﻿Hey, Ming'en,
help me clean the vegetables.
Brother Zhao will be here for a meeting soon.
Oh.
There's no one outside, right?
No.
The CCP
keeps changing its methods to eliminate religious faith and watch over us Christians.
Spying on us, questioning us,
it's really just despicable!
Oh.
We have to make sure the area's safe,
so the brothers and sisters can meet without worrying.
Oh.
Hey, this is a serious topic,
can you stop answering me in monosyllables?
Oh.
Hey!
Oh.
What's on your mind?
Oh, nothing.
Nothing?
Your face is as long as a horse's.
Something's on your mind.
Oh, well, it's the church election. (Yes?)
Sister Chen and Brother Wang were elected as a church leader and deacon,
and Sister Zhao was elected as a group leader,
but me?
They've left me at home doing hosting duty.
So what?
You think hosting is a waste of your talent?
Well, I was thinking about it,
and when I believed in the Lord, I was a church worker and gave sermons.
Now, I've accepted God's work of the last days for almost a year.
So in the church I at least ought to be in a leadership position, right?
Oh!
No wonder I've seen you looking upset the last few days.
You want to be a leader, and you're not happy with hosting duty?
Well, listen, here's what I see:
There's so much work in the church to do right now,
and they need people to help.
Me wanting to be a leader should be in accord with God's will, right?
Alright, (Yes?)
it's good to want to be a leader and care for God's will,
but do you have the realities of truth now?
Can you use the truth to resolve our brothers' and sisters' difficulties and problems?
Who says I can't?
Can you lead the brothers and sisters in practicing
and experiencing God's words? (I am entirely—)
Without the realities of truth, how can we lead other people?
Do you think this is the same as being a preacher in religion,
where you only had to talk about biblical knowledge, theology,
and give testimony of enjoying God's grace,
working, and suffering? (Oh, never mind.)
Ming'en, look at yourself!
Since you believed in the Lord,
you have done some work and suffered, that's true,
but now you can't even be obedient about hosting duty!
That means you haven't changed.
This isn't sincere repentance!
Excuse me!
How haven't I achieved real repentance and change?
Yeah, I do have some opinions about being on hosting duty,
but I still accepted and obeyed, didn't I?
Also, in the past, I never submitted to anyone,
but now I can accept whatever people tell me,
and I'm happy to be the humblest of all.
That's repentance and change, isn't it?
That's outward obedience, not obedience in your heart.
How could you call that genuine repentance?
Fine, then you tell me,
if this isn't genuine repentance, what is?
That …
Yeah?
I can't explain it. Ask Brother Zhao in a bit.
All that arguing and you don't know anything about it! (Yes, I do.)
You're wrong about that.
Forget it. I'll go open the door.
It's you. Come in.
OK.
Hi, Brother Zhao. (Sister Li.)
I'll go get the book.
Okay.
Brother Zhao, it's good you're here.
There's a question I'm confused about. I wanted to ask you.
What question?
It's this,
when I believed in the Lord, I always thought,
since I had believed for a long time,
forsaken everything to work and preach,
traveled long distances, and suffered much,
that I was quite an impressive person,
and that I was better than the others, so I looked down on them.
In the year since accepting Almighty God's work of the last days,
I've understood some truth,
then achieved some change.
I can seriously listen to what young brothers and sisters like you say,
and I can accept what accords with the truth.
I'm not as arrogant as I was in the past.
Also, I can obediently submit to whatever duties the church arranges for me.
So, wouldn't you say that's sincere repentance and change?
But she insists that I haven't changed.
I can't get through to her.
Maybe you can fellowship, so she'll understand! (Hey, hey!)
What are you doing, putting it all on my head?
I'm just telling him the truth! (As if you are!)
That's not the truth at all!
Sister Li, Brother Zhang, listen, let's all sit down.
Let's hear what Brother Zhao has to say. (Yeah, let's sit down.)
You don't know what you're talking about. (I deal with this every day.)
Brother Zhang, (Yes.)
after we accept Almighty God's work of the last days,
we do indeed achieve some change,
and we show some real faith in God.
But, these are just changes in our behaviors.
We only become a bit more reasonable in our words and actions,
and gain more of the decency of the saints.
But, if we haven't resolved the corruptions within us,
we can't call it true repentance and change.
What?
This is just behavioral change, not true repentance and change? (Yeah.)
Brother Zhao, give us the detailed version.
First, let's read two passages of Almighty God's words,
and we'll understand
why behavioral change is different from dispositional change.
Oh, okay.
Here, Brother Zhang, you read.
Alright, I'll read.
