Only by Resolving One's Notions Can One Embark on the Right Track of Belief in God (1) Part Three
Now we’ll fellowship on people’s notions about the incarnation; people have many notions about the incarnation, too. People have lots of imaginings, don’t they, when they haven’t seen God incarnate? For example, they believe the incarnation should understand everything and see everything clearly. In short, they think that God’s incarnate flesh should be exceptionally perfect, that He is too good for the likes of them and unapproachable. When people haven’t met God, these imaginings people have are notions, and they arise according to certain judgments, or the knowledge, religious beliefs, and traditional cultural education people have. Once they have met God, people then form new notions: “So, this is what Christ looks like. This is how He speaks and this is what His personality is like. How can He be different from what I thought? My God isn’t supposed to be like this.” In fact, people have no idea and cannot explain what God is supposed to be like. While people are constantly forming these notions, they are also constantly denying and pruning themselves, believing that it’s wrong to harbor notions and imaginings, that the things God does are right, but they still can’t understand them. Their notions continually pour out and a battle is waged in their hearts, as they think, “What God does is right; I shouldn’t harbor any notions.” But they’re not able to entirely put aside their notions and they’re still not convinced, and so there is no peace in their hearts. They think, “Is He a human being or God? If He’s God, then He doesn’t look like it, and if He’s a human being, then it wouldn’t be possible for Him to express so many truths.” They get stuck here. They want to find someone else to fellowship with but find it hard to talk about, afraid of being laughed at or that others will say they’re so foolish, devoid of faith, or that their understanding is distorted, and so all they can do is suppress how they feel. In any case, whether someone has seen God or not, as long as notions and misunderstandings about God form in their hearts, then there is a problem with their understanding. God expresses so many truths and fellowships on these issues very clearly and lucidly so that people can be convinced in heart and by word. When people are still capable of forming notions and misunderstandings in such a situation, then this is not such a simple problem anymore. Some people have notions because they don’t have spiritual understanding; some people have notions because of their distorted understanding; and some people form notions because they don’t love the truth and don’t understand the truth at all. Whatever the case, as long as people’s beliefs and ideas do not conform with God’s words, God’s work, and God’s essence, and they obstruct people from believing in God, knowing God and submitting to God’s work, or else they cause people to have ideas and perspectives which question, misunderstand, deny, and resist God, then these are all notions, and they all go against the truth.
Next, I’ll use some concrete examples to fellowship to you. There may be many of you who have heard stories about Me. When you first started to believe in God or you found yourself in a certain situation, someone might have told you some tales that made your heart fill with emotion or moved you to tears. For example, someone said that, at New Year one year, everyone else went home to spend New Year there while Christ was walking the streets alone, facing the wind and snow, with no home to go to. After hearing this story, some people became extremely moved and said, “It’s really difficult for God to come and live in the world! Mankind is so corrupt and they all reject God, and that’s why God suffers like this. It seems that what God said is true, that ‘The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.’ These words have come true. God is so great!” They believe that the greatness of God has arisen from this story, and this is the conclusion they come up with from this story. While you’re being moved to tears after listening to this story, have you ever wondered why people want to listen to stories like this? Why are they moved by such stories? People have a kind of notion about God’s flesh, they have a kind of requirement of His flesh, and they have a kind of standard for measuring His flesh. What is this notion? It’s that if God comes in incarnate flesh, then He should suffer. God said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” If these words had not come true, if the Son of man’s life conditions were not like this, and He’d not suffered in this way, but instead enjoyed happiness, then people wouldn’t admire Him and wouldn’t feel motivated, and then they wouldn’t want to perform their duty and they’d be unwilling to suffer even a little. People believe that God should suffer, and only by suffering can He serve as an example and a model for mankind. They believe that, when God comes into the world, He cannot enjoy great wealth and rank—those things belong to the world. God came into the world specifically to suffer, and only after He’s suffered can He cause mankind to become speechless, and to feel moved by His suffering and admire Him, before then following Him. People harbor this kind of notion about God, which is why they identify with stories like this and find them easy to accept. So, would you like to know whether this story is true? Do you hope that it is true or that it isn’t? Do you find this difficult to answer? If it were true, then people would find