There’s another sort of state, and that’s living by philosophies for worldly dealings. Most people like to pursue fame, gain, and status in their belief in God, without focusing on pursuing the truth. So long as someone has a bit of caliber and a few ideas, they possess a set of Satan’s philosophies and rules for living. They each have their own “tricks up their sleeve” regarding how to live happily, how to live in a way that distinguishes them and brings honor to their family name, and wins everyone’s acclaim. What tricks are those? They’re “supreme” philosophies for worldly dealings. Some people may find that funny to hear: “Supreme” and “philosophies for worldly dealings” don’t belong together. They’re a strange pairing. So, why is the word “supreme” used here? In general, someone with a philosophy for worldly dealings believes that in order to live, they need to be equipped with some rules for existence, that is, some secrets for survival. They think that’s the only way to achieve their goals in life. They hold these rules for existence, which are philosophies for worldly dealings, as their highest tenets, just like those mottos that people often say. They uphold and stick to their philosophy for worldly dealings as if it were the truth, without excluding even God’s chosen people from this treatment. They think, “No human can divorce themselves from worldly affairs. You believe in God, don’t you? You follow the principles, don’t you? You understand the truth, don’t you? Well then, I have a philosophy for worldly dealings to handle you. You’re meticulous, right? You go by the truth principles, right? Well, I don’t understand the truth principles, and I can still make you well disposed toward me and keep you running in circles. I’ll keep you all in my orbit; you’ll say I’m a good person and won’t say anything bad about me behind my back. I’ll even pass judgment on you when you’re not around, and do nasty things to you, and sell you out—and you’ll be none the wiser.” That’s a person who lives by philosophies for worldly dealings. What’s inside those philosophies for worldly dealings? Subterfuge, deception, and tactics, as well as approaches and methods. For instance, when they see someone with status, someone who could be of use, they’re very polite, bowing and scraping and singing their praises. With those who they think have little to offer, and aren’t as good as them, they always speak condescendingly and look down on them, which makes those people feel that they’re superior and must always be looked up to. In their inner world, they have a system for toying with and manipulating people and a way for how they ought to treat each sort of person. When they encounter someone, they know at a glance what sort of person they are, and how they should deal with them and associate with them. Their mind comes up with the formula right away. They’re sophisticated and practiced at it. They don’t need to think about implementing these philosophies for worldly dealings—they don’t need preliminary sketches or anyone’s instruction. They have their own methods. Some of those, they thought up themselves; some, they learned from others, or watched in others, or gained from others’ influence. It may be that no one told them about those methods, but they can infer the ins and outs, and so they learn their philosophies for worldly dealings, techniques, approaches and methods, schemes, and calculations. Do people who live by these things have the truth? Can they live by the truth? (No.) They cannot. So, what impact do they have on other people? Others are often deceived and hoodwinked by them, used and toyed with by them, and so on. These philosophies for worldly dealings aren’t necessarily the sole purview of intellectuals, or of some group of people—the fact is that they’re present in everyone.

In what other ways do satanic philosophies manifest? Some people are great talkers. They coax happiness and satisfaction out of people, who come away soothed for having heard them speak, but they do no actual work at all. What sort of person is this? One who manipulates people with pretty words. Some leaders and workers work for a while, then think to themselves, “Does the Above understand me? Does God know of me? I need to report a few problems so that the Above will know I’m working. If the Above sees that the problems I report are quite real and substantive, that they’re key issues, the Above perhaps holds me in esteem, seeing that I can do actual work.” And so, they find a chance to mention problems. They’re justified in mentioning problems, that’s common sense, and the work requires it. But this shouldn’t be tainted with their personal intent. Can you see the intent this person has in reporting these issues? What’s really the problem with this intent they have? This question calls for thought and discernment. If they were mentioning the issues in order to perform their duty well and please God, that would be justified; it would mean that they were a responsible person, one who did actual work. Yet there are currently some leaders and workers who don’t do actual work, but are opportunistic and cut corners, who lie to their superiors and hide things from those beneath them. Still, they’d like to be smooth and slick, and satisfy everyone. By practicing in this way, are they not living by satanic philosophies? If so, how should the problem be resolved? What truths are to be sought, how is it to be known and discerned—these things must be made clear before the problem of their corrupt intent can be resolved. Here’s another example. Two people are paired up to perform a duty. They’re going to go to a church in another area to handle a problem there. The living conditions there are relatively poor, public security isn’t great, and it’s a bit of a risky place. One of them says, “The people in that church don’t like me. Even if I went, there’s no guarantee that I could resolve the problem there. They all like you, though. It’d be productive for you to go resolve the problem.” The other finds this to be true and heads off. All else aside, is there not a problem with the one who found reasons and excuses not to go? Whether their excuses and reasons are valid or not, are they practicing the truth in this? Are they thinking of their brothers and sisters? No; they’re lying. They’re using pretty words to accomplish their own ends. Is this not a technique? If you think like this and act like this, you haven’t rebelled against the flesh. You’re still living by satanic philosophies. But what if you could rebel against yourself and didn’t live by satanic philosophies? You initially wouldn’t want to go to that church to handle its problems, but you’d mull it over: “That’s not right. The fact that I’d think like that means I’m a bad person, that I’m immoral. I’ve got to take what I said back, as fast as I can. I have to apologize to him and be open about the corruption I revealed. I must go to that place today, even if it means I’ll die there.” It’s not actually a sure thing that you’ll die there. Since when does death come so easily? Life and death are preordained by God. All in all, in such a case, you need to have resolve and the ability to rebel against yourself. Only then will you be able to live by the truth. I’ll give you another example. Two people are paired up to perform a duty. They’re both afraid of taking responsibility for it, so it becomes a battle of wits. One says, “You go take care of this.” The other says, “It’d be better for you to handle it. I’m of worse caliber than you.” What they’re really thinking is: “There’ll be no reward for doing this thing well, and if it’s done poorly, I’ll be pruned. I’m not going—I’m not that dumb! I know what you’re up to. Quit trying to get me to go.” What comes in the end of their back-and-forth? Neither of them goes, and the work is delayed as a result. Is that not immoral? (It is.) Isn’t delaying the work a serious consequence? It’s a bad result. So, what is it that these two are living by? They’re both living by satanic philosophies; they’re constrained and bound up by satanic philosophies and their own trickery. They’ve failed to practice the truth, and as such, their performance of their duty isn’t up to standard. It’s perfunctory, and there’s no testimony at all in it. Say two people are paired up to perform a duty. One of them tries to take a dominant position in everything and always wants to have the last word, and the other may think, “They’re the tough one; they like taking the lead. Well, they