Some people can endure hardships, work hard, pay the price, they show good behavior on the outside and are well-respected, and others give them the thumbs up and admire them—tell Me, what kind of behavior is this? Can these types of outward behavior be considered as practicing the truth? Can they be defined as satisfying God’s will? (No.) But why do people, when they see people like this, always believe them to be satisfying God, believe them to be walking the path of practicing the truth and following God’s way? Why do some people believe this? There is only one explanation; what is this explanation?
It is that many people’s hearts are still unclear about what practicing the truth is, what satisfying God is and what it is to genuinely possess the reality of the truth. Therefore, there are some who always get deceived by others who appear spiritual and noble, and who appear to be great people, and they are not discerning toward people who appear on the surface to be able to speak letters and doctrines, and who gain admiration through their outward speech and actions. They never look to see what the essence of these others’ deeds is, what principles they employ in their actions, what the aim of their deeds is, whether or not they truly obey God and whether or not they are truly people who fear God and shun evil. They are never discerning toward these people, but instead all the while they are getting acquainted with them, they gradually admire them and venerate them more and more, in the end taking them as their idols. What is the cause that brings about this kind of phenomenon? And furthermore, in their eyes some people see only these people—these people they believe to be their idols, these people they believe to have abandoned their homes and businesses and who appear to be able to pay the price—they see only them as people who truly satisfy God, who really have a good end and a good destination, and as people who are praised by God. What is the essence of this matter, when people can have this kind of belief? What is the resulting consequence of this matter? First let us say what the essence of this matter is. Concerning people’s views, the way people practice, the principles of practice that people adopt, and what every person focuses on ordinarily—whether they focus deeply or lightly, or focus on letters and doctrines or on reality—whatever aspect they focus on, what is the principle that people should keep to the most? Do you know? What is it that you should most know? Some people may say that the thing we should most know is God’s will, that the thing we should most know is how to obey God and how to satisfy God. But do you genuinely know what God’s will is? Some people say that God’s will is within His words, and that everything God says is His will. This is a rather general thing to say. People have some ignorant ways of doing things and looking at things, or they have one-sided ways of looking at things or practicing, and this has only one source; I shall tell you today what this is. Where does the reason for this lie? Although people follow God, read His words and pray to God every day, in fact they simply don’t understand His will. Is this not the case? If people understood His heart, understood what He likes, what He hates, what He wants to gain, what He casts aside, what kind of people He loves, what kind of people He doesn’t love, what kind of standards He uses to lay requirements on people, what method He uses to perfect people—if people understood all this, would they still have their own individual thoughts? Would they still arbitrarily worship someone else? Would they still regard an ordinary person as their idol? If they understood God’s will, they would get closer to rationality and have some sense about how they see others. They wouldn’t arbitrarily regard a corrupt person as their idol, and nor would they hold to some simple rules and principles on the path of practicing the truth.
Let’s get back on topic. Since everyone is concerned with their own end, do you know how God determines people’s ends? What method does God use to determine a person’s end? And what standards does God use to do this? Before a person’s end has been fixed, how does God work on them in order to finally determine their end? Does anyone know this? As I said just now, there are some people who have researched God’s words for a long time to see what people’s ends will be, what categories people’s ends fall into, what the different ends for people are, how people’s ends are determined within God’s words and what standards, what methods are employed to determine a person’s end; in the end, however, they get nowhere. In fact, in God’s words there is just a little said about it, there is not much at all. Why is this? Before people’s ends are revealed, God does not wish to tell anyone their final outcome, nor does He wish to tell them prematurely what kind of destination awaits them, for to do this would bring them no benefit. I now only want to tell people what? I want to tell people what method God uses to determine people’s ends, and what work principles He employs to determine people’s ends and to reveal their ends; I want to tell you what standards He employs to determine whether you will remain or not remain, or whether you will have some other end. Isn’t this something that most concerns you? (Yes.) It concerns you a lot, doesn’t it? So how in human conceptions does God determine people’s ends? Many of you said some of it just now—some people said it was to do their duty faithfully and expend themselves; some said it was being able to obey God and satisfy God; some said it was submitting to God’s orchestrations; and then some said it was being able to live an unassuming life. When you are practicing these truths, when you are practicing in accordance with the principles that you believe in, do you know what God is thinking? Have you ever before considered whether or not you are satisfying God’s will by doing what you do? Do your actions cater to God’s needs? Do they cater to God’s requirements? I think most people don’t think of these things. They just take a section of God’s words, a portion of the sermons, or the standards of certain spiritual people they believe in and they apply them mechanically, just doing things this way and acting this way, regardless of the final outcome. They believe they are correct to do things this way, so they always keep to this kind of path and they keep doing things in this way. And what do some people believe? “I’ve believed for so many years and I have always practiced in this way. I feel I have satisfied God a great deal and have gained a lot, because during this time I have understood many truths and have understood many things I did not understand