it very much in line with their own notions; if it were not true, would that destroy the heroic example in your innermost hearts? Would this have an impact on you? Would it be a blow to you? Actually, it’s not important whether this is true or not. What is important? Dissecting people’s notions. Everyone has a notion and a standard by which to measure God incarnate, His life, His living environment, His quality of life, and His food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and this notion they have is that, now that God has come, He must suffer. In people’s hearts, moreover, Christ must certainly be influential and worthy of worship, admiration, and adoration: He must be able to read extremely fast and never forget anything He’s ever laid eyes on, He must have some exceptional abilities that are beyond the reach of normal people, and He must even be able to perform signs and wonders, which then makes Him worthy of being followed and worthy of the title of “the mighty God.” If people’s notions and imaginings were fulfilled in real life, they would be so energetic and confident in their faith. If the things that really happen are at odds with their notions and imaginings, such as seeing Christ still being pursued by the ruling authorities, people then think, “God still suffers the pain of being pursued—this isn’t the hero and the Savior I imagined!” And they then think that God is not worth believing in. Isn’t this caused by their notions? How do these notions come about? One aspect is that they arise from people’s imaginations, while another aspect is that people are influenced by the images of famous and great people, which causes them to form incorrect definitions of God. People believe that the lives of famous and great people are simple, that for them a toothbrush can last for 20 to 30 years, and a single piece of clothing can be repaired and even worn for a lifetime. Some famous and great people eat without wasting anything, even licking their bowl clean after finishing their meal, and picking up and eating any bits of fallen food, and so people form an extraordinary impression of these great people in their hearts, and they use such impressions to measure God incarnate. If God incarnate does not match their impressions, then they form notions, but if God incarnate exactly matches their impressions, then they don’t form notions. Does it accord with the truth for people to compare Christ to these things? Do the things that famous and great people do accord with the truth? Are their nature essences those of the saints? In fact, these famous and great people are all demons and devil kings, and not one of them has the essence of normal humanity. Even though they may seem to have some merits when using human notions to measure them, in terms of their nature essences and actions, they are all devils and Satans in essence. By taking the image of devils and of Satans to compare with God incarnate, is this not blasphemy against God? Satans and devils are always the best at disguising themselves. Everything they say and do on the outside accords with people’s notions and imaginings, and they only ever say pleasant-sounding things. However, what they plan in their hearts and what they do behind the scenes are all shameful devilish things, and if no one exposes them, then no one can fathom them. Everything that is spoken by Satans and devil kings is hypocritical and misleading, and some people who understand the truth will be able to see this clearly. Some people are always comparing the image of devils and great people with God incarnate, and when there is no match, they feel uncomfortable, they form notions and they never let them go. Are there many people like this? There are surely many of them. Some people are still concerned about whether the story I recounted just now was true or not. When I first heard about this, I was puzzled that I, the person involved, didn’t know what had supposedly happened to Me. It was a big joke and a big lie. It wasn’t true. In that situation, even though there weren’t many brothers and sisters who had accepted this stage of new work, there were still some people who accepted it when God first began to utter His words. What’s more, they were all believers in Jesus who had come to accept this stage of work. They were all willing to show love and absolutely could never have shut the door in Christ’s face; they certainly could never have done that. At New Year, some people invited Me to their homes. Besides, with that many brothers and sisters, whose home could I have gone to and not been hosted? By saying that, it seemed as if the brothers and sisters were being rebellious and that no one would host Me anywhere. This was an attempt to frame brothers and sisters and spread rumors about them! It was all totally unfounded and was clearly fabricated by certain people with ulterior motives, and yet you still really believed it. How could you still believe this? It was because people have certain notions about the incarnation, and they have these requirements in terms of their feelings, desires, and psychological makeup, and so they’re willing to listen to such stories. Some people took advantage of this chance to fabricate these stories and then did all they could to spread and disseminate them, embellish them, and then make inferences and concoct things. Finally, more and more people came to hear their fabrications and regard these things as true. If I hadn’t clarified this matter, you’d never have been able to distinguish true from false in your lifetime. Do you understand now? This simply never happened.