I need to put on my glasses.
The next part is good too. I'll read it.
Yes. OK.
Wow! God's words really are practical! (Yeah.)
In the past, that's exactly what I thought.
If I don't strike others, curse others, or take advantage of others,
forsake, expend, labor, work, and do whatever the church arranges for me,
that is genuine repentance and true change.
But if I compare that to God's word,
I don't think I'm understanding it right!
God's word says it very clearly.
After we believe in God, even though we achieve some change,
such as not being as arrogant as before,
being more humble and tolerant in our interactions,
being able to continue spreading the gospel and performing our duties in adverse environments,
and even being able to not deny God
when we are arrested and imprisoned by the CCP, (Right.)
these things are just outward behavioral changes,
and they don't mean we have genuinely repented,
or that we have achieved a change in our life disposition.
Behavioral change comes from the work of the Holy Spirit,
or from enthusiasm,
or from maintaining self-control and abiding by rules.
These changes aren't long-lasting and don't stand up to testing.
The satanic nature of resisting God within us and our satanic dispositions haven't been resolved,
so the moment God's work doesn't accord with our notions,
our satanic nature of resisting God will be exposed,
and we can rebel against God, resist God, or even deny and betray God.
It sounds very dangerous if we don't change our life disposition! (Yeah.)
The difference between behavioral change and dispositional change is pretty big.
Yeah. Yes.
It's just like the Jewish Pharisees.
They traveled to all corners of the earth to spread their faith,
interpreted the Scriptures for people, and taught others to keep the laws.
Others saw them as very spiritual and very pious.
They seemed to be very obedient to God.
From their behavior, you can't see any problems, can you? (Yeah.)
Then why did they nail the Lord Jesus to the cross?
Because by their nature,
they were arrogant, self-righteous, hated God, and hated the truth.
So, even though they clearly knew that what the Lord Jesus expressed was the way of truth,
they didn't seek or investigate,
and they strove to resist and condemn the Lord Jesus.
What does this prove?
It proves that all their good deeds were hypocritical.
They were done to deceive people.
Right!
If people only have good behavior without changing their satanic nature,
they can still resist God.
When you put it like that,
it reminds me of Pastor Wu from my old church.
He was outwardly humble and kind,
and was usually loving to others.
When he prayed, he was so repentant he would weep.
He looked very pious.
But when he heard about Almighty God's work of the last days,
his demeanor immediately changed, his eyes went red,
and he wantonly judged, condemned, slandered, and blasphemed Almighty God.
He also insulted and beat brothers and sisters who witnessed God's last-days work. (That's right.)
He even incited us to call the police on them!
All the venom and rage in him showed right through.
You have no idea, Brother Zhao.
It was incredible to me.
How could Pastor Wu, who normally seemed so humble and kind,
become so vicious in the blink of an eye? (Yeah.)
How is he any different than the Pharisees?
There's no difference at all!
Right.
The example of the Pharisees and the pastors and elders makes the problem very clear. (Exactly.)
No matter how many good deeds a person does,
it's not genuine repentance and change.
You know,
without this fellowship, I wouldn't see it so clearly.
Thanks be to God!
So, Ming'en, now you'll admit I'm right?
Look at you, you always rub my nose in it!
I don't understand the truth,
so I'm seeking it, aren't I?
Right, you're seeking, you're seeking.
Yes.
The more we discuss and fellowship on the truth,
the more clear it becomes. (Yes.)
Absolutely!
Hey, Brother Zhao, (Yes?)
let's fellowship more on what genuine repentance is.
Genuine repentance means change in a person's disposition,
genuine obedience of God, and being able to do God's will.
If we read Almighty God's word, we'll understand even more clearly. (Alright.)
Hey, I'll read it. (Okay.)
Here, it's this one.
Oh, 'kay.
So dispositional change refers to a change in our natures?
Dispositional change doesn't refer to being able to labor, work, forsake, and expend for God,
and it doesn't mean outwardly appearing to be pious or doing good deeds.
It means experiencing God's work, understanding the truth,
coming to know the truth of our own corruption by Satan,
seeing how ugly and despicable we are when we live by our corrupt dispositions,
and developing genuine loathing of our satanic natures.
That gives us true repentance,
which makes us willing to pursue the truth and live by God's words,
which in turn produces a change in our views,
makes us able to resolve our satanic dispositions and natures which resist God,
and allows us to fear God and shun evil,
so that we never again rebel against or resist God in any situation,
so that we can obey God and be compatible with God,
and we can do God's will.
This is what dispositional change means,
and what genuine repentance means.
Now I understand.
