Fellowship From the Brother Above – November 3, 2025 (Part Four)

When people have some knowledge of themselves, this is a result of their pursuing the truth. But achieving just this is not enough, and you must also seek to understand more truths. Much work in God’s house requires people to understand many truths before they can shoulder it. Take the duty of preaching the gospel, for example—you must understand quite a few truths to do it well. If you understand too few truths, you will be unable to answer the questions of potential gospel recipients. And how can you preach the gospel then? If you cannot answer their questions, they will not be convinced, and they will keep questioning and refuting you. They’ll be leading you by the nose, and you will become passive and be unable to preach the gospel. Therefore, if you lack the truth, you cannot do your duty well. If you want to do your duty well, you must understand some truths that you should be equipped with for your duty. Furthermore, in the course of your duty, you must focus on discovering your own problems. If you discover that you do not uphold the work of God’s house in your duty and that you only consider your own fleshly comfort, you should pray immediately, “Oh God, I do not yet consider Your intentions. I am so selfish and only ever consider my flesh in my duty. If this problem is not resolved, I cannot come to truly submit to or love You. May You continue Your work of judging, chastising, and refining me, so that I may come to truly submit to and love You. I am willing to suffer this hardship.” After praying and then going through a period of experiencing things, you will find that you can consider God’s intentions and uphold the work of God’s house without considering your own interests. At this time, your stature will have grown. If you can be considerate of God’s intentions, do you not then have a path to loving God? Loving God means being considerate of God’s intentions in all things. This is the manifestation of love for God. At this point, you should pray, “Oh God, I want to love You. I do not know if I can achieve this, but I feel that I now have a path forward in terms of being considerate of Your intentions, and I know how to put it into practice now. Please guide me and make me into a person who loves You. I want to be able to love You. This is my greatest pursuit. In this way, I can follow Your will, properly testify to Your love, testify to how You save man, how man experiences Your work to cast off their corrupt dispositions, and how man achieves true love for You. I will be able to bear testimony in these regards.” When God hears you pray like this, His heart is satisfied. The Holy Spirit will work on you, and you will feel at ease and at peace in your heart. Gradually, you will be able to practice the truth in some matters, and you will begin to show some consideration for God’s intentions. After experiencing things in this way for a while longer, when you reveal corrupt dispositions again and cannot consider God’s intentions, pray to God again, and ask the Holy Spirit to continue working to transform you. After another year or two of experience, you will feel the love for God in your heart starting to develop, and that to a certain extent, you’ll have a God-loving heart. Is this not a wonderful thing? (It is.) If people come to love God, what will this achieve? (It will no longer be difficult to practice the truth, and in fact, it will become easy. Thus, we will no longer be so perfunctory in our duties.) When people do their duty with a God-loving heart, they are no longer perfunctory, and they can do their duty in a way that is up to standard. When people experience trials and refinement with a God-loving heart, they can stand firm in their testimony. When people do things with a God-loving heart, they seek only to satisfy God and not themselves. To satisfy God, they are willing to suffer anything, and they are glad to endure any hardship. You see, when people have a God-loving heart, their stature grows, and not just by a little, but a lot. When people’s stature grows to a certain point, they will come to love God. It is just like how people become sensible when they grow into adulthood. People who love God are worthy of accepting God’s commission, and they can shoulder greater and more comprehensive work. Is this not the case? (It is.) You see, when God’s house asks people to serve as leaders or workers, or to take on an important work, most cannot shoulder it. They don’t get good results in their duties, and their work is always riddled with errors. What is going on here? This is happening because their stature is too small and because they do not have a God-loving heart. You can be at ease with people who truly love God no matter what work they are given to do. Those who love God are the most trustworthy and reliable. Once people become able to love God, they become the most trustworthy people. They are most suited to shoulder God’s commission, and no matter what difficult work they do, nothing will go amiss. If a person doesn’t love God, then no matter what work they shoulder, they cannot be trusted. When they encounter a little difficulty, they are liable to give up their work and run away. Then can those who do not love God follow God’s will? (No.) Can those who do not love God be pillars of the temple? (No.) Can those who do not love God shoulder the church’s work? (No.) People cannot shoulder work if they do not love God. Those who love God are the most precious people in the world. Is this not so? (It is.) When looking at whether a person is reliable, what should you look at first? Some say you should first look at whether they are honest, but just looking at whether they are honest is not enough. If they do not