I’ll tell you some things now so that, through these things, you can understand what notions there are about the incarnation and Christ. When this stage of God’s new work had not long been started, the church needed to write some hymns, and I wrote one too. At that time, God incarnate had already been borne witness to. After they’d read My hymn, some people thought it was great, but there was one person who said something very odd: “How have You written this hymn so quickly? How have You come up with so many words?” Hearing this, I felt very puzzled, and thought, “Does one need words to write a song? Does one have to be knowledgeable? What then does he think all those words I’ve expressed are?” He had a notion, an idea, believing that these words the incarnation was expressing were just words and articles—he didn’t think, nor did he understand, that these words were the truth. He found everything the incarnation did very obscure. Because he didn’t understand the truth, he used the words of the unbelievers to explain them, and people felt uncomfortable and disgusted when they heard this. This person did not have spiritual understanding and there are people like this even now. So, what kind of notions does this matter relate to? This person didn’t deny the incarnation or deny Christ; he used a notion to measure what had happened. He believed that Christ must be knowledgeable and educated and that, when among other people, He must be able to convince them utterly. Even if Christ wasn’t very educated, yet His caliber, talents, and abilities must be better than others, that is, He must be better than other people at certain things or be different from other people in certain ways in order to be worthy of being God and Christ. He believed that Christ could be Christ if He was qualified to be so. He didn’t believe that Christ could be Christ only if He possessed the essence of Christ, and that’s why he said such a thing. What obstacles does this kind of notion pose to people’s belief in God and their life entry? People will use their brains to analyze God’s words and to analyze and study God’s flesh, and they’re always studying Him and thinking, “Is what this person says logical? Does it accord with normal thinking? Is it in line with grammatical rules? Where did He learn this from?” They don’t seek the truth in God’s words, they don’t comprehend God’s words from the perspective of accepting the truth, and they don’t accept God’s words as the truth. Instead, they use their brains and knowledge to analyze, study, and question. No matter what kind of viewpoints or notions people use to take the measure of this person or approach this person, what is the final result? (They cannot gain the truth.) They certainly cannot gain the truth. There is another aspect which you haven’t understood, and that is that people aren’t able to ascertain whether He is the incarnation or not—isn’t this crucial? (Yes.) Many people ascertain that He is indeed God, that His words are the truth and life and they come from God by listening to the sermons He gives and certain mysteries He discloses. However, if people are always studying God with their notions and never accept His words as the truth, then what is the final result? They will always question this person’s identity and essence and His work, that is, they won’t be able to verify whether this person is human or God, thinking that perhaps this person is a messenger sent by God, or perhaps a prophet, because humans aren’t able to say the things that He says. Some people don’t acknowledge that this person is God, because within them there are many restrictions and fetters and many notions which do not match this flesh. When they don’t match, these people don’t seek the truth but continue to cling to their notions, and so they end up stuck. When you tell such a person as this to make an effort in their faith, they harbor many notions which they can’t let go, and when you tell them to leave, they become fearful that they won’t be blessed. Are there people like this? Are you like this? Even though most of you have confirmed that this person is indeed God incarnate, actually you confirm it only 80 or 90 percent, and there is still 10 or 20 percent of doubt and questioning. It can be said that you have basically confirmed it, while that remaining doubt and questioning are not such urgent issues. The resolution of these notions is within reach, but it can be very troublesome if these notions and questions are not resolved in a timely manner. As far as your notions go, how should I treat you in order for you to be satisfied, for you to think that this is done by God and that this is how God is supposed to treat people? Should I speak softly and then be concerned about you and care about you in every matter? If one day I were to find that some of you have done something absurd, and I give you a good telling off, expose and judge you harshly, and hurt your self-esteem, would you feel that I’m not like God? You believe God to be the gentlest, the most loving, and that God is filled with lovingkindness, so what then can I do in order to be the God of your notions and imaginings? If you still make such demands of God now, then you are without any reason and you really don’t know God.