The point of genuine repentance
is primarily to change the satanic natures within us that resist God,
so that we can be truly obedient to God and change our life disposition.
But, Brother Zhao, (Yes?)
then what does satanic nature refer to?
Right.
A satanic nature is made up of all variety of satanic toxins and dispositions.
For thousands of years,
Satan has used the fallacious theories and lies of great men and kings of devils
to deceive and corrupt people.
Ideas such as "There has never been any Savior,"
"One's destiny is in his own hand,"
"Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,"
"To be a scholar is to be at the top of society,"
"Toil with your mind to govern, your hands to be governed."
What else …
Oh, "I am my own lord throughout heaven and earth,"
"Legitimacy belongs to the winner; winners are right and losers are wrong,"
"Men should always strive to be better than their peers."
And "A man leaves his name behind, like a goose's cry." (Right.)
"Trees live for bark, man for their face,"
"Man struggles upwards;
water flows downwards."
Right.
And there are many more such satanic philosophies.
These satanic toxins are rooted deep in our hearts,
and they've become our natures and our lives.
They firmly control what we think,
and they've twisted our views on life and values.
We worship evil and always want to stand above others, at the front of the crowd.
We want to be in charge of things and don't want to obey God's orchestrations and arrangements.
We fight and scheme amongst ourselves for fame and benefits,
deceiving, using, killing, and framing each other
as our dispositions become ever more arrogant, selfish, cunning, and evil.
We loathe the truth, and deny and resist God.
This satanic nature
is the root cause of why we sin and resist God.
God has come incarnate and expressed the truth in the last days
precisely to resolve our satanic natures.
When we experience God's judgment and chastisement,
we escape these corrupt dispositions,
and then, no matter how Satan deceives or tempts us, it can no longer corrupt us.
At that point, we have escaped the influence of Satan
and been fully saved by God. (Thanks be to God!)
Fellowship like this is so practical!
If you hadn't told me the way that you just did,
I never would have known that the lies of great men
are satanic toxins meant to corrupt us. (Right.)
You know, this is helping me understand something.
All their absurd logic sounds right,
and in fact we take it on as maxims to live by,
but when we live by these sayings,
we lose our human likeness and become more resistant to God,
and we live more like devils than human beings.
These satanic poisons really are evil!
They are.
Just like me,
I busy myself with doing my hosting duty,
but in my heart,
I always want my brothers and sisters to see me positively
so that God will remember me,
so I can enter the kingdom of heaven and receive blessings. (Yes.)
I am not fulfilling my duties to satisfy God,
it is all to gain blessings and serve my own interests.
I am so selfish and despicable
because I am under the control of satanic toxins like
"Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost."
You're speaking straight to the point.
If it wasn't to gain blessings and enter the kingdom of heaven,
where would I've found such motivation to forsake and expend for the Lord?
Ming'en, do you remember what you used to say?
What did I say?
I remember, when I was preaching and working for the Lord,
neither wind nor rain could stop me;
I was imprisoned, suffered, and nearly beaten to death by the police,
but I never betrayed the Lord.
With the suffering I've borne for God,
I'm certain to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven and gain blessings!
You do a pretty good impression!
Never mind me,
even our chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, and cats have memorized all those lines!
Ming'en, Hui, are you at home?
Who is it?
It's me, Lao Zhou!
Quick! Quick!
Go hide in that room!
Coming!
Open up!
Oh, Lao Zhou, do you need something?
Do I have to need something to visit?
There's no better friend than a neighbor when you need them,
and since we're neighbors, why do I need a reason to drop in?
Hey …
Oh, Ming'en, you're at home!
Lao Zhou, do you need something?
Oh, no, nothing.
It looks like you've decorated the place pretty nicely.
Hey, Hui, I'm curious, (Yes?)
I just saw someone come to your house.
Who was it? (My nephew.)
He only stopped for a minute. He's gone.
Oh, your nephew? (Yeah.)
He looked to me like a preacher.
Lao Zhou, I wonder,
you seem to know when we have visitors and everything else that goes on.
When did you become our security guard, watching over our house?
Oh, no, Ming'en, it's nothing like that!
I'm hardly watching you! I'm just surveill …
serving the neighborhood by keeping a lookout.
It's a good thing, isn't it, Hui?
"Serving the neighborhood" sounds better than "surveillance," true.
You know as well as I do
that the government wants to stop people from believing in God.
The "five household accountability system" means we have to watch over each other.
If someone suddenly has a visitor,
it's my job to find out what's going on, isn't it?
Lao Zhou, it's actually not a good time.
Ming'en and I have to go out, so maybe …
You …
Let me take this call.