love God, perhaps they can manage to speak the truth and not tell lies, but they will not be able to do the most arduous or dangerous work. Their stature is limited, and when they encounter danger, there is a chance that they will run away and give up on their work. If the CCP comes to arrest believers or leaders and workers, and a person does not have a God-loving heart, will they not just look out for themselves, find a safe place to hide, and not care about what happens to their brothers and sisters? People who do not love God are capable of such things. When danger befalls them, they will just protect themselves and not consider the interests of God’s house. Is this not a problem? Only those who love God are the most trustworthy and reliable, and those who love God are the ones He likes the most. Those who love God are worthy of shouldering God’s commission and doing great work. It is just like how the requirements for electing church leaders are somewhat high, and in particular, the requirements for electing members of decision-making groups of pastoral areas are even higher. They must understand truths and be able to fellowship on the truth to resolve problems. Even if their stature is not that great, their hearts must love God to a certain extent. Someone who does not have a God-loving heart at all is not worthy of shouldering the duty of a decision-making group member of a pastoral area. This is because the scope of responsibility of a decision-making group of a pastoral area is enormous. The work they shoulder is important, and it involves an enormous number of God’s chosen people. Therefore, to be a leader of a pastoral area, one must have a God-loving heart and be able to absolutely submit to God. No matter how God chastens and disciplines you, or how the Above prunes you, you must be able to submit and not disobey. This places requirements on a person’s stature, and only those who pursue the truth can meet this requirement.

So, do you now see the results that pursuing the truth can achieve in these aspects? (Yes.) So, where does life entry begin? It begins with knowing oneself through accepting the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. Life entry is built on the foundation of knowing oneself. The more you know yourself, the more life entry you have. Ponder these words. How is life entry related to knowing oneself? What exactly does life entry refer to? Does it just refer to knowing oneself? Let’s briefly fellowship on this matter today. Tell me, what is the focus of God’s salvation of man? The resolution of man’s corrupt dispositions. Most people who believe in God are willing to practice and gain the truth to come to submit to and love God. Those with conscience, reason, and normal humanity are willing to submit to and love God, but being willing does not equate to being able. Then why can they not achieve these things despite their willingness? It is because the corruption of mankind is truly profound. People are filled with Satan’s corrupt dispositions. These corrupt dispositions hold sway inside them, so they have lost their conscience and reason. Even if they want to submit to God and love God, they cannot. What do I mean when I say corrupt dispositions? This refers to things that come from Satan. Satanic poisons, philosophies for worldly dealings, and traditional culture have become man’s nature, and have given rise to various corrupt dispositions of Satan. These corrupt dispositions dominate people from within. People want to submit to God but cannot. They want to love God but cannot. They want to satisfy God but cannot. Even more so, they want to follow God’s will but cannot. They cannot meet any of God’s requirements. This is because people are filled with satanic dispositions. These satanic dispositions control their conscience and reason and hold power within them, so people cannot meet God’s requirements. Therefore, to save man, God must resolve man’s corrupt dispositions. To resolve man’s corrupt dispositions, God must express many truths, using the truth to judge and cleanse man, to save man from Satan’s influence. Breaking free from Satan’s influence mainly refers to the casting off of satanic dispositions. The harm that satanic dispositions cause within man is truly great. So tell me, is the harm done to mankind by Satan holding power in the world great? That is only one aspect of this harm. You see, although the great red dragon, this satanic regime, has always frantically suppressed and arrested God’s chosen people, if it can’t catch you, you are not controlled by it. If you have true faith in God, you can stand firm in your testimony when the great red dragon’s persecution befalls you, because in your heart you hate it and can rebel against it, and you will no longer be misled by it or bound by it. Therefore, as long as people have true faith, they can generally rebel against the influence of the great red dragon. Even if your stature is small and you cannot yet triumph over the influence of the great red dragon, if you want to break free from its influence, you can flee China and go overseas. No matter how many dark underlings it has overseas, it won’t dare arrest you, and you will still not be subject to its control. So, it is easy for people to break free from the control of the great red dragon’s influence. But Satan does not just control people by using the satanic regime to persecute and arrest people from the outside. More importantly, it uses satanic dispositions to control people from the inside. The control of satanic dispositions over people is truly dire. Satan makes it so that even though people want to submit to, love, and satisfy God, and even more so, follow God’s will, they cannot. Satanic dispositions have become the greatest enemy, hindrance, and