The Attitude Man Should Have Toward God (Part Two)
When different things happen to people, there are all sorts of manifestations in them that show the difference between good humanity and bad humanity. So what are the criteria for measuring humanity? How should what kind of a person someone is, and whether or not they can be saved, be measured? This depends on whether they love the truth and whether they are able to accept and practice the truth. People all have notions and rebelliousness inside them, they all have corrupt dispositions, and so will encounter times when what God asks is at odds with their own interests, and they have to make a choice—these are things that they will all often experience, nobody can avoid them. Everyone will also have times when they misinterpret God and have notions about God, or when they have complaints about Him and are resistant or rebellious toward Him—but because people have different attitudes toward the truth, the way they approach it is different. Some people never speak of their notions, but seek the truth and resolve them on their own. Why do they not speak of them? (They have a God-fearing heart.) That’s right: They have a God-fearing heart. They are afraid that speaking them up will have a negative effect, and they merely try to resolve this in their heart, without affecting anyone else. When they encounter others in a similar state, they use their own experiences to help them. This is being kindhearted. People who are kindhearted are loving toward others, they are willing to help others solve their difficulties. There are principles when they do things and help others, they help others fix problems in order to benefit them, and they say nothing that is not of benefit to them. This is love. Such people have a God-fearing heart, and their actions are principled and wise. These are the criteria for measuring whether people’s humanity is good or bad. They know that negative things are of no benefit to anyone, and that these things will affect others if they speak of them out loud, so they choose to pray to God in their hearts and seek the truth for a resolution. No matter what kind of notions they have, they are able to approach and address them with a heart of submission to God, and then achieve understanding of the truth, and ability to submit to God absolutely; in this way, they will have fewer and fewer notions. But some people have no reason. When they have notions, they love fellowshipping them with anyone and everyone. But this doesn’t solve the problem, and makes others have notions—and does this not harm them? Some people don’t tell the brothers and sisters when they have notions; they fear that others will be able to tell they have notions, and use this against them—but at home, they speak without compunction, they say whatever they want, treating the nonbelievers in their family like the brothers and sisters at church. They don’t give any thought to what kind of consequences doing so will have. Is this acting according to principle? For example, among their relatives there may be those who believe in God and those who don’t, or those who half believe and are half skeptical; when they have notions, they spread them among family members, with the result that all of these people are dragged down with them, and start having notions and misunderstandings about God. Notions and misunderstandings are inherently pestilential, and once they spread, people who can’t tell them for what they really are can come to harm. Muddled people, in particular, are liable to become even more muddled after hearing them. Only those who understand the truth and are capable of identifying them are able to reject these adverse things—things that are notions, negativity, and misunderstandings—and be protected by God. Most people are devoid of such stature. Some can sense that these things are wrong—which is already quite impressive—but they can’t tell them for what they are at all. Therefore, when there are those who often spread notions and negativity, most people will be disturbed by these adverse things, and become weak and negative. This is certain. These negative, adverse things have tremendous power to mislead and harm new believers. Toward those who already have a foundation, they have little effect; after a time, when such people understand the truth, they will turn themselves around. But once new believers who lack a foundation hear these adverse things, they will easily become negative and weak; those who do not love the truth will even retreat and stop believing in God; those evil people may even spread notions and disturb the work of the church. What kind of people are those who spread negativity and notions without compunction? They are all evil people, they are all demons, and they shall all be revealed and eliminated. Some people say: “I don’t spread these things to strangers; I just talk about them at home.” Whether you talk about them outside or at home, the nature of the matter is all the same. That you can speak about them at home means you have notions and misunderstandings about God. Being able to say these things out loud proves you do not seek or love the truth. You have not sought the truth to help you dispel these notions, nor do you plan to give them up, so no matter who you speak to, the nature of your speech remains the same. And there are some people who spread their notions everywhere they go, and with whomever they meet. For instance, let’s say someone gets sent home because they caused disruptions and disturbances while doing their duty. When asked why they were made to go home, they reply: “I’m just naturally frank. I say what’s on my mind. I slipped up and talked about some of the bad things I used to do; when the leaders and workers heard about this, they labeled me an evil person and sent me home. You all should learn from my experience; you can’t speak recklessly in God’s house. God says to be