Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God’s Holiness (III)" (Part Four)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part Four

Let us go back to talk about what means Satan employs to corrupt man. We have just talked about the various ways in which God works on man which every one of you can experience for yourselves, so I will not go into too much detail. But in your hearts you are perhaps hazy about the means Satan employs to corrupt man, or at the very least it is lacking in detail, so it will benefit you to talk about it. Do you want to understand it? (Yes.) Maybe some of you will ask: “Why talk about Satan again? We have already seen that Satan is evil and we loathe Satan already, so can Satan still corrupt us?” In fact, although you may loathe Satan, you do not see completely through it. There are some things you still need to face, otherwise you cannot really break away from the influence of Satan.

We have previously discussed the five ways in which Satan corrupts man, haven’t we? Within these five ways are the means it employs, which man must see through. The ways in which Satan corrupts man are just a kind of cover; most insidious are the means hiding behind this façade and it wants to use these means to achieve its goals. What are these means? Summarize them for Me. (It cheats, seduces and threatens.) The more you list, the closer you get. It looks as though you have been deeply harmed by it and have strong feelings on the subject. (It also uses sweet talk and lies, it influences, deceives and forcefully occupies.) Forcefully occupies—this gives an extremely deep impression, doesn’t it? People are afraid of Satan’s forceful occupation. Any others? (It violently harms people, uses both threats and inducements, and it lies.) Lies are the substance of its actions and it lies in order to cheat you. What is the nature of lying? Is lying not the same as cheating? The goal of telling lies is in fact to cheat you. Any others? Speak out. Tell Me all the ones that you know of. (It induces, harms, blinds and deceives.) Most of you feel the same way about this deception, don’t you? (It uses fawning flattery, controls man, takes hold of man, terrorizes man and keeps man from believing in God.) I pretty much know what you mean and they are all similarly good. You all know something about this, so let us now summarize them.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God's Holiness (III)" (Part Two)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part Two

We have just talked about how Satan uses knowledge to corrupt man, so next let us fellowship about how Satan uses science to corrupt man. Firstly, in using science to corrupt man, Satan uses the name of science to satisfy man’s curiosity, satisfying man’s desire[a] to explore science and probe into mysteries. Also in the name of science, Satan satisfies man’s material needs and man’s demand to continually raise their quality of life. Satan therefore, in this name, uses the way of science to corrupt man. Is it only man’s thinking or man’s minds that Satan corrupts using this way of science? Amongst the people and things in our surroundings that we can see and that we come into contact with, what else does Satan use science to corrupt? (The natural environment.) You are right. It looks like you have been deeply harmed by this, and are also deeply affected by it. Besides using science to deceive man, using all the various findings and conclusions of science to deceive man, Satan also uses science as a means to carry out wanton destruction and exploitation of the living environment that was bestowed on man by God. It does this under the pretext that if man carries out scientific research, then man’s living environment will get better and better and man’s living standards will continually improve, and furthermore that scientific development is done to cater to man’s daily increasing material needs and continual need to raise their quality of life. If not for these reasons, then it asks what you are doing developing science at all. This is the theoretical basis of Satan’s development of science. What consequences, however, does science have for mankind? What does our immediate environment consist of? Has not the air mankind breathes been polluted? Is the water we drink still truly pure? (No.) So what about the food we eat, is the majority of it natural? (No.) So what is it then? It is grown using fertilizer and cultivated using genetic modification, and there are also mutations produced using various scientific methods, so that even the vegetables and fruit we eat are no longer natural. It is not easy now for people to find unmodified food products to eat. Even eggs no longer taste the way they used to, having already been processed by Satan’s so-called science. Looking at the big picture, the entire atmosphere has been destroyed and polluted; mountains, lakes, forests, rivers, oceans, and everything above or below ground have all been ruined by so-called scientific achievements. In other words, the entire ecology, the entire living environment bestowed on mankind by God has been polluted and ruined by so-called science. Although there are many people who have obtained what they expected in terms of the quality of life they seek, satisfying both their lusts and their flesh, the environment man lives in has essentially been destroyed and ruined by the various “achievements” brought by science. Even outdoors or in our homes we now no longer have a right to breathe one breath of clean air. You tell Me, is this mankind’s sorrow? Is there still any happiness to speak of for man to live in this living space? Man lives in this living space and, from the very beginning, this living environment was created by God for man. The water people drink, the air people breathe, the food people eat, plants, trees, and the oceans—this living environment was all bestowed on man by God; it is natural, operating in accordance with a natural law laid down by God. If there was no science, and people could enjoy what was bestowed on man in accordance with the way of God, they would have been happy and could have enjoyed everything at its most pristine. Now, however, all of this has been destroyed and ruined by Satan; man’s fundamental living space is no longer at its most pristine. But no one is able to recognize what caused this kind of consequence or how this came about, and furthermore even more people comprehend and approach science by using the ideas instilled in them by Satan, and by viewing science with earthly eyes. Is this not so very hateful and pitiful? With Satan now having taken the space in which mankind exists and their living environment and corrupted them into this state, and with mankind continuing to develop in this way, is there any need for the hand of God to extinguish this mankind on earth that has been so deeply corrupted and that has become hostile to Him? Is there any need for the hand of God to destroy mankind? (No.) If mankind continues to develop in this way, what direction will it take? (Ruination.) How will mankind be ruined? In addition to man’s greedy search for fame and gain, they continually carry out scientific exploration and in-depth research, then ceaselessly they satisfy their own material needs and lusts; what then are the consequences for man? First of all there is no longer any ecological balance and, hand in hand with this, mankind’s bodies have all been tainted and damaged by this kind of environment, and various infectious diseases, plagues, and haze spread everywhere. This is a situation that man now has no control over, is that not right? Now that you understand this, if mankind does not follow God, but always follows Satan this way—using knowledge to continually enrich themselves, using science to ceaselessly explore the future of human life, using this kind of method to continue living—are you able to recognize what the natural end of mankind will be? What will be the natural final result? (Ruination.) It will be ruination: approaching ruination one step at a time. Approaching ruination one step at a time! It now looks as though science is a kind of magic potion or slow-acting poison that Satan has prepared for man, so that when you try to discern things you do so in a foggy haze; no matter how hard you look, you cannot see things clearly, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot figure them out. Satan, however, still uses the name of science to whet your appetite and to lead you by the nose, one foot in front of the other, toward the abyss and toward death. Is this not so? (Yes.) This is the second way.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God's Holiness (III)" (Part One)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part One