I’ll tell you another thing about notions concerning the incarnation. Twenty years ago, when I was in China, I wasn’t yet 20 years old and, at that age, people aren’t very experienced and mature in their speech and actions; they speak and act like young people, and this is normal. If they spoke and acted like old people, then that wouldn’t be normal. It’s normal for people in any age group to be like people in that age group. God created mankind and ordained a normal growth pattern for man. Of course, God Himself in the flesh is no exception, and He also lives and experiences life in accordance with this pattern. This pattern came from God, and God will not violate it. Therefore, before God incarnate had reached the age of 20, certain of His behaviors were definitely like those of a young person. For example, when moving house one time, some brothers and sisters left behind some pens and notebooks after moving away. I thought it would be a pity to lose them, and brothers and sisters also needed to take notes, so I packed them up and shared them with a few sisters. Someone then formed a notion and said, “Whoever wants these things can come and get them themselves. You’re acting like a child, sharing them out!” This is what he said. Is this an important matter or a minor matter? If someone were to judge a normal person as acting like a child, then that would be a normal thing to do, it would be a saying, and no one would pay attention or take it seriously; no one would think this saying was a notion or a perspective, either, but would just take it as it is. However, what was his approach in saying this to Me? What was the nature of it? In his notions and imaginings, even though God incarnate hadn’t yet reached 20 years of age, He should still act like an old person, sit solemnly every day with His eyes staring forward, looking like a wise, experienced old person who never tells jokes or chats, and who is particularly steady and composed. The moment I behaved or did anything that ran counter to what an old person might do, such as Me sharing the pens and notebooks out to some sisters, someone would condemn My actions as being like those of a child, not like Christ, and not like the God in their mind, because God incarnate was not supposed to act in any way like a child. Wasn’t that them defining God incarnate? Is this kind of definition a kind of condemnation and judgment, or is it a kind of appreciation and affirmation? (It’s condemnation and judgment.) Why is it a kind of condemnation? Could it be that by saying God incarnate was like a child, he was denying God? What was wrong with him saying this? What was the central issue of him forming this notion? (He was denying the incarnation’s normal humanity and denying the normality and practicality of God. It’s like what God said just now, that the incarnation is just like created mankind, with a normal growth pattern. That person, however, regarded God as being especially supernatural and so he didn’t understand the incarnation. The nature of this is denial and condemnation of God, and it is blasphemy.) That’s right, his denial was the essence of the problem. Why did he deny God incarnate in this way? It was because he harbored a notion about God incarnate in his heart, thinking, “You’re God, so You cannot reveal Your normal humanity in line with normal aging. You’re not yet 20 but You must be as mature and experienced as a 50-year-old. You’re God, so You should live in violation of the growth pattern of normal humanity. You must be supernatural, You must be different from everyone else, and only then can You be Christ and the God that we have in our minds.” This was the notion he had. And what was the consequence of this notion? Would his notion have been revealed if this thing hadn’t happened? No one knows; it’s just that he was revealed through this matter. If he’d had a notion about this matter, but had thought that people weren’t able to thoroughly understand what God had done, and he hadn’t spoken recklessly, then he would have had space to seek, and this would have been excusable. People don’t understand the truth and there are many things they are not able to thoroughly understand. However, even though people don’t thoroughly understand these things, some people judge and condemn, while others don’t speak recklessly and instead wait and seek the truth—isn’t there a difference in nature here? (Yes.) So, what was the nature of this person’s failure to thoroughly understand? He went immediately to condemnation, and this was a serious problem. Once people form notions, doubt and even condemnation and denial arise in them concerning God incarnate, and this is extremely serious.
