How to Pursue the Truth (14)

Recently, we fellowshipped on a topic, which is distinguishing different categories of people based on their origins. This is a special topic that arises under the broader topic of people’s innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions. We fellowshipped on some content concerning this special topic—what was included? (God categorized people into three types according to their origin: those reincarnated from animals, those reincarnated from devils, and those reincarnated from humans. The first time, God fellowshipped about the four characteristics of those reincarnated from animals: The first is that they have distorted comprehension; the second is that they are particularly numb; the third is that they are particularly muddleheaded; and the fourth characteristic is that they are foolish. The second time, God fellowshipped about the characteristics of those reincarnated from devils: The first is that they lie habitually; the second is that they are deviant; and the third is that they are evil. The main focus of the fellowship was on the two manifestations of their lying habitually and being deviant.) The main manifestation of lying habitually is deception. As for the manifestations of being deviant, we also categorized them—how many manifestations were there? (There were three. The first relates to disposition; namely, being sinister and abnormal. The second involves wicked lust of the flesh. And another is being bizarre; that is, often experiencing auditory and other sensory hallucinations, and always exhibiting abnormal behaviors.) This is generally what was included.

Last time we fellowshipped on some manifestations of the deviant aspect of people reincarnated from devils. I read about the manifestations of one person in the expulsion documents compiled by the church—everyone have a listen and see whether their manifestations relate to what we fellowshipped on. This individual was responsible for growing vegetables on a farm. His main manifestations were described as: “His humanity is malicious, and his attitude toward the Above is irreverent,” with several specific manifestations listed. The first manifestation was: “He casually chose a place to grow vegetables for the Above. Later on, it was discovered that this place had low terrain and was prone to waterlogging. The fertilizer applied there was washed away by the water, resulting in the vegetables growing very small. He knew fertilizer should be applied again but just did not do it. He saw that the vegetables were not growing well but did not do anything—he deliberately gave the Above poorly grown vegetables to eat.” This was the first manifestation. The second manifestation was: “Normally, he only tended to the vegetables grown for the brothers and sisters and then left. As for the vegetables grown for the Above, he did not tend to them or manage them—he did not concern himself with the matter or do anything about it.” The third manifestation was: “He knew that lots of pests had infested the vegetables, biting them into a pockmarked mess that looked disgusting and made them inedible, but he just casually sprayed some pesticide without caring whether it was effective. When others reminded him to pick the pests off the vegetables, he was completely indifferent, thinking, ‘What’s there to get all worked up about? I have so many jobs to do—I can’t be hovering around these vegetables every day!’” You see, this is what he thought in his heart—even when others reminded him, he still would not act. The fourth manifestation was: “What he thought in his heart about growing vegetables for the Above was: ‘However the vegetables I grow turn out, that’s just what you’ll have to eat. If they turn out good, you’ll have good vegetables to eat. If I didn’t grow any good ones, then don’t eat them. Anyway, I’ve grown them for you—you have to be grateful to me!’” These were the malicious thoughts in his heart, and he told these thoughts to those he lived with. “When others reminded him not to use the basket for rotten vegetable leaves when delivering vegetables to the Above, he said, ‘I can’t make any guarantees about that.’” You see, others reminded him, and he still didn’t listen. He just did whatever he wanted. This was the fourth manifestation. The fifth manifestation was: “He treated the vegetables grown for the Above like this without any awareness in his heart, without the slightest remorse. Whenever anyone reminded him, telling him to be more mindful, he became resistant and averse. Whoever gave him suggestions—he hated that person.” The leaders and workers summarized five manifestations in total. They summarized this individual’s usual manifestations, as well as his attitude toward the truth and his attitude toward duty, and they also listed specific examples. The summary was quite good. How do you feel after hearing this? Does someone who has these manifestations have good humanity? (No.) How bad was it? Did this person’s manifestations align with those of people reincarnated from devils about which we fellowshipped? (Yes.) Which manifestation did they align with? (Such people’s manifestation of being evil.) In addition to being evil, did he have any manifestations of being deviant which are characteristic of people reincarnated from devils? (Yes.) How was this evident? (Ordinary people, when growing vegetables for the Above, would make it a priority to choose good land, but he chose to curry favor with the brothers and sisters—he only took care of the vegetables grown for the brothers and sisters. For the vegetables grown for the Above, he chose poor land, did not tend to them or deal with pests, and always gave the Above poorly grown vegetables to eat. His attitude toward the Above, toward God, was one of enmity.) Why was his attitude toward the Above one of enmity? Had the Above offended him? (No. His attitude was determined by his nature essence—he hated God and hated positive things.) I truly never knew this individual—I had never had any dealings with him at all. Then how could he harbor such deep hatred in his heart? This is a problem with his nature. For one thing, it was evil; for another, it was deviant, was it not? Isn’t it the same as that of the great red dragon? (Yes.) In how he treated God and positive things, there was a kind of hatred in his heart. If you asked him what was going on, he himself wouldn’t be able to explain it clearly—he just felt hatred. He particularly hated God and the truth, he particularly hated positive things. Isn’t this being deviant? (Yes.) This kind of person is a devil. If you asked him, “Who is it that you believe in?” he would certainly say he believes in God. He believes in God, and yet he hates God—this reveals the mindset of a devil. This is being deviant. Why do I say that? First, I didn’t know this person at all, and I had never pruned him, yet he harbored such deep hatred toward Me—this is being deviant. Second, it was the brothers and sisters who arranged for him to grow these vegetables. If he wasn’t willing to do it, he could have raised the issue, but instead he took out his anger on the vegetable plot. After planting, he didn’t tend to it properly and gave the Above poorly grown vegetables to eat. Third, he was quite willing when it came to growing vegetables for the brothers and sisters and took quite good care of them, but when it came to growing vegetables for the Above, he was unwilling in his heart. He was particularly hateful, and it’s not clear why—no one had offended him, yet he treated the Above and treated God this way. Isn’t this being deviant? (Yes.) This deviant driving force is so great! For one thing, it is evil; for another, it is deviant—this is the nature of a devil. No matter how tolerantly and patiently God’s house treats devils with love, no matter how God’s house gives them chances to attain salvation, they don’t understand these things at all. In their hearts they simply hate God and God’s house. This is entirely because the nature of a devil is precisely to hate God and to hate positive things. No one can clearly say what the reason for this is—devils simply harbor groundless hatred toward God and positive things. This is what’s known as being deviant. What was he thinking about every day? “However the vegetables I grow turn out, that’s just what you’ll have to eat. If they turn out good, you’ll have good vegetables to eat. If I didn’t grow any good ones, then don’t eat them. Anyway, I’ve grown them for you—you have to be grateful to me!” Were the things in his heart not deviant? What he was thinking was all wicked, sinister, and abnormal. People with conscience and reason feel that his thoughts are inconceivable—they cannot wrap their heads around why he would think this way. This is precisely how devils act. What he thought about and contemplated in his heart was all dark and wicked things. Can someone like this—who is a devil—accept the truth? (No.) He did not even possess the basic human morals, or conscience and reason. When God was mentioned, he became irate and felt hatred. When others asked him to do some other task, he was not as resistant; it was only when it came to growing vegetables for the Above that he was particularly resistant. This is being evil, this is being deviant. You might ask him why he’s so resistant—this is a matter of the heart, and he might not be able to say clearly just where the root lies. Are you able to see clearly where the root of this problem lies? Why did he treat God this way? Most people would find this utterly baffling: “How could someone who believes in God treat God like this? Is he not a nonbeliever?” Now, through the fellowship on the truth, are you able to see a bit more clearly the essence and origin of different types of people? (Yes.) You ought to be able to see a bit more clearly now—these are precisely the kind of people who have been reincarnated from devils, and their nature is to hate God.

Tell Me, can people reincarnated from devils change? (They cannot.) They are just like the great red dragon. They too can say the right words, say words that align with conscience and morality—but they absolutely cannot carry out the things they say. They can say many pleasant-sounding words, but when it comes time for them to do real things, they cannot do a single one. Why can’t they do them? Because inside, they’re devils. They would feel uncomfortable and distressed inside if they did positive things, and things that conform to the standard of human conscience. Only when doing evil, doing what devils do, thinking what devils think, do they feel comfortable and joyful inside. This is the true face of this kind of person. If you chat idly with them, talk about matters of fleshly life, or even discuss current events and politics, they are able to sit still. But once the content of the fellowship touches on positive things, the truth, God, God’s identity, God’s essence, God’s work, God’s intentions for man, or God’s requirements for man, they become averse and resistant in their hearts—they do not want to listen to it. They start scratching their ears and cheeks, as if sitting on pins and needles. Their hearts start crawling with agitation and unease like there are weeds growing wild inside them. They feel that staying even one second longer is like being tormented, and some of them will even stand up and walk out on the spot. Even if some people, for the sake of appearances, sit there very politely and do not leave, their minds are already wandering far off—their thoughts have long since flown beyond the clouds, and they simply are not listening to what you’re saying. Why do they have these manifestations? Because in their hearts, they are repulsed by God and positive things. They are not interested in the truth; they cannot take it in and are unwilling to accept it. As soon as there is fellowship on the truth during a gathering, they think of all sorts of excuses to leave, saying, “I have to go take care of something,” or, “I have to return a phone call.” They just want to seize any excuse to run away. Such people simply are deviant. If someone acknowledges that they are a person who believes in and follows God, then they should not have these manifestations. But when it comes to matters involving positive things or involving God, people reincarnated from devils have these manifestations—this is beyond their own control and is a matter of their nature essence. It is determined by their origin, and no one can change this fact. When you fellowship on the truth, on positive things, on God’s intentions, on God’s words, it feels to them like you’re judging them, like it’s going to end their lives. This is the true inner state of how they treat God, the truth, and positive things. Of course, this is also one kind of manifestation of such people’s wicked essence. Because they are repulsed by and detest positive things, the truth, and God, what they think about and contemplate in their inner worlds every day has absolutely nothing to do with positive things, the truth, or God’s work. Everything they think about in their hearts is related to what is deviant. What they think about is how to show themselves off so that they can have status and prestige among people, how to act so as to mislead people, gain status, and make more people approve of and look up to them, how to act so as to win people’s hearts and gain their approval, and how to earn recognition and promotions from God’s house or from leaders at every level. Everything they think about and everything they do carries the nature of vying, fighting, plundering, deceiving, scheming, plotting, inciting, beguiling, controlling, and misleading, doesn’t it? (Yes.) They spare no cost in doing these things—they are willing to suffer any hardship. During the entire process of their suffering, they are hatching plans and scheming about what evil to do, whom to calculate against, and what goals to achieve. In everything they do, there is strategy, there are pretexts. Outwardly, they do not publicly say things that go against the truth, nor do they publicly do things that disrupt or disturb the church’s work, and they even more so do not publicly judge, attack, or blaspheme God. They do not do these obvious evil deeds. But in their inner worlds, they never think about anything related to the truth or to positive things, and even never consider anything related to human conscience and reason, or morality. So what is it that they do consider? Their minds are entirely trapped in designs, ruses, calculation, conspiring, and plotting. So even if, on the outside, you do not see them publicly resisting God, or hear them speak words of complaint against God, suspicion toward God, judgment of God, or even blasphemy against God, in their hearts they are nonetheless filled with an attitude of contempt, scorn, and irreverence toward God’s words, God’s work, and anything related to God’s work. No matter what God says, what God’s requirements for people are, what God’s intentions are, or what the principles are behind the various kinds of work God does, they never pay attention to or accept them—within these people, there is simply no container to receive these positive things. Although you do not see them publicly resist or condemn these positive things, from the perspective of the depths of their hearts, they are repulsed by them and detest them. When they listen to sermons, they are not pondering how to accept the truth and practice the truth, but rather how to summarize the fresh light and phrasings they hear and turn them into their own words to fellowship and share with others, for the purpose of making people look up to and idolize them. They think to themselves, “If I then preach these words to those who have just joined the church, I’ll be able to gain even more people’s admiration and idolization, and I’ll have even higher status among people. This status will be based on how much doctrine I understand and grasp, and how comprehensively I grasp it.” Even if they sit there listening to sermons—even listening very attentively and diligently, and putting in a great deal of effort—their attitude is not positive and their motive is not pure. They do not listen with an attitude of accepting the truth, but contemplate it like they’re studying theology, comparing what’s said in sermons to the Bible. They do not accept God’s words and compare themselves against them, seeking to understand their own various problems, and to find from them a path of resolution and principles for practice, so that they can come to know themselves, develop genuine remorse, cast off their corrupt dispositions, act and behave in a way that conforms to the truth principles, and satisfy God’s intentions—that is absolutely not their goal. What is their goal? It is to equip themselves with more doctrines so they can parade and show themselves off and make people look up to and idolize them. That is the first aim. Their second aim is to find the simplest path to gaining blessings. After listening to sermons and confirming that this is the true way, they begin pondering how much hope they have of gaining blessings, how much hope they have of attaining salvation. Then they determine to make use of the method of enduring hardship and paying a price to fraudulently obtain the trust of God’s chosen people and God’s house, and to make God see the hardships they endure and the price they pay. They think that they can gain great blessings and a wonderful destination by believing in God in this way. You see, their attitude toward sermons and toward every aspect of the truth is not to simply accept it and then practice and experience it—rather, they have ulterior plans and schemes. They are always hoping to make use of certain phrasings or classic quotes from sermons and fellowship to equip their own minds and rhetorical arsenals, so as to mislead the brothers and sisters, making everyone idolize them, allowing themselves to gain standing among people and be able to enjoy the high esteem of others. Aren’t these thoughts, intents, and attitudes they have when listening to sermons enough to show that such people are very deviant? (Yes.) Can anyone correct this deviant driving force in them? If you were to say to them, “Thinking this way is not accepting the truth—it’s not the attitude one who pursues the truth ought to have. If you think this way, the truth will have no effect on you; it will not enable you to attain salvation. You should accept the truth, find the principles for practice within it, and practice and experience God’s words in real life, so that God’s words become your truth reality and ultimately become your life”—would they be able to achieve that? (They would not.) Why not? Is it because they haven’t put in enough effort, or because our fellowship on the truth hasn’t taken their feelings into account or hasn’t included a suitable provision of the truth directed toward their state? (Neither is the case.) Then what is the reason? (It is determined by their essence of hating the truth.) Therefore, it must be said that these people’s manifestations are inseparable from their essence—they are intimately connected. No one can correct the thoughts in their hearts, and no one can change the wicked nature essence of these people who are devils. They hate the truth and reject the truth, so the truth is unable to change them. Then can it be said that this kind of person is beyond help? (Yes.) The answer is definitely yes. Why? Because their nature essence is that of devils. Everything they reveal is entirely governed by the nature of devils—it is absolutely not a temporary revelation of corruption, nor is it a revelation of the wicked corrupt dispositions of corrupt humankind. It’s because they are devils, not created human beings—this is the root of the problem.