How do you feel after saying your prayers? (Very excited and moved.) Let us begin our fellowship. What topic did we fellowship last time? (The holiness of God.) And which aspect of God Himself does the holiness of God concern? Does it concern the essence of God? (Yes.) So what exactly is the subject that concerns God’s essence? Is it the holiness of God? (Yes.) The holiness of God: this is the unique essence of God. What was the main theme we fellowshiped last time? (Discerning the evil of Satan.) And what did we fellowship last time regarding the evil of Satan? Can you remember? (How Satan corrupts mankind. It uses knowledge, science, traditional culture, superstition, and social trends to corrupt us.) Correct, this was the main topic that we discussed last time. Satan uses knowledge, science, superstition, traditional culture, and social trends to corrupt man; these are the ways in which Satan corrupts man. How many ways are these altogether? (Five.) Which five ways? (Science, knowledge, traditional culture, superstition, and social trends.) Which do you think Satan uses most to corrupt man, the thing that corrupts them most deeply? (Traditional culture.) Some brothers and sisters think it is traditional culture. Anyone else? (Knowledge.) Looks like you have a high level of knowledge. Any others? (Knowledge.) You share the same view. The brothers and sisters who said traditional culture, can you tell us why you think this? Do you have any understanding of it? Do you not want to explain your understanding? (The philosophies of Satan and the doctrines of Confucius and Mencius are deeply ingrained in our minds, so we feel these corrupt us very deeply.) Those of you who think it is knowledge, can you explain why? Speak your reasons. (Knowledge can never let us worship God. It denies the existence of God, and denies the rule of God. That is, knowledge tells us to study from a young age, and that only through studying and gaining knowledge is our future and destiny assured. In this way it corrupts us.) So Satan uses knowledge to control your future and destiny, then it leads you along by the nose; this is how you think Satan corrupts man most deeply. So most of you think Satan uses knowledge to corrupt man most deeply. Are there any others? What about science or social trends, for example? Does anyone agree with these? (Yes.) Today I will fellowship again about the five ways in which Satan corrupts man and, once I am finished, I will still ask you some questions to see in exactly which aspect Satan corrupts man most deeply. You understand this topic, don’t you?

