The Saintly Decency Believers of God Should Possess

Chapter 7 Several Other Aspects of the Truths That Are the Minimum That Should Be Understood by New Believers

    4. The Saintly Decency Believers of God Should Possess.

    Relevant Words of God:

    Before he was corrupted by Satan, man naturally followed God and obeyed His words. He was naturally of sound sense and conscience, and of normal humanity. After being corrupted by Satan, his original sense, conscience, and humanity grew dull and were impaired by Satan.
Thus, he has lost his obedience and love toward God. Man’s sense has become aberrant, his disposition has become the same as that of an animal, and his rebelliousness toward God is ever more frequent and grievous. Yet man still neither knows nor recognizes this, and merely blindly opposes and rebels. … “Normal sense” refers to obeying and being faithful to God, to yearning for God, to being unequivocal toward God, and to having a conscience toward God. It refers to being of one heart and mind toward God, and not deliberately opposing God. Those who are of an aberrant sense are not like this. Since man was corrupted by Satan, he has produced conceptions about God, and he has had no loyalty or yearning for God, to say nothing of a conscience toward God. Man deliberately opposes and passes judgments on God, and, furthermore, hurls invective at Him behind His back. Man clearly knows He is God, yet still passes judgments on Him behind His back, has no intention of obeying Him, and merely makes blind demands and requests of God. Such people—people who have aberrant sense—are incapable of knowing their own despicable behavior or of regretting their rebelliousness. If people are capable of knowing themselves, then they have regained a little of their sense; the more people are rebellious against God but do not know themselves, the more they are of unsound sense.

from “To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    Today, you can seek to be made perfect or seek changes in your external humanity and improvements in your caliber, but of principal importance is that you can understand that everything that God does today has meaning and is of benefit: It enables you who live in a land of filth to escape the filth and shake it off, it enables you to overcome the influence of Satan, and leave behind the dark influence of Satan—and by focusing on these things, you are protected in this land of filth. Ultimately, what testimony will you be asked to give? You live in a land of filth but are able to become holy, and no longer be filthy and impure, you live under the domain of Satan but divest yourself of Satan’s influence, and are not possessed or harassed by Satan, and you live in the hands of the Almighty. This is the testimony, and the proof of victory in the battle with Satan. You are able to forsake Satan, what you live out does not reveal Satan, but is that which God required that man attain when He created man: normal humanity, normal rationality, normal insight, normal resolve to love God, and loyalty to God. Such is the testimony borne by a creature of God.

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    Normal humanity includes these aspects: insight, sense, conscience, and character. If you can achieve normality in each of these respects, your humanity is up to standard. You should have the likeness of a normal human being and behave like a believer in God. You don’t have to achieve great heights or engage in diplomacy. You just have to be a normal human being, with a normal person’s sense, be able to see through things, and at least look like a normal human being. That will be enough. … A lot of people see that the age has changed, so they don’t exercise any humility or patience, and they might as well not have any love or saintly decency either. These people are too absurd! Do they have an ounce of normal humanity? Do they have any testimony to speak of? They don’t have any insight and sense whatsoever. Of course, some aspects of people’s practice that are deviant and erroneous need to be corrected. Like people’s rigid spiritual life or appearance of numbness and imbecility of the past—all of these things have to change. Change doesn’t mean letting you be dissolute or indulge in the flesh, saying whatever you want. Speaking carelessly cannot do! Behaving like a normal human being is to speak with coherence. Yes means yes, no means no. Be true to the facts and speak appropriately. Don’t cheat, don’t lie.

from “Improving Caliber Is for Receiving God’s Salvation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    In the dispositions of normal people there is no crookedness or deceitfulness, people have a normal relationship with each other, they do not stand alone, and their lives are neither mediocre nor decadent. So, too, is God exalted among all, His words permeate among man, people live in peace with one another and under the care and protection of God, the earth is filled with harmony, without the interference of Satan, and the glory of God holds the utmost importance among man. Such people are like angels: pure, vibrant, never complaining about God, and devoting all their efforts solely to God’s glory on earth.

from “Interpretation of the Sixteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    Normal humanity which is spoken of is not so supernatural as people imagine, but is able to transcend the bonds of all people, events, and things, transcend the forces of the environment, and is able to draw close to Me and to commune with Me at any place and in any environment.

