Supplement: Those Who Are Averse to and Hate the Truth Will Inevitably Be Eliminated

Having believed in God for all these years, have you sensed the constant change happening in the people and things around you, and in the situation in the outside world? Particularly in the last few years, have you seen any big changes happening? (Yes.) You’ve seen this. And have you come to any conclusion about it? (God’s work is approaching its end.) That’s right, God’s work is indeed approaching its end, and the people, events, things, and environments all around you are in a constant state of change. For example, there were ten people in this group before, now there are eight. What happened to the other two? One was sent away, and the other was dismissed from their duty. All the different kinds of people in the church are constantly undergoing change and are constantly being revealed. At first, some people seem so enthusiastic, but after a while they suddenly become weak and so negative that they cannot go on. The enthusiasm, the fiery energy, and the so-called loyalty they had in the beginning is all gone, their resolve to endure suffering is gone, they have no interest in believing in God at all, and they suddenly seem to be completely different people, and no one knows why. Environments are also constantly undergoing change. What changes are happening in people’s environments? In some places, the environment is hostile and the persecution is severe, so people can’t gather together anymore or get in touch with their brothers and sisters; in some places, the environment is somewhat better and safer; in other places, the environment for performing one’s duty and the living conditions are somewhat more advantageous, tranquil, and stable than they were before, and the people there are much better than those who were there before; they all sincerely expend themselves for God, there are more people who are able to endure suffering and pay the price, all work projects progress more smoothly, work progresses more efficiently, and the results and effects seen are more optimistic and satisfactory. Furthermore, the plans, the forms, and the ways and methods in which work projects are carried out are constantly being improved. In short, even though people see all manner of negative people, events, and things constantly arising, there are of course also all manner of good and positive people, events, and things constantly emerging. When people live in such a social environment, with various positive and negative things constantly alternating and changing around them, in fact, those who ultimately benefit are those who strongly desire God, pursue the truth, and yearn for the truth. They are those who yearn for light and justice, while those who do not pursue the truth, who abandon themselves to vice and feel averse toward the truth are revealed, eliminated, and forsaken in relation to different people, events, things, and environments. With all these different environments, people, and events being revealed, and with new environments, people, and events constantly appearing, what is God’s intention? Having believed in God all these years, do you have an understanding of this? At the very least, do you feel that God is orchestrating all of this, and that God has always been guiding these things? (Yes.) God’s purpose and meaning in doing all of this is to enable those who follow Him to learn the lessons, grow in insight and experience, and thereby gradually enter into the truth reality. Have you achieved this yourselves? No matter how busy people are with work, or how advantageous or hostile their environment is, their aim in their belief in God is to pursue the truth without change. People must not forget to pursue the truth because they are busy with work, busy with things, or because they want to avoid their hostile environment, or forget that all these situations are set up by God, or forget that God’s intention is for them to learn the lessons in these various situations, to learn how to discern between all manner of people, events, and things, to understand the truth, to grow in insight, and to know God. You should all make an earnest summary of whether you have achieved these things.

Church work has been incredibly busy in recent years, and so the transfer and adjustment, as well as the revealing, eliminating, and cleansing away of members in each group has been relatively frequent. In the process of carrying out this work, the transfer of team members has been especially frequent and broad in scope. However, irrespective of how many transfers take place or how much things change, the resolve to pursue the truth in those who truly believe in and desire God does not change, their wish to attain salvation does not change, their faith in God does not wane, and they are always developing in a good direction and have continued to persevere in performing their duties up to today. There are those who are even much better than this who, through constantly having their duty assignment adjusted, find their right place, and learn how to seek the principles in their duty. Those who do not pursue the truth, however, who have no love for positive things and who feel averse toward the truth, do not perform well. Some people are currently forcing themselves to keep performing their duties, when in fact their inner state is already a complete mess, and they are utterly despondent and negative. They still haven’t left the church, however, and they appear as though they believe in God and they still perform their duties, but in reality their hearts have changed, and they have departed from and abandoned God. Some people get married and return home to live their lives, saying, “I can’t afford to waste my youth. We’re only young once, and I absolutely cannot waste my youth! I believe in my heart that there is god, but I can’t be as simple-minded as you, sacrificing your youth to pursue the truth. I’m supposed to get married and live my life. Life is short, and we’re only young for a few years, which pass in the blink of an eye. I just can’t waste my youth here. Before my youth is gone, I can be carefree and live life to the full for a few years.” Some people continue to pursue their dreams of becoming rich; some continue to pursue an official career and realize their dream of being an official or a bureaucrat; some pursue the prosperity of having children, so they get married and start a family; some people are hounded for their belief in God, are persecuted for years until they become weak and sick, and then they abandon their duties and return home to live out their remaining years. Everyone’s situation is different. Some people leave of their own accord and have their names delisted, some are disbelievers who are cleared out, and some do all manner of evil deeds and are expelled. What lies within the bones of all these people? What is their essence? Have you clearly seen it? Do you feel deeply touched every time these people’s stories reach your ears? You may think, “How could they end up like this? How could they fall to such an outcome? They weren’t like this before, they were wonderful, so how could they change so quickly?” These things cannot be figured out or understood no matter how much you ponder them. You consider it for a while and think, “This person doesn’t love positive things; they are a disbeliever.” After some time, the things that these people do, their performance, behavior, some of their words and remarks, and their pursuits fade away in your own mind or in people’s consciousness, and afterward you forget these things, and little by little your feelings about them disappear. When such people, events, or things appear again, you again think, “Oh, it’s unthinkable! How could they? They weren’t like this before. I just can’t figure it out.” You feel the same things again and you have the same understanding. Tell Me, is it a shame when these people are revealed and eliminated? (No.) Do you not miss these people? (No.) Do you not fight these people’s corner? (No.) Then you must be very ruthless. How come you’re all so unsympathetic? They have left the church; how do you not fight their corner, and have no sympathy or mercy for them? How come you have no pity for them? Are you just incapable of sympathy? Are you ruthless? (No.) Tell Me, is this an appropriate way for God’s house to deal with such people? (Yes.) How is it appropriate? Tell Me. (These people have believed in God for so many years and heard so much truth that for them to behave in such a way now and to betray God and depart from Him shows that they are disbelievers who are not worth our pity and not worth missing.) So, when they started believing in God, they were filled with enthusiasm, they gave up their homes, their jobs, and they often made offerings and took on risky jobs for God’s house. However you looked at them, they all sincerely expended themselves for God. So how come they have changed now? Is it because God disliked them and used them from the beginning? (No.) God treats everyone fairly and equally and gives opportunities to all. They all lived the church life, ate and drank God’s words, and lived being provided for, watered, and shepherded by God, so how come they changed so much? Their behavior when they first began to believe in God and their behavior at the time they left the church was like they were two people. Has God caused them to lose hope? Has God’s house or God’s deeds caused them to feel bitterly disappointed? Has God, the words God utters, or the work God does hurt their dignity? (No.) So what’s the reason then? Who can explain this? (I think these people came to believe in God dominated by their desire for blessings. They only believed in God to receive blessings. The moment they saw they had no hope of receiving blessings, they departed from God.) Isn’t there a blessing right in front of them? It is not yet time to stop performing their duties, so what are they in such a rush for? How come they can’t even understand this? (God, I think that, when these people first came to believe in God, they relied on their enthusiasm and good intent, and they were able to do some things, but now God’s house is treating all its work more and more seriously. It requires people to do things in line with the truth principles. But these people don’t accept the truth, they run amok doing bad things when performing their duties, and they’re often pruned. So, they feel increasingly that they cannot keep on muddling along as they are, until finally they leave God’s house. I think this is one reason.) They cannot keep on muddling along as they are—is this a true thing to say? (Yes.) They cannot keep on muddling along as they are—this is said regarding people who muddle through things. There are some people who come to believe in God who do not muddle through things, who are very earnest, who treat this matter very seriously, so how come they didn’t keep going? (Because, by their very nature, these people do not love the truth. They came to believe in God in order to receive blessings. They see God’s house always talking about the truth, and they feel averse and resistant toward the truth, and they become less and less willing to attend gatherings and listen to sermons, and this is how they get revealed.) This is a kind of situation, and there are many people like this. There are also some people who always perform their duties in a slipshod manner, who never perform their duty well or shoulder responsibility for it whatever duty they do. It’s not that they aren’t capable or that their caliber isn’t up to the task, it’s that they’re disobedient and they don’t do things according to what God’s house requires. They always do things however they want to do them, until finally they cause disruptions and disturbances because they run amok doing bad things. They don’t repent no matter how they’re pruned, and so they end up being sent away. These people who are sent away have an incredibly odious disposition and an arrogant humanity. Wherever they go, they want to have the final word, they look down on everyone, and they act like tyrants, until finally they are cleansed away. After some people are dismissed and eliminated, they feel that nothing goes smoothly for them anywhere they go, and no one values them or pays attention to them anymore. No one regards them highly anymore, they cannot have the final word anymore, they cannot get what they want, and they have no hope of attaining any status, much less of receiving blessings. They feel they have no hope of muddling along in the church anymore, they have no interest for it anymore, and so they choose to leave—there are many people like this.