can take the lead in everything, and when something goes wrong, it’ll be them who get pruned. ‘The bird that sticks its neck out is the one that gets shot’! I won’t stick out, then. It just so happens that I’m of poor caliber, and I don’t like to be bothered with stuff. They love taking the lead, right? Well, if there’s something to do, I’ll leave it to them!” A person who’d say such things enjoys being a people pleaser, a follower. What do you make of their way of performing a duty? What is it they’re living by? (Philosophies for worldly dealings.) They’re thinking something else, too. “Won’t they get mad at me if I steal their thunder? Won’t there be discord between the two of us going forward? If this were to affect our relationship, we’d have a tough time getting along. I’ll be better off if I let them have their way.” Is this not a philosophy for worldly dealings? The way they’re living saves them trouble. It enables them to avoid taking responsibility. They’ll follow along in whatever they’re made to do, without having to take the lead or stick out, and without having to think about any problems. Everything’s being covered by someone else, so they won’t tire themselves out. Their willingness to be a follower proves that they have no sense of responsibility. They’re living by philosophies for worldly dealings. They don’t accept the truth or uphold the principles. That’s not harmonious cooperation—it’s being a follower, a people pleaser. Why is that not cooperation? Because they don’t live up to their responsibility in anything. They don’t act with all their heart or all their mind, and it may be that they don’t act with all their strength, either. That’s why I say they’re living by philosophies for worldly dealings, rather than by the truth. Here’s another example: Someone does a bad thing while performing their duty, something that incurs a loss to the interests of God’s house. You see it, but you think to yourself, “That’s none of my business. It didn’t hurt my interests. And besides, I’m not the one responsible. What am I doing, sticking my nose into other people’s business? Someone else can go take care of it, whoever’s willing to. All I have to do is stay on top of my own work. It’s got nothing to do with me if others do bad things. I don’t care if I see it; I don’t care if they’ve gone astray; and if there’s a loss to the church’s work, that has nothing to do with me.” Is this not a philosophy for worldly dealings? (It is.) Are this person’s intentions good? (No.) They’re living by satanic philosophies. Some people do this occasionally in some matter; others do it frequently, without ever seeking the truth or reflecting on themselves, and without resolving their corrupt dispositions. These two sorts of people are in different situations. But regardless of whether it’s done in isolated incidents or in all matters, it touches on the problem of a corrupt disposition. It’s not a simple issue with one’s methods—it’s living one’s life by satanic philosophies. What other philosophies for worldly dealings do people commonly see and come into contact with? (Bribing others with petty favors, catering to others’ preferences, praising people, and pandering to them.) Catering to others’ preferences is one technique, one sort of philosophy for worldly dealings. What else? (Not speaking up directly after seeing someone do something that violates the principles, for fear of hurting their feelings.) Being indirect in speech, always circling the issue, always picking pleasant words that don’t involve the principles or the essential problem—this is another sort of philosophy for worldly dealings. Any others? (Flattering and ingratiating oneself to anyone with status.) That’s currying favor, and it’s also a sort of philosophy for worldly dealings. There are people who, by their nature, are always looking to manipulate and take advantage of others. They’re particularly treacherous. There are people who are smooth and slick everywhere they go. What they say depends on whom they’re saying it to. Their minds are very quick to react: They know how to handle a person from the first time they lock eyes. Such people are extremely cunning; they can’t live by the truth. In what other ways do philosophies for worldly dealings manifest? (Not daring to speak up after seeing a problem for fear of taking the blame if it turns out to be a mistake, watching what others are saying and doing, and not expressing a view until the majority has already spoken.) People tend to go along with the flow, thinking that the law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender. What sort of problem is that? What sort of disposition? Isn’t it a deceitful disposition? Not daring to uphold the truth principles because you always want to be a people pleaser and are afraid of causing offense, yet also fearing that you’ll be exposed and eliminated for not practicing the truth—that’s quite a dilemma! That’s the pitiful plight of people pleasers. When people don’t practice the truth, such are the ugly conditions they live out; all of them bear the demonic likeness of Satan. Some of these people are insidious, some are treacherous, some are despicable, some are vile, some are lowly, and others are pitiful. Are you living by satanic philosophies? Flattering anyone who’s a leader while ignoring leaders who have been replaced and eliminated; ingratiating yourself to anyone chosen as a leader, no matter who they are; saying all kinds of nauseating things, “My goodness, you’re pretty, and so regular of build—the very image of beauty. You’ve got the speaking voice of a newscaster and the singing voice of a lark,” looking for ways to curry their favor; flattering them every chance you get; bribing them with petty favors; generally watching to see what they do and say, and thinking up ways to satisfy them when you see they like something. Are these tactics that you have? (Yes. Sometimes I see that a leader or worker has some problems or shortcomings, yet I don’t dare say anything, for fear that they’ll blame me and be badly disposed toward me.) That’s a lack of principles. Do you know, then, whether you’ve identified those problems correctly and whether it would benefit the work of the church for you to speak up about them? (A bit.) You know a bit—so what must you do in order to be aligned with the truth principles? If you are sure that you have found a problem, and you understand in your heart that this problem ought to be solved, otherwise it will delay the work, yet you are not able to adhere to the principles, and you’re afraid of offending other people, what problem is at play? Why would you be afraid to adhere to the principles? This is an issue of a serious nature, and it touches on whether you love the truth and whether you have a sense of justice. You should give voice to your opinion, even if you do not know if it is correct. If you have an opinion or idea, you should say it, and let the others assess it. There will be benefits for you in doing so, and it will go some way toward solving the problem. If you think to yourself, “I’m not getting involved. If what I say is right, I won’t get the credit, and if it’s wrong, I’ll be pruned. It’s not worth it,” is that not selfish and despicable of you? People are always considering their own interests, and unable to practice the truth. That is the most difficult thing about people. Do all of you not have a great many such philosophies for worldly dealings and schemes inside you? There are quite a few items of Satan’s philosophies in every person, and they have long since been overrun by them. It is no wonder, then, that people listen to sermons for years without understanding the truth, and that their entry into the truth reality is slow, and their stature remains always so small. The reason is that such corrupted things are hindering and disturbing them. By what do people live when they need to practice the truth? They live by these corrupt dispositions, by notions, imaginings, and philosophies for worldly dealings, as well as by gifts. Living by these things, it is very hard for people to come before God. Why is that? Their load is too great and their yoke too heavy. Man’s living by these things is so far divided from the truth. These things keep you from understanding the truth and from practicing the truth. If you do not understand the truth, will your faith in God increase? (No.) Your faith in God will certainly not increase, let alone your knowledge of Him. This is a very lamentable and scary thing.

