If you wish to submit to God in your faith, knowing yourself is extremely important. Without knowing yourself, you will be unable to cast off your corrupt disposition. Life entry begins with self-knowledge. If you reveal some corruption or do things that are detestable or hurtful to God, if you do idiotic things, then you have to reflect on yourself afterward. How can reflection help you cast off corruption? Those who practice the truth consider this: “These things that happened really revealed me. I have a corrupt disposition, and I have to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words to cast it off. It’s great that God has revealed my corrupt disposition through this situation. No matter what other people think of me or how they treat me, I have to seek the truth, understand God’s will, and know what to do to practice the truth.” This is the right attitude, and it is an attitude of practicing the truth and submitting to God. Faith in God requires accepting the truth—that’s the correct attitude. Those who do not accept the truth look for excuses and reasons when issues arise, pushing responsibility off onto someone else. They always complain about other people not treating them well, not thinking of them or caring for them. They find all sorts of rationales. What is the point of finding all of these reasons? Can it replace your practice of the truth? Can it replace your submission to God? No, it can’t. That is to say, no matter what sort of reasoning you have, even if you have grievances greater than the sky itself, if you don’t accept the truth then you are done for. God wants to see what your attitude is, especially regarding matters of putting the truth into practice. Is your complaining of any use? Can your complaints resolve the issue of a corrupt disposition? If you were to complain and feel yourself justified, what would that say about you? Would you have gained the truth? Would God approve of you? If God says, “You’re not someone who practices the truth, so get out of the way. I loathe you,” then aren’t you done for? God saying “I loathe you” would reveal you and determine who you are. Why would God make a determination about you? Because you don’t accept the truth; you don’t accept God’s orchestrations and His sovereignty. You’re always looking for external reasons, always putting things on other people. God sees you as lacking sense and love for the truth; as being unreasonable, willful, and untamable. You have to be set aside and ignored so that you can have a self-reflection. The point of having you listen to sermons and fellowship on the truth is so that you can understand the truth, resolve your problems, and cast off your corruption. Is the truth something for you to prattle on about? Is it something for you to give lip service to, and then be done with? Is understanding the truth supposed to act as a spiritual anchor to make up for the emptiness in your soul? No, it is not for you to use for this purpose. The truth is there so that you can resolve your corrupt dispositions. It is to give you a path, and when you encounter issues you can live by these truths, and take the proper path in life. Once you have understood the truth, you will no longer act based on your naturalness, your corruption, or those things in your satanic education. You will no longer live by satanic logic or philosophies for worldly dealings. Instead, you will live by the truth, you will act by the truth. Only this can satisfy God’s will. Some people say: “I haven’t been a believer for very long. I don’t have much experience. I don’t understand the truth, and my stature is small. So, I can’t practice the truth.” These are actually just factual excuses. Even if your stature is small, there are truths that are not beyond you. You should practice just as much as you understand; you should implement just as much as you are capable of. If you don’t even practice the truths you understand, there is a problem there. No matter how long or short your time as a believer has been, as long as you’ve been listening to sermons for a few years, you will understand some of the truth. If you know plenty of truths but don’t put any of them into practice, that will condemn you. What an attitude of submitting to the truth is, what submitting to the truth is, how to submit to the truth, how to submit to God’s orchestrations, and what attitude people should have—if you know these things, you should put them into practice. No matter what happens, you have to learn how to practice the truth and behave with principle. If you don’t practice the truth, then the truth is meaningless to you; it is nothing but doctrine, a slogan in your mouth. You will not have reality until you are able to put the truth into practice; only then can the truth become your life. When things happen and you go by your preference—thinking that this person is mistaken, that person is wrong, always seeing yourself as right and disagreeing with others no matter what they say—then is it possible that you’re blameless and without corruption? That’s called being arrogant and self-righteous, and it is a more seriously corrupt disposition.

How can a corrupt disposition be resolved? The first step is to see if you can submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements; if you can submit to the various situations that God sets up for you. In peaceful times, you don’t have any notions toward God and you don’t reveal an obvious corrupt disposition. So you feel that you’re not so bad, and that you’re someone who is able to submit to God. But when something happens, your heart is stirred, and you have your own thoughts and ideas. Especially when you’re able to suffer and pay a price in your duty, you feel that you’re someone who loves God, so when you’re pruned unexpectedly and someone says you are willful and unprincipled in your duty, will you be able to accept that? (It’s not easy to accept.) What do you do if it’s not easy to accept? How can you achieve acceptance and submission? There are a few principles of practice here. First, you have to reflect on yourself, and let go of your own thoughts and reasoning to seek the truth. You should understand that your own thoughts and reasoning don’t necessarily align with the truth. If you possess reason, you should first listen to what others have to say and then give it careful thought. If their input lines up with the truth, you should accept it—this is what a person with reason should do. If you always believe that your own thinking is correct and you cling to your own perspective, and do not accept what others say, no matter how right they are or how much what they say aligns with the truth, then you are being rebellious and unreasonable. The reason of a created being is to submit to the truth, to submit to God’s words, to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, to submit to all that comes from God, and to submit to the work arrangements of God’s house. In performing your duty, you must seek what God requires and what His house has arranged. Once you know those things, you can act as God requires. These are the principles of practice. First, you must submit. This is what a created being should do. Often, when people are unable to submit, it is because they have their own reasoning, excuses, and pretexts. They are very unlikely to submit with such reasoning. What can be done in that case? First, let go of your own reasoning and excuses, and act according to the requirements of God’s house. Once you have practiced that for a time, you’ll find that when you do your duty according to the truth principles, you become more and more effective in your duty. You become certain, in your soul, that this is submitting to God, and your submission becomes increasingly pure. But, if you always cling to your own notions and imaginings, if you are unable to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, if you are always oppositional with God and go against Him, then that is rebellion. That is a corrupt disposition. And even if you don’t commit any obvious evil, you still won’t have submitted in the slightest, and you will lack any bit of the truth reality.

