Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “It Is Very Important to Establish a Proper Relationship With God” （III）

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “It Is Very Important to Establish a Proper Relationship With God” （III）

135-A-1

Let’s start our meeting. Let’s first read a passage of God’s word, “It Is Very Important to Establish a Proper Relationship With God.”

“People believe in God, love God, and satisfy God by touching the Spirit of God with their heart, thereby obtaining the satisfaction of God; and when engaging with God’s words with their heart, they are therefore moved by the Spirit of God. If you wish to achieve a proper spiritual life and establish a proper relationship with God, you must first give your heart to God, and quiet your heart before God. Only after you have poured your whole heart into God can you gradually have a proper spiritual life. If, in their belief in God, people do not give their heart to God, if their heart is not in God, and they do not treat God’s burden as their own, then everything they do is cheating God, and is the actions of religious people, unable to receive God’s praise. God cannot get anything from this kind of person; this kind of person can only serve as a foil to God’s work, like a decoration in the house of God, filling the seats and taking up space, and is a good-for-nothing—God does not use this kind of person. In such a person, not only is there no opportunity for the work of the Holy Spirit, much less is there any value of perfection; this type of person is the real “walking dead”—they have no components that can be used by the Holy Spirit—they have all been appropriated by Satan, corrupted to the extreme by Satan, who are the object of God’s elimination. Currently the Holy Spirit is not only using people by putting their virtues into play, but also perfecting and changing their shortcomings. If your heart can be poured into God, and keep quiet before God, then you will have the chance, the qualifications, to be used by the Holy Spirit, to receive the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, and you will even more so have the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to make up for your shortcomings. When you give your heart to God, you can enter more deeply on the positive side, and be on a higher plane of understanding; on the negative side, you will have more understanding of your own faults and shortcomings, you will be more eager to seek to satisfy God’s will, and in a non-passive state, you will actively enter, and this will mean that you are a correct person. On the premise that your heart is calm before God, the key of whether or not you receive praise from the Holy Spirit, whether or not you please God, is whether you can actively enter. When the Holy Spirit enlightens a person, uses a person, it never makes him negative, and always makes him positive and eager to progress. Even though he has weaknesses, he is able to not live according to them, he is able to refrain from delaying his life growth, and he is able to continue to seek to satisfy God’s will. This is a standard which sufficiently proves that a person has obtained the presence of the Holy Spirit. If a person is always negative, and even after being enlightened to know himself, is still negative and passive, unable to stand up and act in concert with God, then this type of person just receives the grace of God, but the Holy Spirit is not with him. When a person is negative, this means that his heart has not turned to God, his spirit has not been touched by God’s Spirit, and this should be recognized by all.

In your experience you see that one of the most important issues is quieting your heart before God. It is an issue that concerns people’s spiritual life, and the progression of their life. Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit. Because you come burdened before God, and you always feel that you are lacking too much, that there are many truths that you need to know, much reality that you need to experience, and that you should give every care to God’s will. These things are always on your mind, it is as if they are pressing down on you so hard that you can’t breathe, and thus you feel heavy of heart (but not in a negative state). Only people such as this are qualified to accept the enlightenment of God’s words and be touched by the Spirit of God. It is because of their burden, because they are heavy of heart, and, it can be said, because of the price they have paid and the torment they have suffered before God that they receive the enlightenment and illumination of God, for God does not give anyone special treatment, He is always fair in His treatment of people, but He is also not arbitrary in His provision to people, and does not give to them unconditionally. This is one side of His righteous disposition. In real life, most people have yet to attain this realm. At the very least, their heart has yet to completely turn to God, and thus there has still not been any great change in their life disposition, which is because they only live amid God’s graces, and have yet to gain the work of the Holy Spirit. The criteria for God’s use of people are as follows: Their heart turns to God, they are burdened by the words of God, their heart yearns, and they have the resolve to seek the truth. Only people such as this can gain the work of the Holy Spirit and be often enlightened and illuminated. The people God uses appear from the outside to be irrational and seem to be without proper relationships with others, though they speak with propriety, don’t speak carelessly, and can always keep a quiet heart before God. Such a person is sufficient to be used by the Holy Spirit. This irrational person God speaks of looks like they don’t have proper relationships with others, and they don’t have outward love or superficial practices, but when they are communicating spiritual things they can open their heart and selflessly provide others with the illumination and enlightenment they have acquired from their actual experience before God. This is how they express their love for God and satisfy God’s will. When others are all slandering and ridiculing them, they are able to not be dictated by outside people, occurrences, or things, and can still be quiet before God. Such a person seemingly has their own insights. Regardless of others, their heart never leaves God. When others are chatting cheerfully and humorously, their heart still remains before God, contemplating God’s word or praying in silence to the God in their heart, seeking God’s intentions. They never make the maintenance of their proper relationships with other people the main focus. Such a person has seemingly no philosophy of life. On the outside, this person is lively, adorable, innocent, but also possesses a sense of calmness. This is the likeness of a person God uses. Things like the philosophy of life or “proper reasoning” will not get through to this type of person; this type of person has devoted his whole heart to God’s word, and seems to only have God in his heart. This is the type of person who is what God refers to as a person “without reason,” and is just the person that is used by God. The mark of a person who is being used by God is: No matter when or where, his heart is always before God, and no matter how dissolute others are, how much they indulge in lust, indulge in the flesh—his heart never leaves God, and he doesn’t follow the crowd. Only this type of person is suited for God’s use, and is exactly the one who is perfected by the Holy Spirit. If you are unable to reach this point, then you are not qualified to be gained by God, to be perfected by the Holy Spirit.

If you want to have a proper relationship with God, your heart must turn to God, and on this foundation, you will also have a proper relationship with other people. If you don’t have a proper relationship with God, no matter what you do to maintain your relationships with other people, no matter how hard you work or how much energy you put into it, it still belongs to a human philosophy of life. You are maintaining your position among people through a human perspective and a human philosophy so that they will praise you. You do not establish proper relationships with people according to the word of God. If you don’t focus on your relationships with people but maintain a proper relationship with God, if you are willing to give your heart to God and learn to obey Him, very naturally, your relationships with all people will become proper. This way, these relationships aren’t established on the flesh, but on the foundation of God’s love. There are almost no interactions based on the flesh, but in the spirit there is fellowship as well as love, comfort, and supply for one another. This is all done on the foundation of a heart that satisfies God. These relationships aren’t maintained by relying on a human philosophy of life, but they are formed very naturally through the burden for God. They don’t require human effort—they are practiced through the principles of the word of God. Are you willing to be considerate toward the will of God? Are you willing to be a person “without reason” before God? Are you willing to completely give your heart to God, and not think about your position among people? Of all the people you have contact with, with which of these do you have the best relationships? With which of these do you have the worst relationships? Are your relationships with people proper? Do you treat all people equally? Are your relationships with others maintained according to your philosophy of life, or are they built on the foundation of God’s love? When one does not give his heart to God, then his spirit becomes obtuse, it becomes numb and unconscious, and this kind of person will never understand God’s words, will never have a proper relationship with God; this kind of person will never change their disposition. Changing one’s disposition is the process of one giving his heart completely to God, and of receiving enlightenment and illumination from the words of God. God’s work can, on one hand, let one actively enter, and also enable him to get rid of his negative aspects after gaining knowledge. When you are able to give your heart to God, you will be able to perceive every subtle movement within your spirit, and you will know any of the enlightenment and illumination received from God. Hold onto this, and you will gradually enter into the path of being perfected by the Holy Spirit. The quieter your heart can be before God, the more sensitive and delicate your spirit will be, and the more your spirit will be able to observe the movement of the Holy Spirit, and then your relationship with God will become more and more proper. A proper relationship between people is established on the foundation of giving your heart to God; it is not achieved through human effort. Without God, relationships between people are merely relationships of the flesh. They are not proper, but are indulgent of physical desires—they are relationships that God detests, that He loathes. If you say that your spirit has been touched, but you always want to have fellowship with people who appeal to you, with whoever you think highly of, and if there is another seeker who does not appeal to you, who you hold a bias against and will not engage with, this is more proof that you are an emotional person and you do not have a proper relationship with God at all. You are attempting to deceive God and cover up your own ugliness. Even if you can share some understanding but you carry wrongness in your heart, everything you do is good only by human standards. God will not praise you—you are acting according to the flesh, not according to God’s burden. If you are able to quiet your heart in front of God and have proper interactions with all those who love God, only then are you fit for God’s use. This way, no matter how you associate with others, it will not be according to a life philosophy, but it will be living in front of God, considerate of His burden. How many people like this are there amongst you? Are your relationships with others really proper? On what foundation are they built? How many life philosophies are there within you? Have they been cast off? If your heart cannot be completely turned to God, then you are not of God, then you come from Satan, and in the end you will be returned to Satan; you are not worthy of being one of God’s people. All of this requires your careful consideration.”

135-A-2

Just now we read through God’s words in “It Is Very Important to Establish a Proper Relationship With God.” Why have we wanted to fellowship this passage of God’s words three times in a row? This is primarily because this passage is the basis for entry into life, and the foundation for entry into life. Therefore, if God’s elect want to gain truth and life, they must begin from experiencing this passage. When one goes through this passage, what after all does one experience? What does one put into practice? In the opening of the passage that we just read, God says, “one of the most important issues is quieting your heart before God. It is an issue that concerns people’s spiritual life, and the progression of their life.” Do you understand this? Some say, “Is quieting the heart before God truly so important?” These are words that God has spoken, and what God says is the truth. What will be the consequences if someone does not seek the truth in God’s words, does not accept or obey them, does not put them into practice or experience them? The one who suffers loss is that person himself or herself! Is it an unimportant question that there are many people who cannot discern God’s words or understand that God’s words are the truth? If someone believes in God for many years without being able to discern God’s words or understand the truth of God’s words, such a person is certain to be abandoned and eliminated by God and unable to be saved. Can you accept the way I have put this?

At present quite a number of people have begun to practice quieting the heart before God. When they heard God’s words “quieting your heart before God,” everyone felt it was easy to understand, but once they put it into practice they discovered problems: “Why won’t my heart quiet down? I can’t manage to quiet down before God. I can’t quiet down even for a little while.” Once they put quieting down before God into practice they discover it is hard to do, that these words are difficult to experience, that these words are indeed difficult to enter into. What is the problem? Who can see into what is the essence of this problem? Is this enough to show that they have never been quiet before God and that they have never lived before God? If they have never been quiet before God, how could they have lived before God? That doesn’t fit the facts, does it? If it is difficult to enter into keeping quiet before God and very difficult to put it into practice, then is it easy for you to live before God? It is not easy. If you do not live before God, where do you live? Before whom do you live? Can we say that you are someone who lives before people, someone who lives before Satan? So what does being quiet before God have to do with living before God? They are directly related to each other: If you cannot be quiet before God, then you cannot live before God, is that it? What must you have in order to be quiet before God? What must you have before you can be quiet before God? We’ll give an example, such as sons and daughters living before their parents. Many children never live before their parents. They say, “Living in front of my parents is a bore. It’s great to live in the outside world. It’s great to live in front of video game machines. It’s great to live at gambling spots. It’s great to live at amusement parks.” So they don’t live in front of their parents. What does this say? They don’t think about their parents and they don’t care about their parents. They are indifferent to anything about their parents. They don’t have the least interest in anything that their parents care about and love, so they don’t want to live before their parents. Isn’t that so? So what is the problem if someone can’t live before God and can’t be quiet before God? It shows that they do not care about God. So if someone does not have God in his or her heart but still believes in God and wants to attain salvation from God, what is the problem that must first be resolved? “Being quiet before God” is the problem to resolve first. Someone says, “How can I be quiet before God?” Some people say, “Oh, I know. When I was in the religious church I saw those pastors and elders, and also old folks get up early every morning and kneel before God to pray for half an hour or an hour. Is that being quiet before God? When they were praying, some people wept ‘boohoo,’ sobbing out loud. Perhaps that is being quiet before God. I have to pray and weep together with them, and recite God’s words when we pray. That is being quiet before God.” Is what they said correct? Everybody knows it’s wrong. Why isn’t it correct? Whoever can answer this question clearly has the vision, has the light, has the way. Who can clarify this matter? You’re not sure, so I’ll tell you.

