Item Twelve: Promptly and Accurately Identify the Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb God’s Work and the Normal Order of the Church; Stop and Restrict Them, and Turn Things Around; Additionally, Fellowship the Truth So That God’s Chosen People Develop Discernment Through Such Things and Learn From Them (Part Four)

The Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb Church Life

VIII. Spreading Notions

A. The Manifestations of Spreading Notions

Today we will continue to fellowship about the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” As for the various issues of disruptions and disturbances that arise in church life, we listed eleven. Last time we fellowshipped about the seventh issue: engaging in mutual attacks and verbal spats. Today, we will fellowship about the eighth issue: spreading notions. The spreading of notions also happens frequently in church life. Some people, who do not accept the truth at all, believe in God based on their notions and imaginings, and they often spread some notions to disturb church life. The church must restrict this behavior and resolve it through fellowshipping the truth in church life. From a literal perspective, anyone can see that spreading notions is not proper behavior, that it is not a positive thing but a negative thing. Therefore, it should be stopped and restricted in church life. No matter what kind of people spread notions, regardless of their motives, whether they are spreading notions intentionally or unintentionally, as long as they spread notions, it will disrupt and disturb church life, causing detrimental impacts. Therefore, this matter must be restricted one hundred percent. From any perspective, spreading notions cannot possibly play a positive, affirmative role in people’s pursuit of the truth, pursuit of knowing God, or their entering into the truth reality; it can only have the effect of disturbing and damaging these things. So, when someone spreads notions in church life, everyone—church leaders and brothers and sisters alike—should discern this matter and promptly step up to stop and restrict that person, rather than blindly indulge them in spreading notions to mislead and disturb others. Let’s first fellowship about what kind of words constitute spreading notions. With this discernment, people can accurately define what spreading notions is and can also accurately stop and restrict it, instead of ignoring it and treating it with indifference.

1. Spreading Notions About God

Notions which get spread are targeted. First, we need to see who they are aimed at and what notions are being spread. Understanding these will help you know which statements said by people and which viewpoints spread by people constitute notions. Knowing which words are people’s notions and which actions constitute spreading notions will enable people to restrict the spreading of notions more accurately and with greater relevance. First and foremost, the most serious spreading of notions involves people’s ideas and misunderstandings about God. This is a major category. Spreading nonfactual viewpoints and statements about God’s identity, God’s essence, God’s disposition, God’s words, God’s work, and God’s existence all constitutes spreading notions. This is a general statement; specifically, what kind of statements constitute spreading notions? Spreading misunderstandings about God, judgments and condemnations of God, and even blasphemies against God is all spreading notions. Simply put, spreading understandings of God that do not conform to reality and statements and misinterpretations that do not conform to God’s identity and essence all constitutes spreading notions. For example, in church life, some people often talk about God’s identity and God’s essence. They do not have a true understanding of God’s identity and essence. They often doubt and misunderstand God in their hearts, being unable to submit to the living environment and the environment for doing their duties that God arranges for them, among other things. Then they spread their misunderstandings about God and their ideas about not understanding God. In short, these ideas are not about accepting and submitting to God’s sovereignty and arrangements from the perspective of a created human, but are instead filled with personal prejudices, misunderstandings, and even judgments and condemnations. After hearing these, other people develop misunderstandings about God and guardedness against Him, thereby losing their true faith in God, let alone having genuine submission.

Some people think that believing in God should bring peace and joy, and that if they encounter situations, they only need to pray to God and God will lend His ear, grant them grace and blessings, and ensure everything goes peacefully and smoothly for them. Their purpose in believing in God is to seek grace, gain blessings, and enjoy peace and happiness. It is because of these views that they forsake their families or quit their jobs to expend themselves for God and can endure hardship and pay a price. They believe that as long as they forsake things, expend themselves for God, endure hardship, and work diligently, displaying exceptional behavior, they will gain God’s blessings and favor, and that no matter what difficulties they encounter, as long as they pray to God, He will resolve them and open up a path for them in everything. This is the viewpoint held by the majority of people who believe in God. People feel that this viewpoint is legitimate and correct. Many people’s ability to maintain their faith in God for years without giving up their faith is directly related to this viewpoint. They think, “I have expended so much for God, my behavior has been so good, and I haven’t done any evil deeds; God will surely bless me. Because I have suffered a lot and paid a great price for every task, doing everything according to God’s words and requirements without making any mistakes, God should bless me; He should ensure everything goes smoothly for me, and that I often have peace and joy in my heart, and enjoy God’s presence.” Isn’t this a human notion and imagining? From a human perspective, people enjoy God’s grace and receive benefits, so it makes sense to have to suffer a bit for this, and it’s worthwhile to exchange this suffering for God’s blessings. This is a mentality of making deals with God. However, from the perspective of the truth and from God’s perspective, this fundamentally does not conform to the principles of God’s work nor the standards God requires of people. It is entirely wishful thinking, purely a human notion and imagining about believing in God. Whether it involves making deals with or demanding things from God, or contains human notions and imaginings, in any case, none of it aligns with God’s requirements, nor does it meet God’s principles and standards for blessing people. In particular, this transactional thought and viewpoint offends God’s disposition, but people do not realize it. When what God does doesn’t align with people’s notions, they quickly develop complaints and misunderstandings about Him in their hearts. They even feel wronged and then begin to reason with God, and they may even judge and condemn Him. Regardless of what notions and misunderstandings people develop, from God’s perspective, He never acts or treats anyone according to human notions or wishes. God always does what He desires to do, according to His own way and based on His own disposition essence. God has principles in how He treats every person; nothing He does to each person is based on human notions, imaginings, or preferences—this is the aspect of God’s work that is most at odds with human notions. When God arranges an environment for people that completely contradicts their notions and imaginings, they form notions, judgments, and condemnations against God in their hearts, and may even deny Him. Can God then satisfy their needs? Absolutely not. God will never change His way of working and His desires according to human notions. Who is it that needs to change then? It is people. People need to let go of their notions, accept, submit to, and experience the environments arranged by God, and seek the truth to resolve their own notions, instead of measuring what God does against their notions to see if it is correct. When people insist on holding onto their notions, they develop resistance against God—this happens naturally. Where does the root of resistance lie? It lies in the fact that what people usually possess in their hearts are without a doubt their notions and imaginings and not the truth. Therefore, when faced with God’s work not aligning with human notions, people can defy God and make judgments against Him. This proves that people fundamentally lack a heart of submission to God, their corrupt disposition is far from being cleansed, and they essentially live according to their corrupt disposition. They are still incredibly far from attaining salvation.

When people develop notions about God and resistance toward Him in their hearts, those with some conscience will reluctantly accept what God does and try to integrate into the environment God has arranged and accept His sovereignty over people. How many notions people can let go of and to what extent depends partly on their caliber and partly on whether they accept the truth and are people who love the truth. Some people actively face the environments God arranges by reading God’s words, seeking and fellowshipping, and pondering. They gradually gain some understanding of God’s sovereignty over everything and thereby increase their submission and faith. However, some people, regardless of the environment they encounter, do not seek the truth. Instead, they evaluate all the environments God orchestrates based on their notions, imaginings, and whether or not it benefits them. Their considerations always revolve around their own interests; they always care about how great a benefit they can gain, how much their interests can be satisfied in terms of material things, money, and fleshly enjoyment; and they always make decisions and treat everything God arranges based on these factors. And ultimately, after racking their brains, they choose not to submit to the environment arranged by God but to escape and avoid it. Because of their resistance, rejection, and avoidance, they distance themselves from God’s words, miss out on life experience, and suffer losses, bringing pain and torment to their hearts. The more they oppose such environments, the more and greater the suffering they endure. When such a situation arises, the little faith that they have in God is ultimately crushed. At this moment, the notions that dominate their hearts all surge up at once: “I have expended myself for god for so long, yet I didn’t expect god to treat me this way. God is unfair, he doesn’t love people! God said that those who sincerely expend themselves for Him will surely be greatly blessed. I have sincerely expended myself for god, I have forsaken my family and career, endured hardships, and worked hard—why hasn’t god greatly blessed me? Where are god’s blessings? Why can’t I feel or see them? Why does god treat people unfairly? Why doesn’t god stick to his word? People say that god is faithful, but why can’t I feel it? Leaving everything else aside, just in this environment, I haven’t felt that god is faithful at all!” Because people have notions, they are easily duped and misguided by them. Even when God arranges environments for people’s dispositional change and for their life growth, they find it hard to accept and they misunderstand God. They think this is not God’s blessing and that God doesn’t like them. They believe that they have sincerely expended themselves for God, but God has not fulfilled His promises. These people, who do not pursue the truth, are thus so easily revealed through the single trial of some minor environment. When they are revealed, they finally say what they have most desired to say: “God is not righteous. God is not a faithful god. God’s words are rarely fulfilled. God said, ‘God means what He says, what He says shall be done, and what He does shall last forever.’ Where is the fulfillment of these words? Why can’t I see or feel it? Look at So-and-so: Since believing in god, she hasn’t forsaken or expended herself for god as much as I have, nor has she offered as much as I have. But her children got into prestigious universities, her husband got promoted, their business is flourishing, and even their crops yield more than others’. And what have I gained? I will never believe in god again!” These words are the true thoughts of these people, their mottos. They are filled with these notions, filled with these absurd thoughts and viewpoints, and filled with considerations of benefits and transactions. This is how they understand and perceive God’s work and His earnest intentions, this is how they treat these things. Therefore, in the environments God painstakingly arranges again and again, they repeatedly measure and misunderstand God with their notions, and continually fail and stumble. Furthermore, they constantly try to verify that their notions are correct. When they believe these notions are confirmed and are sufficient evidence for them to arbitrarily evaluate, judge, and condemn God, they begin to spread notions, because their hearts are full of notions about God. What is mixed into these notions? It is complaints, dissatisfaction, and grievances. When they are filled with these things, they look for opportunities to vent. They hope to find a crowd who will listen to the “injustices” they encountered; they want to vent these things to these people and recount to them the so-called unfair treatment they “suffered.” This is how the notions spread by these people arise in church life, this is how such notions come about. These people’s hearts are filled with grievances, defiance, and dissatisfaction, as well as misunderstandings and complaints about God, and even judgments and condemnations of God, which ultimately leads to their hearts being filled with blasphemy. They fear they won’t gain blessings and thus are unwilling to leave, so they spread their misunderstandings of God and their dissatisfaction with Him among people, and even more so they spread their judgments and condemnations of God and their blasphemies toward Him. What do they blaspheme? They blaspheme God, saying He is unfair to them and does not give them appropriate and equivalent returns for what they have done. They judge God for not granting them grace and great blessings after their offerings and sacrifices. They have not received from God those fleshly needs—material things, money, and so on—which they hoped to receive, thus filling their hearts with complaints and grievances. Their purpose in spreading notions is, in one regard, to vent and seek revenge, thereby achieving a sense of psychological balance; and, in another, to incite more people to develop misunderstandings and notions about God, thereby causing these people to guard against God just as they do. If more people say, “We will never believe in god again,” they will feel satisfied inside. This is the purpose and underlying reason behind their spreading of notions.