There are also some people whose reason for leaving is the same as the majority of those who are eliminated. No matter how long these people have believed in God for, what they personally experience and see in God’s house is that gatherings in God’s house are about perpetually reading God’s words and fellowshipping on the truth, talking about knowing oneself, practicing the truth, accepting judgment and chastisement, accepting being pruned, performing one’s duty according to the truth principles, talking about dispositional change and casting off one’s corrupt dispositions. Content on the work that God does—whether it is fellowshipped on in the church life, or whether it is a topic covered in sermons and fellowship given by the Above—is all the truth, all God’s words, and all positive. These people, however, don’t accept the truth at all. They originally came to believe in God to receive blessings and to take advantage. Looking at their nature essence, not only do they not love positive things or the truth but, even more seriously, they are extremely repulsed by and hostile toward positive things and the truth. That’s why the more God’s house fellowships on the truth, the more it talks about practicing the truth, the more it talks about pursuing the truth and doing things in accordance with principles, the more uneasy and repulsed these people feel inside, and the less willing they are to listen. Tell Me, what is it that these people like to hear? Do you know? (They like to hear topics about destinations and receiving blessings, and about the work of spreading the gospel reaching unprecedented levels.) These are some things they want to hear. They also like to shout slogans, preach doctrine, and talk about theology, theory, and mysteries. From time to time they talk about when God’s work will come to an end, when the great catastrophes will befall, what mankind’s future destination will be, how evil forces will be gradually destroyed when the catastrophes come, how God will perform some signs and wonders, and how the forces and scale of God’s house will be constantly expanding and growing, and about how they will strut around showing off, too. Moreover, the most important thing to them is that they’ll be constantly promoted and put to use in God’s house. In this way, they’ll be able to muddle along in God’s house for a time but, while they’re muddling along, none of the work done by God or God’s house is what they want it to be, and everything they hear and see are matters concerned with the truth. In their hearts, therefore, they are extremely averse to the church life; they’re not interested in it, they feel restless, unable to stay, and they feel tormented by it. Some people find an excuse, a reason, and a pretext and find a way to leave the church, saying, “I will commit an evil act, give vent to some negativity, and do something bad. The church will then clear me out and expel me, so I’d be perfectly justified in leaving the church.” Then there are those who hand in their books of God’s words and pack their stuff and leave when they go out to sort out their foreign entry permits, without even so much as a goodbye. These people are like hooligans and whores, and they don’t do things in the way that normal people do. What virtuous women and normal people think and what they say when around other people are the serious matters of how to live life. How to live a good life, how to enable one’s whole family to eat well, wear decent clothes, and have a good place to live, how to raise their children into adults, and how to get their children to follow the right path—these are the things they think about. Those hooligans and whores, however, never think about these things. If you talk about these proper matters with them, they get aggravated by you, they hate you, and they distance themselves from you. So, what is it that they think about? Is it that they’re always thinking about eating, drinking, and partying? (Yes.) They’re always thinking about eating, drinking, and partying, and about lustful things. When they talk to normal people about these things, normal people don’t respond; normal people are not like them, they share no common language, and they’re not on the same wavelength. The things normal people talk about are not in their hearts, they cannot tolerate them, and they don’t want to listen to them. They think that to live that way is to grievously wrong themselves and to live fettered and without any freedom. They think that to always be beautifully dressed to seduce a member of the opposite sex is an exciting and carefree way to live—to them it is the perfect life! These people who leave the church are envious of the lives of the nonbelievers, envious of the pleasures of sin, and they think that to spend their days and to live the way the nonbelievers do is the only way they can live an exciting and happy life, and the only way to live without letting themselves down. These disbelievers, just like hooligans and whores, have no normal humanity and they’re not normal people. If you ask them to do something positive, they absolutely refuse to do it because, deep in their bones and in their nature essence, they do not love positive things and feel averse toward the truth. What things do they do? What do they do in the church, among brothers and sisters, and in the course of performing their duties? They perform their duties in a slipshod manner, they talk high-sounding theory, always shouting slogans but not really doing anything—this is their normal behavior. They never give their all to performing their duty, they’re always slipshod and merely go through the motions, doing things only for others to see, while also jockeying for fame and gain around other people. These evil people also cause other people to suffer and suppress them, and wherever evil people are, there is no peace and no rest—there is only chaos. With evil people in charge, not only does work not progress efficiently, but it becomes paralyzed; with evil people in control of a church, good people are bullied, the church becomes unbearably chaotic, the faith of God’s chosen people will become lukewarm, and they will become negative and weak. Wherever evil people are, they play a disturbing and destructive role. The most obvious manifestation of evil people is their unwillingness to perform their duties. Even if they perform their duties, they do so in a slipshod manner and never treat them seriously, they also disturb other people in the performance of their duties. There is another point to make, and that is that evil people never read God’s words, never pray, never fellowship on the truth with others, and they’ve never even opened their books of God’s words. Some people make specious arguments on behalf of evil people, saying, “Even though they haven’t read God’s words, they still listen to sermons.” But do they understand them? They simply don’t listen in earnest, they never watch the videos and movies produced by God’s house, they don’t listen to hymns, they don’t listen to experiential testimonies, and they don’t listen to recordings of sermons. At gatherings, they get sleepy, and there are even some who mess around on their phones and watch entertainment programs, and there are also some who watch adult films. Nothing they do all day has anything to do with believing in God or pursuing the truth. As God’s house fellowships on the truth in more and more detail, the repulsion they feel toward the truth and toward positive things becomes increasingly obvious. They feel restless and, within the time limit they can tolerate, they are unable to see the good destination, good outcome, and the great catastrophes they so long for, and they wait for these things in vain. They wait for these things in vain, so are their hearts not in turmoil? (They are.) What kind of turmoil? Are they not always calculating in their hearts? They are never prepared to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, accept God’s sovereignty and arrangements, submit to the arrangements of God’s house, and give their all in the performance of their duties at any time and in any place. What is their mindset? They are ready, at any time and in any place, to pack their stuff and leave. They have long been ready to leave at any time, to bid farewell to the church and to the brothers and sisters, to make a clean break and sever all ties. The time they leave is when they get to the end of the time limit they are able to tolerate. Isn’t that so? (It is.)

After they are dismissed or eliminated, some people, regardless of the reason, are still able to persevere in performing their duty to the best of their ability. Some don’t seek the truth at all, and so they decide not to perform their duty anymore. While they were performing their duty, they were already exhibiting repulsion and impatience toward it, always wanting to escape church life and not perform their duty. Because these people aren’t interested in the truth, they don’t enjoy living the church life, and they are unwilling to perform their duty. They look forward only to the arrival of the day of God, so that they can receive blessings; they are not able to keep muddling on as they are, they see the catastrophes getting greater and greater, and they think that if they don’t seek fleshly pleasures now, they’ll lose the opportunity to do so. So they leave the church without so much as a backward glance, without any reluctance at all. From that point on, they disappear into the vast sea of people and no one in the church hears any more about them—this is how these disbelievers are revealed and eliminated. The more God’s house fellowships on the truth and requires people to practice the truth and enter reality, the more repulsion they feel, and they don’t want to hear it at all. Not only do they not accept these things, but they resist them. They understand the situation very well: They know that people like themselves have no place in God’s house, that they don’t truly expend themselves for God in their faith, that they don’t give everything they have in the performance of their duty, that they’re always slipshod in their duty, and that they feel extreme repulsion and detestation toward the truth; they also know that, sooner or later, they will be eliminated, that this will certainly be the outcome. They have long laid their plans, thinking, “In any case, someone like me will certainly not receive blessings, so it’s best if I leave now, enjoy life in the world for a few years, live the good life for a few years and not shortchange myself.” Don’t they make plans like this? (They do.) With such intents and plans, can people perform their duty well? No, they can’t. Therefore, no matter how many years these people have believed in God for, they feel no reluctance to part with God, God’s house, the church, the brothers and sisters, or the church life. They say they’re leaving one day, and the next day they’re dressed like a nonbeliever, dressed to the nines and wearing heavy makeup, immediately dressing, speaking, and acting just like a nonbeliever; they dress in outlandish garb, and they don’t look right to you, yet they remain unaware of how they appear to you. How is it that they change so quickly? (It’s because they’ve long laid their plans, and this is how their nature is.) That’s right. They’ve long laid their plans; they haven’t just come up with these plans in the few days prior to them leaving, but rather they determined that they were going to do this long ago. They have been scheming and planning for a long time how they will eat, drink, and party, how they will conduct themselves, and how they will live. They don’t like living the church life, or performing their duty, or fellowshipping on the truth, much less do they like listening to sermons and attending gatherings every day. They are sick to death of this kind of church life, and if it wasn’t for receiving blessings and obtaining a good destination and escaping the great catastrophes, they wouldn’t be able to keep going even for one day—this is their true face. So, how should you handle such people when you come across them again? Will you plead with them with tactful words, or offer them more support and help? Or will you be sad to see them go and use your love to try and change them? How should you approach them? (We should ask them to leave immediately and go to the nonbelieving world.) Correct, ask them to go back to the world and not bother with them anymore. You say to them, “Think it through, so that you don’t regret your decision later.” They say, “I’ve thought it through, and no matter what difficulty I may face in the future, I won’t turn back and I won’t feel regret.” You say, “So go, then. No one’s stopping you. We all wish you well and hope that you achieve your aspirations and realize the dreams you desire. We also hope that when the day comes that you see other people being saved, you feel no jealousy or regret. So long.” Isn’t this a very appropriate thing to say to them? (It is.) So, regarding such people as this, one aspect is that you must see their nature essence clearly, while another aspect is that you must approach them in the appropriate way. If they are disbelievers, nonbelievers, yet they are willing to labor and can be obedient and submit, then even if they don’t pursue the truth, don’t bother them and don’t clear them out. Instead, permit them to continue laboring, and if you can help them, then help them. If they have no desire even to labor, and they begin to be slipshod and commit evil acts, then we’ve done everything that is called for. If they want to leave, then let them leave, and don’t miss them when they’re gone. They are at the point when they should leave, and such people are not worth your pity, for they are disbelievers. What is most pitiful is that there are some people who are incredibly foolish, who always hold personal feelings toward those who are sent away, who always miss them, who speak on their behalf, who fight their corner, and who even weep and pray and beseech for them. What do you think about what these people do? (It’s so foolish.) How is it foolish? (Those who leave are disbelievers, they don’t accept the truth, and they are simply not worth praying for and not worth missing. Only those to whom God gives opportunities and who have hope of being saved are worth the tears and prayers of others. If someone prays for a disbeliever or a devil, then they’re very foolish and ignorant.) One aspect is that they do not truly believe that there is a God—they are disbelievers; another aspect is that the nature essence of these people is that of a nonbeliever. What is the implied meaning here? It is that they are not people at all, but that their nature essence is that of a devil, of Satan, and that these people are opposed to God. This is how things are regarding their nature essence. Yet there is another aspect, and that is that God selects people, not devils. So, tell Me, are these devils God’s chosen people, and are they selected by God? (No.) They are not God’s chosen people, so if you always have emotional entanglements with these people and are sad to see them go, then doesn’t that make you a fool? Doesn’t that make you opposed to God? If you have no deep feelings toward true brothers and sisters and yet harbor deep feelings for these devils, then what are you? At the very least, you are muddleheaded, you don’t view people according to God’s words, you don’t yet conduct yourself with the correct standpoint, and you don’t handle matters with principle. You are a muddleheaded person. If you have feelings for one of these devils, then you will think, “Oh, but he’s such a good person and we have such a good relationship! We get along well together and he helps me so much! When I’m weak, he gives me such comfort, and when I do things wrong, he is tolerant and patient with me. He’s so loving!” He was like this only to you, so what are you? Aren’t you just another ordinary corrupt human being? And how does that person treat the truth, treat God, and treat the duty God’s house entrusts him with? Why don’t you see things from these perspectives? Is it accurate to see things from the perspective of your own personal interests, with your fleshly eyes and feelings? (No.) Clearly it isn’t! And as it is not an accurate way to see things, you should let it go and change the perspective and standpoint from which you regard that person. You should seek to approach and handle that person taking God’s words as your basis—this is the standpoint God’s chosen people should adopt and the attitude they should have. Don’t be a nitwit! Do you think you’re a kind person because you feel pity for others? You’re incredibly foolish, without any principles at all. You’re not treating people according to God’s words; you’re standing on the side of Satans and sympathizing with Satans and devils. Your sympathy is not directed at God’s chosen people or at those whom God wants to save, and it is not directed at true brothers and sisters.