The lessons of submission are the hardest, but they are also the easiest. In what way are they hard? (People have their own ideas.) People having ideas is not the problem—what person does not have ideas? People all have hearts and brains, they all have their own ideas. That is not the problem here. So, what is it then? The problem is man’s corrupt disposition. If you did not have a corrupt disposition, you would be able to submit no matter how many ideas you had—they would not be an issue. If one has this reason and says, “I must submit to God in all things. I won’t give excuses or insist on my own ideas, I won’t reach my own verdict on this matter,” is it not easy for them to submit? If a person does not reach their own verdicts, it is a sign that they are not self-righteous; if they do not insist on their own ideas, it is a sign that they have reason. If they can also submit, then they have achieved practice of the truth. Not reaching one’s own verdicts and not insisting on one’s ideas are preconditions for being able to submit. If you possess these two qualities, it will be easy for you to submit and achieve practice of the truth. So, before you submit, you must equip yourself with them, and figure out how you should act and what you should do in order to have an attitude of practicing the truth. This is not really that difficult—but it is not that easy, either. Why is it difficult? It is difficult because man has a corrupt disposition. No matter what mentality or state you have when practicing submission, if it hinders you from practicing the truth, then that mindset or state stems from a corrupt disposition. That is simply the fact of the matter. If you resolve the corrupt dispositions of self-righteousness, arrogance, rebelliousness, absurdity, prejudice, and intransigence, it will be easy for you to submit. So, how should these corruptions be resolved? You must pray when you are unwilling to submit, you must reflect on yourself and ask: “Why am I unable to submit to God? Why do I always insist on doing things my own way? Why can’t I seek the truth and put it into practice? What is the root of this problem? I should be practicing obedience to God, and I should be practicing the truth, not implementing my own will or my own desires. I should be able to submit to God’s words, His orchestrations, and arrangements. Only that is in line with God’s will.” Achieving this kind of outcome requires praying to God and seeking the truth. When you have understood the truth, you will be able to put it into practice more easily; then, you will be able to rebel against the flesh and let go of its concerns. If you understand the truth within your heart but can’t let go of the benefits of the flesh, status, vanity and face, then you’ll struggle to put the truth into practice. This is because, in your heart, you put the benefits of the flesh, vanity, and face above all else. This means that you do not love the truth—instead, you love status and reputation. So how should this issue be resolved? You must pray, seek the truth, and fully see the essence of things like status and reputation. You must be less preoccupied with these things, and it’s necessary to see practicing the truth as important, and to value this above all else. When you do all this, you will have the will to practice the truth. Sometimes people cannot practice the truth. They need to be pruned, and receive God’s judgment and chastisement, so that the essence of the problem is completely clear and it’s easier to practice the truth. In fact, the greatest obstacle to practicing the truth is when one’s own will is too great and comes before everything else—that is, when one’s own self-interest comes before anything else, when one’s own reputation and status come before anything else. That’s why such people are always willful when things come up, and do whatever will personally benefit them, without any consideration of truth principles. They’re always clinging to their own ideas. What does it mean to cling to one’s own ideas? It means to determine: “If you want this, I want that. If you want yours, I will insist on mine.” Is this a display of submission? (No.) This is not seeking the truth at all, but is insisting on one’s own way. It’s an arrogant disposition, and an unreasonable display. If, one day, you are able to become aware that your preferences and determinations are contrary to the truth; if you are able to deny and see through yourself, no longer believing in yourself, and after that gradually come to not do things your own way or blindly define things, but are able to seek the truth, pray to God and lean on Him, then that is the correct practice. Before you confirm what sort of practice conforms with the truth, you must seek. That is absolutely the correct thing to do, it is what should be done. If you wait until you are pruned to seek, it is a bit passive, and it is likely to delay things. Learning to seek the truth is so crucial. What are the benefits of seeking the truth? Firstly, one can avoid following their own will and acting rashly; secondly, one can avoid revelations of corruption and evil consequences; thirdly, one can learn how to wait and be patient, and stop mistakes from occurring by perceiving things clearly and accurately. These things can all be achieved by seeking the truth. When you learn to seek the truth in all things, you will discover that nothing is simple, that if you are inattentive and do not make an effort, you will do things poorly. After training like this for a while, you will be more mature and seasoned when things befall you. Your attitude will be softer and more moderate, and instead of being impulsive, risk-taking, and competitive, you will be able to seek the truth, practice the truth, and submit to God. Then, the problem of your revelations of corrupt dispositions will be resolved. So, it will be easy for you to submit, it is really not that difficult. It might be a little hard in the beginning, but you can be patient, wait and keep seeking the truth until you resolve that problem. If you always want to make your own decisions when things befall you, and you are always offering justifications, and you insist on your own ideas, this will become quite troublesome. This is because the things you are insisting on are not positive and are all things within a corrupt disposition. All of those things are revelations of a corrupt disposition, and, in such circumstances, though you may wish to seek the truth, you will be unable to practice it, and though you may wish to pray to God, you will only be going through the motions. If someone fellowshipped with you about the truth and exposed the adulterations of your intent, how would you make a choice? Could you easily submit to the truth? It would be very strenuous for you to submit at such a time, and you would be unable to submit. You would rebel and try to offer justifications. You would say, “My decisions are for the sake of God’s house. They are not wrong. Why do you still ask that I submit?” Do you see how you would be unable to submit? And apart from that, you would also resist; this is a deliberate transgression! Is this not extremely troublesome? When someone fellowships with you about truth, if you are unable to accept the truth and would even knowingly transgress, rebelling against and resisting God, then yours is a serious problem. You are at risk of being revealed by God and cast out.

