What It Means to Pursue the Truth (14)

We have spent some time fellowshipping and dissecting the issue of claims about moral conduct in traditional culture—do you have any real experience of this? (Previously, I only recognized that these statements about moral conduct were not the truth, but I didn’t realize how deeply they have corrupted mankind. Only through Your fellowship and dissection have I realized that the various statements about moral conduct that are instilled in people by Satan appear to be right and good in people’s eyes, but they have corrupted, paralyzed, and imprisoned people’s thoughts, causing people to deny and resist God, and leading them further and further away from Him. This is how Satan has corrupted mankind step-by-step to this day.) If I did not fellowship on these things in detail, would people be able to recognize this themselves? Could they dissect the essence of these statements on moral conduct? (People could not dissect or see through to the essence of these statements on moral conduct.) What about after prolonged experience? (People would be able to recognize the issues with some statements on moral conduct, but they would not be able to clearly dissect their essence.) People often like to treat famous sayings from traditional culture and the truth as equals and mix them together, especially when it comes to things that outwardly resemble the truth, or that appear to conform with human morality, the standards of their consciences, and human feelings. Everyone believes these things to be positive and aligned with the truth, but no one can see that they originate in Satan and that they are actually negative things. Now, is anything that Satan instills in man positive? (No.) There is nothing positive in those things at all. On the contrary, they are all negative things and satanic poisons. This is beyond doubt. So, have you come to know and dig out these negative things and satanic poisons? Is there anything left in your mind that is similar to these things from traditional culture which you consider to be correct? If there is, it is a scourge, a cancer! You should ponder on this more now, and you should carefully observe and pay attention to this in your daily life. See whether there is anything in what others say and what you hear, or in the things that make an impression on you or that you remember, or in those things that you accept into your heart and regard as valuable, that resembles what traditional culture advocates for. If there is, you must discern and dissect it, and then completely abandon it. This will be of benefit to your pursuit of the truth.

Some people bring up the phrase, “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” while writing experiential testimony articles—you should discern whether this statement is right or wrong, whether it is a positive or negative thing, and whether it is related to the truth, to God’s requirements, and to the principles that people should possess while handling matters. Does the statement “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” hold true? Does it align with the truth? Is it something produced by the laws and regulations established by God? Does it have anything to do with the fact that God is sovereign over all things? Go ahead and share your knowledge and understanding of this statement. (I have also said this before, especially when organizing church work. If personnel are not assigned appropriately according to the principles, sometimes this makes a mess of the work. If personnel are assigned in accordance with the principles, the work can be done well. At the time, I saw people’s roles as very important and significant, which is why I quoted the phrase: “The success and failure of things is dependent on people.” Now I realize that I lacked an understanding of God’s sovereignty and omnipotence. I always focused on the role of people, and there was no place for God in my heart at all.) Who else would like to share their thoughts? (The statement “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” is not a testimony to God but a testimony to humans, as if success depends on human effort. It is a denial of God’s sovereignty and it is equivalent to testifying for Satan. If this statement is planted in people’s hearts, then over time, when they are faced with problems they will think that they just need to find the right people in order to be successful, and they will not have faith in God or rely on Him. Therefore, this is a particularly distorted statement.) Your understanding of this statement is essentially that it is not correct or a positive thing, and that it is certainly not the truth. So why do you use it? If you use it, what problem does that reveal? (That we lack discernment of this statement.) What is the reason for your lack of discernment? Is it because you still believe that this statement has a correct and valid aspect to it? (Yes.) So, what is wrong with this statement? Why do you say that it is not correct or a positive thing? First, let us see if it conforms to the objective laws of things. On the surface, it appears that it is people who perform any given task. They arrange the work, they perform the work, and they follow up on it. They play a crucial role in each step, and they ultimately determine the outcomes and progress of that item of work. Outwardly, it seems that the causes, the process of things developing, and the results of it all are determined by people. But in reality, who is the one governing, orchestrating, and arranging all of this? Does it have anything to do with people? Are people passively accepting the orchestrations of fate and of the Sovereign, or are they actively taking control of everything themselves? (They are passively accepting.) People are all passively accepting God’s sovereignty, orchestration, and arrangements. What role do people play here? Are they not puppets in the hands of God? (Yes.) People are like puppets being pulled by strings. The string that gets pulled determines what action they take and which expression they make. Where people go, what they say, and what they do every day—in whose hands is all of this? (In God’s hands.) It is all in God’s hands. People passively accept God’s sovereignty. Throughout this whole process, God determines what He will do, whether He will expose someone, what changes and progress He will bring about in this matter and when, what the ultimate outcome will be, and whom He will expose or eliminate; He determines what lessons people will learn through this matter, what truths they will understand and what kind of knowledge they will gain of God in it, which views He will get people to reverse, and which notions He will make them let go of. Can people accomplish all these things that God does? Can they? (No, they cannot.) People cannot. They cannot accomplish these things. During the entire development of any matter, people are just passively and consciously or unconsciously doing things, but no person can foresee the causes, process, final results, and achieved outcomes of the whole matter, nor can any person control any of these things. Who foresees and controls all of this? Only God! Whether it is a significant event occurring in the universe or a small incident occurring in any corner of any planet, it is not up to people. No person can control the laws that govern everything, or the process of the progression of all things and their ultimate results. No person can foresee the future of everything or predict what is going to happen, let alone control the ultimate result of all things. Only God, who is sovereign over all things, controls and rules all of this. The only effect that people can have is playing different roles that can be positive or negative, within environments, both big and small, and alongside various types of people, events, and things that are ruled, orchestrated, and arranged by God. This is the effect that people have and the role they play. When something is not successful, or when the results do not appear to be as good as expected, and the outcome is not one that people desire to see, when the outcome even brings them great sadness and sorrow, these are also things that people have no sovereignty over, they cannot be foreseen by people, and they certainly cannot be controlled by them. If the final outcome of something is very good, if it has a very positive and active impact, if it is greatly edifying for people, and it has a profound influence on them, then it is from God. If something does not achieve its desired outcome, if the outcome is not very good or optimistic, and if it appears to have some negative effects on people instead of positive and active ones, the entire process of that matter is also orchestrated and arranged by God. It is not controlled by any person. Let us not talk about distant things; let us talk about what can be observed in the church, such as the appearance of antichrists. From the moment an antichrist comes forward and starts to act, and is promoted to the position of a leader or a worker, and takes on important work in the church, until the point where they are revealed as an antichrist, discerned and exposed by the brothers and sisters, and ultimately eliminated and rejected—throughout this whole process, many people are misled, some even follow the antichrist, and some experience losses to their life entry due to the antichrist’s influence, and so on. Although all of this originates from Satan’s disturbances and it is the work of Satan’s servants, does that mean that God does not see the occurrence and development of all these things? Does God not know what the consequences of the appearance of an antichrist will be? Does God not know the impact that an antichrist will have on the church and on the brothers and sisters? Is all of this simply the result of a failure caused by people? When faced with the emergence of negative things like these, people often think, “Oh no, Satan took advantage of a blind spot there, this was Satan disturbing things.” The implication is, “Why wasn’t God keeping an eye on things? Doesn’t God scrutinize all things? Isn’t God omnipresent? Isn’t God omnipotent? Where was God’s authority and power?” Doubts arise in people’s hearts. What is the source of these doubts? Because the outcome of the event is negative, undesirable, and not what people want to see, and even less does it align with their notions and imaginings, this deals a blow to their sacred faith in God. People cannot understand it, and they think: “If God is sovereign over all things and controls everything, then why would something like an antichrist misleading people happen right before our eyes? Why would such an undesirable thing happen in the church, and among brothers and sisters?” Doubts arise in people’s hearts, and their faith that “God is all-powerful and omnipresent” is challenged. When people’s faith in God is challenged, if you ask them, “Who is to blame for you developing notions about God?” they will say, “Satan is to blame.” But since Satan cannot be seen by man, to whom should this responsibility ultimately fall? It should fall on the antichrist or on the antichrist’s group. People will say that those who were misled by the antichrist and whose lives suffered losses deserved to be misled by the antichrist. In the end, what statement does people’s understanding of the whole matter come down to? “The success and failure of things is dependent on people.” That is the conclusion they reach. Where do they place God in this? They do not understand that God is sovereign over everything, so they attribute everything that happens instead to the hollow theory that “The success and failure of things is dependent on people.”