honest, but you have to consider your audience. It’s okay to be honest with your family, but try being honest with outsiders and you’ll suffer losses. Didn’t I just suffer a loss because of it? Take this as a lesson.” Some people, after hearing this, will mull it over: “This kind of thing happens in the house of God? I guess we’d all better be careful with our words from now on!” Aren’t these people muddleheaded? God has spoken so much, yet after listening for over a decade, they can’t remember a single sentence—but an evil person says one thing and they remember it firmly, planting it in their hearts, and thereafter become wary in their speech and actions. They have been misled and poisoned. Why is it they can be poisoned? In one sense, their caliber is poor, and they are too muddled, unable to discern other people’s speech and behavior, and lack a stance of their own. They do not understand the truth and are unable to uphold it. In another sense, they have no faith in God and fundamentally do not understand the way He treats people. Because of all this, they can be misled by others. They too are certainly not good people, able to embrace the words of a devil. What intentions and goals does the devil have when spreading notions? They want everyone to sympathize with them. They’d be overjoyed if everyone were complaining about God. Is this not someone who causes disruptions and disturbances? Aren’t they blindly stirring up trouble? How should such people be handled? Does it even need to be said? Cleanse them away from the church immediately; do not let them stay for even one more day. Evil people like them remaining in the house of God will only result in disaster; they are a hidden danger, a ticking timebomb. The best course of action is to cleanse them away. Let them believe however they want to believe outside the church—that has nothing to do with the house of God. Such people are the most insidious and are beyond redemption. Tell Me, who in God’s house has ever been sent away because of a momentary slip of the tongue? Who has ever been made to leave for being an honest person and openly recognizing themselves? The house of God is always doing the work of cleansing the church, and who are those that get cleansed away? It is all those evil people, antichrists, and disbelievers, who consistently do not perform their duties well, and who even do evil and cause disturbances. Not a single person has ever been disposed of because of a momentary transgression or a momentary revelation of corruption, much less has anyone been cleansed away for practicing the truth so as to be an honest person. This is accepted fact. Some people say: “Those who pursue the truth are a minority in the church. People who do not pursue the truth make up the majority. If the majority were cleared out, who would labor? If the majority were cleared out, how many people could still be saved?” This is not the right way to think. As was said long ago, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” It is because humankind is so deeply corrupt that people who love the truth are so few. It is not a great number of people that God wants, but people of excellence. Those who remain in the house of God are those who can listen and submit, who can safeguard the work of God’s house; most of them are people who can accept the truth. Some people have poor caliber and might not understand the truth, but they are able to listen, submit, and refrain from wrongdoing, so such people may be retained to labor. Those who manage to stay among the laborers are all loyal. No matter how hard they labor, they do not complain; they are people who listen and submit. Those who do not listen or submit, wouldn’t they just cause disturbances if they remained? Even if they labor a bit, they always need supervision; the moment they are not watched, they could commit wrongdoings and create problems. Such people’s laboring does more harm than good. Laborers like this must be cleared out, otherwise God’s chosen people will be disturbed, as will church life. If evil people are not cleared out from the church, God’s chosen people will truly come to harm and be ruined. Thus, the only way to guarantee that God’s chosen people can experience church life undisturbed is to clear evil people out; this is the only way to ensure God’s chosen people enter the right track of believing in God and attain salvation. Clearing evil people out is fully in accordance with God’s intentions.
There is a type of person who is loving and tolerant toward everyone, and willing to help anybody. The only thing they are not interested in is the truth. They are always opposed to God and irreconcilable with Him. They are die-hard enemies of God. What kind of person is this? They are disbelievers and devils. Devils are the ones who are averse to the truth the most and hate the truth the most. So long as something involves the truth, or what God says or demands, not only do they not accept it, but they doubt it, they are resistant to it, and they spread their notions about it. They also do many things which are detrimental to the church’s work, even publicly clamoring against God when their personal interests have been hurt. People like this are devils; they are people who hate the truth and hate God. Within every person’s nature is a disposition which hates the truth; therefore, everyone has an essence which hates God. The only difference is the extent of this hate, whether it is mild or severe. Some people are capable of doing evil to oppose God, while others just reveal a corrupt disposition or negative emotions. So why are some people capable of hating God? What role do they play? They are able to hate God because they have a disposition which hates the truth. Having this disposition means that they are a devil and an enemy of God. What is a devil? Devils are all those who hate the truth and hate God. Can devils be saved? Absolutely not. While God saves mankind, many people will rise up and oppose Him and disturb the work of the house of God. People like this are devils. They can also be called living demons. In churches everywhere, anyone who disturbs the work of the church is a devil and a living demon. And anyone who tyrannizes the church and does not accept the truth to any degree is a living demon. Therefore, if you correctly identify which people are living demons, you must act quickly to clear them out. If there are some people whose behavior is typically very good, but on occasion their state is bad, or their stature is too small and they do not understand the truth, and they do something which causes disruptions and disturbances but it is not a habit of theirs and they are not this sort of person by nature, then they can remain. Some people’s humanity is not very good; if someone offends them, they will never let it go. They will argue with that person endlessly, showing no mercy when they feel justified. Yet, these people have one merit, which is that they are willing to labor and endure hardship. People like this can remain for the time being. If these people frequently do evil and disturb the church’s work, then they are of devils and Satan, and they absolutely cannot be saved. That is one hundred percent certain. People of this sort must be cleared out from the church; they absolutely cannot be allowed to stay. Why must they be cleared out? On what basis are they cleared out? Some are cleared out to give them a chance to repent, to teach them a lesson; others are cleared out because their natures have been seen for what they are, and they cannot be saved. So you see, people are just different from one another. Some who have been cleared out, despite their extreme negativity and darkened heart, have not abandoned their duty, and continue to perform it—they are not of a state with people who do not do their duty at all after being cleared out, and the paths they take are not the same. What is the inner state of those who continue to do their duty after being cleared out? What do they pursue? This is different from those who do not perform their duty. If you cannot discern it, it means your caliber is poor, you lack spiritual understanding, and you cannot do the work of the church. If you can see the difference, you will treat them differently. Where lies the difference between these two types of people? What is the difference in the paths they walk? What is the difference in their attitude toward performing duty? Can you discern these things? (Some people can continue performing some duties after being cleared out, indicating they still have some conscience. Perhaps they also feel they cannot be saved anymore, but they think: “I believe in God. I am certain that this God is the Creator. Even though the church has cleared me out, I must still believe in God. I am still a created being, and I acknowledge my Creator.” They still have this bit of conscience at work within them. If they don’t even do their duty after being cleared out, and don’t even believe in God anymore, they betray themselves as a disbeliever.) Who would like to speak next? (Perhaps some people can continue to perform their duty after being cleared out because in their heart they already realize that they owe God for the things they did before, and wish to make amends. But if someone stops doing their duty after being cleared out, it shows they weren’t doing their duty to satisfy God, but were trying to make deals with God in the hopes of receiving blessings. And after determining that they wouldn’t receive any blessings, they didn’t see the need to continue performing duty, so they stopped laboring.) Of these two types of people, which one has some conscience? (People who still do their duty after being cleared out.) The type who continues their duty still has some conscience and a baseline for being a person. As a human, regardless of how God treats them and whether God wants them, they are still a created being of God. They cannot escape God’s hand; wherever they go, they are still a created being, so they must still do their duty. This shows they have conscience and a baseline for being a person. Moreover, no matter where they go, at the very least they can admit they believe in God and acknowledge God’s existence. It is this faith in their heart that enables them to perform their duties. This type of person really does have some faith, and may be capable of repentance. As for those who stop performing their duties after being cleared out, what they’re thinking is, “If God doesn’t want me, I won’t believe in God anymore. My belief is useless anyway.” They stop believing and deny God’s existence, and even abandon their baseline for being a person, negating everything they did before. Such people lack conscience and reason, and that is where the difference lies between these two types. Tell Me, does God know this? He knows it all too well. He created all things, He can scrutinize all things and reigns sovereign over them all. Those disbelievers who lack conscience think, “Where is God? How come I haven’t seen Him? So who cares if the church cleared me out? I can live wherever I go all the same. You think I can’t go on living just because I left You? Not performing my duties gives me even more freedom!” This is their attitude, which reveals them as a disbeliever, and it proves clearing them out was right. Disbelievers like this should be cleared out—good riddance to them. People who have faith in God react differently if they are cleared out. For example, after being cleared out, some people might say, “I cannot live without doing my duty. I cannot live without believing in God. I can’t go on without God. No matter where I go, I’m in God’s hand.” So they continue doing their duty. It is not blind belief or stupidity that leads them to this choice; it is because they are governed by these thoughts that they can perform their duty like this. They also have grievances and notions, and some complaints, but why is it they can still perform their duty? Because there is still some conscience at work within their humanity. Those without the function of conscience can refrain from doing their duty and believing in God. This is the difference. People do differ from each other; there are differences among everyone. At pivotal moments, whether or not someone has conscience and reason can determine and affect so many things.