What is the motto of people who spread notions? What is the saying they often repeat? After experiencing certain things and not gaining the benefits they desired, they incessantly say to themselves, “I will never believe in god again.” Even after saying this, they do not feel they have relieved their hatred or achieved their goal. When they attend gatherings, no matter what others fellowship about, they cannot take it in. They have to say this phrase again, repeating it several times, even more than ten times. “I will never believe in god again”—isn’t this phrase replete with meaning? There is a story behind it. What is their “belief”? Did they believe in God before? Was their previous belief genuine faith? Did it include the submission that a created being should have? (No.) Not at all. They are full of notions and imaginings about God. More importantly, they are full of demands and requests from God, without any submission whatsoever. What does their “belief” mean? “I believe that god is the one who is sovereign over heaven and earth and all things. I believe that god can protect me from being bullied by others. I believe that god can let me enjoy fleshly comfort, live a good, prosperous life, and make everything go peacefully and pleasantly for me. I believe that god can let me enter the kingdom of heaven and receive great blessings, gain a hundredfold in this life, and eternal life in the world to come!” Is this belief? There is not a trace of submission in these “beliefs,” and not one of them conforms to God’s requirements for people. These beliefs purely stem from the perspective of personal gain. God expresses the truth and works on people. When has God ever said that He’ll enable people to live a happy life, to live above others, or to be prosperous and successful, with limitless prospects? (Never.) So why do they consider their own “belief” to be so precious? They even say they will never believe in God again. Is their belief worth anything? Does God accept it? They have no trace of the truth reality, no trace of submission to God, only wanting to gain blessings, benefits, and advantages from God, and they call this believing in God. Isn’t this blasphemy against God? People of this kind are filled with notions and occupied by the intent of gaining blessings. They do not experience God’s work at all and do not practice God’s words. The goal and motive of everything they do is entirely for the benefit of their own flesh. They feel good about themselves and consider their so-called faith in God to be especially precious. If their faith in God is so precious and noble, then why, when God arranges some minor environment for them, can they not understand the truth from it or stand firm in their testimony? What is going on here? When God tests their faith, what do they give back to God? Is it possible that the misunderstandings, complaints, and resistance they give back to God are what He wants? Are these in line with the truth? Clearly, they are not. Therefore, the fact that these people can openly spread notions in the church proves one thing: They do not know God and even more so do not believe that God is sovereign over everything—the god they believe in simply does not exist. When these people openly spread notions to mislead and draw more people to join them in defying, condemning, and blaspheming God, they are unconsciously publicly announcing that they are no longer followers of God, no longer believers, and no longer created beings under the Creator’s dominion. The notions they spread are not simple ideas or statements; rather, they spread notions because they’ve built an unbreachable barrier between them and God, because they’ve made up their minds that using human notions and imaginings to treat God, handle their relationship with God, and treat God’s words and God’s work is correct and is the way they should practice. When such people openly spread notions in church life, should they be restricted? Or, in light of their small stature and shallow foundation, should they be given freedom to express their views and enough time and space to repent? What is the appropriate course of action? (Stopping and restricting them is appropriate.) Why is stopping and restricting them appropriate? Some people say, “If you restrict them and don’t let them speak freely, and they stop believing and stop attending gatherings, wouldn’t that be harming them? That would be such a pity! Wouldn’t God rather save all people than have a single person suffer perdition? Even a single lost sheep must be retrieved—after all the effort to retrieve a lost sheep, could He still allow it to be lost again?” Are these words correct? (No.) Why are they not correct? (Because such people do not genuinely believe in God; they only believe in God in the hope of gaining blessings, and their belief is mixed with impurities.) Who doesn’t have some impurities mixed in with their belief in God? Don’t you have some? Is this a valid reason? Consider the statement from such people: “I will never believe in god again.” What kind of words are these? Is there any difference between this and the blasphemy of nonbelievers, devils, and Satan? (No.) What is the implication of this statement? “I no longer have faith in god. In the past, I wholeheartedly believed in and followed god, but god didn’t bless me. Instead, he arranged environments like that to make things difficult for me and cause me to stumble. What god says doesn’t match what he does at all, so I no longer dare to believe in god! I was so foolish before. I forsook, expended myself, and endured so much hardship for god, but saw no protection from god when I was arrested and persecuted by the great red dragon. My family’s business also didn’t do as well as others’, I didn’t make as much money as others, and my parents remained sick. I gained nothing from believing in god for so many years. Didn’t god say he would greatly bless people? What blessings did I receive from god? God’s words haven’t come true at all, so I will never believe in god again!” The statement “I will never believe in god again!” contains so much. It is filled with complaints, dissatisfaction, and misunderstandings toward God. In short, after they endured hardship and expended themselves with a mindset of wishful thinking, God did not grant them blessings according to their demands, nor did God remunerate or reward them according to their notions and imaginings, so they became dissatisfied and filled with resentment toward God, and it was under such circumstances that they said this sentence. This sentence did not come out of nowhere; by the time they said it, they had already displayed many behaviors and manifestations and had been revealed. What is the problem with such people’s relationship with God? What is the biggest issue in their relationship with God? It is that they never regarded themselves as a created being and never regarded God as the Creator to worship in the first place. From the beginning of their belief in God, they treated God as a money tree, a treasure trove; they regarded Him as a Bodhisattva to deliver them from suffering and disaster, and regarded themselves as a follower of this Bodhisattva, this idol. They thought that believing in God was like believing in Buddha, where just by eating vegetarian food, reciting scriptures, and frequently burning incense and kowtowing, they could get what they wanted. Thus, all the stories that developed after they believed in God happened within the realm of their notions and imaginings. They displayed none of the manifestations of a created being accepting the truth from the Creator, nor did they display any of the submission that a created being should have toward the Creator; there was only continuous demanding, continuous calculating, and incessant requesting. This all ultimately led to the breakdown of their relationship with God. This kind of relationship is transactional and can never stand firm; it is only a matter of time before such people are revealed. Even if they participate in church life, don’t spread notions, and occasionally fellowship about how God has led them, how God has blessed them, what they have enjoyed, and so on, most of what they talk about involves the grace, enjoyment, and fleshly benefits they received from God. These discussions are completely unrelated to the truth and to submitting to God, and they totally lack any truth reality. When circumstances are favorable, they display faith in God and love toward Him, and forbearance and patience toward other people, all to achieve one goal: to gain all of God’s blessings. When God takes away the grace, benefits, and material advantages they enjoyed, their notions are revealed. These people, driven by self-interest and prioritizing personal gain, fly into a rage once they do not receive what they desire; they begin to spread notions to vent their dissatisfaction with God, while also trying to draw in more people to sympathize with them and accept their notions about God. Should such people be stopped and restricted? (Yes.) The topics, thoughts, and viewpoints they fellowship do not reflect a pure comprehension of the truth, nor do they help people submit to God and have genuine faith in Him. Instead, they lead people away from God, cause misunderstandings, guardedness, and even rejection of God, and cause those who listen to the notions these people spread to silently warn themselves, “I will never believe in god again,” just like them. This is the disturbance that the notions spread by such people cause to others.