When people see some relatively good and positive things happen around them, such as when the Holy Spirit does powerful work, and everyone has a great deal of faith, when people stand firm even in the midst of persecution and adversity, without anyone becoming a Judas, and when the possessions of God’s house and the lives of the brothers and sisters do not suffer any losses, people say, “This is God’s protection. This success was not caused by people; it is undoubtedly the work of God.” Suppose that the things that people see happening around them are undesirable, for example, the church faces suppression and arrest by the great red dragon, and the church possessions are seized by Satan. Say that the lives of the brothers and sisters suffer losses, and God’s chosen people are scattered everywhere, displaced and unable to return home. Suppose that the church life is destroyed, and the church members can no longer live the same church life as before. Imagine that they can no longer live joyful, happy lives of peaceful coexistence with their brothers and sisters, gathering together to eat and drink God’s words, and doing their duties, and some evil people and disbelievers begin to spread notions to mislead others, causing them to lose faith in God and fall into negativity and weakness. At such a time, people can’t help but complain. They dare not complain against God, so they complain like this: “So-and-so is an evil person, so-and-so is Satan, so-and-so is a devil. If it weren’t for them being careless at gatherings and getting arrested, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation of being unable to return home. If it weren’t for them, we would still be living the church life happily, eating and drinking God’s words and doing our duties normally. All of this is due to a certain person, a certain devil, a certain Satan, or a certain satanic regime.” Although people dare not harbor any grievances against God or attribute the responsibility of the entire situation to God, at that moment, they have developed a neither great nor insignificant, inexplicable distrust toward God. What things will emerge from these distrustful thoughts? People will say, “I have learned a lesson from this experience. From now on, I will carefully consider everything that I encounter and think twice before acting. I won’t be reckless, and I won’t easily trust anyone. I will be extra careful in all situations and I will learn to protect myself.” Do they still have God in their hearts? Do they still rely on God and have faith in Him? Some people say, “How could I not? In my heart, I still believe in God, and I still have genuine reliance on Him.” But secretly they tell themselves, “Don’t trust God’s words so easily. God always tests and refines people. God can’t be relied upon! Just look at what happened right before our eyes. Members of our church were arrested by the great red dragon. Why didn’t God protect us? Does God want to see the interests of His house harmed? Does God feel apathetic when He sees disbelievers misleading people? If God really sees this, why doesn’t He care? Why doesn’t He prevent or block it? Why doesn’t He enlighten us so that we can discern that the person misleading us is an evil person and a disbeliever, distance ourselves from them as early as possible, and avoid all of these consequences? When the disbeliever is misleading people, why doesn’t God protect us? Even a quick warning would suffice!” They don’t get answers to all these “whys,” and they can’t get them either. In the end, after experiencing this, the conclusion they come to is: “I’ll rely on God in matters where I should rely on Him, and I’ll rely on myself in matters where I shouldn’t rely on God. I can’t be foolish. We brothers and sisters must learn to band together for warmth and help each other. As for everything else, let God do as He pleases. We can’t control it.” If the great red dragon arrests God’s chosen people, the work of the church and the church life will be greatly obstructed and the brothers’ and sisters’ performance of their duties will be greatly affected. At these times disbelievers and antichrists will appear to disrupt and mislead, spreading heresies and fallacies, claiming that the arrests happened because the leaders and workers went against God’s intentions, and people will be misled by these antichrists and evil people. When these events occur that do not conform to people’s notions and imaginings nor to human feelings, people never learn lessons from them. People never come to understand God’s sovereignty, orchestration, and disposition from these events. People never grasp God’s intentions or understand what lessons God wants them to learn, what edification He wants them to obtain, and what discernment He wants them to gain from these events. People don’t know any of these things, and they do not know how to experience them. Therefore, when it comes to all the things that people see occurring around them, people truly believe that the phrase “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” is accurate, and that it is more reliable and real than the fact that “God is sovereign over all things, God is omnipresent, and God scrutinizes everything.” In fact, deep down, you still believe that the phrase “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” is more real, that humans determine everything, and to say that God decides everything seems a bit vague. Why do people think it is vague? Why do people think the statement “God decides everything” is unreliable? In theory, it’s because people don’t understand the truth and don’t know God, but in reality, what is the reason? (In reality, people don’t acknowledge or believe that God is sovereign over everything.) Saying that people do not believe in or acknowledge that God is sovereign over everything is right, but there is a more specific reason, which is that the phrase “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” reveals the flawed perspective that people have when it comes to how they view good and bad things. People believe that things which bring them peace, joy, comfort, and happiness are good and that they come from God. There are some things that make people uneasy or frightened, that make people weep, suffer, or fill them with so much grief that they wish they were dead—some things even make it impossible for people to secure a normal church life and a normal environment for doing their duties. These types of things are regarded as “bad things” by people. The term “bad things” has to be put in quotation marks. Can “bad things” have a good effect on people? People cannot see or feel these good effects, so, in their minds, the “everything” that God is sovereign over only includes things that bring them peace, joy, satiation, benefits, edification, and gains, and things that strengthen their faith in God. These are the things that people believe belong to God’s sovereignty over everything. By contrast, if, on the surface, some things appear to cause people’s lives to suffer, cause harm to the interests of the church, and if a few people are misled, and some are even eliminated, and if a few meet with some unfortunate events and endure some pain, people believe that these things have nothing to do with God’s sovereignty, and that they are the work of Satan. People believe that if it were the work of God, these negative things would not appear or exist, this is what people have determined. Therefore, people’s understanding of the phrase “God is sovereign over everything” is very one-sided and shallow. It is limited to human notions, it is laden with human emotions, and it doesn’t match up with the facts. Let Me give you an example. God created all kinds of insects and birds. Some people say, “I believe that all the things God created are significant, that they are all beneficial insects, and that they are all good. Bees were created by God, and all kinds of good birds were created by God. Mosquitoes always bite people and spread diseases, so mosquitoes are not good. Maybe mosquitoes were not created by God.” Isn’t this a distorted understanding? In reality, all things were created by God. There is only one God, the Creator, and everything that is living and that is not living comes from God. In their notions, people only believe that various beneficial insects, birds, and other beneficial creatures come from God—as for flies, mosquitoes, bedbugs, and some carnivorous animals that are regarded by man as particularly violent, those creatures don’t seem to come from God, and even if they do, they are not good things. Is this not a human notion? In people’s ideas and notions, these things have gradually been categorized systematically: Anything that humans like or that benefits them is considered positive and created by God, while anything that humans dislike or that harms them is considered negative and not created by God, and might have been created by Satan or produced by nature. In people’s minds, they often unconsciously believe that: “Flies, mosquitoes, and bedbugs are not good things, they were not created by God. God definitely would not create things like that.” Or they think, “Lions and tigers always eat sheep and zebras, they are too cruel. They are not good things. Wolves are sinister, cunning, ferocious, violent, and cruel. Wolves are bad, but cows and sheep are good, and dogs are even better.” Whether something created by God is good or not is not measured based on human emotional needs or tastes—that is not how these things are measured. God created all kinds of animals, including zebras, deer, and various kinds of herbivores, as well as ferocious carnivores like lions, tigers, leopards, and crocodiles, which are particularly violent, including some predators that can kill their prey with a single bite. Regardless of whether these animals are good or bad in the eyes of humans, they were all created by God. Some people see lions eating zebras and think, “Oh no, that poor zebra. Lions are so ferocious for eating zebras.” When they see a wolf devouring a sheep, they ponder, “Wolves are so cruel and sly. Why did God create wolves? Sheep are so cute, kind, and gentle. Why did God not create only gentle animals? Wolves are the natural enemy of sheep, so why did God create both wolves and sheep?” They don’t understand the mystery behind this and they always harbor human notions and imaginings. When there are incidents of antichrists misleading people in the church, some people say, “If God takes pity on this mankind, why did He create Satan? Why does He allow Satan to corrupt mankind? Since God has chosen us, why does He allow antichrists to appear in the church?” You do not understand, do you? This is God’s sovereignty. This is how God rules over all things, and only when He rules over them in this way can all things exist normally within the rules and laws that He has ordained. If God were to protect you and prevent antichrists from appearing in the church, would you know what antichrists were? Would you know what the disposition of an antichrist is like? If you were only told some words and doctrines about discerning antichrists, without actually ever meeting one, would you be able to discern antichrists? (No.) Definitely not. If antichrists and evil people were not allowed to appear, you would always be like a flower in a greenhouse: As soon as there’s an abrupt change in temperature, you would wither under the sudden cold snap, unable to withstand it. Therefore, if people want to understand the truth, they must accept and submit to all of the environments, and all of the people, events, and things that God rules over and orchestrates. “All of the people, events, and things” includes the positive and the negative, it includes things that align with your notions and imaginings, and things that do not. It includes things that you regard as positive and the negative things that you dislike, it includes things that accord with your feelings, and it includes things that do not accord with your feelings or with your tastes. You must accept all of these things. What is the purpose of accepting all of these things? It is not just to build your knowledge and increase your experience, it is to enable you to come to know God’s words more practically and concretely, to understand the truth, and to experience the veracity and accuracy of God’s words through these facts. Ultimately, you will confirm that God’s words are the truth, you will learn lessons from different people, events, and things, enabling yourself to understand more truths, to see through to many things, and to enrich yourself further. The ultimate result achieved by this is that you will be able to gain knowledge of the Creator through the emergence and development of different people, events, and things, you will come to understand His disposition and essence, and learn that He governs and orchestrates all things.

