Pursuing the truth can let us know God and live an authentic life. That is to say, after we understand some truths, we will have true faith in God and will be able to genuinely follow, obey and serve God. If we do not have any truths, can we genuinely follow God? We cannot. There are many people who believe in God, live a church life and attend meetings, but if they have no one to lead them, they will fall back. Some people will not read the words of God anymore, shun God, lose their faith in God and eventually fall in the darkness. If there were no good people leading, who are genuinely in pursuit of the truth, could you continue to keep the words of God? Could you stand witness? Could you still do your duty as usual? I am afraid that some people cannot. So are such people genuinely following God? These people just believe in God but do not follow God. The main reason why people believe in God but do not follow God is that they do not have the truth and they do not pursue the truth. People who do not have the truth do not have a new life and do not have God’s words as the reality of their life. Such people cannot follow God’s path, the real path of life.
What are the signs of people who follow God? Firstly, they have to pursue the truth, they are eager to understand and know the words of God and to get the truth for their own lives, so they are particularly interested in communicating the truth and eating and drinking the words of God. No matter what environment they are in, they feel that they can only depend on eating and drinking the words of God and pursuing the truth to live and never leave the words of God. This kind of person is really following God. Some people often talk about their own experiences, but have no truth as the reality of their life and just understand some doctrines. Although they can make high-sounding speeches and speak about their own small experiences, when they face a trial, they collapse; when they face life constraints, they do not have faith and collapse and when they face specific difficulties, they have no belief. So are such people following God? Such people are not following God. When there is a good person leading them, they can go along for the ride and as soon as they see the benefits for them in pursuing the truth, they understand in principle, so they continue to attend meetings for this interest and hope to get real blessings, but because they do not desire the truth, when they are faced with some particular circumstances, they cannot carry on and come to a standstill. Because this kind of person hasn’t got the truth, they have no real faith in God. So how do they do their duty and communicate their experience? They also want to get the truth and to be saved, but because in their heart they are not too fond of the truth, just a little interested, when people speak they listen, they understand some of it so feel a little excited, but when they encounter some setbacks and difficulties, they have no enthusiasm. So when they do not have a good leader, they cannot follow God and cannot live a normal church life and they shun God. Do you have such a person in your midst? If there is no one to lead you and to nourish you, how many people can stay standing? How many people can continue to pursue the truth, live out the reality of God’s word, bear witness to God as before and follow God? Are you sure of yourself? Some people can talk about small experiences and small witnesses, but does this count as getting the truth? Does this count as entering into life in reality? What kind of people count as getting the truth and really having reality? The truth cannot be achieved by a little bit of plain experience. Getting the truth is not a simple matter. Tell me, how many years of experiencing God’s words is enough to truly understand them? God wants us to be honest. And how many years do we need to experience it before we truly become an honest man? Is having a little experience and witness enough? A little is not enough. People’s experience of the words of God goes from the superficial to the deep. It is not a case of having a little experience and immediately being able to completely understand the essence of the truth of God’s words. Some people face trials and outwardly, by depending on God, they seem to be victorious. Does this count as real life experience? This does not count because they do not have the truth. This is the most superficial experience. Real life experience is experience to a certain level. Only an experience where you have a real understanding of the truth, completely figure out God’s will, understand the essence of the truth, are able to live by the words of God and completely according to the words of God and act in accordance with God’s will is a real experience of entering into life. Some small experiences are experiences of keeping rules, the surface of the words and the most shallow experiences that are not related to the essence of the truth. It is like when some people who wish to be honest people are facing some issue and say, “Should I lie or tell the truth?” After praying, they say, “This time in spite of face, I will speak honestly.” In a spurt of energy they speak honestly. When they speak of experiencing bearing witness, they say, “I have now experienced it and tasted the taste of being an honest man and I am now an honest man.” Is this correct? That is being an honest man one time, the one practice of being an honest man. So do you dare promise that you can be an honest person in many situations in the future? Why can it not be guaranteed? You have not got the truth. You have not entered into the truth. Wait until one day when you do not need prayer but you always speak honestly and to speak a lie is an effort and painful, when you can be an honest person very easily and can speak honestly, only then can this be called having the reality of being an honest man. It makes so many people who come into contact with you say, “This person is an honest man; that is true.” No matter whether it is someone who believes in God or a nonbeliever, when they get along and speak with you for a while, they can discover that you are an honest person and a good person. Wait until this happens; that is then called completely entering into the reality of the truth. …
Do we have any honest people around us now? Now we have a lot of corruption that has been revealed and even though some people can become honest people later, now they have too little entry into life experience and have not yet had any major changes and must continue their pursuit for a few more years. After a few years’ pursuit, you will see those people have really changed. The more they believe, the more they have human likeness, the more they believe, the more honest and the less deceitful they become. The more they believe, the more simple and open they become, the more they believe, the wiser they become and the more they are able to get along with people. This kind of person has got the truth and has really entered into reality. Now people have not yet got the truth and you cannot see major changes in people, only a few small changes in behavior and no changes in their life disposition, so you want to find honest people, but they are not easy to find. Wait until you have been in pursuit of the truth for a few years and you will see that some people really have changed: “This person is worth associating with. This person is an honest man. This person truly believes in God. He is a follower of God.” There are some people who hope to eat their fill and are always longing for blessings. Because they do not love the truth and have lived a church life for a long time, they begin to get bored and feel that the pursuit of the truth is boring. The more they believe, the more bored they get until eventually they leave and after leaving, they become more dark and their condition becomes worse and worse. Once they return to the nonbelievers they find that the nonbelievers are so difficult to deal with and that they are so dark, and they recall their time in God’s family, but they can do nothing about that either. People who do not love the truth cannot continue on this path and cannot persevere. Now there are some people who are very dangerous, if they do not have good people to lead them, they may unwittingly dismiss themselves. Is this not the case? You unwittingly dismiss yourself and are unable to persevere despite wanting to. Although you say, “I still believe. In my heart I will always believe.” But your church life becomes less and less, you eat and drink the words of God less and less, your inner faith becomes less and less and you even unconsciously no longer pray. Have you not already retreated? What’s the point of just being stubborn and reluctant to admit your retreat? Does every church have this kind of person in it? They have pursued the truth for one or two years but no matter how they pursue, they feel bored, uninterested and feel tired and spiritless and eventually have no energy. They feel that believing in God is pursuing the truth and that it is meaningless.