These people who are disbelievers are never willing to perform their duty and they always perform it however they please. No matter how you fellowship on the truth with them, they don’t accept it, and even if they do understand a little truth, they don’t put it into practice. There is another main manifestation that they exhibit—what is that? It is that they’ve always performed their duty in a slipshod manner, they are always slipshod, and they stubbornly refuse to repent. They are very attentive, earnest, and rigorous in their own affairs, and dare not neglect them at all. They have thought carefully about their food and clothing, their status, reputation, self-respect, fleshly enjoyments, their illnesses, their future, prospects, retirement, and even matters regarding their own death—they’ve got all the bases covered. When it comes to matters concerning performing their duty, however, they are completely inattentive, much less do they pursue the truth. Some people get sleepy and doze off every time they attend a gathering, and they even feel repulsion when they hear My voice. They feel deeply uneasy, they feel restless, they stretch and yawn, scratch their ears and rub their cheeks. They behave like animals. Some people say, “Sermons last a long time at gatherings, and some people can’t sit still for that long.” In actuality, sometimes the gathering has only just begun and they start fidgeting, and they feel repulsion as they listen. That’s why they never listen to sermons or read God’s words. The moment they hear someone fellowshipping on the truth, they feel repulsion, and they’re sick and tired of seeing people listen with rapt attention. What is the nature essence of such people? They wear human skin; on the outside they are human, but if you peel the skin back, they are devils, not humans. God wants every person to be saved, for those with humanity to be saved; He doesn’t want devils to be saved. God does not save devils! You must remember this always and not forget it! You must not associate with any of those who wear the skin of a human but whose nature and essence are that of a devil. If you have not severed all ties with such a person, and you try to please them and flatter them, then you will become Satan’s joke, and God will detest you and say, “You blind fool, you cannot understand anyone!” God does not save devils, understand? (Yes.) God does not save devils, nor does He select devils. Devils can never love the truth, nor pursue the truth, much less submit to God—they can never submit to God. They believe in God not because they love His righteousness and fairness, and not so that they can pursue the attainment of salvation. They express repulsion and contempt for Job’s fear of God and shunning of evil, and in their hearts they feel tremendous repulsion and resistance toward the matter of pursuing the truth. If you don’t believe Me, then just look at those around you who have been sent away and revealed and see what it is that lies within their bones, what they talk about when no one else is listening, what they care about, what their attitude is toward their own life, survival, and the people, events, and things around them, as well as what they say and what views they express. From all of these expressions and revelations, you can see clearly just what they are, why they are able to leave, and why God’s house wants to clear them out. Isn’t this a lesson worth learning? (Yes, it is.) And what is the lesson you’ve learned? What is it that you’ve understood? (We’ve learned how to be discerning and have understood that, deep within these people’s bones, they do not love the truth and feel averse toward the truth. They just muddle along in God’s house, and sooner or later they’ll be cleared out.) If you see things in this way, then it shows that you have learned the lesson.

Are you able to see how devils and Satan in the spiritual realm feel averse toward the truth and hostile toward the truth? Are you able to see how devils and Satan defy God and blaspheme against God? Are you able to see what words, sayings, and methods devils and Satan use to attack God? Are you able to see what God allows devils and Satan to do, how they do it, and what their attitude is? (No.) You can’t see these things. Therefore, whatever God says is merely an imagining or a picture in your heart; it is not fact. Because you haven’t seen these things yourself, all you can do is rely on your imagination and imagine such a tableau or imagine some kind of deed. However, when you encounter these living devils and Satans wearing human skin, you practically come into contact with the speech and actions of devils and Satans, as well as the facts and evidence of their judging, attacking, defying, and blaspheming of God—you will see with absolute clarity their disposition which is averse to the truth and which hates the truth. These devils and Satans wearing human skin attack God in just the same way as devils and Satan in the spiritual realm attack God; they are completely the same, only the devils and Satans wearing human skin have adopted a different form to attack God—yet their essence remains the same. They wear human skin and change into humans but still they come to judge, attack, defy, and blaspheme against God. The way in which these devils and Satans in the flesh and disbelievers judge, attack, and defy God, and how they pull down His work and disturb church work is exactly the way in which devils and Satan in the spiritual realm do all these things. Therefore, when you see how devils and Satans in the world defy God, you are seeing how devils and Satan in the spiritual realm defy God—there is no difference at all. They come from the same source and possess the same nature essence, and that’s why they do the same things. Regardless of what form they take, they all do the same things. These devils and Satans wearing human skin, therefore, defy God and attack God, and exhibit extreme repulsion and resistance toward the truth, because of their nature, and because they cannot help it. Why do I say that they cannot help it? They appear to be human, living together with other humans, eating three square meals a day, studying human education and knowledge, with the same life skills and ways of living that other humans have; however, their inner spirit is not the same as that of other humans, nor is their essence. So, it is the essence, root, and source behind the views they hold and the things they are capable of that dictate what these people are. If they attack God and blaspheme against God, then they are devils, and not humans. In human skin, however good-sounding or correct the things they say are, their nature essence is that of devils. Devils can say things that sound good to mislead people, yet they don’t accept the truth at all, much less do they put it into practice—this is absolutely the case. Look at those evil people and antichrists and at those who defy and betray God—are they not this type of person? They are all capable of saying things which sound good, but they’re not capable of doing anything practical. They can show some respect and say good-sounding things to people with status and power, especially their immediate superiors, but when they come before God, they don’t even show the bare minimum of respect for the incarnate God. If you ask them to handle some matter for God, they really don’t want to, and even if they do it, they do it in a slipshod way. Why are they capable of treating God in this way? Is it the truth that has let them down? Has God let them down? Has God interacted with them before? The answer to these questions is no, and God has never even met them. So how come these people harbor this kind of attitude toward God and the truth? There is one reason, and that is that their nature essence is inherently in opposition to God. That’s why they cannot help but ridicule and blaspheme against God, and despise, judge, and attack God in their hearts, even doing so completely unscrupulously—this is decided by their nature essence. They do these things with hardly any effort, with the words spilling from their mouths, without consideration, unmindfully, just naturally revealing them. They can show respect to other people, to people with status and to ordinary people, but they utterly despise God and the truth. What are they? (Devils.) That’s right, they are devils, not humans, regardless of their age. Some people say, “Perhaps they’re just young and they don’t understand things.” You think they’re young and they don’t understand things, but when they go into the world and society and they see older people, they always address them properly. It’s only when they see God that they don’t address Him, saying instead, “Hey,” or “You there,” or just “You.” They don’t address God. They know to respect the old and care for the young in society, and they are civilized and polite. When they come before God, however, they’re not able to do these things and don’t understand how to honor Him. So, what are they? (Devils.) They’re devils, typical devils! They’re able to show respect and be polite to prestigious people in society, to those with status, to those they admire, and even to those from whom they can derive some benefit; it’s just that when they come before God, they show no respect or politeness at all, but instead they immediately grow resistant, openly despising Him and treating Him with a contemptuous attitude. What are they? They’re devils, typical devils! These disbelievers, these people who infiltrate their way into God’s house and are then cleared out and struck off, are all this kind of person, one hundred percent. They are so resistant and contemptuous in the way they treat God, and when it comes to the duty that God requires people to perform, they even more so pay no heed to it. Regardless of their status in society, how educated they are, or what their age or gender is, their nature essence is the same. When they’re in the world and they encounter an official who asks them to do something, they can’t grovel on the ground and kowtow fast enough. They’re happy and willing to be the official’s slaves and will try to flatter them in the best way they can think of. If they get a handshake or an embrace from a celebrity or a president, they feel honored, and perhaps will never again wash their hands or change their clothes for as long as they live. They feel that these celebrities and great people are higher and greater even than God, and that’s why in their hearts they’re capable of despising God. No matter what God says or what work He does, these people don’t consider it worth mentioning. Not only do they consider it not worth mentioning, they also constantly want to get to work on God’s words and change them, add their own meaning to them, make them entirely accord with what they think—these are all people with problems with their nature essence. Tell Me, is it appropriate to allow these people who are of devils, or these people with the nature essence of devils, to remain in God’s house? (No, it isn’t.) No, it isn’t. They’re not the same as God’s chosen people: God’s chosen people are selected by God, whereas these people are of devils and Satan.

What kind of people must gather together for them to be called a church? What kind of people are wanted in God’s house, and to what kind of people does God’s house belong? Tell Me. (People who truly believe in God and pursue the truth.) This is a little too severe. From where I’m standing, the lowest limit and minimum standard must be people who are willing to labor. They may have no love for the truth but that doesn’t mean they feel averse toward the truth, they do what God’s house asks them to do without question, and they are obedient and are able to submit. When it comes to the conditions for pursuing the truth, some people may think themselves to be lacking in caliber, they don’t enjoy doing it and are not that interested. They might think that it’s acceptable to listen to a sermon every now and then, and sometimes when they listen to a sermon, they fall asleep, and when they wake they wonder, “What was I just listening to? I’ve forgotten. I’d best get to work. It’s enough for me to just do my work.” They’re not unruly or disruptive, and they work hard at whatever work is arranged for them. They have a real air of sincerity about them and they’re like old workhorses—their owner just tells them to work, and whether it’s turning a millstone, pulling a plow, working in the fields, or pulling a cart, they always have a real air of sincerity about them and can complete tasks without causing any trouble. What is it that they think? “I’m told that I’m a laborer, so I’ll labor. I’m not worth anything, I’m a lowly nobody. By laboring for God, He exalts me, and I do not feel wronged at all.” You see, this is the attitude they have. So, people like this should be kept in God’s house. Even though they may have some faults, deficiencies, and bad habits, or they may be lacking in caliber or foolish, I can endure and tolerate all these people; it is not a problem, and I give opportunities to these people. What opportunities? Do I give them the opportunity to labor or to attain salvation? Both, of course. As created beings, they’re willing to labor for God, to labor in God’s house, and it is their right to do so. Moreover, with this desire they have, they should be given the opportunity to attain salvation. Yet there are some who say, “But they don’t seek to attain salvation!” If they don’t seek to attain salvation, then that is their business, but at the very least, these people can be shown special favor and given the opportunity to attain salvation, and they have the chance to be saved. What do I mean by “they have the chance”? I mean that their caliber is lacking, they are a bit foolish, they can’t shoulder very big or important work in the performance of their duties but just do an ordinary duty, they don’t play a very important role in God’s house, they don’t take on any important jobs during the spreading of God’s work, and they make no great contribution; however, because they have this desire to be willing to labor for God, they are shown special favor and given the chance to be saved—this is the special favor they are granted. God gives many opportunities to every single person. Does God treat people fairly? (Yes.) Because no matter how weak they are, how lacking their caliber is, how foolish they are, they are members of the ordinary and corrupt human race; they just personally don’t pursue the truth very actively, but they’re still right as people. In the end, whether they’re able to gain the truth or attain salvation, as far as God is concerned, He bestows kindness on them and shows them special favor, for these people are made from a completely different mold from those disbelievers and those devils who oppose God, and they have a different essence. Those people are devils and the enemies of God, whereas these people, despite seeking only to labor and settling for laboring, have no resistance to God in their hearts. They will never actively attack God, judge God, or blaspheme against God and they harbor a positive attitude toward God, that is, they’re willing to labor for God, whether they’re able to attain salvation or not. Then there are some who are a little better than this, and who, during their time laboring, are able to put some truths into practice as much as they’re able, who actively and positively seek some of the truth principles, and who strive to not go against the principles. This is the desire and the attitude they possess, and so God bestows kindness upon them. God does not treat them unfairly, He just doesn’t give up on them and always gives them opportunities. By the time God’s work comes to an end, if they’ve achieved submission to God and can escape the influence of Satan, then God will lead them into the kingdom—this is the destination they ought to have. God wants to save these people and He will not give up on them; as to how God will do this and fulfill these words, one day you will know. What is God’s attitude toward devils and Satans? (He feels averse toward them.) His attitude is that He feels averse toward them. Needless to say, He feels averse toward them. God uses devils and Satans to render service at the appropriate time and place, in the appropriate situation, and with the appropriate things, and once they have rendered service, they are kicked out without any consideration. Their nature essence which does not pursue the truth and which is averse to the truth is constantly being revealed in all manner of situations. God does not bestow kindness upon them, for God absolutely detests them and is extremely disgusted with them. These foolish people with poor calibers, some of whom may even be muddled, however, are willing to labor for God, and they harbor the attitude and the resolve of “wishing to labor for God and never regretting it.” In day-to-day life, therefore, God will always forgive their foolishness and tolerate their weakness, as well as protect them and watch over them. What do I mean when I say that God will protect them and watch over them? I mean that God will enlighten them regarding the literal meanings of the few truths they are able to comprehend and allow them to understand the truths they are able to comprehend; God is with them, bestowing peace and joy upon them, and when they encounter temptation, God will set up suitable environments for them to protect them from it. What are the main temptations? There are many temptations: Marriage, improper relationships between males and females, money, status, fame and gain, reputation, as well as a good job and a good pay package, and so on—these are all temptations. And in what other ways does God protect people? He cures you of sickness to prevent you from suffering, He keeps you from being snared and attacked by evil people, and so on. Moreover, when you encounter some difficulties or some things that appear calamitous, God will set up some people, events, and things to protect you from these calamities and difficulties, enabling you to smoothly labor for God in His house as you wish until the end—isn’t this a good thing? (Yes, it is.) So, to be able to have everything go smoothly and for everything to go as you wish, what does this come from? (God’s protection.) Correct, it comes from God’s protection, from God watching over you, and from God’s kindness. Those people who are devils, however, cannot help but do devilish things. They make mistakes in everything they do, and they all harbor evil intentions. It’s normal for them to often fall into temptation; it’s exactly what they need, like a great rock that falls suddenly from the sky, hitting them on the head, crushing them, and then they’re dead. The people who are willing to labor for God will encounter these things, too, but with God’s miraculous protection, this disaster doesn’t befall them, it passes them by, and in their hearts, they say, “God is protecting me, it’s not my time to die!” God is keeping you alive as you are still useful to Him. God gave you your life, and since you’re willing to labor for Him and offer yourself up to Him, why would God not protect you? God will surely protect you. Does God want much from people? (No.) These people who are willing to labor for God actually aren’t very talented and their caliber isn’t that great; they have a limited comprehension of the truth, to the point where they can only understand some words and doctrines and learn to speak like other people do. They simply aren’t able to grasp the truth principles, however, nor can they reach to pursuing the truth or attaining salvation. Their submission to God merely involves doing what they’re told by God’s house, and there is no way they can submit to the truth, that’s all. And so, because they are only ordinary corrupt human beings, and because they’re willing to labor for God, God does not discard them. Therefore, those people who are cleansed away are certainly nothing good. If you really are good people, if you really are people who have been selected by God, if you really have an attitude of submission to God, the desire and attitude to be willing to labor for God and never regret it, then God will absolutely never discard you, but instead will show you kindness. This will be a blessing to you, and God wants people like this. God wants people like this—they don’t pursue the truth and are unable to understand the truth because their caliber is lacking, yet they’re willing to labor for God. The other kind of people God wants are those who wish to pursue the truth, who love the truth, who love fairness and righteousness and positive things, who wish to submit to the truth, and who, once they have understood and comprehended the truth, once they have come to know and grasp the truth, are then able to obey, submit, and practice in accordance with the truth. Furthermore, these people have the resolve to pursue the truth and attain salvation, and they have never doubted God. These people are, of course, those whom God loves and wishes to save. Are you able to meet this standard, however? And what will you do if you’re not able to meet it? At the very least, your attitude toward God and the truth must not be that of the devils and Satan, you must at least draw close to God’s standard of approval and must be willing to labor for God. If you consistently set yourself in opposition to God, act contrary to God, and if you’re always attacking God and blaspheming against Him in your heart, then you will find yourself in a troublesome and dangerous situation. You should be clear in your heart about what attitude you hold toward God, and you should categorize yourself according to the different types of people I’ve been talking about here.

