In real life, people often encounter some lecherous and licentious individuals. After we’ve fellowshipped these words today, since you’ve gained discernment regarding this type of person and know they’re not normal people but devils, when they try to seduce you, you can firmly reject them. Do not reject them implicitly and tactfully, or feel too embarrassed to reject them, or even fear such people. Of course, if you don’t care whether they are a devil, and you say, “I’m already in my thirties or forties and haven’t yet experienced marriage; if someone really has this kind of need for me, I’d be happy to accept,” then, since you don’t care what consequences might arise, nor about psychological scars, I will say no more. My purpose in saying this is to let some foolish people, who have no guardedness or precautions against the seduction of the opposite sex, know what correct attitude they should adopt when temptation befalls them. If you don’t care that someone is lecherous and licentious, don’t care that they are a devil, and feel greatly honored simply because they like you—just like the nonbelievers’ saying goes: “A man lays down his life for someone who understands him, while a woman dolls herself up for her admirer”—and you think, “As a woman, if someone truly likes me, it shows my looks are acceptable, so I should feel extremely honored. Let him come at me boldly, then; I welcome it, and will embrace him with open arms”—how is this kind of attitude? Tell Me, is the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” respectful toward women? (No.) A man must sacrifice his life for those who understand him, and a woman must doll herself up for her admirer—is this saying correct? (No.) Why are women so debased? Men are debased too. So men have to lay down their lives for others. Whoever is your confidant is your master, for whom you must sacrifice your life—why is your life so worthless? Could it be that your life belongs to others and not yourself? God treasures human life most, because this life, this breath, is given by God; it is the basic condition for created flesh to be able to move and become a living being. If you do not cherish your life, but casually give it over to others and sacrifice it for them, what does this show? Does it not show that you are debased? (Yes.) It shows your life is not worth anything. You do not cherish your life, you do not use your life to do the most meaningful and valuable things, but can casually die for whoever understands you. This shows your life is too cheap; it’s just a rotten life, as worthless as the life of a dog, a cat, or a chicken. So, is the saying, “A man lays down his life for someone who understands him,” correct? (No.) This saying degrades people, disrespects people; it is a saying that does not cherish life. Readily dying for others—does human life come easily? Life does not come easily; one cannot just die so readily. Therefore, the saying, “A man lays down his life for someone who understands him,” is incorrect and untenable. Then is the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” correct? (It is also not correct.) In what way is it incorrect? Did you once really like this saying, really approve of it, even regarding it as truth, as a motto? Has there ever been someone who admired you? If the person admiring you was someone you liked, did you feel honored? (Not exactly honored, perhaps happy inside.) Then that’s not far from feeling honored. Is this happiness good? (No.) Why not? (For a woman to dress up for a man’s appreciation and fondness, living just for men, putting all her thoughts into this—I feel that living like this is quite debased.) Are there differing views? The saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” itself places women in an unequal position to men. It requires women to doll themselves up to please men, to live for the sake of men’s happiness, and to feel honored whenever someone likes and admires them. This is unequal; this itself is a true reflection of the low status of women. The implication of the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is that whether a woman is liked by others because of her good looks, or attracts men’s fondness because she knows how to adorn herself to be pleasing to the eye, she should feel happy and honored because of it. This itself is a degradation of women. This saying tells women that the value of their existence, the source of their happiness, is for there to be someone who likes them, and that if there isn’t, they should feel unfortunate and upset, and must reflect on why no one likes them, and on whether, as women, they are living a worthless and failed life. So, isn’t the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” a degradation of women? (Yes.) In the phrase “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” doesn’t the admirer usually refer to a man? This saying itself places men in the position of masters, above women. It means that a woman should feel honored that a man—a master—likes and appreciates her. If a man—a master—doesn’t like her, then there is something wrong with her, she is not lovable, she is a failure in life, and she is not qualified to be a woman. You see, this imperceptibly elevates men’s status, allowing them to step on women’s necks and tower over them. This is where the error in the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” lies. In addition, do men like women merely for their appearance and adornments? Or do they like women just because they see that they are gentle, virtuous, dignified, and graceful? Do men like women merely to please their eyes? (No, it’s to satisfy the sexual desire of the flesh.) Then what is the purpose of women trying to please men and make them happy? (It’s also to indulge the sexual desire of the flesh.) That is, both men and women have needs when it comes to each other, and the most basic of these needs is that of the sexual desire of the flesh. A man’s need for a woman is not just about liking her appearance, but, based on that, obtaining her in a physical manner—to put it more bluntly, obtaining her body to satisfy his own sexual desire. Therefore, the purpose behind the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is actually to satisfy men’s sexual desire. It requires women to not only make their appearance and adornments pleasing to men, but to also satisfy men’s sexual desire. Isn’t that such a lowly way to live? If women still think this saying is correct, that it’s something they should achieve and adhere to, then women are degrading themselves. Men have sexual needs toward women and want to play with their bodies; if women, instead of finding this despicable and hateful, still doll themselves up for their admirers, feeling it’s the greatest honor of their lives, the utmost honor, then aren’t they degrading themselves? (Yes.) This is completely depriving women of their rights. Not only does it deprive women of their right to exist, their dignity, and their human rights, but it also makes them think it’s the greatest honor. Isn’t this cruel? It’s utterly cruel! Besides having no autonomy and no human rights whatsoever, a woman’s happiness, joy, and delight can only be achieved on the basis of pleasing men and fully satisfying them. No matter what kind of inhuman treatment women suffer, they are required to still take pride in it. Isn’t this abusing and ravaging women? Whether modern or ancient women, they all take the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” as their motto, as their life goal. Isn’t this completely wrong? Isn’t this a trick Satan uses to abuse and mislead people? (Yes.) If you are a woman, and a man takes pleasure in you, his heart filled with wicked lust for you, would you feel disgusted or extremely honored if you knew? (Disgusted.) When he thinks of you, he thinks only of your body, and your appearance, while also releasing his own sexual desire. The more pleasure he takes in you, the more filled with sexual desire he is for you; what gets stirred up in him when it comes to you are entirely lustful thoughts. He even tries every means to get hold of you so he can enjoy your body, fully satisfy his sexual desire, and release his sexual desire. If you knew he had such intentions toward you, would you still think the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is correct? Would you still feel it’s an honor to be liked and appreciated by someone? (No.) If you are a woman with a sense of shame, and dignity, then you should be disgusted by this saying, and loathe and reject being liked by such people. Only by living this way do you have dignity. Someone who truly enjoys and appreciates you does so because of the quality of your character, your pursuits, because you understand the truth, and they also want to gain something edifying from you and receive help from you—not because they want to appreciate your body to indulge and satisfy their sexual desire. If someone appreciates you regardless of your character or whether you pursue the truth or not, and only because your appearance and figure are pleasing to the eye and can fully satisfy their sexual desire, and yet you feel no repulsion or loathing toward this, instead feeling that they like you—in particular, because they have made physical advances toward you, you even more so feel that they like you—and you even feel honored by this, then you are degrading yourself. If, no matter who has any designs on or wicked intentions toward your body, you don’t care, and as long as they like you, you consider it your special honor and feel honored by it, then you are not someone with integrity and dignity, nor are you a good woman. Suppose that someone has sexual needs toward you and you feel you’ve found someone who understands you, and also found an opportunity to release sexual desire; it takes two to tango, and you two get together because you’re cut from the same foul cloth. In that case, you are someone without any integrity and dignity, unworthy of being liked; you are the same type as lecherous and licentious people. If you truly are a woman with dignity, you should feel loathing, repulsion, and disgust at being liked by such lecherous and licentious people. Of course, if the reason someone likes you is truly because of your humanity, your pursuits, or because you have a certain strength, that is nothing worth feeling honored about either. The purpose of people saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is definitely not as simple as a man appreciating a woman. It absolutely places men in a position where they tower over women. More precisely, this saying arose under the ethos that men are superior and women are inferior. In addition, the reality is that women are a vulnerable group under any social system, viewed as appendages and playthings of men. Therefore, the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is absolutely a disgrace to all women. If women particularly approve of this saying, it is a sorrow for women, and one should feel contempt for all women who approve of it. Then should men approve of the viewpoint “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer”? (No.) If a man sees a woman dolling herself up for her admirer, doesn’t he feel such a woman lives in a very degrading way, and won’t he also look down on such a woman? (Yes.)

