There is a type of person who, seeing that their daughter is good-looking, wants to use her to make a lot of money. So, they betroth her to a rich man and demand lots of betrothal gifts. Once they get their hands on the gifts, they start eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves. After a while, when they’ve almost spent all the money, they go back to the man’s family to ask for more. When the family says they’ve already given all the betrothal money and can’t give any more, the parents betroth the girl to another family and once again demand quite a few betrothal gifts. The first family sees that they aren’t going to let the daughter marry into their family, so they demand the betrothal gifts back. And what do those people say? “My daughter can’t marry your son because you didn’t give enough betrothal money. We shouldn’t have to return the money to you. Who told you to not give enough? You didn’t give enough money and still want to marry my daughter? No way!” After finagling the money, they start using twisted reasoning. The first family realizes they’ve encountered a swindler, a scoundrel, so they just ignore them. The second family gets taken for the same ride. The girl is betrothed to several families with much back and forth, and after all the tossing about, she ends up not getting married, but her family makes a lot of money. Is this family good? (No.) Why not? (They used their daughter’s marriage to swindle men out of their money. When asked to return it, they refused and used twisted reasoning. They have no reason at all. People like this don’t know what’s correct and what’s incorrect, and have no sense of shame, so they are bad.) They exhibit all these behaviors. They don’t know what’s correct and what’s incorrect and have no sense of shame. They spend the swindled money without feeling any self-reproach, and even eat and drink well, and live every day with a clear conscience. Tell Me, are there people like this among those who believe in God? (There probably are.) There are. These people have all kinds of swindling tactics, making it impossible to guard against them. The chaotic world of vice of nonbelievers is like this, but if someone who believes in God can swindle people this way, they are definitely not a good person. Their nature is too bad; even while believing in God, they are a disbeliever. Is this not determined by their nature? (Yes.) They don’t even believe in retribution, yet they believe in God—what sort of wretch are they? They swindle people out of their betrothal gifts and don’t let their daughter marry. This is deception. Moreover, they don’t just swindle one family, but several, and still live with a clear conscience. And they even claim to believe in God. Does God acknowledge such a person? (No.) God does not acknowledge their belief. If there are such people in God’s house, they must be cleansed away. God’s house doesn’t want such people. Swindlers cannot be changed; God does not save evil people. A swindler will swindle people wherever they go. When they come to God’s house, will they deceive the brothers and sisters? Will they deceive God’s house? They certainly will. Will God save such a person? God will not save them. What kind of people are swindlers? To be precise, they are non-humans. Non-humans are people without conscience and reason. So, will such a person go around swindling people while believing in God? They certainly will. If they claim to believe in God, some brothers and sisters will treat them with love, helping them with their difficulties and giving to them in their need. But eventually, as time goes by, they discover that this person doesn’t pursue the truth at all and is a swindler. Haven’t they been taken for a ride? Therefore, one must know how to discern swindlers to avoid being taken for a ride. This is to protect the brothers and sisters from being taken for a ride. If such a person is discovered, they should be cleared out, because they have a bad reputation and are capable of doing any bad thing—they are a scoundrel in society. How can a scoundrel attain salvation? Scoundrels are not allowed to exist within the church. They are not fit to live among God’s chosen people. They should be cleared out; they are unworthy of remaining in God’s house.