The lesson of submitting to God is really profound. It seems really difficult when you start entering into it, but after experiencing it for a while, it doesn’t feel so difficult. Practicing submission requires an adherence to principles, and if you fail quite a few times without finding the principles, then that means you haven’t learned the lesson; and submission is still a very difficult lesson for you to learn. Why is it difficult? Because there are many difficulties within corrupt humans. People have notions, imaginings, as well as various corrupt dispositions. If, on top of all that, they also have some knowledge and capital; if they have a college degree and are highly qualified; if they have money and status in society and show superiority in all sorts of aspects, then that’s a problem. Such people will be unlikely to accept the truth. Possessing too much knowledge will be troublesome, as people treat knowledge as the truth itself, so that comprehending and accepting the truth becomes too taxing. If you don’t understand the truth, and you don’t have humanity or reason, then you are like a hedgehog. Hedgehogs are fearsome animals that no one can disturb or annoy. Corrupt people are this way—they absolutely will not accept the truth and do not submit to God at all. Their hearts are full of evil, and they live entirely by their corrupt dispositions. As a result, every single issue people encounter presents them with many challenges, and they grow full of notions and imaginings, and are arrogant and self-righteous. When they are pruned, or when they encounter a barrier in something they do, they make excuses, misunderstand things, become negative, and complain. They are affected and misled by absurd tales and arguments. These are difficulties. If people can resolve these difficulties, they’ll be able to accept the truth and put it into practice, and submission to God will be easy. That is why, to achieve submission to God, one must first accept the truth and practice it, and one must submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. That is the first hurdle. So, what do God’s orchestrations and arrangements consist of? They consist of the people, events, and things that God gives rise to around you. Sometimes these people, events and things will prune you, sometimes they will tempt you, or test you, or disturb you, or make you negative—but as long as you can seek the truth to resolve problems, you will be able to learn something, gain stature, and have the strength to resist. Submitting to the orchestrations and arrangements of God is the most fundamental lesson in submitting to God. God’s orchestrations and arrangements include the people, events, things, and various situations that God gives rise to around you. So how should you react when faced with these situations? The most fundamental thing is to accept from God. What does “accept from God” mean? Complaining and resisting—is this accepting from God? Looking for reasons and making excuses—is this accepting from God? No. So how should you practice accepting from God? When something happens to you, first calm down, seek the truth, and practice submitting. Don’t come out with excuses or explanations. Don’t try to analyze or speculate about who is right and who is wrong, and don’t analyze whose mistake is more serious, and whose is less so. Is always analyzing these things an attitude of accepting from God? Is it an attitude of submission to God? It is not an attitude of submission to God, or of accepting from God, or of accepting God’s sovereignty and arrangements. Accepting from God is part of the principles for practicing submission to God. If you are certain that everything that befalls you is within God’s sovereignty, that those things happen because of God’s arrangements and good will, then you can accept them from God. Begin by not analyzing right and wrong, not making excuses for yourself, not finding fault with others, not splitting hairs, not parsing through the objective causes of what happened, and not using your human mind to analyze and examine things. These are the details of what you must do in order to accept from God. And the way to practice this is to begin with submission. Even if you have notions or if things are not clear to you, submit. Do not start off with excuses or rebelliousness. And after submitting, seek the truth, pray to God and seek from Him. How should you pray? Say, “Oh God, You have orchestrated this situation for me out of Your good will.” What does it mean when you say this? It means that you already have an attitude of acceptance in your heart and have acknowledged that God orchestrated that situation for you. Say: “Oh God, I don’t know how to practice in the situation I encountered today. I ask You to enlighten and guide me, and to make me understand Your will, so that I can act according to it, and be neither rebellious nor resistant, and not rely on my own will. I am willing to practice the truth and act according to the principles.” Having prayed, you will feel peace at heart, and you will naturally let go of your excuses. Is this not a change in your mindset? This paves the way for you to seek and practice the truth, and the only problem that remains is how you should practice the truth when you have understood it. If you reveal rebelliousness again when the time comes for you to practice the truth, you must pray to God again. Once your rebelliousness has been resolved, naturally it will be easy for you to practice the truth. When problems crop up, you must learn to quiet yourself before God and seek the truth. If you are constantly disrupted by external things, if your state is always erratic, what is that caused by? It is because you don’t understand the truth, and because your corrupt disposition is in charge within you—you can’t help yourself. At times like this, you have to self-reflect and find the problem within yourself. Look for the relevant words of God and see what they expose. Then, listen to sermons and fellowships, or hymns of God’s words. Look at your own state in light of these words. That is how you can see what problems there are within you, and gaining clarity on these problems will make them easier to handle. Whatever issues other people have that cause you trouble, don’t pay them any attention. Focus on your own self-reflection. Don’t make mountains out of molehills, claiming that God is testing you. This has nothing to do with God. Corrupt human beings are completely lacking in self-knowledge and are most skilled at prettifying themselves. Don’t become overly sensitive. If you determine that this is a test from God then you need to reflect on your own issues even more; if you don’t thoroughly clear out your corrupt disposition, it will just keep playing you for a fool. What’s the solution, then? You have to pray, “God, I’m so willful and arrogant! I’m always thinking about catering to the flesh. I’m too rebellious! Please discipline me.” After your prayer, you’ll feel a little worried. “What if God truly disciplines me? No, I have to pray and set my resolve; no matter how God disciplines me, even if He makes me become ill or die, I will still submit to Him.” Once you finish this prayer, you will become strong inside, and your state will be different. How will you feel? You’ll think: “After all these years as a believer, this is my first time experiencing a trial from God. His hand has come upon me and I feel He’s very close to me. God is personally leading me, personally arranging this kind of trial to train me, to purify me, allowing me to learn a lesson and gain the truth from it. God loves me so much!” Isn’t this God’s enlightenment and illumination? Don’t you have some stature at this point? (Yes.) This is a really down-to-earth understanding. You might wonder within yourself: “Since God is testing me, what kind of attitude should I have? What should I do to satisfy God?” When you think this way, and when you seek this way, you will achieve submission before long. You will stop arguing your case, and will think to yourself: “If I don’t submit, but always argue, if I always look for reasons in other people or objective circumstances, finding excuses and analyzing right and wrong, then I’m not even human. I’m a beast, not even on a par with swine!” Then, you will feel guilty and unsettled. You will think: “I have to submit to God right away. God is by my side, and this is how He is guiding me. It has often been said that this is how God’s good will is—I’ve gotten a taste of it today. God wills that I should learn a lesson, that I should change, not that I should be stuck between right and wrong. This is God’s love for me, His judgment and chastisement, His sustenance and guidance. God loves me so much, and His love is true!” You will be moved within your heart. Why will you be moved? Because you now understand God’s will; you have personally experienced God’s love; you have experience from continuously seeking the truth throughout these days. Can people still rebel against God while experiencing this? Yes, there can still be rebellion. Since people have corrupt dispositions, and all sorts of corrupt, absurd thoughts are constantly breaking out, they are always thinking: “God is testing me, so am I going to die? If God is really disciplining me, is He going to make me seriously ill? I’m scared!” Where does fear come from? It comes from not believing in God’s sovereignty and arrangements, from not wanting to allow His orchestrations and worrying: “What will happen if I die? I just don’t know where I stand!” People have too little faith in God. How much faith do people have at times like that? Zero! If one so much as wishes to escape from God’s hands, their betrayal of God is absolute. When things get to this point, people want to escape; they are not resigned to what is happening. What can be done then? You can’t just say: “I can submit; I’m kind of moved. I can feel the grace of God and God has cared for me. That’s good enough, and I’m content.” But that’s not enough. You have to keep moving forward, you have to continue seeking. Think: “How did Job get his faith? To what extent was he able to submit? Why am I so scared? Where is my fear coming from? It’s because I have too little faith in God. I don’t believe that I’m happiest and safest in God’s hands; that God is my refuge. I don’t believe these things. I am such a deceitful, wicked person! I have recognized that this is God testing me, and a trial doesn’t mean my life will be taken away. He’s not toying with me or intentionally revealing me either. It’s just a trial, meant to cleanse my corrupt disposition. I’m still not able to have true faith in God, to fully trust in God and put myself in His hands. I’m so wicked, and guilty of the most horrible things! I don’t deserve this consideration from God. I don’t deserve God’s care.” What can you do after that? You have to pray and seek the truth from God; prune your rebelliousness and your motives. You understand the truth to this degree, but you still don’t have confidence in God or dare to place yourself in His hands. What is this? It is betrayal. Because of your deceitfulness, your arrogance, your suspicion, and your wickedness, you lack trust in God. This is where fear comes from. What is the meaning of fear? It is a lack of faith in God. It is always being worried: “If I submit to God’s guidance, will He hand me over to Satan and allow me to die?” What sort of thought is this? Isn’t that nonsense? Why would someone think that of God? Without the truth, people can’t see anything clearly, but always misunderstand God and speculate about Him. Resolving this problem requires someone to understand the truth. It is only by understanding the truth that people can speak with reason, the way a human should. In spite of the fact that you have felt God’s care and protection, the fact that you have enjoyed the feeling of peace and joy given by God and the fact that you feel very secure, you are still reluctant to put yourself in God’s hands. You are still afraid. Isn’t this rebellion? What is the adulteration in this rebellion? What is it controlled by? Deceitfulness and arrogance. Isn’t this a truly demonic nature? If someone has a demonic nature, they have a satanic disposition. How can this issue be resolved? Doing so requires people to seek the truth. If people don’t love the truth, if they don’t seek the truth no matter how much corruption they reveal, their corrupt disposition can never be resolved. That kind of person will not achieve salvation easily.