When one says his religious prayers, he is not being quiet before God. He is being quiet before a wall, being quiet before tables and chairs. Once he closes his eyes he is just there passing the time by himself, reciting God’s words, talking to himself, talking into thin air. Is that being quiet before God? No. Because he is talking to himself. He may look very quiet kneeling there. His hands are not fidgeting, his head isn’t turning this way and that, while his mouth keeps on praying to God. But he hasn’t opened his heart to God. His heart is closed to God, and it’s only his mouth that keeps on doing the talking. Is that being quiet before God? There’s no point to just keep on talking and making noise. You have to open your heart to God! Once you have opened your heart to God, spoken to God about what is in your heart, exposed what is in your heart, only then will you be moved by the Holy Spirit and be in the presence of God. That is being quiet before God. You must be moved by the Holy Spirit, be in the presence of the Holy Spirit, give your heart to God, contact God with your heart, and speak to God with your heart. These are being quiet before God. If someone just kneels down, their mouth speaking, it may seem they are talking with God, but actually they have not opened their heart to God, and what they say is not what is in their heart, just what they think of saying, they are just talking to themselves, or reciting some passages of scripture, this is not being quiet before God. Because they are without the work of the Holy Spirit and are not moved by the Holy Spirit, they are merely talking to themselves. To talk to oneself, praying to some vague God, praying into the thin air, without the work of the Holy Spirit: this is wishful thinking, and God does not acknowledge it! Is this so? Because this religious prayer is without the work of the Holy Spirit, without the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, praying for many years will bring no results. When one finishes such a prayer, stands up, and goes home, he will turn back into a wolf, satanic nature will appear once again, and he will do as he pleases, without the least fear of God, and without the least appearance of godliness. Is that being quiet before God? To be genuinely quiet before God is to expose one’s heart to God, to say what is in one’s heart, to tell Him the troubles in one’s own heart, honestly pray to God, reflect on oneself before God, understand oneself before God, and be moved by the Holy Spirit, causing genuine remorse and self-reproach. Weeping such as this, prayer such as this, and speaking what is in one’s heart to God in these ways are the results of being quiet before God, and are the genuine accomplishments of being quiet before God. If in his prayer one is truly quiet before God then each time he can have some gain, he can understand some truth, can gain some enlightenment in God’s words, and can find paths to practice. Beyond these, he can have some understanding, especially about the revealing of his own corruption. If each time he is quiet before God he has some results in all these areas, that demonstrates that his heart is truly quiet before God. You need to understand this. Having no results from prayers means that one is not being quiet before God but quiet in a church, quiet in material things. Whenever people do not open their hearts to God when they pray, whenever their hearts have not genuinely pled, whenever their hearts do not seek the truth from God, or they do not give their hearts to God to talk to Him heart to heart, these are expressions of not being quiet before God.

By reason when I say this everyone understands. Yet so many people say, “No matter how we pray to God we cannot be quiet before God. What is the problem? We want to attain being quiet before God now, so is there a way to do that?” You see, there are some religious prayers. For example, when a believer realizes his child does not obey him, he closes his eyes and prays, “Lord, I entrust this child to You to discipline him. I cannot discipline him. He does not obey me. Lord, You are almighty. I give the child to You. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.” And that’s the end of it. Is that being quiet before God? In his prayer he takes no responsibility; he does not search for truth before God, but turns the child over to the Lord with no concern for whether the Lord has heard him. Without exposing his heart to the Lord or saying, “Raising a child is too difficult. Without the truth I cannot teach the child, and the child won’t obey me! This child was born in sin, and has inherited a sinful nature, even more rebellious than me. Lord, how can I teach him?” Say something intimate! You can say: “Lord, humans are created by You. You gave me this child, but I do not have the strength to teach him. Truly I see now that I don’t have the reality of the truth, nor am I what should be as a human, and I am not qualified and have no way to teach the child. This child is too disobedient. Perhaps I was the same when I was young. So the child is not all to blame, for I also am just as bad. Now I believe in the Lord but have not listened to the words of the Lord.” Say something human like this! Once God observes this, “Indeed, your greatest problem truly is this difficulty. It weighs on you so that you can hardly breathe. It has exhausted you these past several days, and you look in bad shape. These are words from your heart.” You say to God, weeping as you pray, that you can’t teach the child, that you have no reality of the truth and cannot live before God to do something for God, that you are more of a child than the child and not even as good as the child. “The child is young, but even though I have grown up I do not listen to the words of the Lord.” Once you have offered fellowship up to this point, you feel so remorseful that you begin to weep. Does praying like this have some of the meaning of being quiet before God? So what does being quiet before God mean? Someone says you must say what is in your heart when you speak. Is this saying what is in the heart? That is just what it is. Say what is in your heart when you have actual difficulty, and when you pray to God it will be easy to be quiet before God. If you have nothing to say from your heart when you go before God, then how can you be quiet before God? If there is nothing on your mind and in your heart you do not need God, but then still want to be quiet before God, is that easy? It’s like one person goes up to another person with nothing particular in mind, and the other person says, “What’s on your mind?” “Oh, uh, nothing much, just wanted to chat.” “Well, go ahead. What do you want to chat about?” “Actually, there’s nothing in particular, just wanted to chat, I don’t know about what.” “So what is on your mind after all?” “Just wanted to talk with you.” “So what do you want to talk about?” “I couldn’t think of anything, but then I still wanted to talk with you.” What nonsense. What sort of person is this? It’s someone who doesn’t make any sense, doesn’t have the sense of a normal person, right?

135-A-3

So, how do you practice being quiet before God? When you encounter certain matters, when you have a burden, when you are faced with problems, you feel the need to fellowship with God; before you pray, you should first collect yourself in your mind, you should think, and you should be fully prepared. Regarding the difficulties of such matters and regarding the things you need God to clarify for you, you should develop a simple outline of how you should seek help from God, how you should fellowship with God. And then, you should find a suitable opportunity and the appropriate environment to kneel before God and pray. This way, it shall be easy to quiet your heart before God; is this not the case? Is this not a good way to practice being quiet? Everyone said that it’s good. Then some might say: “I have no issues most of the time. Based on what you said, wouldn’t I have no opportunity to practice being quiet before God?” Are there situations like that? Are there people who would say this? “Most of the time, I have no problems. I already have a wife, I already have a good job, I already have a house, I have no difficulties in my life. How do I practice being quiet before God?” On hearing this, some are being reminded: “Oh, so you have a wife, you have a car and a house, but I don’t! Now I am faced with issues, and now I must quiet my heart before God.” Is this what I am referring to? To be quiet before God does not involve such things. All this mess of yours, you must find the truth in them on your own, either by praying, seeking the truth on your own, looking for answers from within God’s words, fellowshiping with others, or asking people for advice. When you need to fellowship with God, once you are able to quiet your heart before God, then when you come before God and quiet your heart, you shall gain the results. Then some might say: “I do not have any real difficulties, and I don’t have any painful experiences, then I should have no need to quiet my heart before God? Just living capriciously in this world, living before other people?” How should such a situation be resolved? If you are someone who truly loves the truth, then there are many things that you need to fellowship with God. If you do not have the need to fellowship with God from the depth of your heart and your spirit, you can practice reading God’s words, pondering God’s words, practice fellowshiping the truth, as well as practice the singing of hymns and giving praise to God. Sometimes, people become moved when reading God’s words, and they are enlightened by the Holy Spirit, “When I am reading God’s words today, these words that I read are talking precisely about me. They have thoroughly described my situation. Oh, I am moved, and once I am moved, I must pray to God.” At this time, their heart and spirit begin to have needs, and they now have the need to pray to God. At this time, if they are to pray to God, would you say that they can quiet their heart before God? Everyone says that they can. Yes, they have been moved by the Holy Spirit, and it is the perfect opportunity to practice quieting their heart before God. Some say: “I don’t have any issues now, and in my heart, I don’t have any need to pray. I also have not fulfilled any duties. Under this circumstance, let me sing some hymns and give praise to God.” And then they become quiet before God, saying: “I must sing to God, I must whole-heartedly praise God.” As they are sincerely praising God and singing hymns of God’s word, they are moved by God’s words. Once they have been moved, tears start to flow, and they feel that the hymns are reading their mind, that the hymns are saying things they have wanted to say to God for many years. This time, when they sing, why do they feel this way? As they are singing, with tears flowing, and giving praise to God, they find God to be so loveable, that God must be praised. Should they then pray to God at this time? They should. After they sing, they pray: “God, You have treated me with kindness, and You are with me. Once I sang this hymn, I have found that You are beside me. It is You who guided me to sing this hymn. This hymn has expressed that which was in my heart. So many years of prayers, yet I have never been able to say these words to You. This hymn is marvelous; this hymn has edified me. God, I can see that Your love has not left me.” Once they pray thus, they quiet their heart before God. Sometimes, when we are all fellowshiping the truth, someone may intentionally or unintentionally listen in. As he listens, some of the things that we fellowship become stuck in his mind. Once these things are stuck in his mind, they hit his vital spots, and his head starts dropping: “Oh, today, I have come to understand myself from these words. These words, aren’t they my judgment? These words are revealing me. How come I never felt this way when reading these words before? Why do I feel them so acutely today? Oh, this is me encountering God’s love. I must pray to God and tell Him the truths in my heart.” As everyone is fellowshiping the truth, he has his head bowed down, tears streaming down his cheeks. “What happened?” Others don’t know, “He has been moved.” In fact, he is praying to God in his heart. He doesn’t say anything, he is praying in his heart, he is getting in touch with God’s Spirit through his heart. Is this not an act of quieting one’s heart before God? Sometimes, during a walk, a question may pop into a person’s head: “Yesterday, the brother was talking about this matter during the sermon, and it seems to fit my situation perfectly….” See, he is just going on a walk, yet he ponders, he thinks about the sermon, he is reminded of something from God’s words, he thinks of a practical problem, he thinks of a problem that presents itself regarding the fulfillment of his duties. Therefore, he ponders, and ponders, and ponders, and ultimately he is enlightened and illuminated, and he comes to understand God’s words. Look, even when he is taking a walk, his mind never leaves God, still pondering God’s words, the matters of spirit, his actual conditions, and he is moved: “Now I understand, I can see a bright light. Now I know what to do.” Is this not quieting the heart before God? Now the heart is quiet before God, what are his legs doing? Has he knelt down? No, he is not kneeling, he is taking a walk, yet his heart is able to be quiet before God. For some brothers and sisters, even when they are cooking in the kitchen, their heart is able to be quiet before God. No matter what you are doing, no matter the work that your hands are carrying out, yet sometimes your heart is able to pray to God, and you are able to commune with God, you are able to ponder God’s words. Is this not an act of being quiet before God? Tell me, the way to be quiet before God, is it only through praying? Is it only at times when you are bowing down on the ground and praying? Is it only when you are at church, praying to God during a gathering? It can be said that, we can practice being quiet before God at any time, and there are always opportunities to be found. Can you understand what I am saying? Everyone says that you can. Now that you have accepted what I said, go on and practice as I said. If you continue to practice thus, you will often be moved by God. You will be moved by God when pondering God’s words; you will be moved by God when reading God’s words; you will be moved by God when singing hymns; you will be moved by the Holy Spirit when fellowshiping the truth with several others and solving issues; you will be moved by the Holy Spirit when reflecting and thinking on the issues that you have encountered; you will be moved by the Holy Spirit when silently giving thought to the love of God; you will be moved by the Holy Spirit when thinking of all the grace that God has bestowed upon you; you will be moved by the Holy Spirit when your corruptions have been revealed and you are praying to God, seeking to grasp God’s will. When someone is being moved by the Holy Spirit in so many things, when someone is being moved by the Holy Spirit under so many complicated environments, is this person not living before God?

