B. People’s Notions and Imaginings About the Results God Intends to Achieve in His Work

Although God’s work is almighty and wondrous, and although God’s words are the truth and life, it is not possible to make people complete or change people overnight. Some people, based on their notions and imaginings, often say, “I have believed in God for so many years, so how come I still haven’t changed? How come I still haven’t attained sanctification? Why, in my heart, do I still love the world? Why am I still so vain? Why do I still have wicked lust? I used to like watching some videos or entertainment shows of the nonbelieving world. Why do I still want to watch them from time to time, despite the fact that I’ve believed in God until now, eaten and drunk God’s words for many years, done my duty, forsaken things, and expended myself for many years, and feel like I’ve already let go of those things in my heart?” These are some notions that people have, are they not? In particular, in their belief in God, some people always pursue things like subduing their body, not coveting the pleasures of the flesh, enduring more suffering and toil, and being able to overcome many physical hardships. But despite the fact that they keep pursuing in this way, they still feel that they are often controlled by the flesh’s extravagant desires, their coveting of comfort, and laziness, and so they are often negative and lose faith in God, thinking, “God’s work has reached this point, so why am I such a let-down and still often negative?” Sometimes, when they have achieved a few results in a task and earned everyone’s approval, they feel at ease and think, “I still have hope of being saved. God’s work and His words are so good. His work can really change people.” But then after a while, they feel that they still miss their loved ones. In particular, they sometimes even reminisce about the people they once adored, and recall with nostalgia the worldly life they led, and really miss their glory days when they were out in the world, and so they wonder, “How come I still miss those things? Why haven’t I let go of the pleasures of the flesh and set myself apart from the world as holy? How come I haven’t changed yet?” And they feel upset once again. They often linger in the midst of these thoughts and viewpoints. Their state is sometimes good and sometimes bad, they’re weak for a while and then strong for a while, they’re negative for a spell and then positive for a spell. They often pass verdicts on themselves based on their manifestations in everyday life. If they are in a good state, they think they are a target for salvation; if they are in a bad state, they feel that there is no hope of them being saved and that they are beyond redemption. They are either at one extreme or the other. When they are in a good state, they feel that they’re like a holy one and very close to God, that there aren’t any barriers between them and God, and they feel that God is right beside them. When they are in a bad state, they feel like they have fallen into the 18th level of hell and cannot see or touch God, and they feel that God is very distant from them. Why is this? Why do they have these states? Are these states normal or abnormal? (Abnormal.) When they are in a good state, they do whatever the church arranges for them to do, and they can overcome any difficulties, endure any hardship, and pay any price. They feel that they are the one who is most capable of submitting to God, that they are a person in God’s house who pursues the truth, and that no difficulty can stump them. They work very hard to do their duty and they are willing to put in effort. They don’t feel tired, no matter how much they talk when they fellowship with others, and they don’t mind skipping a meal, or missing two or three hours of sleep. They are willing to expend themselves for God and dedicate their whole life to God. Consequently, they feel that they have changed. They no longer think about their family, they no longer miss the people they once loved, and they no longer recall with nostalgia the glory and honor they had in the world. They cast all of that to the wind and expend themselves for God wholeheartedly, adhering to the principles, pruning anyone who causes disturbances or disruptions, upholding fairness for God’s house, standing firmly on the side of justice, defending the interests of God’s house, and establishing their own image as a strict and impartial “judge.” They perform pretty well for a while. But there may well come a time when they reveal their corrupt dispositions or do something wrong, and then they will become negative and weak, thinking, “God has revealed me, He no longer loves me.” From then on, they won’t be able to get back on their feet. They’ll feel that they are nothing and that they’re incapable of doing anything, that they still have selfish thoughts, and wicked lust, that they often miss the people they once loved and liked, that they are often negative and weak, that they still resist God, that they are incapable of practicing the truth, and that they haven’t changed in spite of having believed