from “The Fifty-fifth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    You ought to know that God likes an honest man. … Honesty means to give your heart to God; never to play Him false in anything; to be open with Him in all things, never hiding the truth; never to do that which deceives those above and deludes those below; and never to do that which merely ingratiates yourself with God. In short, to be honest is to refrain from impurity in your actions and words, and to deceive neither God nor man.

from “Three Admonitions” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    I have a lot of wishes. I wish you can conduct yourselves in a proper and well-behaved manner, be faithful to fulfill your duty, have truth and humanity, be someone who can give up everything and give up their lives for God, and so forth. All of these hopes stem from your insufficiencies and your corruption and disobedience.

from “Transgressions Will Take Man to Hell” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    Your humanity is too lacking, your lifestyle is too low and degrading, you have no humanity, and you lack insight. That is why you need to equip yourselves with the things of humanity. Having conscience, rationality, and insight, knowing how to speak and view things, paying attention to cleanliness, acting like a normal human being—all of these are the know-how of normal humanity. When you do these properly, your humanity will be up to standard. The other aspect is equipping yourselves for the spiritual life. You must know the entirety of God’s work on earth, and must experience His words. You should know how to obey His arrangements, and how to fulfill the duty of a created being. These are the two aspects you should enter into today.

from “Practice (7)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    God asks that people live out normal humanity in real life, not just in church life; that they live out the truth in real life, not just in church life; that they fulfill their functions in real life, not just in church life. To enter into reality, one must turn everything toward real life. If believers in God cannot enter into real life and know themselves or live out normal humanity in real life, they will become failures. Those who disobey God are all people who cannot enter into real life. They are all people who speak of humanity but live out the nature of demons. They are all people who speak of the truth but live out doctrines instead. Those who cannot live out the truth in real life are those who believe in God but are detested and rejected by Him. You have to practice your entry in real life, know your own deficiencies, disobedience and ignorance, and know your abnormal humanity and weaknesses. That way, all your knowledge will be integrated into your actual situation and difficulties. Only this kind of knowledge is real and can allow you to truly grasp your own condition and achieve your dispositional transformation.

from “Discussing Church Life and Real Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    The people God uses appear from the outside to be irrational and seem to not have proper relationships with others, though they speak with propriety, don’t speak carelessly, and can always keep a quiet heart before God. But it is just this kind of person who is sufficient to be used by the Holy Spirit. This “irrational” person God speaks of looks like they don’t have proper relationships with others, and they don’t have outward love or superficial practices, but when they are communicating spiritual things they can open their heart and selflessly provide others with the illumination and enlightenment they have acquired from their actual experience before God. This is how they express their love for God and satisfy God’s will. When others are all slandering and ridiculing them, they are able to not be controlled by outside people, occurrences, or things, and can still be quiet before God. Such a person seems to have their own unique insights. Regardless of others, their heart never leaves God. When others are chatting cheerfully and humorously, their heart still remains before God, contemplating God’s word or praying in silence to the God in their heart, seeking God’s intentions. They never make the maintenance of their proper relationships with other people the main focus. Such a person seems to have no philosophy of life. On the outside, this person is lively, adorable, and innocent, but also possesses a sense of calmness. This is the likeness of a person God uses.

from “Establishing a Proper Relationship With God Is Very Important” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    People who have the truth are those who, in their real experiences, can stand firm in their testimony, stand firm in their position, stand on the side of God, without ever retreating, and who can have a normal relationship with people who love God, who, when things happen to them, are able to completely obey God, and can obey God unto death. Your practice and revelations in real life are the testimony of God, they are man’s living out and the testimony of God, and this is truly enjoying God’s love; when you have experienced to this point, the due effect will have been achieved. You are possessed of actual living out and your every action is looked upon with admiration by others. Your appearance is unremarkable, but you live out a life of the utmost piety, and when you communicate the words of God, you are guided and enlightened by Him. You are able to speak God’s will through your words, communicate reality, and you understand much about serving in spirit. You are candid in your speech, you are decent and upright, non-confrontational and decorous, able to obey God’s arrangements and stand firm in your testimony when things befall you, and you are calm and composed no matter what you are dealing with. This kind of person has truly seen God’s love. Some people are still young, but they act as someone of middle age; they are mature, possessed of the truth, and admired by others—and these are the people who have testimony, and are the manifestation of God.