When seeking the truth to resolve a corrupt disposition, what kind of results need to be achieved for the problem to count as resolved? Some people are well aware that a certain situation is a trial from God, but are unwilling to put themselves in His hands. They feel God cannot be relied on, that He cannot be trusted. Not only do they not dare to lean on God, but they are afraid of these situations. When things have gotten to that point, what truths should they equip themselves with? How should they pursue? And how much pursuit does it take for them to be cleansed, to achieve full submission, and to set foot on the path of fearing God and shunning evil? All of this has to do with the truth of submission. At this time, you really have no knowledge of God, and there is no way you can possess genuine faith. Without genuine faith, what truths of visions do you need to be equipped with so that you can achieve complete freedom from doubt, suspicion, misunderstandings and resistance toward God, and that will allow you to submit absolutely? Which truths should you be equipped with to resolve these issues and reach absolute freedom from adulteration, from personal requirements and choices? This is something you’re still not clear on. Give it some thought—what kind of pursuit is needed to achieve absolute submission to God? You have to possess some truths. When you have gained the truth as your life, that will be your stature. That will be the basis and the foundation upon which you can achieve submission. You can achieve full submission with these truths. So, which truths do you need to equip yourself with? (You have to pursue knowledge of God.) That’s one part of it. Aside from that, people themselves need to have some cooperation, some practices. Do you remember what Peter said? (“Even if God were playing with humans as if they were toys, what complaint would humans have?”) This is about submission. If you experience things this way, you will gradually learn the truth and you will naturally get results. First, you need an attitude of submission toward God and the truth. Don’t worry about what sort of looks God is casting your way, what His attitude and tone of voice are toward you, whether or not He is averse to you, and whether or not He is going to reveal you. Start by resolving your own difficulties and problems. Can ordinary people easily attain to what Peter said? (Not easily, no.) What experiences did he have and what realities did he possess that allowed him to say that? (He fully believed that no matter how God treats man, it is to save man and it’s nothing but love. That’s why he was happy to submit.) Peter said “Even if God were playing with humans as if they were toys,” and you said “no matter how God treats man.” You are taking yourself as a created being, as a follower of God, and as a member of God’s house. So, is there a difference between the two? Yes, there is. There is a disparity! Where does the disparity between a toy and a human being lie? A toy is nothing at all—it is worthless, a miserable wretch. Call it a toy, or call it a beast—it is that sort of thing. But what about a person? A person has thoughts and a brain; they are able to speak and to do things, and they can conduct normal human activities. Compared to those of a toy, is there a difference in a human’s value and status? If you see yourself as a human, and not a toy, then don’t you have demands as far as God’s treatment of you goes? What are your demands of God? (To treat me like a human.) How should God treat you like a human? If God shared His demands of humanity with you and required you to meet them, would you be able to do so? If God expressed the truth and required you to adhere to it, would you be able to do so? If God required you to submit to Him and love Him, could you do so? And if you are unable to do any of that, then why should God treat you like a human? If you don’t have any conscience or reason and you can’t do the things a human should do, then why should God treat you like a human? If people just act recklessly, refusing to accept the truth and even judging and condemning God, making themselves His enemies, do they have humanity? Would God treat that sort of person as a human? Would God treat Satans and devils like humans? Taking you as a human and taking you as a toy is a matter of differences in attitude and treatment. If you are taken as a human, then what sort of treatment would you demand? That you are respected, that you are consulted, that your feelings are considered, that you are given adequate space and freedom, and that your dignity and reputation are considered. That is the way human beings are treated. But what about toys? (They are nothing at all. They can be kicked around.) (You can use them when you want to use them, and toss them aside when you don’t.) That’s an appropriate thing to say. This is what you have to say about the treatment of toys, so how would you describe treating a human being as a toy? (You use them when you need them, and just ignore them when you don’t.) You treat them without any respect, and there is no need to protect their rights. You don’t give them any rights, or autonomy, or freedom of choice. There’s no need to consult with them in things, or consider their honor, or anything like that. You can be nice to them when you feel good, but you can kick them around when you don’t. That’s the attitude taken toward a toy. If God treated people like toys, how would they feel? Would they still feel that God is lovable? (No.) But Peter was able to praise God. What truth realities did he possess that allowed him to achieve submission to the point of death? God did not actually treat man like a toy. But when Peter’s understanding reached this level, he thought: “If God were to treat me that way, I should still submit to it. If God treated me like a toy, how could I not be ready and willing?” Peter achieved this readiness, this willingness. What does being “ready and willing” refer to? (Putting himself at the mercy of God’s orchestrations and submitting to them absolutely.) That is the truth of submission. Wouldn’t handing you over to Satan be the way to treat a toy? You’d be cast away when you’re not wanted, given over to Satan so that it could tempt you and make a fool of you. What was Peter’s attitude? Did he have any complaints? Did he complain to God? Did he curse God? Did he turn to Satan? (No.) This is called submission. He had no complaints, he had no displays of negativity or resistance. Was his corrupt disposition not resolved? This was in perfect harmony with God. It wasn’t a matter of whether he would betray God or not. It was a matter of: “No matter where God puts me, my heart will have God; no matter where God puts me, I will be one who belongs to Him. Even if He turns me into ashes, I will still belong to God. I will never turn to Satan.” He was able to reach this level of submission. Saying this is easy, but doing it is difficult. You have to be equipped with the truth for a certain amount of time until you see all this completely and clearly, then putting the truth into practice will be much easier. You’re not required to have absolute knowledge of God, nor is it necessary for God to reveal something in particular to you. If you can have the proper attitude and this kind of submission, that will be enough. You shouldn’t have any requirements for God’s treatment of you, or require Him to give you exact criteria. Even if something is in line with the truth and is something the Creator should have, you shouldn’t demand it. You should say: “God, however You treat me is alright. You can have me die; You can have me go to hell. However You treat me is okay. Even if You hand me over to Satan, God will still be my God, and I will still be God’s created being. I will never forsake Him.” With this attitude, you possess the reality of submission. “Even if God were playing with humans as if they were toys, what complaint would humans have?” This statement, which Peter was able to make, is