before. In particular, my thoughts and views have been greatly transformed, and I have come to know a great deal about the value of life and about this world.” They think this is the harvest, and that this is the result God wants to achieve with people. Taken together with what each of you practices, do these standards satisfy God’s will? Some people say: “Of course they do! Because we practice on the basis of God’s words, because we practice in accordance with the sermons and fellowship of the brother, and because we are always doing our duty, always following God and we have never once left God, we can be confident and say boldly that we are satisfying God. No matter how much we comprehend God’s will, no matter how much we understand God’s will, we are now on the way of seeking to become compatible with God. If we do right, if we act correctly, then the outcome will certainly be right.” What do you think of this viewpoint? Is it correct? Maybe some people will say: “I’ve never thought about these things before. I only think that I always do my duty like this, I always act in accordance with the requirements of God’s words, so that I will be able to remain. I’ve never considered whether or not I’m able to satisfy God’s heart, nor have I ever considered whether or not I have met God’s required standards, as God has never told me, nor has He ever pointed it out to me clearly. So I’ve always done it this way, and when I am doing it I believe that God is with me. Doing it this way, practicing this way, I believe that I am satisfying God, that God should be satisfied, and that He shouldn’t require anything further.” Are these thoughts correct? It seems to Me that you are being a little blind by practicing in this way and having this kind of view. I say this and some of you may well feel downhearted: “Blind? If we are being blind, then doesn’t our hope for being saved and our hope to remain become very slim and vague? Aren’t You pouring cold water on us by saying this?” No matter what you may think, that which I say and do is not meant to pour cold water on you, but rather to make you better understand God’s will, better comprehend what God is thinking, what He means to do, what kind of people He likes, what He hates, what He loathes, what kind of people He wants to gain, and what kind of people He doesn’t want to gain but detests and rejects. I only want you to know these things, to know absolutely clearly and plainly exactly how far your actions and thoughts have strayed from God’s required standards. Isn’t it necessary to talk about these topics? (Yes.) Because I know that, having believed for such a long time, and listened to so many sermons, these are the things you most lack. You have recorded all the truths in your notebooks, and kept some essential truths and some things you believe to be very important in both your minds and in your hearts, and you plan to take these things and use them to satisfy God when you are to practice, use them when rainy days come, or you use them to help you get through each difficulty you face, or you let them be your companions through life. But as far as I’m concerned, regardless of how you do it, if you are just doing it, this is not so important. What is important? What’s important is that when you are practicing you should know clearly in your heart whether or not what you do and how you behave is what God wants, and whether or not what you do, what you think, what you aim for and the result you mean to achieve in your heart satisfy God’s will and cater to God’s requirements, and you should know clearly whether or not God approves them. This comes down to an issue, and you should all take note of one saying. I Myself believe this saying to be very important, as it comes to My mind countless times every day. Why do I say this? Because every time I encounter someone’s deeds, every time I listen to someone’s story, every time I listen to someone’s experiences or their testimony, I measure in My heart whether or not this person is someone whom God has said He wants and likes. So what exactly is this saying? You all have a wait-and-see attitude, all waiting. But when this saying is spoken aloud you may perhaps feel disappointed, for there are certain people who have paid it lip service for many years. But I haven’t ever paid it lip service; where do I keep this saying? I keep it in My heart. To make it easier for you to remember this saying clearly, I have added punctuation to it. And what is this saying? The saying is “Follow the way of God: Fear God and shun evil.” It’s a very simple saying, isn’t it? Although it is simple, those who genuinely have a deep understanding of it will feel that it carries much weight and that it is of great value to their practice, and they will feel that it is the language of life and that it is also highly practical. So do you think this saying is the truth? Some people will be thinking about it, yet some will have their doubts about this saying and will say, “Is this saying very important? Is it really necessary to emphasize this saying so much?” And perhaps some people won’t like this saying, because they believe that to regard the way of God as being just this one saying is far too simple. By taking everything God has said and boiling it all down to just this one saying, they believe this is seeing God as too insignificant. Is this the case? The majority of you will perhaps not entirely understand the profound meaning of this saying. Although you have taken note of it, you don’t plan on keeping it in your hearts; you just jot it down in your notebooks, take it out to read through in your free time and just mull it over for a while, and some people are not even planning on applying it at all. But why do I say this saying? Regardless of your views and regardless of what you think about it, this saying is of great relevance to God’s determination of people’s ends, so I must needs say it to you. No matter what your current understanding of this saying is or how you approach it, I will still tell you that if you can practice this saying well and achieve the standard of fearing God and shunning evil, you will then have a very good end and will surely be someone who will remain, someone who will have a good end. If you cannot live up to this saying, then I can say that your end will be unknown. Therefore, first of all I tell you this saying for your own mental preparation and so that you know what kind of standards God uses to measure you. This saying is right here and you have all taken note of it. But as I said just now, this saying is extremely relevant to God saving mankind and to how He determines people’s ends. How is it relevant? You really want to know this too. Let’s talk about how this is relevant today.