from “Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

    A person who truly believes in God will at least carry out these five aspects of spiritual life every day: read God’s word, pray to God, communicate the truth, sing hymns and praises, and seek in everything. If you also have a meeting life, you will have great enjoyment. If a person is equipped with a general ability to receive, meaning they can figure out God’s intentions after reading God’s words by themselves, understand the truth, and know how to conform with the truth, then you can say that such a person will succeed in belief in God. If a person doesn’t have such a spiritual life, or if his spiritual life is extremely abnormal and only happens very occasionally, then that person is a misguided and confused believer. Confused believers don’t have spiritual lives and cannot achieve much result in fulfilling their duty. Believing in God without living a spiritual life is merely paying lip service to belief in God, but there is no God and certainly no fear of God in their hearts. How could they possibly have the likeness of a normal human being? I see some people who don’t seem like believers in God at all. From their lifestyles and their daily words and actions, they appear completely like unbelievers. They don’t have the likeness of normal human beings, and the things they say and do are not constructive. Some are even detested, resented, or even cast out. This is not only something that dishonors God, but also holds up their duty and brings problems to future gospel work. There are several types of situations that you need pay attention to:

    The contact a normal human being has with others is dignified and upright, genuine and decent. But this is not the case for some, who are furtive, disingenuous, and make eye gestures at people when talking. They don’t have the demeanor of normal people; they are a bit like a thief, someone who makes people wary of them. Some people are already born with a poor appearance. If they also don’t dress properly, they won’t have a dignified and upright appearance, and it will bring some difficulties to the fulfilling of their duty. It really requires practice and learning for you to fulfill your duty properly. This is because people are unfamiliar with each other and mostly judge by appearances, so if you really look like a thief then anyone would be cautious toward you. Therefore, you must learn what to wear and dress like a dignified and upright person, be honest and sincere in your words and actions. You must never be glib or make eye gestures at people, and moreover, you must restrain yourself. Don’t walk around in other people’s homes or touch their things. Don’t look at what you shouldn’t look at or go where you shouldn’t go. Be well-behaved so people can truly be at ease, and so they can trust you and have a good impression of you. That way, you can fulfill your duty properly. These are issues some people should pay attention to.

    There is another situation in which some people cannot get along with others and cannot speak or fellowship with others normally. They don’t even have the human feelings that normal people should be equipped with. All they know is how to quickly do their work and leave straight afterward, and don’t seem to understand anything else. They don’t reveal any love when they come into contact with others, making people unable to feel warmth or passion. Rather, there is a sense of cold-heartedness, as though a cold-blooded killer has arrived. How can they do their work properly like this? You have to use different things to flavor a meal. You have to pay even more attention when dealing with people—you cannot be too monotonous. Under normal circumstances, interacting with someone for a day or half a day should be able to leave them with a good impression—straightforward, passionate, with love and possessing the truth, easy to get along with, and an uncommonly good brother or sister. Doing things too monotonously, lacking the things normal humanity should be possessed of, and also having no wisdom—this will make it difficult to get things done. These are the shortcomings of some people, and it is best if they are quickly corrected and remedied.

    There is another situation, and that is carrying out evangelism work without wisdom: not observing the circumstances when interacting with people, not knowing how to judge the situation or look for opportunities, and certainly not knowing where it is appropriate to start; not having a method or technique when doing things, not taking the proper steps, just blurting everything out in one breath in front of people and then leaving as soon as they get their words out. Acting this way makes a person seem reckless, a little silly, and quite foolish too. This is also a shortcoming people have, and everyone has had too many failures in this regard. Spreading the gospel cannot be done without wisdom or patience. The more impatient you are the more you will fail. Being slow-tempered and having a bit of wisdom gives you an advantage, whereas those who are impatient and can’t restrain themselves and lack wisdom will definitely not be able to do this job. It is best if a quick-tempered person is partnered with a slow-tempered person. If both are impatient then they’ll end up going home even quicker. Spreading the gospel and doing the pastoral work are different. Evangelism work is most in need of wisdom, love, and tenderness. This work cannot be done without enormous patience. When necessary, you even have to humble yourself to express the sincere and clear love you have for people. Some have deeply moved others by kneeling down and asking for God’s grace at the key moment. This cannot be done without patience and without a sincere and loving heart.