Pursuing the truth is very important, but that doesn’t mean that if people don’t pursue the truth, then they cannot make it to the end of the road; that is not for definite. All people are created beings, and as long as they are not devils or Satans, then they will not actively attack God, or actively attack and blaspheme against God in clear awareness. Therefore, God is fair and reasonable to ordinary corrupt mankind, and He gives them all the chance to attain salvation. While man experiences attaining salvation, God is kind to him, He protects him, and looks after him. So, what is God’s attitude toward those people who are devils and Satans? They see God as their enemy and continually judge, attack, and blaspheme against God, destroy His work, and never know to repent. If they interact with other people, they will have some they get along well with, but only when they come before God, they don’t get along with Him at all, not for one minute or one second; they cannot work with God or coexist with Him or reach a consensus with Him on anything, and this shows that they are standard devils and Satans. God absolutely does not tolerate such people, and God’s house absolutely does not keep such people. When one is discovered, they are cleared out; when a pair is discovered, they are cleared out; however many are revealed, that is how many are cleansed away—the day they are revealed is the day they’re finished. You see, when good people are promoted and put to some important use, that is when they are perfected, blessed, and they reap the greatest harvest; when evil people and devils are promoted and put to use, they are naturally revealed and eliminated, and their last day has arrived. Think of those around you who were revealed, eliminated or cleared out recently or early on, and those who finally had their names delisted. It was when they reached the peak of their “career” in God’s house that they were eliminated, their last day had arrived, and a giant period mark was written against their life of faith in God. The disbelievers drift around in the church and can’t find a suitable place for themselves, nor can they perform any duty. The moment they commit some evil act, they are revealed, and their last day has arrived. Devils like to do big things and make a name for themselves, and the day they are reveling the most in glory is their final day. Why do I say this? Do you know? This is how things are. It is when they are reveling the most in glory that they are the most complacent, and isn’t it when they are the most complacent that they are most likely to forget themselves? (Yes.) When they have no success and no glory, these devils keep their heads down. But just because I say they keep their heads down, that doesn’t mean they’re able to practice the truth, only that they do things very carefully and cautiously, always with a guarded heart and not a God-fearing heart. The moment they see an opportunity, or they find themselves with some power and status, able to command the wind and rain to do their bidding, they become complacent and forget themselves, thinking, “My time has come. It is now time for me to put forth my abilities and strengths and bring my capabilities into play!” And they jump into action. What is the motivation behind their actions and what is the source of their actions? Where do the motivation and source of their actions spring from? They spring from devils, from Satan, and from their desires and wild ambitions. Under such circumstances, can the things they do accord with the truth principles? Can they have a God-fearing heart while they do things? Can they handle matters in accordance with what God’s house requires? The answer to all these questions is no, they can’t. And what are the consequences? (They cause disruptions and disturbances.) That’s right, the consequences are that they cause severe disruptions and disturbances, and even cause severe disturbances and losses to God’s house and to church work. So then, in line with the principles of how to handle people in God’s house, how should people who bring about such consequences to the work of the church be handled? If the matter is a minor one, they should be dismissed, and if the matter is a serious one, then they should be cleared out. When someone is promoted and put to some important use, or they are arranged to do some work, God’s house will always clearly fellowship with them on the principles of doing work. Many principles and details are told to that person, and it is only when they have understood and comprehended, and they have written it all down, that the handover is considered complete. When they should do some work and perform their duty, however, they set to it with their devil’s claws exposed and the devil they truly are begins to appear. They don’t do things in line with the principles required by God’s house at all, but instead do things completely as they themselves want, doing things however they like, however they wish. No one can control them, and they don’t listen to anyone, thinking, “God’s house, god, and the truth can all stand aside! Here, I’m calling the shots!” This is how devils do things, and it is the attitude devils have toward duty and toward the truth. If you have such an attitude toward the truth, then you will be revealed. If you take the work of God’s house and your duty as trifling matters and you don’t do things according to the principles God’s house has enjoined you to follow, then you will not be treated courteously. God’s house has principles with which it handles people; those who should be dismissed from their post are dismissed, and those who should be cleared out are cleared out, and that’s all there is to say about it. Isn’t that so? Isn’t this what God’s house does? And isn’t this how those devils are revealed? And isn’t this their motivation for doing things, the source of their actions, and the way they do things? (Yes.) By handling them in this way, is God’s house treating them unjustly? (No.) Is it an appropriate way to handle them? (Yes.) It really is so appropriate! A normal person accepts their duty, receives a promotion, and is put to some important use. They carry out their work according to their own abilities and caliber and, to a greater or lesser extent, in accordance with the work principles they understand, or which God’s house has enjoined them to follow. Despite the fact that they often reveal corrupt dispositions, this does not impact the normal performance of their duty. No matter what difficulties they encounter, what incorrect state they find themselves in, or what disruption they endure, in the end they will achieve some positive results in the performance of their duty, and these results are acceptable to all. Those disbelievers, however, regardless of how long they have been performing their duty for, never achieve any positive results. They always do bad things and try to ruin things, and this not only affects church work, but it also harms the church’s interests, creating a foul atmosphere around their work and making a mess of it. If one devil disturbs and ruins some work, there must be many people behind the scenes doing the work over again from scratch, wasting the human and financial resources of God’s house, and making many of God’s chosen people wrathful. Once the devil has been cleansed away, the work of the church immediately takes on a bright new look, and the results of the work are different. The devil that caused disruptions and disturbances is banned, people come to have a free and liberated mentality, work efficiency is increased, and everyone performs their duties normally. Therefore, these people who are devils and Satans appear to be people from the outside and, regardless of how old they are or how educated, so long as they are evil people, then they can perform evil acts, and they play the role of devils and Satan corrupting and disturbing people. For example, you’re making a pot of chicken soup which everyone is looking forward to eating, when suddenly a fly lands in the soup. Tell Me, can this chicken soup still be eaten? There’s nothing for it, you just have to tip it away, and two or three hours of work is wasted. You then have to wash the pot several times, and even after you’ve washed it, it still doesn’t seem clean to you, and you’re left feeling a trace of disgust. What disturbed you? (The fly.) Although the fly is very small, its defiled essence is so disgusting. These people who are devils are like flies. They find their way into the church and cause severe disruption to the normal order of church life, and they disturb the normal progression of church work. So, do you now have a clear understanding of these people who are devils? Trying to get them to render some service and perform their duty well is harder than trying to get a pig to fly; it’s like trying to get a fish to live on land. The hardest thing is trying to get devils and Satans to practice the truth, as is trying to get disbelievers to loyally perform their duty. This is just how things are. If you come across people who are Satans and disbelievers, and you need to ask them to help you do something temporarily, then that’s fine. But if you arrange for them to perform some duty or do some work, then you’re being blind and you’re being played for a fool. Especially if you ask them to do some important work, then you’re being even more foolish. If you really can’t find anyone suitable to help you with something and so you ask them for help, then it’s fine to ask them to do something, but you must keep an eye on them and not brush the matter aside. People like that are totally unreliable; because they are not human, but are devils, they are totally unreliable. So now, glance around at team supervisors or team leaders, and at those who perform key duties and important work and see if they are such things as these devils. If you can dismiss them, then dismiss them as soon as you can; if you can’t dismiss them as there is no one suitable there to take their place, then keep a close watch on them, supervise and follow them closely. You must not give devils and Satans the chance to cause disturbances. A devil will always be a devil, they have no humanity, and they have no conscience and reason—you must remember this always! Disbelievers are all devils and Satans, and you must not believe them! Let’s stop fellowshipping on this topic here.