What people live by has to do with their views on things, as well as with their dispositions. Some people are always striving toward their dreams and desires. Those are people with dreams. Some live always by their desires. What do their desires include? There’s the desire to do work and to make themselves known, and there’s the desire to show themselves off. As an example, there are those who like status. Without status, they won’t believe in God; without status, they’re not of a mind to do anything, and believing in God is boring to them, too. They live by their desire to pursue status, and they get through their days, one after the next, dominated by this desire. Whatever status they may have is quite precious to them. Nothing they do is for anything other than status: maintaining their status, shoring up their status, expanding their jurisdiction—all they do, in every way, is about this desire of theirs. They’re living by desire. There are others who lead pitiful lives in the world. They’re guileless people who always get bullied, who come from bad homes, from a poor social environment, with no one to depend on. They’re alone and uncared for, until they come to believe in God, at which point they feel they’ve finally found a pillar of support. They have an aspiration, and they’re driven by it in their belief in God. Their aspiration has never changed, even up to the present. They think, “Believing in God, I live with dignity and strength of character; believing in God, I can rise head and shoulders above others, and live a life that’s superior to others’. When I’ve gone to heaven, you’ll all have to hold me in esteem. No one will look down on me anymore.” This wish, this hope of theirs is very hollow and indistinct. They feel they were living such a wretched life in the world, because of their family’s circumstances or some other reason. Living in God’s house, they have something to rely on. The brothers and sisters don’t bully them. They’re a wretch no longer; they have a pillar of support. What’s more, their greatest hope is that they may gain a wonderful destination for themselves after they die, or in this life, where they’ll be able to hold their head up high. That’s their goal. They live by this aspiration, and everywhere, in all things, they use this thought, this wish, as their motivation. It’s quite hard for them to live by the truth. Such people live pitifully. There are others who have the desire to show themselves off or make themselves known. Because of that, they very much like living within a group, doing this and that to make others in the group think highly of them, which satisfies their vanity. They believe, “I may not be a leader, but so long as I can put my talents on display for the group and seem to shine with glamor, enhaloed, it’s worth it for me to believe in God. That’s what I live for; it’s no worse than being in the world.” So, that’s what they live for from then on. They live all their days and years like that, without any change to their original intention. Is this living by the truth? Certainly not. They’re living by dreams and desires, the same as nonbelievers. This is a problem that has to do with one’s views on things, as well as with corrupt dispositions. If this problem goes unresolved, there’s no way to understand or practice the truth, and it’s quite hard to live by the truth then.

There are also some women who live by their looks, who are always thinking themselves pretty, thinking that wherever they go, everyone likes them, regards them highly, and approves of them. Wherever they go, they hear people’s complimentary language toward them and see people’s smiling faces directed at them. They’re quite pleased with themselves, and quite confident, living like that. So, they believe that living as they do gives them capital, that there’s much value in their living—that a lot of people appreciate them, at least. Aren’t there also men who are involved in living by their looks? Say you’re handsome, and in your talk with your sisters, you’re witty, dashing, and romantic. You’re quite pleased with yourself, with everyone thinking highly of you and in your orbit. “It’s not as if I’m trying to date anyone. I’m just living like this, and it’s lovely! Practicing the truth—how dull!” There are others who live off some sort of capital, and to have capital, they must of course have a real thing of some sort. What real things might those be? Some people, for instance, feel they came from the womb believing in God. They’ve believed in God for fifty years or more, and that’s their capital. When they see a brother or sister, they ask, “How many years have you believed in God for?” “Five years,” the other says. They’ve believed in God for ten times longer than this person, and seeing that, they think to themselves, “Have you believed in God for anywhere close to as many years as I have? You’re so young. You’d better behave yourself—you’ve got a long way to go!” This is them living off their capital. What other sorts of capital are there? Some people have served as leaders and workers at all levels. They’ve been out for a long time, doing work and running around and going among the churches, and they’ve got lots of experience. They’re fairly familiar with the work arrangements of the Above, as well as with the various sorts of people and areas of work in the church. So, they believe, “I’m a veteran leader with a veteran’s capital. I’ve been working for a long time, and I have experience. What do you all know? You’re children. How many days have you worked? You’re so green. You don’t know anything. Yeah, you listen to me, that’s right!” And so, they go on preaching all day, without anything practical in it—it’s all words and doctrines. They’ll make excuses, though: “I’m in a bad mood today. There’s an antichrist causing disruption and disturbance, and it’s gotten to me. I’ll preach properly next time.” That shows their true colors, doesn’t it? They’re living on their veteran’s capital, and immensely self-satisfied, no less. Truly, how disgusting, how sickening! That’s one sort of capital. There are others who have been imprisoned for believing in God, or have had some other exceptional experience, or have performed exceptional duties. They’ve suffered, and that, too, serves them as a sort of capital. Why are people always living off their capital? There’s a problem in this: They believe that such capital is their life. As long as they’re living off their capital, they’re able to admire and revel in themselves often, and use that capital to instruct and influence others, which is handy in winning their praise. They believe that with their capital as a foundation, as long as they pursue a bit of truth, or do their duty well and have some good deeds under their belt, then they, like Paul, may have a crown of righteousness in store for them. Certainly, they’ll survive; certainly, they’ll come to a good destination. Living off their capital, they’re often living in a self-pleased, immensely self-satisfied, contentedly complacent state. They feel