Regardless of whether the events that you see happening around you are perceived by man as good or bad, whether they are what you want or not, whether they bring you joy and happiness or sorrow and pain, you should regard them as people, events, and things that contain lessons to be learned and truths to be sought, and you should regard them as things that come from God. They do not happen by chance, they are not due to humans, they are not caused by any person, and they are not something that any person can control. Rather, it is God who rules over all these things; God orchestrates and arranges all of these things. The emergence of any event is not dependent on human will, it is not as if any person can control an event just because they wish to. God rules over and orchestrates the whole process of the appearance, development, and transformation of all people, events, and things until they reach their final outcomes. If you do not believe this, then try to experience and observe things according to the words and principles that I have spoken of. See if what I say is true. See if the statement, “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” that you believe is correct, or if the statement, “God rules over and orchestrates the appearance and development of all people, events, and things, until they reach their final outcomes,” is correct. See which of these two statements is correct, which one is in line with the facts, which one allows people to gain edification and benefits them, and which one enables people to know God and have genuine faith in Him. When you experience everything that happens around you with the viewpoint and attitude that God rules over and orchestrates everything, your view and perspective on things will be completely different. If you stick to viewing all things and matters from the perspective of the saying, “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” then, to put it mildly, when something befalls you, you will naturally and involuntarily get entangled by the idea of right and wrong, you will try to hold people accountable, and you will analyze the causes of various incidents, the factors that led to adverse consequences in different matters, and so on, instead of seeking the truth principles and God’s intentions based on His words. The more you believe in the saying, “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” the more the views of disbelievers will dominate you. Then the final outcomes of everything that you experience will increasingly contradict the truth, and your faith in God will become merely a doctrine or a slogan. At that point, you will have turned into a complete disbeliever. In other words, the more you believe in the statement, “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” the more you will prove to be a disbeliever. If you don’t have God or God’s words in your heart, if you absolutely don’t acknowledge or accept any of God’s words, truths, or positive things, if they have no place at all in your heart, then the depths of your soul have been completely occupied by Satan, they have been filled with the thoughts and ideas of evolution and materialism, all of which are the devilish words of devils and Satan. You believe in all of the facts that you see with your eyes, but you don’t believe that the One who rules over everything in the universe, the One who cannot be seen by any person, truly exists. If you view everything from the perspective of “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” then you are no different from Satan and materialists. But if you view everything from the perspective of “Everything in the world is ruled over and arranged by God,” then even though you will not be able to see some things clearly, you will be able to look for answers about specific events that you see happening around you, seek out the root of the matter, and look for the essence and truth of the problem within God’s words. You will not be investigating who was right and who was wrong, you will not be merely trying to hold someone responsible; instead, you will be able to hold the matter up to God’s words for comparison, seek the root of the problem, identify the crux of the issue, and you will explore where people failed, what they lacked, what corrupt disposition they revealed, how they were rebellious, and which aspects of them were incompatible with God throughout the course of the whole matter. You will be able to seek out what God’s intentions and goals were in doing those things, what He wanted to achieve in people, what kind of results He wanted to attain, what benefits He wanted people to gain, and the principles that people should adhere to. When you discern and view a specific event from these perspectives, your inner state will change. Your viewpoint on things will unconsciously be guided and directed by God’s words. You will unconsciously gain enlightenment and direction in God’s words, as well as the truth principles that you should abide by and practice when such matters befall you. When you truly enter into these truth principles, you will have genuine faith and reliance on God, you will pray and supplicate sincerely, you will have genuine submission, and you will be able to practice according to the truth principles—what will the ultimate result of this be? Throughout the entire event, you will clearly see the truth of the matter, you will learn lessons, you will be able to correctly understand everything that befalls you, and you will be able to see that it comes from God’s arrangements, and that it contains God’s goodwill. And in this way, just like people often say, you will “make a good thing out of a bad thing,” you will naturally be able to treat every event that people condemn, loathe, and hate as a positive thing, and you will be able to acknowledge that it is ruled over and arranged by God, and that it should be accepted from God. You will see it as something that contains God’s painstaking efforts, His intentions, and His expectations. In the process of experiencing this, you will unconsciously come to understand what God’s intentions were in orchestrating the whole matter. Without being aware of it, you will come to understand and grasp His intentions, and once that happens, you will unwittingly understand the truths within this, and you will be able to discern all of the people and matters involved in the entire event. If, throughout the whole event, you view the problem from the perspective of “Everything in the world is ruled over and arranged by God,” you will gain a great deal from it. You will gain the truth, genuine belief in God, and an understanding of God’s sovereignty over all things. You will understand God’s intentions and His painstaking thoughts in this matter. Of course, you will also gain an understanding and experience of the phrase, “God is omnipresent,” which previously only existed in your consciousness. If throughout the entire event, you look at the problem from the perspective of “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” you will complain, you will disregard God, and you will feel that God is very distant and vague. The word “God,” the identity of God, the essence of God, and everything about God will seem so distant and hollow. You will believe that the occurrence, development, and outcome of the entire event was all dependent on human manipulations, and that human factors permeate the whole matter. Therefore, you will continually ponder on these matters, thinking, “Who made the mistake in this stage? Who carelessly caused a loss to occur in that stage? Who disrupted, disturbed, and ruined this stage? I will make sure that they pay for it.” You will fixate on individuals and matters, constantly living in the realm of right and wrong, while completely disregarding God’s words, the truth, the responsibilities, duties, and obligations that created beings should fulfill, and the viewpoints and positions that you should uphold. God will no longer have any place at all in your heart. Throughout the entire process of the event, there will be no relationship between you and God, nor between you and God’s words. That is to say, when faced with a situation, you will only fixate on people and things. You will not be able to come up with a single word that aligns with the truth, or a statement of the truth that comes from God to hold up against the matter for comparison, you will not be able to use it as a basis for dissecting the situation, you will not learn lessons from the situation or gain discernment, you will not strengthen your faith, or come to know God. You will do none of this. Throughout the entire event, you will cling to the popular saying, “The success and failure of things is dependent on people,” which, to put it more precisely, is an argument and a viewpoint of disbelievers. Conversely, say that from the beginning of the event, you can accept it from the perspective of a created being, without examining whether any individual is right or wrong, without over-analyzing any person or thing, and without fixating on people or things. Say that you instead actively seek answers in God’s words, proactively come before God to pray and rely on Him, and seek God’s enlightenment and guidance, allowing God to work and orchestrate. Suppose that your attitude is that of fear and submission to God, of thirsting for the truth, and of active cooperation with God—that it is not the viewpoint and attitude of a disbeliever but rather the viewpoint and stance that a true follower of God should have. With such a viewpoint and stance, you will unknowingly gain what you have never experienced before, which is the truth realities that you did not possess before. These truth realities are actually the effects that God wants to achieve and attain in you through His sovereignty over the entire event. If God accomplishes what He intends to achieve, then He will not have acted in vain because He will have achieved His desired effects in you. What are these effects? God wants you to see what’s really going on, that nothing happens by chance, nor is it caused by people, but that God is in control. God wants you to experience His real existence and understand the fact of His sovereignty and His orchestration of the fates of all things, and that this is a fact, and not an empty statement.

If, through your experiences, you truly come to realize the fact that God rules over everything and that He orchestrates the fates of all things, you will be able to say a statement like Job did: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees You. Why I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6). Is this a good statement? (Yes.) It feels so good to hear this statement, and it is moving. Do you want to experience the veracity of this statement? Do you want to understand how Job felt when he said these words? (Yes.) Is it just a normal desire, or a strong one? (A strong one.) In short, you do have this kind of a resolve and desire. So how can this desire be fulfilled? It is as I said before. You need to stand from the perspective of a created being, and approach all of the people, events, and things that befall you from the perspective of recognizing that God is the Ruler of all things and that everything is controlled and orchestrated by Him. You must learn lessons from it, understand God’s intentions in everything that He does, and recognize what God wants to achieve and accomplish in you. By doing so, one day soon, and in the not too distant future, you will feel the same way that Job did when he uttered those words. When I hear you say that you really want to experience how Job felt when he spoke those words, I know that over 99 percent of people have never experienced such feelings before. Why is that? It is because you have never stood from the perspective of a created being and experienced the fact that the Creator rules over all things and governs everything, like Job did. All of this is due to human ignorance, foolishness, and rebelliousness, as well as the misleading and corruption caused by Satan, which leads people to involuntarily measure and approach everything that happens to them from the viewpoint of a disbeliever, and to even identify and approach everything that happens around them using some of the methods and theoretical bases commonly used by nonbelievers. The conclusions that they ultimately reach have nothing to do with the truth, some are even contrary to the truth. This prevents people in the long-term from experiencing the fact that the Creator rules over and controls all things, and the feeling that Job had when he uttered those words. If you have gone through trials similar to those of Job, big or small, and you have already felt God’s hand at work and the fact of God’s sovereignty through them, if you have also recognized God’s specific intentions in ruling over and orchestrating these matters, as well as the way that people should follow, then in the end, you will be able to experience the positive effects that God wanted to achieve in you throughout the entire events, God’s good intentions and expectations for you, among other things. You will experience all of this. When you experience all of this, you will no longer just believe that God can speak the truth and supply you with life, you will realize in a tangible way that the Creator does indeed exist, and you will also realize the fact that the Creator has created and rules over all things. While you are experiencing all of these things, your faith in God and your faith in the Creator will increase. At the same time, this will make you realize the fact that you have interacted with the Creator in a real way, and it will tangibly and fully confirm your belief in God, your trust in God, how you follow God, as well as the fact that God rules over everything and is omnipresent. When you receive this confirmation and realization, do you think your heart will be filled with joy and happiness or with pain and sorrow? (Joy and happiness.) It will definitely be joy and happiness! No matter how much pain and sorrow you have experienced before, it will dissipate like a puff of smoke, and your heart will be wild with joy, you will be rejoicing and leaping with happiness. When you see that the fact of God’s sovereignty over all things has been truly confirmed and experienced in you, this is equivalent to you really meeting, encountering, and interacting with God face to face. At that time, you will feel the same way that Job did. What did Job say at that time? (“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees You. Why I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”) Job outwardly used the behavior and actions of abhorring himself and repenting to express his hatred for the past, but actually, deep in his heart, he was joyful and happy. Why? Because he had unexpectedly seen the face of the Creator, he had come face-to-face with Him, and he had encountered God in an event, in an unremarkable and inadvertent event. Tell Me, which created being, which follower of God doesn’t long to see God? When such a situation occurs, when such a thing happens, who wouldn’t be happy, who wouldn’t be excited? Anyone would be excited; they would feel excited and joyful. It would be something that they’d never forget, as long as they lived, and it is a thing worth remembering. Think about it, aren’t there many benefits to this? I hope that in the future, you will truly experience this feeling, possess this kind of experience, and have such encounters. When a person truly sees the face of God and is genuinely able to experience the same feelings that Job felt when he encountered Jehovah God, it becomes a milestone in their faith in God. It is such a marvelous thing! Every person looks forward to such a result and such a situation, and everyone hopes to experience it and to have that kind of encounter. Since you have such hopes, you should have the correct viewpoint and stance while experiencing everything that happens around you, experiencing and comprehending everything in the way that God teaches and instructs, learning to accept everything from God, and to view everything according to God’s words, with the truth as your criterion. In this way, your faith will grow greater and greater without you realizing it, and the fact that God is sovereign over all things and rules over everything will gradually be confirmed and verified in your heart. When all of this is confirmed in you, will you still worry about your stature not growing? (No.) But it’s normal for you to feel a little bit worried now, because you are so small in stature, and there are many things that you cannot see through to—it would be impossible for you not to worry, it is something that you cannot avoid. This is because there are many things within people that come from knowledge, from man, from Satan, from society, and so on. All of these things deeply influence the viewpoints from which people approach God and the perspective and stance that they should take when experiencing various things. Therefore, to be able to take the correct stance and perspective when things befall you is not an easy task. It requires you to not only experience positive things but also negative things. By discerning and understanding the essence of these negative things, you will learn more lessons and come to understand God’s actions and His omnipotence and wisdom in ruling over all things.