2. Spreading Notions About God’s Words and Work

These people who spread notions use their own notions to measure God’s words, to measure God’s work, and also to measure God’s essence and God’s disposition. They believe in God within their notions, view God within their notions, and observe and scrutinize every word God says, every item of work God does, and every environment God arranges within their notions. When what God does aligns with their notions, they loudly praise God, saying that God is righteous, God is faithful, and God is holy. When what God does does not align with their notions, and their interests suffer severe losses, and they endure great pain, they come out to deny the words that God speaks and the work that He does; they even spread notions to incite more people to misunderstand and guard against God, saying, “Do not believe God’s words so easily, and do not practice God’s words easily either; otherwise, if you’re taken advantage of and suffer losses, no one will take accountability for it,” and so on. For instance, God says, “To those who sincerely expend for Me, I shall surely bless you greatly”—are these words not the truth? These words are one hundred percent the truth. They contain no impetuousness or deception. They are not lies or grand-sounding ideas, much less are they some kind of spiritual theory—they are the truth. What is the essence of these words of truth? It is that you must be sincere when you expend yourself for God. What does “sincere” mean? Willing and without impurities; not motivated by money or fame, and certainly not for your own intentions, desires, and goals. You expend yourself not because you are forced to, or because you are incited, coaxed, or pulled along, but rather, it comes from within you, willingly; it is born out of conscience and reason. This is what it means to be sincere. In terms of the willingness to expend yourself for God, this is what it means to be sincere. Then how does being sincere manifest itself in practical terms when you expend yourself for God? You do not engage in falsehood or cheating, do not resort to trickery to avoid work, and do not do things perfunctorily; you devote all your heart and mind, doing all you can, and so forth—there are too many details to mention here! In short, being sincere incorporates the truth principles. There is a standard and principle behind God’s requirements for man. Some people say, “If I offer my sincerity and all my meager savings in believing in god, will I gain more? If I can gain more, then it’s worth offering everything!” After offering, they see that God hasn’t blessed them and ponder on it, thinking: “Maybe I haven’t offered enough, so I’ll offer more. I’ll go out and preach the gospel.” When they encounter difficulties while preaching the gospel, they pray. Sometimes, when they’re missing meals and not sleeping well, they still continue to pray. They think: “God said that those who sincerely expend themselves for God will surely be greatly blessed. Maybe my sincerity isn’t enough yet, so I’ll pray more.” Through prayer, they gain faith and don’t mind enduring a bit of hardship. They really start to see some results from preaching the gospel and think: “Now I have some sincerity. I’ll hurry home to see if my family’s life has improved, if my child’s illness has gotten better, and if the family business is running smoothly—whether or not there are blessings from god.” Is this expending oneself sincerely for God? (No.) What is this? (A transaction.) This is making a deal with God. They are using their own methods and what they consider “sincerity” to be based on their notions to do what they want, and to obtain what they desire from that. They continually use the “sincerity” they understand to verify these words spoken by God, constantly prying into just what God intends to do, what He has done, and what He hasn’t done, and constantly speculating about whether God will bless them or not, and whether He intends to bless them greatly. They are continually calculating what they have offered and how much they should gain, whether God has given them that and whether God’s words have been fulfilled. They are continually looking for facts with which they can test God’s statement. While expending themselves for God, they always want to verify whether God’s words are true. Their purpose is to see if expending themselves for God can earn them God’s blessings. They are constantly testing God, always wanting to see God’s blessings upon themselves so as to confirm His words. When they find that God’s words are not as easily fulfilled as they imagined, and it is hard to confirm the veracity of God’s words, their notions about God become even more severe. At the same time, they begin to firmly believe that not every word God says is necessarily the truth. With this hidden in their hearts, they start to doubt and question God, often developing notions about Him. From time to time, these people, whose hearts are filled with notions, reveal some of their notions about God while living church life and interacting with the brothers and sisters. They develop notions about God’s words and also use their notions to measure God’s work. When God’s work consistently does not align with their notions and is completely contrary to their expectations, they spread their notions to vent their dissatisfaction with God. For instance, God says that His work is nearing its end, and people should forsake everything to follow God and expend themselves for Him, cooperate with God’s work, and no longer pursue worldly prospects, a harmonious household, and other such things. After God says these words, God continues to do much work. Three, five, seven, or eight years pass, and some people see that God’s work is still steadily proceeding, with no signs that His work is ending or that the great catastrophe is imminent and believers have all taken refuge. Those who use their notions to measure God’s work cannot wait for God’s work to quickly end so that believers can share in the wonderful blessings of God. But God does not act this way; He does not accomplish this matter according to human notions and imaginings. Those who can’t wait become restless and start to have misgivings, saying: “Isn’t god’s work already nearing its end? Isn’t it supposed to end soon? Didn’t god say that great disasters and catastrophes are imminent? Why is god’s house still doing so much work? When exactly will god’s work end? When will it be over?” These people are not the slightest bit interested in the truth or in God’s requirements. They have no interest in practicing the truth, submitting to God, or escaping Satan’s influence to achieve salvation. They are only, and especially, interested in such things as when God’s work will end, whether their outcome will be life or death, when they can enter the kingdom to enjoy blessings, and what the beautiful scenes of the kingdom will be like. These are their greatest concerns. Therefore, after enduring for a period of time and seeing that the heavens and earth remain unchanged, and that the countries of the world continue as normal, they say, “When will these words of god come true? I’ve been waiting for several years—why haven’t they come true yet? Can god’s words really come true? Does god stick to his word or not?” And so these people lose patience, become restless, and start wanting to look for opportunities to return to the world to live their own lives.

God’s work and the truths God expresses always exceed human imaginings and are always beyond human notions. No matter how people try, they cannot fathom or measure them. They don’t know just what the methods of God’s work are or what goals it intends to achieve, so eventually, some people start to doubt: “Does god really exist? Where exactly is god? God keeps expressing truths, but doesn’t he express too many? Didn’t god say that he would bring us into his kingdom? When can we enter the kingdom of heaven? How come these things haven’t come true or been fulfilled yet? Exactly how many more years will it take? It’s always said that god’s day is at hand, but this ‘at hand’ has been mentioned for years now—why is it so far away and seemingly endless?” They not only think this way, but they spread these doubts everywhere. What problem does this indicate? Why, after listening to so many sermons, do they still not understand the truth at all? Why do they always use human notions and imaginings to delimit God’s work? Why can’t they look at these things according to God’s words? Can they confirm God’s existence and determine a path to salvation through God’s words? Do they understand that all of these words God says and everything He does are in order to save people? Do they understand that only by gaining the truth and achieving salvation can people gain all the blessings God has promised to humankind? From what they say and the notions they spread, it is evident that they fundamentally do not understand just what God is doing or just what the purpose of God doing all this work and speaking all these words is. They are simply disbelievers! After listening to sermons for so many years and muddling away in God’s house for so many years, what have they gained? They haven’t even confirmed whether God exists, they have no definite answer to this. What role do they play in the church? After laboring for a while without gaining blessings, they unscrupulously spread notions to mislead and disturb others. The things they casually say are judgments against God and His work. Some of them say, “I used to think god’s work would be finished in three to five years; I didn’t expect that it still wouldn’t be done now that ten years have passed. When will this work be completed? Testimonial articles are constantly being written; videos of hymn performances and movies are continuously being produced; the gospel is continuously being preached—when will it end?” They even ask others: “Don’t you think the same? Well, no matter what you think, that’s what I think. I am an honest person; I say whatever’s on my mind, unlike some people who don’t say what’s on their mind, and keep it all bottled up.” How “honest” they are, daring to say anything! Even worse, they say, “If god’s work doesn’t end soon, I’ll just go find a job, make some money, and live my life. For all these years of believing in god, I’ve missed out on so many good meals, so many enjoyable places, so much material enjoyment! If I didn’t believe in god, I’d have been living in a mansion, owning a car, and might even have traveled the world several times over these past years. Thinking back, life without believing in god was pretty good; I was quite happy. Although it was a bit empty, I could enjoy fleshly pleasures, eat and drink well, and do whatever I wanted, without any restrictions. During these years of believing in god, I’ve suffered so much, and been too hard on myself! Although I have gained a bit of truth and feel a bit more secure in my heart, these truths can’t replace those fleshly pleasures! Besides, god’s work never ends, and god never appears to people, so I never feel truly secure. They say understanding and gaining the truth brings peace and joy, but what good is having peace and joy? I still don’t have fleshly enjoyment!” These thoughts have run through their mind countless times, and they’ve repeated them to themselves many times. When they believe their notions have enough justification to stand firm and they feel that the time is ripe and they are sufficiently qualified to nitpick God’s work, they cannot help but spread the remarks and notions quoted above. They spread their dissatisfaction with God and their notions and misunderstandings about God’s work, trying to mislead more people into misunderstanding God and His work. Of course, there are also some with ulterior motives who want to prevent more people from expending themselves for God, wanting them to abandon their current duties and reject God; if the church were to disband, for them it would be the best thing of all. What is their goal? “If I can’t gain blessings, none of you should hope to either. I will mess things up for you all so that none of you can hope to gain the truth or the blessings promised by god!” Seeing no hope of gaining blessings, they lose the patience to wait any longer. They do not gain blessings themselves, and they don’t want others to gain them either. Therefore, when they spread notions, in one sense they are venting their dissatisfaction, complaining that nothing about God’s work aligns with human notions and imaginings, and that God’s method of working is inconsiderate toward people’s feelings. At the same time, they want to mislead and draw more people into misunderstanding and complaining about God, developing notions about God, and losing faith. They want more people to abandon God due to their misunderstandings and notions about Him, just as they have.