Just now I fellowshipped on the intentions in one’s state. Next I will fellowship on standpoint and attitude. Whether it’s an aspect of terminology or an aspect of the truth, there are many details involved here; it’s not as simple as the surface-level words or sentences spoken. If you limit your understanding to a word, a concept, or the literal meaning of some sentences, it will only ever be a type of doctrine. However, if you integrate and compare these literal phrases or sentences with actual states and the ideas, views, or methods people reveal in their real lives, you will be able to discover many of your own problems. Some problems contradict the truth. Others seem to be in alignment with doctrine, they seem to conform to regulations and human ideas and methods, but in actuality they do not conform to the truth or to God’s intentions. For example, some of the views and standpoints people have conform only to human notions and imaginings, but not the truth principles. If they are not measured and discerned according to God’s words, they will be able to pass muster among people. But once checked against God’s words, human thoughts and views become fallacious things, they become negative things. What other problems have you discovered? (God, I’m thinking of ideas and views from traditional culture like “being filial to one’s parents” and “being a good wife and loving mother,” which people see as being right and proper, but which, from a truth perspective, do not conform to the truth.) They do not conform to the truth. This means they go against God’s desires. For example, some people can show filial devotion to their parents or be a good wife and loving mother—in terms of their behavior and performance, there doesn’t seem to be a problem here; but can they submit to God? Can they accept the truth? Just displaying these two behaviors outwardly is not a problem; but in terms of evaluating their nature essence, do they have any submission in the way they treat God? Are they able to accept the truth? If there are problems with these two aspects, will they be able to attain salvation? They certainly will not. So, even though these two behaviors appear as merits, they cannot represent a person’s essence. No matter how much someone is filial or a good wife and loving mother on the surface, it does not mean they are one who submits to God, much less does it mean they are one who has broken free from Satan’s influence. There is not any relation between these two merits of theirs and the truth. Therefore, someone possessing these two merits is definitely not a person whom God approves of, and they fall far short of the standard of a righteous person. The hearts of corrupt humans are brimming with Satan’s philosophies. They all like receiving the praise and approval of others. They all like maintaining their interpersonal relations to protect themselves. They all like standing out and showing off to make others look up to them. Living based on these satanic philosophies all starts from a certain point of departure. What is the goal this starting point aims to achieve? (To have people praise them as good individuals and say they are loving and considerate, so that people will support and approve of them.) Living by Satan’s philosophies, people harbor a type of notion and imagining: “The good are rewarded” and “The good have peaceful lives.” Yet none can say clearly just what “The good are rewarded” and “The good have peaceful lives” mean. On the contrary, seeing that good people do not live long while bad people do, none can really perceive the root cause of this state of affairs. But there is one commonly accepted rule among people that remains constant: “Good is repaid with good, and evil with evil.” God recompenses each individual based on their own deeds. This is preordained by God, and nobody can change it, yet not many people recognize this. So, is it easy for people to change when they live according to satanic philosophies? (No.) Why not? (These philosophies have become their law of survival. Without seeking the truth and without being able to discern these notions, it is difficult to change.) It’s not so simple. Actually, when facing situations with these intentions and actions, if you say you feel nothing, that’s not right. For nonbelievers, not feeling anything is normal because they live entirely according to satanic philosophies and laws. They consider these things valuable and don’t think they are wrong. Now, you have all believed in God for such a long time and listened to so many sermons; deep down, you should have an assessment of these things. Are they right or wrong? You should be able to recognize that these things are wrong; your attitude toward them should be negative, not affirmative. So why can’t you let go of them despite knowing full well they are wrong? Where does the problem lie? (We are too selfish and despicable, and are unwilling to rebel against the flesh. When confronted with something, we don’t think about satisfying God and give little consideration to the interests of God’s house, instead only considering our own interests. We cannot rebel against our inner intentions.) Not willing to rebel against the flesh—this is one aspect. When it comes to major interests, you feel distressed and anguished, and can’t let go. So, in the interpersonal interactions of your daily life that don’t involve major interests, have you ever examined these satanic