Now, do you fully understand that the statement “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” is incorrect? (Yes, we do.) Are there any correct aspects to this statement? Are there any valid elements? (No, there aren’t.) None at all? (None.) It is right to understand that there are none at all. This is a theoretical understanding. Then, in real life, through observation and experience, you will find that the statement “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” is erroneous, absurd, and is the viewpoint of the disbelievers. When you discover this fact, and can use facts to demonstrate the error in this statement, then you will completely abandon and dismiss it, and you will no longer use it. You have not reached this point yet. Although you have accepted what I said, later, when faced with situations, you will ponder, “At that time I thought there was nothing correct about the statement ‘The success and failure of things is dependent on people,’ so now why do I think it’s a little bit right?” You start to struggle internally and experience contradictions again. So then what should you do? First, you need to change your viewpoint. Let go of all the thoughts and viewpoints that stem from holding onto this statement. Let go of all the actions that arise from this statement. Don’t fixate on people or matters. First come before God in prayer, then search for the basis and principles within God’s words. In the process of searching, you will unknowingly gain enlightenment and come to understand the truth. It may be challenging for you to search for principles on your own, so call together everyone involved in the matter and search together for the basis and the truth principles within God’s words. Then pray-read, fellowship the corresponding words of God, and check them for comparison. After comparing against God’s words, accept the correct viewpoints and the wrong ones will be naturally let go. From then on, resolve and handle issues according to these principles. How does this method sound? (Good.) In the process of seeking the truth, what you should let go of are the actions that arise from the viewpoint of “The success and failure of things is dependent on people.” Find the corresponding words of God and resolve and handle problems based on God’s words. By searching for the truth and resolving problems in this way, your erroneous viewpoints will be resolved. If you handle things based on God’s words and the truth principles, then your direction and approach to handling matters will change accordingly. As a result, the outcome of the matter will develop in a benign direction. However, using the perspective and viewpoint of “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” to solve problems and handle matters will cause them to develop in a malignant direction. For example, when antichrists mislead people in the church, if people do not seek the truth but just fixate on people and matters, discussing right and wrong, and holding people accountable, the final result will be dealing with a few individuals and considering the matter resolved. Some may say, “You said that it was developing in a malignant direction, but I haven’t seen any malignant results. The antichrists have been expelled, so isn’t the problem solved? Where is this malignant outcome?” Did everyone learn a lesson from this experience? Did they understand the truth from it? Can they discern antichrists? Do they understand God’s intentions? Have they realized God’s sovereignty? None of these positive effects happened. On the contrary, people continue to live by satanic philosophies, distrusting and guarding against one another, and passing off responsibility onto each other. When faced with a situation, they quickly protect themselves, seeking only self-preservation. They fear taking responsibility and being dealt with. They don’t learn any lessons and they don’t accept anything from God, much less seek God’s intentions. Can people grow in life in this way? Ultimately, people only know what they can or cannot do in front of their leaders, what to say and do to make their leaders happy, and what words and actions will make their leaders resent and dislike them. As a result, people become guarded against one another, resorting to self-enclosure, wrapping themselves up in disguise, and no one opens up. Being wrapped up, guarded, and disguised in this way, have people come before God? No, they haven’t. After experiencing many things, people learn to avoid situations, and they fear interacting with others and encountering issues. In the end, they completely close themselves off, not opening up to anyone, and their hearts are devoid of God. Believing in God in this way is entirely based on satanic philosophy. No matter how many experiences they go through, they cannot learn any lessons, know themselves, much less shed their corrupt disposition. Can they come to understand the truth and know God in this way? Can they feel true repentance? No, they cannot. Instead, they learn to guard against others, protect themselves, carefully observe others’ words and expressions, and steer according to the wind. They learn to use tricks and become more tactful, and to be more able to handle fights and quarrels. When faced with issues, they avoid taking responsibility and instead shift it onto others. They no longer have any relationship with God, His words, or the truth. Their hearts only drift farther and farther away from God. Isn’t this a malignant development? (Yes.) How did this direction of malignant development come about? If a person views people and things, and comports themselves and acts according to God’s words, and takes the truth as their principle; if they seek God’s words as a foundation when encountering a problem, searching for answers within His words, identifying the root of the problem from God’s words and checking against them for comparison, and using His words to resolve all issues and difficulties, then God’s words would provide a forward path so that they are not hindered, tripped up, or trapped in these matters. In the end they would understand the principles of practice that God requires in such matters and have a path to follow. If everyone were to come before God when faced with challenges, accepting everything from God, learning to rely on God, and find the truth principles as the basis in the process of seeking, would people still guard against each other? Would anyone still pursue right and wrong without addressing the root of the issue? (No, they wouldn’t.) Even if there is someone who doesn’t practice the truth and still pursues such matters, they are outliers, rejected by everyone. If people can accept things from God when they encounter them, the situation will develop in a benign direction. People will eventually come to understand and know God’s words and gain the truth. What people practice is the truth, and what they achieve is the correct goal of gaining the truth and being able to bear witness to God. Their faith will increase, their understanding of God will grow, and they will develop a God-fearing heart. Isn’t this a benign direction of development? (Yes.) What brings about such results? Is it because the perspective and position people take in every matter is correct and align with the truth? (Yes.) In simple and straightforward terms, this perspective and position means accepting things from God, which naturally leads to a benign direction of development and benign steps of development, and naturally achieves the result of understanding the truth and knowing God. However, if people do not accept things from God but instead approach things from human perspective and satanic philosophies, still relying on satanic philosophy to view matters and fixating on people and things, everything that is produced will be malignant. The ultimate consequence is that no one will come to understand the truth and gain benefits. This is the result of not knowing how to experience the work of God. Therefore, in some churches there is a disharmonious atmosphere among some people who perform duties. They are always suspicious of each other, guarding against each other, blaming each other, competing with each other, and arguing with each other. They are secretly fighting in the depths of their hearts. This confirms one thing: There is no one in this group who seeks the truth, no one who accepts matters from God when faced with them. They are all disbelievers and do not pursue the truth. Conversely, in some churches, there are some people that, despite being small in stature and not understanding much truth, are able to genuinely accept matters from God in every situation, big or small, and then practice and experience according to God’s words, and enter into the reality of God’s words. Although these people that perform their duties together sometimes bicker, argue, and quarrel, there is an atmosphere among them, one that is not found among nonbelievers. When they come together to do anything it is especially harmonious, like family or kin, with no gulf between their hearts, and they are united together in their work. The presence of such a harmonious atmosphere shows that at least the supervisors or a few key individuals seek the truth and handle matters in the right way when encountering problems, and have truly achieved results in implementing the principle of “accepting everything from God.” There are many people who believe in God, but because they do not pursue the truth or take God’s words seriously, they have believed in God for many years without life entry. No matter what happens to them, they do not accept it from God and instead always rely on human notions and imaginings to perceive things. They cannot experience God’s work. In a church, if there are a few individuals who have spiritual understanding and can see that many things are arranged and ordained by God, they can rely on God, actively seek the truth, practice the truth, and handle things according to the truth principles. In such a church, an atmosphere of the work of the Holy Spirit arises. Certainly, people can feel this especially enjoyable harmonious atmosphere, and their mindset is naturally in the best state. More specifically, there is a mutual understanding among people, a shared aspiration, goal, and motivation for pursuit deep in their hearts. Because of this, they can be united together. In such a church, you can experience a particularly harmonious atmosphere. This atmosphere fills people with confidence and motivates them to pursue progress. They feel empowered in their hearts and as if they have inexhaustible strength to expend for God. This feeling is incredibly enjoyable. Anyone who attends gatherings in this church can enjoy this atmosphere and enjoy the sense of confidence. At such a time they feel as if they are living in God’s embrace, as if they are in His presence every day. It is a truly different experience. In those churches where the Holy Spirit is not at work, most of the people are not pursuers of the truth. They cannot accept things from God when facing situations, and they rely on human ways and means to control everything. In such a congregation, the feelings between people are different and the relationships between people and the atmosphere produced are also different. You don’t feel the atmosphere of the work of the Holy Spirit or the atmosphere of loving each other at all. Instead, you can only feel a coldness. That is to say, people are cold toward each other. They are all guarded against each other, arguing with each other, secretly competing with each other, and striving to surpass each other. No one submits to another, and they even suppress, exclude, and punish each other. They are like nonbelievers in the workplace, business world, and politics, and make you feel disgust, hatred and fear, leaving you with no sense of security. If you experience such feelings in any group of people, you will see the accuracy of the statement, “Mankind has been profoundly corrupted by Satan,” and it will make you love the work of the Holy Spirit even more. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, that is, when human beings, Satan, knowledge, or disbelievers reign, the atmosphere is completely different. It will make you feel uncomfortable and joyless, and you will soon feel constrained and depressed. This feeling comes from Satan and from corrupt mankind, that is accurate. This concludes the fellowship on this topic.