    There are also some people with low character who treat the home of their host family like their own house. They do whatever they want without any knowledge of the rules, use and play around with whatever they see as though they’ve never seen the world, and walk and look around everywhere. Such people arouse the resentment and displeasure of others, who can only tolerate because they find it hard to say no. There are even those who ask to borrow money or use other people’s things when they have only spent a few days together and are still unfamiliar with each other. This really puts people in a tough spot. There are also those who show no manners when living in other people’s homes by indulging in lust, being disrespectful toward others, making casual jokes and fooling around, completely losing their saintly decency. While I am not against making jokes, ungodly and vulgar jokes are not appropriate. It is of course fine to be humorous and witty so that people can feel happy and carefree, but vulgar jokes that disgust and nauseate people are best avoided. I see some people who are too lacking in how a human being should be. Although everyone has flaws, there should at least be some restraint against debauchery, some courtesy, some respect for others, and some understanding of rules, so as to seem appropriate in front of others. Only by acting this way can you benefit people. God’s name also won’t be dishonored and fulfilling your duty will be fruitful.

    It is very important that a believer of God acts like a proper human being. Someone who believes in God but doesn’t act like a proper human being must surely be too lacking in humanity and definitely doesn’t possess the truth. Someone who is disliked by others is even more detested by God. A person without humanity cannot be easily saved even if they believe in God. In God’s household, a person who believes in God but doesn’t act like a proper human being is a difficult person, a person in danger. If someone has not changed at all during the period of God’s salvation work and still has the devil-like appearance of unbelievers, then when the day of God arrives, this type of person will certainly be punished. Some people don’t know etiquette and rules because they didn’t receive good parenting, but this can be learned and practiced. It is very necessary to grasp what things normal humanity should be equipped with. Knowing how to be a proper human being and entering a life of normal humanity is also a lesson to be learned. If you believe in God, you must seek after salvation and live out a meaningful life. Having no knowledge of humanity won’t do either. Most of us believers in God all grew up in working-class families. Our parents don’t have much knowledge or wisdom and only know how to make money to feed their family. They basically don’t know how to raise children into adults. People like us are indeed pitiful. After going through Satan’s various methods of corruption, all we know is doing whatever it takes to seek a way out in life. Thanks to God in the flesh coming to save us, we now know the extent of man’s corruption, what man is lacking, and how to pursue to obtain the truth and life. Understanding all of this is due to God’s grace.

There are still a few situations that are most serious. Everyone can see very clearly that various types of evil people have already revealed themselves. Some don’t observe the boundaries between men and women and engage in lustful behavior that is disgusting and nauseating to see. They are incorrigible rogues, worse than animals. These types of people will have even more serious punishment awaiting them in the end. There’s another kind of person: Perhaps their family is extremely poor and they cannot survive, so whenever they have the opportunity they will take advantage wherever they can, unscrupulously getting their hands on money and material things. They are scumbags with vile characters. These people fail to appreciate kindness and are not worthy of pity. There are also those who perpetrate whatever evils they please, lying and cheating people everywhere out of their possessions. But later they give themselves away, allowing others to see through them and earning the loathing and hatred of others before being rejected in the end. All of these evildoers are people God detests. These are villains in this stream, and the kind of punishment they receive will be determined by how events develop and change. I hope everyone can take the failures of these people as a warning, so they can avoid evoking God’s wrath and bearing punishment. I hope everyone looks out for themselves.

    There are 10 things to pay attention to and practice when it comes to acting like how a normal person should be:

    1. Follow etiquette, know the rules, and respect the old and care for the young.

    2. Have an appropriate lifestyle; that is beneficial to yourself and to others.

    3. Dress in a dignified and upright manner; strange or fancy clothing is prohibited.

    4. Don’t, for whatever reason, ask to borrow money from brothers or sisters, and don’t casually use other people’s things.

    5. Contact with the opposite sex must have boundaries; actions need to be dignified and upright.

    6. Don’t argue with people; learn to listen to people with patience.

    7. Be particular about hygiene, but in light of actual conditions.

    8. Engage in normal interactions and relationships with people, learn to respect and be considerate toward them, and love each other.

    9. Do what you can to help those in need; don’t take or accept things from other people.

    10. Don’t let people serve you; don’t let others do work you should be doing yourself.

    The above 10 rules should be the minimum followed by all believers in God in their human living. People who break these rules have poor character. You can say these are the rules of God’s household. Those who frequently infringe them will certainly be cast aside.

    All those who seek after the truth also need to follow the 10 good character traits of ancient saints. People who regularly practice and maintain these will surely benefit significantly. They are extremely beneficial.