What is it like to live before God? On the outside, this person looks ordinary, normal, without any unusual behaviors, yet he is already living before God. As for some people, when they are lying in bed, praying to God in their heart, giving thought to God’s love, they feel that they have owed God. Look at them, with their eyes closed, as if they are asleep. Yet when you look again after some time, “They are not asleep, their tears are flowing.” What is happening? Their heart is quiet before God, and they have been moved by the Holy Spirit. As they reflect on all the things that they have done in a day, they realize that not many of those things have been done while living before God. Some words that they have said, and some things that they have done, these are all manifestations of profligacy of the flesh, and they do not deserve to be called men. Once they think about this, they feel remorse, and they are disquieted. “When will my stature grow, when will I live as a true man?” That is why they are lying there, with their eyes closed, with tears flowing. If a person can be quiet before God like this several times during the day, regardless of what he is doing, whether he is praying, or working, or taking a walk, he will have the ability to be close to God at any moment. Once he is close to God, the issues that he talks about become practical, the words that he says become practical, they all now come from his heart, therefore he becomes moved by the Holy Spirit at all times. And what are the conditions necessary for you to be moved by the Holy Spirit? To come into contact with God’s Spirit with your heart, tell the truths that are in your heart, say practical things, talk about practical issues. If you have conscience and good sense, and if you commune with God with your heart, then you will be moved by the Holy Spirit at all times. In this way, you will achieve the results of being quiet before God and living before God. Do you understand, now that I put it this way?

When should you not be close to God? Do not be close to God when crossing the road, for it is dangerous; when walking on an icy road, for the road is slippery, you must keep your eyes open. Don’t get into an accident. When crossing the road, if all that you have on your mind is to be close to God, “bam,” you might then get hit by a car. Wouldn’t that be unfortunate? If you should finish crossing this dangerous road before being close to God, it would be much safer. Now you know when not to be close to God. On the other hand, in what situation is it necessary to be close to God, where you might risk losing your life at any moment if you are not close to God? You must always be close to God when living among the unbelievers, you must always be careful and vigilant. When you are living before evil-doers, when you are in contact with evil-doers, when you are in close proximity to evil-doers, you must be close to God. At places where evil spirits are at work, you must be even closer to God, pray to God, ask God for protection. Evil spirits are formidable, and you would be in trouble if they should leap out of the body that they possessed and jump in front of you. These things are terrifying. That is to say, you must be close to God when you are in a dangerous environment. If you should be captured by the great red dragon, then you must be close to God at all times, never venture far away from God, always pondering God’s words, always seeking the truth. Then some might say: “Isn’t it exhausting, always being so close to God, always being diligent?” Are there those who ask this question? Let me tell you, it is not exhausting to be close to God, you may even live longer by doing so. No one has said that he has lived a shorter life by being close to God, not one, only those who have sins on their mind make their life grow short. The closer you are to God, the longer you shall live. With God’s blessing, God will not let you die. God wants you to be close to God, to be forever near God, this is God’s blessing. Therefore, you will not become exhausted by being close to God, and you will not become sick by doing so. Do you understand now? Yet you can see that it is not the case for some religions. In some religions, how do they pray to God, and how do they become close to God? They crane their neck, extended long and straight, straining to cry out to God: “Oh, Lord Jesus, Amen! Oh, Lord Jesus, we thank You!” And they keep shouting, straining their neck as they shout, raising their volume as loud as it is possible, opening their mouth as wide as possible, shouting with all their might. Is this a good way to be close to God? This frivolous shouting is useless. When being quiet before God, there is no need to shout. God will know even without any sounds. Is that not the case? God is almighty, God can examine the heart of men. Even if you do not shout, He knows all that is in your heart, He can see through your nature and disposition. Therefore, there is no need to shout. You simply need to be quiet before God, to keep in touch with God through your heart. Once you think this way, tears would fall from your eyes, and you shall be moved. Look, how wonderful is this result, how joyous it is! This is the right path.

If one has believed in God for many years, yet he is unable to quiet his heart before God, yet he is unable to live before God, then he is not someone who has truly communed with God. Does such a man know God? He does not know God. Some people have believed in God for decades, yet they have not once told God the truths in their heart, they have never truly reflected on themselves before God, they have never earnestly pondered God’s words and grasped God’s will. While they may believe in God, are they pious? Are they someone who lives before God? Some might ask: “Some people have a particularly strong confidence in their belief in God. They are vigorous, always going out, prophesying in the name of the Lord Jesus, casting out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus, and performing many miracles in the name of the Lord Jesus. Tell me, if the Holy Spirit had not been working on them, could they have gained any results from performing all this work in the name of the Lord? They have gained results. Therefore, are such people quiet before God and living before God? Does God approve of such people?” Can you see through the essence of this matter? In each stage of His work, God’s Spirit performs different work on several different types of people: On those who truly love the truth, God enlightens and illuminates them to guide their entering into life, their entering into truth; on those who only expend for God and abandon for God but do not seek truth, the Holy Spirit will only use them to work on spreading the gospel, just like Paul; on those who do not seek truth and only confusedly believe in God, the Holy Spirit will at times look after them, protect them, discipline them, or punish them, such that they might return to the right track, or He might arrange some people or things to discipline and punish them, to make them realize that they are rebelling against God and forsaking the pursuit of truth. These are all work performed by the Holy Spirit on God’s chosen people, the different work that is performed on different people. Are these not facts that I spoke of? These are facts. The Holy Spirit also guides the service-doers, utilizing them to perform some work to witness for God, as well as gain certain results. However, are these the people who are approved by God? No, they are not. Why does God not approve them? Why does God use them to perform services, and while they have performed such services, yet God does not approve them? What is the matter? Learn about such matters, for they are practical problems, and things that you must know to understand God’s work. The Holy Spirit used Paul, and Paul gained some results spreading the gospel, and he gained a lot of people. If the Holy Spirit had never worked on him, could he have gained so many people? The Holy Spirit performed the work. Since the Holy Spirit performed the work, why did He not approve him, why was he still punished? How does one get to know the righteous disposition of God? Do you know how? Is this not a practical issue? God’s righteousness lies herein: Since you are not someone who follows God’s will, since you do not accept the truth as your life, very well, God shall use you to do service, and leave you by the wayside after you are done. However, you have also benefited from many of God’s graces, and God has treated you well. What has this shown us? What is God’s basis for arranging the destination of men? Is it based on whether men possess the truth? It is based on whether men possess the truth. Therefore, it does not matter whether men are used by the Holy Spirit to do service, for this is not a factor. For some, when you tell them: “God has abandoned you, God has eliminated you. You are an antichrist,” they then reflect: I am an antichrist? God has eliminated me? How come I feel that the Holy Spirit has performed work on me for certain things? How come I have gained some results spreading the gospel? It seems that the Holy Spirit has not left me, and He is still performing work from time to time. If the Holy Spirit is still performing work from time to time, then have I truly been eliminated? They then continue to ponder this matter. You must look at what work the Holy Spirit is performing on you. If the Holy Spirit is only using you to perform services and to fulfill your duties, and the Holy Spirit is not performing work for you to enter into life and to practice the truth, then the Holy Spirit is only doing some work on you in regards to performing services. Does this mean that you are being saved and perfected? No, this does not mean that you are being saved and perfected. During the Age of Law, there was a judge called Samson with immense strength. Yet how did he fail in the end? He was seduced by a woman, and he fell in love with that woman. That woman did not believe in God, yet he loved her, and even told that woman about the secret of why he had this immense strength. In the end, God was no longer with him. He felt that God’s Spirit had left him. After God’s Spirit had left, he prayed one last time to God, saying: “O God, please give me strength, only this one last time. I shall pull down this pillar and bring down this roof and all upon it upon those that are under it.” Thus, God listened to this final prayer of his, and performed the work. Why did the Holy Spirit perform work for this prayer? He was used to perform a service, and then that was it, was it not the case? Hence, there is this passage in the Bible, words spoken by the Lord Jesus during the Age of Grace: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). To these people, why did the Lord Jesus say: “I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity,” why did the Lord say these words? These people have never truly communed with the Lord, they have never accepted the words of the Lord, they have never experienced the words of the Lord, they have never been people who obey the will of God. Therefore, even when the Holy Spirit was performing some work on them, yet they were merely used as service-doers, and we should understand this will of God. After you have understood this will of God, then you will know what these words meant.

The Holy Spirit sometimes performs work on some pastors and elders from the religious community, yet that is God using them to preach the Bible and to witness for God. The Holy Spirit is most certainly not performing work on them in terms of entering into life, the Holy Spirit is merely using them to bear witness for God’s work, without performing the work that guides them to enter into life and to receive salvation and transformation of their disposition. The Lord Jesus said: “I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.” This “I never knew you,” what does it mean? Does God not know them? God examines men’s heart; how could He not know who they are? God knows only too well. This “I never knew” shows that they have never truly communed with God, they have never told God of the truths in their heart, they have never truly communed in spirit, and the Lord does not acknowledge them. This is what it means. Now that I put it this way, do you understand? Just like a person befriending someone else, yet he has never told this other person what he truly thought, he has never opened his heart to this other person, he has never disclosed any of his secrets, and he has never told this other person anything important. While these two people have known each other in this way for years, yet after so many years, this other person still has no substantial knowledge of him. He said: “I know nothing substantial about you. I know you, but I only know your name and what you look like. After knowing you for this many years, I have no substantial knowledge of you.” He ponders: “This person, I feel like I don’t know him. I really don’t know this person. Even though I am very familiar with this person, yet I feel more and more as if I don’t know him, and I am unable to see clearly who this person is.” This is what it means.