The First Practice for Pursuing the Truth: Letting Go

I. Letting Go of Various Negative Emotions

D. The Emotions of Distress, Anxiety, and Worry

When we fellowshipped on how to pursue the truth before, we talked about two things. What was the first one? (Letting go.) One of them was letting go. What about the other one? (Dedicating.) Dedicating. We talked about the first one, “letting go,” three times. What did we fellowship on last time? (Last time, God dissected the reasons why the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry arise in people from the perspective of the difficulties they face, and their attitude toward God’s work and the truth.) There are many reasons why the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry can arise, but in general they are caused by the objective reason that people do not understand the truth. This is one reason. There is another reason, and that is the primary reason that people do not pursue the truth. When people don’t understand or pursue the truth, and they have no true faith in God, then they don’t truly submit, and that’s why all manner of negative emotions naturally arise in them. In day-to-day life, because of the practical difficulties people experience in their lives and all the different problems they encounter in their thinking, they end up feeling all manner of negative emotions in their objective environments. In particular, the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry which we spoke about last time, all arise because people face all kinds of difficulties and problems related to their fleshly lives. Because when people encounter these problems they don’t seek the truth or believe what God says, much less do they seek the truth they should understand and practice in God’s words, which would allow them to let go of their wrong views, their wrong thoughts and views about these matters, as well as let go of their incorrect ways of handling and approaching these things, the days go by, time passes, and the various difficulties that people face in daily life generate all manner of thoughts that disturb and constrain them deep within their hearts. Unbeknownst to them, these thoughts cause feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry to arise concerning their fleshly lives and all the different issues they face. In fact, when people haven’t yet come before God or they have no understanding of the truth, these issues will cause feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry to arise in every single person to a varying degree—it is unavoidable. For those who live in the flesh, anything that happens to them will cause a certain disturbance and impact to their lives and their thoughts. When this disturbance and impact become more than they can endure and bear, or when their instincts, abilities, and social status are insufficient to hold them up or to solve or dispel these difficulties, distress, anxiety, and worry will naturally arise deep in their hearts and gather there, and these feelings will become their normal state. Fretting about various things such as one’s future prospects, food, drink, and marriage, one’s future survival or health, one’s old age, and one’s status and reputation in society is a condition shared by all mankind upon the basis of man not understanding the truth and not believing in God. However, once people come to believe in God, when they understand a little truth, their resolve to pursue the truth will keep getting stronger. In this way, the practical difficulties and problems they encounter will gradually diminish, and the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry will gradually weaken and abate—this is very natural. This is because, after people have read many of God’s words and come to understand some truth in their belief in God, they will always weigh up and approach the essence, the root, and the origin of the issues they encounter throughout their lives in accordance with God’s words. In the final analysis, they will ultimately come to understand that their fate and all these things they experience in their lives are in God’s hands, and so will understand from a general perspective that all of this is under the sovereignty of God, and none of it is up to them. Therefore, the simplest thing for people to do is to submit—submit to the arrangements and sovereignty of Heaven. They shouldn’t struggle against their fate, but instead, when they encounter any matter, they should always positively and actively seek God’s intentions and from there find the most appropriate way to resolve the issue—this is a most basic thing people should understand. That is to say, after people come to believe in God, because of the truths they understand and because they basically submit to God, their distress, anxiety, and worry gradually abate. This means that these emotions will not be able to vex them so grievously anymore, or make them feel confused, or bewildered, or that their future is bleak and uncertain, thereby often causing them to feel distressed, anxious, and worried about these things. On the contrary, because they have come to believe in God and understand some truth, and to have some discernment and understanding of all manner of things in life, or to have a more appropriate way to handle these things, their negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry will gradually abate. However, although you have believed in God for many years and have listened to many sermons, your negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry have still not been eliminated or weakened—that is to say, your attitude concerning how you viewed people and things and conducted yourself and acted, and your thoughts and views, and the way you handled things before you came to believe in God have not changed—meaning that after you came to believe in God, you didn’t accept the truth or gain the truth or use the truth to resolve these issues after reading God’s words and listening to sermons, thereby resolving these negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry. If you never seek the truth to resolve these negative emotions, doesn’t this show that you have a problem? (Yes.) What problem does it show? You have been a believer in God for many years and still feel that your future looks totally bleak and gloomy. You still often feel empty and helpless in your heart, and you still often feel lost and that you have no way forward. You don’t know where your life is headed, and you still feel like you are groping in the fog, without a path, without a direction to move forward. What does this mean? At the very least it means that you haven’t gained the truth, right? And if you haven’t gained the truth, what is it you’ve been doing all these years? Have you been pursuing the truth? (No.) If, while you’ve been giving things up, expending yourself, and performing your duties, you haven’t been pursuing the truth and haven’t been using the truth to resolve practical problems, what have you been doing all this time? (Idling and muddling along.) There are many people who perform their duty in a perfunctory way, and these people are actually laboring. Laborers settle for being able to perform their duties, pay some price, and suffer a little, but they don’t pursue the truth. That’s why, after believing in God for many years, they haven’t changed at all. These people are actually laborers and, if we say what used to be said, we can say they are engaging in religious activities. Take a look at those religious activities in the religious world—on Sundays people go to worship and hold gatherings, and ordinarily they pray in the mornings, say grace, give thanks for everything, bless people with their prayers, and when they see other people they say, “God blesses you, God protects you.” When they see a likely candidate, they preach the gospel and read a passage from the Bible to them. The better ones go clean the church, and when an evangelist comes, they receive them enthusiastically; when they encounter elderly people with difficulties in their lives, they help them out, and take pleasure in helping them. Are these not all religious activities? Eating Easter eggs at Easter, celebrating Christmas and singing Christmas hymns—these are the activities they engage in. Your activities now are done somewhat more frequently than those done by religious people. Many of you leave your homes and perform your duties full-time. You perform your spiritual devotions in the morning, some church work in the daytime, you go to regular gatherings and read God’s words, and before you go to bed in the evening, you pray to God and ask Him to protect you, to grant you a sound night’s sleep and to keep bad dreams away, and then you do it all again the next day. Your everyday lives are exceptionally regular, yet they are exceptionally insipid and dull. You gain nothing and understand nothing for a long time, and you never reflect on or recognize these most basic of negative emotions, nor have you ever unearthed them or resolved them. In your free time, or when you encounter something that isn’t to your liking in your duty, or you get a message from home saying your parents are unwell, or something unfortunate happens back home, you no longer feel like performing your duty and you become weak for several days. While you are feeling weak, those negative emotions that have been collecting inside you for a long time burst forth again. You think about them day and night, and they follow you like shadows. There are even some who have the thoughts and views they harbored before they believed in God suddenly burst forth again when they’re feeling weak and negative, and they think, “Maybe it would have been better if I had gone to college, if I had studied some major, and found a good job—I could even have gotten married by now. My classmate so-and-so seemed like nothing special when we were at school together, but after school they went to college. They were promoted after they got a job, and now they have the perfect happy home life. They have a car and a house, and they live a wonderful life.” When they think these things and slide into these negative states, all manner of negative emotions burst forth all at once. They think of home, of their mothers, they pine for how things used to be, and good things, bad things, hurtful things, happy things, and unforgettable things all flood their minds, and as they think of all these things, they become sorrowful, and tears roll from their eyes. What does all this show? It shows that the way you used to live and the way you used to conduct your life can arise from time to time and disturb your current life and the state of your life right now. These things can even dominate the way you live your life now and your life attitude, as well as your views on things. They constantly disturb and dominate your life. This is not intentional on your part, but rather it is a case of you naturally becoming mired in these negative emotions. You may think now that you don’t have these emotions, but only because the right time and environment have not arrived. As soon as the right time and environment arrive, then at any time and place you can slide into just these same emotions. Now, when you slide into these emotions, you are in danger, in danger of falling back into your original way of living at any time and place and falling under the domination of your original thoughts and views—this is very dangerous. This danger can strip you of your chance and hope to attain salvation at any time and place, and at any time and place it can carry you away from the path of faith in God. Therefore, regardless of how strong your resolve and desire to perform your duty is now, or how profound and lofty you think the truths are that you understand, or how great your stature is, as long as your thoughts do not change, as long as your outlook on life does not change, as long as the way you live your life does not change, and as long as your desire for what you want in life does not change—all of which are under the direction of these emotions—then you will be in danger at all times and in all places; when you can be devoured, overwhelmed, and carried off by these thoughts and views at any time and place, then you are in danger. Therefore, don’t make light of these negative emotions. At any moment and in any place, they can strip you of your chance to attain salvation and destroy your chance to be saved, and this is not a small matter.