B. How to Treat People Who Spread Notions

What consequences result when someone in the church spreads notions and dissatisfaction with God? Does it directly affect the results of church life? Does it disturb normal church life and the church’s work? (Yes.) This impacts people’s faith in God and affects their ability to do their duties normally. Therefore, those who spread notions must be restricted. Even if they only occasionally mention such things, they need to be restricted and discerned; see what kind of humanity they have, whether their spreading of notions is due to momentary negativity and weakness or if it’s due to an issue with their nature essence—if they are consistently not pursuing the truth and intentionally spreading notions to mislead more people and disturb and damage church life. If it’s just occasional negativity and weakness, it’s sufficient to support and help them through fellowship of the truth. If they don’t heed advice and continue spreading notions and disturbing church life—even causing others to become negative and weak, affecting their ability to do their duties normally—then that means they are servants of Satan and should be cleared out according to principles. Why not give them another chance? Do you think such people are disbelievers? (Yes.) No matter what their humanity is like, such people are disbelievers. Disbelievers are like the tares among the wheat—they should be pulled out. If they only exhibit some manifestations of disbelievers and have not caused disturbances in church life, and can still serve as friends of the church and render service, they can be left alone. But those who constantly spread notions always express the viewpoints and remarks of disbelievers. They are not just saying things casually; their purpose is to incite, mislead, and draw in more people to distance themselves from God. Their intention is: “If I can’t gain blessings, I won’t believe anymore. None of you should hope to gain blessings, and you shouldn’t believe either! If you keep believing, what if you persist and eventually gain blessings some day—won’t that put me in a difficult spot? How could I feel internally balanced then? That won’t do. To avoid future regret, I’ll disturb you and unsettle your faith, make you distance yourselves from god, betray god, and leave the church with me—that would be best.” This is their purpose. Shouldn’t such disbelievers be cleared out? (Yes.) They should be cleared out. If some disbelievers stop believing, the church will simply take back their books of God’s words and strike them off. There are other disbelievers who have some positive feelings about believing in God and toward believers. They do not play a positive, affirmative role in the church; they just occasionally help out as friends of the church. Such people, even though they do not pursue the truth or fellowship the truth, do not spread notions or disturb church life. As long as they can render a bit of service, they should be allowed to stay in the church and need not be cleared out. However, for those disbelievers who constantly spread notions, they should not be shown any mercy. They spread their notions and misunderstandings about God, disturbing church life and causing disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work. These disbelievers are servants of Satan. They have notions; however, not only do they not seek the truth to resolve them, but they even spread their notions to mislead God’s chosen people. They betray God and want to drag a few others to their ruin along with them. It is with these kinds of intentions that they disturb the church’s work. Can God forgive them? No, they must not be spared. This is not just a matter of having to restrict or isolate them; they must be cleansed away and forever stricken off, without being shown any leniency whatsoever!

In the church, some people never pursue the truth and never understand how God works to save people. After experiencing certain things, they develop misunderstandings, resistance, and complaints toward God; some of the things they say and do serve to spread notions. The notions they spread are not just deviations in comprehending God’s words and work or misunderstandings about God. Some are more serious, directly denying that God’s words are the truth—they thoroughly judge and condemn God. And other notions they spread even openly attack and blaspheme God. They are not dissecting or trying to know their own corruption and rebellion with a heart of submission, standing from the perspective of a created being or a follower of God, nor are they accepting the truth and fellowshipping about their understanding of God’s work and their comprehension of His intentions. The notions they express are exactly opposite to these positive understandings. When others hear their notions, they do not gain an understanding of God, nor do they develop genuine faith, and of course their faith in God does not grow either. Instead, their faith in God becomes vague, diminishes, or is even lost altogether. At the same time, the vision of God’s work becomes blurred to them. The more people listen to the notions they spread, the more muddled their hearts become, even to the point that they feel unclear about why they should believe in God and they start to doubt whether God exists. Whether God’s words are the truth, whether God’s words and work can purify and save people, and other such matters—these all become blurred and doubtful to them. When people hear the notions and misunderstandings spread by such individuals, they begin to doubt and guard against God; they start to delimit God in their hearts, develop misunderstandings and complaints against God, and even distance themselves from God internally. This is very troublesome. Once they have these negative, adverse thoughts, views, plans, and designs, it becomes clear that the information and remarks they have accepted are not in line with the needs of normal humanity, let alone the truth—it is one hundred percent certain that they come from Satan. Regardless of the intentions or motives of those who spread notions, whether they spread rumors and fallacies intentionally or unintentionally, as long as they cause a detrimental impact in the church, they should be restricted. Of course, if such people are discovered and discerned outside of church life, they should also be promptly stopped and restricted. If someone who understands the truth can use God’s words or their own understanding to refute and expose those who spread such things, helping the brothers and sisters to discern them, this is even better. This is fighting against Satan. If you lack the stature, you should learn to discern and stay away from them. If you have the stature, you should expose them. Do you dare to do this? Do you know how to do this? This most reveals whether someone has the truth reality. When some new believers hear the notions and misunderstandings such people spread about God, they are shocked and say, “How can someone who believes in God speak like this?” If people without a foundation hear these notions and fallacies, will they become negative and weak? Will they accept these fallacies? Will they be misled and leave the church? These are all possible. When someone who spreads notions says, “I will never believe in god again,” regardless of what kind of state they are in when they say this, it indicates that they have completely lost faith in God and are a disbeliever. Regardless of their purpose for spreading such words, can you gain any edification from hearing them? (No.) When you are weak and hear these words, you might feel, “This person shares my pain; when they talk about their notions, it’s like they’re giving voice to my own innermost thoughts.” However, if someone with faith hears these words, they would think, “This is outrageously rebellious! How can such words be spoken? Isn’t this blaspheming God? I wouldn’t dare say such things, as it offends God’s disposition!” The fact that they can spread these notions indicates that these ideas developed a long time ago and have already taken root in their heart. If such ideas have just started to form and are still in the budding stage, and they haven’t fully developed into notions, as long as one doesn’t verbalize them and hasn’t misled or disturbed others, this shows they have a bit of reason; they can guard their tongue and thus avoid the consequence of being cleared out. But if they speak out and disturb church life, then they cannot be shown further courtesy; they should be exposed and cleared out. People who do not love the truth and lack the ability to comprehend the truth are prone to frequently developing notions. However, those who often read God’s words and have comprehension ability will seek the truth to resolve their notions, even if they arise. Those who frequently spread notions are revealed and eliminated by God’s work; they are people who do not love the truth whatsoever and who cannot accept the truth, they are all averse to the truth and hate the truth. This is beyond all doubt.

In church life across various countries and places, the issue of spreading notions certainly exists because people who do not love the truth are a ubiquitous presence. Those who do not pursue the truth, those who are averse to the truth, those who seek fleshly pleasure, as well as disbelievers, evil people, and others, because they do not pursue the truth, always harbor notions about God’s words and about God incarnate. Their hearts are filled with notions, full of imaginings about God and demands toward Him, and they cannot purely comprehend and understand every word God says; they only understand them based on their own notions, preferences, and even their personal gains and losses. Their hearts are filled with various notions, imaginings, and unreasonable demands toward God, along with various misunderstandings and judgments about God, and so on. Therefore, it is natural for these people to spread notions—this is nothing new. As long as such people exist, the spreading of notions will occur from time to time and can happen at any moment. When something God says or does does not align with their notions and wishes, and when it harms their interests, they fly into a rage and start to speak out for the sake of their own interests and contend with God and His work. These people always stand in opposition to the truth and to God, analyzing and scrutinizing God’s words, God’s disposition, and God’s work. They continuously scrutinize and examine the correctness of God’s words and work, and they also want to verify whether God’s incarnate flesh aligns with God’s identity and status. During their process of verification, they find it very difficult to obtain accurate answers; in their eyes, it is even very difficult for God’s words to be fulfilled and come true. Therefore, they have much to say when spreading notions. They spread their notions regardless of time, place, or context. Whenever they feel dissatisfied in any way with God, they measure things using their notions. If God’s words and work do not align with their notions, they quickly express their notions. We characterize this kind of expressing as spreading. Why is it called “spreading”? Because the things they express do not have a positive effect on God’s chosen people, church life, or the work of God’s house. Instead, they only cause disturbances, disruptions, and damage. Therefore, it is accurate to refer to the utterance of such remarks as “spreading.”