This kind of person has some additional manifestations when listening to sermons—every time God’s house fellowships on the truth and it involves exposing and dissecting the evil deeds and manifestations of certain people, they say things like: “Aren’t you talking about that incident that happened before? I know the whole story. I know exactly what your goal is in bringing this up. Aren’t you just trying to use fellowshipping and dissecting this matter to establish your own authority and make people listen to you? Isn’t it just that you want to teach a lesson to some people, and suppress some people? Isn’t this just launching a campaign? Only a fool would believe what you say! Only a fool would listen to you and practice according to the truth principles!” You see, even when they hear some examples, statements, or specific manifestations of people, that relate to some aspect of the truth, what they understand is completely different from what others understand. They cannot comprehend these things correctly or treat them correctly, and they can even twist the facts and judge and condemn positive things. What they think about in their hearts is always so dark, yet they feel they are particularly clever and know the real story. Isn’t this deviant? It’s just like the great red dragon—the great red dragon says that when The Church of Almighty God clears people out or expels people, it is done as a display of power for others to see, but it never says that when God’s house, the church, clears people out, it is purifying the church. This is because they are nonbelieving devils who cannot comprehend the truth; they always twist, judge, and condemn positive things, and they absolutely will not treat positive things with a correct mindset. They would rather believe that they evolved from apes, that they are the descendants of dragons, than admit that humans were created by God. Just recently, I even heard some scientific researchers say that a giant rat species from hundreds of millions of years ago was the ancestor of humankind—what a ridiculous and bizarre theory! If you try to get them to admit that humans were created by God, to believe that humans were created by God, no matter how you say it, they refuse to admit it. Even with this fact laid out right before their eyes, they still do not believe. They just believe that humans evolved from apes, or that they are the offspring of rats, or that they are the descendants of dragons. They would rather believe these kinds of devilish words than believe that humans were created by God—that human life and breath were given by God. They do not believe it, do not admit it, and are unwilling to accept this fact. Isn’t this deviant? (Yes.) If you say they are the descendants of dragons, they are delighted. If you say they evolved from apes and are descendants of apes, or that a giant rat is their ancestor, they say, “Yes, what an honor!” But if you say that humans were created by God, they turn hostile—their eyes flare with anger, and they become full of hatred toward you. This is so deviant!