I’ve just given three examples of notions about the incarnation. These three examples show certain issues, and you should seek to find what the truth is in them. What’s the first notion? (People delimit the incarnate God using their definitions of great people, believing that God should suffer in order to be a model for mankind.) This is a notion people have. Their notion is that God incarnate should suffer more and set an example, be a model, for mankind. What is the second notion? (People believe that Christ should be knowledgeable and educated, more so than ordinary people, and only then is He Christ.) Many people now still believe that God’s utterances and work come from His knowledge and gifts, or from certain things He has mastered and understood—this is a notion. And what is the third notion? (People believe that Christ is not supposed to have any revelations of normal humanity.) To be more specific, it is that God incarnate is supposed to be supernatural and must be different from everyone else and have supernatural abilities. If Christ was ordinary and normal in every way, people’s faith in God would be weak, and they would doubt God and even deny Him—everyone loves the supernatural God. Is it beneficial to your understanding of the truth for Me to tell you these stories? (Yes.) It should be helpful. You would perhaps think it abstract if I were to fellowship this aspect of the truth to you without any factual basis, and you wouldn’t know what it actually refers to. What I’ve told you, however, are some concrete examples and, upon hearing them, you think them practical and easy to understand, and through these stories you are able to understand some truths. But are you able to learn how to use the truth to measure and approach other things when you encounter them? If you can apply the truth, then that shows you have spiritual understanding and you understand the truth in these stories; if not, then you do not have spiritual understanding and you have not understood the truth in these stories. If in the circumstances of these stories you can discover the truth of them, know what God’s will is, know what you should understand, dissect, and enter into, and what truths you should seek and gain, then you have spiritual understanding; if, when I’ve finished telling these stories, you become very interested in these things and you remember them, but you put the truth to one side, then you do not have spiritual understanding. If you can truly understand the truth of these stories, then I will not have told them in vain. As long as it helps you to understand the truth, I will give some practical examples. No matter what the issue is, I’ll dissect it; as long as it helps you to have understanding and to be able to understand the truth and see things clearly, then I don’t mind telling any number of stories. Actually, I don’t want to tell you these things, and I really don’t want to tell you stories of right and wrong, but if these things help you to enter into the truth, then I’ll tell you them; as long as it helps you to understand the truth, I don’t mind speaking a little more. If you dislike Me chatting on and on, however, then I’ll have no choice but to speak less.
What notions should be resolved from these stories I’ve told you? First you must understand, when it comes to God incarnate, how does God essentially define this flesh’s humanity? He is ordinary and normal and can live among corrupt mankind and engage in all the activities of normal humanity, and He is not of a different kind. He can help, guide, and lead people. Whether it is His normal humanity or His divinity or His personality—regardless of the aspect—He must certainly be able to handle the work He undertakes and the ministry He performs. This is the standard by which God measures Christ and the incarnation; it is a standard for His work, and a standard for His definition. When the Lord Jesus performed His work, His humanity, compared with the incarnation now, possessed some supernatural aspects. He could perform miracles: He could curse the fig tree, rebuke the sea, make the sea and wind calm, heal the sick and cast out demons, and feed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, and so on. Besides this, however, His normal humanity and basic needs appeared to be so very normal and practical. He wasn’t born 33 and a half years old and was then crucified. He lived to be 33 and a half years old, and He lived every day, every year, one minute and one second at a time, until finally He was crucified and thereby completed the work of redeeming mankind. It was only after living for 33 and a half years in this world that the incarnation completed this work—is this not practical? (It is.) This is practical. As for the stage of work God is performing now, everything He says to you and every truth He fellowships is based on your stature, your level of growth in life, and the entire environment arranged by God, and so I contemplate which truths will be most appropriate to fellowship with you and which truths I want you to understand. Externally, it appears as though this flesh is pondering these things, when in fact the Spirit of God is acting simultaneously; while this person is coordinating, the Spirit of God is guiding it all. If you look at it this way, you won’t doubt the essence of this flesh or His identity—you will never question these things. The things I do with you and the requirements I have of you can never conflict with the entire management plan of God’s Spirit. They advance together, they move in the same direction, and they support each other. If the Spirit of God didn’t wear this flesh, He wouldn’t be able to speak with you face to face, you wouldn’t be able to hear what He said, and you wouldn’t be able to understand what He requires of you. However, if there was only this flesh and the Spirit of God were not within Him, would this flesh be able to perform any work? He certainly wouldn’t. If God did not become flesh, then no human being would be