After you gain some basic discernment about the issue of spreading notions, you should dissect and discern the various erroneous notions and remarks of people based on the truth, and then handle and resolve them according to the regulations of God’s house. Leaders and workers have, of course, an unshirkable responsibility for resolving such issues. At the same time, all of God’s chosen people, after listening to this fellowship, also have the obligation and responsibility to expose and dissect the people who spread notions and their words and behaviors. If you do not have the courage to stop or restrict them, you can fellowship and debate with them based on God’s words and the truth you understand. What is the purpose of such debating? It is to enable those with small stature and no understanding of the truth to realize whose words are in line with the truth after they listen to the debate, instead of being confusedly misled by the notions and fallacies spread by some people. This is beneficial for God’s chosen people and for church life. When it is discovered that someone is speaking words that are not in line with the truth—whether they are human notions or fallacies—there should be a debate. Such debates edify people. At the very least, after listening to these debates, onlookers can clearly see that the words of those who spread notions are indeed notions, and they can understand which aspects of these notions do not align with the truth, what the essence of the notions is, why they do not conform to the truth, why they are characterized as notions, why the people who spread them should be restricted, and so forth—they are able to have accurate insight into these matters, rather than getting misled and toyed with in a muddled manner. Although the notions spread by people can cause some disturbance and damage to the life entry of God’s chosen people and to the church life, experiencing these things really isn’t a bad thing for people. At the very least, it allows them to grow in discernment, see what the true colors of those who spread notions are, see what dispositions they reveal when spreading notions, and see the difference between the notions they spread and the truth. For one thing, people will be able to discern these remarks and have an immunity to them. For another, they will also have some discernment of such people, and know what kinds of words are spoken by disbelievers, by those who do not possess any of the truth at all and often harbor notions about God, and know that their faith is not genuine—at the very least, people can gain this kind of discernment. Of course, if you haven’t yet encountered these issues, do not recklessly pray, saying, “O God, please arrange an environment for me so that I can see what is meant by ‘the notions that people spread.’” Witnessing the spreading of notions is not a game and can easily cause you to be misled. And when these things do happen, you should handle them correctly. Do not allow them to slip by or avoid them; face them correctly, and approach each environment that God has arranged for you with a serious and rigorous attitude. This is the attitude a person who pursues the truth should have in order to obtain the truth. When you encounter someone spreading notions, you should learn to pray to God: “O God, please be with me, enlighten me, and guide me, so that I can discern these words and this type of person, and also enable me to recognize whether I have any of these people’s notions within me.” Then, after praying, go and experience this matter. Of course, this will also be the time when you are tested regarding how much of the truth you truly understand and how great your stature is. When someone is spreading notions, if you hear them and have no internal reaction or thoughts, and are instead just like a radio—accepting whatever notions they express and spread, without any resistance or ability to reject them, and even more so without any ability to discern them—isn’t this very troublesome? Some people, when they hear someone expressing notions, feel in their hearts that what is being said is wrong, and they want to fellowship and debate with that person, but they do not know how to express themselves appropriately, or how they should expose and dissect that person. They also fear that if they fail to argue back effectively, they will get all red in the face, and then when they are ultimately defeated they will lose face and be stuck in an awkward situation. However, they also feel unwilling to let it go without debating, thinking: “I’ve listened to a lot of sermons and understand quite a bit, so why do I lack the words to refute them? I have no notions about God, and I have true faith in God, so why can’t I explain things clearly now that it’s time to refute their fallacies?” They watch the person spreading notions speak more and more, with their words becoming increasingly outrageous and detestable, but they just cannot refute or dissect them, and they are unable to stand up and expose them, much less stop them, which makes them feel extremely anxious and worried inside. It is only at this moment that they realize their stature is too small and see that their understanding of the truth has not yet formed into a complete and correct viewpoint, that it is just some fragmented phrases, scattered bits of light and ideas, and not genuine knowledge of the truth at all. They know very well that this person is spreading notions and misleading people, and that they are a disbeliever, and they want to expose them and refute their views, it’s just that they lack appropriate and powerful language to do so. They can only manage to say, “Everything God does is good; you have to accept it. God is holy and perfect; He is not at all like you say. God is sovereign over all things, and people are created beings. They should submit to God. People do not lose out by submitting to God.” They can only voice these superficial theories that do not hit the vital points at all. After experiencing this special event, they realize their stature is too small and think, “Why am I so incapable? Usually, I can go on and on about grand doctrines, speaking quite eloquently; I can talk for an hour at a gathering without any problem, and write three to five pages of sermon notes without batting an eye, feeling very confident in this regard. But when faced with someone spreading notions like this, judging and blaspheming God like this, why do I have no alertness, no response? Why can’t I give a powerful exposure and rebuttal?” What do they discover from this? Isn’t it that they realize they do not understand the truth? Is this realization a good thing or a bad thing? (A good thing.) Finally, they discover their actual stature. If they hadn’t encountered someone spreading notions, they might still think they have stature, understand the truth, have discernment, can see through everything, can preach various spiritual doctrines, and can fellowship a bit about every truth with great familiarity. However, when faced with someone spreading notions, even though they know it is wrong, they find themselves helpless, unable to do anything, and end up defeated. Is this embarrassing? Is it a glorious matter? (No.) So, how should this be resolved? If you don’t have the right words to dispute with them, and you also want to avoid embarrassment and stand firm in your testimony to utterly shame and defeat Satan, what should you do? I’ll tell you an effective method: If you see them endlessly spreading notions, and most people lack discernment and are influenced by them, but you can’t outargue them, then it’s time to take the gloves off; slam the table and say, “Shut up! What are you talking about? I may not be able to outargue you, but I know you are a disbeliever! Look at what you’re saying; is there a single word that aligns with the truth? You’ve enjoyed God’s grace for so many years—have you ever spoken a word of praise or testimony for God? You have grievances against God; if you have what it takes, go straight to the third heaven and speak to God directly. Stop causing disturbances here. I now formally order you to beat it!” Would you dare to say this? Is this being impetuous? (No, it’s not.) This is issuing a declaration to Satan. Just do this. Tell them, “Beat it, you disbeliever! You’ve enjoyed so much of God’s grace for nothing, you conscienceless wretch; you are unworthy of being human!” Just two words: “Beat it!” How does that sound? It’s powerful, but it can’t be used recklessly. You shouldn’t say this to new brothers and sisters to the faith who don’t understand the truth yet, but to disbelievers and Satan’s servants, you can mercilessly give such orders: “This is God’s house, the home of true brothers and sisters, the home of those who follow God. This is not the home of devils and Satans. Devils and Satans are not needed here. You are a devil and a Satan, so beat it!” Is this appropriate? (Yes.) This is not the best method; it’s just because your stature is small, because you don’t have enough stature to battle with Satan, that I’m teaching you this method. Actually, it is not ideal. The ideal method is that—if you understand many truths and have genuine faith in and genuine knowledge of God—you are able to refute them, and you refute them so thoroughly that they are utterly shamed, so that finally they say to everyone: “I can’t keep my faith; I’m too ashamed to face any of you. I am a devil and a Satan; I will leave the church myself.” Since you don’t have this ability now, you should treat those who frequently spread notions according to the method I’ve taught you.

Do you now know how to handle those who frequently spread notions in the church? Can you now discern those who spread notions to mislead people? (Yes.) What are the main types of speech that spread notions? One type targets God’s words, another targets God’s work, and yet another targets God’s disposition and essence. These types of speech range from mild—imaginings and misinterpretations of God—to severe, such as judging, condemning, and blaspheming God. Besides these, there are also people’s negative and resistant remarks—expressing things like their complaints, defiance, and dissatisfaction toward God. In summary, the words that spread notions are all of the nature of defying, judging, condemning, and blaspheming God, and the consequence they cause is to make people suspicious of and guarded against God, misunderstand and distance themselves from Him, and even reject Him. These should be easy to discern.

C. The Principles and Paths for Resolving Notions

There are still some things about spreading notions that need to be fellowshipped. Some people say: “We must practice exposure and dissection during church life when it comes to the spreading of notions, and restrict it. However, during the course of believing in God, we are liable to develop various notions; this is something beyond our control. So, when it comes to notions, what kind of path of practice should we follow so that we can practice accurately, and not cause disturbances and disruptions during church life, detrimentally impact others, or cause losses to other people’s lives? What is the appropriate way to act?” Isn’t it a fact that people have notions? Isn’t it unavoidable? (Yes.) Some people say, “Only those who do not pursue the truth will develop notions.” Is this statement correct? It is only partially correct. Those who pursue the truth may also occasionally develop notions about God when they encounter special situations because, before people understand the truth and God’s intentions, and before they have knowledge of God, they will develop some notions about God’s words and work. These notions are some fallacious human ideas that do not conform to the truth. Some notions may conform to morality, philosophy, traditional culture, ethical theories, and so on, and on the surface, these ideas may seem correct. However, they just do not conform to the truth and are in conflict with it. This is a fact. How should people face these notions? Before people pursue the truth, they already carry many notions with them; these are inherent notions. During the process of people pursuing the truth, quite a lot of new notions will arise in them due to changing environments and various contexts; these are acquired notions. Both types of notions are things that people need to face in their journey of believing in God. So, is there a solution for resolving notions? Is there a path of practice? Some say, “This is easy to handle. We can rebel against our inherent notions; there’s no need for us to pay them any heed. We are sure that in the process of pursuing the truth, these notions will gradually be resolved and eliminated as we understand the truth. As for acquired notions, we rely on God to resolve them, and we are not constrained by them either. Therefore, to date, we have not formed notions in our hearts that could lead to things like resistance, condemnation, or blasphemy against God.” How is this method of practice, this way of facing and handling notions? Can it resolve notions? Does it have drawbacks? Is this attitude toward notions proactive and positive? (No.) Does this attitude have any positive effect whatsoever on people? If you use a passive method whereby you ignore these notions, storing them in the most hidden parts of your heart, stamping them down and praying whenever they come out and then considering them resolved, dealing with them the same way whenever they reappear, and not thinking about them afterward and acting like they’re not a problem, believing, “In any case, the God I believe in is still my God, I am still God’s created being, and God is still my Creator; this hasn’t changed”—is this the most effective way to resolve notions? Does this achieve a positive result? Does this kind of practice thoroughly resolve notions from the root? Obviously not. No matter how big or small, or how many or few these notions are, as long as they exist in people’s hearts, they will have some negative impact on their life entry and their relationship with God, causing disturbances. Especially when people are weak; when they encounter an environment they cannot overcome; when they do not understand God’s intentions, do not have a path of practice, and do not know how to satisfy God; and when they feel they have no hope of salvation, these notions will quickly emerge inside them, dominate their thoughts, occupy their hearts, and may even affect their staying or leaving, and influence the path they choose. It might be that there’s a notion you never cared about and which has never affected you or brought you down—you always believed you were its master, that you could control it—but after experiencing a certain failure, a dismissal or elimination, or severe discipline and chastening from God, or even when you feel as if you have fallen into a bottomless pit, at that time, that notion is no longer a mere accessory for you. Even if you ignore it, it can disturb and mislead your thoughts, even dominate your thoughts and viewpoints, your attitude toward God, and your faith in God. If you do not have an appropriate method or principle of practice to deal with these notions, or if you do not have a clear understanding of them, these notions will intermittently affect your life entry or your immediate choices. They may even influence your relationship with God and your attitude toward God. So, when faced with various notions arising in any context, what kind of attitude and method should people adopt to confront and handle them so as to avoid harm and achieve a positive, beneficial result? This is a question that should be clearly fellowshipped about.

