How to Know God’s Disposition and the Result of His Work | Eastern Lightning

God's Utterance "How to Know God's Disposition and the Result of His Work" (Part Two)

First, let’s sing a hymn: The Kingdom Anthem (I) The Kingdom Has Descended on the World

All people are cheering God. All people are praising God. All tongues are calling the one true God. The kingdom has come to the world.

1. All people are cheering God. All people are praising God. All tongues are calling the one true God. All people raise their eyes, watching the deeds of God. The kingdom has come to the world. God’s person is full and rich, God’s person is full and rich. Who doesn’t feel fortunate? (Who doesn’t feel fortunate?) Who wouldn’t dance for this? (Who wouldn’t dance for this?) O Zion! O Zion! Raise your flag of victory, celebrate God! Sing your song of victory, spread God’s holy name!

2. All things on the earth, make haste to cleanse yourselves, to offer sacrifice for God, to offer sacrifice for God! All stars in the sky! Return to where you were, to display God’s might in the universe! Closely God listens to people’s voices on earth; their songs saturated with endless love and respect for God. The day when all things, all things are revived, God Himself comes into the world. Just at this moment, flowers fully bloom, birds start to sing, all things rejoice! Flowers bloom, birds sing, all things rejoice! At the sound of the kingdom’s salute, the kingdom of Satan falls, shaken to pieces by the kingdom anthem, never to arise again!

3. People in the world, who dares to rise up and resist? For God has come upon the earth. Then following that, God has brought burning down, brought His wrath down, brought all disasters down, all disasters down. The kingdom of the world has become that of God! White clouds in the sky roll and billow by. Below the sky, below the sky, water in rivers and lakes toss and surge, playing a stirring, a stirring tune with joy. Nesting animals come out from their caves. All people in their sleep are woken by God. The day that all peoples have been waiting for has come in the end! They offer to God, offer to God the most beautiful songs! The most beautiful songs, offer to God!

What do you think about every time you sing this song? (Very excited; thrilled; think about how glorious the beauty of the kingdom is, and mankind and God will be joined forever.) Has anyone thought about the form man must take on in order to be with God? In your imaginations, how must a person be in order to join with God and enjoy the glorious life that follows in the kingdom? (They should have a changed disposition.) They should have a changed disposition, but changed to what extent? What will they be like after it has been changed? (They will become holy.) What is the standard for holiness? (All their thoughts and considerations are compatible with Christ.) How does such a compatibility manifest? (They don’t resist God, don’t betray God, but offer absolute obedience to God, and fear God in their hearts.) Some of your answers are on the right track. Open your hearts, all of you, and share what your heart is telling you. (People who live with God in the kingdom can do their duty, faithfully do their duty, by pursuing the truth and not being restrained by any person, event, or object. And it becomes possible to break away from the influence of darkness, align their hearts with God, and fear God and shun evil.) (Our perspective of looking at things can be aligned with God, and we can break away from the influence of darkness. The minimum standard is to not be exploited by Satan, to cast off any corrupt disposition, to achieve obedience to God. We believe that breaking away from the influence of darkness is the key point. If someone cannot break away from the influence of darkness, cannot break free from Satan’s bonds, then they have not attained God’s salvation.) (The standard for being perfected by God is man being of one heart and mind with God. Man doesn’t resist God anymore; he can know himself, put truth into practice, attain an understanding of God, love God, and align with God. That’s all one needs to do.)