obstacle to people coming to submit to God and follow God’s will. Is this not the case? (It is.) Then why does God require people to change their dispositions? It is because once people’s dispositions change, that which holds power within them changes from satanic dispositions to the truth. Then, people can submit to God, love God, and follow God’s will. God saving people means first making them understand the truth, enabling them to understand the truth and cast off their corrupt dispositions through their eating and drinking of the words of God and their acceptance of the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. After they cast off corrupt dispositions, the truth takes power within them. Originally, satanic dispositions held power within them, but in the end, the truth takes charge and holds power. They once constantly rebelled against and resisted God, but in the end, they can submit to God and love God. What is the change that happens in between called? This is the change in life disposition. Many of God’s chosen people now bear testimony, saying, “I have found that my disposition has begun to change.” This is a good sign; it is a good thing. When your disposition changes to a certain degree, you can forsake everything to expend yourself for God, and you can come to love God above all else—even more than your family, parents, spouse, and children—then you will have become a person who follows God’s will, and God will be able to entrust great work to you. Is this not how it is? (It is.) Are you willing to love God? (Yes.) Then how should you practice? (We must pursue the truth and focus on life entry.) Then start by accepting judgment and chastisement to know yourself, and then gain the work and perfection of the Holy Spirit by praying to God. You must pray often, “Oh God, I want to cast off my corrupt dispositions and come to love You. Please guide and perfect me. No matter how You chastise or discipline me when I reveal corruption, I am willing to accept it, and I am willing to submit to Your orchestrations and arrangements.” If you have this resolve, it will be easy for you to gain the truth. Just experience things in this way, and strive to pursue the truth and love God. After striving for one to three years, you will see some results. Your God-loving heart will emerge, and in many matters, you will be able to practice the truth and act based on a God-loving heart. By this point, you will have changed greatly, and your life disposition will have changed. In short, no matter how you pursue the truth, if you stand firm in your testimony when God finally tries you, you will gain God’s approval, and you will have a share in the kingdom of heaven. If you do not stand firm in your testimony, then you will be in trouble. God will not approve of you, you will be eliminated, and you will have no part or share in entering into the kingdom of heaven. Even if your words sound pleasant, it will be useless, for you have no reality or testimony. Therefore, having experiential testimony is absolutely crucial. So how can one have experiential testimony? First, you must reflect on whether your current performance of your duty is up to standard and whether you are being perfunctory. If you are still perfunctory in your duty and you do not resolve such an obvious problem, then you are not pursuing the truth. You are well aware that you are perfunctory in your duty, so why do you not pursue the truth to resolve this? Is this not a problem? (It is.) Some leaders are exposed as false leaders, but they are defiant and say, “I am not a false leader. On what basis do you say I am a false leader?” You say you are not a false leader, but why are there so many disbelievers in the church you shepherd and water? Why are there so many people disrupting and disturbing the church’s work? Why do you not resolve the issue of these people acting wantonly right under your nose? If you do not resolve these problems, then what are you if not a false leader? You have no sense of justice, you do not adhere to principles, and you do not uphold the work of God’s house. You just act as a people pleaser who never offends anyone. Are you not a false leader? Furthermore, you just preach empty doctrines in gatherings and you don’t resolve any problems. How are you any different from the Pharisees who preached empty biblical theories? (There is no difference.) You preach such empty theories but cannot solve a single practical problem, so what is the purpose of your preaching? Is it to show off and flaunt yourself? (Yes.) Then what are you if not a false leader? You say you are a good leader, but do you have any evidence of this? (No.) Have I ever preached theories or spoken empty words in gatherings? (No.) My preaching has always been focused on solving problems. I never preach empty doctrines. In every gathering, I ask what problems you have and I let you ask questions. No matter what questions you ask, I answer them tirelessly. I like it when God’s chosen people ask questions. This is how I work. When I preach, I never show off. I do not speak in flowery words, nor do I preach any spiritual theories. I just speak truthful words and words from the heart to solve people’s practical problems. So what is the intention behind preaching like this? It is not to flaunt myself, but to solve practical problems. People must attend to their proper tasks and solve practical problems in their duties. All that they do must accord with God’s intentions and be seen as appropriate by God. They should stop trying to satisfy themselves all the time. Is it not despicable and shameless for a person to always be thinking about satisfying themselves? (It is.) Such people are false leaders and are not worthy of doing the work of watering the church.