People living in the flesh have free will and free thoughts. Regardless of whether they’re educated, how their caliber is, or what their gender is, as long as people have thoughts, they will generate notions. If a notion dominates your corrupt disposition, you will defy God because of this notion. Therefore, this problem of people having notions must be resolved. It’s not only those who spread notions who generate notions; it’s just that they spread their notions, heedlessly standing in opposition to God and spreading various views and judgments about Him. But is it the case that those who don’t spread notions have none? Everyone has notions; this is a fact. The difference is that those who intentionally spread notions have a nature essence that is inherently averse to the truth. Because they do not accept the truth and even believe their notions are correct and entirely conform to the truth, if their notions conflict with the truth, they choose to accept their notions rather than the truth. This is where they fail and why they are restricted and condemned. So why are ordinary, normal people not condemned when they generate notions? This is because most of them speak and act with rationality, and know in their hearts that human notions do not conform to the truth and are incorrect; although they cannot immediately resolve their notions, they are willing to abandon them. When they choose to accept the truth, their internal notions are thereby replaced and resolved by the truth; they let go of their notions and are no longer influenced, restricted, or dominated by them. So, these people, although they have notions, do not spread them. They can still do their duties normally, follow God normally, accept God’s words and God’s work, submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and submit to God’s salvation. They always acknowledge that they are created beings and God is the Creator. Regardless of what notions they harbor in their hearts, they can maintain a normal relationship with God, maintain the relationship between a created being and the Creator, refrain from giving up their duties, refrain from abandoning God’s name, and their faith in God remains unchanged. Although this is the case, if notions are never resolved, they can still ruin people and lead to their destruction. Therefore, we still need to fellowship about how best to face and resolve notions.

What do you think is easier to resolve: the inherent notions that people have from before believing in God, or the notions that people develop in special environments and contexts after they come to believe in God? (Inherent notions are easier to resolve.) The imaginings and notions people have about God when they first start believing in Him are easier to resolve, whereas the notions they develop while they experience God’s work after coming to believe in Him are not as easy to resolve—this is a theoretical statement, but it does not align with the facts in the end. What does “theoretical” mean? It means that these kinds of conclusions are deduced by people based on philosophy and logic. After people first start believing in God and understand the truth about visions, some of their notions are dropped and resolved. In actuality, this resolution is only achieved on a doctrinal level; it seems as if these notions have been resolved, but many of the notions that people develop while following God are related to their inherent notions. Theoretically, of these two types of notions, inherent notions are easier to resolve, but in fact, as long as people can accept the truth and love positive things, as long as they reach an understanding of the truth, both types of notions are easy to resolve. For example, some of you say inherent notions are easier to resolve, but you may encounter some people with distorted comprehensions who are very stubborn and fixate on unimportant details, who probe into the Bible, spiritual classics, and the interpretations of Bible expositors; these people repeat the things they find to you, and no matter how you fellowship about the truth, they do not accept it. They cannot accept pure sermons, the truth, or correct words; they do not take these things in when they listen to them. For one thing, there is a problem with their comprehension ability; for another, they do not love positive things or the truth, instead they love to be stubborn and fixate on unimportant details, and to play games with language, and they like theories and theology. Can such people let go of their notions? (No.) Judging from the facts, from the disposition and preferences of such people, they cannot accept the truth. People’s initial notions are actually very shallow and superficial, they are very easy to resolve. If a person has normal thinking and normal comprehension ability, when you fellowship with them about the truth concerning visions, as long as they understand it, they can easily let go of their notions. But there is one type of people who do not have normal thinking, cannot comprehend the truth, and do not accept the truth. Can such people let go of their notions? (No.) Therefore, the notions of such people are difficult to resolve. If a person has normal reason and is able to accept the truth, then no matter what notions they develop about God after believing in God, and no matter in what environment or context these notions arise, they do not argue with God. They say, “I am human, I have corrupt dispositions, my thinking and actions can be wrong. God is the truth, God is never wrong. No matter how reasonable my thoughts are, they are still human thoughts, they come from a human and are not the truth. If they contradict God’s words or the truth, then these thoughts, no matter how reasonable, are wrong.” They may not know exactly where these notions are wrong right now, so how do they practice? They practice submission, are not stubborn and do not fixate on certain details, and let go of the matter, believing that one day God will reveal it. Someone asks them, “What if God doesn’t reveal it?” They reply, “Then I will submit forever. God is never wrong, and what God does is never wrong. If what God does doesn’t conform to human notions, it doesn’t mean God is wrong, but that humans cannot comprehend or understand it. Therefore, what people should do the most is not to scrutinize, not to dwell on their notions, and not to use their notions to find fault with God, using their notions as a reason and excuse to not submit to God and to defy Him.” This is how they treat their notions. Is this kind of practice practicing the truth? This is indeed practicing the truth. When they develop notions, they do not compare God to them or use them to scrutinize God, to verify whether God is true or whether He exists. Instead, they let go of their notions and strive to accept the truth and to know God. Yet even though they try their hardest to know God, they still cannot know Him. What do they do then? They still submit. They say, “God is never wrong. God is always God. God is the One who expresses the truth. God is the source of truth.” They first place God in the position of God and themselves in the position of created beings when dealing with these notions. Therefore, even if they haven’t put aside their notions or resolved them, their attitude of submission toward God does not change. This attitude protects them, allowing them to remain recognized by God as created beings before Him. So, are the notions of such people easy to resolve? (Yes.) How is this achieved? Suppose they spoke this way upon encountering some situation: “Saying everything god does is the truth and is right, that god is almighty and cannot make mistakes—isn’t that incorrect? Although it’s said that god cannot make mistakes, this is just a theoretical statement. In fact, there are some things god does that are inconsiderate and which don’t align with human feelings. I think this matter is not quite right. For things that are not quite right, I don’t need to submit or accept them, right? Even though I do not deny god’s name or his identity, the notions I’ve now developed have given me more insight and a better understanding of god—god also does some things wrong and has times when he makes mistakes. So, from now on, I won’t believe it when people say god is righteous, perfect, and holy. I will attach a little question mark to these statements. Although god is the creator and I can accept his sovereignty, in the future I need to accept selectively and cannot confusedly and blindly submit. What if I submit wrongly? Wouldn’t I suffer a loss? I can’t be a person who foolishly submits.” If they treat notions and God with this attitude, can they easily let go of their notions? Is this kind of practice practicing the truth? (No.) Hasn’t the relationship between them and God become problematic? Aren’t they constantly scrutinizing God? God has become the object of their scrutiny rather than the Sovereign who rules over their fate. Although they acknowledge that they are a created being under the dominion of the Creator, what they are doing is not performing the duties and obligations of a created being. They are not treating the Creator from their original position as a created being but are instead standing in opposition to the Creator, scrutinizing the Creator and analyzing the Creator’s actions and behavior, choosing whether to submit and accept based on their own discretion. Is this attitude and way of practice the manifestations that someone who accepts the truth should have? Can their notions be resolved? (No, they cannot be resolved.) They can never be resolved. This is because their relationship with God has been twisted; it is not a normal relationship, it is not the relationship between a created being and the Creator. They treat God as an object of scrutiny, constantly scrutinizing Him. They accept what they think is correct and good, but they internally resist and contend with God over what does not conform to human notions and imaginings or to human preferences, and become estranged from God. Is such a person someone who accepts the truth? On the surface, in the absence of any incidents and without any notions about God, they can submit to the words that God speaks. But once they develop notions, their submission vanishes; it is nowhere to be seen, and cannot be put into action. What is going on here? It is clear that they are not people who practice the truth. They do not accept God as the source of the truth or as the truth itself. It is difficult for people who do not accept the truth to let go of or resolve their notions, regardless of when those notions arise.