Regarding the statements about moral conduct in traditional culture, last time I fellowshipped that “Every person shares responsibility for the fate of their country.” Today, I will subsequently fellowship on “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” Just like the previous phrase “The success and failure of things is dependent on people” that I fellowshipped on, this phrase is also obviously the viewpoint of disbelievers. The viewpoint of disbelievers is prevalent among people and can be heard everywhere. From the moment people begin to speak, they learn all kinds of sayings from people, from disbelievers, from Satan, and from the world. It starts with the initial education in which people are taught by their parents and families about how to comport themselves, what to say, what morals to possess, what kind of thoughts and character to have, and so on. Even after entering society, individuals still unconsciously accept indoctrination of various doctrines and theories from Satan. “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is instilled in every person by family or society as one of the moral conducts that people must possess. If you possess this moral conduct, people say you are noble, honorable, have integrity, and that you are esteemed and highly regarded by society. Since the phrase “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” comes from people and from Satan, it becomes the object we dissect and discern, and further still the object we forsake. Why do we discern and forsake this phrase? Let’s first examine whether this phrase is correct and whether a person who follows it is right. Is it truly noble to be a person who possesses the moral character to “do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you”? Does such a person possess the truth reality? Do they have the humanity and principles of conduct that God said created beings should have? Do you all understand the phrase “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you”? First explain in your own words what this phrase means. (It means that when someone entrusts you with a task, you should spare no effort in getting it done.) Shouldn’t this be the case? If someone entrusts you with a task, don’t they think highly of you? They think highly of you, believe in you, and think you are trustworthy. So, no matter what other people ask you to do, you should agree and do it well and completely according to their requirements, so they are happy and satisfied. In doing so, you are a good person. The implication is that whether the person who entrusted you with a task is satisfied determines whether you are considered a good person. Can it be explained in this way? (Yes.) So isn’t it easy to be seen as a good person in the eyes of others and recognized by society? (Yes.) What does it mean that it is “easy”? It means that the standard is very low and not at all noble. If you meet the moral standard of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” you are considered a person with moral conduct in such matters. Implicitly, it means that you are deserving of people’s confidence, their entrustment of handling tasks, that you are a reputable person, and that you are a good person. That’s the meaning of this statement. Don’t you think so? Do you have any objections to the standards of judgment and evaluation of the phrase “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you”? If you can provide an example that refutes this statement and exposes its fallaciousness, that is, you can use an actual instance to prove its incorrectness, then this statement will not stand. Now, in theory, you may already believe that this statement is definitely incorrect because it is not the truth and it does not come from God. How can you use facts to overturn this statement? For example, if you are too busy to go grocery shopping today you can entrust your neighbor to do it for you. You can tell them exactly what food to buy, how much to buy, and when to buy it. Afterward, the neighbor buys the groceries according to your request and delivers them on time. Is this considered to be “doing their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them”? Is this considered as being reputable? This is barely even lifting a finger. Is being able to help someone buy something considered as having high moral character? (It is not.) As for whether they do bad things or not, and what their character is, do these have anything in the slightest to do with their ability to “do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them”? If a person can do their best to accomplish a small thing that other people have entrusted to them, do they possess a standard for moral conduct? Does being able to accomplish such a small task prove that they are truly a person of high moral character? Some people say, “This person is very trustworthy. Whenever they are asked to deliver something, no matter what it is or how much, they always return with it. They are reliable and have good moral conduct.” This is how they are perceived and evaluated by others. Is such an evaluation appropriate? (No, it’s not.) You two are neighbors. Neighbors generally do not turn against each other or harm each other because they cross paths regularly. If there are conflicts, it becomes difficult to interact later. Maybe the neighbor helped you out of this consideration. It could also be that doing this small favor was convenient for them, it was not a difficult task, and they didn’t suffer any loss. Moreover, it helped them leave a good impression and gain a good reputation, which benefits them. Additionally, by helping you with small favors, isn’t it convenient for them to ask you for favors in the future? Perhaps they will ask you for a big favor in the future, and you will be obligated to do it. Is this person keeping their options open? When people help each other, interact, and deal with one another, there is a purpose. If they see you as having no use, and they won’t ask for your help later, they might not help you with this favor. It’s possible that you have doctors, lawyers, government officials, or individuals with social status in your family, which is useful to this person in some way. They might help you in order to keep their options open. Perhaps they will use you somewhere in the future, or at the very least, find it convenient to borrow tools from your home. Sometimes you entrust them with small favors and after a few days they come to your house to borrow things. People won’t lift a finger unless there’s something in it for themselves! Look at how when you asked them for a favor, they agreed quite readily, with a smile on their face, and seemingly without a thought; but in fact they had careful calculations in their mind, as no one’s thoughts are simple. Once, I went to a place to have My clothes mended. The elderly lady who mended clothes had a daughter who was returning to her home country. Her neighbor had a car, so the elderly lady entrusted this neighbor to take her daughter to the airport so she wouldn’t have to pay for a taxi. The neighbor agreed, and the elderly lady was delighted. However, this neighbor was not that simple. He didn’t want to do it for free. Once he agreed, he stayed there, slowly taking out a piece of clothing and saying, “Do you think my clothes can be mended?” The elderly lady was taken aback, and her expression seemed to say, “Why is this person taking advantage of such a small thing? He agreed so readily, but it turns out he doesn’t want to do it for free.” The elderly lady reacted quickly, saying after a second or two, “Ok, put it there, and I’ll mend it for you.” No mention of money at all. See how sending someone out on a simple errand is balanced out by mending a piece of clothing. Doesn’t this mean no one loses out? Is interpersonal interaction simple? (No, it’s not.) Nothing is simple. In this human society, every individual has a transactional mindset, and everyone engages in transactions. Everyone makes demands of others and they all want to profit at other people’s expense without suffering any losses themselves. Some people say, “Among those who ‘do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them,’ there are also many who do not seek to profit at other people’s expense. They simply aim to do their best to handle things well, these people truly possess this moral conduct.” This statement is incorrect. Even if they don’t seek wealth, material possessions, or any kind of benefit, they do seek renown. What is this “renown”? It means, “I have accepted people’s trust to handle their tasks. Regardless of whether the person who entrusted me is present or not, as long as I do my best to handle it well, I will have a good reputation. At least some people will know that I am a good person, a person of high moral character, and someone worth emulating. I can occupy a place among people and leave behind a good reputation in a group of people. It’s worth it too!” Other people say, “‘Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,’ and since people have entrusted us, whether they are present or not, we should handle their tasks well and stick with it to the end. Even if we cannot leave a lasting legacy, at least they can’t criticize us behind our backs by saying that we have no credibility. We can’t let future generations be discriminated against and suffer this kind of gross injustice.” What are they seeking? They’re still seeking renown. Some people attach great importance to wealth and possessions, while others value renown. What does “renown” mean? What are specific expressions for “renown” among people? It’s being called a good person and someone of high moral character, a paragon, a virtuous person, or a saint. There are even some people who, because for one matter they succeeded in “doing their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them” and have this kind of moral character, are perpetually praised, and their descendants benefit from their renown. You see, this is much more valuable than the little benefits they can currently get. Therefore, the starting point for anyone who abides by the so-called moral standard to “do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is not that simple. They are not just seeking to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities as individuals, but rather they abide by it either for personal gain or reputation, either for this life or the next life. Of course, there are also those who wish to avoid being criticized behind their back and to avoid infamy. In short, the starting point for people to do this kind of thing is not simple, it is not really a starting point from the perspective of humanity, nor is it a starting point from the social responsibility of mankind. Looking at it from the intention and starting point of people doing such things, people who hold on to the phrase “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” do not have an uncomplicated purpose at all.

Just now, we dissected the statement about moral conduct, “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” from people’s intentions and purpose in doing things and from people’s ambitions and desires. This is one aspect. From another aspect, “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” has another error. What is it? People regard the behavior “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” as infinitely noble, but they don’t know that they can’t discern whether the things entrusted by others are just or unjust. If the task that someone entrusts you with is a very common one, something that is easily accomplished, something not worth mentioning, then faithfulness doesn’t come into it, because when people deal with each other and get along with each other, it’s normal to entrust each other with tasks. It’s as easy as lifting a finger. It’s out of the question whether someone’s moral character is noble or if it is lower. It does not reach this level. However, if the task someone entrusts you with is of great importance, a big task such as one that involves life and death, fate, or the future, and you still treat it the same as a common matter, doing your best to handle it well without discernment, this is where problems can arise. What kind of problems? If the task entrusted to you is proper, reasonable, just, positive, and it won’t cause any harm or loss to others or have any negative impact on mankind, then accepting the task and doing your best to faithfully handle it is fine. This is a responsibility you should fulfill and a principle you should abide by. However, if the task you accept is unjust and will cause harm, disturbance, destruction, or even loss of life to others or to mankind, and you still do your best to faithfully handle it, then what on earth does it say about your moral character? Is it good or bad? (It’s bad.) In what way is it bad? Some people follow an unjust person or become friends with them, and both consider each other close friends. They don’t care whether this friend is good or bad; as long as it’s a task entrusted to them by their friend, they will do their best to handle it well. If the friend asks them to kill someone they will kill them, if they ask them to harm anyone they will harm them, and if they ask them to destroy something they will. As long as it’s a task entrusted to them by their friend, they will do it without discerning and without deliberation. They believe that they are carrying out the claim “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” What does this say about their humanity and moral character? Is it good or bad? (It’s bad.) Even bad people can “do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them,” but the kinds of tasks that other people have entrusted to them and that they do their best to handle well are all evil and negative things. If what other people have entrusted to you is to harm people, kill people, steal other people’s property, take revenge, or break the law, is it right? (No, it is not right.) These are all things that harm people, they are evil deeds and crimes. If someone entrusts you with an evil task, and you still adhere to the traditional cultural principle of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” saying, “Since you have entrusted me, it means you trust me, think highly of me, and treat me as one of your own, as a friend, and not as an outsider. Therefore, I will do my best to faithfully handle whatever you have entrusted to me. I swear on my life to handle well what you entrust to me, and I will never go back on my word,” then what kind of person is this? Isn’t this a real scoundrel? (Yes.) It’s a big scoundrel. So how should you treat the “do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” kind of things? If someone entrusts you with a simple task, something very common in dealing with people, then even if you do it, it can’t be said whether your moral character is noble or not. If someone entrusts you with a very important and large task, then you must discern whether it is positive or negative, and whether it is something your caliber can achieve. If it is not something you can achieve, you do what you can. If it is a negative task, a task that breaks the law, harms the interests or lives of others, or even destroys the prospects and future of others, and you still adhere to the moral standard of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” then you are a scoundrel. Based on these perspectives, the principle that people should follow when accepting tasks entrusted to them should not be “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” This statement is not accurate, it has significant loopholes and problems and it greatly misleads people. After accepting this statement, many people will use it without question to evaluate the moral conduct of others and, of course, to measure themselves and constrain their own morality. Yet they don’t know who in the world is worthy of entrusting tasks to others, and very few people entrust others with tasks that are just, positive, beneficial to others, valuable, and bring prosperity to humanity. There are none. Therefore, if you use the standard of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” to measure the quality of a person’s morality, not only are there too many doubts and problems to stand up to scrutiny, but it also instills wrong concepts in people, and wrong principles and the wrong direction for dealing with such matters, misleading, paralyzing, and misguiding people’s thinking. Therefore, no matter how you analyze or dissect this statement, there’s no value in its existence, it is not something that people should practice, and it does not benefit people in any way.

