vastly different from the outcomes of people like Job and Abraham. If God does not save someone, then they are numbered among His enemy forces and the ranks of His adversaries. This outcome is clearly terrible. Let’s talk now about what a person will obtain from God wanting to save them, and to do work on them. Why do people believe in God? What are believers in God chasing after? Are they chasing after God’s satisfaction? Are they chasing after doing the duty of a created being? Are they chasing after shaming Satan and testifying for God? These reasons are all quite high-sounding, and a bit too far-fetched. If I were to ask you now to talk about the intents you had when you originally began believing in God, you would have a guilty conscience and blush while speaking these words; you would have a hard time speaking, because those are not the facts. So, what actually are the facts? (People believe in God because they are chasing after blessings.) (They are chasing after a good destination, or a source of spiritual sustenance.) In summary, such intents are a bit indecent, and not quite presentable. But, if they did not chase this objective at first, would people believe in God? They certainly did not intend to believe in God, nor did they want to; if they didn’t get any benefits from it, who would believe in God? When it comes to believing in God, people think that if they do not profit a little from it, they should at least receive a promise. What promise? Some people say: “God’s promise is that we will receive a hundredfold in this life and eternal life in the life to come—this means that we will live forever, without ever dying. That is a kind of bliss and a blessing that no one throughout the ages has ever enjoyed or received before. What’s more, if people believe in God, He will give them some grace, blessings, and protection in this life.” In short, when someone has just begun to believe in God, their heart is impure and unclean. They do not believe in God in order to do the duty of a created being, to live like a human, to ultimately live out the image of a person beloved by God, to live in a way that glorifies and testifies for Him, and to not bring shame upon Him, and to still testify for Him even after death—rather, with all their heart and soul, they want to be blessed, and to enjoy more of God’s grace and blessings in this life. If they have a next life, they want to obtain even greater blessings there. When people first come to believe in God, these are the wishes, intents, and objectives they carry with them; they believe in God in order to obtain the blessings of the kingdom of heaven and God’s promise. For corrupt mankind, this is legitimate, and God will not fault people for it. When people first start to believe in God, they are all ignorant, and they understand nothing. By reading the words of God and experiencing His enlightenment, they slowly begin to understand the truths about believing in God and the significance of believing in God, as well as God’s requirements of man. During this process, people enjoy God’s care and protection; some people’s illnesses are cured, their bodies are quite healthy, their families are peaceful, and their marriages are happy—in various ways, they enjoy different degrees of God’s grace and blessings. Of course, these are all secondary. From God’s perspective, these are not His greatest exertions. What is His greatest exertion? (The expectations He has placed on people, and His painstaking efforts.) “His painstaking efforts” has some concrete content, whereas “expectations” is a bit empty. What is the most practical benefit, the most precious thing you have received from God? (The provision of the truth.) (Understanding some of the truth, and being able to see through some matters.) It is certainly not those so-called graces and blessings. Are the most precious things that humans receive from God not His life, words, and truths, as well as the path that humans ought to walk as created beings which God enables them to understand? In summary, people have obtained the truth, the way, and the life from God—are these not the most precious things of all? (They are.) Have you obtained them? (We have not truly obtained them yet.) It may not feel as practically beneficial or real as it would if someone gave you a hundred dollars when you were poor, or if someone gave you two bread rolls when you were hungry, but the truth, the way, and the life that comes from God is truly granted to every person who sincerely believes in Him. Isn’t that a fact? (Yes.) That is a fact. No matter how much of God’s word you have heard, how much of the truth you are able to accept and have understood, how much reality you have lived out, or how many results you have obtained, there is a fact you must understand: The truth, the way, and the life of God are bestowed freely on each and every person, and this is fair to everyone. God will never play favorites with one person over another because of how long they have believed in God or how much they have suffered, and He will never favor or bless a person because they have believed in Him for a long time or because they have suffered a lot. Nor will God treat anyone differently because of their age, their appearance, their gender, their family background, and so on. Every person obtains the same things from God. He doesn’t allow anyone to obtain less, or anyone to obtain more. God is fair and reasonable to each and every person. He gives people exactly what they need, when they need it, not letting them go hungry, cold or thirsty, and He satisfies all the needs of man’s heart. When God does these things, what does God require of people? God bestows these things on people, so does God have any selfish motives? (No.) God has no selfish motives at all. God’s words and work are all for the sake of humankind, and are meant to solve all of people’s hardships and difficulties, so that they can obtain the real life from Him. This is a fact. But can you prove this with facts? If you can’t prove this with facts, then by saying this you are being very false and this statement is just a platitude. Can I put it like that? For example, God asks people to be honest, to speak honestly and do honest things, and to not be deceitful. The significance of God saying this is to enable people to have true human likeness, and to not be like Satan, speaking like a snake slithering along the ground, always equivocating, and stopping other people from grasping the truth of the matter. That is, it is said so that people, in both word and deed, will live out the likeness of a human, and be dignified, upright, and decent, without harboring a dark side or any shameful things, and possessing clean hearts. It is said so that people will be the same on the outside as they are on the inside, saying whatever they think in their hearts, not cheating God or any other person, keeping nothing back, with hearts like a piece of pure land. This is what God asks, and it is God’s objective in requiring people to be honest. In requiring people to be honest, what does God want them to obtain? What kind of likeness does He want them to live out? Who is the greatest beneficiary of this? (Man.) Some people are never able to understand God’s will, and they always doubt God, saying: “God wants us to be honest, and to speak with Him simply and openly, so that He can find out our true situation, and then control and manipulate us, making us totally submit to His orchestrations and arrangements.” Is this thought correct? This thought is so dark and shameless, and only devils would speculate about God and doubt Him in this way. What is the significance of God requiring people to be honest, to become people without any selfish motives, intents, self-will, or adulterations, and without a dark side? It is to allow people to be cleansed of their corrupt dispositions, to gradually attain holiness, to live in the light, to live more freely and liberated, to be filled with enjoyment, and brimming with joy and peace—such are the most blessed people of all. God’s objective is to perfect people, to allow them to enjoy the greatest of all blessings. If you become this kind of person, what benefits can God obtain from you? Does God have any ulterior motives? Does He profit from this at all? (No.) So if a person is honest, who is the greatest beneficiary of this? (The person themselves.) What benefits and advantages can a person receive from this? (Their heart will be free and liberated, and their life will become easier and easier; they will be trusted more and more by others as they interact with them, and they will have normal relationships with other people.) What else? (When people conduct themselves in accordance with God’s words and requirements, they will no longer be in pain, instead, they will live relaxed, peaceful, and happy lives.) This feeling is quite real. So, what is the objective of God’s salvation of man? (To transform and cleanse people, so that in the end He can gain them.) What is the consequence of being gained by God? It is obtaining the wonderful destination that God has promised. So, who is the greatest beneficiary of this? (Man.) Man is the greatest beneficiary!