The Outcome’s Weight in People’s Hearts

It seems like you have got something in your hearts about the way you should walk in and you have developed a good grasp and understanding of it. But whether everything you said turns out to be hollow words or actual reality depends on what you pay attention to in your day-to-day practice. You have reaped a harvest from all aspects of the truth over the years, both in doctrines and in the content of the truth. This proves that people nowadays put an emphasis on striving for the truth. And as a result, every aspect and every item of the truth has surely put down roots in the hearts of some people. However, what is it that I fear the most? That though the subjects of the truth, and these theories, have put down their roots, the actual content just doesn’t hold much weight in your hearts. When you encounter issues, faced with trials, faced with choices—how much will you be able to put the reality of these truths to good use? Will they help you pass through your difficulties and emerge from your trials having satisfied God’s intentions? Will you stand firm in your trials and testify loud and clear for God? Have you been interested in these matters before? Allow Me to ask you: In your hearts, in all your daily thoughts and contemplations, what is it that is most important to you? Have you ever come to a conclusion? What do you believe is the most important thing? Some people say “it’s putting truth into practice, of course”; some people say “of course it’s reading God’s word every day”; some people say “it’s placing myself before God and praying to God every day, of course”; and then there are those who say “of course it’s doing my duty properly every day”; there are some people yet who say they are only ever thinking about how to satisfy God, how to obey Him in all things, and how to act in harmony with His will. Is this how it is? Is this all there is? For example, there are some who say: “I only want to obey God, but when something happens I can’t obey Him.” Some people say: “I only want to satisfy God. Even if I could satisfy Him just once, that would be enough, but I can never satisfy Him.” And some people say: “I only want to obey God. In times of trial I only want to submit to His orchestrations, obeying His sovereignty and arrangements, without any complaints or requests. Yet almost every time I fail to be obedient.” Some other people say: “When I’m faced with decisions, I can never choose to put truth into practice. I always want to satisfy the flesh, always want to satisfy my personal selfish desires.” What’s the reason for this? Before God’s test comes, have you already challenged yourselves multiple times, and tried and tested yourselves multiple times? See if you can really obey God, really satisfy God, and be certain not to betray God. See whether you can not satisfy yourselves, not satisfy your selfish desires, but only satisfy God, devoid of your individual choices. Is anyone like that? Actually, there is only one fact that has been placed before your very eyes. It’s what every one of you is most interested in, what you most want to know, and that is the matter of everyone’s outcome and destination. You may not realize it, but this is something that no one can deny. I know there are some people who, when it comes to the truth of man’s outcome, God’s promise to humanity, and what kind of destination God intends to bring man into, have already studied God’s word on these matters several times. Then there are those who are repeatedly looking for it and thinking it over in their minds, and they still get no result, or maybe arrive at some ambiguous conclusion. In the end they still aren’t certain about what kind of outcome awaits them. When accepting communication of the truth, when accepting church life, when performing their duty, most people always want to know a definitive answer to the following questions: What will my outcome be? Can I walk the path right up to its end? What is God’s attitude toward man? Some people even worry: I’ve done some things in the past, I’ve said some things, I’ve been disobedient to God, I’ve done some things that have betrayed God, there were some matters where I did not satisfy God, hurt God’s heart, made God disappointed in me, made God hate me and loathe me, so perhaps my outcome is unknown. It’s fair to say that most people feel uneasy about their own outcome. No one dares say: “I feel with one hundred percent certainty that I will be a survivor; I am one hundred percent certain that I can satisfy God’s intentions; I am a person who is after God’s heart; I am a person who God praises.” Some people think it’s particularly hard to follow God’s way, and that putting truth into practice is the hardest thing of all. Consequently, these people think they’re beyond help, and don’t dare to get their hopes up about a good outcome. Or maybe they believe that they can’t satisfy God’s intentions, and can’t become a survivor, and because of this will say that they don’t have an outcome, and can’t attain a good destination. Regardless of how exactly people think, everyone is wondering about their outcome many times. On questions of their future, on questions of what they’ll get when God finishes His work, these people are always calculating, always planning. Some people pay double the price; some people abandon their families and their jobs; some people give up on their marriage; some people resign to spend for God; some people leave their homes to do their duty; some people choose hardship, and begin to take on the most bitter and tiring task; some people choose to dedicate wealth, dedicate their all; still some people choose to pursue truth, and pursue knowing God. No matter how you choose to practice, is the manner in which you do so important? (Not important.) How do we explain that it’s not important, then? If the manner isn’t important, then what is? (Outward good behavior is not representative of putting truth into practice.) (What everyone thinks is not important. The key here is whether we have put truth into practice, and whether we love God.) (The fall of antichrists and false leaders helps us understand that outward behavior isn’t the most important thing. They outwardly seem to have forsaken much, and they seem to be willing to pay the price, but upon dissection we can see that they simply don’t have a heart that fears God; in all respects they oppose Him. They are always standing with Satan at critical times, interfering with God’s work. Thus, the main considerations here are which side we stand on when the time comes, and our viewpoints.) You all speak well, and it seems like you already have a basic understanding of and a standard for putting truth into practice, God’s intentions, and what God demands of man. That you’re able to speak like this is very moving. Although there are a few inappropriate words here and there, your statements are already nearing an explanation worthy of the truth. This proves that you have developed your own real understandings of the people, events, and objects around you, all of your surroundings that God has arranged, and everything that you can see. These understandings are nearing the truth. Even though what you said isn’t totally comprehensive, and a few words aren’t very appropriate, your understandings are already nearing the reality of the truth. Hearing you speak this way makes Me feel good.

Picture of The Church of Almighty God

People’s Beliefs Cannot Substitute for the Truth

There are some people who can bear hardships; they can pay the price; their outward behavior is very good; they are well respected; and they have the admiration of others. What do you think: Can this kind of outward behavior be regarded as putting truth into practice? Can you say that this person is satisfying God’s intentions? Why is it that time and time again people see this kind of individual and think that they are satisfying God, think that they are walking the path of putting truth into practice, that they are walking in God’s way? Why do some people think this way? There’s only one explanation for it. And what explanation is that? It’s that for a great many people, questions like what it is to put truth into practice, what it is to satisfy God, what it is to really have the reality of the truth—these questions aren’t very clear. So there are some people who are often deceived by those who outwardly seem spiritual, seem noble, seem to have lofty images. As for those people who can speak of letters and doctrines, and whose speech and actions appear worthy of admiration, their admirers have never looked at the essence of their actions, the principles behind their deeds, what their goals are. And they have never looked at whether these people truly obey God, and whether or not they are someone who truly fears God and shuns evil. They have never discerned the substance of the humanity of these people. Rather, from the first step of getting acquainted, bit by bit, they come to admire these people, venerate these people, and in the end these people become their idols. Moreover, in some people’s minds, the idols who they worship, who they believe can abandon their families and jobs, and pay the price on the surface—these idols are the ones who are really satisfying God, the ones who can really receive a good outcome and a good destination. In their minds, these idols are the people who God praises. What causes people to have this kind of belief? What’s the essence of this issue? What are the consequences it can lead to? Let’s first discuss the matter of its essence.

These issues regarding people’s viewpoints, people’s practices, which principles people choose to practice, and what everyone normally emphasizes, essentially these all have nothing to do with God’s demands on mankind. Regardless of whether people are focusing on shallow matters or deep ones, on letters and doctrines or reality, people don’t adhere to that which they should adhere to most, and they don’t know that which they should know the most. The reason for this is that people don’t like the truth at all. Therefore, people aren’t willing to put time and effort into finding and practicing principles in God’s word. Instead, they prefer to use shortcuts, and sum up what they understand, what they know, to be good practice and good behavior. This summary then becomes their own goal to pursue, becomes truth to be practiced. The direct consequence of this is people using human good behavior as a substitute for putting truth into practice, which also satisfies people’s desire to curry favor with God. This gives people capital with which to contend with the truth, and to reason with and dispute God. At the same time, people also unscrupulously put God aside, and place their heart’s idol in God’s position. There is only one root cause which makes people have these ignorant actions, ignorant viewpoints, or one-sided viewpoints and practices, and today I’ll tell you about it. The reason is that although people may follow God, pray to Him every day, and read the word of God every day, they don’t actually understand God’s intentions. This is the root of the problem. If someone understands God’s heart, understands what God likes, what God loathes, what God wants, what God rejects, what kind of person God loves, what kind of person God dislikes, what kind of standard God applies to His demands on man, what kind of approach He takes for perfecting man, can that person still have their own personal ideas? Can they just go and worship another person? Could an ordinary person become their idol? If one understands God’s intentions, their viewpoint is a bit more rational than that. They aren’t going to arbitrarily idolize a corrupted person, nor will they, while walking the path of putting truth into practice, believe that arbitrarily adhering to a few simple rules or principles is tantamount to putting truth into practice.

There Are Many Opinions Concerning the Standard With Which God Establishes Man’s Outcome

Let’s come back to this topic and continue discussing the matter of outcome.