so important for all of you! This was Peter’s submission. If you give thought to this statement constantly and gain a true understanding and experience of it, then you will find it much easier to submit to God. The aspects in which people rebel against God are the aspects in which they are most unreasonable. When people haven’t done their duty well, when they haven’t done any real service, they are more well-behaved, and they feel they have no right to reason with or resist God. But as soon as they’ve done a little work or given a little service, they feel they have some capital. They want to reason with God, and they want God’s blessings. This becomes troublesome. Their reasoning is abnormal—isn’t that vile? That’s how pathetic people are without the truth reality. Can anyone be okay if they’re not equipped with the truth? Corrupt dispositions cannot be cast off without accepting the truth; not being equipped with the truth means a person’s conscience and reason are abnormal. They might understand some doctrine, and say things like: “I am a created being and I should submit to God. That’s the reason I should possess.” They might understand this in words, and they can shout the slogans, but when something actually happens, they cannot accept or submit to it even though they know full well that it was orchestrated by God. Why is that? It’s because humans are rebellious, their corrupt disposition isn’t resolved, and they are absolutely capable of betraying God. That is the reality of the situation. If people aren’t equipped with enough of the truth, their lives will be this pathetic. Are those who rebel against God, who are unable to submit to God or accept His orchestrations and arrangements, not also believers in God? Why can’t they submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements? Because they do not accept or believe in the truth. Isn’t that a fact? (Yes.) Some people say of a particular person: “He is arrogant and self-righteous. When something comes up he’s always resistant. He always makes excuses and splits hairs. He doesn’t believe in the existence of God, or in God’s orchestrations and arrangements, so he can’t submit to God.” But on the other hand, he believes these are God’s orchestrations and arrangements; that this is a situation God set up for him; that God wants to cleanse him and have him gain the truth through this. Could he then submit? Could he then stop being rebellious, and refrain from betraying God? Could he possibly accept it from God? No, he couldn’t. Why not? Because man doesn’t possess these truth realities. Your present stature is too small. So for now, God isn’t testing you. This is the basic reason. Because as soon as you were tested, you would all show your true selves and be cast out, and Satan would laugh. Isn’t that the reality? Your stature is too small right now. You can talk about doctrine and recite slogans, and you’re able to see other people’s problems clearly, but you don’t know your own state; you aren’t clear on it. Would God test you, with that sort of state and stature? The time has not yet come for the work of perfection to be performed on you; you are not equipped for it.

Submitting to God’s orchestrations and arrangements is the most basic lesson faced by each and every follower of God. It is also the most profound lesson. To whatever degree you are able to submit to God, that is how great your stature is, and how great your faith is—these things are interrelated. Which truths do you need to be equipped with to reach absolute submission? First, you cannot make any demands of God—this is a truth. How can you implement this truth? When you make a demand of God, use this truth to consider and reflect on yourself. “What demands do I have of God? Are they in line with the truth? Are they reasonable? Where did they come from? Did they come from my own imaginings, or are they thoughts given to me by Satan?” It’s actually none of those things. These ideas are produced by people’s corrupt dispositions. You have to dissect the motives and desires behind these unreasonable demands, and see whether or not they fit the reason of normal humanity. What should you pursue? If you are someone who loves the truth, you should pursue being a follower, just like Peter. Peter said, “If God treated me like a toy, how could I not be ready and willing?” Some people don’t understand what Peter said. They ask: “When has God ever treated people like toys and handed us over to Satan? I haven’t seen that. God has been wonderful to me, so gracious. God isn’t that kind of God. God couldn’t possibly love humans any more, so why would He treat people like toys? That doesn’t match the truth. This is a misunderstanding of God and is not true knowledge of God.” But where did Peter’s words come from? (They came from his knowledge of God, gained after going through all sorts of trials.) Peter went through so many trials and refinements. He set aside all of his personal demands, plans, and desires, and didn’t demand that God do anything. He didn’t have his own thoughts, then, and he handed himself over fully. He thought: “God can do whatever He wants to do. He can test me, He can chasten me, He can judge or chastise me. He can give rise to situations to prune me, He can temper me, He can put me in the lion’s den or the wolves’ lair. Whatever God does, it is correct, and I will submit to anything. Everything God does is the truth. I won’t have any complaints or any choices.” Is this not absolute submission? Sometimes people think: “Everything God does is the truth, so why haven’t I discovered any truth in this thing that God did? It seems that even God does things that don’t align with the truth sometimes. God is also wrong at times. But no matter what, God is God, so I’ll submit!” Is this kind of submission absolute? (No.) This is selective submission; it is not true submission. This is at odds with how Peter thought about it. In treating you like a toy, there’s no need to explain the reason to you or to appear fair and reasonable to you. You can be treated any way at all; there’s no need to discuss things with you or to explain the facts and reasons. If things couldn’t proceed without your approval, then would you be being treated as a toy? No—that would be giving you complete human rights and freedoms, and total respect. It would be treating you as a human being, not as a toy. What is a toy? (It’s something that has no autonomy and no rights.) But is it only something without rights? How can Peter’s words be implemented? For example, say that you’ve been seeking for a while on a particular topic, but still haven’t understood God’s will. Or, say that you’ve believed in God for over 20 years and still don’t know what it’s all about. Should you not submit in this situation? You have to submit. And what is this submission based on? It’s based on what Peter said: “If God treated me like a toy, how could I not be ready and willing?” If you always approach God according to the notions and imaginings of man, and use them to measure all that God does, to measure the words and work of God, is this not pigeonholing God, is it not resisting God? Could all that God does fit with the notions and imaginings of man? And if it does not, do you thus not accept or obey it? At such times, how should you seek the truth? How should you follow God? This involves the truth; an answer should be sought from the words of God. When they believe in God, people should stick to the place of a created being. No matter what the time, regardless of whether God is hidden from you or has appeared to you, irrespective of whether you can feel God’s love or not, you must know what your responsibilities, obligations, and duties are—you must understand these truths about practice. If you still cling to your notions, saying, “If I can clearly see that this matter is in line with the truth and in line with my thoughts, then I will submit; if it is not clear to me and I cannot confirm that these are the actions of God, then I will