that God is pleased with their capital, that He delights in them, that He’ll allow them to remain unto the end. Isn’t this living off capital? They reveal this mindset at every turn. In the things they reveal, in the things they live by, and in the things they preach to others at every chance they get, what’s on their mind is clear to see. There are others who have gotten special grace or care from God, something no one else has—just them. So, they think that they’re special, that they’re different from all the rest. They say, “Your belief in God is different from mine. God begins by giving you a lot of grace and leading you. Then, once you’ve slowly come to understand a few truths, God prunes, judges, and chastises you. That’s what it’s like for all of you. It’s different for me: God gives me special grace. He treats me with special favor, and that special favor is my capital—it’s my voucher and my ticket into the kingdom.” What feeling do you get when you hear them say these things? Do they have knowledge of God’s work? Do they have knowledge of themselves? None at all. It’s fair to say that they don’t understand the truth, and that they believe they can be saved without having to pursue the truth, or to seek the truth, or to accept judgment and chastisement. Which people are they, who have states like this? They’re those few who have seen some visions, who’ve received some special protection and escaped calamity. Or, they’ve died and come back to life, and have some special testimony or experience. They take these things as their life, as the basis for their living, and use them as a substitute for practicing the truth. Moreover, they take these things to be signs and standards of salvation. That’s capital. Do you have such things? You may not have this sort of special experience, but if you’ve performed a particular duty for a long time and achieved results, you’ll assume you have capital. Say you’ve performed the duty of a director for a long while, and produced several good works. That takes shape as capital for you. You may not have any yet because you haven’t produced any works. Or, you may have filmed two movies that you think aren’t bad, yet you don’t yet dare regard them as your capital. You lack confidence in them; you feel you don’t have enough experience or capital yet, so you’re cautious, reserved, and subdued. You don’t dare step on any toes, much less be cocky and parade around. Even so, you’re immensely pleased with yourself and self-admiring at all times, and those are the things you live by. Is that not the pitiful plight of corrupt mankind?

Some people have very malevolent appearances. They’re big, burly, and strong, and they’re always looking to bully others. In speech, they’re quite domineering and imperious; they’re unyielding with everyone, whoever they are. So, people get a bit fearful when they see them, and treat them with deference, trying to ingratiate themselves. This makes them immensely proud. They feel that life’s a breeze, and believe all this to be a talent of theirs—they think that no one would dare bully them, living as they do. If you want to stand firm in a crowd, you have to be self-reliant, self-empowered, and strong and tough—this is their tenet in life. In order to stand firm among others, without anyone daring to bully them or toy with them, nor anyone daring to cheat and exploit them, they boil things down to a tenet like this: “I need to be strong and tough if I want to live well—the fiercer I am, the better. That way, no one anywhere will even think about bullying me.” So, they live like this for a few years, and indeed, as it turns out, no one dares bully them. They’ve finally accomplished their goal. Whatever group they’re in, they wear a serious expression, a poker face, playing up their gravitas and scowling in cool contempt. No one dares speak around them; children cry just to see them. Demons, reborn—that’s what they are! Living by the fist—what disposition is that? It’s a disposition of viciousness. Wherever they go, the first thing they do is learn how to maneuver and exploit people. They want to control people, too, and subdue them. They think of ways to give the what-for to anyone who disrespects them, and they look for chances to punish anyone who speaks impolitely to them with barbed words. Isn’t it vicious to live by these things? Handling things with their fists, as they do, has some effect: Many people fear them, which clears a path for them. But can such people accept the truth, given that they live by impetuousness and a malicious disposition? Can they truly repent? That would be impossible, because they endorse satanic philosophies and the use of force. They live only by satanic philosophies and the use of force; they make everyone obey them and fear them, so they can run wantonly amok, doing whatever they like. What worries them isn’t having a bad reputation, but not having an evil one. That’s their principle. Once they’ve accomplished their goal like this, they think, “I’ve managed to stand firm in God’s house and among these groups. Everyone fears me; no one would dare mess with me. They’re all deferential toward me.” They believe that they’ve won. Is it really the case that no one would dare mess with them? Not daring to mess with them is external. How does everyone, deep in their hearts, view such people? No doubt about it: They’re fed up with them, disgusted, hateful, recoiling, and avoidant. Would you be willing to have dealings with such a person? (No.) Why not? They’d always be thinking of ways to torment you. Would you be able to stand it? Sometimes, instead of threatening you with force, they’ll employ some techniques to confuse you and then threaten you. Some people can’t withstand the threat, so they beg for mercy and surrender to Satan. Evil people speak and act by any means necessary. The timid and fearful surrender to them, then follow them in speech and action. They’re the evil person’s accomplices, no? What will you do when you see such an evil person? First, don’t be afraid. You must find a way to deal with them and expose them. You can also team up with brothers and sisters who truly believe in God to report them. Fear is useless—the more you fear them, the more they’ll bully and harass you. Teaming up to report the evil person is the only way to make them fearful and ashamed. If you’re too timid and lacking in wisdom, you’re bound to be savaged by that evil person. How small people’s faith is—how pitiful! Actually, even if an evil person goes all in, what can they do to people? Would they dare swing their fists casually and beat someone to death? We’re in a society of laws now. They wouldn’t dare. Furthermore, the diabolically vicious are a small, isolated minority of people. If one should have the audacity to bully people and run roughshod over the church, all it would take is two or three people teaming up to report and expose them. That would take care of them. Is that not so? If just a few of God’s chosen people are of one mind and heart, they can easily take care of an evil person. You must believe that God is a righteous, almighty God, that He abhors evil people, and that He will bolster His chosen people. So long as someone has faith, they shouldn’t fear an evil person—and with a bit of wisdom and strategy, if they can team up with others, the evil person will naturally relent. If you don’t truly have faith in God, but fear evil people and believe they can take you in their clutches and command your fate, then you’re done for. You’ll have no testimony, nothing to offer, and you’ll live a craven, squalid life. What’s to be done in such a situation? Some people always live by their petty cunning, and think, “I don’t know where God is, and I’m not sure whether the Above knows about this matter. If I make a report and the evil person finds out, won’t they torment me all the more for it?” The more they think about it, the more scared they get, and they want to duck and cover under the table. Can someone who does that still practice the truth and uphold the principles? (No.) They’re craven little people, are they not? This is how most of you are. Some time ago, there was an antichrist who tormented some people. Those people were craven enough to get themselves tormented. Is being tormented a good thing or a bad thing? It’s a bad thing, from man’s perspective: It means being wronged, being caused pain. But one can take a lesson from it and benefit from it, and that’s not a bad thing—it’s a good one. There are some people, though, who lack wisdom and are weak-kneed. When someone torments and bullies them, they don’t resist, even though they’re in the right. They know that person is a false leader, an antichrist, but they don’t report him, nor do they dare refute and expose him. Craven trash! If someone can be constrained when it comes to such things, it shows that they’re too small of stature and pitiful of faith: They don’t know to rely on God, nor do they think to preserve the work of the church. They don’t understand God’s intentions. God’s chosen people have the right to make a stand against evil people and antichrists. Doing so is approved of and blessed by God. Isn’t it pitiful that you don’t wage war against Satan and overcome it? That person is clearly an evildoer, a negative force; he’s Satan, a devil, he’s a filthy, evil spirit—yet you’re being tormented by him. And it’s not just you—there are so many others being tormented, as well. Is that not cravenness? Why can’t you join hands to do battle against him? How lacking in intelligence and wisdom you are. Find a few discerning people who understand the truth to dissect that person’s behavior. Do this, and most of God’s chosen people will be able to see things as they are and rise up. Won’t the problem then be easy to resolve? When you next encounter such a thing, will you be able to rise up and do battle with the antichrists? (Yes.) I’d like to see how many antichrists you’re able to handle and take care of. That’s the testimony of overcomers. You say you’re able to now, but will you be able to uphold the principles when it truly happens? You may again get so scared that you’ll take cover under the table. The pitiful, lamentable figure they cut, those people who don’t understand the truth when things befall them—it’s a painful thing to see! It’s so pitiful! They dare not say anything when they’re tormented, and the fear lingers in them afterward. They’re scared out of their wits. How small of stature a person is, who can’t even tell an evil person when they see one. They understand no truths at all. Aren’t they pitiful? Evil people live by the fist; they live by oppressing people, bullying the good, and benefiting at others’ expense; they live by their malicious natures and vicious dispositions, making others fear them, curry their favor, and pay tribute to them. They think it’s a great thing to live like that. Are they not outlaws-in-chief? Are they not brigands and bandits? You’re not evil people, but do you have such states? Don’t you also live by such things? When some of you get paired with someone and see they’re young, you think, “You don’t understand anything. I can bully you, and you can’t do a thing about it. I’m stronger than you and on higher ground; I’m bigger than you, and my fists hit harder—so, I can bully you.” What’s that living by? It’s living by the fist; it’s living and acting by a vicious disposition. When they see a guileless person, they bully them, and when they see a formidable person, they hide. They prey on the weak and fear the strong. Some evil people fear isolation when they see people are shunning them, so they pick a few guileless, craven people to engage with and make friends with. They thus grow their power, then put those guileless, craven people to use in tormenting good people, attacking people who pursue the truth, and tormenting everyone who’s discontented or insubordinate with them. It’s evident in this that an evil person has an intent and purpose in befriending a few guileless people. In summary, if you can’t accept the truth or reflect on whether you’re committing evil or doing good in your behaviors and actions, then no matter if you’re a good person or a bad one, and no matter how many years you’ve believed in God, you won’t be capable of true repentance. Maybe you’re not someone with a vicious disposition—you’re just living by satanic philosophies. You may not have done evil, or perhaps you have a few good deeds under your belt, but still, you’re not living by the truth. You’re living by things that have nothing to do with the truth. In summary, as long as you have a corrupt satanic disposition, then no matter how many years you’ve believed in God, you may be living by things that have nothing at all to do with the truth. These things may be tangible, or they may be intangible; you may be aware of them, or you may not be aware of them at all; they may come from the outside, or they may be things that have deep, solid roots in your disposition—in any case, none of these things is the truth. They all arise from corrupt mankind itself—or, to put it precisely, they have their origins in Satan. So, when people live by these satanic things, what kind of road are they on, exactly? Are they following God’s way? Certainly not. If someone isn’t practicing the truth in their actions and behaviors, then strictly speaking, they’re not performing the duty of a created being. They may be performing a duty on the outside, but there’s some distance between that and the standard for performing a duty, mainly in that it’s adulterated with their intents and with transactionality. They may be performing a duty, but they’re not loyal or principled, and their doing so certainly isn’t yielding practical results. This goes to prove that in their performance of their duty, they’ve actually been doing a lot of things that have nothing to do with the truth. None of those things touch on the truth principles; they’re all things done according to that person’s own imaginings and preferences. How could performing a duty in that way meet with God’s approval?