able to undertake this work. Therefore, this normal flesh has to live every day, every month, and every year, living moment by moment in this way, His humanity ever maturing, His experience ever increasing, while at the same time constantly striving to be able to undertake the work required by God’s management plan. In performing this stage of work, I began to work in the church when I was not yet 20 years old and I came into contact with brothers and sisters. I started to attend gatherings, give fellowships, and walk among the churches, and I came into contact with all kinds of people. From that time till now, I feel that My linguistic ability and My ability to view people and things have been constantly growing. How does this growth in My abilities differ from your circumstances? You have to experience through the words I speak and the truths I fellowship on and, as you experience, you gradually become certain that the words I speak are from God, they are truth, they are right, and they are words that can enable you to achieve dispositional change and attain salvation. As for Me, while you are making progress, I am growing ever deeper. While My understanding of you continues to grow, I am also constantly making the things I want to say be able to supply your needs step by step. Some people say, “You want to supply our needs, to make our statures gradually grow, to enable us to change and progress more and more on the path of salvation, and for our relationship with God to grow ever closer, so how are You going to do that?” You don’t need to worry about this. I never ask for anything, nor do I need to fast or pray, or ask for anything as though praying for rain, so that God quickly gives Me some words to provide to you. I don’t need to do that. Because this flesh is God Himself and He performs this ministry, He therefore expresses the truth to provide for people—this is the difference between God’s incarnate flesh and corrupt mankind. Therefore, I don’t need to make a point of understanding what you need; yet what I want to provide you with and fellowship with you is definitely what you need. You just need to move onward in the wake of My words and work, and your state will begin to improve, and your life will also progress more and more along with it. At the same time, the Spirit of God will, while I’m watering you, perform His work in tandem. In fact, it is the Spirit of God which cooperates with His humanity, and His humanity cooperates with His divinity—They all work simultaneously. I’m here watering you and the Spirit of God is among you, working, enlightening, and illuminating, and then arranging situations and creating conditions for you so that you can enter into various truths. His humanity and divinity work together in this way. So, is there any human being who can achieve this collaboration between the flesh and the Spirit? Absolutely not. Therefore, if you don’t try to know God’s entire management and approach this flesh from this aspect of the truth, you will forever be unable to understand exactly what the essence of this flesh is, what this flesh is all about, and how exactly He performs work. If you can’t understand these things, then you’ll never be certain whether He is a human being or God. If, however, you can see this level clearly or reach this level in your experience and appreciate this level, you will then know that while God’s flesh—Christ—is working on earth, the Holy Spirit is working in tandem and performing the same work, and this is something no one among all of mankind can achieve. And while the Spirit is working, the flesh is working in tandem with the Spirit’s work. They are complementary, consistent, and never in conflict with each other. Some people say, “Sometimes, when I encounter trials, the Holy Spirit enlightens me to learn the lessons. You, however, express other truths. What’s that all about?” There is simply no contradiction or conflict here. Christ expresses the truth gradually and in the appropriate order, while the Holy Spirit leads everyone in their experience to different degrees—there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Christ preaches by giving fellowship on the truth based on the key issues that really exist for God’s chosen people, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit is also based on individual circumstances. There is no contradiction or conflict here. People have different statures at different times and at different stages, whereas all the work God performs is in the truth He expresses, that is, the truth, the way, and the life as spoken about by God. His work doesn’t go beyond this scope—it is all truth. What are the truths the Holy Spirit enlightens you with and the light He allows you to understand based upon? They’re based upon these truths Christ now expresses, that is, the truth, the way, and the life that He now allows you to understand. Some people say, “We don’t need You in this flesh. It’s enough that we have the Holy Spirit to enlighten and guide us. We can have new enlightenment and light just the same without You, we can enter the new age just the same, and we can attain salvation just the same.” Is this a tenable thing to say? (No.) Religious people have believed in Jesus for two thousand years and the Holy Spirit has guided them for two thousand years, and what have they gained? Only the gospel of redemption, and they’ve just enjoyed much grace from God, yet they aren’t able to gain these truths God expresses in the last days. Therefore, if God’s incarnate flesh was not here in the last days expressing so many truths, what would you be able to gain? You would be just like those religious people, gaining great enlightenment from the Holy Spirit and much grace, or else God would choose you and use you and you could be a prophet or an apostle, but if you don’t accept these truths God’s incarnation of the last days expresses, then you will have no way to be made perfect, to enter the kingdom of heaven, or to receive God’s approval.