The phrase “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” also has another error. From another point of view, for those evil individuals who want to use, manipulate, and control others, for those with vested interests, and for those with status and power in society, this statement gives them an opportunity to exploit, and an excuse to use, manipulate, and control others. It enables them to strategically use people to handle tasks for them. Those who do not handle tasks for them or do their best for them are determined to be people who cannot be entrusted by others and cannot do their best to faithfully handle tasks. They are labeled as individuals with inferior moral conduct who are unworthy of trust, do not deserve to be valued highly or respected, and are lowly in society. Such people are cast aside. For example, if your boss entrusts you with a task and you consider, “Since my boss has brought it up, I have to agree to it no matter what it is. No matter how difficult it is, even if it means going through fire and water, I have to do it,” so you agree. For one thing, he is your boss, and you dare not refuse. For another, he often pressures you, saying, “Only those who do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them are good colleagues.” He has instilled this concept in you early on, inoculating you in advance to make you mentally prepared. Once he makes any request, you are honor-bound to comply and cannot refuse; otherwise, you will not end up well. Therefore, you have to exert all your energy into doing things for him. Even if it’s not easily handled, you have to find a way to get it done. You have to use connections, go through the backdoor, and spend money on gifts. In the end, when the task is completed, you can’t mention the money spent or make any demands. And you have to say, “‘People should do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them.’ You think highly of me and value me highly, so I must do all I can to handle this task well.” In reality, only you know how much hardship and trouble you have endured. If you succeed in doing this, people will say you have noble moral conduct. But if you fail, people will look down on you, despise you, and you will suffer their scorn. No matter which social class or ethnic group you belong to, as long as someone entrusts you with a task, you must do your best and spare no effort, and you cannot refuse. Why is that? As the saying goes, “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” Since you have accepted someone’s entrustment, you must handle it faithfully to the end and ensure the task is completed successfully, well, in its entirety, and to the other person’s approval, and then report back to them. Even if they don’t inquire about it, you must spare no effort in handling it. Some people basically have no real relationship with you, such as distant relatives in your extended family. They see that you have a good job in society or status and prestige, or some talent, so they entrust you with this or that. Is it ok to refuse? In fact, it’s completely ok, but due to the complex social relationships among humans and the pressure of public opinion influenced by the idea of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” when this kind of person with whom you basically have no relationship asks you to do things for them, you have to do it all. Of course, you can choose not to do it. In this way you only offend one person or you lose a relationship with a couple of relatives, or you might be ostracized by a couple of relatives. But again, what does it matter? In fact, it doesn’t matter. You don’t live with them, and your destiny is not in their hands. So why can’t you just refuse to do it? One of the unavoidable reasons is that the public opinion to “do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is binding and oppressing you. That is, in any societal community, you are often held captive by the moral standard and the public opinion to “do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” You doing your best to faithfully handle tasks is not about fulfilling social responsibility or fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of a created being. Instead, you are held captive by the statements of moral standards and the invisible chains of social opinion. Why are you susceptible to being held captive by it? One aspect is because you can’t distinguish whether these moral statements passed down from your ancestors are right, nor whether people should abide by them. Another aspect is that you lack the strength and courage to break free from the social pressure and public opinion brought about by this traditional culture. As a result, you cannot break free from its chains and its influence on you. Another reason is that in any community or group in society, people want others to consider them as being of high moral character, a good person, a reliable person, trustworthy, and someone worthy of being entrusted with tasks. They all want to establish such an image that earns respect and makes others believe that they are dignified individuals of flesh and blood with feelings and loyalty, and not cold-blooded or alien. If you want to integrate into society and be accepted and approved by them, you must first make them recognize you as a person of high moral character, someone with integrity and credibility. So, no matter what kind of requests they make of you, you try your best to satisfy them, make them happy, and then receive praise from them saying that you are a trustworthy person of high moral character, and that people are willing to associate with you. In this way you feel a sense of presence in your life. If you can be approved by society, by the masses, and by your colleagues and friends, you will live a particularly nourishing and satisfying life. However, if you live differently from them, if your thoughts and viewpoints differ from theirs, if your path in life is different from theirs, if no one says you have a high moral character, are trustworthy, are worthy of being entrusted with matters, or have dignity, and if they all forsake and isolate you, then you will live a depressed and sad life. Why do you feel depressed and sad? It’s because your self-esteem takes a hit. Where does your self-esteem come from? It comes from the approval and acceptance of society and the masses. If they have zero acceptance of you, if they don’t approve of you, if they don’t praise or appreciate you, and if they don’t cast any admiring, fond, or esteemed looks at you, then you feel that you have no dignity in life. You feel very worthless, with no sense of presence. You don’t know where your value lies, and in the end, you don’t know how to live. Your life becomes depressed and tormented. You’re always trying to make people accept you, trying to integrate yourself into the masses and into society. Therefore, adhering to the moral standard of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is a very important matter for anyone living in such a social environment. It is also an important indicator for measuring a person’s moral character and whether they are accepted by others. But is this standard of measurement correct? Definitely not. In fact, it can even be called absurd.