So, are you now clear on what problems need to be resolved in pursuing the truth? (Yes.) Some people read God’s words every day, but how many of your corrupt dispositions have you actually resolved? You might say, “I haven’t resolved many of them yet. I haven’t finished reading God’s words. I’ll start resolving my corrupt dispositions once I finish reading God’s words.” Is it correct to say this? How long will it take for you to finish reading God’s words? If you keep reading for another three to five years, the great catastrophes will already be upon us. Will you then have testimony? How can you possibly have testimony if your corrupt dispositions haven’t been resolved? Therefore, if you read God’s words in this way, you are violating principles. What is the purpose of reading the words of God? First, it is to understand the truth, and second, it is to resolve your corrupt dispositions. If you aren’t aiming to achieve these things, then there is no meaning in your reading of God’s words and you are just reading doctrine. If you focus on understanding the truth and resolving corrupt dispositions when reading God’s words, what can be achieved? Suppose there is one year left before the great catastrophes descend. During this period, if you focus on resolving your corrupt dispositions while reading God’s words, won’t you gain a lot? You will say, “In this past year, I have come to know myself, I have begun to cast off my corrupt dispositions, and I am pretty much doing my duty in a way that is up to standard.” Is this result not very significant? (It is.) You see, by reading God’s words in this way, you can resolve quite a few corrupt dispositions in a year, and you can largely come to do your duty in a way that is up to standard. This means you have entered into some truth realities. However, if you do not focus on resolving your corrupt dispositions, even if you spend three to five years reading God’s words, you will achieve nothing, and you will not gain a shred of truth reality. How should this be explained? God evaluates whether people possess truth reality not by how many of His words they have read, but by how many corrupt dispositions they have resolved. If your corrupt dispositions have been cleansed, then you definitely possess some truth reality. If your corrupt dispositions remain unchanged and you have not resolved them at all, then this shows that you do not have any truth reality at all. This is the relationship between knowing oneself and life entry. Do you understand this? Only by knowing yourself can you have life entry. If you have some knowledge of yourself, you can cast off corrupt dispositions somewhat. The deeper you know yourself, the more corrupt dispositions you will cast off. The more thoroughly you know yourself, the more thoroughly your corrupt dispositions will be cast off. Then, you will have fewer obstacles in the way of your submitting to God and loving God, there will be fewer times when you are perfunctory in your duty, you will have a sense of reason in your interactions with others, and you will be able to get along harmoniously with most people. Are you able to get along harmoniously with most people right now? If you say, “I can’t get along harmoniously with most people yet. I can only get along with a few guileless people, because they listen to whatever I say and never argue with me,” does this count as being able to get along harmoniously with others? (No.) Then what kind of people must you be able to get along harmoniously with to be truly considered as getting along harmoniously with others? It is when you can get along harmoniously with even the most arrogant people. Some people have a very arrogant disposition, but they sincerely believe in God, so you must get along harmoniously with them. Though they may always be arrogant and self-righteous when you cooperate with them, you are not. You do not contend with them, and you are able to treat them with love, be patient when you should be patient, and be forbearing when you should be forbearing. This counts as being able to get along harmoniously with others. If you refuse to yield as soon as these people reveal arrogance, and say, “If you’re arrogant, I’ll be even more arrogant than you! If you’re unreasonable, I’ll be even more unreasonable than you!” then you are bound to fight, and there will be no way to achieve harmony. So, how many corrupt dispositions must be resolved for you to cooperate harmoniously and get along with others? The first thing to resolve is the corrupt disposition of arrogance and self-righteousness. No matter who speaks correctly, you can accept what they are saying. Even if the most ignorant