Do you now see clearly whether the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” is correct or not? (It’s incorrect.) This saying is not a positive thing, nor is it a correct thought or viewpoint. Look in the Bible and in the words expressed by God—is there any sentence telling women they should doll themselves up for those who admire them? Is there any sentence that divides the status of men and women into levels, saying that men are above women? No, there isn’t. What is recorded in the Book of Genesis in the Bible is that woman is bone of man’s bones and flesh of his flesh. Men and women are both human beings created by God; they are equal before God, with no division of levels, no distinction between superior and inferior. Dividing people into superior and inferior and distinguishing levels of status is something Satan does; it is real proof of Satan’s oppression and persecution of women. Ever since God created humankind in the beginning, men and women have been equal in God’s eyes. Both are created beings and objects of God’s salvation. God has never said that men are superior and women are inferior, nor has He said that men should be the head of women or their masters, that men should tower above women, that men should take precedence over women in any work, or that men have their own opinions and are the mainstays while women should listen more to men. God has never said such things. It is only because of Satan’s corruption that sayings about men being superior and women being inferior arose among people, and then this trend formed throughout society and all of humankind, constantly suppressing women under male authority. Due to a lack of understanding of the truth, after women are influenced and misled by all kinds of evil trends of Satan, they feel they are secondary to men or lower in status than men. That is why, right up to the present day, many women still believe that the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is correct. This is a very sad thing. If people do not understand the truth, they are still misled and controlled by various thoughts and viewpoints of Satan in many specific matters. Even this small matter is very illustrative, is it not? (Yes.) What is the reason women willingly degrade themselves? It is that the overall societal environment makes it so that women cannot have equal status with men, and so that women must give way to men and create favorable conditions for them, and must also make many sacrifices and pay a great price to satisfy men. This is caused by society, by the various evil trends led by Satan. So now, after understanding the truth in this regard, isn’t there a definite conclusion concerning the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer”? (Yes.) This saying is fallacious and does not conform to the truth, right? (Yes.) After hearing the actual situation, don’t women feel they have lived very aggrieved and stifled lives all these years? Then should women still doll themselves up for their admirers? (No.) As members of created humankind, women differ from men only in gender and physiology; in other aspects, there are no differences at all. In God’s eyes, men and women have no differences in status whatsoever. God has never, under any circumstances, made requirements of women that differ from those He makes of men. In aspects such as the number of people God chooses, the hope of salvation, their opportunities to perform duties, the duties they can perform, and the work they can do, women are basically equal to men; women are not lesser than men. This is the actual situation.

We previously spoke about the manifestations of the lecherousness, licentiousness, and provocativeness of those wicked people who have the nature essence of devils, and also about how to treat wicked people if one encounters them when it comes to entering into romantic relationships or seeking a partner. Do you hope to meet such a person to experience a bout of romance, act carefree once, and indulge yourself once? (No.) Then do you hope to meet your dream lover, your soulmate, your Mister or Miss Right? (No.) Whether you hope for it or not doesn’t matter. What’s key is that you must have discernment regarding these lecherous, licentious, and provocative people whose nature essence is wicked, and you must stay away from them. In the words of nonbelievers, most of these people are seasoned players, rakish and romantic. Most adults should be able to recognize this type of person when they encounter them; perhaps after a couple of interactions, most adults will know they are this type. This kind of person is indiscriminate when hitting on people; no matter how old you are, as long as you’re reasonably good-looking, they might hit on you, causing you to fall into their trap without the slightest awareness of what’s going on. They always speak tender, gentle words to you, and show you concern, care, and consideration. They find opportunities to make eyes at you, serve you tea or water, and sometimes even buy you small gifts, chocolates, and so on. When you are completely unguarded, they breach your defenses and enter your heart. Unconsciously, you have only to think of them and you feel butterflies in your stomach; if you don’t see them for a few days, you feel like something is missing, thinking, “No one around me cares for me like they do. It seems I’ve fallen in love with them. Have they fallen in love with me too?” What kind of state is this? (Falling into temptation.) Some seasoned players are adept at reeling others in by letting them go; after showing concern for you for a period and whetting your appetite, they then ghost you, getting you to take the bait yourself. When you realize you’ve fallen in love with them and can’t live without them, you’ve fallen into the snare of love, and you’ve become bewitched. Once bewitched, you are completely captured by them. What is this snare of love that people fall into? It’s not familial affection, friendship, or the care and love between people, but the net of sexual desire. Once you fall into the snare of sexual desire, you can easily lose control. More than ninety-five percent of people, especially young people, cannot overcome it and cannot escape such a trap. What should be done then? Since you know it’s very hard to escape such a trap, don’t let yourself fall into it. Do everything possible to stay away from the people, things, or environments that could lead you into the trap. Keep your distance for a period, and pray to God and read God’s words. Gradually, your sexual needs will fade and disappear, the trap will no longer have a hold on you, and you will have basically overcome this temptation. However, it’s unknown how you will fare next time you encounter such temptations and traps, whether you will be able to overcome them. The only way is to frequently come before God to pray and seek the truth, and stay away from various temptations. Of course, equipping yourself with the truth and understanding the truth are the most fundamental things. But equipping yourself with the truth is not simple; it requires you to undergo some experiences, and your stature doesn’t grow that quickly, so your defenses in various aspects cannot be established so fast either. What should be done then? You must often live before God, have the guidance of God’s words, the work of the Holy Spirit, and God’s protection. With all these things in place, plus your personal resolve, you will have defensive measures when faced with such temptations. Additionally, when you know the nature of the matter and the consequences it will bring, you will consciously avoid such environments, which will prove you have the resolve to reject such temptations. God will then, because of your attitude and your subjective desire, help you escape such temptations. If you encounter such an environment and feel aversion and hatred in your heart but don’t know how to refuse, then pray to God, asking Him to protect you and remove such an environment for you. When you have such supplications and wishes, perhaps, due to the needs of church work, the person who poses a dangerous temptation to you will be moved away, making it inconvenient for them to contact you again, and you won’t encounter them anymore. This is God helping you; it is God’s protection. Because God sees your personal desire, attitude, determination, and resolve, He will proactively and thoroughly help you fulfill your wish, achieving the result of protecting you. When this person leaves and no longer harasses you, you might feel a bit empty inside, think it’s a bit of pity they left, and even fantasize, “If they were still here, could we get along well?” Occasionally, such thoughts might arise, but with God’s protection, you ultimately are kept away from temptation. Unconsciously, this matter gradually fades in your heart, it gradually recedes from you, and over time you regain your peace, returning to your former state of life and normal mentality. At this point, the matter comes to a close. It hasn’t posed any threat or disturbance to you, but instead has become powerful evidence and testimony of your victory over Satan and your shunning and rejection of the devil. Isn’t this very good? (Yes.) When this temptation was about to pose a threat to you, at that dangerous moment, because of your attitude and cooperation, God protected you. God set up a suitable environment for you, allowing you to stand firm. This promotes the growth of your stature; it will increase your faith, increase your resolve and desire to practice the truth, give you motivation, and allow your stature to grow. If, when this temptation befalls you, you are unwilling to reject or avoid it, lack the willingness to practice the truth, just let it freely develop, and are willing to accept this temptation, even willing to accept the devil’s harassment and entanglement, and you increasingly enjoy such a state, are increasingly willing to live in such an environment, and you don’t actively pray to God asking Him to remove such an environment—seeing that your attitude toward this matter is like this, God will not force you. In God’s actions, He never compels anyone. Since you like this person so much, since you feel they can bring you such great happiness and joy, giving you pleasure, God will not deprive you of such joy and happiness, nor will God move this person away. As for the consequences, you alone must bear them. What will happen is that you’ll gradually fall into the temptation and lustful entanglement of devils, of wicked, lecherous, and licentious people, eventually losing the reproach of your conscience and God’s presence. After enjoying the happiness and joy of indulging sexual desires of the flesh, you feel no shame and cannot tear yourself away from such temptation—this is called abandoning yourself to depravity. You feel you are the happiest person, you greatly enjoy this happiness and joy, feel fortunate to have such happiness and joy, and are very satisfied being trapped in such a snare of love. What could God still do or say, then? God won’t give you any hints, won’t warn you about anything, and won’t do anything. Just go ahead and enjoy yourself. The ultimate consequences for those trapped in the snare of sexual desires are predictable. No one who falls into the snare of love ends up happy or joyful; on the contrary, the outcome can only be painful and tragic. You alone must bear such consequences, and you deserve to bear them. Does God act with principles? (Yes.) God respects your choices. Don’t think, “God will keep an eye on me and keep me in check; He will not let me date, nor let me satisfy my sexual needs.” You’re mistaken; God does not interfere with you. What God wants to do is protect you from falling into temptation, from being misled by evil people, from being ravaged and grievously harmed by Satan. But if you choose to go along with Satan, God says that is your freedom and your choice; as long as you are willing, as long as you don’t regret it, God will not compel you; you alone reap what you sow, and when the time comes and you’re crying miserably, don’t complain that God didn’t remind you, and don’t complain that God didn’t protect you. God wants to protect you, God wants you to stay away from temptation, but you refuse. If God were to move away the person you like, the person with whom you are entangled in the snare of love, you would go looking for them, you would act like you were crazy, you would lose control, you would complain about God, berate God for being inconsiderate of your feelings and not understanding your difficulties. So God won’t do that; God won’t make people do things they’re unwilling to do. Since you chose that path yourself, you alone must bear the terrible consequences that arise in the end. No one will take the hit for you. Is this matter clear now? (Yes.)

If some people come up against the entanglements of devils and Satans—of wicked people—and do not refuse them but are willing to spend their lives with them, this is their own choice. When it eventually results in bitter consequences, they shouldn’t blame others; they can only hate themselves for being too debased and too deviant, and should slap their own faces and curse themselves. Whatever bitter fruit you ultimately reap has nothing to do with God. Don’t say, “Why didn’t God protect me? Why didn’t God stop me back then?” I tell you, God has no such obligation; He has already clearly told you what He should say to you. You are a person with the ability to think independently; God has given you free will, and you have the right to choose freely. Therefore, God gives you the right to choose when you encounter anything. Since you have the right to choose, the bitter fruit you ultimately reap stems from your own choice, so you should not complain about God or shift blame wherever you can. The work God does is to tell you the truth and show you the path to salvation. As for whether you choose to follow God or follow Satan, that is up to you. If you are a blessed person and willing to pursue the truth, then follow God. If you do not love the truth, but rather love the world and love wickedness—if yours is just a