All of man’s negative emotions are caused by his various wrong thoughts, wrong views, wrong ways of living, and wrong satanic life philosophies. There are also some things that happen in your real lives, in particular, at times when you’re unable to clearly comprehend the essence of these things, you can very easily become frightened and hemmed in by how these things appear, and can very easily slip into confusion, thereby falling back into old ways of living; you will unconsciously protect yourself, abandon God, abandon the truth, and use your own methods and the ways you believe to be the most traditional and reliable to seek a way out, search for how to live, and look for the hope to go on living. Although, on the surface, these negative emotions present as just emotions, and if we describe these emotions in words, then they seem understated when taken literally and are not so serious, some people cling tightly to these negative emotions and won’t let them go, as though clinging to a straw that will save their lives, and they are tightly bound and fettered by these things. In fact, their being bound by these negative emotions is really caused by the various ways upon which man relies for his survival, as well as his various thoughts and views that dominate him, and his various attitudes toward life and living. Therefore, even though the emotions of despondency, distress, anxiety, worry, inferiority, hatred, anger and so on are all negative, people still think these things can be relied upon, and only when they slip down into these emotions do they feel secure, and feel that they’ve found themselves and that they exist. In actuality, that people become mired in these emotions moves in the opposite direction from and strays far from the truth, as well as from the correct ways of thinking, the correct thoughts and views, and the correct attitude toward and views on things which God tells them to have. No matter what negative emotion you are experiencing, the more deeply you sink into it, the more bound by it you will be; the more bound by it you are, the more you will feel the need to protect yourself; the more you feel the need to protect yourself, the more you will hope to be stronger and to be more capable and competent to win opportunities to live and find various ways of living to surmount the world, claim victory over all the difficulties you face in the world, and overcome all of life’s difficulties and hardships. The more you slip down into these emotions, the more you actually want to control or resolve all the difficulties you come across in life. Isn’t that so? (Yes, it is.) So then, how do these thoughts of man arise? Let’s take marriage as an example. You feel distressed, anxious, and worried about marriage, but what exactly is the issue behind all of this? What are you worried about? Where does this worry come from? It comes from you not knowing that this marriage is arranged and ruled by fate, and that it is arranged and ruled by Heaven. Not knowing this, you always want to decide things for yourself, to plan, propose, and plot, thinking repeatedly such things as: “What kind of partner should I look for? How tall should they be? What should they look like? What kind of personality should they have? How educated should they be? What kind of family should they come from?” The more thorough your plans, the more you fret, isn’t that so? The higher your requirements get and the more requirements you have, the more you fret, right? And the harder it becomes to find a partner, yes? (Yes.) When you don’t know if someone is suitable for you or not, the greater your difficulties become, and the greater your difficulties become, the more severe your feelings of distress and anxiety become, right? The more severe your feelings of distress and anxiety become, the more these emotions get you into a tangle. So, how do you resolve this problem? Say you understand the essence of marriage, and that you understand the correct way forward and direction to go—what then is the correct approach to take to marriage? You say, “Marriage is a great event in life, and no matter what people choose, it has all been predestined long ago. God long ago ordained and arranged who your spouse would be and what they’d be like. People mustn’t be too hasty or rely on their imaginations, much less on their preferences. Relying on one’s imaginations and preferences and being too hasty are all manifestations of ignorance and do not accord with reality. People mustn’t allow their fancies to run wild, and all imagining is at odds with reality. The most practical thing to do is to let things take their natural course and await the person whom God has arranged for you.” So, with this theory and this practical understanding as your foundation, how should you practice regarding this matter? You should have faith, await God’s time, and await God’s arrangement. If God arranges a suitable partner for you in this life, then they will appear at the right time, in the right place, and in the right environment. It will happen when conditions are ripe, and all you have to do is be the one who cooperates with this matter at such a time, and in such a place and environment. The only thing you can do is wait—wait for this time, wait for this place, wait for this environment, wait for this person to appear, wait for all of this to take place, being neither active nor passive, but rather just waiting for all these things to happen and arrive. What do I mean by “wait”? I mean having a submissive attitude, being neither active nor passive; this attitude is a seeking and submissive attitude, without importunity. Once you have adopted this kind of attitude, will you still feel distressed, anxious, and worried about marriage? (No.) Your individual plans, imaginings, wishes, predilections, and all your ignorant thinking that is at odds with the facts disappear. Your heart is then calm, and you feel no more negative emotions about the matter of marriage. You feel relaxed, liberated, and free regarding this matter, and you let things take their natural course. Once you come to have the correct attitude, everything you do and everything you reveal becomes rational and appropriate. The emotions that are manifested from within your normal humanity naturally cannot be distress, anxiety, and worry, but rather they are peaceful and stable. You are not despondent or radical—you just wait. Your only way of practice and attitude regarding this matter in your heart is to wait and to submit: “I wish to submit to all that God arranges for me. I have no personal requirements or plans.” Haven’t you then let go of these negative emotions? And isn’t it so that these emotions will not arise? Even if you did feel them, wouldn’t you then gradually let them go? So, what kind of process is the process of letting go of these negative emotions? Is it a manifestation of pursuing the truth? It shows that you are both pursuing and practicing the truth. The end result achieved through pursuing the truth is that of practicing the truth—it is implemented through practicing the truth. When you attain the level of practicing the truth, your distress, anxiety, and worry will no longer follow you like shadows; they will have been thoroughly removed from your innermost heart. Is the process of removing these emotions the process of letting go? (Yes.) Practicing the truth is this simple. Is it easy? Practicing the truth is a transformation of thoughts and views and, even more so, it is a transformation of one’s attitude toward things. To let go of a simple negative emotion, one must practice and achieve these processes. First undergo a transformation of one’s thoughts and views, then a transformation of one’s attitude to practice, before then undergoing a transformation of the way one practices, one’s principles of practice, and one’s path of practice. Won’t you then have let that negative emotion go? It’s this simple. The ultimate result you achieve through “letting go” is that you are no longer disturbed, perplexed, and controlled by this negative emotion, and at the same time you are no longer haunted by all manner of negative thoughts and views caused by this negative emotion. In this way, you will live feeling relaxed, free, and liberated. Of course, feeling relaxed, free, and liberated are just human feelings—the real benefit people truly gain is that they come to understand the truth. The basis of man’s existence is the truth and the words of God. If people rely on their imaginings to live within various negative emotions for self-protection, if they rely on themselves and rely on their own abilities, means, and methods to safeguard themselves, and they walk their own path, then they will have strayed from the truth and from God, and will naturally come to live under the power of Satan. Therefore, when you’re faced with these same difficulties and situations, you should have understanding in your heart, and will naturally think, “I don’t need to worry about these things. There’s no point in worrying. People who are intelligent and wise will rely on God and will entrust all these things to God, submit to His sovereignty, await all the things God arranges, and await the time, place, person, or thing that God arranges. What man should and can do is only to cooperate and submit—this is the most sensible choice.” Of course, if you don’t do this and practice in this way, then everything that God arranges will still happen in the end—no person, no event, and no situation can be changed by the will of man. The distress, anxiety, and worry of man are just a meaningless sacrifice, and they are just the foolish thoughts and ignorant manifestations of man. No matter how profound or severe your feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry, or how thoroughly you think over a matter, it is all useless in the end and must be discarded. The final facts and results cannot be changed by the will of man. Man must live under the sovereignty and arrangements of God in the end; no one can change these things, and no one can break free of all these things. Isn’t that so? (Yes.)

Let’s talk now about sickness. Whatever sickness a person’s old flesh gets, to what degree it suffers, or whether this sickness can be cured—none of this is up to them, it is all in God’s hands. When sickness comes upon you, whether you can submit to God’s orchestrations or not, whether you are willing to accept this fact or not, the sickness is still in your body; you cannot get rid of it. So, the days pass all the same whether you face your sickness positively or negatively, and you cannot change the fact that this sickness is in your body. You can, however, choose what attitude to adopt toward it. So what choice will a wise person make? And what choice will a foolish person make? When a foolish person gets sick, they choose to be anxious and worried, live in distress, and even become mired in this emotion, unwilling to emerge from it and refusing to listen to anyone’s advice. They just think to themselves, “How did I get this sickness? Was it because I didn’t take good care of myself and got sick from exhaustion? How could I be so stupid and do my duty so earnestly? Other people get a physical checkup every year. How did I not realize that I should go have a physical checkup? Other people live so carefully. How come I live so carelessly? I got this sickness and didn’t even know it. Oh goodness, how can I treat this sickness?” They then go online to search for what caused the illness, and they seek treatment from both Chinese and Western medicine doctors, and also use folk remedies. They are always anxious and worked up about their sickness, and have no mind to do their duty. They cast all matters of belief in God far from their mind and think only of getting their illness treated. For them, the most crucial thing now is treating their illness, and it is much more important than doing their duty. Since getting sick, they feel distressed about their illness every day, and tell everyone they meet, “I’ve worn out my body by not focusing on my health these last few years. You must learn a lesson from my experience. When you get sick, you must go to the hospital without delay to get checked out and receive treatment. Health care is the most important thing. You mustn’t live so carelessly.” That’s the only bit of experience and the meager lesson they draw from this bout of sickness. From then on, they begin to focus on their health, and they become very particular about their food, clothing, housing, and transportation, terrified of tiring out their body. They say: “People have to rely on themselves to maintain their own health. Luckily, I discovered this illness early and got treated promptly. If I’d discovered it later, I might have died. It would be such a waste to get sick and die at a young age. I haven’t even started to enjoy life yet; there are so many delicious foods I haven’t eaten, and so many fun places I haven’t been to!” They come away with just this conclusion after their bout of illness. They believe that the reason they didn’t die from this illness is because they were wise and got treated promptly. They fail to recognize that this is God’s sovereignty and preordination, and that if someone is not meant to die, then no matter how major the illness they contract is, they won’t, and that if they are meant to die, then even if they aren’t sick, they will. They cannot see through this. They even think their bout of sickness has made them wiser, but have they really become wiser? (No.) They are too foolish. All those who do not accept the truth are this foolish. When people who pursue the truth encounter sickness, do they become mired in emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry? (No.) What approach do they take toward sickness? (First, they are able to submit, and then, while they are sick, they seek to understand God’s intentions and reflect on what corrupt dispositions they have.) Reflecting on yourself in this way is correct, and being able to resolve your corrupt dispositions is what’s key, but when an illness requires treatment, you still have to get the treatment. If it really is a major illness, then not receiving treatment promptly will delay your recovery. In one respect, you should resolve the problem of your corrupt dispositions, and in another, you still have to receive treatment for any illness that requires it—this is what a wise person does. When foolish people get sick, they don’t know to reflect on and try to know themselves, nor do they seek the truth. All they do is worry and live in their sickness, thinking, “Oh goodness, will I recover from this illness? Hopefully God will heal me. If God doesn’t heal me, I will surely die! Won’t I suffer a lot when I die?” No matter what sickness a foolish person gets, they never seek the truth, and they are always unable to see through the matters of sickness and life and death. Once they get sick, they feel distressed, worried, and negative, and don’t even want to do their duty. A wise person, however, is able to seek the truth in all things. Even when it comes to others getting sick and having experiential testimony, they are still able to accept the truth and learn lessons through this, and they are thus able to see through the matters of getting sick or facing death to some extent. Those who do not seek the truth don’t seek it even when they themselves get sick, and as a result, they live in their sickness blaming everyone and everything for it, which is very dangerous. When it comes to the matter of sickness, what understanding and insight should people have? First of all, will sickness steer clear of someone because they feel distressed, anxious, and worried? (No.) When someone will get sick, and when they will contract some major or serious illness—tell Me, aren’t these things predetermined? They certainly are. After a whole lifetime of experience, many people are able to conclude that “man’s fate is determined by Heaven.” And although people don’t know what their whole life will be like, those nonbelieving diviners and face-readers can see through to a large part of a person’s lifelong destiny, leaving people utterly convinced. From these things, it can also be confirmed that everything is preordained by God. Therefore, no matter when in a person’s life they encounter anything or contract a major illness, it is fated to happen. When people eat the same food, and more or less do the same work and suffer the same hardships and exhaustion, why do some people become seriously ill while others don’t get sick? Nonbelievers say “it’s fated to happen,” so how do we say about it in God’s house using words that accord with the truth? All of this is under the sovereignty and arrangements of God; it is preordained by God. Therefore, regardless of what you eat and drink and what environment you live in, these things actually have nothing to do with when you will contract a major or serious illness. If someone is destined by God to be healthy, then even if their living conditions and work environment are very poor, they will not contract a major illness. If they are fated to get sick, then even if their living conditions are good, they will get sick all the same. Therefore, no matter what sickness a person gets, they should not always look for objective causes, and always think it is brought about by poor living conditions or work-related exhaustion—this is incorrect. Let Me tell you, all the different foods God has created for man are foods which man is supposed to eat; just don’t eat them to excess, but instead eat them in moderation. It is necessary to learn how to take care of your health, but always wanting to study how to prevent illness is wrong. As we just said, what someone’s health will be like at a certain age and whether they will contract a major illness is all arranged by God. Even some nonbelievers can tell when a person will get sick and when they will die by reading their palm, face, or birth chart, and even they believe that all of this is already predetermined. If you do not believe in God’s sovereignty and preordination despite believing in God and often listening to sermons and to fellowship on the truth, then you are simply a disbeliever, and your caliber is even poorer than that of nonbelievers who believe in fate. If you truly believe that everything is in God’s hands, then you should believe that all these things—whether serious illnesses, major illnesses, minor illnesses, or how one’s physical condition is—fall under the sovereignty and arrangements of God, and that the emergence of a serious illness and what one’s health is like at a certain age are not things that happen by accident. This is a kind of positive and accurate understanding. Does this accord with the truth? (Yes.) It accords with the truth, it is the truth. You should accept this, and your attitude and views on this matter should be transformed. And what is resolved once these things are transformed? Are your feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry not resolved? At the very least, your negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry about sickness are resolved on a cognitive level. Because this truth has transformed your thoughts and views, it therefore resolves your negative emotions. This is one aspect: Whether or not someone gets sick, what serious illness they get, and what their health is like at each stage of life cannot be changed by the will of man, but rather are all preordained by God. Some people say, “I don’t want to get sick. Is it okay if I ask God to take this sickness away from me and let me avoid this calamity?” Do you think that is okay? (No.) You say this with such certainty, but no one is able to see through these things. Some people do their duties with devotion and have the resolve to pursue the truth, and they are very important for some item of work in God’s house. If they contract a serious illness, it will affect their energy and strength, and affect their performance of their work and duty. In that case, God might take their illness away from them, as God must take responsibility for His own work. Anyone who has been entrusted with God’s commission will not contract a serious illness that delays their work. If they really do get sick, couldn’t God cure them with a single word? God could have a thought: “The work is so busy right now, I cannot let them experience this sickness. I relieve them of it.” This is very easy for God. But who is blessed like this? Whoever truly has such resolve and devotion, and can truly play an important role in the work of God’s house, might receive this blessing and no longer experience major suffering from sickness. Let’s set that topic aside and talk about sickness; this is something most people will experience during their lifetime. Therefore, what kind of sickness one is to experience, and what their health will be like, at a certain time or a certain age are all things arranged by God and people cannot decide these things for themselves; just like the time when someone is born, they are not able to decide it for themselves. So, is it not foolish to feel distressed, anxious, and worried about things you cannot decide for yourself? (Yes.) People should set about resolving the things they can resolve themselves, and for those things they cannot do themselves, they should wait for God; people should submit silently and ask God to protect them—this is the mindset people should have. When illness really does strike and death really is near, people should submit, and not complain, rebel against God, or say things that blaspheme against or attack God. Instead, people should assume their proper position as created beings and experience and appreciate all that comes from God—they should not try to choose things for themselves. This could be a special experience that enriches your life, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, right? Therefore, when it comes to illness, when people’s wrong thoughts and views concerning the origin of the illness are resolved first of all, they will no longer worry about this. Moreover, people have no power to control known or unknown things, nor are they capable of controlling them, as all these things are under the sovereignty of God. The attitude and principle of practice people should have are to wait and submit. From understanding to practice, all should be done in line with the truth principles—this is to pursue the truth.