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Almigty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique V God's Holiness (II)" (Part Four) - Eastern Lightning

God’s Holiness (II)   Part Four

E. How Satan Uses Social Trends to Corrupt Man

Are social trends a new phenomenon? (No.) So when did they begin? Could one say that social trends came to be when Satan started corrupting people? (Yes.) What do social trends include? (Style of clothing and makeup.) This is something people often come into contact with. Clothing style, fashion, and trends, this is a small aspect. Is there anything else? Do the popular sayings that people often talk about count too? Do the lifestyles that people desire count? Do the music stars, celebrities, magazines, and novels that people like count? (Yes.) In your minds, which aspect of these trends is able to corrupt man? Which of these trends is most enticing to you? Some people say: “We’ve all reached a certain age, we are in our forties, fifties, sixties, seventies or eighties where we can’t fit in with these trends and they don’t really hold our attention anymore.” Is this correct? (No.) Others say: “We don’t follow celebrities, that’s something youngsters in their teens and twenties do; we also don’t wear fashionable clothes, that’s something image-conscious people do.” So which of these is able to corrupt you? (Popular sayings.) Can these sayings corrupt people? Here’s one, and you can see whether or not it corrupts people, “Money makes the mare go”; is this a trend? Isn’t this a much worse thing compared to the fashion and gourmet trends you mentioned? (Yes.) “Money makes the mare go” is the philosophy of Satan and it prevails among every human society. You could say that it is a trend because it has been imparted to everyone and is now affixed in their heart. People went from not accepting this saying to growing used to it so that when they came into contact with real life, they gradually gave tacit approval to it, acknowledged its existence and finally, they gave it their own seal of approval. Is this right? (Yes.) Isn’t this process that of Satan corrupting man? Perhaps those of you sitting here do not understand this saying to the same degree, but everyone has different degrees of interpretation and acknowledgment of this saying based on things that have happened around them and their own personal experiences, right? Regardless of how much experience someone has with this saying, what’s the negative effect that it can have on someone’s heart? (People would think money can do anything, and they would esteem money.) Something is revealed through the human disposition of the people in this world, including yourselves sitting here. How is this interpreted? It’s the worship of money. Is it hard to get this out of someone’s heart? It is very hard! It seems that Satan’s corruption of man is thorough indeed! Can we say that? (Yes.) So after Satan uses this trend to corrupt people, how is it manifested in them? Don’t you feel that you couldn’t survive one day in this world without any money, that even one day would just be impossible? (Yes.) People’s status is based on how much money they have as is their respectability. The backs of the poor are bent in shame, while the rich enjoy their high status. They stand tall and proud, speaking loudly and living arrogantly. What does this saying and trend bring to people? Don’t many people see getting money as being worth any cost? Don’t many people sacrifice their dignity and integrity in the pursuit of more money? Don’t many more people lose the opportunity to perform their duty and follow God for the sake of money? Isn’t this a loss for people? (Yes.) Isn’t Satan sinister to use this method and this saying to corrupt man to such a degree? Isn’t this a malicious trick? As you progress from objecting to this popular saying to finally accepting it as truth, your heart falls completely under Satan’s grasp, and therefore you unwittingly come to live by it. What degree has this saying affected you? You might know the true way, you might know truth, but you are powerless to pursue it. You might clearly know the word of God, but you are unwilling to pay the price, unwilling to suffer to pay the price. Instead, you would rather sacrifice your own future and destiny to go against God to the very end. No matter what God says, no matter what God does, no matter how much you realize that God’s love for you is deep and great, you would still stubbornly stay the course and pay the price for this saying. What this means is that this saying already controls your behavior and your thoughts, and you would rather have your fate controlled by this saying than give it all up. People do this, they are controlled by this saying and manipulated by it. Isn’t this the effect of Satan corrupting man? Isn’t this the philosophy and corrupt disposition of Satan taking root in your heart? If you do this, hasn’t Satan achieved its goal? (Yes.) Do you see how Satan has corrupted man in this way? (No.) You didn’t see it. Can you feel it? (No.) You didn’t feel it. Do you see Satan’s evil here? (Yes.) Satan corrupts man at all times and at all places. Satan makes it impossible for man to defend against this corruption and makes man helpless to it. Satan makes you accept its thoughts, its viewpoints and the evil things that come from it in situations where you are unwitting and when you have no recognition of what’s happening to you. People fully accept these things and take no exception to them. They cherish and hold these things like a treasure, they let these things manipulate them and toy with them, and this is how Satan’s corruption of man becomes deeper and deeper.