Those reincarnated from devils are most unwilling to hear words of fellowship on the truth. Especially when such words are about knowing oneself, dissecting the states of various kinds of people, how to enter into truth realities, or the principles of practicing the truth, they feel extreme repulsion in their hearts, and at the same time, they spread distorted understandings and opinions. For example, when the church clears out some evildoers, this kind of person incites others, saying things like, “God’s house has no love for people. It’s as if they’re slaughtering the ox once the field is plowed,” or, “These people were cleared out because they offended the upper leaders.” They are unable to treat the work of cleansing the church within God’s house correctly, nor do they have a pure comprehension—they think and speak about it in a twisted way. You will not hear any words of conscience or reason from their mouth, nor any words that are positive things, much less anything that aligns with truth principles. Their heart is filled with complaints, defiance, and grievances. When they unrestrainedly express their viewpoints, the things they say and the thoughts and viewpoints they reveal are all deviant and twisted. You find it to be inconceivable—you think about how they’ve believed in God and listened to sermons for so many years, and how outwardly they seem quite well-behaved and not bad, and you wonder how they could say these unreasonable things at critical times. They have finally disclosed their true thoughts, things that they’ve hidden in their heart for a long time—doesn’t this really reveal their problem? (Yes.) The true thoughts that they’ve disclosed are utterly twisted arguments and heresies. So did they voice these twisted arguments and heresies because of a temporary bad mood? (No.) Absolutely not. Regardless of how many years they have believed in God and listened to sermons, these thoughts have always been hidden in their heart, never seeing the light of day. But when a crucial moment comes and they can no longer hold back what they want to say, it erupts like a volcano—it has been brewing too intensely inside them, and one day they can no longer contain it, and this deviant anger bursts forth. When their devilish nature erupts, all kinds of twisted arguments and heresies and fallacies come out—they speak words complaining about God, words blaspheming God, words insulting God, words of jealousy and hatred toward people, words of incitement—they pour forth all kinds of devilish words, and only then do you realize that they are a devil and have been fully revealed. Previously, you noticed that sermons have always gone over their head and that they have never understood the truth in all the years they’ve believed in God. You assumed that they had poor caliber and that the truth was beyond them, so you regarded them as a brother or sister and tried to help them. You confided in them and spoke of how your own corrupt dispositions had come to be cleansed. But no matter how you fellowshipped with them, they never opened their heart to speak about how they truly were. You were never able to understand: Why couldn’t they open their heart? Why did they not lay bare their real state? Could it be that they never revealed corrupt dispositions? You were never able to see through them, and you even thought they were well-behaved and simple and guileless. It’s only now when their devilish nature has erupted and they’ve said so many things complaining about and blaspheming God that you see they actually have no humanity and are entirely of a devilish nature. You feel, “This person is terrifying! They’ve believed in God all these years, but it turns out they’ve always hated and resisted the truth in their heart! No wonder they never opened up to anyone—they were afraid others would see through to their devilish nature! They’re a bona fide devil!” Once you see through to their essence, you feel you’ve been utterly blind all these years—doing your duty every day and living the church life with them, all the while thinking them a good person, a member of God’s house, one of God’s chosen people, and not having any discernment of them. That is a very frightening situation! If you live and interact with brothers and sisters, and you discover that someone has corrupt dispositions or violates the principles in their duty, and you fellowship the truth with them and help them, and they are able to accept it and express gratitude, then you will feel quite satisfied—you will feel that this person is very good, that they love the truth; you absolutely won’t feel repulsed by them. But if you associate with a devil for several years, and always treat them as a brother or sister, and often help them, support them, and show them love, patience, and tolerance, yet they regard you with great hostility, always guarding against you as though you were their enemy, and you increasingly realize that in their heart they do not accept the truth in the slightest, and that they are nothing but a devil—how would you feel? Regarding the person we just mentioned who was expelled—if you associated with this kind of person, and one day discovered that their humanity is so evil, that they not only hate God in their heart and do not accept the truth at all, but also hate those who help them out of love, making you certain that this kind of person is a bona fide devil, how would you feel? (I’d feel that I’d been truly foolish.) First, you’d feel that you’d been foolish, and you’d wonder how you’d expended so much pointless effort on such a person. What else? (I’d feel somewhat disgusted.) Disgusted at whom? Disgusted at them or at yourself? (Disgusted at them, but also at myself for not being able to discern them.) Then, would you still want to see them or associate with them in the future? (No.) Then what kind of relationship would you want to have with them? What kind of approach would you want to take in associating with them? (I’d never want to see them again—the farther away I could stay from them, the better.) Then what if, during the course of doing your duty, you sometimes still had to see them or discuss work with them, and you couldn’t avoid them—what would you do then? Have you summarized any principles and paths of practice for this? You feel disgusted by them and so you want to avoid them and not see them, but if you avoid seeing them in your duty, it will delay and impact the work—so what should you do? Do you have any good solutions? (No.) Then I’ll tell you two. The first one is, if this kind of person can remain in the church to render service, then when you don’t need to be in contact with them in your duty, you don’t have to. This is because you feel disgusted by them, being in contact with them feels awkward and painful, and because they can also tell that you’re disgusted by them, which they find upsetting. And so, you no longer need to bare your heart to them and tell them your innermost thoughts like before. Instead, just be tolerant and patient, and interact with them using wise methods—that is enough. This is one principle. Another is, when you must be in contact with them in your work, you have to clearly explain to them the work that they’re being assigned and the related truth principles. There is one point here you must pay attention to—you have to see whether they are capable of successfully completing the work that’s assigned to them. If they’re usually able to do some of this work, then fellowship with them and handle the matter in an impartial and objective manner. But if they’re always perfunctory and irresponsible in this work, then you cannot feel at ease handing the work over to them, and should choose someone else instead. If at this point, there’s no suitable candidate and you have no choice but to use them, then what should you do? You should arrange for someone to supervise them. As soon as they are found to not be doing real work or to be behaving in a way that brings about disturbances or disruptions, it must be reported promptly. If the person supervising them fails to do so effectively, then there is one more solution: The leaders and workers should personally supervise them and follow up on their work, and the frequency of these follow-ups should be somewhat higher. This is because such people are extremely unreliable; as soon as they’re not being closely watched, they’re liable to commit evil and disrupt and disturb the church’s work, and then the losses that come with using them would outweigh the gains. So, if you must interact with them for work, you cannot avoid it. You cannot distance yourself or ignore them just because you are able to discern them and see their true face—that would be a manifestation of irresponsibility. Since you are able to discern them, and since you know their nature essence is that of a devil, and know they can commit evil and cause disturbances, then you all the more have the responsibility to supervise and follow up with them, rather than ignoring them out of dread or disgust. As a leader or worker, your greatest responsibility is to guard the gates of God’s house, protect the work of God’s house, and look after the brothers and sisters. Now that a devil has revealed their true form and you’ve already seen through them and know just what sort of wretch they are, you should all the more supervise them well, so that they effectively render service to the greatest extent possible—that is what you should do. You must not, because you have seen through them, refuse to pay them mind or fail to clearly explain the work that should be explained to them, or refuse to fellowship with them even if they ask you about issues related to the work. Isn’t that taking out your anger on the work of God’s house? Isn’t that disregarding the work of God’s house and the life entry of the brothers and sisters? If you do this, you are in the wrong—this means you haven’t fulfilled your responsibility. In your personal life, you may have no dealings with them at all, and you may no longer associate with them as you did before. But if the work of God’s house requires you to interact with and associate with them, then you cannot shirk this responsibility—this is your duty and your responsibility, and you cannot make excuses to avoid it. When it comes to devils, the approach of merely keeping your distance, rejecting them, avoiding them, and feeling loathing and aversion toward them in your heart is not one that is in line with God’s intentions. You must also supervise and restrain them. If they are willing to render service, you should help them and make use of them to render service properly—enable them to effectively render service to the greatest extent possible. If they do not render service properly and, when left unwatched for even a moment, they can disturb and wreck the work of the church, then the harm they cause outweighs their usefulness, and they must be cleared out immediately. Such negative examples should be brought up for dissection whenever needed, so that the brothers and sisters may gain discernment, see through to the nature essence of devils and Satans, and then reject them from the heart, not be misled, disturbed, or controlled by them. This is what it means to make use of devils and Satans, to make use of all things to serve God’s chosen people. This is your responsibility—it is what you ought to do. But you don’t have this sense of responsibility. Just like you said earlier—once you have discernment about this kind of person, you feel disgusted and no longer want to see them, and if you do see them, you make a detour, staying as far away as you can. That’s all you have as a solution. You have no sense of burden at all for the work of God’s house, for the interests of God’s house, or for the life entry of the brothers and sisters. This is your stature—it’s been revealed, hasn’t it? You see through to the essence of a devil, and then avoid them whenever you see them. But you don’t protect the brothers and sisters, and as a result, they are harmed. You fail to fulfill your responsibility as a leader or worker—this is a dereliction of responsibility. When the devil has not yet been revealed, you should sound the alarm for the brothers and sisters, remind them to guard against evil people, tell them what the devil did, why they did such things, what the nature of their actions is, what effects these actions can cause and what consequences they can bring, how God characterizes this devil, and in what manner they should be treated. Once the brothers and sisters have gained discernment, and the devil has finished rendering service and has no value for the brothers and sisters or God’s house, then you should clear them out, ending the very life of this devil and Satan. This is called wisdom—this is doing work with principles and having a path for practice. How you associate with this kind of person in your personal life is up to you—that is your freedom. But as a leader or worker, there is a responsibility you must shoulder: You must protect the brothers and sisters, and safeguard the interests of God’s house and the work of the church. On the foundation of this principle, regarding this kind of person who is a devil, if they are currently rendering service, you should not rush to take action against them. You should supervise their work and closely observe their every move to see what they are doing. As soon as any signs appear that something is wrong, you must promptly practice exposing and pruning them, or remove them from their position. If after being exposed and pruned they are able to render a bit of service, that is beneficial to the church’s work. But once it’s discovered that they don’t wish to render service, are not taking a good path, and are about to disrupt and disturb, and extend their devilish claws to mislead the brothers and sisters, that is when the devil reveals their true form, and it is exactly the right time to take action against them. They were given the chance to render service but did not do so properly—send them away to a B group then. If the situation is serious, practice clearing them out or expelling them—this is also the moment to bring an end to Satan’s fate. As long as you adhere to these two principles, you will be able to treat evil people and devils in a principled way. Is doing it this way fulfilling your responsibility? (Yes.) In one regard, you will have discernment toward devils, you will no longer be misled or disturbed by them, and you will no longer do foolish things—at the very least, you will no longer fellowship the truth with people like this who are devils. In your heart, you will know: This fellow is a devil—to fellowship the truth with them is the same as casting pearls before swine; no matter how the truth is fellowshipped to them, it will be in vain. Thus, you won’t continue doing foolish things. You’ll just speak to them about some doctrines they ought to understand, and the regulations they ought to adhere to—that is sufficient. If you practice this way, the church’s work won’t be affected. If you don’t understand the principles, however, you will be capable of doing foolish things. In another regard, leaders and workers must properly supervise and make use of these service-doers and devils who do not accept the truth in the slightest. Practicing this way can ensure the church’s work is not harmed, while also protecting the brothers and sisters from being misled and disturbed by devils and Satans. Do you understand? (Yes.) You absolutely must not treat evil people and devils as brothers and sisters. As long as you have discernment toward devils and evil people, you will no longer do foolish things. In the past, people lacked discernment and did many stupid things—always treating evil people and devils as brothers and sisters, only ever letting the devils have a laugh at their expense. When you opened your heart to fellowship with devils, they thought, “You’re so honest, so pure and open—you’re truly stupid!” mocking you inside. Now that you have discernment toward devils, you won’t do this kind of foolish thing anymore. You now know that to open your heart in fellowship or to support and help someone, you must do so with true brothers and sisters, those who pursue the truth and have humanity—not devils. This is one aspect. Another is that you no longer feel timid or afraid of devils. You know they are devils, and you know what they’re thinking in their hearts. Now that you have discernment toward them, you know how to treat them appropriately. You must always keep a close eye on them—see what they’re trying to do, what they’re calculating and plotting in their hearts, in which parts of the work they might disrupt, disturb, and sabotage, what kind of words they might use to incite and mislead others, and what goals they’re trying to achieve. Once you clearly see all these things, you will know how to act appropriately, and you will be adhering to the truth principles.

Most of you, after we fellowshipped on discerning the deviant manifestations of people who have been reincarnated from devils, probably now have some clarity in your hearts and also a bit of discernment—such as which people, after all these years of interacting with them, seem like devils, with whom you won’t share your true feelings anymore; and which people are brothers and sisters, with whom you will associate more, draw closer to, and—when something comes up—fellowship more. In this way, your treatment of each kind of person will be principled, and you won’t make mistakes. But can most people reach the point of discerning devils, of seeing through the nature of devils? And if a devil is willing to render service, can they make use of the devil’s service? Most brothers and sisters are incapable of practicing this way—but leaders and workers must be able to. Why do I say they must be able to? Because you, as a leader or worker, must vet things well. Once you discover an evil person committing evil, you must be able to promptly expose and dissect them, and curb their disturbances and disruptions. If you can practice this way, you will be able to ensure the normal progression of the church’s work, and the brothers and sisters will be protected—they will grow in discernment, and their life entry will not suffer loss due to the disturbances of devils. If you are unable to practice this way—if you cannot curb the devils, cannot guard the gate—then the devils will constantly come to disturb. Today they disturb one person, making them negative and causing them to become listless in preaching the gospel; tomorrow they disturb another, leading to the result that they do not want to do their duty, delaying the work and forcing you to find a replacement. You’ll constantly have to handle some sudden, unexpected situations. Isn’t doing work like this very passive? (It is.) Then as a leader or worker, aren’t you far from being up to standard? If you were not serving as a leader or worker, you would be able to manage your own life entry, your own eating and drinking of God’s words, and your duty. But once you start serving as a leader or worker, you’re busy every day—bustling about frantically, rushed off your very feet. Either an antichrist or evil person appears and disturbs the church, or some brothers and sisters become negative and don’t want to do their duty, or a new believer is misled by rumors and doesn’t want to believe anymore and withdraws. The work is not being done adequately, causing problems to keep cropping up everywhere, and the constant occurrence of these problems leaves you overwhelmed and frazzled and unable to cope each day, unable to eat or sleep well—yet even still, the work isn’t done well. That is being utterly incompetent for the work. Such a leader or worker is thoroughly not up to standard. Why do I say you are not up to standard? Because you did not clearly fellowship in advance about these problems that were bound to crop up, enabling everyone to understand the truth and gain discernment, so that the problems could be resolved promptly when they emerged. In other words, you did not inoculate most people to equip them with the ability to withstand these things. Eventually, when these things happened one after another, you became very passive—always cleaning up a mess, always cleaning up the aftermath. This means that you are far from being up to standard as a leader or worker. In how you treat various kinds of devils, your methods for handling them are inappropriate, the work you do is inadequate, and so the work of the church is constantly disturbed, constantly plagued with problems. You are always having to remedy things and get them sorted, so you feel extremely busy, and doing this work becomes very strenuous.