There are also some people who especially love to borrow things from others. Whether it’s food, clothing, tools, computers, or furniture, they borrow everything—even money, jewelry, and cars. Some have their own money but don’t buy things themselves; they just like to borrow from others, intentionally taking advantage of them. For example, some people borrow a car to go out, and don’t refuel it when they use up all the gas. Some even borrow a car and don’t return it, waiting until the owner comes and asks for it before giving it back. Some people borrow tools, and don’t get them fixed for the owner when they break them, not even offering a word of apology. Some people borrow money and spend it all, with no intention of paying it back, as if it were their own. They just hope the lender forgets about it, which would be just what they want, intentionally taking advantage. They use others’ money for business, on food, drink, and entertainment, while saving their own to earn interest or invest in stocks. When asked when they’ll pay the money back, they say, “I’ll pay it back when I have money. How can I pay it back when I don’t have any now!” See? Their true colors are exposed, right? It was their intention all along to never pay it back. What kind of person is this? This is a scoundrel. Others, seeing that someone has a nice watch, ask to borrow it for a few days, and end up getting the watch all dirty. When the owner comes to get it back, they get upset and say, “You’re so stingy! I’ve only had it for a few days and you’re already asking for it back!” What kind of mentality is this? Always wanting to appropriate others’ good things for themselves. Is this not being greedy? They feel that borrowing things is perfectly legitimate, so they’re always looking for opportunities to borrow from others. No matter what they borrow, they never want to return it, hoping to appropriate the things for themselves. What kind of person is this? (This is a ruffian and a scoundrel; this is a non-human.) There are too many scoundrels and beasts like this among nonbelievers; they are all people who cannot be reasoned with, so we won’t talk about them. But are there people like this among those who believe in God? If people like this get into the church, doesn’t that mean ruffians and scoundrels have gotten in? (Yes.) Scoundrels like this believe in God just to gain blessings. When they interact with the brothers and sisters, they always have a mentality of taking advantage of them. They’re always on the lookout for who among the brothers and sisters has money, who has influence, or whose family has nice things, and they specifically target these people. They use whomever they can and interact with whoever is easy to take advantage of. They’re always borrowing things from the brothers and sisters and telling them what to do under the banner of “brothers and sisters are one family,” and even demand that the brothers and sisters host them. Some brothers and sisters who have just started believing in God don’t understand the truth and have no discernment, so they treat such a person as a brother or sister, feeling it would be awkward to refuse them. But as time goes by, they find that this person is mooching off them in their home and won’t leave, eating endlessly whenever they see good food, and helping themselves to nice things as they please. Moreover, this person doesn’t pursue the truth or do their duty in the slightest, thinking only of taking advantage all day long. So, they become repulsed by them. Seeing that there are such people in God’s house, some even develop notions about God, thinking to themselves, “How could God choose such a person?” In fact, such a person was not chosen by God; rather, they wormed their way into the church. The people who preached the gospel to them didn’t know their true background, and the church accepted them. Situations like this do happen. God absolutely does not choose such scoundrels and non-humans. If such evil people and scoundrels are discovered, they should be shunned and rejected. Don’t treat them as brothers and sisters; they are just freeloaders. If you treat such a scoundrel as a brother or sister and think they are someone chosen by God, then your comprehension is distorted. The people God chooses are, at the very least, those with good humanity who are able to accept the truth. God would absolutely never choose scoundrels and evil people, because God does not save scoundrels and evil people; God does not want such people. Even if such people come to believe in God, they will still be revealed and eliminated by Him. Do you understand now? (Yes.) People become thoroughly repulsed after dealing with such individuals, and detest and are disgusted by them. So, if they were to associate with God, could God possibly like such people? The answer is obvious: God absolutely does not like such people, nor would He ever choose them. God’s house doesn’t need such people doing duties, and they aren’t competent for any work. They are just hoodlums, people who are just drifting along aimlessly. They come to God’s house just to freeload. They think that people who believe in God are all guileless, particularly genuine and loving, and willing to help others. They think that even if the believers lend them money, they’ll feel it’s too awkward to ask for it back, and that even if they don’t return the money, the believers won’t report them. They think these people are the easiest to take advantage of. And since they don’t want to work a job, they just borrow money from the brothers and sisters. They can get by without working a job, and the brothers and sisters can help if they run into difficulties. Not only is their rent taken care of, but their spending money is also covered, and they go through their days worry-free. Some brothers and sisters have no discernment and actually end up maintaining such people’s livelihood, truly letting them take advantage and exploit loopholes. Is this not because they have no discernment? (Yes.) People are too foolish and have no discernment of others, so they sometimes do some foolish things. Do you know how to discern such people now? (Yes.) Since you can discern them, you should cleanse such people away. They are not God’s chosen people, so there is no need to show them any love. They always want to get something for nothing and reap where they have not sown—they are hoodlums! On what grounds should they spend your hard-earned money? On what grounds should they use your things as they please? Tolerating and indulging such a person, and even maintaining their livelihood—this is not your God-given duty, nor is it the commission and mission God has entrusted to you. You have no responsibility or obligation whatsoever to show them love. Showing love to true brothers and sisters is in accordance with the principles and God’s requirements; this is your responsibility and obligation. Providing for, helping, and supporting true brothers and sisters, even with financial and material aid, is all in accordance with God’s intentions. These are good deeds, and they are remembered by God. But as for these non-humans, there is no need to be polite, nor is there any need to act with love toward them. Love, tolerance, and patience are meant for true brothers and sisters. For non-humans, for ruffians, scoundrels, and hoodlums, there is no need to show love, tolerance, or patience. This is the principle. For a hoodlum, a freeloader who doesn’t have a sense of shame and doesn’t know what’s correct and what’s incorrect, if you blindly show them patience and love, that is foolish and unprincipled, and God does not remember it in the least. Your doing these things has nothing to do with the truth; it is not accepted by God, and is done in vain.

Some people frequently attack the brothers and sisters, attack leaders and workers, attack God’s house, and even attack God and pass judgment on God, and pass judgment on the work arrangements of God’s house. And what is their pretext for doing this? “I’m fair in what I do. I have no other intentions. I’m saying these things and doing this with an attitude of seeking the truth and being earnest!” They sound quite reasonable and speak with an air of righteousness. In fact, every word they say and everything they do is not in accord with the truth and is the result of their erroneous thoughts and views; moreover, it all causes disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work, yet they think, “What I’m doing is right. I’m in the right. You can’t condemn me!” They believe in God, yet they attack Him. Their hearts are full of defiance and resentment toward God, and they even belittle and look down on Him, yet they don’t realize this is wrong, and instead do it as if it were the right thing, as if it were their duty and obligation. Among corrupt humankind, such people can be said to have the most serious problems. Their manifestations and revelations are not the typical erroneous thoughts and views or ways of handling things commonly seen in normal people, nor are they defects of humanity. Rather, what do they involve? (They involve God and the work of God’s house.) They involve one’s attitude toward positive things and involve one’s attitude toward God. These manifestations of theirs do not simply involve relationships between people or people’s ways and means of handling things; they involve the relationship between people and God, and involve how people treat God and people’s attitude toward Him. Not only do these people not have the slightest submission in their attitude toward God, but in their hearts, they also often attack, pass judgment on, and condemn all of God’s work and words that do not conform to human notions. They even deny that all of God’s words are the truth, and can push away all the work arrangements of God’s house. Outwardly, they do not spread any arguments or statements in an overt and blatant manner, nor do they incite people in an overt and blatant manner, but deep in their hearts, they often harbor thoughts and views of passing judgment on God, condemning God, and attacking God, so from time to time, they spread some erroneous thoughts and views that pass judgment on God, spreading negativity and death to disturb people’s hearts and drive them away from God. The essence of these people is that of antichrists. Antichrists have so many fallacious thoughts and views in their hearts. Although they dare not express them brazenly in the open, these things are naturally revealed when they interact with people behind the scenes. Tell Me, do such people have problems? (Yes.) What kind of problem? (Such people have the essence of devils, because there is no bad blood between God and them, and God expresses so many truths to save people, yet they constantly attack and pass judgment on Him. They hate the truth and hate God in their hearts—they have the essence of devils.) You see, I am preaching here, and while everyone is listening, some people ponder deep down how they can properly understand and accept it: “What is the topic of today’s sermon? How should I check myself against these exposed manifestations of corruption and come to know myself?” Theirs is an attitude of acceptance. These people with an attitude of acceptance, who live within the conscience and reason of normal humanity, often gain some enlightenment and light. Deep in their hearts, they do not push away God’s work or positive things. It’s just that because of their poor caliber, they are a bit slow to comprehend the truth, and sometimes their state is wrong because they are controlled by their corrupt dispositions. However, their hearts are striving toward the truth, and their relationship with God is normal most of the time. It’s just that sometimes, when disturbed by their corrupt dispositions, they develop a negative state and aren’t so close to God. But in their hearts, they do not scrutinize or question God, nor do they resist or exclude Him, much less do they have an attitude of belittling God, mocking God, or taking pleasure at His expense. But there’s another group of people who are different. No matter what topic I talk about, they do not listen to the sermon with a mentality of thirsting for the truth and of submitting to and accepting it. Instead, they listen with a mentality of scrutinizing and questioning: “Why are you saying this? What is your purpose in saying these things? Who are you trying to expose and reveal? Or who are you trying to attack and condemn? What does this have to do with me?” If others are able to accept it and apply it to themselves, they feel peeved. If they discover that someone finds these truths to be beyond them and can’t apply them to themselves, they feel very pleased and have a great sense of accomplishment: “Finally, I get to gloat over God! Finally, I’ve got something on Him!” They often listen to sermons with this kind of mentality. Especially when some content that is spoken about targets their states and manifestations, their attitude is not one of acceptance; they cannot humble themselves and approach it correctly. Instead, they feel resistance, repulsion, and loathing in their hearts. They feel that what I’m saying is just lecturing and spouting high-sounding words. They don’t want to listen and can’t take it in. Especially when their sore spots and weaknesses are touched upon, they feel even more repulsion and loathing, and are extremely uncomfortable inside. Their discomfort doesn’t come from remorse or sadness from the fact that they have corrupt dispositions, but rather from their resistance to and rejection of the method and language used to expose them, as well as the content of the exposure and their own exposed essence. Under typical circumstances, when a normal person takes on an item of church work, as long as they accept the work arrangements or the provision and guidance from the Above with an attitude of humility and submission, they will make some progress after a period of time. They will get the hang of it, figure out some methods, and find some principles and paths of practice. In other words, they will continuously make progress, change, and gain something. But those who harbor resistance in their hearts are different. Because their hearts are full of scrutiny, resistance, ridicule, and guardedness toward God, for them, God and the truth are the objects of their scrutiny. They do not thirst for the truth. When they do their duties, they rely on their gifts or petty cleverness to do things. As soon as they encounter problems or difficulties, they won’t seek the truth to resolve them. When it comes to matters involving the truth principles, they simply don’t have a clue. No matter what issues they’re facing, as long as they involve the truth principles, they feel they’re strenuous and taxing, and beyond their reach—like forcing a fish to live on land or forcing a pig to fly. No matter how hard such people try, they cannot reach the truth. Whatever they say, they sound like laypeople, making you doubt just whether they have ever read God’s words or fellowshipped on the truth in all their years of belief, and just whether they have ever truly lived church life. It’s simply baffling. Aren’t such people very troublesome? I have a term to describe people like this—“no spiritual aura,” meaning that even when doing the simplest thing, they can’t figure out how to do it, and can’t get the hang of it even if they exert effort. Having no spiritual aura doesn’t necessarily mean a person looks dull and sluggish. Rather, it means they are mindless when it comes to doing things. No matter what they do, they can’t find the principles or direction, and no matter how long they do it, they can’t grasp the rules involved. This is especially true for the various items of work in God’s house. Although such people may be educated, relatively young, and look intelligent, they appear particularly clumsy when performing duties and doing work in God’s house. It gets people angry just watching them; it seems baffling: “Here is a living, breathing person, educated and gifted—how can they be so incompetent at every item of work? How can they be this clumsy? It is the case that the work they did in the world wasn’t bad, so why are they so awkward and inept when doing the work of God’s house?” There’s a problem here. When such people have believed in God for three to five years, all they understand are those few words and doctrines. They just shout slogans when they speak and have absolutely no principles in their actions. After they’ve believed for seven or eight years, what they say is still the same old stuff, without the slightest progress. Like plastic flowers, they haven’t changed at all. They have no self-knowledge, no entry into God’s words, and have gained nothing. When they fellowship on the truth, it’s like they’re telling stories or talking about domestic matters—why does it sound so awkward? Others say, “We must do our duty with devotion, offer up our sincerity, and do our duty well, and expend ourselves for God.” But what do they say? “Let’s just work hard, put our all into it, and do a good job!” After believing in God for over a decade, they can’t even say the words “do one’s duty with devotion.” All they know how to say is, “Put in more effort, do more work, do things for God’s house, dedicate our lives to working for God’s house. We don’t have much, but we’ve got our strength!” These are all things laypeople say; they cannot even use spiritual terms fully. Such people have believed in God for quite a few years, at least seven or eight, or over ten years. They have been doing duties in God’s house all along and have done their fair share of listening to sermons. So why can’t they properly use spiritual terms when they speak? What are such people thinking about, preoccupied with, pondering, and considering in their hearts every day? It’s a complete mystery! If you observe them for a period of time, you will find that what they think about, ponder, and are preoccupied with every day is actually all those fleshly matters. They are narrow-minded, petty, and overly exacting, caught up all day long in who is good and who is bad, personal grudges, and other such trivial, meaningless things, which have nothing to do with the truth. Their thoughts, ideas, and viewpoints are all erroneous, preposterous, and absurd. Outwardly, such people appear educated and have caliber; some have even run businesses in society. Why is it that after they come to believe in God, they don’t seem to have the slightest bit of spiritual aura? No matter how you look at them, they just seem like a wooden figure or a robot. Why are they so clumsy no matter what duty they do? Why do spiritual terms sound so awkward coming out of their mouths? They’re not even as good as a parrot that can mimic speech. If you keep saying “Amen! Thank God!” in front of a parrot, it can learn to say it very fluently. But these people can’t even say “thank God”; they say “thanks, God.” And if you look at their principles for handling things, what they think about, calculate, and plan in their hearts every day, and what they love and are passionate about pursuing inside, have nothing whatsoever to do with positive things; they are all things of evil trends, negative things. Therefore, what these people think about in their hearts is all evil—this statement is not wrong in the slightest. Even when they fellowship in gatherings, the content of their fellowship and the thoughts and views they reveal are all distorted. They do not seek the truth in the slightest and are unable to gain any enlightenment or illumination. When others fellowship and share their personal enlightenment, illumination, and understanding of God’s words, they appear very awkward, out of place, and at a complete loss for what to do. When it comes to toiling and working, they have some strength and are willing to work hard, but if you ask them to fellowship on the truth, they can’t say a thing. No matter how many years such people believe in God, they never realize what path people should take in life or what is most valuable to pursue. A person with a bit of conscience and reason, even if they don’t believe in God, can recognize some common sense and insight that people should possess in life by the time they are fifty or sixty; at a deeper level, they can also recognize some philosophies of life. And this goes without saying for believers in God—after believing for ten or twenty years, they can understand some truths and develop true faith and a God-fearing heart. But those who do not love the truth, no matter how many years they believe in God, do not have any realization of or any feeling for matters concerning their lives, what path to take, or spiritual matters in life. Even if they live to be a hundred, they’ll only be able to say those few doctrines and cling to those few viewpoints stubbornly. Aren’t such people very troublesome? What kind of people are they? If such people have an evil humanity, they are devils and Satans. If they are not evil people but just muddleheaded, numb, and dull-witted people, what are they? (Animals.) That means they are reincarnated from animals; it’s absolutely true. Both those reincarnated from devils and those reincarnated from animals share a common trait: They do not accept the truth and are averse to the truth. So long as you fellowship on the truth, those reincarnated from devils show obvious aversion and resistance; they have clear ideas, thoughts, and views targeting each truth. Those reincarnated from animals, however, do not have clear thoughts and views; they are muddled. They just feel a repulsion in their hearts and do not accept the truth. They also have some distorted thoughts and views that are completely untenable. These are views that can’t be brought out into the open, and that no normal person would ever say, yet they treasure them dearly. In short, the manifestations of both those reincarnated from devils and those reincarnated from animals are having an attitude of extreme repulsion and loathing toward the truth: The former possess extremely subjective repulsion, loathing, and condemnation; the latter possess an absent-minded repulsion, loathing, and distancing—although it is not as radical, the nature of their attitude toward the truth is the same as that of those reincarnated from devils. Therefore, no matter how many sermons these two types of people hear, they cannot make sense of them or understand them because they simply cannot take them in. If someone has believed in God for three or five years and cannot use spiritual terms fully or well, this is excusable, because spiritual terms are very unfamiliar to everyone; they are a new type of language. When people start believing in God, they don’t understand the spiritual terms they hear very well, and many are foreign to them. But after believing in God for more than five years, because they often listen to sermons, often fellowship on the truth, and come into contact with this language, they gradually become familiar with it. They will be able to speak it with ease, fluently, naturally, and