Since every person is concerned with their outcome, do you know how God determines that outcome? In what manner does God establish a person’s outcome? And what kind of standard does He use to establish a person’s outcome? And when man’s outcome has yet to be established, what does God do to reveal this outcome? Does anyone know this? As I just said, there are some who have already researched God’s word a long time. These people are searching for clues about mankind’s outcome, about the categories that this outcome is divided into, and about the different outcomes awaiting different kinds of people. They also want to know how God’s word establishes man’s outcome, the type of standard that God uses, and the manner in which He establishes man’s outcome. Yet in the end these people never manage to find anything. In actual fact, there is precious little said on the matter among God’s word. Why is this? So long as man’s outcome has yet to be revealed, God doesn’t want to tell anyone what’s going to happen in the end, nor does He want to inform anyone of their destination ahead of time. The reason for this is that God’s doing so would not have any benefit to man. Right now, I only want to tell you about the manner in which God establishes the outcome of man, about the principles He employs in His work to establish the outcome of man, and to manifest this outcome, as well as the standard He uses to establish whether or not someone can survive. Isn’t this what you’re most concerned about? So then, how do people conceive the way by which God establishes man’s outcome? You spoke a bit on this matter just now. Some of you said it’s a question of doing their duty faithfully, spending for God; some people said obeying God and satisfying God; some people said being at the mercy of God; and some people said leading a low-key life…. When you put these truths into practice, when you practice the principles of your imagination, do you know what God thinks? Have you considered whether or not going on like this is satisfying God’s intentions? Whether it caters to God’s standard? Whether it caters to God’s demands? I believe that most people don’t really think this over. They just mechanically apply a portion of God’s word, or a portion of the sermons, or the standards of certain spiritual men they adore, forcing themselves to do this, to do that. They believe that this is the correct way, so they keep adhering to it, doing it, no matter what happens in the end. Some people think: “I’ve believed for some many years; I’ve always practiced this way; I feel like I have really satisfied God; I also feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of it. For I’ve come to understand a lot of truths during this period, and come to understand many things I did not understand before—in particular, many of my ideas and views have changed, my life values have changed a lot, and I have a pretty good understanding of this world.” Such people believe that this is a harvest, and it is the final result of God’s work for man. In your opinion, with these standards and all of your practices taken together—are you satisfying God’s intentions? Some people will say with all certainty: “Of course! We are practicing according to God’s word; we are practicing according to what the brother preached and fellowshiped; we’re always doing our duty, always following God, and we have never left God. Therefore we can say with complete confidence that we’re satisfying God. No matter how much we understand of God’s intentions, no matter how much we understand of God’s word, we have always been on the path of seeking to be compatible with God. If we act correctly, and practice correctly, then the result will be correct.” What do you think about this perspective? Is it correct? Perhaps there are some who say: “I’ve never thought about these things before. I only think that if I continue to do my duty and keep acting according to the requirements of God’s word, then I can survive. I have never considered the question of whether I can satisfy God’s heart, and I have never considered whether I am achieving the standard required by Him. Since God has never told me, nor provided me with any clear instructions, I believe that as long as I keep going, God will be satisfied and He shouldn’t have any additional demands of me.” Are these beliefs correct? As far as I’m concerned, this way of practicing, this way of thinking, and these viewpoints—they all bring with them fancies and a bit of blindness. When I say this, perhaps there are some of you who feel a little disheartened: “Blindness? If it’s a ‘blindness,’ then our hope of salvation, our hope of surviving is very small, and very uncertain, is it not? Isn’t Your phrasing it like that akin to pouring cold water on us?” No matter what you believe, the things I say and do aren’t meant to make you feel as if cold water is being poured on you. Rather, it’s meant to improve your understanding of God’s intentions, and improve your grasp on what God is thinking, what God wants to accomplish, what kind of person that God likes, what God loathes, what God despises, what type of person God wants to gain, and what type of person God spurns. It’s meant to give your minds clarity, to help you clearly know how far the actions and thoughts of each and every one of you have strayed from the standard required by God. Is it necessary to discuss these topics? Because I know you have believed for so long, and have listened to so much preaching, but these are precisely the things that are most lacking. You may have recorded every truth in your notebook, you may have also recorded that which you personally believe to be important in your mind, and in your heart. Plan to use it when you’re practicing, to satisfy God; use it when you find yourself in need; use it to get through the difficult times that lie before your eyes; or simply let these truths accompany you while you live your life. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re only practicing, how exactly you’re practicing isn’t important. What, then, is the very important thing? It’s that while you’re practicing, your heart knows with all certainty whether or not everything you’re doing, every deed, is what God wants; whether or not everything you do, everything you think, and the result and the goal in your heart satisfy God’s intentions, cater to God’s demands, and whether or not God approves of them. These are the important things.

Walk in God’s Way: Fear God and Shun Evil

There’s a saying you should take note of. I believe this saying is very important, because for Me it comes to mind countless times every single day. Why is that? Because every time I’m faced with someone, every time I hear someone’s story, every time I hear of someone’s experience or their testimony of believing in God, I always use this saying to weigh whether or not this individual is the type of person God wants, the type of person God likes. So what’s this saying, then? Now you are all eagerly waiting. When I reveal the saying, perhaps you will feel disappointed because there are those who have been paying it lip service for many years. But as for Me, I’ve never paid it any lip service. This saying resides in My heart. So what is this saying? It’s “walk in God’s way: fear God and shun evil.” Is this not an exceedingly simple phrase? Yet though the saying may be simple, someone who genuinely has a deep understanding of it will feel that it’s of great weight; that it has a lot of value for practice; that it’s language of life with the reality of the truth; that it’s a lifelong objective to strive toward for those seeking to satisfy God; and that it’s a lifelong way to be followed by anyone who’s considerate of God’s intentions. So what do you think: Is this saying truth? Does it have this kind of significance? Perhaps there are some people who are thinking about this saying, trying to figure it out, and some yet who are suspicious of it: Is this saying very important? Is it very important? Is it so necessary and worthy of emphasis? Perhaps there are some people who don’t much like this saying because they think taking God’s way and distilling it into this one saying is too much of an oversimplification. To take all of which God said and boil it down to one saying—isn’t this making God out to be a little too insignificant? Is that how it is? It could be that most of you don’t fully understand the profound meaning behind these words. Though you have made note of it, you don’t intend to place this saying in your heart; you just write it down, and revisit it and mull it over in your spare time. There are some other people who won’t even bother memorizing the saying, let alone trying to put it to good use. But why do I discuss this saying? Regardless of your perspective, or what you will think, I have to discuss this saying because it is extremely relevant to how God establishes the outcomes of man. No matter what your current understanding of this saying is, or how you treat it, I’m still going to tell you: If someone can properly practice this saying and achieve the standard of fearing God and shunning evil, then they’re assured as a survivor, then they’re assured as someone with a good outcome. If you can’t attain the standard laid out by this saying, then it could be said that your outcome is an unknown. Thus I speak to you about this saying for your own mental preparation, and so that you know what kind of standard God uses to measure you. As I just discussed, this saying is extremely relevant to God’s salvation of man, and how He establishes man’s outcome. Where does this relevance lie? You would really like to know, so we will talk about it today.