Do you remember the two principles for treating people who have been reincarnated from devils? What is the main one? Do not be afraid of devils and Satans, and do not avoid them. Instead, learn to discern them and to see through to their essence, and grasp the inclination of their thoughts; that is to say, see clearly what they want to do in the church, and what goals they want to achieve. In this way, you can turn passivity into initiative, and actively go on the offensive to expose and deal with them. If, upon seeing devils and Satans speak and act, you only feel disgusted and don’t want to pay them any mind or work together with them and that’s all—even ignoring it when you see devils and Satans disturbing and disrupting the church’s work—does acting this way align with God’s intentions? (No.) After devils and Satans infiltrate the church, they will not live church life in a rule-abiding way, much less will they render service in a rule-abiding way. They will inevitably speak out and do things, even to the point of not letting up until their goals are achieved. Thus, in treating devils, you must be wise, and act according to truth principles. Those that should be exposed and rejected must be exposed and rejected. When a devil has not yet been revealed, if they are willing to render service, then make use of them to render service, and keep close watch of them while they’re doing so. For example, if you cannot quite see through a certain supervisor in charge of a particular item of work—you see that they are not as simple and open as the other brothers and sisters, that they never speak honestly with anyone, and that when encountering difficulties or problems in the work, they do not seek resolution—then you need to take the initiative to get to the bottom of their situation. You must not be passive, waiting until they have messed up the work and then trying to “lock the stable door after the horse has bolted.” You need to talk to them and see what their attitude is toward their duty, whether they have specific plans and arrangements for the work, whether they have principles for doing work, whether they can work according to the work arrangements, and whether they are capable of deceiving those above them and concealing things from those below them, and doing things their own way. Aren’t these things that you should pay attention to? (They are.) Suppose you discover that someone is a devil, and you thus no longer interact with them, even saying, “This devil is utterly terrifying—I feel disgusted just seeing them. I will no longer speak with them. I need to draw a clear line between me and them, and have the brothers and sisters also draw a clear line—everyone should ignore them.” Is it okay to act this way? This is a foolish way to act. It is neither clever nor wise, and it is not possessing stature. Do you think you are clever just because you don’t speak to them? Are you someone who is considerate of God’s intentions? Have you fulfilled your responsibility? Have you shouldered the burden of guarding the flock and watching the gate of God’s house? Shouldn’t you think about these things too? God’s requirement of people to have discernment toward devils absolutely does not mean that it is enough to just reject devils. You must also be able to supervise and restrict devils; if a devil has not yet been revealed and they want to render service, you must also be able to make use of them—these things, too, are the duty you should do, the responsibility you should fulfill, and it is entirely for the sake of safeguarding the church’s work. If you see that someone is extraordinarily inscrutable, that everything they say is watertight and no one can figure them out, then this person is very dangerous and not worthy of trust. Especially if you see someone who behaves in an especially sinister and abnormal, insidious, cunning way—who never speaks honestly with anyone, and whom most brothers and sisters who interact or associate with them cannot see through—then such a person cannot just be brushed aside and left alone. You must instead approach them, come into contact and talk with them, so as to grow in discernment and insight, see what they are thinking, see what is the source and motivation of their actions, what they are planning to do, whether they are able to shoulder work when doing their duty, whether they might disturb the church’s work and establish an independent kingdom, and whether their doing duty brings more harm than benefit, and ends up being a loss that outweighs the gain. Look—is being a leader or worker a simple matter? When such a person is discovered in the church, you not only must not distance yourself from them and avoid them, but instead actively approach them and come into contact with them. What is the purpose of doing this? It is to get to grips with their situation and adopt precautionary measures. For example, if you encounter a CCP agent or spy who is constantly looking for opportunities to pry into your personal information, and you sense in your heart that they are a spy, you should guard against them, and you absolutely must not tell them your real situation. You must also remember an even more important matter: You cannot let them know your phone number, email account, and so on. However, if you only guard against them probing into your own situation, but you completely ignore and let slide other things like whom else they are in contact with, whose information they are asking about, and what situation of the church they are asking about—even thinking you’re being pretty clever in doing this—then how is your handling of this matter? Have you shown any wisdom? Have you shown you have stature? Have you fulfilled your responsibility? Have you safeguarded the interests of God’s house and protected the brothers and sisters? If you do not consider these matters at all, then you are a selfish and despicable person, through and through. Let’s say you encounter someone who is a devil, and they ask you where you’re from and whether anyone in your family believes in God; you know they’re probing for information, so you casually say a few things to brush them off without disclosing your real situation, and then you turn the questions around and ask them, “Where are you from? Who in your family believes in God? How is the church life at the church in your hometown? Does the CCP arrest believers there? Have you ever been arrested?” The CCP agent or spy, upon hearing this, thinks to themselves, “I’ve always been the one asking the questions—no one’s ever turned around and questioned me. This person’s got brains!” Seeing that you keep asking them questions, they become worried that their identity will be exposed and thus change the subject. You must carefully observe this kind of person. If you ascertain that they are extremely suspicious, and there’s an eighty percent chance they are a CCP spy, then you must guard against them—you must not divulge even a bit of information about the brothers and sisters. If the brothers and sisters do not guard against them at all and tell this person everything they know without reserve, willing to talk about anything, then this easily endangers the church and the brothers and sisters. So you must keep a close eye on such a person—observe whom they constantly come into contact with, whom they constantly try to get information from, whether they are secretly checking the brothers’ and sisters’ phone numbers, or checking the accounts on their computers, or looking into internal information of God’s house behind people’s backs. You must keep a close watch on them—you must not let them succeed. You also need to tell the brothers and sisters to guard against this person—if they repeatedly probe for information, they should be avoided, and they must be warned not to harass people. Additionally, you also need to see what heresies and fallacies they are spreading to mislead the brothers and sisters—if you discover such issues, then you should handle and resolve them promptly. To practice in this way is to safeguard the church’s work and protect the brothers and sisters—this is the responsibility of leaders and workers, and it is also the responsibility of God’s chosen people. If you stand by and do nothing, allowing them to go around probing at will, it’s possible that some foolish people or newcomers with shallow foundations in belief will tell them everything. Afterward, the police in mainland China may immediately begin arresting their family members and relatives, bringing trouble upon certain churches and certain brothers and sisters. No matter what kind of trouble is brought about, in any case, if as a leader or worker you discover someone who is a devil but do not promptly take measures, do not properly carry out the precautionary work, and as a result some foolish and ignorant people divulge many things that should not be divulged and leak the information of the brothers and sisters, bringing trouble upon the church’s work and the brothers and sisters, then that is your dereliction of responsibility. Tell Me, how has your performance of duty in this case been? Did you do it well? (No.) Not doing your duty well—is this a matter in which you’ve failed God? (Yes.) This is failing God. If you yourselves are quite safe overseas but are outwitted by a CCP agent because of your own foolishness, this will bring dangerous consequences; it will bring disaster upon the churches and brothers and sisters in your hometown in the mainland. Are you willing to see such a consequence? (No.) If one has a bit of conscience and a bit of humanity, they should be unwilling to see this kind of thing happen; no matter where they themselves are currently located, they do not wish to see any brothers and sisters in the mainland suffer persecution. If someone says, “Well, I’m safe overseas now—who cares who gets arrested! What does it have to do with me if someone suffers? I don’t even care about my own family. I have no affection”—does such a person have humanity? (No.) They have no humanity—one must not think like that. If you claim you have conscience and humanity, then at the very least you must not bring trouble upon your relatives and the church in the mainland. So, when you’re facing devils, it is not enough to merely have discernment toward them—you must also think comprehensively. You must think of how to act in a way that ensures you do not expose yourself, while also ensuring that your parents and relatives and the brothers and sisters in the mainland are not harmed. You must fulfill your responsibility to safeguard the church’s work and guard the gate of God’s house. This is the responsibility that people ought to fulfill. If you have made your greatest effort, then even if something went wrong because there were things you were unable to do or because you did not see through some matter, you are not to blame—everything is in God’s hands. But from the perspective of people, you must be clear about the responsibility people ought to fulfill. You must not shirk it, and you can’t only think of yourself—you must also consider the brothers and sisters around you and the work of the church. Is this path of practice clear now? (Yes.) You see, if these matters were not fellowshipped on, you would have overlooked the most crucial and most important things, and still felt that you knew how to treat devils and Satans. In actuality, you do not understand the principles of practice—this is your real stature.

Whether or not you are able to perceive the attitude of devils toward the truth, positive things, and God, their essence is, in any case, hatred of the truth, hatred of positive things, and hatred of God. This is being deviant. Whether it is from the words they reveal or from the thoughts and viewpoints in their hearts, it is possible to see their attitude toward the truth, toward positive things, and toward God. Judging by this attitude, it can be said with certainty that devils absolutely do not accept the truth, absolutely do not accept positive things, and of course, absolutely do not worship God. Therefore, they do not accept any correct suggestions, statements, or exhortations from people. Then, as for the truth principles from God, God’s admonitions, God’s requirements, and God’s teachings for people, they even more so dismiss all of these and never accept them. Instead, in their hearts they are scheming over whatever they like, whatever benefits themselves. They scheme over their status, their reputation, their pride, and their destination; they scheme over whatever benefits they want to enjoy, to obtain, and to acquire in their real lives. This is their inner world, and it is enough to show that their nature essence is wicked. This deviant nature essence will never change. From beginning to end, everything they do, and all their thoughts and viewpoints, have no relation whatsoever to the truth reality, and have nothing to do with God’s teachings or the correct path of human life; they are all wicked negative things. No matter how you fellowship the truth to people with a wicked essence, no matter how you try to help them with love, you cannot move them, you cannot change their thoughts and viewpoints, and you cannot change their way of life in which all they think about every day is evil. Of course, you also cannot change the goals they pursue, nor the manner and direction in which they plot out every matter. These people who are devils remain the same from beginning to end. Their wicked essence will not change. Even if they have always done duty in God’s house, without forsaking God’s name or leaving the true way, because they do not accept the truth, and all that they think about and ponder is related to negative things and wicked things, their corrupt dispositions cannot possibly be cast off, and their humanity also cannot possibly undergo any change. Of course, one thing is certain: These people cannot possibly attain salvation. As for what their destination is, that goes without saying. What their destination is is not what we are fellowshipping on here. What we are focusing on is discerning and dissecting their nature essence.

The first manifestation of the deviant nature essence of people reincarnated from devils—“being sinister and abnormal”—has now been fully fellowshipped. What we mainly fellowshipped on was their various attitudes and manifestations in how they treat positive things, as well as the various thoughts and viewpoints they harbor and hold within their hearts. Whether it is their concrete revelations and manifestations, or the things hidden deep in their hearts that they dare not lay bare, all of it proves that they are not ordinary corrupt humans. They do not possess the conscience and reason of ordinary corrupt humans. It can also be said that these people do not possess the humanity of ordinary corrupt humans. To put it plainly, these people have no humanity. No matter how wicked their thoughts and viewpoints are, no matter how wicked and how incompatible with humanity their statements, actions, behaviors and demeanor are, they have no awareness of it whatsoever. They never characterize their own nature essence as wicked, contrary, or hostile to the truth. No matter how you fellowship with them, they still live within the realm of their corrupt dispositions. These people, when associating among themselves, get along especially well, and are especially like-minded in their foulness. But in their hearts, they are extremely repulsed by and loathe people who understand the truth and pursue the truth.