You are now able to accept the incarnation, yet you still have certain notions about the essence of the incarnation and are never certain that the incarnation is the practical God. If I were to engage with you now, and you discovered that I don’t understand some things in the outside world either, would you form notions? Some people wouldn’t be able to get over it, and would think, “You don’t understand it either. This isn’t supposed to happen. You’re God incarnate so You should understand everything. There should be nothing You don’t know and nothing You can’t do. Even though You can’t be everywhere at once, You should still know everything!” Isn’t this a notion people have? (Yes.) This is a notion, too. What is the concept behind the incarnation’s normal humanity? It is that there is normal human logic in the way the incarnation thinks—it’s not supernatural, it’s not vague, and it’s not hollow. He can achieve what can be reached with the thinking of normal humanity by studying, though He may not necessarily know more about such things than someone with the relevant expertise, and this is normal. Moreover, He speaks and acts in accordance with the logic and thinking of normal humanity, and not supernaturally. For example, the thinking of normal humanity proceeds step by step, and this is how the incarnation thinks too. Why is His normal humanity like this? Is this reasonable? (Yes.) Why do you say this is reasonable? How many stairs does a normal person take at a time when stepping up them? (One.) One stair with every step; this is the normal way to walk up stairs. If I were to span many stairs in just one step and enter the house immediately, would you be able to do this? (No.) No, you wouldn’t. And if I insisted that you do this, what would you do? Would you be able to achieve this? (No.) No, you wouldn’t. It is based on the needs of those whom the work is aimed at. I fellowship on the truth in this way, taking a topic and a core issue and then doing all I can to speak specifically and completely, telling stories, giving examples, saying things again and again, yet even by speaking in this way there are many people who don’t understand and who miss the point. So if I didn’t speak in such detail and explained everything in a most profound and general way, then you wouldn’t be able to gain or understand anything, and this work would be empty and impractical. You can progress by taking one stair with every step, so I will lead you onward by also taking one stair with every step, and in this way you can keep up with Me. If I were to take four stairs in one step, what would the result be? You would never be able to keep up with Me. If My thinking was advanced and could go forward in leaps and bounds, and you weren’t able to reach it at all, the incarnation would become meaningless. Therefore, no matter how normal and practical this flesh is—He may even seem to not have the capabilities of God’s Spirit—all of this is because of the needs of mankind. Because the people now being supplied by God are people who have been corrupted by Satan, who understand no truth, and who are incapable of comprehending the truth, in becoming flesh, He must possess the most basic thinking of normal humanity. What is this most basic thinking? It is that, when He speaks, people with middling caliber and even slightly lacking caliber can understand Him. As long as their thinking is normal, everyone can understand what He says and talks about and understand the truths He preaches, and can then accept the truth. Only in this way can every step of the work God performs and all the words He utters achieve effects and see results. Isn’t this realistic? (Yes.) So, if people cling to notions and won’t let them go, saying, “In the past, some emperors were gifted with extraordinary memories and could read ten lines at a glance. Shouldn’t God be like that? If You don’t possess these gifts, we won’t be able to follow You because You’re too ordinary. It would be great if You looked like a big shot,” what can you see from this? People have been corrupted by Satan to the point where they’re so ignorant as to be beyond remedy. Apart from having some normal human thinking and caliber, and with God choosing them and working on them, people having some heart to follow God and a little conscience and reason—apart from this, they understand nothing. Not only do they not understand any truths, but they don’t even understand what normal humanity is, what corrupt dispositions are, how