In every age of God’s work amongst man, God bestows on people some words and tells them some truths, and these truths are the way people should hold to, and are that which people should practice and hold to as they live, and throughout the course of their lives; this is God’s aim in telling these truths to man. These words come from God and people should hold to them; when people hold to them they then gain life. If people do not hold to them and do not practice them, and they do not have these words of God in their lives, then they are not practicing the truth; when people do not practice the truth they are then not capable of satisfying God; when people are not capable of satisfying God they are then not able to be praised by God, and thus they will have no end. So how does God determine people’s ends within His work? What method does He employ to determine people’s ends? If I don’t talk about this then you are perhaps unclear about it. But once I talk about this process you may gain some clarity, for many people have already experienced this matter before. Over the course of God’s work, from when He began His work up until the present day, to each and every person—it could be said to each and every person who follows Him—He gives trials of varying degrees. Some people undergo trials whereby their families abandon them, some undergo trials of environments, some undergo trials whereby they face choices, and some face trials to do with their status or wealth. In short, all manner of trials befall each and every person. So why does God want to do this? Why does He want to treat each and every person this way? What is the outcome God wants to see? It is as I said just now, God looks to see whether or not someone is a person who fears God and shuns evil. This means that when God gives you a trial, when He causes you to encounter some environment, He then tests you to see whether or not you are fearing God and whether or not you are shunning evil. Suppose something happened to someone and this event caused them to come into contact with offerings. Tell Me, is this event arranged by God? There is no need to query this; everything you encounter is all God’s arrangements. When this event happens to you, what do you choose? God is watching how you choose, how you practice, and what you think in your heart, and this is the outcome God wants to see and that He is most concerned with. But when events happen to people, they frequently don’t think this way; most people don’t think this way. As soon as something happens to them, they say, “This has happened to me and no matter what, it is God’s offering and I must not touch it.” They think in such a simple way. They don’t go to touch God’s offerings, nor do they think about it too deeply; they just think about it in this simple way and then they’re done with it. Is the outcome of this trial that they stand firm, or that they don’t stand firm? Tell Me. (If someone has a God-fearing heart, then when something happens to them whereby they come into contact with God’s offerings, they will think it is something in which they can easily offend God’s disposition, so they will certainly err on the side of caution.) You are kind of on the right track, but you’re not quite there. How to explain this? Following the way of God is not outwardly keeping some rule, but rather it is when this event happens to you, you first of all see it as an environment orchestrated by God, a responsibility given to you by God, or something God has entrusted to you and, when it happens to you, you even see it as God’s trial, and these thoughts come clearly to you. When this thing happens to you, there must be a standard in your heart and you must think that this event has come from God, and you must think how you should handle it to not aggravate God and to not offend His disposition. We spoke just now about the matter concerning offerings. It is your duty to take good care of these offerings and it is your responsibility; you are duty-bound to this responsibility, but is there any temptation when this matter befalls you? (Yes.) Where does this temptation come from? This temptation comes from Satan, and it also comes from man’s corrupt disposition, from man’s evil, corrupt disposition. But as far as God is concerned, what does it mean to you when this matter befalls you? God wants to do this thing, and when it befalls you it becomes a trial for you—it is a trial which has befallen you. Some people ask, “This is such a tiny matter. Is it necessary to make a mountain out of a molehill?” Yes, it is necessary. Because if we want to follow the way of God, then we cannot see any tiny, minor matter as being a small matter that can be ignored or paid no heed. But rather regardless of whether a matter is big or small, regardless of whether we see it as something we need to take heed of or not, so long as it is something that happens to us we cannot let it slide, and we must see it as God testing us. So what kind of attitude is this? This attitude verifies a fact, and having this attitude proves that your heart fears God and wishes to shun evil. When you have this desire to satisfy God, then your practice will not be far from the standard of fearing God and shunning evil. Is this not the case?
from The Word Appears in the Flesh
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