Last time, in discussing the deviant nature essence of people reincarnated from devils, we mentioned their “lecherousness” and “sexual provocativeness,” two kinds of manifestations of sexual desire of the flesh. In addition to these two, there is another aspect that is related to “lecherousness” and “sexual provocativeness,” a kind of outward behavior or living out of humanity, which is “licentiousness.” “Lecherousness” and “licentiousness” are usually paired together. Do you know what “licentiousness” means? (Behavior and conduct that are dissolute and unrestrained, and frivolously hitting on others.) “Licentiousness” means indulgence—it means being dissolute and unrestrained. These three aspects should be enough to dissect the wicked manifestations of this kind of person in regard to sexual desire of the flesh. Adults ought to be able to understand the manifestations of lecherousness, sexual provocativeness, and licentiousness. This is not abstract, because such matters and such people are commonly seen and heard about in daily life. So what are the main manifestations of such people? When it comes to relations between men and women, they are unrestrained, have no boundaries, and no sense of integrity or shame. They are especially indulgent when it comes to their sexual desire, do not rein it in, and have no restraint at all. At the same time, they feel no shame whatsoever about indulging their sexual desire. Regardless of how old they are, what gender they are, or what their marital status is, they are especially interested in the opposite sex and pay particular attention to them. Whenever they encounter a group of people, they pay attention to the members of the opposite sex they are interested in. This attention is not merely glancing at them more than usual, chatting with them, or associating with them normally—it is that they become trapped in sexual desire between men and women and enter into romantic relationships. When it comes to the person they like, regardless of how old that person is, and regardless of whether the other party consents or not, as long as they have taken a liking to this person, they will take the initiative to hit on them, even going so far as to carry out some unusual actions or behaviors to attract the other party’s attention. For example, from time to time they will make some good food for the other person; on holidays, they will give them gifts; whether there is a reason or not, they will send messages to the other person—asking in the morning, “Have you gotten up yet?” and at night, “Have you taken a shower?” A few days later they’ll say, “The weather’s been cold lately—make sure to dress in layers, and don’t get cold. If you need anything, you can ask me for help!” They often express concern, using it as an excuse to harass the other person. This kind of person never just hits on one or two individuals, or two or three—they hit on whomever they take a liking to. They fall for everyone they see; as soon as they find someone appealing or have a good feeling about them, they immediately develop lustful thoughts and attempt to seduce that person. No matter what group they’re in or what environment they’re in, they never forget this matter. Wherever they go, they always target three or five, or a dozen or so, opposite-sex friends or confidants that they fancy. If they can have physical contact, they consider this achieving the goal of entering a romantic relationship. And if it hasn’t reached the level of a romantic relationship yet, just hitting on others like this already makes them feel quite wonderful—their days feel sweet and satisfying. If the environment does not allow it and they are unable to hit on the opposite sex, they feel upset. If someone reminds them that such behavior is inappropriate, they bear a grudge in their hearts. If someone restricts them from hitting on people recklessly, they become resistant and opposed in their hearts, and even think, “This is my right—what makes you qualified to restrict me? What I’m doing is my freedom! I’m neither breaking the law nor committing a crime, so who are you to try to control me?” No matter the environment, this kind of person always feels the need to find some kind of amusement to occupy themselves—they always feel the need to find a few opposite-sex friends or sexual partners to pass the time, to fill up their lives and make them more pleasurable. Otherwise, they feel their lives are empty, boring, and lack interest. Some people, after being hit on relentlessly, cannot help but go online to watch pornography, living within the sexual desire of their flesh, dissolute and unrestrained, and so long as conditions permit, they are capable of doing anything. People reincarnated from devils, no matter the occasion or the environment, no matter how difficult their lives are, regardless of how big of a workload they have, and regardless of whether the environment permits it or not, always need to indulge sexual desire, and seek opportunities to make contact with and hit on the opposite sex, fully satisfying their sexual desire. If the sexual desire of their flesh cannot be satisfied, then even gratifying the desire of their minds will do. This is what is called being deviant—they’re so deviant. Some people are already advanced in age, with children who are married and have their own families, yet they are still extremely indulgent and unrestrained in their sexual desire, completely without a sense of integrity or shame. When they see a member of the opposite sex they like, they think of every which way to create opportunities to be alone with them—then hold hands, hug, or touch the other person, and make some flirtatious, playful remarks or say some provocative things. In doing so, they gradually end up causing disturbance to some of the opposite sex. This is being lecherous. To what extent is this kind of person lecherous? When they see someone of the opposite sex who is attractive or has a good figure, they begin to have lustful thoughts. Even just hearing someone of the opposite sex speak in a soft, magnetic, and relatively pleasant-sounding voice can stir up lustful thoughts in them. Once these lustful thoughts have been stirred up, it’s not just that they occasionally think about these things—rather, they think about them very often. They think about them while eating, while working, even while dreaming, their minds brimming with these lustful thoughts every day. Because they possess the wicked essence of lecherousness, they can indulge the sexual desire of their flesh without any restraint whatsoever. Even when they see someone from a good family that has wealth and status—a rich young lady or a wealthy wife, or a tall, rich, and handsome man, or a wealthy businessman—they begin to have lustful thoughts. Just look at how severely lecherous such people are! And there are even worse cases. In the church, there was a brother who sang well. He wasn’t any sort of “star-level” singer—he just had a somewhat nice-sounding voice. Apparently, some women, after hearing his singing, developed good feelings toward him and wanted to marry him. These women had never even seen what this brother looked like. They didn’t know how old he was, what kind of personality he had, what level of education he had, what his caliber was like, or how his belief in God was. They didn’t consider any of these things, yet still wanted to marry him, their lustful thoughts stirred just from hearing his voice. Tell Me, don’t such devils have a deviant nature? A normal person, upon hearing someone sing well, would at most feel a bit envious but would never consider marrying that person. If they truly wanted to marry someone, they would get to know that person’s character and family situation before making such a decision, such as how old they are, what they look like, what their character is like, how their family is—only if all aspects were satisfactory would they consider marrying them. But people who are devils are different—some women, after hearing a man sing well, want to go ahead and marry him; some men, upon seeing an attractive woman, want to go ahead and marry her. Aren’t such people frightening? They are both frightening and revolting! Whenever they see someone with status, knowledge, eloquence, or a particular strength, or if they see someone beautiful or handsome, they begin to have lustful thoughts. When they see such people, they always ogle them unblinkingly; their eyes are fixed, but their minds are very active and their sexual desire is surging—this is having lustful thoughts. Whenever there’s someone constantly ogling people of the opposite sex without looking away—and there are even some who reveal a wicked look in their eyes, or drool with their mouths open—this is having lustful thoughts. Once their lustful thoughts are stirred, they start to get handsy with others. This is called being deviant. No matter the situation, as long as their visual lust, auditory lust, or sexual desire of the flesh is triggered, they will have lustful thoughts—such people are devils. Does the sexual desire of devils get restricted or restrained by the conscience and reason of humanity? It is not restrained, so their sexual desire constantly overflows, and they constantly display manifestations of licentiousness—they are especially indulgent. They don’t care how many people are around them, what their own age is, or whether the other party likes them or is disgusted by them and loathes them—as long as it is someone they fancy, they will have lustful thoughts and indulge in fantasies, satisfying their sexual desire to the greatest extent. Isn’t that disgusting? People like this are extremely lecherous. Even if they cannot find an opportunity to have relations with the opposite sex, they still want to hit on others. The manifestations of this behavior are them sending flirtatious signals by making eyes at you, thinking of every which way to make contact with you and get close to you—deliberately grazing your hand, shoulder, or back while brushing past you—and saying flirtatious things, all of which are intentional. This shows that their hearts are already filled with lust. Normal adults, when interacting with members of the opposite sex, maintain boundaries, moderation, and bounds. Whether in regard to things like sexual desire, thoughts, speech, physical contact, or the physical distance between people, all of it is governed and restrained by their conscience and reason. But people who are lecherous and licentious are not like this. No matter the occasion, how many people are around, or what the situation is at the time, and regardless of their own age and marital status, whether the other party is willing, or whether the other party feels repulsed by them, they still do whatever they want, wantonly indulging their sexual desire. This is what is called being licentious. People like this are not restrained by anything—they do not even abide by moral boundaries; they are completely indulgent. In fact, how far do some people go in their indulgence? So far that they openly ogle the intimate areas of the opposite sex. If someone of the opposite sex has bright, pretty eyes, they will create any opportunity to share what’s in their heart, to chat or discuss work with them, staring fixedly into their eyes. If someone of the opposite sex has fair, smooth, delicate skin, they often stare at it, whether intentionally or unintentionally. If someone of the opposite sex has a tall, slim figure, they secretly watch from behind, ogling them without looking away. This is being filled with sexual desire. Are people like this deviant? (Yes.) There are also some minors, or married adults, who often watch pornography or beauty pageants like Miss World, where the women dress very revealingly—enough to satisfy their visual lust. The more they indulge like this, the more difficult it becomes to rein in and control their sexual desire and lustful thoughts. Is this a manifestation of devils? (Yes.) Would normal people live this way? Would they conduct themselves this way? (No.) Some Eastern men are relatively conservative, and when they come to the West and see many women dressed revealingly, they become curious and want to take a few extra glances, but after a while, when they get used to it, they are no longer curious—this is a normal manifestation. There are also some unmarried people who are a bit curious about matters of sexual desire, or who occasionally, due to an objective environment, develop some wicked lust. These are all normal physiological reactions—this cannot be called being deviant. But people who are devils are not the same as ordinary people. Their deviance exceeds that of normal people—it is particularly abnormal. It is not that they are just curious about sexual desire or that they have normal physiological reactions or needs—they are dissolute and promiscuous. When they indulge wicked lust, they feel no shame at all. This is what is called being deviant. To what extent are they deviant? Just by looking at the skin, eyes, figure, or appearance of the opposite sex—or even just hearing their voice—they begin to have lustful thoughts, and then create every possible opportunity to come into contact with or get close to the other person, going even further to take actions that satisfy their sexual desire. This is called being deviant.

Another manifestation of being deviant is that these people, no matter what environment they are in, are always surrounded by different people of the opposite sex. Such a person will hit on several members of the opposite sex at the same time and often maintain ambiguous relationships with multiple people. What is meant by an ambiguous relationship? It’s a relationship that is like a friendship but also like a romantic relationship—no one can clearly say what kind of relationship they actually have. They have no clear boundaries with the opposite sex; their relationships are especially ambiguous—there’s constant flirting, and things are murky and unclear. Are these manifestations governed by a lecherous nature? (Yes.) In terms of morality and the ethics of human relationships, the evil trends of today’s world no longer even criticize this kind of phenomenon. People call this being capable, being trendy—they call it being sexually liberated. So some people bring these kinds of thoughts and viewpoints into the church. They believe, “No matter how many people of the opposite sex I’m romantically involved with, it is my freedom. Even the law doesn’t condemn this now, so I have the right to choose how many opposite-sex friends I’m romantically involved with, I have the right to choose how I handle my sexual desire. I shouldn’t do a disservice to myself—I need to fully release my sexual desire.” Isn’t this a wicked argument? (Yes.) No matter how many people agree with or advocate for the opinions promoted by the trends of society, no matter how many people practice them, in God’s house these kinds of heresies and fallacies are characterized as “deviant,” and those who hold to these kinds of heresies and fallacies are also characterized as “deviant”—specifically speaking, they are “lecherous” and “licentious.” Is this characterization accurate? (Yes.) Every function and instinct of people’s bodies requires a fundamental level of regulation based on humanity. And what does this regulation rely on? It relies on people’s conscience and reason. The sense of integrity and shame within conscience and reason ought to properly regulate a person’s physiological needs and their sexual desire. If you do not regulate or restrain it, but instead indulge sexual desire, then that is called being licentious, that is called being lecherous. If you have such manifestations, then you are deviant. Deviance is a negative thing—it is absolutely not a positive thing. This is because it goes beyond the bounds of the sense of integrity and shame possessed by people’s humanity, beyond the bounds of the normal rationality God requires of people; it crosses the boundaries of humanity and constitutes disturbance and damage to the normal lives of the brothers and sisters. Therefore, deviance is absolutely characterized as something wicked, as a negative thing; it is absolutely not a positive thing. The church, God’s house, absolutely does not promote sexual liberation. What does God’s house promote? (Being dignified and decent, and living out normal humanity.) God’s house promotes having the decorum of saints, and conducting oneself with conscience and reason. At the very least, when it comes to sexual desire and physiological needs, one must have a sense of integrity and shame. That is, if you want to enter into marriage, if you want to have a normal romantic relationship, then it must be in accordance with the principles of marriage that God has ordained for people—it cannot involve incest, licentiousness, or lecherousness. Do you understand? (Yes.)

Just now we fellowshipped on some manifestations of the deviance of people who are devils. Is it good that we’ve fellowshipped on this kind of topic to help you gain some discernment? (Yes.) No matter what the manifestation is, if it exceeds the scope of normal people’s corrupt dispositions or goes beyond the scope of people’s innate nature and instincts, then it is abnormal—it is a manifestation of devils. Among what we’ve just fellowshipped, aside from those people whose thoughts and behaviors are especially sinister and abnormal, there is another kind of person who may not display those obviously sinister and abnormal manifestations, but whose clear manifestation is being especially lecherous and licentious. Having these clear manifestations also proves they have an aspect of the deviant essence of devils. Then can it be said with certainty that people who have these clear manifestations are devils? (Yes.) They indulge their sexual desire at any time, their hearts are brimming with wicked lust, and they are especially interested in matters related to sexual desire of the flesh—their interest goes beyond the physiological needs of normal people. That is, no matter what age they are, what gender they are, or what their marital status is, their manifestations of sexual desire of the flesh go beyond that of normal people, and also go beyond the needs of normal people. This is enough for it to be said that their manifestations in this area are not normal. Using two words to characterize them, they are especially “lecherous” and “licentious.” That is, their physiological needs are extremely abnormal. Whenever they see someone of the opposite sex who has a certain strength or a favorable innate condition in some area, they can have lustful thoughts and release sexual desire. For example, when they see someone of the opposite sex with bright, straight teeth, and whose smile is especially beautiful and sweet, or with especially beautiful hair or eyes, they can have lustful thoughts. No matter what feature of the opposite sex looks good or beautiful to them, they can have lustful thoughts—and they use releasing sexual desire as a way to express their fondness and appreciation for the other person. Isn’t this disgusting? It is extremely disgusting! Some wicked people develop lustful thoughts whenever they see someone of the opposite sex make a particular facial expression, like raising their eyebrows slightly while speaking, or dimples appearing or displaying a particularly enchanting gaze when they smile. The frequency and number of times lustful thoughts are stirred in them is inconceivable and unimaginable. Normal people just find it baffling: “If someone looks good, it’s fine to take an extra glance or two at them—but how could that lead to lustful thoughts and releasing sexual desire? Isn’t that twisted?” Things that normal people think wouldn’t provoke lustful thoughts can cause wicked people to have lustful thoughts and release lust, and normal people can’t understand it. This is called being deviant. In plain terms, it’s called being twisted, being perverted. Some women, even when they see a man with well-developed muscles, well-defined facial features, and tall stature, can have lustful thoughts. Or when they see a man who has some skills, some ability, and on top of that has wealth and status, lustful thoughts are constantly stirred within them. They don’t just appreciate him or think he’s decent, feel a bit of fondness for him, and want to be romantically involved with him or pursue a relationship with him—rather, lustful thoughts about him are constantly stirred within them. Tell Me, isn’t this disgusting? Isn’t this deviant? (Yes.) The frequent stirring of lustful thoughts is abnormal—it is deviant.

We’ll end our fellowship on the manifestations of lecherousness and licentiousness in people who have been reincarnated from devils here. Now let’s talk about “sexual provocativeness.” Sexual provocativeness is actually related to both lecherousness and licentiousness; it’s just a way of talking about the same thing from a different perspective. It refers to how some people, in order to seduce the opposite sex and make a favorable impression on them, often flaunt their seductive charms in front of them. For example, some women like to apply vividly red and sultry lipstick, make their eyes look very alluring with makeup, and even apply blush despite being quite old. When choosing outfits, they always focus on being sexy, captivating, and turning heads; when speaking, they make a point of being coquettish or cutesy in a way that can captivate the opposite sex; and so on. Some men often present themselves as heroes with strong arms for women to rely on. They frequently flex their muscles in front of women, readily taking off their shirts to show off their abs, using these means to attract the opposite sex. Their goal is not merely to make members of the opposite sex have a good impression of themselves or to find someone to date, but rather to seduce members of the opposite sex, make them interested, and then trap them in sexual desire. This is their objective. Is this not being sexually provocative? (Yes.) This is being provocative. Nonbelievers call such people “sluts.” What kinds of things do these “sluts” do? If it’s a woman, she is particular even about the lipstick she chooses. She won’t use ordinary lip balm, and she also disdains the lipsticks used by dignified and decent people, finding them not sufficiently upscale. She specially selects sultry colors that make her lips look particularly sexy and alluring when applied, with the aim of stirring men’s hearts, enthralling them, and making them utterly infatuated and fall for her. In her interactions with men, she often reveals provocative behaviors, releasing sexual desire, all with the aim of seducing them. The more men are present, especially the types she fancies, the more animated and active she becomes, and the more she does her utmost to display herself, flaunting her eloquence, using more refined vocabulary, paying particular attention to her facial expressions, and dressing in an especially coquettish way. This is called being provocative. Is there a difference between provocative people and lecherous people? Are they the same type? (Yes.) They are cut from the same foul cloth. One proactively seduces, the other proactively engages in lecherousness. These are both manifestations of indulging sexual desire, manifestations of overflowing sexual desire and of dissoluteness, all governed by a deviant nature essence. People of this provocative type, whether male or female, regardless of age or marital status, do not restrain their behavior in any setting, nor do they rein in or manage their sexual desire. Instead, they are dissolute and casual, even proactively making advances—they wear special clothing, use special expressions, special language, special ways of speaking, and do some special things to attract the attention of the opposite sex, to lure them into conversation, make them take the bait, and so on. Therefore, such people are not merely lecherous, but also provocative. The word “provocative” is indeed quite disgusting. In short, whether such people display lecherousness or provocativeness, the way they release sexual desire is licentious, the nature of their releasing sexual desire is licentious, and their essence is deviant. The manifestations of such people, whether lecherous or provocative, exceed the physiological needs of normal people, and they lack the restraint of conscience and reason. Therefore, such people are out-and-out wicked people. No matter how you look at it, they are not good people, but devils. In any group, the presence of even one such devil will cause disturbance. Dignified and decent people are disgusted by them, while those of small stature, or those without any discernment or stance whatsoever—especially those who have been reincarnated from animals—are often misled by them and suffer their harassment. In summary, devils who exhibit these wicked manifestations are a scourge in any group they are in, bringing no benefit or help to anyone, because their sexual desire frequently overflows, often disturbing the daily lives and normal thoughts of some people.

Tell Me, are wicked people of this lecherous, licentious, and provocative type easy to discern? (Yes.) Adults can discern them, and perhaps even underage children can nowadays. Therefore, most people, when encountering those with the wicked essence of devils, should have some feeling, some discernment; they won’t be so foolish that they can’t tell. So, when you encounter such people, do you know how to treat them? Will you reject them? If you meet someone who doesn’t suit your liking, you might reject them. But if it’s someone who really suits your liking—your dream lover, your ideal spouse—would it be easy for you to reject them? You clearly know they are this type of person, but because their looks are too captivating or some strength of theirs moves you too much, they steal your heart and captivate you—in this kind of situation, it becomes difficult for you to reject them. If you don’t reject them, aren’t you in danger? (Yes, that’s falling into temptation.) Is it merely falling into temptation? This is falling into the whirlpool of sexual desire. Is it easy for someone caught in the whirlpool of sexual desire to extricate themselves? (No, it’s not.) They show you concern and consideration, love and care, plus they constantly offer you little favors. You feel exceptionally warm inside, thinking, “There’s no one else in the world who treats me this well; this is my Prince Charming, my dream lover.” You fail to realize that if they are a lecherous and licentious person, they treat others the same way. You are just one among all their opposite-sex friends; to them, you are merely someone they pass by—just a pit stop—on their long life journey. When they’ve had enough fun with you and you no longer hold any attraction for them, you become someone they discard. They discard you as ruthlessly as tossing away a garment or a rag, and that’s when you’ll feel the pain. When they decide to discard you, your crying is useless, your begging them is useless, even your kneeling before them is useless; some people even commit suicide, but that’s useless too—nothing can move them. Once they no longer have sexual needs toward you, they’ll say they have no feelings for you anymore, that they don’t love you anymore, and they’ll go searching for the next prey to replace you. That’s when you discover that such people are not suitable marriage partners, that the idea of a Prince Charming, soulmate, or dream lover is all just a deceptive trick, and only then do you realize that sexual desire is not true love. No matter whom such lecherous and licentious people date, they only have sexual desire and no true love. They never have any intention of being with you forever, or of fulfilling any responsibility. They just indulge in the game of sexual desire. Once they’ve had enough fun and their sexual desire is sated, they won’t even want to give you a second glance, and won’t even be bothered to pity you. Once they find their new squeeze, you become an old flame, and all you can do then is weep. So, whether male or female, when dating or looking for a partner, one sometimes encounters such wicked people. They develop lustful thoughts toward you and seduce you into their trap, yet you believe they truly love you and entrust your life’s happiness to such a person. Only when you are kicked aside and dumped do you realize you misjudged them, that this person is not someone with humanity who can fulfill responsibilities, but a lecherous and licentious person. By then, it’s too late for regret; this is taking a rocky detour when it comes to marriage. For someone with normal humanity, the experience of being toyed with can cause lifelong pain, but devils remain indifferent no matter how many people they toy with; they even feel fortunate, glad, and satisfied, eagerly wishing they could hit on and toy with even more members of the opposite sex. They regard this as the happiness of a lifetime, calling it their skill and capability. Normal people cannot afford the toll of dealing with them. So, if you want to be in a relationship, keep your eyes open and see things clearly; whatever you do, don’t choose a devil. If you date a normal person, even if you break up, they won’t hurt you too deeply; at the very least, you can remain ordinary friends. But if you get involved with a devil, your whole life will be ruined at their hands. Tell Me, how much sincerity and true affection does a normal person have? How much energy do they have in this lifetime? If every time you get into a relationship with someone you wind up being duped, so that you’re deeply hurt from being deceived and toyed with, then you’ll walk your entire life’s path under this shadow, making for a very painful existence. Therefore, whether dating or associating with the opposite sex, the ones you should guard against most are these lecherous and licentious people. Whether you’re male or female, if you cannot see through people and don’t know if someone else is lecherous and licentious, then don’t associate with them recklessly, so as to avoid being duped and suffering lifelong regret. Once bitter consequences arise, you’re the only one who has to face them; no one can take your place, and no one can comfort your wounded heart. Even if you say you can see through people, you might not be able to do so accurately. You can’t be sure about anyone nowadays. Before a person receives salvation, they only have the wish to pursue the truth; they may seem like they have decent humanity, but it’s uncertain what things will actually be like if you live with them. Anyone who doesn’t understand the truth and hasn’t been saved is unreliable. Why are they unreliable? Tell Me, living in this evil world, is there anyone who, without gaining the truth, can resist any temptation and stand firm amid any evil trend? Not a single one. Therefore, there are no reliable people. What does it mean that there are no reliable people? It means that for anyone, male or female, entering into marriage is the beginning of tragedy. Having to take care of daily necessities and face the various trivialities and vexations of life day after day, it’s hard to say whether the two people can make it to the end, whether they will support each other along the way, whether there will be happiness, and whether they will have common ground and common pursuits. Therefore, once one enters into marriage and faces real life, the suffering begins. You see, when you’re single, everything is easy to handle; you can decide things for yourself. But when two people live together, can you just make all the decisions yourself? Will the other person accommodate you? Will you accommodate them? Will they care for and be considerate of you? Will you care for them? These are all unknowns. Even if the person you meet is not lecherous and licentious, and you feel you are suitable for each other and can enter into marriage, whether they can ultimately fulfill their responsibilities within the framework of marriage is an unknown, and whether you can walk with them to the end within this framework is also unknown. You lack assurance and confidence even in yourself, which proves that others are the same way—that goes without saying, right? (Yes.)

If, in your daily life, you encounter people of this lecherous, provocative, and licentious type, and they try to get close to you, you should know what their purpose is in doing so. If you do not reject them, or if you allow them to get their way because of your timidity, naivety, foolishness and ignorance, or lack of experiential knowledge, leading to the emergence of adverse consequences, then ultimately, you are the one who will suffer the consequences. Lecherous and licentious people—devils—never feel any guilt or remorse for releasing sexual desire or doing immoral things. They feel it doesn’t matter; they think they’re taking advantage, and that this is how people should be in life. But if you’re a normal person, the conscience and reason within your humanity simply cannot bear such blows, torment, and grievous harm. Therefore, if you encounter such lecherous and licentious people, you must be careful. You must pray to God, asking Him to protect you so you do not fall into temptation. Especially if the other person has lots of tricks up their sleeve, is a seasoned player, and is also your dream lover, the one you dream of pursuing, then you can very easily fall into temptation and very easily end up in an irreparable situation, ultimately suffering a bad outcome that no one wants to see. By that time, your heart, mind, and flesh will all have suffered certain devastation. Afterward, when you come to do your duty and come before God to follow Him, many things will be different—they will never be as they were at the beginning and can never return to how they were before. Once someone has gone through some abnormal or tortuous experiences related to sexual desire, it leaves some terrible imprints in their heart, which any normal individual will not easily forget their entire life. Although, as time passes bit by bit, these memories and this pain may gradually fade, if these events caused you certain harm and devastation, then they will forever be a lingering nightmare in your heart. In this lifetime, you will never be able to return to your former life; your inner world will no longer be as pure and simple as before, and it will be impossible for you to regain your previous state. At this point, when you come to do your duty, you will have extra baggage in your heart that you will want to shake off but cannot. What does this baggage refer to? It refers to the various memories of the experience of being harmed. Thinking of these memories will be nauseating, and they will also frequently disturb your heart and your emotions. Thus, your inner world will no longer be as pure and simple as before; your emotions will now contain many things that should not exist in normal humanity. To a certain extent, this will interfere with your life, your performance of duty, and also interfere with your belief in God and pursuit of the truth. This is called baggage. Therefore, regardless of age, once someone falls into the temptation of romantic involvement with a devil, they naturally fall into an inexplicable despondency. For a normal person, this is not a good phenomenon.