We’ve been fellowshipping on these states in all their aspects. Can you now gauge what it is you live by? Whether in performing your duty or in your daily life, do you live by the truth a lot of the time? (No.) I’m always exposing you to your core in our fellowship, and you’re feeling you’ve been living inglorious lives. You’ve lost your confidence; you’re not so glamorous anymore. And there are a lot of things you’re embarrassed to give voice to—you don’t feel so justified anymore in being blessed or coming to a good destination in the future. What’s to be done about that? Is it a good thing to expose you as you’ve been? (Yes.) What, then, is the purpose of exposing you to your core? People must have clear knowledge of the sorts of states they’re living in, of which states they’re living in; they must have clear knowledge of what road it is they’re walking, of what their mode of living is, of what abnormal behaviors they have, of what improper things they do, of whether they can gain the truth and come before God, living as they do. These are the most important things. You may say, “I have a clear conscience about how I’m living. I’ve never felt unsettled or unhappy about it, and I’ve never felt hollow.” But what comes of that? God’s displeasure. You’re not following His way. The road you’re on isn’t the true road of human life, the one that God points out for you—instead, you’re off along a road that you, in your wishful thinking, have found with your imaginings. Though you’ve been bustling happily about and have running around a lot, what will be your outcome, in the end? It will be your intents and desires and the road you walk that harm you and send you to ruin—your belief in God is doomed to fail. What does it mean for one’s belief in God to fail? (That they’ll have no outcome.) To see it now, it’ll be a consequence of your not having gained the truth. You’ll have believed in God for years, but without a focus on gaining the truth, and so the day will come when, for one reason or another, you’ll be revealed and eliminated. And then, it will be too late for regrets. You say, “This is a reasonable way for me to live! I feel confident living this way, and I’m quite full and rich at heart.” Will that help, then? Whether how you walk the road of belief in God, how you live, and what things they are you live by are right depends on the results. That is, it depends on whether you ultimately gain the truth, and whether you have true testimony, and whether your life disposition is changed, and whether you’ve lived a life of value. If you’ve achieved all these results, then you’ll meet with God’s approval and the commendation of God’s chosen people, which proves that you’re on the right road. If you haven’t achieved these positive results, and have neither any true experiential testimony nor any true change in your life disposition, that proves that you’re not on the right road. Is this easy to understand, put like that? In brief, however you may live, however comfortably off you may be in life and whatever approval you may win from others, that isn’t the crux of the matter. You say, “There’s so much to enjoy in how I live and practice. I have a great sense of wellbeing, of being honored, and there’s corroboration.” Aren’t you fooling yourself? Say someone asks you, “Have you practiced being an honest person? What’s been challenging for you in that practice? What circumstances make it difficult for you to be an honest person? Talk a bit about that, if you have experience of it. Do you have testimony of loving God? Do you have experience of loving God and submitting to Him? Do you have experience of your disposition having changed after you’ve accepted judgment, chastisement, and pruning? What special things have you experienced along your path of growth in life that have kept your life constantly turning, and constantly growing nearer to the goal God has set for you, which He requires you to meet?” If you have no clear answers to these things, if you don’t know, it proves that you’re not on the right road. That is clear as day.

The words of fellowship above are just simple statements. There are some minor points, which don’t call for detailed elaboration. People doing things with their perseverance, for instance, or by the goodness of their heart, or by their willingness to suffer, or with their notions and imaginings, and so on—none of these is living by the truth. They’re all instances of people living by their wishful thinking, their corrupt dispositions, their human goodness, and the philosophies of Satan. All these things come from man’s brain, and to take it further, from Satan. Living by these things can’t possibly satisfy God. He doesn’t want them, no matter how good they are, because that’s not the practice of the truth. To live by these things is to live by Satan’s philosophies and corrupt dispositions. That’s an insult to God. It’s not true testimony. If you were to say, “I know these actions are just kind-heartedness, which doesn’t accord with the truth principles; that’s not how I should practice,” with a true understanding of that at heart, a feeling that it’s wrong to act like that, then you’d have knowledge. Your perspective would be altered. That’s the result God wants. You must know where your distortions lie. Alter your perspective and let go of your notions, and come to understand the truth and God’s intentions. Once you have, practice by increments in that direction, and get on the correct path. That’s your only hope of achieving the goal God has given you. If you don’t practice and enter along the path required by God, but say, “This is what I’m doing. It’s not as if I’m idle: I’ve been performing my duty. I’m certain that I am a created being, and I’ve acknowledged my Creator,” will that be helpful? No, it won’t. You are resisting God, intransigent! Now is the time to choose a road in life. What’s crucial is what you have to do to follow the road that God requires you to walk. First, don’t operate off human notions and imaginings; second, don’t operate off human aspiration; third, don’t operate off human preferences; and fourth, don’t operate off human emotionality. More importantly, don’t operate off of a corrupt disposition. You must lose no time in casting off these things. Whatever capital you have, to God, it’s worthless stuff, cheap junk, all of it, that comes nowhere close to reality. You must toss those things away, one by one, and let go of them all, and you’ll understand more and more that only that which is gained by relying on practicing the truth has value and accords with the standards of God’s requirements for man. All that comes from man is worthless—useless in the end, no matter how much of it you learn. It’s all cheap junk, trash; only the truth that God bestows on man is treasure and the life. It has eternal value. You’re always upholding your own things, thinking, “It took me years of strenuous study to acquire my skills. My parents made such efforts on my behalf, and spent so much money, and paid such a price, in blood, sweat, and tears—how can I dissect and condemn that, just like that? This is a huge deal, a matter of life and death! What will I live by without those things?” How foolish you are. Live by those things, and you’re bound for hell. You must live by God’s words. Change up your way of living; let God’s words in, and clean out those old things of yours. You must dissect and know them, open up and show them for all to see, so that the group can gain discernment. Without realizing it, you’ll come to detest those things, to detest the things you once loved, to detest the things you once depended on to survive, to detest the things you once believed to be your life and to be the things you treasured most. That’s the way to isolate and cut those things off from yourself completely, the way to true understanding of the truth, and onto the road of practicing the truth. Of course, this is a complicated and difficult process, and a painful one, as well. But it’s a process that man must undergo. It won’t do not to. Experiencing God’s work is like being treated for an illness: If you have a tumor, the only way to handle it is on the operating table. If you don’t get on that table and submit to the knife that dissects the tumor and takes it away, your disease will go uncured, and you won’t get better.

Lots of people take honest people to be fools, thinking, “They follow whatever God says. He says to be an honest person, and they really do it; they speak the truth, without a single false word. They’re fools, aren’t they? You can be an honest person, but only insofar as it doesn’t incur you any losses or damages. You can’t just say everything! To tip your whole hand—that’s foolishness, isn’t it?” They think that being an honest person is foolishness. Is it? Such a person is the smartest of all, because they believe, “All God’s words are the truth, and to be an honest person is the truth, so to gain God’s approval, people should be honest. So, whatever God says, I do; as far as He’d have me go, that’s how far I’ll go. God requires me to submit, so I submit, and I’ll keep on submitting forever. I don’t care if someone says I’m foolish—God’s approval is enough for me.” Is such a person not the smartest of all? They’ve accurately seen what’s important and what’s not. There are some people with hidden agendas, who think, “To submit in all things would be foolish, wouldn’t it? To do that is to lack autonomy, isn’t it? Does someone have dignity if they don’t even have themselves? Surely, we get a pass to maintain a bit of dignity for ourselves, no? We can’t submit completely, can we?” And so, they practice submission in a drastically diminished way. Can that rise to the standards of practicing the truth? No—it falls way short of that! If you don’t practice the truth according to the principles, always opting instead for ways of compromise that veer neither toward the truth nor toward Satan, but keep to the middle road, are you then practicing the truth? This is Satan’s philosophy, the thing God loathes most. God detests this attitude of man’s toward the truth; He detests that people are always doubtful about the truth and His words, that they’re always mistrustful with His words, or are always adopting a discriminatory, contemptuous, impertinent attitude. As soon as man takes this attitude toward God, doubting Him, being mistrustful, questioning, analytic, and misunderstanding Him, always studying Him and trying to weigh Him with your mind, God will then be hidden from you. And can you still gain the truth, once God is hidden from you? “I can!” you say. “I read God’s words every day, I’m at gatherings all the time, and I listen to sermons every week, and mull them over and take notes every day afterward. I sing hymns and pray, too. I think the Holy Spirit is at work in me.” Will that work? Those ways of believing in God are fine, but they’re not what’s critical; what’s critical is that you are the right kind of person, and that your heart is right—only then will God not hide His face from you. With God not hiding His face from you, but enlightening and guiding you at all times, and having you understand His intentions and the truth in all things, such that you ultimately gain the truth, you will be greatly blessed. But if your heart’s not right, and you’re always doubting God, being defensive against Him, putting Him to the test, and misunderstanding Him with your petty cleverness and opinions, or with your learning and satanic philosophies, then you’re in trouble. Some people go beyond defensiveness, testing, doubting, and misunderstanding of God, to resistance against Him and rivalry with Him. They’ve become Satans; they’re in worse trouble. You won’t understand the truth just by understanding the literal meaning of its words and simple doctrine. Understanding the truth is no simple matter. Most people labor under this misapprehension, and they don’t come around even after it’s been emphasized to them again and again. They think, “Every day, I read God’s words and listen to sermons and fellowship, and I perform my duty year after year. I’m like a seed in a field—even if you don’t water or fertilize it, it’ll slowly grow on its own with the rain, and bear fruit in the autumn.” That’s not how it works. It’s the cooperative component of a person, their manner of cooperating, their heart, and their attitude toward the truth and God that are critical. These are what’s vitally important. Do these things not also pertain to what a person lives by? (They do.) If you’re always living by human preferences and satanic philosophies, always guarding yourself against God, and not taking His words as the truth, then God won’t bother with you anymore. And what will you be able to gain then, when God doesn’t bother with you? If the Creator ignores you, then you’re no longer His created being. If He regards you as a devil, as Satan, will you still be able to come before God then? Will you still be an object of His salvation? Will you still have a hope of being saved? That would be impossible. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what your home life is like, or what sort of caliber you have, or how great your gifts are, nor does it matter what work you do in the church, what duty you perform, or what your role is. It doesn’t matter what sort of transgressions you’ve made in the past, or what sort of state you’re in currently, or the degree to which you’ve grown in life, or how great you are of stature. None of this is most important. What’s most important is how your relationship with God is, whether you’re constantly doubting and misunderstanding Him or always making studies of Him, whether your heart is set right. These things are critical. How can people know of these critical things? To do that, they must always examine themselves, not going around in confusion as nonbelievers do, watching secular videos, playing, and fooling around when there’s nothing to do. How will someone perform a duty if their heart can’t come before God? If you don’t make the effort to come before God, He won’t make you, because God doesn’t force people to do things. God expresses the truth so that people may understand and accept it. If people don’t come back before God, how will they accept the truth? If people are always passive, if they don’t look for God or need Him in their hearts, then how will the Holy Spirit work in them? So, given that you believe in God, isn’t it critical that you should proactively seek Him and cooperate with Him? That’s your job! If believing in God is just a sideline to you, an extracurricular hobby, you’re in trouble! There are people who remain believers now and have listened to plenty of sermons, yet still think that to believe in God is to believe in religion, that it’s a hobby for their spare time. How frivolously they regard faith in God! Even now, at this stage, they still hold this viewpoint. In their belief in God, they haven’t just failed to establish a normal relationship with Him—they have no relationship with Him at all. If God doesn’t acknowledge you as His follower, do you still have a hope of being saved? No, you don’t. That’s why it’s important to establish a normal relationship with God! On what foundation, then, is that normal relationship established? That of people’s cooperation. So, what sort of stance or point of view must people adopt? What should their state be? What sort of will must they have? How do you treat the truth at heart? With doubt? With study? With distrust? With rejection? Are you right at heart if you have these things? (No.) If you mean to be right at heart, what sort of attitude must you have? You must have a heart of submission. Whatever God says, whatever He requires, you must be intent on submitting to it, without doubts and without justifications. That’s the right attitude. You must believe, accept, and submit, without any concessions. Is not making concessions immediately achievable? No—but you must try to enter it. Imagine if God were to say to you, “You’re sick,” and you said, “No, I’m not.” That wouldn’t be a problem; maybe you don’t believe it. But then, God says, “You’re quite ill. Take some medicine,” and you say, “I’m not sick, but I might as well take some medicine, as You say. It won’t hurt, either way, and if I am sick, it might be for the best. I’ll take some.” You take it, and you feel physically different from how you did; you keep taking it, in its assigned dosage, and after a while, you feel yourself getting better and better, physically. Then, you believe that the sickness God spoke of was indeed real. What result does this sort of practice yield? You’re cured of your sickness, because you believed and submitted to God’s words. Though the first time, you didn’t take as much medicine as God told you to, but instead made a bit of a concession for yourself, and had a bit of distrust, and were a bit grudging and reluctant, you wound up taking medicine as God told you to in the end, and felt its benefits afterward. So, you went on taking it, and the more you took, the greater your faith grew, and you came increasingly to feel that God’s words were right and you were wrong, and that you shouldn’t doubt His words. And in the end, when you’d taken all the medicine that God required you to take, your health was restored. At that point, would your faith in God not grow ever more genuine? You’d know that God’s words are right, that you should submit to Him without concession and practice His words without concession. What’s the point of this example? Your sickness in it is meant to be man’s corrupt disposition, and taking medicine represents accepting God’s judgment and chastisement. Its main message is that if people can accept God’s judgment and chastisement, their corruption may be cleansed, and they can attain salvation. This is what’s achieved by experiencing God’s work. Are you afraid of failing? You may say, “I have to aim for perfection. God said that I have to submit absolutely, without concession. So, I have to achieve absolute submission to His words the first time I practice them. If I can’t achieve it this time, I’ll wait for the next opportunity, and I simply won’t practice submission this time.” Is that a good way to be? (No.) From God’s vantage, there’s a process to people’s practice of the truth. He gives people chances. When someone has a corrupt state, God will expose it and say, “You’ve made concessions, you’re unsubmissive, you’re rebellious.” So, what is God’s goal in exposing it? It’s meant to have you make ever-fewer concessions, and practice submission more and more, and to make your comprehension ever purer and closer to the truth, so that you can truly submit to God. Did God punish you while He was exposing you? When He prunes you and puts you through trials, He’s just disciplining and chastening you. You’re a bit exposed, a bit reproached, and made to feel a bit of pain—but did God take your life from you? (No.) He didn’t take your life, and He didn’t hand you over to Satan. In that, His intention may be seen. And what is His intention? He would save you. Sometimes, after a bit of hardship, people grow reluctant and think, “God doesn’t like me. There’s no hope for me.” You’re in trouble if you’re always misunderstanding God like that. It’s such a delay of your growth in life. So, whatever the time may be, whether you’re weak or strong, whether your state is good or poor, whatever the extent of your growth in life may be—there’s no need to concern yourself with those things now. Concern yourself only with practicing the words that God has said, even if you’re only attempting to practice them. That’s fine, too. Try hard to cooperate, and do what you’re capable of; enter the state spoken of in God’s words; see what it feels like for you to practice the truths God has expressed, and whether you have benefited from it, and whether you have life entry. You must learn to strive toward the truth. People don’t understand the process of growing in life. They’re always hoping to build Rome in a day, thinking, “If I can’t achieve complete submission, I just won’t submit. I’ll only submit when I can do it completely. I won’t be shameless about it. That shows how much grit I have, how much character and dignity!” What sort of “grit” is that? It’s rebelliousness and intransigence!

Think well on what we’ve just fellowshipped. We’ve finished our fellowship on four sub-headers of the question, “What have people lived by in all their years of belief in God?” They rely on their gifts to live; on their knowledge; on their naked, childlike hearts; and on Satan’s philosophies. Do you understand what you’ve heard about these four states? Can you see what’s there of them in you? Are you capable of comprehending this? Have we fellowshipped about these things before? It may be that you have a handle on some states and know a bit about them, but not in a way that pertains to practicing the truth or to the topic of our fellowship today. Today, we have fellowshipped about these states from the topic and angle of “What have people lived by in all their years of belief in God?” This comes a bit nearer to practicing the truth and living by it. I have another question. Make note of it. It is: What are the things you love most? What is God’s attitude toward those things you love most? We’ll take our time fellowshipping about this question in the future. Today, we’ve mainly been exposing several negative states that come of what things people live by; we didn’t fellowship about how to practice the truth in specific reference to those negative states. Despite not having fellowshipped about that, do you know where the errors are in these states? Where do the problems stem from? What dispositions they’re part of? How the truth should be practiced? When such things crop up, when you have such states and such methods, do you know how you should use the truth to supplant them? Which truths you should practice? The important, preliminary thing you should do now is to begin by getting a grasp on these states and dissecting yourself. When you live in these states, you should at least know in your heart that they’re wrong. Reversing them is the step after knowing they’re wrong. If you don’t know whether they’re right or wrong, nor where their errors are, how can you turn them around? So, the very first step is for you to be able to discern whether these states are right or wrong. Only after that can you know how the next step should be practiced. We’ve only been fellowshipping about the issue of a few of the various corrupt states in man today, and there’s been so much to say. So, as for the specifics of how, exactly, you may come to live by the truth, give the issue some more consideration on your own. You should be able to produce results.

September 5, 2017