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Now, let us read the following words which God spoke: “Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit.” These words are very clear. What effect will quieting one’s heart before God have? It will affect one’s pursuit of truth, pursuit of a change in disposition and whether or not one bears fruit. These words are very clear! Entering into life means entering into the reality of truth and bearing its fruits, but regardless of which fruits one bears, what foundation is such success built on? It is built on peace in one’s heart before God; only then can one’s pursuits bear fruit. This is the truth, is it not? God’s words are truth; this is also truth. Here today, we have communicated many of God’s words, but there is one concept on which these words are focused: “Peace in your heart before God.” This is the most important point. It relates to the progress of one’s spiritual life, as well as the progression of one’s life. “Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit.” So, on what foundation are pursuit of truth and pursuit of a change in disposition built? On the foundation of peace in one’s heart before God. What do people make of this? There are many who like to ask “why?” On reading God’s words, they ask, “why?” This “why” is extremely important. How so? I will explain in simple terms. It is because pursuit of truth and pursuit of a change in disposition are reliant on the work of the Holy Spirit to bear fruits. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, man’s pursuits, man’s endeavors are in vain; they are empty, they are not practical. Is this not how it is? Can pursuit of truth and understanding of truth bear fruit without enlightenment from the Holy Spirit? There are many religious pastors and scholars who have written books to explain the Bible, but regardless of how thick their books may be, if they are not enlightened by the Holy Spirit, then their writings are merely the thoughts of man, the notions and imaginings of man, the understanding of man. Is this, then, the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit? It is not. In the Bible, there are writings by Paul and by the other apostles. Look at their words and look to see which of them represent the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. Look and see which are merely the will of man, the intentions of man. Such words only reveal oneself and bear witness to oneself. Now, will you be able to tell the difference? If you really cannot, you are truly small in stature, you cannot even tell which words represent the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment; you cannot tell whether such words adhere to the will of God. This shows you do not know truth. No wonder you regard Paul as a God and regard his words as those of God’s.

“Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit.” Here, without the work of the Holy Spirit, you won’t bear the fruit. However, how do you come to enjoy the work of the Holy Spirit? By quieting your heart before God. When confronted by an issue, if your heart is at peace before God, then the Holy Spirit will enlighten you, shine His light on you, and lead you. When people believed in the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace, what issues led them to quiet their hearts before God? Family strife, crisis, sickness of the flesh, perils and adversity. At these times, they truly quieted their hearts before God. When they were quiet before God, God enlightened, protected, worked on them and arranged proper circumstances for them. Did their lives progress? Did they progress with regard to truth? Did they truly understand God? They did not. But why? They had the Holy Spirit working upon them, so why did their lives not progress? Because when they prayed with a quiet heart before God, they were not pursuing truth. They were merely praying to Him for protection and peace during their time of hardship and suffering. This was the objective of their being quiet before Him; it was not pursuit of truth; it was not pursuit of a change in disposition. Is this not the way it was? And so the Lord Jesus said: “What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them” (Mark 11:24). What is it that you receive? The graces people receive are different. When encountering difficulties with entering into life, when reaching a crossroads on their path to entering into life, those who pursue truth pray to God and look to Him in search of truth, and God leads them along the path of life experience, along the path to being perfected by Him. So what is it that those who pursue truth, pursue a change in disposition pray for, seek and ask for when they quiet their hearts before God? Is it different to what those who merely “eat of the loaves” pray for in times of suffering or trouble? It is different. Are they walking the same path? They are not! Just like in the Age of Grace, although Paul was an apostle spreading the gospel, it was Peter who was the true apostle of God, was the apostle who built the church. Were the paths these two walked the same? They were not. If the paths which people walk are different, then in the end the rewards they reap will also be different. If the rewards they reap are different, their destination, their end will also be different. This clearly shows God’s righteousness, does it not? Look at how some people bear witness to the Lord Jesus. “Oh, the Lord Jesus is the true God! Whatever suffering, adversity or trouble befalls me I pray to Him and He helps me to solve it. He gives me peace and happiness.” This kind of person prays to God, but what path is he walking? Peace and comfort of the flesh, this is his path. What does he expect of the Lord Jesus? To rescue him from adversity, from suffering, from disaster, this is the only reason he believes in the Lord Jesus. As for Peter, what did his belief in the Lord lead him to ask for? He pursued a love of God, pursued understanding of the truth and knowledge of God. So, Peter, in the end, bore the fruits of a true love for God. What he achieved was a testimony of obedience unto death. People walk different paths and in the end their rewards are different, so the end which God decides for them is also different. From this can we not see God’s righteousness? We can see His righteous disposition! No one can buy God off when it comes to one’s destination. God works in absolute accordance with the reality of truth, with principles. We saw that, in the Age of Law, he who worked most in accordance with God’s will was David. But David committed a sin. Did God punish him? He punished him accordingly. After being punished was David sincere in repenting? Is there evidence of his repenting in the Bible? There is true evidence. Then, did God regard David as a sinner? No. David committed an act of adultery; he took another’s wife by force. With this idea in mind, when people speak of David’s deeds: “adulterer,” “taking another’s wife by force and killing her husband”; they define him as this kind of person. Is this fair? It is not. Why is it not fair? You should tell the reason, for we are seeking the truth. Is it acceptable not to ask why? It is because David repented. There was testimony to his own repentance, which convinced others. So, in our hearts we cannot harbor notions about David, should not judge him. To do so would be our problem. This is how it is, is it not? Then, I shall ask you again, was David an adulterer? Some would say yes. This is wrong. David was not an adulterer. Some say, “That’s wrong, he committed adultery, why are you saying he was not an adulterer?” He committed a transgression, but he was not that type of person. Understand? If someone commits the transgression once, then you label them an adulterer, is that correct? Is this just? Is this how God views people? God does not view people in such a way. God does not define a person’s essential nature based purely on occasional transgression. Rather, He looks at whether or not that person has the reality of truth, He looks at what kind of person they are in essence, and what their actions reveal over all. This adheres to the reality, does it not? If a person fits for God’s use but on occasion they tell lies, can we label this person a liar? You’d all agree we cannot. Why? Because while this is a transgression, it doesn’t represent the whole essence of a person’s nature. Understand? If a good person kills one who is evil, does it mean he is, in essence, a murderer? Many would say no. Why? He is not, in essence, a killer, he is charitable, he is good. He killed that evil person in self-defense, a slip of the hand with dire consequences, it was not intentional. So, this man is still a good man, he is not, in essence, a killer; he is good. However, is the law righteous? Is the law just in its judging of people? The law is just a set of rules; it isn’t concerned with whether you are good or bad. Rather, if you break the rules, the law regards you as having committed a crime, it incarcerates you for many years. So, the law’s lack of truth lies here; it is merely a set of regulations. According to the law, if you break these regulations, you are condemned. So, the law’s convictions do not reflect God’s righteousness; it is unfair, is it not? As such, many good people have perished in the name of the law; this is something we must understand. Is law the truth? Can the law reflect God’s justness and righteousness? It cannot. God’s house deals with people in a principled manner. If you commit a transgression, we will not simply condemn you. If the essence of your nature is that of an antichrist, if you are in essence evil, but you do not commit a crime, then you shall still be expelled from God’s house. The way which God’s house deals with people adheres to truth and principles, does it not? This accords with God’s will, does it not? Then, if I say that it is the truth that wields power in God’s house, can you accept it? You can. When the day comes, and Christ’s kingdom is realized on earth, you will see, “This is Christ’s kingdom! A society in which the truth wields power!” In God’s house, truth wields the power and no evil can stand in its way. You see that, regardless of which church, if there is an evil one within it then once God’s chosen people report them, the church leaders will verify the claims, and when the truth is revealed, and it is discovered the person is evil, then the evil person will be expelled from the church. This proves that in God’s house it is the truth that wields power.

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Now, we will read a passage of God’s words: “Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit. Because you come burdened before God, and you always feel that you are lacking too much, that there are many truths that you need to know, much reality that you need to experience, and that you should give every care to God’s will. These things are always on your mind, it is as if they are pressing down on you so hard that you can’t breathe, and thus you feel heavy of heart (but not in a negative state). Only people such as this are qualified to accept the enlightenment of God’s words and be touched by the Spirit of God. It is because of their burden, because they are heavy of heart, and, it can be said, because of the price they have paid and the torment they have suffered before God that they receive the enlightenment and illumination of God, for God does not give anyone special treatment, He is always fair in His treatment of people, but He is also not arbitrary in His provision to people, and does not give to them unconditionally. This is one side of His righteous disposition.” Those who seek truth are ready in this respect: They are qualified to gain enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. Understand? There are those who say, “How does one go about seeking truth and a change in one’s disposition? What is seeking truth and what is a change in one’s disposition? Is a change in disposition a change in personality?” Are there many who do not understand the meaning of a change in disposition? I will tell you in the most honest of words, a change in disposition is the change in essential nature of one who has been corrupted by Satan. It is a change in the satanic disposition which resides inside a person, which resists God, which resents truth. It is the internal change that takes place in such a person’s corrupt disposition that loves the flesh, loves comfort, loves pleasure, dislikes truth and dislikes God. This change represents the meaning of a change in disposition. A change in disposition is not a change in personality; personality is something ordained by God. A person’s personality cannot change; however, a person’s life disposition can, through judgment and chastisement from God, through trial and refinement, and with time and experience, change for the better. Is this clear? A change in one’s life disposition is not a change in personality. The two are not in the least bit connected. Remember, a person’s personality does not change, personality and a corrupt disposition have nothing to do with each other. Personalities can be outgoing or introverted; a person who understands truth will not experience a significant change in personality, they will simply have gotten a grasp on the principles for practicing the truth. Some people’s personality is outgoing, open minded, talkative, and this will not change. Some are quiet and reticent, and this may change a little, because those who know the truth are principled when they do things. They will speak when they need to communicate; yet, however such a person changes, they won’t suddenly become as one who has been talkative their whole life; they won’t change to such a degree. Those who are frank and straight talking will still be so after understanding the truth. After growing, maturing in life and gaining experience they will still be frank and straight talking. However, the nature of such frankness as it manifests later, after such a person understands the truth, will be different to that of the frankness he expressed before he knew the truth. The frankness of his elder self will diverge from that of his younger self. But what will be the discrepancy? He is older, more mature, his nature is more stable, but he still speaks frankly and directly; however, he does not do childish things, he does not speak childish words. Personality doesn’t change. Although as a person comes to understand the truth they speak and carry out tasks in a principled manner, and while as they age, understand the truth, and as they mature and become experienced their personality may, on the outside, seem to change a little, over all their fundamental personality does not change; it is just that they are more mature and experienced, that is all. A change in life disposition means that before one did not love truth, whereas now they do; this is one aspect of it. It also means before they did not love God, whereas now they do; this is the most important aspect of it. Before, one would always apply one’s own notion and imagination to things, living according to one’s corrupt disposition. Now, one can search for truth, can obey the truth, can obey God; this is a change in the essence of one’s disposition. Before, one only pursued their own future and fate, their own fame and position and pleasures of the flesh; now, this person pursues truth, pursues a life of meaning. Before, Satan’s philosophies filled their heart, they were controlled by Satan; but now? Now, their heart is filled with God’s word, the truth, it has filled their whole person, so their opinion of matters, their outlook on life and their values have changed. This is an expression of their disposition changing, it is the evidence, is that clear? So, what is a change in disposition? Can you explain it, now? No matter whether or not you can, when you know in your heart, you will gradually be able to express it in words.