In real life, people often encounter some lecherous and licentious individuals. After we’ve fellowshipped these words today, since you’ve gained discernment regarding this type of person and know they’re not normal people but devils, when they try to seduce you, you can firmly reject them. Do not reject them implicitly and tactfully, or feel too embarrassed to reject them, or even fear such people. Of course, if you don’t care whether they are a devil, and you say, “I’m already in my thirties or forties and haven’t yet experienced marriage; if someone really has this kind of need for me, I’d be happy to accept,” then, since you don’t care what consequences might arise, nor about psychological scars, I will say no more. My purpose in saying this is to let some foolish people, who have no guardedness or precautions against the seduction of the opposite sex, know what correct attitude they should adopt when temptation befalls them. If you don’t care that someone is lecherous and licentious, don’t care that they are a devil, and feel greatly honored simply because they like you—just like the nonbelievers’ saying goes: “A man lays down his life for someone who understands him, while a woman dolls herself up for her admirer”—and you think, “As a woman, if someone truly likes me, it shows my looks are acceptable, so I should feel extremely honored. Let him come at me boldly, then; I welcome it, and will embrace him with open arms”—how is this kind of attitude? Tell Me, is the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” respectful toward women? (No.) A man must sacrifice his life for those who understand him, and a woman must doll herself up for her admirer—is this saying correct? (No.) Why are women so debased? Men are debased too. So men have to lay down their lives for others. Whoever is your confidant is your master, for whom you must sacrifice your life—why is your life so worthless? Could it be that your life belongs to others and not yourself? God treasures human life most, because this life, this breath, is given by God; it is the basic condition for created flesh to be able to move and become a living being. If you do not cherish your life, but casually give it over to others and sacrifice it for them, what does this show? Does it not show that you are debased? (Yes.) It shows your life is not worth anything. You do not cherish your life, you do not use your life to do the most meaningful and valuable things, but can casually die for whoever understands you. This shows your life is too cheap; it’s just a rotten life, as worthless as the life of a dog, a cat, or a chicken. So, is the saying, “A man lays down his life for someone who understands him,” correct? (No.) This saying degrades people, disrespects people; it is a saying that does not cherish life. Readily dying for others—does human life come easily? Life does not come easily; one cannot just die so readily. Therefore, the saying, “A man lays down his life for someone who understands him,” is incorrect and untenable. Then is the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” correct? (It is also not correct.) In what way is it incorrect? Did you once really like this saying, really approve of it, even regarding it as truth, as a motto? Has there ever been someone who admired you? If the person admiring you was someone you liked, did you feel honored? (Not exactly honored, perhaps happy inside.) Then that’s not far from feeling honored. Is this happiness good? (No.) Why not? (For a woman to dress up for a man’s appreciation and fondness, living just for men, putting all her thoughts into this—I feel that living like this is quite debased.) Are there differing views? The saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” itself places women in an unequal position to men. It requires women to doll themselves up to please men, to live for the sake of men’s happiness, and to feel honored whenever someone likes and admires them. This is unequal; this itself is a true reflection of the low status of women. The implication of the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is that whether a woman is liked by others because of her good looks, or attracts men’s fondness because she knows how to adorn herself to be pleasing to the eye, she should feel happy and honored because of it. This itself is a degradation of women. This saying tells women that the value of their existence, the source of their happiness, is for there to be someone who likes them, and that if there isn’t, they should feel unfortunate and upset, and must reflect on why no one likes them, and on whether, as women, they are living a worthless and failed life. So, isn’t the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” a degradation of women? (Yes.) In the phrase “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” doesn’t the admirer usually refer to a man? This saying itself places men in the position of masters, above women. It means that a woman should feel honored that a man—a master—likes and appreciates her. If a man—a master—doesn’t like her, then there is something wrong with her, she is not lovable, she is a failure in life, and she is not qualified to be a woman. You see, this imperceptibly elevates men’s status, allowing them to step on women’s necks and tower over them. This is where the error in the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” lies. In addition, do men like women merely for their appearance and adornments? Or do they like women just because they see that they are gentle, virtuous, dignified, and graceful? Do men like women merely to please their eyes? (No, it’s to satisfy the sexual desire of the flesh.) Then what is the purpose of women trying to please men and make them happy? (It’s also to indulge the sexual desire of the flesh.) That is, both men and women have needs when it comes to each other, and the most basic of these needs is that of the sexual desire of the flesh. A man’s need for a woman is not just about liking her appearance, but, based on that, obtaining her in a physical manner—to put it more bluntly, obtaining her body to satisfy his own sexual desire. Therefore, the purpose behind the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is actually to satisfy men’s sexual desire. It requires women to not only make their appearance and adornments pleasing to men, but to also satisfy men’s sexual desire. Isn’t that such a lowly way to live? If women still think this saying is correct, that it’s something they should achieve and adhere to, then women are degrading themselves. Men have sexual needs toward women and want to play with their bodies; if women, instead of finding this despicable and hateful, still doll themselves up for their admirers, feeling it’s the greatest honor of their lives, the utmost honor, then aren’t they degrading themselves? (Yes.) This is completely depriving women of their rights. Not only does it deprive women of their right to exist, their dignity, and their human rights, but it also makes them think it’s the greatest honor. Isn’t this cruel? It’s utterly cruel! Besides having no autonomy and no human rights whatsoever, a woman’s happiness, joy, and delight can only be achieved on the basis of pleasing men and fully satisfying them. No matter what kind of inhuman treatment women suffer, they are required to still take pride in it. Isn’t this abusing and ravaging women? Whether modern or ancient women, they all take the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” as their motto, as their life goal. Isn’t this completely wrong? Isn’t this a trick Satan uses to abuse and mislead people? (Yes.) If you are a woman, and a man takes pleasure in you, his heart filled with wicked lust for you, would you feel disgusted or extremely honored if you knew? (Disgusted.) When he thinks of you, he thinks only of your body, and your appearance, while also releasing his own sexual desire. The more pleasure he takes in you, the more filled with sexual desire he is for you; what gets stirred up in him when it comes to you are entirely lustful thoughts. He even tries every means to get hold of you so he can enjoy your body, fully satisfy his sexual desire, and release his sexual desire. If you knew he had such intentions toward you, would you still think the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is correct? Would you still feel it’s an honor to be liked and appreciated by someone? (No.) If you are a woman with a sense of integrity and shame, and dignity, then you should be disgusted by this saying, and loathe and reject being liked by such people. Only by living this way do you have dignity. Someone who truly enjoys and appreciates you does so because of the quality of your character, your pursuits, because you understand the truth, and they also want to gain something edifying from you and receive help from you—not because they want to appreciate your body to indulge and satisfy their sexual desire. If someone appreciates you regardless of your character or whether you pursue the truth or not, and only because your appearance and figure are pleasing to the eye and can fully satisfy their sexual desire, and yet you feel no repulsion or loathing toward this, instead feeling that they like you—in particular, because they have made physical advances toward you, you even more so feel that they like you—and you even feel honored by this, then you are degrading yourself. If, no matter who has any designs on or wicked intentions toward your body, you don’t care, and as long as they like you, you consider it your special honor and feel honored by it, then you are not someone with integrity and dignity, nor are you a good woman. If someone has sexual needs toward you and you feel you’ve found someone who understands you, and also found an opportunity to release sexual desire, and you two get together because it takes two to tango and you’re cut from the same foul cloth, then you are someone without any integrity and dignity, unworthy of being liked; you are the same type as lecherous and licentious people. If you truly are a woman with dignity, you should feel loathing, repulsion, and disgust at being liked by such lecherous and licentious people. Of course, if the reason someone likes you is truly because of your humanity, your pursuits, or because you have a certain strength, that is nothing worth feeling honored about either. The purpose of people saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is definitely not as simple as a man appreciating a woman. It absolutely places men in a position where they tower over women. More precisely, this saying arose under the ethos that men are superior and women are inferior. In addition, the reality is that women are a vulnerable group under any social system, viewed as appendages and playthings of men. Therefore, the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is absolutely a disgrace to all women. If women particularly approve of this saying, it is a sorrow for women, and one should feel contempt for all women who approve of it. Then should men approve of the viewpoint “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer”? (No.) If a man sees a woman dolling herself up for her admirer, doesn’t he feel such a woman lives in a very degrading way, and won’t he also look down on such a woman? (Yes.)

Do you now see clearly whether the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer,” is correct or not? (It’s incorrect.) This saying is not a positive thing, nor is it a correct thought or viewpoint. Look in the Bible and in the words expressed by God—is there any sentence telling women they should doll themselves up for those who admire them? Is there any sentence that divides the status of men and women into levels, saying that men are above women? No, there isn’t. What is recorded in the Book of Genesis in the Bible is that woman is bone of man’s bones and flesh of his flesh. Men and women are both human beings created by God; they are equal before God, with no division of levels, no distinction between superior and inferior. Dividing people into superior and inferior and distinguishing levels of status is something Satan does; it is real proof of Satan’s oppression and persecution of women. Ever since God created humankind in the beginning, men and women have been equal in God’s eyes. Both are created beings and objects of God’s salvation. God has never said that men are superior and women are inferior, nor has He said that men should be the head of women or their masters, that men should tower above women, that men should take precedence over women in any work, or that men have their own opinions and are the mainstays while women should listen more to men. God has never said such things. It is only because of Satan’s corruption that sayings about men being superior and women being inferior arose among people, and then this trend formed throughout society and all of humankind, constantly suppressing women under male authority. Due to a lack of understanding of the truth, after women are influenced and misled by all kinds of evil trends of Satan, they feel they are secondary to men or lower in status than men. That is why, right up to the present day, many women still believe that the saying “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer” is correct. This is a very sad thing. If people do not understand the truth, they are still misled and controlled by various thoughts and viewpoints of Satan in many specific matters. Even this small matter is very illustrative, is it not? (Yes.) What is the reason women willingly degrade themselves? It is that the overall societal environment makes it so that women cannot have equal status with men, and so that women must give way to men and create favorable conditions for them, and must also make many sacrifices and pay a great price to satisfy men. This is caused by society, by the various evil trends led by Satan. So now, after understanding the truth in this regard, isn’t there a definite conclusion concerning the saying, “A woman dolls herself up for her admirer”? (Yes.) This saying is fallacious and does not conform to the truth, right? (Yes.) After hearing the actual situation, don’t women feel they have lived very aggrieved and stifled lives all these years? Then should women still doll themselves up for their admirers? (No.) As members of created humankind, women differ from men only in gender and physiology; in other aspects, there are no differences at all. In God’s eyes, men and women have no differences in status whatsoever. God has never, under any circumstances, made requirements of women that differ from those He makes of men. In aspects such as the number of people God chooses, the hope of salvation, their opportunities to perform duties, the duties they can perform, and the work they can do, women are basically equal to men; women are not lesser than men. This is the actual situation.