God Makes Use of Different Trials to Test Whether People Fear God and Shun Evil

In every age, God bestows some words upon man when He works in the world, telling man of some truths. These truths serve as the way to be adhered to by man, the way that is to be walked in by man, the way that enables man to fear God and shun evil, and the way that people should put into practice and adhere to in their lives and over the course of their life journeys. It’s for these reasons that God bestows these words on man. These words that come from God should be adhered to by man, and to adhere to them is to receive life. If a person does not adhere to them, does not put them into practice, and does not live out God’s words in their lives, then this person is not putting truth into practice. And if they’re not putting truth into practice, then they’re not fearing God and shunning evil, nor can they satisfy God. If someone can’t satisfy God, then they cannot receive God’s praise; this kind of person has no outcome. So how in the course of God’s work does He establish a person’s outcome, then? What method does God use to establish man’s outcome? Perhaps you’re not too clear on this right now, but when I tell you the process it will become quite clear. This is because a lot of people have already experienced it themselves.

Over the course of God’s work, from the beginning up until now, God has set out trials for every person—or you could say, every person who follows Him—and these trials come in different sizes. There are those who have experienced the trial of being rejected by their family; those who have experienced the trial of adverse environment; those who have experienced the trial of being arrested and tortured; those who have experienced the trial of being faced with a choice; and those who have faced the trials of money and status. Generally speaking, every one of you has faced all sorts of trials. Why does God work like that? Why does God treat everyone like that? What kind of result does He want to see? This is the important point of what I want to tell you: God wants to see whether this person is the type who is fearing God and shunning evil. What this means is that when God is giving you a trial, making you face up to some circumstance, He wants to test whether or not you are that person who fears God, that person who shuns evil. If someone is faced with the duty of safekeeping an offering, and they come into contact with God’s offering, then do you think this is something that God has arranged? No question! Everything you face is something God has arranged. When you’re faced with this matter, God will observe you in secret, watching how you choose, how you practice, what you’re thinking about. The end result is what God is most concerned with, since it’s the result that will allow Him to measure whether or not you have achieved God’s standard in this trial. However, when people are faced with some matter, they often don’t think about why they’re being faced with it, or the standard being demanded by God. They don’t think about what God wants to see of them, what He wants to obtain from them. When faced with this matter, this kind of person is only thinking: “This is something I’m faced with; I must be careful, not careless! No matter what, this is God’s offering and I can’t touch it.” This person believes that they can fulfill their responsibility possessing such a simplistic thinking. Would God be satisfied by the result of this trial? Or would He not be satisfied? You can discuss this. (If someone fears God in their heart, then when faced with the duty that allows them to contact God’s offering, they would consider just how easy it would be to offend God’s disposition, so they would be sure to proceed with caution.) Your response is on the right track, but it’s not quite there yet. Walking in God’s way is not about observing rules on the surface. Rather, it means that when you’re faced with a matter, first of all, you view it as a circumstance that has been arranged by God, a responsibility bestowed on you by Him, or something that He has entrusted to you, and that when you’re facing this matter, you should even view it as a trial from God. When facing this matter, you must have a standard, you must think that it has come from God. You must think about how to deal with this matter such that you can fulfill your responsibility, and be faithful to God; how to do it and not infuriate God, or offend His disposition. We just spoke about the safekeeping of offerings. This matter involves offerings, and it also involves your duty, your responsibility. You are duty-bound to this responsibility. Yet when you’re faced with this matter, is there any temptation? There is! Where does this temptation come from? This temptation comes from Satan, and it also comes from man’s evil, corrupt disposition. Since there’s temptation, this involves standing testimony; standing testimony is also your responsibility and duty. Some people say: “This is such a small matter; is it really necessary to make a big deal out of it?” Yes it is! Because in order to walk in God’s way, we cannot let go of anything to do with ourselves, or anything that happens around us, even the little things. No matter whether we think we should pay attention to it or not, as long as any matter is facing us we should not let it go. All of it should be viewed as God’s test for us. How’s this kind of attitude? If you have this kind of attitude, then it confirms one fact: Your heart fears God, and your heart is willing to shun evil. If you have this desire to satisfy God, then what you put into practice isn’t far from the standard of fearing God and shunning evil.