What is it? I'm busy!
What?
You lost my grandson?
This is unbelievable!
Then … go look for him! Go look for him now!
Why are you sitting there?
You're the most useless husband! You're no good for anything!
How could you lose my grandson? (Oh, Lao Zhou, you're leaving?)
Not my grandson!
This is killing me!
That woman is ridiculous.
Brother Zhao, come out. (Okay.)
The CCP uses the "five household accountability system,"
so they have eyes everywhere to stop people from believing in God. It's just evil!
Yes, it is.
Let's not let Satan's disturbances constrain us.
Brother Zhao, let's continue our meeting. (Alright.)
Brother Zhao, please continue.
Okay.
From our fellowship just now, we know
that behavioral change isn't the same as genuine repentance,
and that it doesn't mean someone's life disposition has changed.
I actually have my own experience in this regard.
Tell us about it!
In the last church election,
I thought I would definitely be chosen as church leader.
To my surprise, Sister Han was elected.
That was upsetting for me.
I had believed in God longer than her,
I had suffered and expended much more than her,
and I have a higher education than her,
so why did they choose her instead of me?
I wondered what my brothers and sisters really thought of me.
When Sister Han arranged work for me,
I outwardly obeyed, but inwardly, I didn't want to.
I wasn't as enthusiastic in my duties as before,
and spiritually, I felt especially dark.
What happened then?
After that, I read in Almighty God's words,
Reading God's words, I realized
that my outward behaviors had indeed changed,
but the arrogant nature that resists God within me hadn't changed.
I still lived by my satanic nature,
pursued fame and status, and wanted to rise above others.
I always tried to use my work and suffering
as things to show off in front of my brothers and sisters.
I wanted them to look up to me and worship me.
I wasn't actually someone who pursued the truth.
When my brothers and sisters didn't choose me,
I felt embarrassed,
so I became negative and lazy,
and argued with and opposed God.
That was when I realized
that no matter how many good deeds I did,
if I didn't resolve my satanic disposition,
the moment the circumstances arranged by God didn't fit with my notions,
I could still rebel against God and resist God.
Hey, that's really true!
No matter how many good deeds someone does,
it doesn't mean they've genuinely repented.
Hey, Brother Zhao, (Yes?)
I'll tell you what,
it's just like me and Ming'en.
Most of the time, we don't fight,
and outwardly I can be tolerant and patient,
but when things happen,
I always think I'm right,
and I always force him to listen to me.
If he doesn't, I get angry, and I lose my temper and scold him.
Aren't I arrogant and self-important?
I haven't truly repented, have I?
That's a very good understanding of it.
So, Ming'en, (Ah?)
after hearing Brother Zhao's fellowship, do you understand the issue now?
Excuse me! What makes you think I don't?
Then tell us what you've learned.
Outward behavioral change is not the same as true repentance.
Yes.
That's all?
That's all.
Just one sentence?
Yeah.
No, listen …
You … you can't …
Why don't you tell him about your "wasted talent"?
It's perfectly fine if I keep something so small to myself!
Why talk about it?
You call that small? Come on! (You always rub my nose in it!)
Brother Zhang,
we've all been corrupted by Satan.
We all have the same corrupt dispositions.
No one will laugh at you.
If we open up and fellowship, God will enlighten and guide us.
Hey, how does that hymn we sing in church go?
Which one?
Alright, now stop putting it off.
Say it. (Yes, Brother Zhang. Tell me.)
Alright, well,
the church arranged for me to do hosting duty this time,
and while I agreed to do it, the fact is I very much don't want to.
I used to be a preacher,
but now I'm doing hosting duty.
Isn't that a waste of my talent?
What do my brothers and sisters think of me?
So, I wanted a duty like church leader or deacon,
where I could be in public more.
But, if I apply our fellowship just now to myself,
I see that I'm being arrogant and self-important by trying to show off my qualifications
and pursuing status to make others look up to me.
I'm still a long way from true repentance!
Thanks be to God!
That we can achieve this knowledge
is the result of reading God's word and understanding the truth.
Yes.
If we don't experience the judgment and chastisement in God's words,
we'll never realize the truth of our own corruption or the root of our sins,
which makes it even more impossible to achieve true repentance. (Right.)
Almighty God's work of judgment and chastisement in the last days is so necessary.
As corrupt humans, we need it! (Right.)
Without fellowship like we've had today,
we would never recognize our own deficiencies. (Right!)
Thanks be to God!
These are the results achieved by Almighty God's words! (Thanks be to God!)
Hey. Let's read some more of Almighty God's words!
Sure, okay.
Here.