We previously spoke about the manifestations of the lecherousness, licentiousness, and provocativeness of those wicked people who have the nature essence of devils, and also about how to treat wicked people if one encounters them when it comes to entering into romantic relationships or seeking a partner. Do you hope to meet such a person to experience a bout of romance, act carefree once, and indulge yourself once? (No.) Then do you hope to meet your dream lover, your soulmate, your Mister or Miss Right? (No.) Whether you hope for it or not doesn’t matter. What’s key is that you must have discernment regarding these lecherous, licentious, and provocative people whose nature essence is wicked, and you must stay away from them. In the words of nonbelievers, most of these people are seasoned players, charming and romantic. Most adults should be able to recognize this type of person when they encounter them; perhaps after a couple of interactions, most adults will know they are this type. This kind of person is indiscriminate when hitting on people; no matter how old you are, as long as you’re reasonably good-looking, they might hit on you, causing you to fall into their trap without the slightest awareness of what’s going on. They always speak tender, gentle words to you, and show you concern, care, and consideration. They find opportunities to make eyes at you, serve you tea or water, and sometimes even buy you small gifts, chocolates, and so on. When you are completely unguarded, they breach your defenses and enter your heart. Unconsciously, you have only to think of them and you feel butterflies in your stomach; if you don’t see them for a few days, you feel like something is missing, thinking, “No one around me cares for me like they do. It seems I’ve fallen in love with them. Have they fallen in love with me too?” What kind of state is this? (Falling into temptation.) Some seasoned players are adept at reeling others in by letting them go; after showing concern for you for a period and whetting your appetite, they then ghost you, getting you to take the bait yourself. When you realize you’ve fallen in love with them and can’t live without them, you’ve fallen into the snare of love, and you’ve become bewitched. Once bewitched, you are completely captured by them. What is this snare of love that people fall into? It’s not familial affection, friendship, or the care and love between people, but the net of sexual desire. Once you fall into the snare of sexual desire, you can easily lose control. More than ninety-five percent of people, especially young people, cannot overcome it and cannot escape such a trap. What should be done then? Since you know it’s very hard to escape such a trap, don’t let yourself fall into it. Do everything possible to stay away from the people, things, or environments that could lead you into the trap. Keep your distance for a period, and pray to God and read God’s words. Gradually, your sexual needs will fade and disappear, the trap will no longer have a hold on you, and you will have basically overcome this temptation. However, it’s unknown how you will fare next time you encounter such temptations and traps, whether you will be able to overcome them. The only way is to frequently come before God to pray and seek the truth, and stay away from various temptations. Of course, equipping yourself with the truth and understanding the truth are the most fundamental things. But equipping yourself with the truth is not simple; it requires you to undergo some experiences, and your stature doesn’t grow that quickly, so your defenses in various aspects cannot be established so fast either. What should be done then? You must often live before God, have the guidance of God’s words, the work of the Holy Spirit, and God’s protection. With all these things in place, plus your personal resolve, you will have defensive measures when faced with such temptations. Additionally, when you know the nature of the matter and the consequences it will bring, you will consciously avoid such environments, which will prove you have the resolve to reject such temptations. God will then, because of your attitude and your subjective desire, help you escape such temptations. If you encounter such an environment and feel aversion and hatred in your heart but don’t know how to refuse, then pray to God, asking Him to protect you and remove such an environment for you. When you have such supplications and wishes, perhaps, due to the needs of church work, the person who poses a dangerous temptation to you will be moved away, making it inconvenient for them to contact you again, and you won’t encounter them anymore. This is God helping you; it is God’s protection. Because God sees your personal desire, attitude, determination, and resolve, He will proactively and thoroughly help you fulfill your wish, achieving the result of protecting you. When this person leaves and no longer harasses you, you might feel a bit empty inside, think it’s a bit of pity they left, and even fantasize, “If they were still here, could we get along well?” Occasionally, such thoughts might arise, but with God’s protection, you ultimately are kept away from temptation. Unconsciously, this matter gradually fades in your heart, it gradually recedes from you, and over time you regain your peace, returning to your former state of life and normal mentality. At this point, the matter comes to a close. It hasn’t posed any threat or disturbance to you, but instead has become powerful evidence and testimony of your victory over Satan and your shunning and rejection of the devil. Isn’t this very good? (Yes.) When this temptation was about to pose a threat to you, at that dangerous moment, because of your attitude and cooperation, God protected you. God set up a suitable environment for you, allowing you to stand firm. This promotes the growth of your stature; it will increase your faith, increase your resolve and desire to practice the truth, give you motivation, and allow your stature to grow. If, when this temptation befalls you, you are unwilling to reject or avoid it, lack the willingness to practice the truth, just let it freely develop, and are willing to accept this temptation, even willing to accept the devil’s harassment and entanglement, and you increasingly enjoy such a state, are increasingly willing to live in such an environment, and you don’t actively pray to God asking Him to remove such an environment—seeing that your attitude toward this matter is like this, God will not force you. In God’s actions, He never compels anyone. Since you like this person so much, since you feel they can bring you such great happiness and joy, giving you pleasure, God will not deprive you of such joy and happiness, nor will God move this person away. As for the consequences, you alone must bear them. What will happen is that you’ll gradually fall into the temptation and lustful entanglement of devils, of wicked, lecherous, and licentious people, eventually losing the reproach of your conscience and God’s presence. After enjoying the happiness and joy of indulging sexual desires of the flesh, you feel no shame and cannot tear yourself away from such temptation—this is called abandoning yourself to depravity. You feel you are the happiest person, you greatly enjoy this happiness and joy, feel fortunate to have such happiness and joy, and are very satisfied being trapped in such a snare of love. What could God still do or say, then? God won’t give you any hints, won’t warn you about anything, and won’t do anything. Just go ahead and enjoy yourself. The ultimate consequences for those trapped in the snare of sexual desires are predictable. No one who falls into the snare of love ends up happy or joyful; on the contrary, the outcome can only be painful and tragic. You alone must bear such consequences, and you deserve to bear them. Does God act with principles? (Yes.) God respects your choices. Don’t think, “God will keep an eye on me and keep me in check; He will not let me date, nor let me satisfy my sexual needs.” You’re mistaken; God does not interfere with you. What God wants to do is protect you from falling into temptation, from being misled by evil people, from being ravaged and grievously harmed by Satan. But if you choose to go along with Satan, God says that is your freedom and your choice; as long as you are willing, as long as you don’t regret it, God will not compel you; you alone reap what you sow, and when the time comes and you’re crying miserably, don’t complain that God didn’t remind you, and don’t complain that God didn’t protect you. God wants to protect you, God wants you to stay away from temptation, but you refuse. If God were to move away the person you like, the person with whom you are entangled in the snare of love, you would go looking for them, you would act like you were crazy, you would lose control, you would complain about God, berate God for being inconsiderate of your feelings and not understanding your difficulties. So God won’t do that; God won’t make people do things they’re unwilling to do. Since you chose that path yourself, you alone must bear the terrible consequences that arise in the end. No one will take the hit for you. Is this matter clear now? (Yes.)

If some people come up against the entanglements of devils and Satans—of wicked people—and do not refuse them but are willing to spend their lives with them, this is their own choice. When it eventually results in bitter consequences, they shouldn’t blame others; they can only hate themselves for being too debased and too deviant, and should slap their own faces and curse themselves. Whatever bitter fruit you ultimately reap has nothing to do with God. Don’t say, “Why didn’t God protect me? Why didn’t God stop me back then?” I tell you, God has no such obligation; He has already clearly told you what He should say to you. You are a person with the ability to think independently; God has given you free will, and you have the right to choose freely. Therefore, God gives you the right to choose when you encounter anything. Since you have the right to choose, the bitter fruit you ultimately reap stems from your own choice, so you should not complain about God or shift blame wherever you can. The work God does is to tell you the truth and show you the path to salvation. As for whether you choose to follow God or follow Satan, that is up to you. If you are a blessed person and willing to pursue the truth, then follow God. If you do not love the truth, but rather love the world and love wickedness—if yours is just a worthless life—then choose to follow Satan; no one is stopping you. To this day, some people still misunderstand God and God’s house, always complaining, “I’m already in my thirties or forties, I haven’t dated or gotten married—God’s house doesn’t allow it!” When has God’s house ever restricted people from dating or marrying? This is your freedom; God’s house does not interfere. However, there is one condition: If you do so, then you cannot do duty in a full-time duty church, because being in a romantic relationship and no longer having the mind to do your duty will impede the church’s work. If you truly want to date and marry, then first hand over the work you’re responsible for, and we will temporarily part ways. Is everyone clear on the principles in this regard? (Yes.) If someone wants to date or marry, that is perfectly fine; no one restricts it. However, indiscriminately hitting on the opposite sex and disturbing church life is not acceptable. Those who indiscriminately hit on others are devils; they are wicked, lecherous, and licentious people, and God’s house absolutely does not permit the presence of such people. This type of person indiscriminately hits on and harasses others regardless of whichever group of people they find themselves in. Like a scourge, they cause panic and always make people feel restless and uneasy. Wherever they live church life, their disturbances create a foul atmosphere and turn the church into a disordered mess. Not only do they sabotage the church’s work, but they also disturb the normal order of the brothers and sisters doing their duties. Such people must be strictly watched over and restricted, and those who cause serious impact must be isolated or cleared out. Some people say, “I’ve only harmed a few people—that’s not a big problem, is it?” If you can harm a few, you’re also capable of harming dozens. This is just the sort of wretched thing you are. Recklessly hitting on others and inappropriately releasing sexual desire in the church—thus harming people—is unacceptable. If you want to hit on people, go to the places of debauchery of the nonbelieving world; no one restricts you there. But God’s house, the place where brothers and sisters do their duties, is solemn, quiet, and sacred; it does not permit any devils or Satans to disturb or sabotage it. If anyone wants to turn the church into a place for dating or promiscuousness, indulging sexual desire at will, that is absolutely unacceptable! This is the church, the site of God’s work, the place where the Holy Spirit works to cleanse and perfect people. Whether man or woman, everyone must be dignified and decent, and attend to proper work. Indiscriminately hitting on others is not allowed, nor is inappropriately releasing sexual desire. If you cannot control your sexual desire and just want to release it, then choose a suitable person to marry; don’t indiscriminately hit on others within the church. Anyone who indiscriminately hits on others and arouses outrage from the brothers and sisters should be quickly cleared out or expelled, lest they continue to disturb church life. Understood? (Understood.) There must be boundaries between men and women. If a man always hangs around groups of women, not for work reasons, nor because there are important matters that must be attended to, but to show himself off among women, release sexual desire, and indiscriminately hit on them, this is harassment. If a woman, with or without a cause, always hangs around groups of men, always recklessly hitting on them, making eyes at them and flaunting her charms, she too should be dealt with as a devil. If you are discussing or fellowshipping work normally, this is acceptable, but indiscriminately hitting on and flirting with others is not. Any such behavior that causes a commotion constitutes disturbing church life and wrecking the normal order of church work, and is not permitted in God’s house. Everyone should reject and stay away from these lecherous, licentious, sexually provocative devils. When most people rise up to reject, expose, and shun them, ensuring their attempts to hit on others fail and making it so they don’t get their way in any situation, they will gradually stop what they’re doing. If they cannot do their duty normally, and they just recklessly hit on and disturb others whenever they have an idle moment, run around engaging in romantic relationships, and enjoy the feeling of being in a romantic relationship, then clear them out immediately. Quickly cut the Gordian knot and deal with these promiscuous individuals—do not give them any opportunities to disturb people. Through our fellowship, is this matter clear now? (Yes.) Have you gained anything? Do you have a path of practice? Do you now have discernment regarding this type of lecherous and licentious person? (Yes.) Are you clear on how to conduct yourselves, how to keep to your proper place, and how to do what you ought to do within normal humanity? (Yes.) Within this, there are truths people should understand and principles of discernment they should be clear on, and of course, there are also truth principles people should practice and paths they should take. With these all made clear, this matter has been fully laid out.

That’s all for our fellowship today. Goodbye!

February 11, 2024