freely. They will be able to use it, and it will become their own language and a part of their life. These are the manifestations of normal people. Those who do not have the manifestations of normal people cannot achieve these things. Even when they speak some basic spiritual terms, it sounds very awkward, and it’s hard for others to understand. When you interact with such people, you’re unlikely to hear them say a single thing that is edifying to people, or that is rational or complete. Whatever they say is incomplete—it has a beginning but no end, or an end but no beginning—or else there is no logic in their thinking, just a stream of nonsense. Having lived for so long, they still don’t know how to talk. They cannot express, describe, or clearly explain what they are thinking or what they have experienced. They always speak in incomplete sentences, are always exuding foolishness, or else they are expressing distorted thoughts and views. No matter which angle you look at it from—their attitude toward God, the revelations and manifestations of their humanity in daily life, or the fact that they have gained nothing after living for so many years—such people are non-humans. Is it easy for non-humans to come to understand the truth? (No.) It is becoming clearer and clearer now that it is not easy for such people to understand the truth.

As for knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect, after discussing these examples, shouldn’t you now know how to discern what is correct and what is incorrect? Most of the examples we have discussed are negative. Through comparison with these negative examples, people should basically know which things are positive things. Anyone who possesses the qualities of humanity has an awareness of such negative things. Therefore, a normal person would only do such things under special circumstances, and after doing them, they would feel upset and pained, and have an attitude of repentance. But non-humans are different. Even if they do these things for a hundred years, they won’t know they’re wrong; they will still think they are right and persist to the end. If you expose that what they are doing is wrong, they will retort, “On what grounds do you say that what I’m doing is wrong? I’ve been doing this for so many years, and no one has ever said I’m wrong!” How do you feel when you hear them say this? (I feel this person is beyond reason.) They are beyond reason. You tell them that doing this is wrong, but they do not accept it, remaining oblivious about what is correct and what is incorrect. Then, you can only be left speechless: “You’re impossible to reason with; I’m finished with this conversation!” Are you clear now on the manifestations of non-humans? (Yes.) Non-humans do not understand matters of life, matters of feelings, how to conduct themselves and handle things, or matters involving integrity and dignity; it could also be said that these things are beyond them. With a clear conscience they choose those erroneous thoughts, views, and methods to treat people and things, and to conduct themselves and act. Moreover, they persist blindly and believe that doing so is right. This reveals that there is absolutely no conscience or reason in their humanity. So, it’s obvious that these people do not possess the qualities of humanity; it can only be said that they are non-humans. They do not possess a shred of conscience or reason, and live entirely by Satan’s philosophies, thinking they are quite something and capitulating to no one. After coming to believe in God, if these people expend themselves a little for God, they then think they are people who love God and submit to Him. Such people may claim they love God, but in their hearts, they still harbor notions about Him, and when they see God doing things that do not accord with their notions, they can still pass judgment on and resist God. In such circumstances they even have the gall to shamelessly declare that they are the ones who love God the most. Are they not beyond reason? There are so many people like this in religion. They speak about the Bible and outwardly seem to understand all doctrines, yet they cannot recognize the truth expressed by God. While believing in the Lord Jesus, they condemn the incarnate God. People believe in God yet resist Him, and can even try to catch Him out and attack Him. They are always trying to scheme against God, always wanting to pass judgment on God, always wanting to evaluate whether God’s words are right or wrong, to evaluate whether God’s actions are right or wrong, and to scrutinize whether God is right or wrong. Do such people have any conscience or reason? You believe in God, eat and drink His words, and enjoy so much of His grace and so many of His blessings, yet so long as you discover God doing something that does not accord with your notions, you dare to pass judgment on God, resist God, and condemn God. This is being beyond reason. People who are beyond reason are non-humans; they are not fit to believe in God and not fit to come before God.

Alright, that’s all for our fellowship today. Goodbye!

April 27, 2024