There are often those who believe that the matters which aren’t paid much heed by people, the matters that aren’t usually mentioned—these are merely minor trifles, and they don’t have anything to do with putting truth into practice. When these people are faced with just such a matter, they don’t give it much thought and let it slide. But in actual fact, this matter is a lesson for which you should be studying, a lesson on how to fear God, on how to shun evil. Moreover, what you should be even more concerned about is knowing what God is doing when this matter arises to face you. God is right at your side, observing every one of your words and deeds, observing your actions, your mind changes—this is God’s work. Some people say: “Then why don’t I feel it?” You haven’t felt it because the way of fearing God and shunning evil hasn’t been your most important way to be adhered to. Therefore, you can’t feel the subtle work of God in man, which manifests itself according to people’s different thoughts and different actions. You’re a scatterbrain! What’s a big matter? What’s a small matter? All matters that involve walking in God’s way aren’t divided into big or small ones. Can you accept that? (We can accept it.) In terms of everyday matters, there are some which people view as very big and significant, and others that are viewed as minor trifles. People often view these big matters as being the very important ones, and they consider them to be sent by God. However, over the course of these big matters playing out, owing to the immature stature of man, and owing to man’s poor caliber, man is often not up to God’s intentions, cannot obtain any revelations, and cannot acquire any actual knowledge that is of value. So far as the small matters are concerned, these are simply overlooked by man, left to slip away little by little. Thus, they have lost many opportunities to be examined before God, to be tested by Him. Should you always overlook these matters and circumstances that God arranges for you, what will this mean? It means that every day, even every moment, you’re always renouncing God’s perfection of you, and God’s leadership. Whenever God arranges a circumstance for you, He is watching in secret, looking upon your heart, looking upon your thoughts and considerations, looking at how you think, looking at how you will act. If you are a careless person—a person who has never been serious about God’s way, God’s word, or the truth—then you won’t be mindful, you won’t pay attention to that which God wants to complete, and that which God demands of you when He arranges circumstances for you. You also won’t know how these everyday matters relate to the truth or God’s intentions. After you face repeated circumstances and repeated trials like this, with God not seeing any achievements to your name, how will God proceed? After repeatedly facing trials, you don’t magnify God in your heart, and you don’t treat the circumstances God arranges for you as they are—as God’s trials or God’s tests. Rather you reject the opportunities that God bestows on you one after the other, and let them slip away time and time again. Is this not huge disobedience by man? (It is.) Will God be grieved because of this? (He will.) God won’t be grieved! Hearing Me speak like this has shocked you once more. After all, wasn’t it said earlier that God always grieves? God won’t be grieved? When will God be grieved then? Anyway, God will not be grieved by this situation. Then what’s God’s attitude toward the type of behavior outlined above? When people reject the trials, the tests, that God sends them, when they shirk from them, there’s only one attitude that God has toward these people. What attitude is this? God spurns this kind of person from the bottom of His heart. There are two layers of meaning for the word “spurn.” How do I explain them? Deep down, the word carries connotations of loathing, of hate. And as for the second layer of meaning? That’s the part that implies giving up on something. You all know what “give up” means, correct? In short, spurn means God’s ultimate reaction and attitude toward those people who are behaving in such a way. It is extreme hatred toward them, disgust, and thus the decision to abandon them. This is God’s final decision toward a person who has never walked in God’s way, who has never feared God and shunned evil. Can all of you now see the importance of this saying I have spoken?

Now do you understand the method God uses to establish man’s outcome? (Arranging different circumstances every day.) “Arranging different circumstances”—this is what people can feel and touch. Then what’s God’s motive for this? The motive is that God wants to give each and every person trials in different ways, at different times, and in different places. What aspects of man are tested in a trial? Whether or not you are the kind of person who fears God and shuns evil in every matter you face, you hear about, you see, and you personally experience. Everyone will face this kind of trial, because God is fair toward all people. Some people say: “I’ve believed in God for many years; how come I have not faced a trial?” You feel you haven’t faced a trial because whenever God has arranged circumstances for you, you haven’t taken them seriously, and haven’t wanted to walk in God’s way. So you just don’t have any sense of God’s trials. Some people say: “I’ve faced a few trials, but I don’t know the proper way of practice. Even though I practiced, I still don’t know whether I stood firm during the trials.” People with this type of situation are definitely not in the minority. So what is the standard by which God measures people then? It is just as I said moments ago: Everything you do, everything you think, and everything you express—is it fearing God and shunning evil? This is how to determine whether or not you’re a person who fears God and shuns evil. Is this a simple concept? It’s easy enough to say, but is it easy to put into practice? (It’s not so easy.) Why is it not so easy? (Because people don’t know God, don’t know how God perfects man, and so when they’re faced with matters they don’t know how to seek out truth to solve their problem; people must go through various trials, refinements, chastisements, and judgments, before they have the reality of fearing God.) You put it like that, but as far as you’re concerned, fearing God and shunning evil, seems easily doable right now. Why do I say this? Because you have listened to a lot of sermons, and received no small amount of watering of the reality of the truth. This has allowed you to understand how to fear God and shun evil in terms of theory and thinking. With regard to your practice of fearing God and shunning evil, this has all been helpful and made you feel like such a thing is easily achievable. Then why in actual fact can people never achieve it? This is because the essence of man’s nature does not fear God, and likes evil. That’s the real reason.