There is another aspect to the moral statement of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” that needs to be discerned. If the task entrusted to you doesn’t consume too much of your time and energy, and is within the range of your caliber, or if you have the right environment and conditions, then out of human conscience and reason, you can do some things for others to the best of your ability and meet their reasonable and appropriate demands. However, if the task entrusted to you takes up a significant amount of your time and energy, and takes away much of your time, to the extent that it makes you sacrifice your life, and your responsibilities and obligations in this life and your duties as a created being will be reduced to nothing and will be replaced, then what will you do? You should refuse because it is not your responsibility or obligation. As for the responsibilities and obligations of a person’s life, other than taking care of parents and raising children, and fulfilling social responsibilities in society and under the framework of the law, the most important thing is that a person’s energy and time, and life should be spent on doing the duty of a created being, rather than being entrusted with a task by anyone else, taking up their time and energy. This is because God creates a person, grants them life, and brings them into this world, and it is not for them to do things and fulfill responsibilities for others. What people should accept most is God’s entrustment. Only God’s entrustment is a genuine entrustment, and accepting man’s entrustment is to not attend to their proper duties. No one is qualified to ask you to devote your loyalty, energy, time, or even your youth and entire life to the tasks they entrust to you. Only God is qualified to ask people to do their duty as created beings. Why is that? If any task entrusted to you requires a significant amount of your time and energy, it will hinder you from doing your duty as a created being and even from following the right path in life. It will alter the direction and goals of your life. This is not a good thing, it’s a curse. If it consumes a significant amount of your time and energy, and even robs you of your youth, depriving you of opportunities to gain the truth and life, then any entrustment of this nature comes from Satan and not simply from any individual. This is another way to understand the matter. If someone entrusts you with a task that consumes and wastes a lot of your time and energy, and even causes you to sacrifice your youth and the entirety of your life, taking away the time you should spend doing your duty as a created being, then that person is not only not your friend, they can even be considered your enemy and your foe. In your life, in addition to fulfilling your responsibilities and obligations toward your parents, children, and family that God has bestowed on you, all your time and energy should be dedicated and expended in doing your duty as a created being. No one is qualified to occupy or take away your time and energy under the pretext of entrusting you to do anything. If you do not heed the advice and accept someone’s entrustment, occupying a significant amount of your time and energy, then the time you have to do your duty as a created being will be comparatively reduced, and even deprived and occupied. What does it mean if you are deprived of the time and energy to do your duty? It means that your opportunity to pursue the truth is reduced. When the opportunity to pursue the truth is reduced, doesn’t it also mean that your chances of being saved are smaller? (Yes.) Is this a blessing or a curse for you? (A curse.) It is undoubtedly a curse. It’s like a girl who has a boyfriend, and the boyfriend tells her, “You can believe in God, but you must wait for me until I become successful, rich, and influential, and until I can buy you a car, a house, and a big diamond ring, then I will marry you.” The girl says, “Then for these few years, I won’t believe in God or perform my duties. First I’ll work hard with you and wait for you to get rich, become an executive, have your wishes fulfilled, and then I’ll perform my duties.” Is this girl smart or foolish? (Foolish.) She’s so foolish! You helped him achieve success, become rich and powerful, and have fame and fortune, but who will make up for the time you lost? You haven’t fulfilled your duty as a created being, so who will make up for this loss; who will repay it? For these few years of believing in God, you haven’t gained the truth you should have, and you haven’t gained the life you should have. Who will make up for this truth and this life? Some people believe in God but don’t pursue the truth. Instead, they spend several years of their time to fulfill an entrusted task, wish, or demand from other people. In the end, they not only gain nothing but also miss the opportunity to do their duty to obtain the truth. They do not receive God’s approval; the loss is too great, and the cost is too high! Isn’t it so foolish to give up believing in God and doing the duty of a created being just to avoid breaking the trust of others, to let people say good things about them, to be regarded as a person of high moral character, as reputable and trustworthy, and to successfully “do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them”? There are also those who try to have it both ways, satisfying people on one side while allocating some energy to perform some duty, and pleasing others but at the same time wanting to please God. What happens in the end? You may please people, but your duty as a created being is not fulfilled, you don’t understand the truth at all, and you lose so much! Although you have done your best to faithfully handle things for people, received praise from them saying that you keep your word and are a person of noble moral conduct, you have not gained the truth from God, nor have you received God’s approval or acceptance. This is because doing your best to faithfully handle things for people is not what God requires for humanity, nor is it a task entrusted to you by God. Doing your best to faithfully handle things for people is off track, it is not attending to your proper duties, and it holds no value or significance whatsoever. It is not at all a good deed worth commemorating. You have invested a great deal of your energy and time to others, and by doing this not only are you not remembered by God, you have lost the best opportunity to pursue the truth and the precious time to do your duty as a created being. When you turn around and want to pursue the truth and do your duties well, you are already old, lacking in energy, physical strength, and plagued by illnesses. Is it worth it? How can you expend yourself for God? Using the remaining time to pursue the truth and do your duty as a created being is exhausting. Your physical strength can’t keep up, your memory deteriorates, and your energy isn’t good. You often doze off during gatherings, and your body always has difficulties and ailments when you try to do your duties. By then, you will regret it. By “doing your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” what have you gained? At most, you can bribe others and receive their compliments. But what is the use of people’s praise? Can it represent God’s approval? It doesn’t represent it in the slightest. In that case, that sentence of praise from a person is worthless. Is it worth it to endure such great pain for the sake of receiving praise while losing the opportunity to be saved? So, what do people need to understand now? If anyone entrusts you with a task, no matter what it is, as long as it doesn’t involve doing your duty as a created being or something entrusted to you by God, you have the right to refuse because it is not your obligation, let alone your responsibility. Some people might say, “If I refuse, others will say I have poor morals, or they will say I’m not a good enough friend or loyal enough.” If you are concerned about this, then go ahead and do it, and afterward, see what the consequences are. There are also people who haven’t finished doing things for others and can’t continue to do things for others because they are performing their duties. They ponder, “It’s not good that I leave this task half finished. As a person, I should have credibility. One must do things from start to finish and not start strong but end weakly. If the tasks I promise to do for others are halfway done and I don’t do the rest, then I can’t justify this to others, it lacks integrity!” If you have such thoughts in your mind and cannot let go of your pride, you can go ahead and do tasks for others, and when you’re done see what you have gained and whether keeping your word and having this kind of integrity really holds any value. Isn’t it delaying an important thing? If it can delay you from performing your duties and affect you in gaining the truth, then it is equivalent to risking your life, isn’t it? If you consider these statements and requirements on moral conduct to be more important than doing your duty as a created being and pursuing the truth, then you cannot free yourself from being held captive and bound by these statements. If you can discern them and see their true essence clearly, decide to forsake them, and not live by these things, then you have hope of breaking free from being held captive and bound by these statements of moral conduct. You also have hope of fulfilling your duty as a created being and gaining the truth.

After fellowshipping so much, do you now have a little discernment regarding the statement and standard of judging a person’s morality, “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you”? (Yes.) So to sum up, from how many aspects should we discern whether this sentence is right or wrong? Firstly, it is clear that this statement does not conform to the truth or to the words of God, and it is not a truth principle that people should abide by. How should you deal with this matter then? No matter who entrusts you with a task, you have the right to refuse and say, “I don’t want to help you; I am not obligated to be faithful to you.” If you accepted their entrustment at the time, but now that you understand the matter you don’t want to help and feel that there is no need or obligation, then the matter ends there. Is this a principle of practice? (Yes.) You can say “no” and refuse. Secondly, what is wrong in the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you”? If someone entrusts you with a simple task that is conveniently done, it is just a normal thing in interacting and dealing between people. It can’t be said whether you’re faithful or whether you have high moral character, it cannot be used as a standard to measure a person’s morality. Does helping someone with a task that requires very slight effort indicate that a person is moral and has credibility? Not necessarily, as that person may have done many bad things behind the scenes. If they have done many bad things, but they have done something to help others with very slight effort, is this considered high moral character? (No, it’s not.) Therefore, this example overturns the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” It is not correct and cannot be used as a standard to measure a person’s moral conduct. This is the way to deal with some ordinary things. So how should you deal with some special matters? If someone entrusts you with a special important task that exceeds your capabilities, and you find it exhausting and strenuous and that you’re unable to do it, you can refuse without feeling bad. Additionally, if someone entrusts you to do something that is unreasonable, illegal, or harmful to the interests of others, you especially should not do it for them. So, when someone entrusts you with a task, what is the main thing you need to discern? For one thing, you need to discern whether the entrusted task is your responsibility or obligation and whether you should accept it. For another, after accepting it, whether you do it or not, and whether you handle it well or poorly, does it involve faithfulness and a person’s morality? This is the focus of discernment. Another aspect to discern is the nature of the entrusted task, whether it is reasonable, legal, positive, or negative. It is through these three aspects that you discern it. Now, consider and summarize what was just fellowshipped and discuss your opinions and views. (Regarding the moral statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” firstly, people are not obligated to do things for others, they can refuse, this is everyone’s right. Secondly, even if they accept a task entrusted by others, whether they do it or not and whether they do it well or badly does not involve their morality, and this cannot be used as a standard for measuring a person’s moral character. Furthermore, if the task entrusted to someone is illegal and a crime, they really should not carry it out. If they do, it is doing evil and they will face punishment. Through these points, we can indeed overturn the viewpoint of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.”) The most crucial point is that this statement is wrong. Where is it wrong? First, the principle it imposes for treating and handling such matters is wrong. Additionally, using this statement to judge a person’s moral conduct is also wrong. Moreover, using this statement to measure a person’s moral conduct, to bind and constrain them, to use them to do things, and to make them pay their time, energy, and price in performing responsibilities that they should not have to bear or are unwilling to bear is a kind of hijacking and it’s also wrong. These few wrongs are enough to overturn the value and correctness of the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.” Let’s summarize briefly. First of all, the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” tells people how to handle tasks entrusted to them. It implies that when someone entrusts you with a task, no matter if it’s reasonable or not, good or bad, or positive or negative, as long as the task is entrusted to you, you must keep your word. You are obligated to carry out the task well and completely in order to satisfy them. Only this kind of person can have credibility. It makes people carry out the task without discernment, which is above all a wrong, a wrong that goes against principles. Secondly, the standard of whether people can “do their best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to them” is used as a basis to measure their moral conduct. Isn’t this standard of measurement committing another wrong? If everyone does their best to faithfully handle bad or evil tasks entrusted to them, wouldn’t this society be turned upside down? Additionally, if this statement is always used as a standard to measure people’s moral conduct, it will naturally create a social atmosphere, public opinion, and social pressure to bind and restrict people’s thoughts. What consequences will this bring? Because of the existence of the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” and the presence of such public opinion in society, you are under social pressure and you are compelled to act in this way in such situations. The way you act is not voluntary, it is not within the range of your own capabilities, and it is not fulfilling your obligations. You are forced to do it, and it is not a demand from deep in your heart, nor a demand from normal humanity, and it isn’t a demand to maintain your emotional relationships. It is caused by social pressure, which amounts to moral hijacking. If you fail to do the tasks you agreed to do for others, your parents, family, colleagues, and friends will criticize you, saying, “What do you think you are doing? As the saying goes, ‘Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.’ Since you agreed, why didn’t you follow through? If you agreed, you should have done it well!” After hearing this, you feel that you are in the wrong, so you obediently carry out the task. While doing it you still don’t want to; you don’t have the ability, and you can’t manage it, but you still have to grit your teeth and do it. In the end, your whole family helps you do it, and it takes a lot of money, energy, and suffering and just barely gets done. The person who entrusted you is happy, but you have suffered a lot in your heart and you are exhausted. Even though you do this with an unreconciled heart and an unwilling feeling, you won’t give up, and the next time you encounter this kind of situation, you will do the same thing again. Why is it like this? Because you want self-respect, you love vanity, and at the same time, you can’t bear the pressure of public opinion. Even if no one finds fault with you, you will criticize yourself, saying, “I didn’t do what I agreed to do for others. What am I doing? I even despise myself. Isn’t this immoral?” Even you are hijacking yourself; has your mind already been imprisoned? (Yes.) In fact, that task hasn’t the slightest thing to do with you. You gain no benefits or edification by doing it. It’s completely fine if you don’t do it, and only a few individuals will criticize you. But what difference does that make? It won’t alter your destiny in the slightest. No matter what people ask of you, as long as it doesn’t conform to the requirements of God, you can refuse. By dissecting the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” based on these three points, do you understand the essence of this statement? (Yes.)

