Fellowship From the Brother Above – December 5, 2025 (Part One)

The reason we are holding a gathering today for leaders and workers of churches around the world is that we have found that some leaders and workers do not really grasp the principles in their work. They do not know what their primary remit actually is. They cannot see clearly which work is most crucial and important, nor can they see clearly which problems are the most crucial and important to resolve. Furthermore, they cannot really see clearly how to fellowship the truth to resolve problems in a way that achieves results. What does this show? It shows that these leaders and workers have too shallow an understanding of the truth, and do not yet possess the caliber and ability to handle things according to the principles. So, is there a direct relationship between having too shallow an understanding of the truth and failing to handle things according to the principles? (Yes.) What is the main criterion for determining if someone is doing their duty in a way that is up to standard? It’s whether they handle things according to the principles or not. The phrase “handling things according to the principles” is applicable to ordinary believers doing their duties, and it is also applicable to leaders and workers doing church work. To be precise, the criterion for determining if someone is doing their duty in a way that is up to standard is whether they handle things according to the principles or not. Some people ask, “What does handling things according to the principles include? What kinds of work or what kinds of duties involve handling things according to the principles?” They cannot see this too clearly. People who lack spiritual understanding will blindly apply regulations. It is not the case that you need to handle things according to the principles only in certain kinds of work or certain kinds of duty; the main thing is to ensure that you align with the truth principles no matter what you do, what duty you perform, or what kind of work you are doing. If we apply this to an individual’s life entry, the scope is even broader: Your actions, deeds, words, self-conduct, the way you handle and deal with things, and all the work you do must align with the truth principles. In this way, you will be in line with God’s intentions. Since you must align with the truth principles, the scope included is very broad. This means that every aspect of your practice and manifestations, no matter what people or things you come into contact with and regardless of whether you are doing work in the church or doing some work in the world—in short, everything you do—must align with the truth principles, and you must handle things with principle. This is a unified standard. Tell me, is this standard high? Is it easy to achieve? (It is not easy to achieve; you need to understand many truths.) What effect does understanding the truth have on your ability to handle matters with principle? (Understanding the truth enables you to understand God’s intentions, so that you can act in accordance with God’s intentions, and not run counter to or contradict God’s intentions.) Let’s discuss in detail the several aspects of aligning with the truth principles. First, you must be an honest person in your words and actions, and in how you conduct yourself and handle things. It will not do for you to deliberately lie or engage in deception. It will not do for your words to be mixed with impurities, or adulterated with feelings. It will not do to do things with ulterior motives and purposes. Furthermore, it will not do to put on a disguise to give people a false impression, nor will it do for you to lead others astray or mislead them with your words. Second, in handling matters, you cannot violate the truth principles, nor can you conflict with the truth principles. Still less can you betray God, resist God, or deny God. If you can accomplish these things, you will have managed to handle things in a way that aligns with the truth principles. For example, how can you treat the idols and celebrities of the nonbelieving world in a way that aligns with the truth principles? Nonbelievers all worship idols and celebrities. Should we who believe in God worship them? (No.) If you worship idols and celebrities in your heart, and hold a certain idol or celebrity in high regard, you will follow and obey them, and speak and act to please them. What mistakes are you making here? Firstly, worshiping idols and liking famous people and celebrities in your heart shows that you worship Satan and follow Satan; secondly, you do not have a God-fearing heart. Idols and celebrities are Satans and devils, so why do you worship them? Why do you speak and act to please them? Have you not taken the wrong stand? This is not having a God-fearing heart. So what stance is appropriate for you to take in how you treat them? There are principles involved here. First, we must stand on God’s side. Idols and celebrities are devils of the nonbelieving world. They have misled many people into worshiping them. They are forces hostile to God, and God has targeted them for destruction. If you see this point clearly, would you still worship and follow them? Would you still want to fawn over them and please them? You would be able to let go of these thoughts, and they would be gone. So, what attitude should you have toward government officials? You must also have principles and take a stance in how you treat government officials. So what kind of way of treating them constitutes having principles and taking a stance? You must have wisdom, and you must respect them. Is respecting them the same as worshiping them? (No.) Our respect is absolutely not worship; rather, it is abiding by their country’s systems and government regulations, not opposing government officials, and respecting their identity and them as a person. Under normal circumstances, it is right for us to have this mindset. We must abide by the country’s systems and the government’s regulations. This is respect. We respect government officials but do not worship them, nor do we need to grovel to curry favor with them or ingratiate ourselves with them—that makes us look foolish and contemptible. But if we act the way I suggested, how will government officials view us? They will say in their hearts, “Oh, people who believe in God understand rules and understand respect. They are law-abiding and follow regulations. They are good citizens of the country, with high moral character. They speak maturely and steadily and are principled.” You see, if you respect others, others will respect you too.

How can we treat the intellectuals of the nonbelieving world in a way that aligns with the principles? First, you must understand what the essence of knowledge is. Most knowledge originates from Satan; it is the product of the minds of corrupt mankind. Some knowledge is simply words spoken directly by Satan, and words spoken by Satan and Satan’s views on things definitely resist God. Tell me, is it easy for intellectuals in institutions of higher learning to believe in God? (It is not easy.) Because knowledge itself is not the truth and does not come from God, the vast majority of intellectuals deny God and deny the truth. Only a small minority of them acknowledge that there is a God, but even this small minority who acknowledge God do not easily accept the truth. Therefore, knowledge cannot enable people to know God, no matter how much they acquire. On the contrary, it makes them arrogant and conceited, and causes them to deny and resist God. Furthermore, there is not a single thing in knowledge that can testify to God. Even the greatest knowledge does not contain the slightest element that testifies to God. To be precise, the views and theories of knowledge are all fallacious, and they all resist God. However, when I say “knowledge,” I am not referring to knowledge involving practical technology, but knowledge involving thoughts and views—the kind of knowledge belonging to the social sciences. That kind of knowledge is absurd and wicked; it does not accord with the truth in the slightest, comes directly from Satan, and is the tool with which the devil king educates people. The devil king educates people by instilling this knowledge into them so it becomes their life, in order to achieve its goal of using knowledge to control and bind people. You must see this clearly. After we have seen this clearly, what attitude should we adopt toward intellectuals? (We should not worship intellectuals. No matter how great their knowledge is, we still have to treat them as corrupt people.) The greater a person’s knowledge is, the more their thoughts and views resist God—this has been proven—and they are the ones who most deny God. Then how should we treat knowledge? First, we must be certain that knowledge is hostile to the truth. Everything that belongs to knowledge is hostile to the truth, comes from Satan, and is fallacious. In this world, the greater a person’s knowledge is, the more they deny God; the greater and more extensive a person’s knowledge is, the less they have God in their heart—because their heart is occupied by knowledge, and they become a person who resists God, someone who is of Satan and devils. Therefore, the more knowledge people have, the more reactionary they are, and the more they resist God. This statement is completely in line with the facts, and it is not wrong at all. Tell me, to what kind of people is it hardest to preach the gospel? To intellectuals. Can we be certain of this? (We can.) Those who preach the gospel have all had this experience: Getting intellectuals to accept the truth is the hardest thing to do. This proves that intellectuals resist God the most in their hearts, that intellectuals are the most averse to the truth, and that they cannot accept the truth in the slightest. So who is an intellectual? Do ordinary university graduates count as intellectuals? They do not count as intellectuals. True intellectuals are experts, scholars, lecturers, and professors—those who can write books and establish theories. Only these people are true intellectuals. Ordinary university students cannot write books or establish theories, nor can they summarize a complete and clear set of theories relating to a certain field, so they do not yet meet the standard to be classed as an intellectual; at most, they belong to the category of educated youth. Lecturers, professors, experts, scholars, as well as writers, theoreticians, thinkers, scientists, and so on—only these people are true intellectuals. Preaching the gospel to such people is the hardest thing. Some people say, “You say that intellectuals are the ones who most oppose and resist God, but there are also intellectuals who believe in God, and there are many scientists who believe in God!” How can we explain this? There are intellectuals who believe in God, and more than half of scientists do as well. Does this contradict what I said about intellectuals being the most resistant to God, the ones who most deny God, and the ones who are least likely to accept the truth? (It does not contradict it. This is because although some intellectuals believe in God, they only acknowledge that there is a God with their mouths, but they do not accept the truth in their hearts. They use logical thinking to try and deduce God’s words, and so they cannot understand the truth.) Let’s discuss this matter in detail. Scientists can be said to be the most knowledgeable and genuine intellectuals, and eighty or ninety percent of scientists are Christians. It can be said that some of them are even very devout Christians. Then why do we say that they resist and deny God? I will tell you the truth: It doesn’t matter how large a proportion of scientists are Christians—are there any scientists who pursue the truth? Are there any who recognize and accept God’s words as the truth? Is there a single such scientist? (No.) Then on what basis do they call themselves Christians? (They just acknowledge God’s existence and merely believe that there is a God.) They haven’t just believed in God for a year or two; most of them are Christians who have believed in God their whole lives. Why is it they can believe to the end but never know God? What is the problem here? (They neither know the truth nor accept the truth.) Therefore, even if intellectuals acknowledge that there is a God, too few of them pursue the truth. Then why do they not pursue the truth? This issue must be explained clearly; otherwise, if you say that intellectuals do not pursue the truth, they will not admit it. Tell me, what is the path pursued by intellectuals and scientists in their belief in God? (The path they take in their belief in God is to scrutinize God.) They specialize in scrutinizing God, wanting to scrutinize God through researching the universe and all things. That is, they scrutinize God by researching the spatial structure of the universe, the composition of matter, the laws of planetary motion, the laws governing the operation of the universe and all things, and various physical phenomena. As a result, they spend their whole lives on research but still do not know God. So, is the path they take in their belief in God wrong? (It is.) Remember this! In your belief in God, you must never scrutinize God. Scrutinizing God is the most erroneous path to take in your belief in God. So what is the correct path for pursuing the truth? It is experiencing God’s work and experiencing God’s words, and achieving knowledge of God through experiencing these things. Therefore, anyone who experiences God’s work and God’s words is blessed by God, has the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and can understand the truth and enter into the truth reality, ultimately achieving knowledge of God. Experiencing God’s words and experiencing God’s work in your belief in God—that is the most correct path. Scrutinizing God is the most erroneous path. When people scrutinize God, His work, and His words, they can never understand the truth or know God, because God does not bless those who scrutinize Him. They could scrutinize God for a lifetime and still never obtain the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. So why can scrutinizing God not bring you the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, whereas experiencing God’s work does? You must see this matter clearly. Tell me, what is the nature of scrutinizing God? Is scrutinizing God a manifestation of submitting to God? (No.) Then what does “scrutinizing” mean? Scrutinizing means being resistant, doubting, and speculating, and carries a hint of hostility. They only scrutinize Him because they doubt Him. There is no submission in scrutinizing, much less any element of drawing near to or worshiping God. Scrutinizing is a kind of behavior that doubts, resists, and is hostile to God. Can people scrutinize God thoroughly? (No.) God is the Creator, and man can never scrutinize the Creator thoroughly. What consequences will there be if you constantly try to scrutinize God? If you constantly try to scrutinize God, God will view you as a force hostile to Him, because people’s purpose in scrutinizing God is to try to use Him, to try to break free from God’s sovereignty, and to try to make God listen to them. So tell me—is scrutinizing God not the sort of thing that forces hostile to God do? (It is.) And what is the consequence of scrutinizing God? God will hide from you. The more you scrutinize God, the more God feels disgusted by and loathes you, the more God hides His face from you, and the further away from God you get. Ultimately, you will be loathed and abandoned by God. That is the consequence. Let me give an example. Suppose you have a good relationship with someone. How do you interact with each other? Do you study each other, or do you open your hearts to each other? (We open our hearts to each other.) Studying someone implies a hostile attitude. If you are constantly studying someone in your interactions with them, they will be dissatisfied and say, “You’re constantly studying me. You are doubting me!” They will feel disgusted by you and say that you are unreliable, and that they do not know what intentions and purposes you harbor. Therefore, people who scrutinize God incur His loathing the most.