person or the person you look down on the most says something that accords with the truth, you can accept it and submit to it, and you can absolutely submit to the truth. If you can live out this life reality and possess this stature, then it will be easy for you to get along harmoniously with anyone. Therefore, the first step toward getting along harmoniously with others is to resolve one’s arrogant disposition. If people are no longer arrogant or self-righteous, they can get along harmoniously with most people. The second step is to resolve selfishness and despicableness. Stop considering your own interests and trying to take advantage of others all the time. If you are always scheming to take advantage of others, and taking advantage of others is your main priority in your interactions, can you still get along harmoniously with people? (No.) Suppose you see someone with a nice piece of clothing and you always want to have it for yourself, and you even shamelessly say to them, “Doesn’t this look good on me?” Seeing how much you like it, they might think about giving it to you, but in fact, if they did, they would have nothing to wear themselves, so they would be put in a difficult position. If you are always coveting other people’s things and trying to take advantage of them, won’t people end up getting fed up with you? (Yes.) Should this problem be resolved? (Yes.) There is a famous saying in the West: “There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.” You see, because of self-interest, people cannot achieve harmony with anyone, nor can their relationships last long. This is very troublesome. So is selfishness and despicableness a big problem? (Yes.) Therefore, the problem of selfishness and despicableness must be resolved. If you can resolve the problems of arrogance and self-righteousness, and selfishness and despicableness, then you will be able to get along with anyone, you won’t have any problems with getting along with anyone, and your friendships will last for ten or twenty years without breaking apart. If you do not resolve the corrupt dispositions of arrogance and self-righteousness, and selfishness and despicableness, you will never gain God’s approval. Another thing to resolve is the problem of crookedness and deceitfulness. Being slick and cunning will not do. People who are slick and cunning are devils. God likes people who are upright and honest. He likes people who have a sense of justice, who can act according to principles, and who can adhere to principles. Such people live out the style of Peter. This is living out the style of Peter in the twenty-first century. What is meant by “the style of Peter”? It means being able to pursue the truth and have a sense of justice, being able to adhere to and act according to principles, and living out the likeness of an honest person. Is it good for us to seek to be such people? (Yes.) Is it easy to become such a person? (No.) Why not? (Because people’s corrupt dispositions are too severe, and it is not easy to practice the truth.) Then how should one pursue the truth to become such a person? The most important things are to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words and to accept trials and refinements. The combination of these two actions is most effective in transforming people. After you have undergone a few years of tempering through suffering and trials, your disposition will change somewhat, you will be much more compliant than before, and you will be able to submit even when things do not accord with your notions. You see, religious people have preached about love and humility for two thousand years, yet their dispositions have not changed. But after you accept the judgment and chastisement of Almighty God in the last days and experience God’s work for a few years, your disposition can change. You won’t be able to be arrogant even if you want to, and you won’t be able to be anything but humble. Is this not correct? (It is.) Therefore, God’s judgment and chastisement can resolve people’s corrupt dispositions and all their problems. Many brothers and sisters have come to confirm this through their experiences, and they have seen just how wonderful experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement in the last days is. None of the saints throughout the ages have been as blessed as this group of us. We are the most blessed! We must cherish this opportunity to pursue the truth earnestly and experience God’s work. When one day we truly understand the truth and cast off our corrupt dispositions, only then will we not have failed God’s exaltation and grace toward us, and not have lived in vain. Is this not so? (It is.)