philosophies and laws? Have you sought the truth to resolve them? Have you changed at all? (Some things I examine, and what I recognize, I try to change. But often, I don’t treat it as a serious matter and don’t examine it.) Then it’s not easy to change. Your every movement, every word and action, even your glances are all revelations of a corrupt disposition, all governed by a corrupt disposition. If you still do not seek the truth to resolve these issues, it will be very difficult to receive salvation. If you think it takes tremendous effort and energy to rebel against the flesh, as if it requires you to split your personality in two, then you’ve got trouble; it will not be easy to change. If you can examine yourself and seek the truth—starting from everyday life, from your every word and deed, and especially in those matters which touch upon fame, gain, and status—and if you can rebel against your own flesh, you will be able to make some changes. Now, you all find it difficult to relinquish these philosophies and laws of Satan; in your daily lives, then, has there been any genuine change in these views or behaviors and actions that don’t align with the truth? (Sometimes when I speak or act, I recognize that I have incorrect intentions and want to correct them. After praying, I understand God’s intentions and can put them into practice, but after doing so I discover that the intentions behind my actions have not actually been resolved, it’s only my outward methods that have changed. For example, if I lie to protect my own interests, after realizing this I’ll immediately rebel against the flesh and open up and lay myself bare to others, saying, “My intention when speaking just now was not right. I was being deceitful.” But the next time I encounter a similar situation, that intention will still exert its control over me and I’ll want to protect my own interests and lie. That intention seems so deeply rooted; it resurfaces again and again in my heart.) So, where does this intention to satisfy your own interests come from? It is the product of your corrupt disposition. The intentions produced by various corrupt dispositions are all different in nature; some are wicked in nature, some are vicious, some are absurd, some are ludicrous, and some are intransigent. Each has its own nature. Thus, it is very normal for the same intention to be produced in different situations, because the corrupt disposition inside you does not change. If this one disposition could produce different intentions in different situations, that would cause people so much trouble and throw their minds into chaos! Even just one kind of intention can be hard to resolve, requiring a lengthy period of transformation; if one disposition produced many kinds of intentions, then that would be even more difficult to change. You need to constantly work on a single kind of intention, handling and resolving it in different situations and circumstances, and among different people, events, and things. This is doing battle with one aspect of a corrupt disposition. Some people grow anxious and even conclude that they are incapable of change after losing a few battles. Being anxious is no use; a corrupt disposition cannot be changed in an instant. You might think that rebelling against the flesh once or twice should bring about some changes, but later you find that you still always reveal corrupt disposition, and you don’t understand why. This indicates that you lack an understanding of the process of dispositional change. Changing a disposition is no simple matter. It won’t suffice if your understanding of the truth is too shallow. When you truly recognize the essence of your corrupt disposition, then you can completely rebel against it. Practicing the way you do now, although you will still reveal your corrupt disposition when you encounter situations, it cannot be denied that you have already changed. At the very least your corrupt disposition reveals itself less, and you have much fewer intentions and adulterations. You don’t speak with as much hypocrisy and dishonesty now; instead, you often speak from your heart and tell the truth. This indicates that you have already changed. But you might think, “There’s only been a change in my practice and methods. My intentions remain unchanged, so I haven’t really changed at all, have I? Does this mean I’m beyond salvation?” Are these thoughts correct? (No.) They are distorted thoughts. Changing your disposition requires experiencing many processes; it is correct that your practice and methods change first. As for people’s inner intentions, they can only be changed by seeking the truth to resolve them. Being able to change in terms of practice and method proves that someone has started to transform. If you persist in seeking the truth to resolve your human intentions and adulterations, your corrupt disposition will reveal itself less and less. If you have come to know God, have a God-fearing heart, and can submit to God, that proves your life disposition has already undergone a change. This is the right way to look at things. If your way of practicing is correct, and you are able to practice the truth and act with some principle, that means you’ve already changed. It is wrong to believe you haven’t changed at all just because you sometimes still reveal your corruption. You might say, “Then why does my old problem of revealing corruption still recur? This proves I haven’t changed.” This is the wrong way to look at things. The problem of revealing corruption cannot be thoroughly resolved after only a few years of experience. It requires long-term persistence in practicing the truth to thoroughly resolve. The decrease in the revelations of your corruption is enough to prove there has already been change in you; to say there hasn’t been any change at all is inconsistent with the actual situation. You must be clear about this in your hearts, you cannot have a distorted understanding. Attaining salvation by experiencing God’s work is a long-term endeavor that absolutely cannot be achieved in only a few short years. You must have this awareness.