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The Church of Almighty God | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (V) God's Holiness (II)" (Part Three)

God’s Holiness (II)   Part Three

Regarding God’s holiness, even though it may be a familiar topic, in discussion it might become a bit abstract for some people, and the content might be a bit deep. In the past, people rarely dealt with the topic of God’s holiness, so they don’t understand it. But don’t worry, I will help you understand what God’s holiness is. I see that this is a little hard for you to absorb, let us say this first: If you want to get to know someone, just look at what he or she does and the results of his or her actions, and you will be able to see the substance of the person. So let us fellowship on God’s holiness from this perspective first. We said that the substance of Satan is evil and malicious, and so Satan’s actions toward man have been to endlessly corrupt them. Satan is evil, so the people it has corrupted are certainly evil, right? Would anyone say, “Satan is evil, perhaps someone it corrupted is holy”? What a joke, right? Is this even possible? (No.) So don’t think about it like that, let’s talk about it from this aspect: Satan is evil, this is its substance and this is real, this is not just empty talk. We are not trying to libel Satan; we are merely fellowshiping about truth and reality as well as about the facts surrounding it. This might hurt some people or a certain section of people, but there is no malicious intent here; perhaps you will hear this today and feel a bit uncomfortable, but someday soon, when you are able to recognize it, you will despise yourselves, and you will feel that what we talked about today is very useful to you and very valuable.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (V) God's Holiness (II)" (Part Two)

God’s Holiness (II)   Part Two

Regarding the holiness of God’s substance, last time we fellowshiped a bit about it and that served as inspiration for people’s knowledge of God’s holiness, but it is not enough. It cannot sufficiently help people fully know God’s holiness, nor can it sufficiently help them understand that God’s holiness is unique. Furthermore, it cannot sufficiently allow people to understand the aspect of the true meaning of holiness as it is completely embodied in God. Therefore, it is necessary that we continue our fellowship in this subject. In the third section our fellowship discussed three topics, so we should now discuss the fourth, and we will begin reading the scriptures.

4. The Temptation of Satan

(Matt 4:1-4) Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

These are the words with which the devil first tried to tempt the Lord Jesus. What is the content of what the devil said? Go ahead and read it. (“If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”) The devil said these words, which were quite simple, but is there a problem with the essential content of these words? (Yes.) What is the problem? It said, “If you be the Son of God,” so in its heart, did it know that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God? Did it know that He was Christ? (Yes.) Then why did it say “If you be”? (It was trying to tempt God.) Of course, it was trying to tempt God, but what was its purpose in doing so? It said, “If you be the Son of God.” In its heart it knew Jesus Christ was the Son of God, this was very clear in its heart, but despite this, did it submit to Him or did it worship Him? (No.) What did it want to do? It wanted to do this and say these words to make the Lord Jesus angry and then entice Him to take the bait, and to fool the Lord Jesus into doing things according to its way of thinking and rising to its hook. Isn’t this what was meant? In its heart it clearly knew this was the Lord Jesus Christ, but it still said this anyway. Isn’t this Satan’s nature? What is Satan’s nature? (To be sly, evil, and have no reverence for God.) It has no reverence for God. What is the negative thing it was doing here? Didn’t it want to attack God? It wanted to use this method to attack God, it said: “If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”; isn’t this Satan’s evil intention? (Yes.) What was it really trying to do? Its purpose is very clear: It was trying to use this method to refute the position and identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It said, “If You are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. If You don’t, then You aren’t the Son of God and You just don’t do this work.” Is this what was meant here? It wanted to use this method to attack God, it wanted to dismantle and destroy God’s work; this is the malevolence and cunning of Satan. Its malevolence is a natural expression of its nature. Even though it knew the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the very incarnation of God Himself, it could not help itself but do this kind of thing, tailing God from behind and continuing to attack Him and take great pains to disturb and destroy God’s work and make an enemy of God.

Now, let us analyze this phrase that Satan used: “command that these stones be made bread.” To turn stones into bread—does this mean anything? It has no meaning. If there is food, why not eat it? