If people can truly see clearly the right path of human life, as well as the purpose of God’s management of mankind, they would not hold their individual future and destiny as a treasure in their heart. They then would no longer be interested in serving their parents, who are worse than pigs and dogs. Are man’s future and destiny not precisely the present-day so-called “parents” of Peter? They are just like man’s flesh and blood. Just what will the destination and future of the flesh be? Will it be to see God while still alive, or for the soul to meet God after death? Will the flesh end up tomorrow in a great furnace of tribulations, or in conflagration? Are not questions such as these concerned with whether man’s flesh will endure misfortune or suffer the biggest news with which anyone in this current stream who has a brain and is sensible is most concerned? (Here, suffering refers to receiving blessings; it means that future trials are beneficial for man’s destination. Misfortune refers to being unable to stand firm, or being deceived; or, it means that one will meet with unfortunate situations and lose one’s life in the midst of disaster, and that there is no suitable destination for one’s soul.) Though humans have sound reason, perhaps what they think does not entirely correspond to that with which their reason should be equipped. This is because they all are rather confused and follow things blindly. They should all have a thorough grasp of what they should enter into, and in particular, they should sort out what should be entered into during the tribulation (that is, during the refinement in the furnace), as well as what they should be equipped with during the trials of fire. Do not always serve your parents (meaning the flesh) who are like pigs and dogs and are even worse than ants and bugs. What is the point of agonizing over it, thinking so hard, and racking your brains? The flesh does not belong to you, but is in the hands of God, who not only controls you but also commands Satan. (This means that the flesh originally belongs to Satan. Because Satan is also in God’s hands, it can only be worded this way. This is because it is more persuasive to say it that way; it suggests that men are not entirely under Satan’s domain, but are in God’s hands.) You are living under the torment of the flesh—but does the flesh belong to you? Is it under your control? Why bother racking your brains over it? Why bother obsessively pleading with God for the sake of your putrid flesh, which has long been condemned, cursed, and defiled by unclean spirits? What need is there to always hold the associates of Satan so close to your heart? Do you not worry that the flesh could ruin your actual future, your wonderful hopes, and your life’s true destination?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Purpose of Managing Mankind