first wait a while, and will submit once I’m sure this was done by God,” then is this someone who submits to God? It is not. This is a conditional submission, not absolute, full submission. God’s work does not accord with human notions and imaginings; the incarnation does not accord with human notions and imaginings, and judgment and chastisement especially do not. The majority of people really struggle to accept and submit to it. If you can’t submit to God’s work, then can you fulfill the duty of a created being? That’s just not possible. What is the duty of a created being? (To stand in the position of a created being, accept God’s commission and submit to God’s arrangements.) That’s right, that’s the root of it. Then isn’t it easy to address this issue? To stand in a created being’s place and submit to the Creator, your God—this is what every created being should most uphold. There are many truths that you don’t understand or don’t know about. You cannot grasp God’s will, so you won’t accept the truths or submit to them—is that right? For example, you don’t understand some prophecies, so you don’t acknowledge that they are God’s words? You cannot deny it. Those words will always be words from God, and they contain the truth. Even though you don’t understand them, they are still God’s words. If some words of God haven’t been fulfilled, does that mean that they’re not God’s words, that they’re not the truth? If you say: “If it hasn’t been fulfilled it probably isn’t God’s words. It’s probably been adulterated,” what kind of attitude is this? This is an attitude of rebellion. You must have reason. What is reason? What is having reason based on? It is based on standing in the place of a created being and submitting to the Creator, your God. This is the truth; an eternally immutable truth. Does submission to God need to be based on whether you know or understand God’s will, or whether or not God has shown His will to you? Does it need to be based on all this? (No.) Then what is it based on? It’s based on the truth of submission. What is the truth of submission? (Standing in a created being’s place and submitting to the Creator.) This is the truth of submission. Then, is there any need for you to analyze right and wrong? Do you need to consider whether God has done the right thing or not to achieve absolute submission? Does God need to clearly, thoroughly explain this aspect of the truth for you to submit? (No, He doesn’t.) No matter what God does, you should practice the truth of submission—that is good enough. Some people are incredibly argumentative and are constantly stirring things up. They’re always thinking: “Isn’t God the truth? Isn’t God the Creator? Why are there some things God does that don’t make sense to me? Why doesn’t God clearly explain things to me? If He hasn’t explained it, then how can I put it into practice? Is the reason I can’t submit to it not because I can’t make sense of it? I won’t have the drive to submit if I can’t make sense of it!” Isn’t this rebellion? Do you need this drive to submit? No, you don’t. You just need one simple kind of rationality, which is: “I will submit to anything that comes from God. When God’s words are fulfilled, I will submit and praise God; when God’s words are not fulfilled, they are still His words, and they won’t become human words just because they haven’t been fulfilled. I just need to submit, without judgment. God will always be my God.” That is how you take the place of a created being. With this kind of reason, with these truth realities, at the times you feel people are just toys or ants in the eyes of God, will you still feel upset? Will you feel inferior? (No.) You won’t feel inferior now because God is treating you like a human, and you still have status before Him. God has uplifted you. This is why you don’t feel inferior. If God hadn’t uplifted you, if He were always pruning you and disciplining you, you would be feeling unhappy about it. Feeling unhappy that way is a problem that must be handled. Often people feel that way because there are too many difficulties within them; they always have demands of God, and they are always thinking: “You have to treat me like a human being. You have to respect me and think highly of me, to think of me and be understanding of my weaknesses. You have to be tolerant. My stature is small, and I lack insight. I haven’t done this kind of work before.” They always have a huge pile of excuses and no submission at all. After today’s fellowship on the truth of submission, are these excuses even real reasons? No excuse is a real reason. Your responsibility, your obligation, and your duty is to submit.

It is easy for people to submit when they don’t have any troubles. But when trouble does arise they are unable to submit. What can be done in this case? It is necessary to pray and seek the truth to resolve this difficulty. From someone feeling that they are a noble person who has been elevated by God, to that same person becoming a debased toy who is without merit in God’s eyes, nothing at all, a worthless wretch, yet one who is still happy to submit to God and have no demands of Him at all—how much time is necessary to reach that degree of experience? (In his last seven years, Peter went through hundreds of trials. If someone doesn’t pursue the truth, then they won’t achieve that no matter how many years they believe for.) It isn’t about the number of years of faith—rather, it depends on whether someone pursues the truth, and if they are able to use the truth to resolve the problem of a corrupt disposition. It all depends on what your pursuit is. Some people pursue nothing but reputation and status, always wanting to display themselves and to stand out from the crowd. They collapse when they encounter the slightest setback or failure, becoming negative and paralyzed. Some people like to take unfair advantage, but don’t love the truth; they are happy when they’ve benefited at another’s expense, and they’re not sad or bothered if they haven’t gained the truth. Some are listless in their faith if they don’t have any status, and are more energized than anyone else once they have this status; then they never feel negative, and will happily work themselves to death. They just don’t pay any mind to practicing the truth or doing things according to principles, and as a result, they still lack experiential testimony after many years of faith. They feel envious and regretful when they see others who have been believers for a handful of years and have wonderful experiential testimony, but after that feeling passes they still don’t pursue the truth. If someone doesn’t focus on striving for the truth, if they don’t use the truth to resolve problems, then no matter how many years of faith they have, it is of no use. Those who don’t pursue the truth can never be perfected by God. Peter was perfected by going through hundreds of trials—don’t you have to go through hundreds of trials, too? How many trials have you been through at this point? If not hundreds, then how about just one hundred? (No. Not yet.) Peter was perfected through hundreds of trials, so if you haven’t even been through one, or you’ve only been through one hundred, then your experience is nowhere near his. Your stature is lacking. Don’t you need to put effort into pursuing the truth? And how should you do that? You have to put effort into understanding and practicing the truth. Don’t be careless and muddleheaded, not giving serious thought to anything, living a carefree life and just busying yourself with tasks all day long. This isn’t to say that being busy is a problem—if you have a lot of things to do, then you will have to busy yourself; not being busy isn’t always an option. But while you busy yourself taking care of everything, you must still strive for the truth and for principles; you must still try to comprehend things and ask God for whatever it is that you lack. How do you ask God for something? Every day, you pray to God silently in your heart for that thing. This