To Not Fear God and Shun Evil Is to Oppose God

Let’s begin by addressing where this saying “fear God and shun evil” came from. (The Book of Job.) Now that you’ve mentioned Job, let’s discuss him. In Job’s time, was God working for the conquest and salvation of man? He wasn’t, was He? And so far as Job was concerned, how much knowledge did he have of God at the time? (Not a lot of knowledge.) And how did that knowledge of God compare to the knowledge you have right now? How can it be that you don’t dare answer this? Was Job’s knowledge more or less than the knowledge you have right now? (Less.) This is a very easy question to answer. Less! This is certain! You are now face-to-face with God, and face-to-face with God’s word. Your knowledge of God is much more than Job’s. Why do I bring this up? Why do I speak like this? I’d like to explain a fact to you, but before I do, I want to ask you a question: Job knew very little of God, yet he could fear God and shun evil. So why is it that people these days fail to do so? (Deep corruption.) “Deep corruption”—that’s the surface of the question, but I’ll never view it like that. You often take doctrines and letters that you commonly speak of, like “deep corruption,” “rebelling against God,” “disloyalty toward God,” “disobedience,” “not liking the truth,” and you use these catch phrases to explain the essence of every single question. This is a flawed way of practicing. Using the same answer to explain questions with differing natures inevitably raises suspicions of blaspheming the truth and God. I don’t like hearing this kind of answer. Think about it! None of you have thought about this matter, but every single day I can see it, and every single day I can feel it. Thus, you are doing, and I am watching. When you are doing it, you can’t feel the essence of this matter. But when I see it, I can see its essence, and I can feel its essence as well. So what is this essence then? Why can’t people these days fear God and shun evil? Your answers are quite a ways from being able to explain the essence of this question, and they can’t solve the essence of this question. That’s because there’s a source here that you don’t know about. What is this source? I know you want to hear about it, so I’ll tell you about the source of this question.