    The 10 principles to conform with saintly decency:

    1. Conduct spiritual formation in the morning by pray-reading God’s word for around half an hour.

    2. Search for God’s intentions in all things every day to help practice the truth with more accuracy.

    3. Communicate with all you come in contact with, learning from each other to both progress.

    4. Have an optimistic attitude toward life, and often sing hymns and praises and give thanks for God’s grace.

    5. Don’t be entangled by the secular world; get closer to God in your heart regularly and don’t meddle.

    6. Keep wisdom in your heart and stay away from evil and dangerous places.

    7. Don’t argue with people, communicate the truth, and get along with others.

    8. Be willing to do all you can to assist others, alleviate their concerns, and help them resolve their difficulties in the entry of belief in God.

    9. Learn how to obey people, don’t rule over people and don’t force them; let people gain benefits in all things.

    10. Often worship God in your heart, letting Him be the Lord and satisfying Him in everything.

    The above 10 principles of human living and the 10 ways to conform to saintly decency are all things people are capable of doing. People can practice these things if they understand them. Even if they occasionally transgress it’s not difficult to resolve. There’s no need to talk about specific people whose humanity is too bad.

    You may not be able to grasp the more profound truths, but you should at least understand what knowledge of normal humanity you should have. People who can’t even abide by these few principles are too unlike how human beings should be, and are virtually no different to beasts in man’s clothing. I advise some people to not misbehave and to have some self-respect. Don’t do things that dishonor God and be used as a joke by Satan. An instant of satisfaction in the flesh can bring an eternity of embarrassment and pain. God is about to punish people soon. Being punished is an extremely painful and most disgraceful thing. Not being able to achieve the reward and receiving punishment instead can make you not have the face to continue living. Don’t you think so?

from the fellowship from the above

    Normal humanity mainly points to having conscience and sense, having character and dignity. Conscience and sense include showing forbearance, having patience toward others, being honest, treating people with wisdom, and having genuine love for brothers and sisters. These are the five characteristics normal humanity must possess.

    The first characteristic is having a heart of forbearance. What does forbearance mean here? It means no matter what faults we see in our brothers and sisters we should treat them correctly, not exclude them and not lash out against them. To treat them correctly is to express tolerance and understanding. When we see flaws or corruption revealed in other people we should remember that this is the period of God’s salvation work, and that every one of God’s chosen people has revelation of corruption. It is normal and we should understand. Apart from that, we need to look at our own corruption, the revelation of which might not necessarily be less than other people. How we treat our own revelation of corruption should be how we treat the revelation of corruption of others. That way, we can forbear others and achieve the effect of forbearance. If you cannot forbear other people, it means there is a problem with your sense and proves that you don’t understand the truth and don’t know God’s work. What does it mean to not know God’s work? It’s not knowing that God’s work is currently not over, and that man is still living in the period of God’s salvation work and has not been made complete. Therefore, every person will inevitably be revealing corruption. Now everyone is normally seeking after the truth, getting to know their own corruption, and experiencing God’s word. Everybody is in the period of entering the truth and has not yet fully obtained the truth. It is only when people acquire the truth that their life disposition will begin to change. When people comprehend this point they will have the sense of a normal person. When people are sensible they will treat others with sense. If people are not sensible they won’t treat anyone with sense. This is the forbearance aspect.