shows that you long for the truth in your heart, and you have the will to let God fulfill your aspirations. If your heart is true, God will hear your prayers; He will arrange and prepare appropriate situations for you so that you can learn lessons. You might say, “My stature is really lacking. Is God going to give me a major trial that crushes me?” No, that would be impossible. God absolutely will not do something like that. God knows best how great someone’s faith is and what their true stature is. You have to have faith in this. God would never have a three-year-old child take on an adult’s burden—never! You have to be sure of this in your heart. But you need to ask God for it. You must have that desire and that resolve, and only then will God act on your request. If you’re always fearful and hiding, afraid of being tested, if you always want to have peaceful, carefree days, then God won’t work in you. Therefore, you need only to freely and boldly beseech God, truly offer yourself up, and hand everything over to God, and only then God will work on you. God certainly does not work to arbitrarily torment people, but to achieve results and goals. God wouldn’t do useless work or have you shoulder a load you can’t bear—you must have faith in this. To seek perfection, to seek to satisfy God and be an acceptable created being, one must have resolve. What resolve is that? The resolve to seek perfection, to seek to become someone who possesses the truth and humanity, to become someone who loves and bears witness to God. That is what God takes joy in the most. If you don’t have that resolve, but are just content to say: “I’m busy with my duty. I’m shouldering a load, giving service, and listening to sermons. I’m not falling behind anyone else,” then you don’t have any prospects. At most, you are a service-doer, but you will not become one of God’s people. Aren’t you just being content with the way things are, with no desire for progress? You don’t pursue the truth, you don’t fellowship on the truth in gatherings, and you doze off once you have listened to sermons. But when discussing worldly matters you rattle on and on, and your eyes light up—these are the behaviors of a service-doer. There are some people whose eyes light up as soon as the truth is mentioned; they feel they lack too much, and when they hear something good and practical they rush to make note of it. They feel they are too far from what God requires and there aren’t enough positive things in their heart. They feel that there is too much of Satan’s poison, and they are too rebellious toward God. They think to themselves: “No wonder God isn’t satisfied with me. I’m so far from what He wants, I’m not compatible with God in any way, and I misunderstand Him too much. When will I be able to satisfy God’s will?” In their duty, they don’t delay trying to figure these things out, and they often come before God in silent prayer: “God, please test me. I ask You to reveal me, to allow me to understand the truth, gain the truth reality, and come to know You. Please discipline, judge, and chastise me.” When they take on a burden with this, they always keep it in mind. They are always thirsting for the truth, and thus God begins to work on them. He arranges some people, events, and things, all sorts of situations, so that they can learn something from them every day. Aren’t they then favored? Why was Peter able to have hundreds of trials? Because he pursued the truth, he wasn’t afraid of God’s trials, and believed that God’s trials were there to purify people. He believed that this path could perfect people, and that it was the only true path. He prayed for this, expended himself for and devoted himself to this; that is why God worked in him. Could that mean that God chose him, that He was determined to test and perfect Peter? That’s exactly right. When God chooses a person, He has a goal and He has principles in mind—this is absolute. Why are the majority of people unable to gain this kind of work from God? Because they don’t pursue the truth and they lack this resolve, and that is why God doesn’t work in them. God doesn’t force anyone. When God wants to perfect someone, that is a wonderful thing, and any degree of suffering is worth it. But most people don’t have this resolve, and they just scurry away and hide when faced with trials and hardships. Is God going to force someone like that? Some people don’t pursue the truth, and don’t even have the courage to see Christ face-to-face. They say: “I wouldn’t know what to say if I saw Christ. I don’t know any truths, or how to fellowship. Wouldn’t that be humiliating if Christ saw what is wrong with me? I wouldn’t be able to handle it if I were pruned. I should avoid God and keep a respectful distance from Him. If I’m always in contact with God and living before Him, He would see through me and loathe me. I would be cast out and wouldn’t have a good destination anymore.” Is that the way things are? (No.) Some people are harboring these kinds of ideas. Would God demand anything from someone like that? (No, He wouldn’t.) So whatever you pursue, however far your resolve goes, God will perfect you up to that point. If you don’t pursue the truth but always hide from God and distance yourself from Him, always hiding your thoughts from God, then what did God have to say about people like you? (“Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).) You don’t love the truth and you hide from God, but you think that He will insist on testing and perfecting you? You are mistaken. If you aren’t the right kind of person, no amount of beseeching and prayers will do any good. God won’t do that; God doesn’t force people. That is one aspect of His disposition. But what He wants, from those who pursue the truth, is that they can be like Peter, or Job, or Abraham; that they might step onto the right path in life as required by God; that they might step onto the path of fearing God and shunning evil, and ultimately gain the truth and be perfected. God hopes to gain this kind of person, but will God force you if you don’t seek it yourself? No. God has never compelled anyone. The Holy Spirit will not persistently move you, grabbing hold of you and not letting go, intent upon perfecting you and not stopping before that. To tell you the truth, God absolutely will not do anything like that. That is His attitude. God just hopes that in the end, when His work is complete, He will have gained more people like Job, Peter, and Abraham. But how many people really pursue the truth and are gained by God in the end is something that He won’t force. He will let things take their course—this is one side of God’s practical work. God has not determined a particular number—that it should be 10, 20, 1,000 or 2,000, or even 10,000. He has not stipulated anything about this. God is just continuing this way, getting real work done, and really walking among people. This is how He works and speaks, carrying out every aspect of work involving the truth, work that benefits mankind. This is the work He continues to do within the right kind of people, within those who long for the truth. In the end, those who have resolve and pursue the truth will be perfected. They are the most blessed and they are the ones who will gain eternal life. This proves that God is righteous toward everyone, and favors no one. That all of you are able to follow God today is not by chance—it was predetermined by God long ago. God predetermines people’s families, when they are born, the environment in which they grow up, their caliber, gifts, abilities, and surroundings—all of these things. What will people see God’s righteousness to be in the end? Ultimately, being able to survive and gain a beautiful destination relies on people’s own pursuits and the price they pay. God predetermining these things is one aspect, but people’s cooperation is also imperative. God determines people’s outcomes based on the path they take and whether or not they possess the truth. This is His righteousness.