At the very beginning of God’s work, what did He regard man as? God rescued man; He regarded man as a member of His family, as the target of His work, as that which He wanted to conquer, to save, and as that which He wanted to perfect. This was God’s attitude toward man at the outset of His work. But what was man’s attitude toward God at that time? God was strange to man, and man regarded God as a stranger. It could be said that man’s attitude toward God was incorrect, and man wasn’t clear on how he should treat God. So he treated Him however he liked, and did whatever he liked. Did man have a viewpoint on God? In the beginning, man did not have any viewpoint on God. Man’s so-called viewpoint was just some conceptions and imaginings concerning God. That which conformed to people’s conceptions was accepted; that which did not conform was obeyed on the surface, but in their hearts people strongly clashed with and opposed it. This was man and God’s relationship in the beginning: God viewed man as a family member, yet man treated God as a stranger. But after a period of God’s work, man came to understand what God was trying to achieve. People came to know that God was the true God, and they came to know what man could obtain from God. What did man regard God as at this time? Man regarded God as a lifeline, hoping to obtain grace, obtain blessings, obtain promises. And what did God regard man as at this juncture? God regarded man as the target of His conquest. God wanted to use words to judge man, to test man, to give man trials. But as far as mankind was concerned at this point in time, God was an object that he could use to achieve his own goals. People saw that the truth issued by God could conquer and save them, and that they had an opportunity to obtain the things they wanted from God, the destination that they wanted. Because of this, a tiny bit of sincerity formed in their hearts, and they were willing to follow this God. Some time passed, and people had some superficial and doctrinal knowledge of God. It could be said that they were getting more and more “familiar” with God. With the word spoken by God, His preaching, the truth He had issued forth, and His work—people were more and more “familiar.” So, people mistakenly thought that God was no longer strange, and that they were already walking the path of compatibility with God. Up until now, people have listened to a lot of sermons on the truth, and have experienced a lot of God’s work. Yet under the interferences and obstructions of many different factors and circumstances, most people can’t attain putting truth into practice, and can’t attain satisfying God. People are increasingly slack, increasingly lacking in confidence. They increasingly feel like their own outcome is an unknown. They don’t dare have any extravagant ideas, and don’t seek to make any progress; they just reluctantly follow along, going forward step-by-step. With regard to the present state of man, what is God’s attitude toward man? God’s only desire is to give these truths to man, and imbue His way unto man, and then arrange various circumstances in order to test man in different ways. His goal is to take these words, these truths, and His work, and bring about an outcome where man can fear God and shun evil. Most people I’ve seen just take God’s word and regard it as doctrines, regard it as letters, regard it as regulations to be observed. When they go about things and speak, or face trials, they don’t regard God’s way as the way that they should observe. This is especially true when people are faced with major trials; I have not seen anyone who was practicing in the direction of fearing God and shunning evil. Because of this, God’s attitude toward man is full of extreme loathing and aversion. After God has repeatedly given trials to people, even hundreds of times, they still don’t have any clear attitude to demonstrate their determination—I want to fear God and shun evil! Since people don’t have this determination, and they don’t make this kind of display, God’s present attitude toward them is no longer the same as in the past, when He extended mercy, extended tolerance, extended forbearance and patience. Instead, He is extremely disappointed in man. Who caused this disappointment? The kind of attitude God has toward man, who does this depend on? It depends on every person who follows God. During the course of His many years of work, God has made many demands of man, and arranged many circumstances for man. But no matter how man has performed, and no matter what man’s attitude toward God is, man cannot practice in clear accordance to the goal of fearing God and shunning evil. Thus, I’ll sum it up in one saying, and use this saying to explain everything we just spoke of on why people cannot walk in God’s way—fear God and shun evil. What is this saying? This saying is: God regards man as the object of His salvation, the object of His work; man regards God as his enemy, as his antithesis. Are you clear on this matter now? What man’s attitude is; what God’s attitude is; what the relationship between man and God is—these are all very clear. No matter how much preaching you’ve listened to, those things that you’ve summed up for yourselves—like being faithful to God, obeying God, seeking the way of compatibility with God, wanting to spend a lifetime for God, living for God—to Me those things aren’t consciously walking in God’s way, which is fearing God and shunning evil. Instead, they’re channels through which you can attain certain goals. To achieve these goals, you reluctantly observe some regulations. And it’s precisely these regulations that take people even further from the way of fearing God and shunning evil, and place God in opposition to man once more.

The question we are discussing today is a little heavy, but no matter what, I still hope that when you go through the experiences to come, and the times to come, you can do what I’ve just told you. Don’t neglect God and regard Him as empty air, feeling like He exists at times when He is of use to you, but when He is of no use feeling like He does not exist. When you subconsciously hold this kind of understanding, you have already infuriated God. Perhaps there are people who say: “I don’t regard God as empty air, I always pray to God, I always satisfy God, and everything I do falls within the scope and standard and principles demanded by God. I’m definitely not proceeding according to my own ideas.” Yes, the manner in which you’re going about things is correct. But how do you think when you come face-to-face with a matter? How do you practice when you’re faced with a matter? Some people feel that God exists when they pray to Him, and appeal to Him. But when faced with a matter, they come up with their own ideas and want to abide by them. This regards God as empty air. This type of situation renders God non-existent. People think that God should exist when they need Him, and when they don’t need God He shouldn’t exist. People think that going by their own ideas to practice is enough. They believe they can do things however it pleases them. They simply think they don’t need to seek out God’s way. People who are currently in this kind of condition, this kind of state—are they not at the edge of danger? Some people say: “Regardless of whether I am on the edge of danger or not, I have believed for so many years, and I believe that God won’t abandon me because He couldn’t bear to abandon me.” Other people say: “Even from the time I was in my mother’s womb, I believed in the Lord, all the way up until now, forty or fifty years in all. In terms of time, I’m most qualified to be saved by God; I am most qualified to survive. Over this period of four or five decades, I abandoned my family and my job. I gave up all that I had, like money, status, enjoyment and family time; I have not eaten many delicious foods; I have not enjoyed many amusing things; I have not visited many interesting places; I have even experienced suffering that ordinary people couldn’t endure. If God can’t save me because of all this, then I am being treated unjustly and I can’t believe in this type of God.” Are there a lot of people with this kind of view? (There are a lot of them.) Then today I’ll help you understand a fact: Each and every one of those who hold this kind of view are shooting themselves in the foot. This is because they’re using their own imaginations to cover their eyes. It is precisely their imaginations, and their own conclusions that replace the standard of what God demands of man, holding them back from accepting God’s true intentions, making it so they cannot feel God’s true existence, and making them lose their opportunity to be perfected by God and have no part or share in God’s promise.

April 29, 2014

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