Some people are always worrying about their illness, saying, “Will I be able to endure it if my sickness gets worse? If my condition deteriorates, will it kill me? I have already submitted to God, so will God let this sickness take my life? Do I need to get surgery for this illness? And if I have surgery, will I die on the operating table?” What’s the use of thinking about these things? You should pray to God and seek the truth. Relying on yourself, you will certainly be unable to endure it. No one wants to have to endure sickness, and no one beams with smiles, feels happy and celebrates when they get sick. There is no one like this because that is not normal humanity. When normal people get sick, they all suffer and feel distressed, and have a certain limit to what they can endure. But if people always want to depend on their own strength to rid themselves of their sickness and escape it, what will the end result be? Not only will they be unable to alleviate their suffering, but they will suffer and feel distressed all the more. That’s why the more you suffer from sickness, the more you should seek the truth, and seek how to practice in accordance with God’s intentions. The more you suffer from sickness, the more you should come before God and know your own corruption and the unreasonable demands you make of God. The more you suffer from sickness, the more you are tested for true submission. Therefore, if you are still able to submit to God’s orchestrations while enduring sickness, and you can refrain from complaining about God and also let go of your unreasonable demands of Him even if you are sick to the point of death, it shows that you are someone who sincerely pursues the truth and submits to God, that you have testimony, and that your loyalty and submission to God are real, that they are not slogans or doctrines, and instead stand up to testing. This is what people ought to practice when they get sick. When you get sick, in one respect, it is meant to reveal all your unreasonable demands and your unrealistic imaginings and notions about God, and in another respect, it is meant to test your faith in God and submission to Him. If you pass the test in these regards, then you have true testimony and real evidence of your faith in God, your loyalty to God, and your submission to Him. This is what God wants, and it is what a created being should possess and live out. Are these things not all positive? (They are.) These are all things which people should pursue. Moreover, if God can let you get sick, can He not also take your sickness away at any time and place? (He can.) So can’t He also make it so that the sickness remains in you and doesn’t go away? (He can.) And if God makes it so that your sickness stays with you, will you still be able to do your duty? Will you still be able to hold fast to your belief in God? Will this not be a test for you? (It will.) If you get sick and recover after a few days or one or two months, and it hasn’t been revealed what your faith in God and your loyalty and submission to Him are like, then it cannot be determined whether you have testimony or not. It’s easy for a person to put up with a sickness that only lasts for a few days or one or two months. But if the sickness continues for two or three years, and your faith and your submission and loyalty to God do not change, but instead become increasingly practical, will you not then have testimony? (Yes.) This is growth in life, and this is a gain. So, while someone who truly pursues the truth is sick, they experience the various benefits brought by their sickness, and they are not in a hurry to get rid of it. They do not worry about what consequences or trouble will be brought about if their sickness drags on, whether it will get worse, or whether they will die. While not worrying about these things, they are also able to enter actively, and to seek the truth to resolve their corrupt dispositions and their unreasonable demands of God, and thereby achieve true faith in, loyalty to, and submission to God. They come to have testimony, and they also gain a great deal in terms of their life entry and dispositional change, and build a solid foundation for their attainment of salvation. How wonderful that is! Furthermore, a sickness can be major or it can be minor, but in either case, it is a trial and refinement for people. Some illnesses do not last long and people are able to endure them. While people experience such illnesses, they do not lose their faith in God, they do not complain, and they are submissive to God. Their manifestations are basically up to standard, and after experiencing it, they have gained something and feel quite satisfied. This is the case with ordinary illnesses. However, there are some illnesses which, despite getting better after a period of treatment, recur and get worse, until the illness finally becomes so severe that even major hospitals are unable to treat it, and the person suffering from it could face death at any moment. What does this mean? It means that they have a limited time left to live, that this is no longer the period when they are not sick and death is a distant prospect, and that they are instead facing the end of their days—that is, they are facing the most difficult, most crucial moment in their life: death. Every person feels distressed, anxious, worried, and helpless when death approaches them—this is the final, most difficult moment in a person’s life. The more people fear death, the closer death draws to them, and the less they want to face death, the more it bears down on them. What are they to do? Should they try to avoid it, reject it, resist it, complain about it, or should they try to set conditions with God? None of these approaches will work, and they cannot enable people to escape death. No matter how distressed and anxious they feel, it’s useless. What is the most distressing thing for a person when they reach the moment of their death? Maybe they used to love eating meat, but now their body is not up to it, and they cannot eat it even if they want to; maybe they used to love dressing up, but now they have no chance to wear those nice clothes. Death is the most painful thing of all, and when they think of it, it feels like a knife twisting in their heart, and they can’t help but shed tears. Before, when they weren’t seriously ill, they thought death wasn’t scary: “Who doesn’t face death? If I die, I die!” Now, however, they realize that these words don’t come easy. When death is truly upon them, the more they think about it, the more afraid, helpless, and pained they feel. But even if they don’t want to die, what can they do? They still have to die; no one can escape this. Death traps people; in their hearts, they don’t want to die, yet death fills both their hearts and minds. Can you really be sure when you will die? Some people say they’ve had their fortune told and they know the year, the month, and the day of their death. Can you really be certain about that? (No.) You cannot be sure when you will die—and this is not the most important thing. The key is what your attitude will be if your sickness could cause you to die very soon. This is a question you should ponder and think about. Will you face death with an attitude of submission, or will you approach death with an attitude of resistance, rejection, or unwillingness? What attitude should you have? (An attitude of submission.) This submission cannot be achieved and put into practice by just saying the word. How can you achieve this submission? What understanding do you need to have before you can achieve willing submission? This isn’t simple, is it? (No, it isn’t.) So, say what is in your hearts. (If I do become seriously ill, then I will think that even if I really do die, God’s sovereignty and arrangements are in this, and since man is so deeply corrupt, if I do die, it is God’s righteousness, and man has no right to demand that God protect him from death. I will also think that I’ve come to see the right path in life and also understood quite a few truths through believing in God, so even if I do die right then, it will all be worth it.) Is this the right way to think? Can this be said to have a certain theoretical underpinning to it? (Yes.) Who else will speak? (If one day I really do become ill and am about to face death, this will also be God’s sovereignty and preordination, and no matter how much I fret or worry, it will be of no use. I will spend the little time I have left focusing on how I can do my duty well. That way, even if I die, I will have no regrets. Having some submission to God in my final days will be much better than living in dread and terror.) What do you think of this understanding? Isn’t this a little better? (Yes.) That’s right; this is how you should regard the matter of death. Everyone must face death in their life, that is, death is what everyone must face at the end of their journey. However, there are different natures to death. One of these is that, at the time preordained by God, a person has completed their own mission and God draws a line under their physical life, so their physical life comes to an end, though this doesn’t mean that their life is over. When one’s flesh ceases to exist, their life is over—is that the case? (No.) The form in which your life will exist after death depends on how you treat God’s work and words while you are alive—this is very important. The form in which you will exist after death, or whether you will exist or not, depends upon your attitude toward God and toward the truth while you are alive. If while you are alive, when you face death and all manner of illnesses, your attitude toward the truth is one of rebelliousness, opposition, and aversion, then in what way will you exist when your physical life comes to an end? You will certainly exist in some other way, and your life will certainly not continue. Conversely, if while you are alive, when you have consciousness in the flesh, your attitude toward the truth and toward God is one of submission and loyalty and you have true faith, then even if your physical life comes to an end, your life will still go on to exist in a different form in another realm. This is the definition of death. There is another point to add: The matter of death is the same in nature as any other major event in life; none of these things are up to human choice, much less can they be changed by human will, rather, they are all under the Creator’s preordination and sovereignty. If someone were to beg for death, they may not necessarily die; if they were to beg to live, they may not necessarily live. All this is under the sovereignty and preordination of God, and it is changed and decided by the authority of God, by God’s righteous disposition, and by God’s sovereignty and arrangements. So, even if you contract a serious or potentially fatal illness, you will not necessarily die. Who makes the decision about your death? (God.) It is God; people cannot make the decision about this fact, just as you cannot choose who your parents are, or the time and place of your birth. When it comes to the matters of sickness and death, the wisest approach is to let things take their natural course and submit, to not make choices, and to not expend any thought or energy on these matters, or feel distressed, anxious, or worried about them. Since people are not able to choose for themselves, expending so much energy and thought on these matters is foolish and unwise. When faced with the important matter of death, people should not be distressed, worried, or afraid—how should they approach it then? (They should face it positively and submit to God’s preordinations and arrangements.) That’s right. Do not be petrified by death, and do not use all your energy pondering death. Do not spend all day long thinking, “Will I die? When will I die? What will happen after I die?” Don’t think about these things. Some people say, “Why not think about these things? Why not think about them when I’m on death’s doorstep?” Because you don’t know whether you will die or not, and it is unknown whether God will allow you to die. More specifically, you do not know when you will die, where you will die, what time you will die, or how your body will feel when you die. By racking your brains thinking about and pondering things that are not known to you, and feeling anxious and worried about them, are you not being foolish? Since it is foolish, you shouldn’t rack your brains over these things.