    The second characteristic is patience. Simply being forbearing is not enough; you must also be patient. Sometimes you can be forbearing and understanding, but it’s hard to avoid a particular brother or sister doing something that might hurt or offend you. In such a situation it is easy for man’s corrupt disposition to break out. We all like to fight and defend our own pride, we’re all selfish and vain. So if someone says something that hurts you or does something that offends you, you should be patient. So what is patience? Patience is also included in the scope of sense. We need sense to have patience. But how can we be patient? If you want to have patience toward others, you first need to understand them, meaning no matter who says something that hurts you, you should know how to think and how to deal with it. You should first understand this: His words have hurt me. What he said seemed to be exposing my shortcomings and appeared to be directed at me. If his words are directed at me, what does he mean by them? Is he trying to do me harm? Does he see me as his enemy? Does he hate me? Is he exacting revenge against me? I did not offend him, so the answer to these questions cannot be yes. If that’s the case, then no matter what this brother or sister said, he or she had no intentions to hurt me or treat me as their enemy. That is for sure. When they said these words they were simply expressing what a normal person thinks, rather than directing them at any particular person. It can be said that they were discussing the truth, discussing knowledge, revealing people’s corruption, or acknowledging their own corrupt state, they were certainly not consciously targeting any specific individual. First you offer understanding, then your anger can dissipate, and then you can achieve patience. Then someone will ask: If someone consciously attacks me and targets me, and only intentionally says these things to achieve some purpose, then how can I be patient? You should be patient like this: Even if someone intentionally attacks me, I should still be patient. This is because they are my brother or sister and not my enemy, and certainly not the devil, Satan. It is inevitable that brothers and sisters will reveal some corruption and have certain intentions in their hearts. This is normal. I understand, and I should empathize and be patient. Once you think this way, you should pray to God and say: “God, someone just hurt my pride. I can’t accept the loss of face and it makes me always want to get mad and attack them. This really is a revelation of corruption. I used to think I had love for others, but now that someone’s words have stabbed me in the heart I can’t take it. I want to strike back. I want revenge. There is no love here! Isn’t this all just hate? I still have hate in my heart! God, the way You have mercy on us and forgive us for our sins is how we should have mercy on others. We shouldn’t bear grudges. God, please protect me, don’t let my nature break out. I wish to obey You and live in Your love. We disobey and resist Christ and God far too much, but Christ is still being patient with us. God is carrying out this stage of His work with extreme patience and love. How much suffering, humiliation and slander did Christ have to endure? If Christ could be patient with it, then the tiny bit of patience we need to have is nothing! What we have to be patient about cannot compare to that of Christ….” Once you pray in this way you will feel like you’re too corrupt, too insignificant, too lacking in stature, and that is when you will be able to be patient, when you’ll no longer be angry and your fury will be extinguished. That is how you can achieve patience.

    The third characteristic is treating people with honesty. Being honest to people means no matter what we do, whether it is helping others or ministering to our brothers and sisters or communicating the truth, we have to speak from the heart. Don’t be false and don’t be fake. Further, don’t preach what you haven’t done. Whenever brothers and sisters need our help we should help them. Whatever duty we need to fulfill we should fulfill it. Be honest and not false or pretentious. … Of course, being an honest person requires a bit of wisdom when dealing with certain individuals. If you see that this person is not reliable, if their corruption is quite deep, if you cannot see through them and don’t know what they might do, then you need to be wise and not tell them everything. Being an honest person requires principles. Don’t blindly speak of things you shouldn’t be speaking of. We should talk about what we should be talking about. Furthermore, being an honest person requires speaking with reason and normality. Don’t say to someone: “I’ll be honest with you today and tell you everything about me.” This isn’t being an honest person. This is a children’s game. You have to be normal. They say: “I’m working today, so if there is nothing going on with you then I’m going to handle my affairs.” You say: “Hey, wait a minute, I must first be an honest person with you and tell you some things.” They say: “I don’t have the time to listen, I’m in a hurry to get things done.” You say: “No, I must be an honest person with you. I used to be like that to you and now I should be like this to you.” Isn’t this silly? Being an honest person is being a smart person and not a stupid person. It’s about being smart, simple and open, and undeceiving. You have to be normal and sensible. Honesty is built upon sense. This is what it means to be honest when dealing with people, and to be an honest person. Of course, the most important thing about being an honest person is being honest to God. Wouldn’t it be a big problem if you are merely an honest person in front of other people but you are not honest before God and deceive Him? If you seek to be honest people before God, then you naturally become honest before others. If you can’t do it before God, then you can’t do it even more before other people. No matter what aspect of the truth or positive thing you are entering, you must first do it before God. When you can do it successfully in front of God, you’ll naturally be able to live it out in front of other people. Don’t strain yourself to do this or that before others and freely do whatever you want in front of God. That won’t do. The most important thing is doing it before God, who tests humanity and searches their hearts. You truly have reality if you pass the test before God. You don’t have reality if you don’t pass the test before God. This is the principle when you are practicing the truth.