Just now we fellowshipped on standpoints, intentions, and attitudes. Standpoints determine attitudes, don’t they? Indeed, standpoints and views do determine people’s attitudes. Similarly, your view when you encounter a certain circumstance or situation depends on where you stand. If you do not stand with God but stand on the side of man, seeking to maintain your interpersonal relations, then your views and methods will surely all serve to protect and secure your own interests and pride, and to leave yourself a way out. But if your standpoint is to protect the interests of God’s house, to perform your duty well and exert your loyalty, then your attitude will be to practice according to the truth in every situation, to perform your duty well, to exert loyalty, and to accomplish God’s commission—all these elements are aligned. When, in your fellowship together, you do not fellowship about the doctrines you have heard or remembered, or the spiritual theories you have grasped, but are able instead to fellowship about your own recent states, about the ways in which your views and standpoints on some event have undergone change and you have been informed by new discoveries and new understandings, about things of yours that are contrary to God’s requirements and the truth, then, at such time as you are able to fellowship such things, you will have stature. If you have never examined any aspect of your views, standpoints, intentions, and thoughts, or if, having examined them, you are unable to tell if they are right or wrong, and your accounting of them is muddled, then, were you act as a leader of the church, with what would you water others? (Words and doctrines.) It seems to Me that you would water others not only with words and doctrines, spiritual theories, and theological knowledge, but also, perhaps, with your distorted views and your personal notions and judgments of God, and, more than that, with your one-sided views and understandings of God, in total discord with God’s words and demands. And what happens to everyone brought up under such leadership? They become able only to speak on words and doctrines. If God wanted to do some testing and purifying work in them, their not resisting it would be a satisfactory outcome; they would be quite incapable of treating it correctly, much less genuinely submitting to it. What does this show? It shows that what you instill in others is notions and imaginings. If others have not increased their understanding and diminished their misunderstandings of God due to your watering and leadership, then how has your performance of your duty been? Have you done it adequately or inadequately? (Inadequately.) Are you now able to determine which parts of the work you do and which of the truths you fellowship are genuinely helpful and bring benefit to people, not only resolving their negativity and their notions and misunderstandings of God, but also allowing them to have a true understanding of God and a normal relationship with Him? If you can achieve these results in your work, then you are able to do practical work and perform your duty adequately. If you are unable to perform this work, then just what have you been doing within the church? Are you able to gauge which parts of the work you’ve done and which of the words you’ve spoken have been truly beneficial and edifying for God’s chosen people? Are the work you perform and the words you say identical to what Paul did—merely speaking of spiritual theory, bearing witness to yourselves and showing off—or are they perhaps even more overt and obnoxious than what Paul said? Can you measure that? If you really can measure it, then you’ve truly made progress. For example, a person, having believed in God for only one or two years so far, has notions and misunderstandings about God that affect the performance of their duty, so you persistently tell them, “You must love God. You can’t be without a God-loving heart. You have to learn how to submit to God, you can’t have personal demands and desires.” But this is not where the problem lies with them; actually, it’s because someone who believed in God for many years got expelled, and the new believer didn’t grasp this person’s essence, so they developed misgivings about how God’s house handled this matter. They have misgivings, so it is these misgivings you must resolve. It’s not that they don’t want to perform their duty, or that they want to slack off or can’t endure hardship, and yet you’re always telling them, “Young people should be able to endure hardship and be diligent, and have perseverance.” These words are correct, but they don’t fit this person’s state, so they remain uninspired after listening. Resolving misunderstandings about God cannot be done by just speaking some doctrines; you must understand the facts and clarify the root cause. This is what’s known as getting to the bottom of the matter. Only by figuring out what’s really going on and seeking the truth to resolve the matter can the problem truly be solved. You might probe them: “How are you misunderstanding? What misunderstandings do you have? God is so good to you and cares for you so much, and you still misunderstand Him; you lack conscience!” But this cannot resolve the problem; this is exhorting and lecturing, not fellowshipping the truth. What should be said to really fellowship the truth, then? (Help them believe that God is righteous. Say: “Even if you can’t see through the person who got expelled, you should maintain a submissive heart. When you understand the truth, you’ll naturally see through that person.”) This is quite a good method, it’s the simplest method; it can resolve some of the problems even if it doesn’t explain everything. Tell Me, what are people generally thinking