Whatever matter people find themselves dealing with, they should always approach it with a positive attitude, and this is even more true when it comes to the matter of death. Having a positive attitude does not mean waiting for death, going along with death, or actively pursuing death. What does it mean then? (Submitting.) Submission is an attitude toward the matter of death, and letting go of this matter and not thinking about it is the best approach. Some people say, “Why should I not think about it? If I don’t think this matter through, can I overcome it? Can I let it go?” Yes, you can. And why do I say this? Tell Me, was the time of your birth something you thought up? Your appearance, your age, the line of work you’re in, and the fact that you can believe in God and sit here listening to a sermon—are these all things you thought up? They are not; you have come to where you are today through the passing of days and months, through living a normal life. This is very natural. Death is the same. A person unconsciously lives to adulthood, to middle and old age, and finally death arrives. It will not come early because you always think about it, nor will it be averted because you don’t think about it. It does not change according to human will, so there is no need for you to think about it. If you are to face death in the near future, then thinking about it all the time will place an invisible pressure on you. This pressure will fill you with dread about life and living, causing you to not have a positive attitude, and instead making you even more despondent. A person who is facing death has no interest in or positive attitude toward anything; they are left only with despondency. When they think that they are going to die soon, that everything is over for them, and that no matter what they pursue or do, they cannot change the fact that they will die, they feel they no longer have anything to look forward to or any motivation, and that there is no meaning in them pursuing or doing anything. Consequently, everything they do has the element and nature of negativity and death to it. So, is it easy to not feel distressed or anxious about the matter of death? If this matter is simply a result of your own mental reasoning and imagination, then it is a false alarm, and you are scaring yourself—your death simply is not going to happen any time soon, so what’s the point of you thinking about it? This makes it even more unnecessary. What is supposed to happen will always happen; what is not supposed to happen will not happen no matter how you think about it. Fearing it is useless, as is worrying about it. Death cannot be avoided by worrying about it, nor will it pass you by just because you fear it. Therefore, if you feel constrained in your heart when it comes to death, you should entrust this matter to God through prayer. As long as we submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, we can be freed from feeling constrained by death. When we die is a matter arranged by God. We just need to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements in our hearts, and that is all. Isn’t it much simpler to practice this way? Another aspect is that you should have a positive attitude toward death. Tell Me, who among the billions of people all across the world has the blessing of hearing so many of God’s words, of understanding so many of the truths of life, and of understanding so many mysteries? Who is able to receive God’s personal guidance, provision, care, and protection? Who has these blessings? Very few people do. So, for all of you—you who are currently able to live in God’s house and receive His salvation and provision, and have enjoyed so many blessings—even if you were to die right now, it would be worth it. Based on this point alone, you should not be terrified of death, nor should you be constrained by the matter of death. Even though you haven’t enjoyed any of the glory and wealth of the world, yet you have received the pity of the Creator and heard so many of God’s words—isn’t this blissful? (It is.) No matter how many years you live in this life, it’s all worth it and you have no regrets, because you have been constantly performing your duty in God’s work, you have understood the truth, understood the mysteries of life, and understood the path and goals you should pursue in life—you have gained so much! You have lived a worthwhile life! Even if you can’t explain it very clearly, you are able to practice some truths and possess some reality, and that proves that you have gained some life provision and understood some truths from God’s work. You have gained so much—a true abundance—and that is such a great blessing! Since the beginning of human history, no one throughout all the ages has enjoyed this blessing, yet you are enjoying it. So, even if you were to die right now, wouldn’t you do so willingly? (Yes.) If you have this willingness, then there is true submission within your attitude toward death. If, in one respect, people have a true understanding of death, and on top of this, they cooperate actively and truly submit, and have the correct attitude toward death that they ought to, then don’t their feelings of distress, anxiety, and worry about death greatly diminish? (They do.) They do greatly diminish. Some people say, “I’ve just now finished listening to this fellowship, but it doesn’t feel as though these feelings have diminished that much for me. Maybe it takes some time. In particular, older people and those who have a sickness think about death a lot.” People know their own difficulties. When some people have been sick for a long time, they sum it all up and think, “I’ve believed in God all these years and people who got the same illness as I have died long ago. If they were reincarnated, they might be in their twenties or thirties by now. I have lived for so many years by the grace of God, all freely given. If I didn’t believe in God, I would be long dead by now. When I went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctors were startled. What a great advantage and blessing I have! If I had died 20 years ago, then I wouldn’t have heard these truths and sermons and wouldn’t have understood them; if I’d died like that, I would’ve gained nothing. Even if I lived a long life, it would all have been empty and a wasted life. Now, I have lived all these extra years and been favored so much. I haven’t thought about death all these years, and I don’t fear it.” If people are always afraid of death, then they will always think about all the questions to do with death. If people are not afraid to die and are not terrified of death, then it shows that they have suffered more than enough and are no longer terrified of death. Some people say, “If someone isn’t terrified of death, does that mean that they are seeking death?” No, that’s not right. Seeking death is a kind of negative attitude, an evasive attitude, whereas what I said before about not thinking about death is an objective, positive attitude; that is, looking upon death with indifference, not seeing it as so important, not thinking of it as such a sorrowful, anxiety-provoking event; not worrying about it anymore, not being concerned about it anymore, not being fettered by death, leaving it far behind you—people who can do this have some experience of death. If someone is always bound up and constrained by sickness and death, is always mired in the negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry, is unable to perform their duty normally or live normally, then they should listen to experiential testimony concerning death more, see how those who are able to look upon death with indifference experience it and understand death in their experience, and then they will be able to gain something precious.

Death is not an easy problem to solve, and it is man’s greatest difficulty. If someone says to you, “Your corrupt dispositions are so severe, and your humanity is bad, too. If you don’t earnestly pursue the truth and consequently do many evil things in the future, then you will go down to hell and be punished!” you may feel upset for a while after hearing this. Afterward, you might think to yourself, “I must earnestly pursue the truth, and I must repent!” and after getting a night’s sleep, you will no longer feel so upset. However, if you get a potentially fatal illness and may not have long to live, then that is not something that can be solved with a night’s sleep, and it cannot be let go of so easily. A period of tempering is required. Those who genuinely pursue the truth can emerge from the distress and anxiety of fearing death, and they can dispel the dread in their hearts by seeking the truth—as long as people seek the truth there is no problem they cannot solve. If people do not seek the truth and try to use human methods to resolve this problem, then they can only feel constantly distressed, anxious, and worried about it. When things are unsolvable, they take extreme measures to try to solve them. There are also some people who adopt a despondent, negative attitude, saying, “If I die, I die. Who’s afraid of death? After death, I’ll just be reincarnated and live again!” Can you be sure about that? You’re just looking to comfort yourself, and that doesn’t solve the problem. The reason for this is that all things and everything, visible or invisible, material or immaterial, are controlled and ruled in the hands of the Creator, and no one can control their own destiny. Whether it be toward sickness or death, the only attitude that people should have is that of understanding, acceptance, and submission; people should not approach these things according to their imaginings or notions, or seek a way out, much less reject or resist them. If you keep trying to resolve the issues of sickness and death using your own methods, then the longer you live, the more you will suffer, the more depressed you will become, and the more trapped you will feel. In the end, you will still reach a dead-end, and your outcome will truly be the same as your death—you will be completely dead. Whether you are facing a sickness that God has set up for you or facing death, if you can actively seek the truth, and recognize that as a created being you should submit to all of God’s arrangements, including major events like sickness and death, and you are able to submit to God without complaint even if you die, then this is being able to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and this is in accordance with God’s intentions. If you rely on the strength and methods of man to cope with all these things, and you try hard to resolve them or escape them, then even if you don’t die and you temporarily manage to avoid the difficulty of death, because you don’t harbor true understanding, acceptance and submission toward God and the truth, leading you to not bear testimony in this matter, then the final result will be that when you encounter this same issue again, it will still be a major test for you. You will still have the possibility of betraying God and falling, and this will undoubtedly be a dangerous thing for you. Therefore, if you really are now facing sickness or death, then let Me tell you, it’s better to take advantage of this real situation right now to seek the truth and resolve this matter from the root, instead of waiting for death to truly come, only to be caught off guard, to feel lost, perplexed, and helpless, and to consequently do things you will regret for the rest of your life and never be able to remedy. If you do such things, it could lead to an outcome of destruction for you. Therefore, no matter what you encounter, you should first face up to it and seek the truth, and begin your entry with the truths you should understand and the knowledge you should have. If you constantly feel distressed, anxious, and worried about such things as sickness and you live enveloped within these kinds of negative emotions, then you should start seeking the truth right now and resolve these problems as soon as you can.

Negative emotions like distress, anxiety, and worry have the same nature as various other kinds of negative emotions. They are all kinds of negative emotions that arise in people because they don’t understand the truth and live shackled by their manifold satanic corrupt dispositions, or else they live beleaguered and impacted by all kinds of satanic thoughts. These negative emotions cause people to live perpetually with all manner of incorrect thoughts and views as well as to be constantly controlled by all manner of incorrect thoughts and views, which affect and obstruct their pursuit of the truth. Of course, these kinds of negative emotions of distress, anxiety, and worry disrupt people’s lives, direct their lives, affect their pursuit of the truth, and keep them from pursuing the truth. Therefore, although these negative emotions are emotions in a simple sense, their function must not be underestimated; the effect they have on people and the consequences they bring about to people’s pursuit and the path they walk are perilous. In any case, when someone often has all manner of negative emotions bubbling up to disturb them, they should immediately discover and dissect why these negative emotions often arise, and why they are often vexed by these negative emotions. Also, in a certain special environment, these negative emotions will vex that person constantly and greatly disturb their pursuit of the truth—these are things that people ought to understand. Once they have understood these things, the next thing for them to do is think about how to seek and understand the truth in this matter, strive not to keep being vexed and affected by those incorrect thoughts and views, and replace them with the truth principles taught to them by God. Once they have understood the truth principles, the next step is for them to practice in accordance with the truth principles God has taught them. While they do this, all their negative emotions will gradually emerge to disturb them, only to be gradually resolved and rebelled against one by one, until, without them being aware of it, they will leave all these negative emotions behind them. So, what does the resolution of the various negative emotions rely upon? It relies upon people’s dissection and understanding of them, it relies upon people’s acceptance of the truth and, even more so, it relies upon people’s pursuit and practice of the truth. Isn’t that so? (It is.) As people gradually pursue and practice the truth, all their various negative emotions are gradually resolved and let go. So, looking at it now, which do you think are easier to let go and resolve, these various negative emotions or corrupt dispositions? (Negative emotions are easier to resolve.) You think negative emotions are easier to resolve? It varies from person to person. One is not harder or easier than the other, it just depends on the person. In any case, beginning with fellowshipping on letting go of negative emotions, we have added some content to people’s pursuit of dispositional change, and that is letting go of the various negative emotions. Letting go of negative emotions is primarily done to resolve some incorrect thoughts and views, whereas resolving one’s corrupt dispositions requires an understanding of the essence of corrupt dispositions. Tell Me, which is easier, resolving negative emotions or resolving corrupt dispositions? In fact, neither problem is easy to solve. If you truly have resolve and can seek the truth, then whichever problem you attempt to solve will not be a problem at all. However, if you do not pursue the truth and are unable to sense just how serious these two problems are, then it won’t be easy no matter which problem you try to solve. When it comes to these negative things, you need to accept the truth, practice the truth, and submit to the truth in order to resolve them, and replace them with positive things. This is always the process, and it always requires people to rebel against negative things, and accept positive things, and things which accord with the truth. One aspect is to work on your thoughts and views, and one is to work on your dispositions; one is to resolve your thoughts and views, and one is to resolve your corrupt dispositions. Of course, these two things sometimes emerge together and involve each other. In any case, letting go of negative emotions is something people should practice when pursuing the truth. Right, let’s end today’s fellowship here.

October 29, 2022