The fourth characteristic is dealing with people with wisdom. Some people say: “Does getting along with brothers and sisters require wisdom?” Yes, it does, because using wisdom provides even greater benefits for your brothers and sisters. Some will ask: “Isn’t being wise with brothers and sisters being cunning?” Wisdom is not cunning. Rather, it is the complete opposite of cunning. To use wisdom means paying attention to the way you talk to brothers and sisters when they have small stature, in case they won’t be able to accept what you say. Also, for people with small stature, especially those who are not possessed of the truth and who reveal some corruption and have some corrupt disposition, if you are too simple and open and tell them everything, it can sometimes be easy for them to have something on you or for you to be used. This is not good either. Since humans have corrupt disposition, you must more or less take some precautions and have some technique when speaking. But being cautious against people doesn’t mean not helping them or not having love for them. It just means not telling them some of the important things about God’s household right away, and simply communicating the truth to them. If they need spiritual assistance in life and the truth to be supplied to them, we have to do everything in our ability to satisfy them in this regard. But if they are inquiring about this and that about God’s household, or this and that about its leaders and workers, then there’s no need to tell them. If you tell them, they are likely to leak this information and this will affect the work of God’s household. In other words, if it is something they shouldn’t know or something they have no need to know, then don’t let them know about it. If it is something they ought to know, then do all you can to let them know about it, concretely and without reservation. So what are things they ought to know? The pursuit of truth is what they should know; what truth they should be equipped with, what aspects of the truth they should understand, what duties they should fulfill, what duties they are suited to fulfill, how they should fulfill those duties, how to live out normal humanity, how to live the church life—these are all things people should know. On the other hand, the rules and principles of God’s household and the work of the church cannot be divulged to outsiders, nor can the situations of your brothers and sisters be disclosed to outsiders or non-believers in your family. This is the principle that must be abided by when we use wisdom. The names and addresses of your leaders, for example, are things you should not talk about. If you talk about these things, you never know when this information might fall into the ears of outsiders, and things could get very troublesome if it then gets passed on to some evil spies or secret agents. You must be wise about these things. That is why I say wisdom is very necessary. Moreover, when you are being simple and open, you cannot just tell anyone certain private things. You have to judge the stature of your brothers and sisters to see if, after you tell them, they might be ungodly and joke about what you say. It will be a problem if they let it get out there; it will damage your character. So being simple and open also requires wisdom. That’s the fourth standard normal humanity must possess—dealing with people with wisdom.

    The fifth characteristic is to have genuine care for brothers and sisters who truly believe in God. This involves a bit of real love, actual assistance, and spirit of dedication. We should especially communicate more with and supply more to those brothers and sisters who are in pursuit of the truth, regardless of whether they are new believers or have been believers for several years. There is this one particular principle of church life: Give special treatment to those who seek after the truth. Communicate to them more, supply them more, and water them more to quickly help them up, to make their lives grow up as soon as possible. For those who don’t seek after the truth, if it becomes obvious that they don’t love the truth after a period of watering, then there is no need to spend too much effort on them. It is not necessary because you have already done everything humanly possible. It is enough that you have fulfilled your responsibility. … You need to see who to focus your work on. Will God perfect those who don’t pursue the truth? If the Holy Spirit won’t, then why should you keep going at it blindly? You don’t understand the work of the Holy Spirit yet always act conceited—isn’t that your stupidity and ignorance? So, give more assistance to brothers and sisters who truly pursue the truth, because they are the objects of God’s salvation and His predetermined chosen ones. If we often communicate the truth with these people with one heart and mind and support and supply each other, in the end we will all obtain salvation. You are betraying God’s will if you don’t join these people. … People with normal humanity in the church should place themselves among those who seek after the truth, get along in harmony with these people, and through the pursuit of the truth gradually expend for God together with one heart and mind. That way, people in pursuit of the truth will be saved and you will also be saved, because the Holy Spirit works among those in pursuit of the truth. …

We have communicated above the five aspects normal humanity must possess. If you are equipped with all five of these characteristics, you will be able to get along in harmony with your brothers and sisters, you will be able to find your spot in the church, and you will be able to fulfill your role to the best of your ability.