Judging from the content of the above fellowship, which type of notion do you think is easier to resolve? It depends on the situation. For those who can accept the truth, who have reason and are the right people, their notions are easy to resolve regardless of when they arise. For those who cannot accept the truth, their notions are difficult to resolve no matter when they arise. Some people have believed in God for twenty or thirty years, and even now, nothing they say conforms to the truth; it is all just words and doctrines and human notions. They do not understand any truth at all—can they let go of their notions when they arise? This is hard to say. If they do not accept the truth, they will not be able to let go of their notions. It is inevitable for people to have notions. Everyone’s mind can generate various notions at any time, whether they are inherent or acquired. There are notions in everyone’s hearts, regardless of how many years they have believed in God. So what should be done? Is this problem just unresolvable? It can be resolved; there are a few principles to remember. These principles are very crucial. When you encounter such situations, practice according to these principles. After practicing for a while, you will see results, and you will enter into the truth reality. When notions arise, no matter what the notion is, first ponder and analyze in your heart whether this thinking is correct. If you clearly feel that this thinking is incorrect and distorted, and that it blasphemes God, then pray immediately, asking God to enlighten and guide you to recognize the essence of this problem, and after that, discuss your understanding during a gathering. While gaining understanding and experiencing things, focus on resolving your notions. If practicing in this way does not achieve obvious results, you should fellowship about this aspect of the truth with someone who understands the truth, striving to gain help from others and solutions from God’s words. Through God’s words and your experiences, you will gradually verify that God’s words are correct, and you will realize great results in regard to the issue of the resolution of your own notions. By accepting and experiencing such words and work from God, you will finally understand God’s intentions and have some knowledge of God’s disposition, enabling you to let go of and resolve your notions. You will no longer misunderstand or guard against God, nor will you make unreasonable demands. This is for easily resolvable notions. But there is another type of notion that is difficult for people to understand and resolve. For notions that are difficult to resolve, there is one principle you need to uphold: Do not express or spread them, because expressing such notions does no good to others; it is a fact of defying God. If you understand the nature and consequences of spreading notions, you should best measure it clearly yourself and refrain from speaking recklessly. If you say, “It feels terrible holding my words in in the church; I feel like I could burst,” you should still consider whether spreading these notions is truly beneficial to God’s chosen people. If it is not beneficial and can lead others to have notions about God, or even defy and judge God, aren’t you harming God’s chosen people? You are harming people; it is no different from spreading a plague. If you truly have reason, you would rather endure the pain yourself than spread notions and harm others. However, if you find it agonizing to hold your words in, you should pray to God. If the problem gets resolved, isn’t that a good thing? If you judge and misunderstand God with your notions even when you pray to Him, then you are only bringing trouble upon yourself. You should pray to God like this: “God, I have these thoughts, and I want to let go, but I can’t. Please discipline me, reveal me through various environments, and let me recognize that my notions are wrong. No matter how You discipline me, I am willing to accept it.” This mindset is correct. After praying to God with this mindset, won’t you feel less stifled? If you continue to pray and seek, receiving enlightenment and illumination from God, you understand God’s intentions, and your heart becomes bright, you will no longer feel stifled. Won’t the problem be resolved then? Your notions, resistance, and rebelliousness toward God will mostly disappear; at the very least, you won’t feel the need to express them. If that still doesn’t work and the problem isn’t completely resolved, find someone with experience to help you resolve your notions. Have them find a few passages of God’s words related to resolving the notions you have, and read them dozens or hundreds of times; perhaps your notions will be thoroughly resolved. Some might say, “If I express notions during a gathering with the brothers and sisters, that will be spreading notions, so I can’t do that. But it feels terrible holding them in. Can I talk about them with my family?” If your family members are also brothers and sisters of the faith, expressing these notions around them would also disturb them. Is this appropriate? (No.) If what you say would have a detrimental impact on others, harming and misleading them, you absolutely must not say it. Instead, pray to God to resolve the issue. As long as you pray and eat and drink God’s words with a devout heart, a heart that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, your notions can be resolved. God’s words contain the comprehensive truth; they can resolve any problem. It just depends on whether you can accept the truth and are willing to practice God’s words, and whether you can let go of your own notions. If you believe that God’s words contain the comprehensive truth, you should pray to God and seek the truth to resolve problems when they arise. If, after praying for a while, you still do not feel enlightened by God and have not received clear words from God on what to do, but unconsciously your notions no longer affect you internally, do not disturb your life, gradually fade away, do not affect your normal relationship with God, and of course do not affect your performance of duty, then hasn’t this notion basically been resolved? (Yes.) This is the path of practice.

Those who do not understand the truth must first remember that when they have notions, they should seek the truth to resolve them. They must never spread them or speak carelessly, saying, “I have freedom of speech. It’s my own mouth, after all; I can say what I want, to whom I want, and in any setting I want.” Speaking this way is wrong. Some good or correct words may not necessarily benefit others when spoken, but words that are notions or Satan’s temptations can result in immeasurable consequences when spoken. Based on these consequences, if you have a notion that you insist on expressing, and you feel that doing so feels good and makes you happy, your actions will have to be characterized as evil deeds, and God will record them against you. Why would they be recorded against you? You have been told many positive methods, paths, and principles of practice, but did not choose them; instead, you chose a path that brings harm to people—this was intentional, wasn’t it? Is it excessive, then, to call your actions evil deeds? (No.) You can completely choose to resolve this issue yourself through experience and through prayer to God and seeking, rather than bringing out your notions to disturb and mislead others. This is the way a person with conscience and reason should choose. So why don’t you choose this way? Why choose a way that harms and hurts others? Isn’t this what Satan would do? Evil people do things that harm others and themselves. If you also do such things, does God hate it? (Yes.) Even if God does not condemn your notions, you must seek the truth yourself to resolve your notions and you must have a path to practice the truth. If your way of dealing with notions is to spread them to intentionally mislead and harm others, disturbing church life and the life entry and normal states of the brothers and sisters, then your actions are evil deeds. When encountering such a situation, what choice should one make? A person with humanity who pursues the truth will not choose a way that misleads and harms others; they will choose to practice and adhere to proactive, positive principles, come before God to pray and seek the truth, and ask God to help resolve the issue. Some say, “When I ask God to help me, I always feel like His help is intangible and invisible. Can I choose to seek help from people instead?” Yes, you can choose someone who understands the truth more and has more stature than you, someone you believe can resolve your problem without being disturbed and influenced by your notions into becoming weak, someone who has experienced similar issues and can tell you how to resolve them—this path is also appropriate. If you choose someone who is usually quite muddled and cannot see through anything and, upon hearing about this matter, they immediately cause an uproar, want to broadcast the notions everywhere and cause disturbances, and wish to stop believing—then your actions will have inadvertently disturbed church life. Won’t your actions then be characterized as evil deeds? (Yes.) Therefore, when it comes to how you ought to handle notions, you must be careful and cautious, you must not act in a muddled or impulsive manner, and you absolutely must not treat notions as the truth—no matter how correct human thoughts are, they are not the truth. This way, you will feel much calmer, and your notions will not be able to cause any trouble. Having notions is nothing to be afraid of—as long as you seek the truth, they will ultimately be resolved. Some people say, “But notions aren’t easy to resolve.” Some notions are indeed difficult to resolve, so what should be done? It’s simple. Some notions are never resolved in the thoughts and minds of some people. This is already a fact, but no matter how difficult a notion is to resolve, it is still not the truth. As long as you understand this point, the problem is easy to handle. There is a fact here that I must tell you: God does not require everyone to fully understand or clearly grasp everything that He does; He does not require everyone to know the truth within it or why He acts a certain way. This is not what God desires; He does not require these standards of people. If your caliber is good enough, any level of understanding you achieve is good—just do your best. If you cannot understand, as you grow older, and your experiences continually grow deeper and deeper, and you accumulate more experience, your understanding of the truth will also gradually deepen, and your notions will decrease. However, most people are incapable of comprehending some special matters and never understand them. Does God force them to understand these matters? He does not; God does not forcibly instill understanding in them. For example, there are many mysteries among all the things created by God that people want to know but cannot. However, in God’s words and work, He only focuses on expressing the truth to purify and save people. He rarely mentions other matters, and even when He occasionally does, it is only in a brief manner; God never explains these matters to people in great length. Why not? Because people do not need to understand these things. In the work God does on people, in one respect, He reveals His disposition essence; in another respect, God has His thoughts, His plans, the sources and goals for the things He does, the ways and methods He uses to work on different people, the ways and methods of how He holds sovereignty over all things, and so on. God has never said that people must understand and enter into all truths in order for them to be considered saved. This is because God is too almighty! His ways of acting, speaking, working, and holding sovereignty over all things naturally reveal His disposition, essence, identity, and so on. Even though God naturally reveals these things that He has and is, He does not demand that people understand or apprehend them all. This is because God will always be God, and He is almighty, while created humankind is miniscule and entirely lacking in power; there is a chasm of difference between man and God! Therefore, it is very normal for people to develop some notions and imaginings about God. God does not take this to heart, but you always take it so seriously and stubbornly fixate on it. This approach will not work. If you are someone who pursues the truth and possesses high caliber, as long as you understand the truth and have true knowledge of God, these notions and imaginings will naturally be resolved. If you do not pursue the truth, and no matter who fellowships the truth with you, you do not accept it and always cling to your notions, what will the consequence of this be? The consequence will be that even if you reach the end of your life or the point where God’s work is completely finished, you will not have gained the truth but will have been led to death by your notions and imaginings. Even if you see God’s spiritual body appear, you still won’t be able to resolve your notions and imaginings about God. Would God tell you all the facts and what is true just because you can’t resolve these notions? In one respect, it is unnecessary for Him to do that; in another respect, there is a fact, which is that the human brain and mind do not have the massive capacity necessary to receive these things. The work God does is beyond human imagining and beyond all things. Compared to all things, humans are like a grain of sand on the beach. This description is close to the facts and can be considered appropriate. Even if God wanted to tell you everything, do you have the capacity to take it all in? Some people say, “Why can’t I take it all in? If God said more, I could understand more and gain more. In that case, I would be favored!” That’s a pipe dream; those people are overestimating their own capacity. That is not how things really are. In God’s eyes, the things He tells you are all very simple and obvious; they are the things that people can comprehend. In fact, there are many things that God hasn’t spoken about because people cannot comprehend them. Therefore, it is very normal that some of your notions cannot be resolved in the end. The things that God needs you to understand and wants to tell you, or that you can bear and comprehend, you will understand. As for the things that you cannot bear or comprehend, that your physical eyes cannot see through, even if God tells you them, it would be useless and a waste of effort. Consequently, God does not tell you these things. Regarding such notions, even if by the time you die or by the time God’s work is finished you still do not understand, what does this affect? Does it affect your submission to God? Does it affect your assuming the role of a created being? Does it affect your knowing God’s identity and essence? If you are not affected in any of these ways, then you will have been saved. So, does this kind of notion still need to be resolved? It does not. This is the last kind of notion, the kind that cannot be resolved even at the point of death. Some people say, “O God, I still do not understand this work You have done, these words You have said, and this environment that You have arranged. Can You tell me before I die so I can die in peace?” God ignores such requests. You may go in peace; you will understand everything in the spiritual realm.