When someone entrusts you with a task, what principles should you follow? Shouldn’t there be principles for carrying it out? What is the basis for this in terms of the truth? Just now, I mentioned the most important point, which is that in one’s lifetime, apart from supporting parents, raising children, and fulfilling one’s social responsibilities within the framework of the law, there is no obligation to accept anyone’s entrustment or work for anyone and no need to live for anyone’s affairs or entrustment. The value and meaning of human life can only be found in performing the duty of a created being. Besides that, doing things for anyone hasn’t the slightest bit of meaning; it is all useless work. Therefore, the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is something imposed by people on people and has no connection to God. This statement is absolutely not a requirement from God to humans. It stems from others exploiting you, morally hijacking you, and controlling and binding you. It doesn’t have the slightest connection to God’s entrustment or performing your duty as a created being. Do you understand? (Yes.) In this world, in the entire universe, as a created being, apart from being faithful to God and God’s entrustment, and being faithful to one’s duty as a human being, there is nothing and no one worthy of your faithfulness. It is clear that “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is not a principle for conduct. It is something erroneous and that violates principles. If someone entrusts you with a task, what should you do? If the task entrusted to you is something that only requires very slight effort, where you only need to simply speak or perform a small action, and you have the requisite caliber, you can help out of your humanity and compassion; this is not considered wrong. This is a principle. However, if the task entrusted to you will consume a significant amount of your time and energy, or even waste a considerable portion of your time, you have the right to refuse. Even if it is your parents, you have the right to decline. There is no need to be faithful to them or accept their entrustment, this is your right. Where does this right come from? It is bestowed upon you by God. This is the second principle. The third principle is that if someone entrusts you with some task, even if it doesn’t consume a significant amount of time and energy, but it can disturb or affect your performance of duty, or destroy your will to perform your duty as well as your faithfulness to God, you should also refuse it. If someone entrusts you with something that can affect your pursuit of the truth, disrupt and disturb your will to pursue the truth and your pace in the pursuit of the truth, and make you give up halfway, then you should refuse it even more. You should refuse anything that affects your performance of duty or your pursuit of truth. This is your right; you have the right to say “no.” There is no need for you to invest your time and energy. You can refuse all things that hold no meaning, value, edification, help, or benefit to your performance of duty, pursuit of the truth, or your salvation. Can this be considered a principle? Yes, this is a principle. So if you measure according to these principles, where can the entrusted tasks people should accept in their life come from? (From God.) That’s right, they can only come from God. The words “from God” are relatively hollow and distant, so what should this entrustment actually be? (Performing our duty.) That’s right, it means performing your duty in the church. It’s impossible for God to personally say to you, “You go spread the gospel” “You go lead the church,” or “You go perform text-based work.” It’s impossible for God to tell you personally, but God has entrusted you with your duty through the arrangement of God’s house. All of the arrangements of God’s house stem from God and come from God, so do you need God to personally tell you? You have already experienced all the people, events, and things of God’s sovereignty and orchestration and you have real feelings. What you have experienced is related to God’s work, the truth, and His management plan. Isn’t this performing the duty of a created being? This is from the aspect of accepting entrustment. For another thing, besides what is entrusted from God, there is no other thing that people should be faithful to. Only God deserves unwavering faithfulness; people are not worthy. No one, including your ancestors, parents, or superiors, is worthy. Why? The highest truth is that it is perfectly natural and justified that created beings be faithful to the Creator. Do you need to analyze this truth? No, because everything about people comes from God, it is perfectly natural and justified that created beings be faithful to the Creator. This is a supreme truth that people should always bear in mind! The second truth that people should understand is that by being faithful to God, everything people gain from God is the truth, the life, and the way. Their gains are rich and abundant, especially plentiful, and overflowing. When humans gain the truth, the life, and the way, their lives become valuable. Therefore, when you are faithful to God, your time, energy, and costs that are sacrificed will be positively rewarded, and you will never have regrets. Up to now, some people have followed God for twenty or thirty years, and some have followed God for three to five years or for ten years. I believe that most of them have no regrets and have made gains to some extent. For those who love the truth, the more they follow God the more they feel that they lack too much and that the truth is precious. Their resolve to pursue the truth grows, and they feel that they accepted God too late and that if they had accepted Him three to five years or ten years earlier, how much truth they would have understood! Now some people regret accepting God too late, regretting that they believed in God for several years without pursuing the truth and wasted their time, and regretting that they believed in God for several years without performing their duty well. In short, regardless of the length of time a person believes in God, they all gain something and feel that pursuing the truth is incredibly important. This is the second truth: that by being faithful to God, everything people gain from God is the truth, the way, and the life, and they can be saved, no longer living under the power of Satan. The third truth is that if people can achieve eternal faithfulness to God, what will be their ultimate destination? (To be saved and remain to enter God’s kingdom.) When people follow God and are ultimately saved, the destination they get is not to be cast into perdition and destroyed, but to remain as a new human being, to be able to continue living. If people continue to live, then they have the hope of seeing God. What a blessing it is! In the matter of being faithful to God, is it enough for people to understand these three truths? (Yes.) What benefits are there if people follow others and are faithful to them? If you are faithful to others, people say that you have good morals. You have a good reputation, and you only gain this small benefit. Have you gained the truth and life? You don’t gain it at all. What can any person give you when you are faithful to them? At most, you can benefit from associating with them during the rapid success in their career, that’s all. What is the value of that? Isn’t that hollow? Things that are unrelated to truth are useless no matter how much you acquire. Furthermore, if you follow people and are faithful to them, there may be a consequence. You may become a victim, an offering. If the person you are faithful to does not walk the right path, what will happen if you follow them? Will you walk the right path? (No.) If you follow them, you won’t walk the right path either; you will even comply with them to do evil and will go to hell to be punished, and then you are finished. If you are faithful to a person, even if you do many good deeds, you will not gain God’s approval. If you are faithful to the devil kings, Satan, or antichrists, you become an accomplice and a henchman of Satan. The outcome can only be being buried alongside Satan, being an offering for Satan. Nonbelievers say, “Being close to a king is as dangerous as lying with a tiger.” No matter how faithful you are to the devil kings, in the end, once they have used you up, they will devour you and make you a victim. Your life will always be in danger. That is the fate of being faithful to the devil kings and to Satan. Devil kings and Satan will never point you to the correct direction and purpose for your life, and will not guide you on the correct path of life. You will never gain the truth or life from them. The end of your faithfulness to them is to either perish with them and be their offering, or to be entrapped, mutilated, and devoured by them; all of this is the final result of going to hell. This is an undeniable fact. Therefore, any person, no matter what a famous and eminent person or big shot they are, is not worthy of your faithfulness and sacrificing your entire life for them. They are not worthy, and they do not have the power to arrange or manipulate your destiny. Is understanding this truth principle enough to solve problems such as following people and being faithful to people? (Yes.) There are three principles that should be followed when dealing with the tasks entrusted to you by others, and three principles were fellowshipped on the value and significance of people’s faithfulness to God—do you understand all of these principles clearly? (Yes.) In short, the purpose of dissecting the statement “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is to help you see its absurdity and falsehood clearly so that you can let go of it. However, letting go is not enough; you must also understand and grasp the principles of practice people should have, as well as God’s intentions in such matters. Regarding the moral statement of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you,” the main content is basically this. I just dissected from different aspects and viewpoints, and then specifically fellowshipped on the principles of practice that God has revealed to people, what God’s intentions are, and what truths people should understand. After understanding these points, people should fundamentally grasp how to discern the moral statement of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you.”

Dissecting this topic of “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” is actually quite simple, and people can easily discern and understand it. This phrase is also a statement put forward by moralists to paralyze people, mislead people’s thoughts, and disrupt normal thinking, and is not based on a normal human conscience, reason, or normal human needs. Such ideas are concocted by so-called thinkers and moralists, passed off as virtuous. Not only are they baseless and nonsensical, but they are also immoral. Why is it considered immoral? Because it does not stem from the needs of normal humanity, it cannot be achieved in the scope of human caliber, and it is not an obligation or duty that humans should perform. Those so-called moralists take this phrase “Do your best to faithfully handle whatever other people have entrusted to you” as the standard for comportment that they strictly demand of people, thereby forming a kind of social atmosphere and public opinion. People are then oppressed by this public opinion, and they are forced to live this way. In this way, people’s thoughts imperceptibly become bound by this kind of satanic thinking. Once a person’s thoughts are bound, their actions are obviously also bound by this statement and by public opinion. What does it mean to be bound? It means that people cannot choose what they do, they cannot freely follow the desires and demands of human nature, and cannot follow the demands of their conscience and reason to do what they want to do. Instead, they are constrained and bound by a warped thought, by a kind of ideological theory and social opinion that people cannot distinguish or break free from. People unconsciously live in this kind of social environment and atmosphere and cannot break free. If people do not understand the truth, if they can’t clearly understand the distortions and errors in these statements, and if they can’t realize the harm and consequences caused by these statements binding their thoughts, they will never be able to break free from the constraints, bindings, and pressures imposed by traditional culture and social opinion. They will only be able to live by relying on these things. The reason why people live by relying on these things is that they do not know what the right path is, what the direction and purpose of their comportment are, nor the principles of how to comport themselves. They are naturally and passively misled by the various moral statements in traditional culture, misguided and controlled by these erroneous theories. When people understand the truth, it becomes easy for them to discern and reject these heresies and fallacies. They are no longer bound, hijacked, or exploited by the public opinion, atmosphere, and environment in society that was created by Satan. In this way, the direction and purpose of their lives are completely transformed, and they can live and exist according to God’s requirements and God’s words. They are no longer misled or bound by the various satanic theories and the various fallacies of traditional culture. When people completely abandon various statements in traditional culture about moral conduct, that is the moment they completely free themselves from Satan’s corruption, misleading, and bondage. On this basis, when they understand the truth and when they understand the principles of practice that God requires and gives to humans, their purpose in life is thoroughly transformed and they have new lives. When they have new lives, they are newborn human beings and they are new people. Because the thoughts stored in their minds are no longer filled with the various heresies and fallacies instilled in them by Satan, and instead the truth has replaced these satanic things, following that, under the guidance of God’s words, the truth becomes life within them, guiding and governing how they view people and things, and comport themselves and act. They walk the right path of human life and can live in the light. Isn’t this just like being reborn through God’s words? Alright, let’s conclude today’s fellowship here.

July 2, 2022

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