from the fellowship from the above

    The fourth type of expression of dispositional change is having a conscience, having sense, and being kind-hearted, and becoming an honest person. To have conscience and sense means a person is enjoying God’s grace and knows to repay God’s love. They can fulfill their duty of a created being through believing in God because they have an understanding of God, they are kind-hearted, and have become an honest person. As an honest person, they can fulfill their duty and repay God’s love, and treat people with kindness. This kind of person doesn’t lie, doesn’t cheat, and certainly doesn’t have any machinations. Getting along with someone like this will never pose any danger to you or hurt you. … After their life disposition changes, people can become kind, treat everyone with fairness, and be especially gracious toward those who are particularly good. First, they won’t cheat you. Secondly, they won’t try to trap you. Thirdly, they surely won’t intend to hurt you. You never have to worry about these things. Further, if you hurt them in some ways, they will forgive you and won’t hold on to your transgressions. They will tolerate you, forbear you, be patient with you, and still treat you with love. Wouldn’t it be much safer if you met someone like this? A person whose life disposition has changed has a kind heart and has love for every person and is willing to help them. Even if you hurt them or do wrong by them, they can forbear, be patient with, and forgive you. Such is a person with normal humanity and the likeness of a real person. Someone in the likeness of a real person treats people with conscience, sense, and through the truth. They obey God, have a loving heart, and carry out true worship. That’s a person whose life disposition has changed. People nowadays have too many malevolent ingredients in them, so how do they act? If they see anyone they dislike they will judge and belittle them. Isn’t that cruel? Also, if they see anyone who reveals some corruption, they won’t treat them like human beings, and will instead treat them as demons. Not treating people correctly—isn’t that malicious? If someone does wrong by them or says some things they shouldn’t have said, such as words that judge them or doubt them, or offend them, they will be unforgiving, they will want revenge and to go tit for tat. Isn’t that vicious? On top of that, they always try to take advantage of people, order them around and get others to do things for them, but they never help anyone else. Isn’t that nasty? All of these are malignant expressions. Kind people don’t have evil in their hearts. If you owe them, they won’t mind, but they won’t owe you anything because for them that’s definitely unacceptable. Plus, it’s not a problem if you offend them, but they would never want to offend you, let alone harm you. Isn’t that kind-hearted? When anyone does something unfavorable toward them, they can also put themselves in that person’s shoes and be considerate toward them, can forgive them, and understand them. This is also the expression of a kind heart. Some people committed a lot of evil in the past, but they now have faith in God and can pursue the truth, and further they can forgive others and treat them correctly and fairly. This type of person is classified as a kind-hearted person. Kind-hearted people have forbearance, mercy, forgiveness, and endurance in their hearts, and even more so they have love and sympathy. That is why everyone loves to be in contact with someone like this and is willing to make such a friend.

from “The Truth One Must Enter Into to Achieve Dispositional Change and Expressions of Dispositional Change” in Classic Selections From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

    Once a saved person has a true understanding of God, they will be able to live out the likeness of a true person. This likeness of a true person can be summed up with two phrases. The first is possessing the truth, and the second is having humanity. Only such a person is a truly honest person before God. A truly honest person has the truth inside them, so they definitely won’t be corrupted or deceived by Satan again. They see through this world and its evil and darkness, as well as the nature and essence of corrupted human beings. Therefore, they can genuinely worship God, truly obey God, and their life becomes a real testimony of their faith in God. Such an individual is a saved person. As a saved person possesses the truth, they have conscience and sense before God and character and dignity before others. They hold fast to the word of God, and they can satisfy the Creator by fulfilling their duty as a created being. That is a saved person. One aspect of a saved person who possesses the truth is that they can see through the world, see through Satan, and see through corrupted people. Therefore, they know how to deal with the world, they know how to deal with Satan, and they especially know how to deal with corrupted people. As such, there are many things in their lives for which they definitely have principles and the truth. A person equipped with the truth behaves in several ways. First, when it comes to things related to the truth, they pray and seek God and obey Him. Secondly, when they fulfill their duty in God’s household, they safeguard God’s work, they dare to uphold the truth and principles, and are unafraid to offend people. They can perform their duty as a created being and their heart is one with God, always standing on His side. This is the side of a saved person who possesses the truth. Their humane side is that they know to repay God’s love and can faithfully perform their duties as a created being and do everything in their ability to fulfill the duties they can. Additionally, they have normal relationships with others and can coexist normally with most people, get along with them, speak honestly and do things with wisdom. That’s their humane side. Those who behave in these two ways are people with the truth and with humanity. People with humanity might not appear lofty, and they may not have any particular knowledge or experiences, but because they possess the truth, they have a normal humanity. Those who truly understand the truth have normal humanity. From the outside, such a person might not stand out or look special. They might seem very ordinary, very normal, and unremarkable, but people without the truth cannot see through them. Only those who are equipped with the truth, through observations of this person’s life, will be able to tell in the end that this person is different. They have the truth inside them, they have principles, and they do things with utmost wisdom. Further, their normal humanity is simple, honest, and open, making them extremely easy to get along with. Anyone who comes into contact with such a person will think they are a good person. There aren’t many good people like this anymore. They are very rare. Such a person has no bad intentions and performs no evil deeds whatsoever. When you spend time with this person, even though they seem wise and principled toward you, they will never harm you, let alone cheat you. This is enough to prove that a person who possesses the truth and has humanity is a truly kind-hearted and honest person. That is a saved person.

from “The Four Standards for Salvation and the Real Situation of a Saved Person” in Classic Selections From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life