Selected Preachings of the Leaders from Different Levels in the Church

Many people among us have made a solemn vow before God: “In the future, no matter how God treats me, or what trial comes upon me, I will never betray God.” And we firmly believe in our hearts that since we have followed God for such a long time and have eaten and drunk so many words of God, we will never betray God no matter who betrays God.

That we have such a state shows that we do not know our innate nature of betrayal. God says: “As man’s soul is completely in satan’s hand, there is no doubt that man’s flesh is occupied by satan. How can such a flesh and such a mankind not resist God? And how can he innately be in harmony with God? Satan was cast into the air by me for betraying me. Then how can mankind not be affected? This is why man betrays by nature.” “…betrayal is not just an outward immoral behavior, but even more something that contradicts the truth. It is the very root of man’s resisting and disobeying me. So I make such a summary: Betrayal is man’s inherent nature, and this inherent nature is the natural enemy of everyone’s being in harmony with me.” God’s words clearly tell us that we betray God and are hostile to God by nature, betrayal is our inherent nature, and what comes out of us are all things of contradicting the truth, in which there is no element of being in harmony with God. We all know that satan betrayed God, so after people were corrupted by satan, they had the same innate nature of betraying God as satan—rejecting God, not worshipping God, not obeying God, and always wanting to live independently without God. And for thousands of years, people have been badly contaminated by the society, have been influenced by feudal ethics, and have been educated in “institutions of higher learning.” Such things as various backward thoughts, mean outlooks on life and values, and various contemptible philosophies of life and debased customs and ways of living are all severely invading and harassing people’s hearts, so that their thoughts and viewpoints have been completely assimilated by satan and their hearts are filled with evil, reactionary, and rebellious things. They do not like positive things nor yearn for light, righteousness, and goodness, but only set their hearts on bustling and rushing about for the flesh and live completely by the logic infused into them by satan. So even today, none of the things that we think, love, yearn for, or seek and preserve in our hearts is what God likes, is a positive thing, or is in conformity with the truth. In other words, every corrupt person has the same innate nature as satan, and every viewpoint of ours coincides with satan’s. So it is natural that we can betray God, and we can betray God at any time and in any place. As it is said in the fellowship from above: “After mankind have been corrupted by satan, their innate nature, with satanic poisons increasing in them day by day, has changed into an innate nature of resisting God and betraying God. Just as satan resists God and betrays God, so also mankind resist God and betray God. Just as satan attempts to be on an equal footing with God, to govern mankind, and to control everything, so also corrupt mankind resist God and betray God and do their utmost to banish the coming of God, chasing after, persecuting, condemning, and rejecting the Christ who has been incarnated twice, and vainly hoping to control their own destiny and to create their own paradise with their own hands. … Man’s innate nature of betraying God is filled with satanic poisons, and what flow out of man’s bones and blood are all satanic poisons such as arrogance and self-conceit, being devoid of conscience, lawlessness, willfulness and recklessness, superciliousness, scorn for Heaven, worship of satan, blind belief in science, hatred for the truth, love of evil, tiredness of purity, confusion between right and wrong, hankering for sinful lust, escape from restrictions, acting against Heaven, surrender to depravity, advocacy of evil, cursing Heaven, complaining against heaven and earth, being impervious to reason, and so on. So how can such a mankind filled with evil and corruptions not resist God or betray God?” From these we readily see that our innate nature is the innate nature of betraying God.

Let us examine and check our various kinds of manifestations in the real life, and then we will become clearer. For example, although we believe in God, we do not love the truth. We are filled with fleshly desires, always pondering how to let our flesh enjoy better and higher things, and we have no desire to pursue while clearly knowing it is the truth. Although we are willing to pursue to live out a meaningful life, we still admire the luxurious material life in the world. With our lips we say that it is a decadent and rotten life, but in our hearts we expect that one day we can also have everything we want and live with an easy grace. Although we call upon God’s name with our mouth, we have no God in our hearts. In doing the work, we never seek God’s intention nor do things according to the principles, but act our own way according to our own notions and imaginations. Although we acknowledge that God’s word is the truth, we treat God’s word with disdain. If the words are to our liking, we practice them; if the words are not to our liking, we give them up. Although we clearly know that God’s high standard and strict requirements are most beneficial to our life, nevertheless, when God’s family makes a little stricter requirement of us, we feel restrained and uneasy and want to pursue our so-called freedom and release. Although we do not want to judge God, nevertheless, once God does something not in conformity with our notions, we will judge and form a fixed view of it. Besides, although we know that what God does today is the work of judging, chastising, refining, and making people perfect, nevertheless, when encountering circumstances not to our liking, we always choose to avoid, and do not want to obey God’s manipulation and arrangement, but want to control ourselves. When encountering trials or disciplines, we become negative and weak and complain that if we did not believe in God, we would not be in such a plight today. When encountering dealing and pruning in our work, we want to leave God and make an achievement in the world with our hands so that we do not need to bear this “grievance” anymore. And so on. These states and manifestations are sufficient to prove that we betray God by nature. It is not a matter of whether we are willing to do it or not or whether we acknowledge it or not, nor is it what we can suppress by ourselves; rather, it is what we were born with and is something in our bones and blood.