notions and imaginings arise, how to resolve them, how people should approach God, or at the very least what conscience and reason they should possess, and so on. No matter what easy-to-understand language God uses, people don’t quite understand and only have a superficial understanding. Tell Me, when faced with a group of corrupt people who understand nothing, who are in opposition to God, what kind of essence, what kind of humanity, and what kind of normal human thinking should God incarnate possess in order to be able to lead such people before God? Tell Me, what should God do? Some people say, “Isn’t God all-powerful? Why not show lots of signs and wonders to conquer people?” This is a notion held in most people’s hearts. They don’t question whether corrupt dispositions can be revealed and resolved by showing signs and wonders and by supernatural means. Can the truth be wrought into people by supernatural means? Would this convince Satan? (No.) Your saying “No” now is perhaps a kind of doctrine, but when you have experienced up to a certain day, you will then know just how numb and dull-witted, just how rebellious, just how intransigent, just how wicked people are, and just how much they do not love the truth. When you’ve experienced up to a certain day, you will then understand that God’s incarnate flesh, this flesh of normal humanity, is what is needed by all of mankind. Therefore, if you still have all manner of imaginings and notions, to you this is an irresponsible attitude to have, and to God it is blasphemy; it is to deny and question God’s painstaking intent to save mankind. If you think, “We have knowledge and education and brains. We’ve been born into the last days, and some of us have received higher education in the world and have certain family backgrounds. We’re modern, educated people and we have reason to reject such an exceedingly ordinary and normal Christ whom everyone looks down on; we have reason to form notions about You,” then what kind of problem is this? This is rebelliousness and not knowing the difference between good and bad! People can resolve their notions once they’ve arisen, but if after they’ve been resolved, people still stubbornly refuse to accept God’s incarnation or the normal humanity side of Christ, then this will cause trouble for them and will prevent them from attaining salvation. When you have experienced up to a certain day, you will understand that the more normal God’s incarnation, His normal humanity, all that He has and what He reveals, the greater our salvation, and the more normal they are, the more they are what we need. If God’s incarnation were supernatural, then not one of those who live on earth would be able to attain salvation. It is precisely because of God’s humility and hiddenness, because of the normality and practicality of this seemingly unremarkable God, that mankind has the chance of salvation. Because in people there is rebelliousness, satanic corrupt dispositions, and corrupt essence, all kinds of notions, misunderstandings, and conflicts toward God are produced; it is even the case that, as a result of these notions, people often proudly or self-confidently deny this Christ, and deny His normal humanity—this is a big mistake. If you wish to attain salvation, if you wish to receive God’s salvation, and the judgment and chastisement of God, you must first put aside your various notions and imaginings and erroneous definitions about Christ’s normal humanity, you must put aside your various views and opinions about Christ, and you must think of a way to accept all that comes from Him. Only then will the words He speaks and the truths He expresses gradually find entry into your heart and become your life. If you wish to follow Him, you should accept everything about Him; whether His Spirit, His words, or His flesh, you should accept it all. If you have truly accepted Him, then you should not stand in opposition to Him, always misunderstanding Him and being rebellious toward Him in reliance on your notions, much less should you cling to your notions, always doubting Him and even being conflictive and resistant toward Him. This kind of attitude will only harm you and it is of no benefit to you at all. Can you accept what I say? (Yes.) That’s good, so now hurry and seek the truth to resolve your notions. This issue pertains to corrupt dispositions, and if you don’t solve them, then you must die of your corrupt dispositions.
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