in God for so many years, and they’ll think, “Doesn’t this mean that I’m done for?” They’ll think that they have no chance of being saved, and that there is no hope for them whatsoever. When they are happy, they are beside themselves with joy, and when they are in pain, they are incredibly miserable. They always go to these two extremes, veering from one to the other. Why is this? Regardless of whether these states and manifestations are positive ones or those of despondency, in sum, this is all the same type of problem, namely that of being full of notions and imaginings about God’s work, and always passing verdicts on oneself and characterizing oneself based on one’s moods, and based on one’s revelations and manifestations over a certain period, while at the same time passing verdicts on God’s work, on the results attained by His work on people, and on the purpose and goal that His work on people achieves. Is this the root of the problem? (Yes.) When people are positive, they pray before God, expressing their resolve while crying fiercely, willing to dedicate their entire lives to God without asking for anything, willing to follow God and expend themselves for Him. When they pray and make resolutions like this, they feel that all difficulties are no longer difficulties. They are moved to tears, and even believe that it’s the Holy Spirit that has moved them. They think, “The Holy Spirit has moved me. God must love me so much! God has not forsaken me!” They pray tearfully and say that they have been moved by the Holy Spirit—isn’t this a delusion? (Yes.) In actuality, you were moved by how good you felt about yourself; you were moved by your own resolve, aspirations, wishes, and by your own actions, rather than by the Holy Spirit. Why do I say that you were moved by yourself? You have so many notions and imaginings about God’s work, and they are so distorted—do you think God would move you? With you being in this extreme state, would God move you so that you were even more extreme? If God moved you, it would only make you even more extreme, and make you admire yourself and be moved by yourself even more, and make you want even more to make this resolution: “I will sleep less and suffer more hardship, I will eat food no matter if it is good or bad, I’ll be fine with eating anything, and not care whether it does my body any good or not. I must overcome the preferences of my old flesh, I must specifically cure the failings of my old flesh, and I must make my flesh suffer more and not let it be comfortable. If it feels comfortable, then I will not love God; if it feels comfortable, then I will indulge in the comforts of the flesh and not work hard to do my duty.” If this was the Holy Spirit moving you, you would just keep sustaining this extreme, and would even more so mistakenly believe that you had already prevailed over the flesh and defeated Satan, and that you had already been saved. That is why I say that you were not moved by the Holy Spirit, but by yourself. Are you often moved by yourselves? (Yes.) You are moved by your own resolve to expend yourself and suffer hardship for God, and you are so willing in your heart to suffer hardship for God, to suffer any amount of hardship, or even to die, and then tears stream down your face. In all actuality, God is not moved by you being moved, nor is He moved by your resolve. This outpouring of yours is just a momentary impulse, a momentary surge of fiery passion. In this situation, you may even pray to Him and say, “God, I am willing to die for You! God, I was so busy doing my duty today that I skipped a meal. Even if I have to skip 10 meals, I’ll be willing to do it! People don’t live on bread alone, instead they live on the words that come from the mouth of God. God, I am willing to love You for my whole life, forever and ever, and my love for You will never change!” These grandiose words of yours move you to cry fiercely, but God’s attitude toward you does not change. Why? It’s because you are moved by a momentary impulse, and your tears are not tears of remorse, tears of indebtedness, or tears from having truly come to know yourself, and much less are they tears of sadness for your inability to practice the truth and uphold the truth principles. Therefore, this emotion of yours can only move yourself, and perhaps also move others or those around you, but God is not moved by it. Therefore, it is not the Holy Spirit that moves you, but rather it is you moving yourself. Your tears flow because you have moved yourself. Your tears, your emotional words, and your fiery passion are just a surface-level phenomenon, they are just a kind of behavior. They are not a change to your essence and life, nor a revelation of the truth being your life. When you have the passion and the impulse to expend yourself and suffer for God and are particularly proactive, you feel that it is the Holy Spirit moving you, that you have changed, and that you are a target for salvation—this is one kind of notion and imagining that you have about God’s work. When you become negative because of a temporary failure and falling down, or