worthless life—then choose to follow Satan; no one is stopping you. To this day, some people still misunderstand God and God’s house, always complaining, “I’m already in my thirties or forties, I haven’t dated or gotten married—God’s house doesn’t allow it!” When has God’s house ever restricted people from dating or marrying? This is your freedom; God’s house does not interfere. However, there is one condition: If you do so, then you cannot do duty in a full-time duty church, because being in a romantic relationship and no longer having the mind to do your duty will impede the church’s work. If you truly want to date and marry, then first hand over the work you’re responsible for, and we will temporarily part ways. Is everyone clear on the principles in this regard? (Yes.) If someone wants to date or marry, that is perfectly fine; no one restricts it. However, indiscriminately hitting on the opposite sex and disturbing church life is not acceptable. Those who indiscriminately hit on others are devils; they are wicked, lecherous, and licentious people, and God’s house absolutely does not permit the presence of such people. This type of person indiscriminately hits on and harasses others regardless of whichever group of people they find themselves in. Like a scourge, they cause panic and always make people feel restless and uneasy. Wherever they live church life, their disturbances create a foul atmosphere and turn the church into a disordered mess. Not only do they sabotage the church’s work, but they also disturb the normal order of the brothers and sisters doing their duties. Such people must be strictly watched over and restricted, and those who cause serious impact must be isolated or cleared out. Some people say, “I’ve only harmed a few people—that’s not a big problem, is it?” If you can harm a few, you’re also capable of harming dozens. This is just the sort of wretched thing you are. Recklessly hitting on others and inappropriately releasing sexual desire in the church—thus harming people—is unacceptable. If you want to hit on people, go to the places of debauchery of the nonbelieving world; no one restricts you there. But God’s house, the place where brothers and sisters do their duties, is solemn, quiet, and sacred; it does not permit any devils or Satans to disturb or sabotage it. If anyone wants to turn the church into a place for dating or promiscuousness, indulging sexual desire at will, that is absolutely unacceptable! This is the church, the site of God’s work, the place where the Holy Spirit works to cleanse and perfect people. Whether man or woman, everyone must be dignified and decent, and attend to proper work. Indiscriminately hitting on others is not allowed, nor is inappropriately releasing sexual desire. If you cannot control your sexual desire and just want to release it, then choose a suitable person to marry; don’t indiscriminately hit on others within the church. Anyone who indiscriminately hits on others and arouses outrage from the brothers and sisters should be quickly cleared out or expelled, lest they continue to disturb church life. Understood? (Understood.) There must be boundaries between men and women. If a man always hangs around groups of women, not for work reasons, nor because there are important matters that must be attended to, but to show himself off among women, release sexual desire, and indiscriminately hit on them, this is harassment. If a woman, with or without a cause, always hangs around groups of men, always recklessly hitting on them, making eyes at them and flaunting her charms, she too should be dealt with as a devil. If you are discussing or fellowshipping work normally, this is acceptable, but indiscriminately hitting on and flirting with others is not. Any such behavior that causes a commotion constitutes disturbing church life and wrecking the normal order of church work, and is not permitted in God’s house. Everyone should reject and stay away from these lecherous, licentious, sexually provocative devils. When most people rise up to reject, expose, and shun them, ensuring their attempts to hit on others fail and making it so they don’t get their way in any situation, they will gradually stop what they’re doing. If they cannot do their duty normally, and they just recklessly hit on and disturb others whenever they have an idle moment, run around engaging in romantic relationships, and enjoy the feeling of being in a romantic relationship, then clear them out immediately. Quickly cut the Gordian knot and deal with these promiscuous individuals—do not give them any opportunities to disturb people. Through our fellowship, is this matter clear now? (Yes.) Have you gained anything? Do you have a path of practice? Do you now have discernment regarding this type of lecherous and licentious person? (Yes.) Are you clear on how to conduct yourselves, how to keep to your proper place, and how to do what you ought to do within normal humanity? (Yes.) Within this, there are truths people should understand and principles of discernment they should be clear on, and of course, there are also truth principles people should practice and paths they should take. With these all made clear, this matter has been fully laid out.

That’s all for our fellowship today. Goodbye!

February 11, 2024