God has His own standard for saving people; it isn’t based on how well you’ve resolved your notions or how many of them you’ve let go. Instead, it’s based on how fearful you are of God and how submissive you are to Him, whether you genuinely fear and submit to Him or not. There is meaning in everything God does, and whether it is easy for you to accept, or difficult for you to accept and likely to cause notions in you, in any case, the identity of God does not change as a result; He shall always be the Creator, and you will always be a created being. If you are able to not be limited by any notion, and still maintain with God the relationship of a created being and the Creator, then you are a true created being of God. If you are able to not be influenced or disturbed by any notion, and are capable of true submission to God from the depths of your heart, and if, regardless of whether your understanding of the truth is profound or shallow, you are able to put notions aside, and not be constrained by them, believing only that God is the truth, the way, and the life, that God will forever be God, and that what God does is never wrong, then you can be saved. In fact, everyone’s stature is limited. How many things can be packed into people’s brains? Can they fathom God? That’s wishful thinking! Do not forget: People will always be infants before God. If you think you’re clever, if you always try to play clever, and try to figure everything out, thinking, “If I can’t understand it, then I cannot acknowledge that you are my god, I cannot accept that you are my god, I cannot acknowledge that you are the creator. If you don’t solve my notions, you’re dreaming if you think that I’ll acknowledge that you are god, that I’ll accept your sovereignty, and that I’ll submit to you,” then this is troublesome. How so? God does not argue over such things with you. Toward man He shall ever be as follows: If you do not accept that God is your God, He shall not accept that you are one of His created beings. When God does not accept that you are one of His created beings, a change occurs in your relationship with God as a result of your attitude toward Him. If you are unable to submit to God, and to accept the identity and essence of God, and all that God does, there will be a change in your identity. Are you still a created being? God does not acknowledge you; there’s no point in arguing. And if you are not a created being, and God does not want you, do you still have hope of salvation? (No.) Why doesn’t God regard you as a created being? You are unable to fulfill the responsibilities and duties that a created being ought to, and you do not treat the Creator from the position of a created being. So how will God treat you? How will He view you? God will not view you as an up-to-standard created being, but as a degenerate, a devil and a Satan. Didn’t you think you were clever? How is it that you’ve made yourself into a devil and a Satan? This isn’t clever, it’s stupid. What do these words help people understand? That people must stay in line before God. Even if you have a reason for your notions, do not think that you are possessed of the truth, and that you have the capital to clamor against God and delimit Him. Whatever you do, don’t be like that. Once you lose your identity as a created being, you will be destroyed—this is no joke. It is precisely because, when people have notions, they take different approaches, and adopt different solutions, that the outcomes are entirely different.

Do you have principles for how to practice in regard to notions? Do these principles protect you so that you can conduct yourselves as created beings properly? Is this path good? (Yes.) Then summarize it. (If it is a relatively easy-to-resolve notion, we must pray and seek, finding the truth which dissects this type of notion from God’s words, and we can also fellowship with brothers and sisters who understand the truth; in this way, we will be able to see through the fallacious aspects of the notion, thus resolving it. There are also some notions that are not easy to resolve, but we must not cling to them. We need to have an attitude of accepting the truth and submitting to God, knowing that we are created beings and that what God does is definitely right, and it’s just that we haven’t realized this. Whether we understand or not, we cannot spread notions. We should learn to often pray to God and seek, and gradually these notions can also be resolved. The third situation is that some notions may remain unresolved in the end. In such cases, as long as we are not constrained by these notions and do not spread them, it is fine. Even if these notions are not resolved in the end, as long as we do not cling to them and do not commit evil because of them, God will not condemn us, and it will not affect our salvation.) How many principles are there in total? (Three.) There are three principles in total. You’ve noted them all down, yes? Once you understand the truth and grasp the principles, your notions will naturally be resolved. You must not let notions hinder or trip you up; resolve those notions that can be resolved as best you can, and for those temporarily unresolvable ones, at least do not let them affect you. They should not impede your performance of duty, nor should they affect your relationship with God. Your bottom line is to at least not spread notions, not commit evil, not cause disruptions or disturbances, and not act as a servant of Satan or a conduit for Satan. If, no matter how much effort you apply, some notions can only be superficially resolved and not thoroughly resolved, then simply ignore them. Do not let notions affect your pursuit of the truth or your life entry. Master these principles, and under normal circumstances, you will be protected. If you are someone who accepts the truth, loves positive things, is not an evil person, is unwilling to cause disruptions or disturbances, and does not purposefully cause disruptions and disturbances, then when you typically encounter the issue of notions arising, you will generally be protected. The most rudimentary principle of practice is this: If a notion arises that is difficult to resolve, do not rush to act upon the notion. First, wait and seek the truth to resolve it, believing that what God does cannot be wrong. Remember this principle. Additionally, do not put aside your duty or let the notion affect your performance of duty. If you have notions and think, “I’ll just muddle through with this duty; I’m in a bad mood, so I won’t do a good job for you!” this is no good. Once your attitude turns negative and perfunctory, it becomes troublesome; this is notions acting up inside you. When notions act up within you and affect your performance of duty, that means that by this point your relationship with God has actually already undergone a change. Some notions can affect your performance of duty, which is a serious problem, and they must be resolved promptly. Other notions do not affect your performance of duty or your relationship with God, so they are not major issues. If the notions you develop can affect your performance of duty, causing you to doubt God, not do your duty diligently—and even feel there will be no consequences for not doing your duty—and not have any dread or a God-fearing heart, this is dangerous. This means you will fall into temptation, and be duped and captured by Satan. Your attitude toward your notions and the choices you make are crucial; regardless of whether the notions can be resolved, and irrespective of the degree to which they can be resolved, the normal relationship between you and God must not change. For one thing, you should be able to submit to all the environments orchestrated by God, and affirm that everything God does is correct and meaningful, and this knowledge and this aspect of the truth should never change for you. For another, you must not put aside the duty that God has entrusted to you, you must not unburden yourself of this. If, internally or externally, you have no resistance, opposition, or rebelliousness toward God, God will see only your submission, and that you are waiting. You may still have notions, but God does not see your rebelliousness. As there is no rebelliousness and resistance in you, God still considers you one of His created beings. In contrast, if your heart is full of complaints and defiance, you are looking for an opportunity to retaliate, and do not wish to do your duty, wishing instead to unburden yourself of it—even to the point that, in your heart, there are all manner of complaints about God, and certain manifestations of defiance and resentment are revealed in the course of doing your duty—then, at this time, your relationship with God has already undergone a huge change. You have already switched from your position as a created being; you are no longer a created being, but have become a conduit for devils and Satan—and so God will not show you any kindness. When someone gets to this point, they are approaching dangerous territory. Even if God does nothing, they will not be able to stand firm in the church. And so, in everything they do—particularly when it involves issues such as resolving notions—people must take care to avoid doing things that offend God, or that are condemned by God, or that hurt or harm others. This is the principle.

The problem of people having notions about God is not a small matter! It is crucial for people to maintain a normal relationship with God, but what most affects this relationship is people’s notions. Only when people’s notions about God are resolved can a normal relationship with God be maintained. Currently, many people have a serious problem. Regardless of how many years they’ve believed in God, although they may be able to endure suffering and pay the price in their performance of duties, yet throughout, their notions cannot be completely resolved. This seriously affects their relationship with God and directly impacts their love for God and their submission to Him. Therefore, no matter what notions people develop about God, it is a serious matter that must not be overlooked. Notions are like a wall; they cut off people’s relationships with God, making it so they are unrelated to God’s salvation work. Thus, people having notions about God is a very serious issue that cannot be ignored! If people have notions and cannot promptly seek the truth and resolve them, this can easily give rise to negativity, resistance against God, and even hostility toward Him. Can they still accept the truth then? Their life entry will come to a standstill. The path of experiencing God’s work is uneven and bumpy. Because people have corrupt dispositions, they can take many detours, and they may wind up forming notions in any situation. If these notions are not resolved by seeking the truth, people can rebel against God and defy Him, walking the path of hostility toward Him. Once people take the path of antichrists, do you think there’s a chance of salvation left for them? It’s not easy to handle at that point, and there will be no chance left. Therefore, before God denies you as His created being, you should learn how to be God’s created being. Do not attempt to scrutinize the Creator or attempt to find out how to prove and verify that the God you believe in is the Creator. This is not your obligation or responsibility. What you should be thinking about and pondering in your heart every day is how to fulfill your duties and become an up-to-standard created being, instead of how to prove whether God is the Creator, whether He is indeed God, or scrutinizing what God has done and whether His actions are correct or not. These are not what you should be scrutinizing.

June 19, 2021