because your corruption and shortcomings were laid bare, or because you were pruned and revealed, you feel sad and pained, and think that you haven’t changed and that you have no hope of being saved—this is another kind of notion and imagining that you have about God’s work. In fact, no matter what God sees—whether you are in a negative or a positive state, or to what extent your state has deteriorated and fallen—how does God view you all along? Your stature is what it is. God will determine how much you have changed and how many truth realities you have entered based on your actual situation, your actual manifestations, and your actual stature. Your current inability to get back on your feet and your current plunge into complete despondency are not the standard by which God views you or determines your actual stature. So, no matter whether you are in a positive or negative state, or whether you are filled with fiery passion or feeling despondent, it will not affect God’s assessment and characterization of you. You are the only one who characterizes yourself incorrectly based on your temporary revelations and manifestations—either as someone who is already like Peter, or as someone who is beyond redemption—because you have a great number of notions and imaginings about God’s work. But no matter how you pass verdicts, no matter what good or bad feelings you experience, it is all caused by the notions and imaginings you have developed about God’s work, and these notions and imaginings do not conform to God’s accurate and practical definition of a person and the accurate and practical verdict He passes on them. Is this not the case? (It is.) Therefore, whether it be their own manifestations, their own essence, or their ultimate characterization of themselves, people cannot pass verdicts on these things based on their own notions and imaginings. Rather, they should measure these things based on the normal laws of God’s work and the actual results that God wants to achieve in His work, or based on the ways in which God works and His accurate definitions of people. What are people’s main notions and imaginings about God’s work here? People believe that their actual stature is determined based on their temporary manifestations, or their manifestations during a certain period: If they are in a good state during this period, then the Holy Spirit will work on them, and they will have changed, possess life, have grown in stature, and be able to attain salvation; if they are in a bad state and do not have any genuine faith in God during this period, this means that they do not have any stature. Are these not people’s notions and imaginings? (Yes.) A notion and imagining that people have about God’s work is that it isn’t performed on people in a long-term and continuous manner, but rather that it fleetingly gives them a bit of enlightenment, causing them to manifest a burst of energy and a momentary impulse. Another kind is that people believe that God’s work is supernatural, that He moves people to have a positive attitude, and to have the resolve to suffer hardship and to expend themselves for Him, and that they then gain stature and become people who have God’s truth as their life. They believe that if they become weak because of one issue, God will determine that they have failed and been revealed, and they will then be condemned by God, and eliminated and forsaken by Him. Aren’t these people’s notions and imaginings? (Yes.)

What are the notions and imaginings of people that we just fellowshipped about? (People have several kinds of notions and imaginings about God’s work. They believe that a person’s actual stature is decided by their manifestations during a certain period or by their temporary manifestations, and they think that God’s work on people takes place in a moment, rather than being long-term and continuous. People also believe that God’s work is very supernatural and that God often moves people. When people are momentarily moved by the Holy Spirit, they feel that they are about to be made perfect or that they are closer to achieving the standard of Peter, and when people fail and become weak, they determine that they have been eliminated.) What are people’s notions and imaginings about God’s work in this regard? People believe that their temporary manifestations represent their actual stature, and that God passes verdicts on people based on their temporary manifestations. People think that God likes to see people suffer hardship and pay a price, that He likes to see people often pray and make resolutions and be moved to the point that they cry their eyes out, and that He likes people to be able to forsake things and expend themselves and work diligently, and to be able to overcome the various difficulties of the flesh. They think that regardless of whether or not they act according to the principles or in line with the truth, as long as they are able to frequently pay a price, and, in the performance of their duty, often miss out on food and sleep, get up early and go to bed late, and work night and day, then God will like this. This implies that no