A change in disposition means a person now loves truth and they are honest. This person will obey truth and their outlook on life and their values have changed; this is proof that their disposition has changed. It is according to these factors that we can measure such change. If a person’s disposition has changed there will be some expression of such change. Then, has this person been made perfect by God? A person who shows proof of, and expression of, a change in disposition is one who has been made perfect by God, that is correct; he is now qualified to be used by God. Now, what say you of my outlook on life and my values, have they changed? You all say they’ve changed. You can see that my way of looking at things is different to that of the average person, is it not? Whatever I speak with you, go to search God’s words and see if my opinions are in any way at odds with His teachings. If your way of looking at things has truly changed, if it truly adheres to God’s words, then you can preach, then you can witness God. Those whose disposition has truly changed can preach without preparation, they speak and the words come, they can speak at any time, for hours if they wish, anytime, anywhere. Such a person’s outlook on life and values have changed, he has the reality of the truth, he sees things correctly. So, how can we assess the words which such a person speaks and the sermons which he gives? If at the time you listen and such a person’s words are not consistent with your opinion, then later a day will come when you are reading a passage of God’s words and you realize, “Oh, I understand. I have finally found this passage of God’s words; the words which the brother from above spoke last time were in line with the words of God! When he speaks, he does so without preparation; he doesn’t need to re-analyze, re-study, re-read and speculate on God’s words or to summarize and write a sermon. He speaks whatever he thinks of and it is all in line with God’s words.” Without testimony of a change in disposition, without real change in disposition, can one simply open their mouth and preach in such a way? Can they give sermons in such a way? Is this how it is? So, right now, if we choose a person who has believed in God for ten years, or twenty years and ask them to give a sermon to us, if we put forward a topic, would such a person be able to speak on it? They would say, “No, I have not prepared preaching materials on this. I must first read the related passage and seek out the truth within. I must seek enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit and make note of it, then in accordance with what I learn I can speak of this issue. I need two or three days of preparation or else I cannot give a sermon.” Does this person have the reality of truth? They do not. Those who have the reality of truth can simply give common sermons or sermons on most issues, at the drop of a hat. Then, those who have the reality of truth have really changed in opinion, they have a true outlook on life and true values. Ask them any question and they will be able to sermonize on it; only such a person is one who has the reality of truth. If a person still needs to consult books, needs to summarize, speculate and search, if they need several days’ preparation before they can preach on an issue, the moment will pass. Can such a person, be it in any place or any church where they may come in contact with any type of person, solve problems immediately after they discover them? They cannot. Those who have the reality of truth can see your problem when they hear you speak. From what some do and communicate in the church, they can tell if such people are devoid of truth. So, if such a person speaks and solves problems, they can do so in the moment without preparation; this is having the reality of the truth. Is this not the way of things?

Do you know which type of person is used by God? Those who have truly entered the reality of the truth; those whose viewpoints have changed, who are principled in what they do. This kind of person is eligible to be used by the Holy Spirit. But you do not need to achieve the same level as me. For example, someone might ask, what is meant by peace before God? So, you speak and communicate with this person discussing your own experience and understanding of being quiet before God. You speak at length of their issue for five, maybe ten hours, and you solve this person’s problem. Some may question this, saying, “I cannot talk for five or ten hours, two or three hours is about right.” This could be enough, after all two or three hours is about the length of a regular get-together, is it not? So do you think those who really understand the truth and who have the reality of the truth have had a change in the way they see things? Has this kind of person’s life disposition truly changed? His expenditures for God are not restrained by any person or anything, nothing can obstruct his path in expending effort for God. His heart is sincere toward God, and nobody can stop him. This person is one who loves God, one who obeys God, one who acts in accordance with God’s will; this is one who will obtain God’s approval. Do you understand? If someone believes in God and seeks the truth, but when Satan comes to deceive, to meddle he backs away; if someone puts themselves out for God, but when their family falls upon hard times they back away, they stop putting themselves out for Him; if a person dedicates themselves to God, if they spread the gospel and witness God, but when confronted with matters such as finding a partner, or work related issues, they go out into the world and become consumed with the latest trends, will such a person be used by God? They will not. Why not? Because such a person can, on a whim, betray God. On a whim, they will quit their task and give up; they will not fulfil their duty. From this point of view, does this person seem like one whose life disposition has changed? His disposition has not changed. On a whim, he would betray God; his likelihood to betray Him is certain. Is this not a great problem? If such a person was allowed to witness God and God agreed to use them, after a few days they would betray Him; would this not bring shame to God? This would humiliate God, and so He does not do such a foolish thing. If a person cannot give their heart to God, if they cannot sincerely put themselves out for God, and do not obey Him absolutely even unto death, then God will not use them, lest they cause God to be humiliated and accused by Satan.

What does it mean to be made perfect by God? It means that one’s life disposition has truly changed. If a person is loyal to God and is not controlled by any person or thing, and at any time will truly expend themselves for God, this is one whose life disposition has changed and is therefore one who has been perfected by God. Even though this person may, occasionally, express corruption, this is not a true representation of their essential nature; it is only an occasional thing, is it not? Only when such conditions are met, when contributions to God are sincere, when one is loyal to Him even in death, when in one’s heart they love God, and in practice they fear Him and shun evil, can a person be considered one who has been perfected by God. It doesn’t matter whether this person preaches well or badly, it doesn’t matter if they are a gifted speaker or not, they are one who loves God, they are one whose disposition has changed, and this is a fact. Do you understand? Paul probably preached well, this is a possibility, but he wasn’t complete in the truth; he didn’t truly bear witness to God and understand Him. He may have been skilled at speaking, he may have had some knowledge, but is what he said true witness to God? It is not. Of what he said, there is little which is of truth and witness to the Lord Jesus; probably not even a third. Instead, more than half of what he said is merely revealing of his own self, witness to his own self. This is not good, is it?

In achieving a change in life disposition, the most important thing is peace before God. Peace before God takes many forms, but it means what comes from the heart, not what comes from the flesh: kneeling, prostrating or lying, it does not mean this. Sometimes, while kneeling in prayer one may find peace before God; sometimes, while lying on one’s bed, one may find peace before God; sometimes, when walking, when cooking, when working or when fulfilling one’s duty to Him, one may find peace before God. As soon as the chance arises, one’s heart can pray to God at any moment, can commune with Him, and then one can live before Him. One who finds peace before God may sometimes speak of external matters, of disasters in the outside world or other issues and see to what extent God’s words have come true, to see where the cause of such matters lies. Although this is regarded as speculation on external issues, of current affairs, he who is quiet before God does not diverge from His words, in his heart he still reveres God. So, it does not matter what such a person discusses or does, when he prays he will bear fruit. On the outside, it may seem he speaks of external issues, but at any time he can return to God as if it were as easy as walking home. There are some who leave God and cannot return; there are some who run a hundred paces and then, whoosh, they backtrack one step and they are where they should be; there are some who run two paces, but cannot backtrack even one step. What does this mean? If, within a person’s heart, God’s position is high and he reveres God, then even if he runs off a hundred paces, in actuality his heart has not moved from God even a single stride, don’t you agree? But, if a person does not revere God in his heart, even if he runs out just a single pace, he is locked outside, and he cannot return even if he wishes. This is the difference, is it not? Do you understand these words?

If one’s communion with God in spirit is lacking, can he understand a little of God’s will with regard to certain matters? He cannot figure out God’s will with regard to any matter, in fact he cannot figure out with certainty God’s will with regard to anything. Does such a person have any understanding of the truth? If a person communes with God and as such is able to understand His will and His meaning with regard to many things, and if he can use God’s words to prove it, can use God’s words to prove such matters, it shows that he understands much truth. Is this one who truly quiets his heart before God? Is he one who lives before God? People who can figure out God’s will with regard to many things can therefore understand the truth in many things. For example, with regard to traditional customs, why is it said that indulgence in them is wrong? “God despises such things because they take over a man’s heart!” If you seek out God’s words with regard to customs you will see, “Oh it is so, God truly did say this!” You understand thoroughly God’s will, so you understand the truth of such things. Another example is, why is it not good for one to become too close with others? “People are part of corrupt humanity; they do not have truth. Communicating with them is not unprincipled, but those who believe in God need to quiet their hearts before God and communicate with Him the most, for this is of benefit to them!” One can now understand the truth with regard to this question. So, why should we discern those antichrists and false leaders? “This is God’s will. If you cannot recognize those antichrists and false leaders, it is difficult to come before Him, and it is easy for those antichrists and false leaders to deceive, manipulate and control you. So it is that on the path to faith in God the easiest mistakes to make are those of worshiping man and following man; but these are the greatest taboos!” One’s faith should attain the level where “in one’s heart they do not worship any man and recognize only Christ to be the truth, the way, and the life, where they seek truth in God’s words and pray to God in all things, and only listen to the man used by the Holy Spirit in all works of the church.” If one abides by these principles, they will be gained by God, they will be perfected by God.

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Why is it that people grow so slowly upon entering the truth? The main reason is they are restrained by all sorts of people, matters and things, especially the constraints of antichrists and false leaders. This is why antichrists and false leaders are the biggest obstacles, the biggest stumbling blocks for God’s chosen people to enter into the reality of the truth and become perfected before God! That is why you see that there are some people who complain to God when some antichrist or false leader is expelled from God’s family, “God is not righteous! That man is not an antichrist. He simply did not seek the truth. He involuntarily committed evil. It is because every man has a corrupt disposition.” They do not weigh this person’s moral standing to determine whether he is a wicked person, or whether the things he did disturbed and interrupted God’s work. They do not mention these things. This kind of person’s emotions are so heavy, would you say this person can obtain God? Can they be obtained by God? We all know they can’t. For some believers in God, if you condemn the people they worship, they can betray and deny God. If you condemn religious pastors or elders, they will say, “This way is not correct. Religious pastors and elders are chosen by God.” Does this kind of person truly believe in God? Does God have a place in this person’s heart? In this person’s heart, religious pastors and elders are their lords, their gods. Otherwise, if people condemn religious pastors and elders, why would their eyes turn red? Why would they be filled with anger and disgust? This confirms that religious pastors and elders are their grandfathers, fathers, ancestors, the idols of their worship, their lords and their gods. That is why they embrace these religious pastors and elders and they do not let go. Can these religious pastors and elders save you? Can they take you to the heavenly kingdom much less enter themselves? Now, do you believe in man, or do you believe in God? Now that we’ve come to this point, we’ve touched upon an important question. When you quiet your heart in front of God, which God are you quiet in front of? Are you quiet before a vague God in the heavens? Or are you quiet before God incarnate? Some people say that they are quiet before God incarnate. This is correct, but some people do not believe. If you do not believe, then when disaster arrives, you can still pray, “Oh Lord Jesus, save me.” But God will not answer you. If you pray, “Oh Jehovah God, save me,” God will still not answer you. Once God’s chosen people pray to Almighty God, God will start doing things. Look, God’s name has changed. It is useless if you pray to His name in the past. Some religious people say, “I will not believe! The name of Jesus will never change!” It is God’s disposition that will never change. God’s name can change. In the Bible, it has been written that the name of God will change in the last days. God has a new name. The Isaiah’s prophecy has spoken about it. It is also in the Book of Revelation. These people cannot read between the lines when it comes to the Bible. They cannot see that God’s name changes in each age. Wouldn’t you say that their faith is confused?