when misunderstandings arise in them? Why did it make them feel bad? Because it touched upon their own interests; they put themselves in the other person’s shoes and thought about how it could affect themselves: “They still got expelled even after believing in God for so many years. I haven’t believed in God for as long as them; will God not want me too?” This misunderstanding arises in them. This is a misunderstanding of God’s righteous disposition and the way He treats people. How should these two misunderstandings of God be resolved? When someone has developed a misunderstanding of God, what is the nature of this misunderstanding? Is it an affirmation of God’s work, or a questioning of it? (A questioning of it.) Is this questioning correct or incorrect? First of all, it is incorrect. So, will your rationality enable you to recognize that you’ve developed a misunderstanding about God, and that this kind of behavior, attitude or state of yours is incorrect? If you possess this rationality, you will be able to clearly realize that you are wrong and that God is certainly right. With this foundation, you will be able to easily accept whatever truth is fellowshipped next. But if you subconsciously think, “What God does may not necessarily be correct. God also has areas where people could find fault. God also makes mistakes and treats people unfairly; His inconsiderateness toward people is unfair”—if these thoughts can arise within you, does that mean you subconsciously affirm or deny what God does? (Deny.) You deny what God does. Then do you subconsciously believe your misunderstanding of God is correct or incorrect? If you subconsciously believe you are correct, then this is a problem, one which no amount of fellowshipping on any aspect of the truth could address. Of these two types of views, these two types of subconscious mindsets, which type places yourself in the position of a created being, one that acknowledges that the Creator is the Creator, man is man, and God is God? (The first type.) And the second type? Can someone with this second type of view accept the fact that God is the Creator? (No.) How is this exhibited? What gives it away? They do not maintain an attitude of belief, submission, and acceptance toward God; they instead harbor an attitude that is always watching, scrutinizing, analyzing, and dissecting. They regard all that God does from a position of equal standing with Him. So when they suddenly discover that God has done something that doesn’t align with their own notions and imaginings, they dare to try to gain leverage against God, judge God, and condemn God. They are not treating God as God, but as a man, aren’t they? They dare try to hold leverage against God, find fault with and judge Him—is this speaking from the position of a created being? (No.) When someone has misunderstandings about God, they should understand that the things God does are unfathomable. As a created being, man has no justification or qualification to criticize and judge God. When this happens, how should you fellowship with such a person? You have to say this: “You have misunderstandings about God, which is wrong in itself. No matter what God did that didn’t align with your notions, you should have a God-fearing heart. If you can’t understand something, don’t blindly make judgments and condemnations; you should pray to God and seek the truth. Because we are people, corrupt humans, and we can never become God. Even if we received and understood every truth that God expressed, we would still just be corrupt humans, and God will always be God. Even if we do attain the truth and are made perfect by God, if God doesn’t like us and wants to destroy us, we still mustn’t utter complaints—this is what a created being should submit to. If something so small still causes us to have notions about God and judge Him, that just proves how corrupt, arrogant, wicked, and without reason we humans are. First of all, we’ve never placed ourselves in the position of a created being and then treated the Creator that way; this was the first mistake. The second mistake is that we’re always watching God, thinking of ways to gain leverage against Him, and then observing, scrutinizing, and analyzing—this is even more wrong. Not only do we not believe in God and not accept or submit to the truth; we stand on the side of Satan and act as its accomplice, joining forces with it to clamor against God, to compete with and confront God—this is not what a created being should do. What God is doing now, regardless of whether people think it is right or wrong, regardless of which aspect of the truth it conforms to, and regardless of how it matches up with God’s righteous disposition, none of that has to do with us. We are created beings; what should our responsibilities, obligations, and duties be? To unconditionally submit and accept. If we believe we are created beings, that whatever God does is right, and if we must accept it regardless of whether we feel it benefits, deprives, harms, or hurts us, then this is called submission, this is called having a God-fearing heart. This is what a true created being should be like. How do we compare to Abraham, to Job, to Peter? We fall far short of them. If we talk about qualifications, we have no qualifications to speak to God, no qualifications to have misunderstandings about God, and no qualifications to appraise or judge a single thing that God does.” People will of course not enjoy hearing that they don’t have any of these qualifications, but this is what you must say to corrupt human beings because they cannot be reasoned with. Daring to talk about qualifications and justifications with the Creator—is this not arrogance and self-righteousness, and imperviousness to reason? Therefore, only by speaking in such a blunt manner can they understand; fellowshipping like this can resolve some problems.
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