matter what work God does or how many words He speaks, He just hopes that people are all able to suffer hardship and pay a price for Him, not eat good food or wear nice clothes, and not have any free time, and that they must spend each day either doing their duties or praying, and often make resolutions, express their resolve, set their minds, and swear oaths. Some people think that God likes to restrain people’s hearts and limbs, that He does not give people freedom and liberation, and that He instead makes them feel repressed so that they cannot be liberated, and deprives them of the freedom of a life of normal humanity. People think this, don’t they? (Yes.) What else do people think? That God does not permit people to fail, to reveal weakness or corruption, or to show their shortcomings. People also believe that if they want to attain salvation and be made perfect, then in the process of doing their duty they cannot be weak at all, or have any of the needs, shortcomings, or flaws of normal humanity, and must not reveal any corrupt dispositions. Aren’t these people’s notions and imaginings? (Yes.) In people’s notions and imaginings, they think that under God’s work and guidance, they must stay young at heart, remain zealous, and be full of passion for their work and have a serious attitude toward it, as well as being constantly tightly-wound and never relaxing. Isn’t this what people think? Is this a notion and imagining that people have, or is it God’s true requirement of people? (It’s a notion and imagining that people have.) People think that if they are a bit negative and weak, or have a slight fleshly difficulty, or have some defects or flaws in their humanity, or reveal corrupt dispositions, and occasionally covet fleshly comfort, then God won’t want them, He won’t speak to them or work on them, and they will be eliminated and have no hope of being saved. Is this actually the case? (No.) Aren’t these notions and imaginings that people have? (Yes.) In people’s notions and imaginings, they believe, in one respect, that God likes people who are constantly full of enthusiasm and fiery passion regarding their work, and in another respect, that God does not like people’s negativity and does not allow them to show their weaknesses. In other words, people think that God likes ascetics, do they not? They think that it’s necessary to live their whole lives in poverty, to pay no attention at all to outside matters, and to read God’s words day after day under the dim light of a cold oil lamp; they believe that both morning and evening prayers are compulsory, that they must thank God before every meal, and that they cannot have any of the various needs of normal humanity. They believe that only then can they be considered absolutely loyal to God and absolutely faithful to their work, and that only by maintaining this kind of zeal can they be liked by God and be someone that God wants to save and make perfect. Because people have these notions and imaginings, some feel especially reproached inside when they occasionally miss their family, and also feel uneasy whenever they occasionally chat for a bit, thinking that God will reproach them. When some young women get dressed up and wear clothes that are a bit vibrant and fairly fashionable every once in a while, they feel uncomfortable all over, and think, “Isn’t it a bit indecent for me to dress like this? Isn’t it a bit dissolute?” In fact, they aren’t wearing bizarre outfits or revealing attire, but they just feel dissolute and think, “God is reproaching me inside. He doesn’t like me doing this.” If you think God doesn’t like it, why don’t you wear the robes of a Buddhist monk or a Taoist robe? How “elegant” and “decent” that would be! That wouldn’t be dissolute, would it? Some people occasionally indulge in a bit of vanity or show off, and then feel reproached and uneasy inside and think, “God no longer likes me. He doesn’t want me anymore.” Some people even set rules that they are not allowed to brush their hair, put on makeup, or look in the mirror, and that they can only take a bath once a month or every six months, and think that if they take a bath more frequently than once a month or every six months, this is loathed by God and they will definitely not be saved. They set a rule that they must get up before five in the morning, and think that if they get up half an hour later, they are indulging in comfort, and are not people who love God; they set a rule that they must go to bed after midnight, and think that if they go to bed before midnight, they aren’t someone who does their duty loyally. These people create many fixed rules for their own behavior, everyday life, and life needs. They do not seek what God’s requirements are, nor do they try to understand what God’s views and attitudes toward these matters are. Instead, they believe in a completely subjective manner that in God’s work, God does not permit people to have these manifestations, and that if they ever do possess these manifestations, they are being utterly rebellious, and they are loathed by God, and therefore cannot be saved. Oftentimes, just