When you quiet yourself before Almighty God and read Almighty God’s words, God will bless you. The Holy Spirit will enlighten and illuminate you. Presently, the Holy Spirit works in the name of Almighty God. Do you understand? The principles of the Holy Spirit’s work revolve around the work that God does in each age. The Holy Spirit works amongst the people who accept the work of God in each age. Those that are cast aside and eliminated cannot receive the Holy Spirit’s work. There is no way they can receive the Holy Spirit’s work. Take a look at the Age of Law. The Israelites, God’s chosen people believed in Jehovah God. How many thousands of years did they believe in the name of Jehovah God? Two thousand years. When the Lord Jesus came and did His redemptive work in the Age of Grace, those that believed in the Lord Jesus received God’s actual work. It was those that accepted the Lord Jesus that were brought before God. Only they could be saved by God’s redemptive work. That is why, once the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus started, if people prayed to the name of Jehovah God, God did not listen. That name had become ancient history. The Age of Law of the Old Testament was the first stage of work. The redemptive work during the Age of Grace was the second stage of work. The work of judgment during the last days is the third stage of work. God’s three stages of work are God’s management plan for saving the human race. In each stage, once God starts His work, His name changes, it is replaced and He has a new name. If you do not pray in God’s new name, then God will not acknowledge you. That is why, now, when you quiet your heart before God, you must pray in Almighty God’s name. If you pray to Almighty God, quiet yourself before Almighty God, and quiet yourself in God’s word, this is fine. What does it mean to quiet yourself in God’s word? It means to ponder God’s word. When you ponder God’s word and through your pondering, you find light and God’s intentions, then you have quieted yourself before God. Some people cannot quiet themselves before God. They say, “I quieted myself before God. I closed my eyes and did not think of anything. Isn’t this coming before God?” Is this the case? You did not think of anything. Did you think about God? You did not even think about God. It is like you just closed your eyes for a nap. This is not quieting yourself before God. To quiet yourself before God, you must honor God as great, you must have a heart that reveres God. It means coming before Almighty God, “I need to pray to God, I need to call out to God. I must seek the truth from God.” This is what it means to quiet yourself before God. Is closing your eyes for a nap and blanking out your mind quieting yourself before God? Externally it looks like it, but in actuality it’s not, is this correct?

If someone spends for God, does a lot of work, but has never quieted himself before God, what kind of problem is this? His perspective in terms of faith is wrong. What does he think believing in God entails? “I must do things for God. The more I do for God, the more I can gain God’s blessings, the more I can gain God’s praises. If I do not do enough for God, God will definitely not praise me. In the end, He will surely not save me. Therefore, the more I do, the greater the reward God will bestow upon me.” Is this kind of perspective correct? According to what basis does God decide man’s outcome? It is based on whether someone has obtained the truth or not. Is it based on whether someone has done a lot or a little? Is it based on how much someone has toiled? Is it based on how many years someone has believed in God? Is it based on how great someone’s seniority is? Is it based on how pitiful someone is? All of this is incorrect. It is based on whether someone has obtained the truth or not. God requires you to obtain the truth. It is the result that God wants to achieve in the end with His work. It is the result that God wants to achieve when He works on you. Isn’t this the case? So, how can you show that you have the truth? By frequently quieting yourself before God, understanding God’s intentions in many situations and understanding what God wants from man in many matters. What does it mean to have the reality of the truth? It is to understand the truth in many matters, to have a grasp of the principles, to achieve an understanding of God in many situations. It is to know how to bear witness in these situations, how to put it into practice, how to experience it and how to bear witness for God. This kind of person is someone who has obtained the truth. If someone does not quiet themselves before God, but externally, they run for God, work for God, spend for God, toil for God and even do not betray God if they have to go to jail, does this kind of person have the reality of the truth? It does not mean they have the reality of the truth. Why do I say this? The time that this person quiets themselves in front of God is very little or nonexistent. They only do things externally for God. That means all that this person does relies on man’s good intentions. All that this person does is based on a business deal that he has with God. All that this person does is done in order to obtain God’s rewards. All that this person does is done in exchange for God bestowing him with a crown or to obtain eternal life and enter the kingdom. He does this in exchange for these things. He has made a business transaction with God. All that he does is not based on the truth, it is not based on principles and it is not based on God’s word. This means all that this person does has no value. If a person frequently quiets himself before God, understands what God requires of man in many matters, understands God’s intentions, then he will naturally put the truth into practice in many situations. He will be able to obey God’s words, and in many matters, he will be able to stand firm and bear witness. He will be able to edify others and provide benefit for others. It is this kind of person that has the reality of the truth. It does not depend on how much man does but on how much of what he does obeys the truth, how much of it bears witness to God and how many things he does follow the truth and principles. If none of this is present, if not one matter is in accordance with the truth or principles, if the truth is not put into practice in even one situation and if not one matter can be considered as bearing witness to God, can what this person does confirm that this person has the truth? Not at all! All of what this person does has no value, it is the same as a pile of dung! Isn’t this the case? This is similar to the apostle Paul during the Age of Grace. Of all the things that he did, was there anything that truly bore witness to God? He did not suffer in order to bear witness to God nor was his suffering for God. His suffering was all for a crown and righteous rewards. His suffering did not indicate that he loved God. All the words that he said regarding his suffering, did not indicate that he understood God. It did not indicate that he obeyed or did God’s will. Since his heart did not love God, he did not treat the Lord Jesus as God. He only treated the Lord Jesus as Christ and as God’s Son. When he prayed, he still prayed to God the Father, or Jehovah God. Jesus Christ did not have a place in his heart. No matter where you look in Paul’s epistles, you will not find any evidence that Paul loved the Lord Jesus. No matter where you look, you will find that his suffering was not borne out of a love for the Lord Jesus. No matter where you look, you will not find evidence that he held the Lord Jesus up high or bore witness for the Lord Jesus. It was as if he was just atoning for his own sins. It was all to obtain rewards and a crown. It was like a business transaction between him and God. That is why, in the end, Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness …” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). He did not mention the Lord Jesus. He did not say, “I have finally completed what the Lord Jesus entrusted me with. I have finally fulfilled what the Lord Jesus has asked me to do. I have devoted my loyalty to Him. I can deeply feel the love of the Lord Jesus. The reason why my heart has endured so much suffering is that I love the Lord Jesus.” He did not say these things. His summary of a lifetime of witnessing was in these few sentences: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness….” “There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” This sentence means: “God, if You do not give me a crown, then You are not righteous. According to Your righteousness, You must give me a crown. What else can You say?” Didn’t he finish talking about his experience and then start asking God for a crown? He was pressuring God, fighting with God, reasoning with God and negotiating face to face with God for this crown. Isn’t this the meaning? Didn’t he have this impetus? Once Paul finished doing his work, he said these words. Do you think that Paul was a person who frequently quieted himself before God or a person that lived before God? If he was a person that frequently quieted himself before God or a person that lived before God, then his heart should honor the Lord as great. His heart’s reverence for God should get stronger and stronger! If he truly honored the Lord as great and had a heart that revered God, would he still dare to say these words? “I have finished my course.” What course have you finished? What course have you run? “I have fought a good fight.” What kind of fight have you fought? “I have kept the faith.” What faith have you kept? Do you have an understanding of the Lord Jesus? Do you truly obey the Lord Jesus? Do you love the Lord Jesus? He did not have one shred of reality with regard to these things. He did not mention them once. All he did was say, “From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day” (2 Timothy 4: 8). Look at these words that he said, he was actually asking God to give him credit! “God, do You have anything more to say about this? I have finished what You entrusted me with. You must give me my crown! If You do not give me my crown, then You are not a righteous Lord!” Everything that Paul did can basically be considered as a business transaction between him and God. Is this situation clear now? These few verses reveal the essence of everything that he did. Paul’s nature of resisting God has been completely exposed. Therefore, all the effort he made for God did not gain God’s praise or acceptance. What he said about a crown of righteousness has become just empty words! God sent him to hell and punished him, not letting him out. Paul did not enter the kingdom of heaven. Peter entered. Job entered. David entered. Some people who were allowed to go to heaven can see this. Paul is not in the kingdom of heaven. From this matter we can see that, in terms of faith in God, if you do not seek the truth, do not frequently quiet yourself before God and do not have a genuine connection with God, then you will be unable to obtain the truth and the life, unable to achieve a change in your disposition, unable to be obtained by God and unable to obtain God’s praise. Aren’t these the facts? If, after you have finished reading God’s words, you are unable to see through this matter, that confirms that you do not have the truth. “And quiet your heart before God,” is this phrase important? It’s extremely important!