Everyone has seen the practical side of God incarnate. God treats every single person fairly and reasonably. You’ve seen that; others have seen that; all of you have seen that. God incarnate is a regular person. Some people have notions when they see Christ, thinking, “He looks so normal, so inconspicuous. Can this really be the incarnation? I don’t believe in Him—there’s no way I can believe in Him.” Or they just follow Him reluctantly, believing in Him with reservations, bringing their notions along with them. Other people who see Christ have some reason, and think: “The incarnation is a regular person, but He can express the truth and provide people with life, so I should treat Him like God. I accept and practice His words as the truth, as the words of the Creator. I will follow Him.” These people end up being perfected and gaining the truth. What kind of people gain the truth in the end? Those who pursue the truth. God waters, sustains, shepherds, and works in His chosen people every day. I share sermons and fellowship, the Holy Spirit works in God’s chosen people, and everyone receives watering and sustenance. No one receives special treatment, and everyone who participates in church life and does their duty enjoys God’s work on a daily basis this way. I treat every single person the same. I provide answers no matter who asks questions, I don’t provide any extra care, set up special situations, or try to urge or encourage anyone, giving extra enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit, or showing signs and wonders. God doesn’t do anything like that. God showed many signs and wonders in the Age of Grace, in order to forgive people’s sins and have them take the path of repentance, and so that they would believe in God and not doubt Him. The current step of work entirely consists of providing the truth, so that people can understand the truth and develop true faith. No matter how much you have suffered, if you have ultimately gained the truth, then you are someone who has been perfected and will be kept. If you do not gain the truth, any reasons you find are of no use. You may say: “God didn’t perform any miracles, so I couldn’t believe,” “God was always expressing truths that were beyond me, so I couldn’t believe,” or “God was too practical, too normal, so I couldn’t believe.” These are all your problems. You were provided with the truth just the same as the others—so why were they perfected, while you were cast out? Why didn’t you gain the truth? This is your judgment: It’s because you didn’t pursue the truth. In this last stage, God just does the work of words. He practically uses words to judge and cleanse humanity; He doesn’t show signs and wonders. If you want to see God’s miracles, then go 2,000 years in the past to see the Lord Jesus’ miracles in that age. Don’t be a believer in this age. You have accepted God’s work of judgment, so don’t look for miracles. God isn’t performing those. Is that reasonable? (It is.) It’s fair and reasonable. If you pursue the truth, God won’t favor you. If you don’t pursue the truth, but just pursue rendering service, always rendering service loyally until the end, God will allow you to remain and you will be graced. But if you are unable to render service until the end, you will be cast out. What does casting out mean? It means destruction! This is fair and reasonable, and there is no favoritism. It is all based on God’s words and the truth. In light of all that, isn’t the path that people take of the utmost importance? What path you pursue, what sort of person you seek to become, what kind of pursuit you engage in, what you hope for, what you ask God for, what your attitude toward God is and what your attitude toward God’s words is when you are before Him: all these things are very important. You tell Me—can showing signs and wonders perfect people? For example, if you get into a traffic accident and God saves you, could that perfect you? If you died once and were resurrected, could that perfect you? Or if, in your dreams, you went up to the kingdom of heaven and saw God, could that perfect you? (No.) These things cannot take the place of the truth. So, in this last stage of work, which is the stage of work in which God’s management is concluded, He uses words to perfect people, to reveal people. This is God’s righteousness. If you are perfected through God’s words, then no one can complain that He has kept you, and Satan cannot accuse you for being kept. This is the kind of person that God wants. God has provided so many words, so if you don’t gain anything in the end, whose fault will that be? (Our own.) It’s your own fault for choosing the wrong path. What path people take is really important. How so? Because it determines their destination. That is why you shouldn’t be constantly trying to figure out if prophecies have been fulfilled, if God has displayed any signs and wonders, when God will actually depart from the earth, and if you will be able to witness it when He does leave the earth. Figuring that out wouldn’t do you any good; it does not impact your destination or your being perfected. So what does matter to you? (The path I take in faith.) The path you take does affect whether or not you can be perfected. What is the truth you should most enter into in your pursuit of being perfected? The truth of submission to God. Submitting to God is the highest, most crucial of truths, and in essence, pursuing the truth is the same as pursuing submission to God. You need to pursue submission to God for your entire life, and this path of pursuing submission to God is the path of pursuing the truth. Why do you need to pursue submission to God for your entire life? Because the process of pursuing submission to God is the process of resolving a corrupt disposition. Why do you need to resolve a corrupt disposition? Because a corrupt disposition is at odds with God. If you live by a satanic disposition, then your essence is of Satan, of devils, and pursuing submission to God requires you to resolve the problem of your corrupt disposition. This is critical! As long as you have a corrupt disposition and as long as there remains one bit that is unresolved, you will be at odds with God, you will be an enemy of God, and will be incapable of submitting to Him. The degree to which your corrupt disposition is resolved is the degree to which you submit to God; the percentage to which your corrupt disposition is resolved is the percentage to which you submit to God.

In this gathering, we haven’t talked about knowing God. Knowing God is gradually achieved through the process of resolving your corrupt disposition and pursuing being perfected in order to reach submission to God. The pursuit of knowledge of God on its own would be a very profound lesson, which is why we haven’t talked about it. Right now, we’re talking about topics closely related to people’s practices, lives, pursuits, and the paths they’re taking. In the process of seeking to resolve your corrupt dispositions, you gradually understand God and come to know His will. Don’t you have more knowledge of God when you are able to understand His will? (Yes.) Then you have some real knowledge of God. Why are you able to achieve submission to God as you follow Him? Because you know His heart and understand His will; you understand what standards and principles God requires of you, and what His goals are. Doesn’t this understanding contain some knowledge of God? (It does.) This is gradually attained, and it is all interrelated. You will struggle if you only pursue knowledge of God. You may say: “I’ll do nothing aside from pursuing knowledge of God, day in and day out. I’ll see where flowers come from, why lambs kneel for their milk while calves do not. I’ll study all this, and I’ll come to know God that way.” Can you achieve knowledge of God by just researching all of that? Absolutely not. The truth doesn’t come from research, but it is only truly known through experience. Research is of no use at all. You know that all things were created by God, and that’s wonderful, and you thus already have some knowledge of God. But what should you be focused on? You have to pursue the truth, resolve your corrupt disposition, and achieve submission to God. In the process of this pursuit, you will come to answer many peripheral questions bit by bit, and you will find a path for your practice and your entry. The more thoroughly your corrupt disposition is resolved, the easier it will be for you to practice the truth and achieve submission to God. Once people are no longer constrained by their corrupt disposition, they truly gain freedom and release, and putting any truth into practice isn’t taxing, but very easy. Isn’t that the truth becoming people’s life?

October 1, 2017