because of some trivial matters that are not worth mentioning, such as saying the wrong thing, using the wrong word, eating a few extra snacks, or watching some entertainment videos occasionally, people think, “I’m done for, this is utterly rebellious of me! I didn’t know that I could have such behaviors and such penchants—I didn’t know I still had these problems. This is terrible. I must deeply reflect on myself, dissect myself in the depths of my soul, and undergo a revolution. I cannot let this go!” People attach great importance to these matters that have no connection with the truth principles. These are all people’s notions and imaginings and God loathes them. God does not want to see people reveal these manifestations. So what are the truths that people should understand in this regard? What are the principles that should be adhered to? Since these things are people’s notions and imaginings, they are definitely not the principles that God requires for people, and they definitely have nothing to do with God’s requirements for people. And since they are notions and imaginings, this means that they are conceived and pieced together in the human mind—in short, they come from people’s minds and have nothing whatsoever to do with the truth realities that God requires people to possess. No matter how people adhere to these notions and imaginings, as long as they have nothing to do with the truth, then people adhering to them is futile. Even if you do adhere to them, you are not adhering to the truth principles, and God will not remember it. In particular, some people feel deeply uneasy and strongly reprimanded inside when they occasionally reveal their own preferences or fleshly habits. How does this uneasiness and self-reprimanding come about? Is it the result of them being moved by the Holy Spirit? (No, people have notions and imaginings about God, that’s why they feel uneasy.) The basis of these feelings is people’s notions and imaginings, not the truth. Some people feel reproached and uneasy inside at the drop of a hat, and they rush to pray and confess their sins, and hurriedly repent. What do you have to repent for? These things you’ve done are common behaviors in daily life. They are not sins, and they are certainly not major transgressions. Don’t make a fuss over such insignificant things! If you think that those things are wrong, you can choose not to do them. But not doing them doesn’t mean that you are abiding by the truth principles, and being uneasy doesn’t mean that you have violated the truth principles. Why are you repenting? Why are you turning yourself around? Is it because your notions and imaginings are causing you to mistakenly believe that those are behaviors you’re not supposed to engage in, or is it because you think that your behaviors go against God’s words and the truth principles? If they go against the truth principles, and you really do feel uneasy, then you should hurry to reverse your course and repent to God. This uneasiness at the very least is the reprimanding of the conscience of humanity. If you feel uneasy merely because you have gone against your own notions and imaginings, aren’t you indulging in unnecessary feelings? (Yes.) This is purely indulging in unnecessary feelings and it is redundant. How come you don’t feel uneasy when you follow antichrists? How come you don’t feel reproached for that? When you see evil people disrupting and disturbing the church’s work and damaging the interests of God’s house, and you do not stand up to stop them, do you feel uneasy? When you speak and act in violation of the truth principles and based on your own will, do you feel uneasy? If you have violated the truth principles in these matters and yet you never feel uneasy about it, then you do not even have humanity, nor do you have a conscience. And if you have no conscience, what things will make you feel uneasy? Your uneasiness is purely you indulging in unnecessary feelings. It is your own notions and imaginings that are tormenting you and making you feel uneasy—there is no use in that. What will the end result be of you believing in God within your own notions and imaginings? You will only become more and more hypocritical and more and more like the Pharisees. You will only stray further and further from God’s words and the truth principles, and it will be impossible for you to enter into the truth reality. You always feel good about yourself, but what is so good about you, exactly? You are so filled with notions and imaginings, and everything you feel has nothing to do with the truth. Your feelings of being moved and reproached, the indebtedness and remorse you feel, the repentance you think you should have, and the oaths and resolutions you make are all related to your notions and imaginings. These things are only based on your notions and imaginings and have nothing to do with the truth. Therefore, anything you do—whether it be suffering hardship and paying a price or offering things up and expending yourself, and regardless of what you expend—is in vain if it has nothing to do with the truth. Have you understood? (Yes.)