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After some people finish reading God’s words, they are unable to let go of their conceptions and illusions and they say, “I think that this is not possible!” “I think that all religious people love God!” You think? Do you think that you are God? Do you think it is so just because you say it? Do you have this kind of power? You do not have this kind of power. If you have a heart that reveres God even just a little bit, you would not say what you think and you would not dare insist that your conceptions are correct. Therefore, those that always say, “I think that the situation should be like this,” or “I think that God is like this,” do they have an understanding of God? Do these kinds of people have a heart that reveres God? If you do not seek the truth all along in terms of your own thinking on certain matters and you stubbornly insist that your “thinking” is correct, then aren’t you a person that resists God? Some people think so. Do you understand? If you always say “I think” when it comes to any subject you encounter, well, it is best that you let go of your opinions. I urge you to let go of your opinions and seek the truth. Examine the words of God. Your “opinion” is not the truth! If it is the truth, then write down your “opinion” and let God’s chosen people take a look at it, let them listen and let them see if it is the truth or not. Do you have the guts to do this? Do you have this courage? If you do not, then do not say these things, you will only embarrass yourself! You still say “I think,” but do your opinions have any value? If you have the truth, then deliver a sermon and convince God’s chosen people. Let others verify if you have the truth or not. If you are not able to convince everyone by speaking in front of them, then you better not share your opinions. If you are able to persuade everyone, and they applaud, cheer and say, “This is the truth,” then this is fine. In this case, feel free to share your opinions. Believers in God who always think that their conceptions and illusions are absolutely correct, appropriate and are the truth, what kind of people are they? Aren’t they people who resist God? You say that your conceptions and illusions are the truth, but the unspoken implication is that God’s words and the truth that God expresses are not the truth. Isn’t this the meaning? Aren’t these kinds of people arrogant and conceited and self-right? As a believer in God, you have absolutely no understanding of your arrogance or your arrogant nature and you still think that your own conceptions and illusions are the truth. Does this kind of person have the least reality of the truth? This kind of person is the most superficial, he does not have any reality of the truth at all! You cannot even deny yourself. You even stubbornly insist that your own conceptions and illusions are correct, that they are always correct. Now, when you have finished reading God’s words and you find that God’s words do not concur with your conceptions and illusions, would you acknowledge that God’s words are the truth? If you still think that your own conceptions and illusions are the truth, then you definitely are unable to accept God’s words and it is even harder for you to obey Christ. Isn’t this the case? What is the main manifestation of those that obey God? What is the reality of obeying God? Shouldn’t you first obey the truth? You should obey all the truth that God expresses, you should deny your own conceptions and illusions in the face of the truth of God’s words, you should deny your own position, deny all that you are, deny your own perspectives, and in the end forsake yourself. This is what it means to truly obey God. Have you denied your perspectives that do not concur with the truth? Which things and which viewpoints do you think are correct? If your heart still feels that your own way of thinking and your own conceptions are correct, that they concur with the truth, then do you think that you believe in God? This is not believing in God. You believe in yourself! You are too arrogant and self-right! In the face of the truth, you cannot even let go of and deny your own conceptions and illusions. You do not want to obey God in the slightest! Of those that truly seek the truth and truly have a heart that reveres God, who still says “I think”? This saying has already been eliminated. This is the revealing of the satanic disposition. Can you see this matter clearly?

From here, God’s words are as follows, “In real life, most people have yet to attain this realm. At the very least, their heart has yet to completely turn to God, and thus there has still not been any great change in their life disposition, which is because they only live amid God’s graces, and have yet to gain the work of the Holy Spirit.” These words have been spoken clearly. People live amid God’s graces, they do not seek the truth and they are unable to quiet themselves before God. That is why they are unable to gain the work of the Holy Spirit. The inability to gain the work of the Holy Spirit leads to the result of someone believing in God for many years yet not having a big change in their life disposition. Do you understand? This end result is clear.

Let’s continue reading, “The criteria for God’s use of people are as follows.” There are some people who love the truth and seek the truth. Their greatest wish is to become those God uses, “When does God need to use me? When will He allow me to fulfill my duties or do the work of a worker or leader? This is the most meaningful thing! It is an honor for one of God’s creations to be used by Him! It is glorious and it is fortunate. This is the greatest fortune!” Some people are employed by the president. The president nominates them for an official position. Nonbelievers feel that this is a great honor. Those that believe in God feel that the real honor actually is to be used by God. Isn’t this correct? At present, there are some people, they are really good, they seek the truth and they have been elected by everybody to be workers or leaders. Once they start fulfilling some duties and doing some work, they say, “Oh, my spiritual stature is so small!” They can see clearly what the problem is, but they do not know how to resolve it. When their eyes see someone revealing their corruption, they do not know how to communicate the truth so that the person can accept it. When they see that there is not much improvement with the work of the church, their hearts become anxious, heavy and in pain. They feel their spiritual stature is too small and they cannot take it on. Are there people like this? There are. Now, why is this? It is because they have not obtained the truth. What is the main reason why they have not obtained the truth? They have not quieted themselves before God enough. They have quieted themselves before God too little, they have not obtained the truth, they do not know how to seek God’s will and they have not received the Holy Spirit’s work. This leads to the situation where someone can believe for many years yet they still do not have the reality of the truth. They have believed in God for many years yet they still have not entered into the reality of the truth. It is all because the time they spend quieting themselves before God is too little. Therefore, the time when they receive the Holy Spirit’s work is also too little. They have received very little of the Holy Spirit’s work, so there is no way that they can understand the truth and, moreover, they cannot fulfill their duties with principles. If they do not genuinely understand the truth, they will never be able to act on principle. Am I right? If they only understand letters and doctrines, and they can only talk about them, then they can only do things according to the rules. They definitely do not have principles. Isn’t this the case? They clearly see that there are some difficulties in the church but they cannot resolve these difficulties themselves. Their hearts have strength but they do not have the truth. They see others that understand the truth encounter the same situation. These people say a few words and everyone accepts it wholeheartedly. The difficulty is resolved. They say, “You say a few words and it is resolved. Now, is it okay if I say some more words on top of that? Would I be able to resolve it?” They still feel that it is not okay. “If I talk for an entire day, can I resolve it?” Everyone else would feel frustrated if they spoke for an entire day. They would feel humiliated. They say, “When we compare spiritual statures, how is it that there is such a big difference? When I compare myself to others, how is it that there is such a big difference? How is it that the few words you say are effective? Why is it that when I say so much, it is not effective?” Where is the source of this? The time they spend quieting themselves before God is too little. Therefore, the result is that they understand too little of the truth. When they start working, they are unable to resolve practical problems. When some people see my external appearance, they say, “You are not that tall, your figure is not particularly outstanding and you don’t look very special. How is it that you have results in whatever you do? I am bigger than you, yet, why is it that when I do things, I do not have the results that you have? Why is this the case?” They do not concede. They say, “Could it be that once people see you, then they will obey? They can just comply? Why do they not listen to me when they see me? Why are they not convinced regardless of what I say? Aren’t the things we say the same? I am better looking than you and I am taller than you. Why do they not listen to me?” What kind of problem is this? The crucial point lies in whether you have the reality of the truth. What is the main factor when it comes to obtaining the reality of the truth? Isn’t it frequently quieting yourself in front of God?

Let’s continue communicating God’s words, “The criteria for God’s use of people are as follows: Their heart turns to God, they are burdened by the words of God, their heart yearns, and they have the resolve to seek the truth. Only people such as this can gain the work of the Holy Spirit and be often enlightened and illuminated.” Remember this! All of God’s words are the truth. They are extremely important! If you can do all this, then you can be used by God. God’s words are, “The people God uses appear from the outside to be irrational and seem to be without proper relationship with others, though they speak with propriety, don’t speak carelessly and can always keep a quiet heart before God. Such a person is sufficient to be used by the Holy Spirit.” What is the meaning of these words? For example, you say, “I have seen the man used by the Holy Spirit. He seemed to ignore me, he did not pay much attention to me. I am so energetic and good looking, yet he did not take a closer look at me. He just nodded his head a little and passed by. Isn’t it like he is irrational?” If I do not specifically pay attention to you, does this mean I am irrational? Someone said, “When nonbelieving presidents and politicians see me, they shake my hand and even give me a hug. You do not even shake my hand. It’s like you are irrational.” The following words have been fulfilled in this way, “The people God uses appear from the outside to be irrational and seem to be without proper relationship with others, though they speak with propriety.” How do I appear when I speak? Once I see you, I nod my head a little and that is it. If others respect me a lot, then what should I do? They say, “When I see you, you need to shake my hand and give me a hug.” These external formalities are not needed. When I see someone, I just nod my head and that is it. Concise and simple. After I nod my head, people will say, “It seems like you are not very intimate with other people.” What does that matter? As long as they are in my heart, that is enough. If you need to seek the truth and resolve some problems, feel free to speak up. I promise I will satisfy you. Other people cannot satisfy you. I will talk to you about this aspect and guarantee that I can satisfy you and give you an exact response. What do you think? Though externally, I seem to be irrational, I can do this. Doesn’t this mean I have humanity? Doesn’t my heart have love? Sometimes, this mutual love is not shown through external formalities to our brothers and sisters but through help in our spiritual lives. If you have a problem and you need me to fellowship the truth with you, I will communicate a solution to you. See how I frequently communicate with you. What do you think about this communication? Have we spoken the words of our heart? Have you obtained solutions for your difficulty? Is your heart satisfied? Hasn’t it all been resolved? If it has all been resolved, do we still need to shake hands and hug? These are only formalities, they are useless. No matter who I encounter, I do the same thing. I nod my head. If they say, “Hello,” I will also say “Hello!” And that is the end of that. It seems that I am irrational and do not greet others with external formalities. Actually, if I have you in my heart, then it is enough. I do not need to show it. Externally, I am not very warm. When people interact with each other, the most crucial point does not lie in the aspects of what they say to each other, the shaking of hands or hugging. The key thing is that when they talk about important matters, people get the solutions to their needs and difficulties. This is the greatest benefit, am I right? God says it clearly in this passage, right? “… they speak with propriety, don’t speak carelessly.” Do you understand this? Look at how I speak to you when we meet. I am precise in my words. I open up my heart when we talk. There isn’t anything else. I do not carelessly talk. What I say is very crucial and valuable!

God said, “… and can always keep a quiet heart before God. Such a person is sufficient to be used by the Holy Spirit. This irrational person God speaks of looks like they don’t have proper relationships with others, and they don’t have outward love or superficial practices, but when they are communicating spiritual things they can open their heart and selflessly provide others with the illumination and enlightenment they have acquired from their actual experience before God.” “Selflessly provide others,” do I ask money from you? Do I ask for a remuneration? Do I ask for a reward? I ask for nothing! I selflessly supply people. “This is how they express their love for God and satisfy God’s will. When others are all slandering and ridiculing them, they are able to not be dictated by outside people, occurrences, or things, and can still be quiet before God.” Look at how many people in the religious world judge me, sneer at me and slander me. Am I restrained by them? I continue to fulfill my duties the way I normally do. The work that God entrusts me to do, I still do it regardless. I am not restrained by these people and things. “Such a person seemingly has their own insights. Regardless of others, their heart never leaves God. When others are chatting cheerfully and humorously, their heart still remains before God, contemplating God’s word or praying in silence to the God in their heart, seeking God’s intentions. They never make the maintenance of their proper relationships with other people the main focus. Such a person has seemingly no philosophy of life. On the outside, this person is lively, adorable, innocent, but also possesses a sense of calmness. This is the likeness of a person God uses.” Do you understand? Are you clear about what kind of person that God uses? Do I maintain proper relationships with other people? I will not talk for the sake of these things. Instead, I will talk for the sake of bearing witness for God, communicating the truth and helping God’s chosen people obtain provisions. I do not care whether or not I have a place in other people’s hearts. This is not important and it is useless. It has no relation to what God has entrusted me with. I will not talk for the sake of this matter. Instead, I will communicate the truth. Whatever issues I find that God’s chosen people have, I will center on those issues, communicate the truth and give them a solution. Whatever issues I find that new believers have, I will communicate those truths and give them a solution. God’s chosen people want me to talk about entering into life, then I talk about it, starting from building a proper relationship with God. “The criteria for God’s use of people are as follows: Their heart turns to God, they are burdened by the words of God.” “Their heart turns to God.” One of God’s criteria for using people involves turning your heart to God or giving your heart to God. What does giving your heart to God mean? It means that it is not enough to devote yourselves to God, the most important thing is that you give your heart to God. What is the key point of giving your heart to God? Basically, no matter what situation you come across, you must not act arbitrarily or rashly or follow your own intentions. You must let God reign! If what you think is untenable or if you insist on doing things in your own way, then you have not given your heart to God. You must allow God to reign in all matters, this is extremely important.

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The most important thing when it comes to quieting yourself before God is to seek the truth in all matters. Seek the truth when you eat, seek the truth when you fulfill your duties and hold fast to principles, seek the truth when you deal with different people, seek the truth when you deal with religious pastors and elders. You should also seek out God’s intentions when you distinguish antichrists. Why is it necessary to distinguish antichrists? What things have these antichrists done? Why are they the enemies of God? Why do they vie over God’s chosen people? Why do they always want to control God’s chosen people in the palm of their hands? Why do they not let people seek the true way and return to God? What kind of sin is this? Is it okay if we don’t unmask them? Should new believers seek God in these matters? Should they seek the truth? Presently, some new believers, when they hear me expose antichrists, they have some notions. What kind of problem is this? When the Lord Jesus came, why did He expose the Pharisees? He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:13-33). “Woe to you, Pharisees,” how many times did He say this? He said it eight times, right? The Lord Jesus said eight verses exposing the Pharisees, He said they would have misfortune. He also said, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). Why did the Lord Jesus say these things? From these matters, can you understand God’s will? It is because these Pharisees and Sadducees deceived God’s chosen people. They controlled God’s chosen people and blocked them from returning to God, returning to God incarnate. The Pharisees and Sadducees fought over God’s chosen people with the Lord Jesus, with Christ. God incarnate came to save people, to summon God’s chosen people to gather before Him. Is it okay if He had not exposed the Pharisees and Sadducees? Some people cannot see through this matter, “Why do you always expose the antichrists? What is the point? Isn’t this condemning people?” Aren’t the people who say these things confused? What are the things that antichrists do? How do they resist God? The main thing is that they control God’s chosen people! God needs to recapture God’s chosen people from the hands of Satan, which is the same as from the hands of the antichrists. Therefore, God must expose the antichrists. He must reveal them! He must curse them! He must say, “Woe to the antichrists! Woe to the Pharisees!” He must say it 100 times, 1,000 times even. Only then will God’s chosen people wake up! Only then can they detach themselves from Satan’s claws. Only then can they break away from the control and bondage of the antichrists. Only then can they truly return before God. Isn’t this the case?

Do you know what an antichrist is? Whenever I bring up the topic of antichrists, I always need to talk a little more about it. What does it say in the Second Book of John? “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 John 1:7). All those who do not acknowledge that God came in the flesh are antichrists. All those who only acknowledge God in name but do not acknowledge the truth that God expresses are also antichrists. All those that oppose God incarnate are also antichrists. Do you understand when I say this? When you are examining someone to determine whether they are an antichrist, you should first ask, “Do you acknowledge that God came in the flesh?” If they say, “I do not acknowledge!” then this is an antichrist. It has been confirmed. “Well, do you acknowledge that all the things God said is the truth?” “I do not acknowledge this!” This is also an antichrist! “Now, the Almighty God you are facing now is Christ, He is God incarnate. He has finished some new work. Do you acknowledge and accept all of this?” “I do not acknowledge. I condemn Him, it is false!” This is an antichrist. This is how you differentiate an antichrist. If a religious pastor does not acknowledge God incarnate, then that religious pastor is an antichrist. If a religious elder does not acknowledge the truth, then that religious elder is an antichrist. If this person condemns Almighty God’s work in the last days, then, it does not matter how much you worship him, how good his character and external behavior is or how devout he is, this person is also an antichrist. Are you clear about what an antichrist is? Now, do we have a basis on condemning antichrists? We do. Are those that specifically resist and condemn the people used by the Holy Spirit antichrists? During the Age of Law, weren’t those that opposed Moses and called Moses into question resisting God? Everyone said they were. Now, we can distinguish them!

If people cannot see the truth that the religious world is controlled by antichrists, will they be able to escape from the religious world? From the process of spreading the gospel, we discovered that when we bore witness to God and spread the gospel to someone, what did this person say after he finished hearing? “That is correct. This is the truth. It is God that has come, but I must go back and ask my pastor. I must ask my religious elders. Only then will I be able to confirm whether or not I should believe.” What kind of problem is this? If the truth that those pastors and religious elders are resisting God is not exposed, this person would ask these people before determining whether or not to accept the work of God in the last days. Now, how can this problem be resolved? “I must ask my pastor and elders. I want them to see if this is the true way and whether or not these are God’s words.” A similar situation happened before. When the Lord Jesus was preaching, weren’t there many people who also asked the Pharisees in this way? They asked the chief priests and scribes, “Would you say that what Jesus says is true or not? Is it in accordance with the truth? Is Jesus God’s Son?” If they asked the Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees in this way, would they still be able to return to the Lord Jesus? They would not. Now, when the Lord Jesus exposed the Pharisees, was this correct? It was correct for the Lord to expose the Pharisees. Now, when I expose pastors and elders in the religious world today, the majority of them are antichrists, am I right? This is the real reason why I expose antichrists. Do you understand? I do this in order to lead people back to God. It is because antichrists are the biggest obstacle blocking God’s chosen people from returning to God! They are the biggest stumbling block! It is not okay if I do not expose them like this! These are the facts that countless numbers of God’s chosen people can see clearly in the process of spreading the gospel and bearing witness for God. These are facts, and it absolutely won’t do if I do not expose them in this way! Tell me, why did the Lord Jesus hate the Pharisees? How did the Pharisees offend Him? Why did the Lord Jesus say, “Woe to the Pharisees,” why did He repeatedly say “Woe to the Pharisees?” It is because the Pharisees controlled God’s chosen people in the religious world. They prevented God’s chosen people from returning to the Lord. That is why in Judaism, during the process of resisting the Lord, and even afterward, in the end, there were not a lot of people that returned to the Lord Jesus. Isn’t this true? People can see very clearly that Judaism cruelly murdered the Lord’s disciples and apostles! Now, if the Lord Jesus had not exposed the truth that Judaism was controlled by antichrists and evil demons, then would God’s chosen people have been able to escape from the religious world? Why is it that some people are so close with religious pastors? Why are their relationships so intimate? They do not want me to expose these antichrists. They do not want to listen to this kind of sermon. What kind of problem is this? Could it be that what I say is false? Could it be that what I say is not in accordance with real facts? I advise new believers to pray and seek God out in regards to these matters. Feel out God’s will. Is this okay? You all say it’s okay. If you believe in God, you must recognize God’s voice. You must receive the truth that God expresses. This matter is extremely important. If you believe in God for many years and you cannot recognize God’s voice, you do not acknowledge the truth that God expresses and instead, you regard religious knowledge and theological theories as the truth, would this kind of person be able to obtain God’s approval? Absolutely not. This kind of person will never be able to obtain God’s approval. Why is this? This person has a muddled faith, he will not be able to obtain the truth! You must be able to see through these matters. To see through these matters, you must frequently quiet yourself before God, seek the truth in these matters, pray to God and seek the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination. Do this until the day you can understand the truth in these matters. When you can, on the basis of God’s words, speak about your understanding and analysis of factual truth in this aspect, then you will have achieved results with your practice of being quiet in front of God. Each time you quiet yourself before God, you must seek the truth and you must seek God. You must seek the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination to resolve your own practical problems and difficulties. If you can achieve some results and obtain some enlightenment from the Holy Spirit each time you quiet yourself before God, then you are a person that can be quiet before God. If you frequently quiet yourself before God, in the end you will understand a lot of the truth and you will have achieved an understanding of God. At that point, you have been perfected by God.

What do you need to do in order to be perfected by God? You must frequently quiet yourself before God. How many ways can you quiet yourself before God? Is quieting yourself before God just kneeling and praying? Are there a few ways to do this? Anytime and anywhere, in any environment, as long as it is allowed in that environment, your heart can be quieted before God, you can seek the truth and you can pray to God. In regards to anytime and anywhere, there is no set environment, and you are not limited to early morning. You are also not confined to kneeling and praying. You can stand and do it. You can do it when you are doing whatever activity you are involved in and you can do it in any environment. You can do it in a jail cell, while you’re in washing room, in the kitchen, at your work place, or the places where you fulfill your duties, when you’re waiting for a bus, when you’re in a bus, when you’re on a plane. In all these situations, you can practice quieting your heart before God. If you can quiet your heart before God in all sorts of different environments, then you have firmly grasped and perfected the skill of quieting your heart before God. Someone said, they quiet their heart before God right before they sleep. Once their heart starts thinking about God, reflecting upon their performance and their revealing during the day, once they start pondering important matters, they are able to receive the light and they can feel out God’s will. Look, if someone can achieve results every time they quiet themselves before God, then that person is guaranteed to grow fast in terms of seeking the truth, right? If you practice like this in any environment, during the times when you need to, then your heart will be able to regularly quiet itself before God. This kind of person will unconsciously be living in front of God. If you spend much time quieting yourself before God, then you will be able to live before God. Living before God relies on being able to frequently quiet yourself before God. If you do not quiet yourself before God enough, then it confirms that you do not live before God. Accurately speaking, the more a person quiets themselves before God, the more they live before God. Do you understand? The people who do not seek the truth one bit, they do not have a real connection with God. They are busy with doing this and doing that. They are pointlessly and persistently busy all day to the point where, in the end, their heart is not quiet before God. Moreover, they do not have a real communion with God through prayer. In this way, they will find it very difficult to understand the truth and enter into reality. Why do I say that they will find it very hard to enter into the reality of the truth? They do not have the Holy Spirit’s work. The most basic condition that you must meet in order to receive the Holy Spirit’s work is quieting your heart before God. Next, you must love the truth, you must strive for the truth and you must put the truth into practice. One condition is that you must quiet yourself before God, the other condition is that you must love the truth and strive for the truth. These are the two conditions that must be met before you can receive the Holy Spirit’s work. Some people will only quiet their hearts before God and say what is in their hearts during prayer. However, as time goes by, they do not strive for the truth. What is the result in the end? It’s still frustrating, isn’t it? If you are quiet before God and you receive the work of the Holy Spirit, no matter what problem you encounter, you can solve it. No matter what truth you encounter, you will understand and no matter what result, you will be able to achieve it. In the end, you will be perfected, you will have obtained the truth and you can bear witness for God. The day that you understand all the truth, you have an understanding of God, your perspective on looking at things will completely change. Your perspective on life and values will change. This is a person who truly obeys God. This is a person who truly loves God. Isn’t this someone who has been perfected by God? Their life disposition has changed and they have been perfected by God. When it comes to being perfected by God, the most important point is that your life disposition has changed. Once that happens, then you can say that you have been perfected by God. If you only understand one or two aspects of the truth, this does not mean you have been perfected by God. Why not? You are still able to betray God; you are not able to complete God’s entrustment. God cannot entrust you to do any work. Once you obtain life, your life disposition changes, then God can entrust you to do work for Him, understood?

Our gathering today will conclude here, see you later!

Eastern Lightning, the Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.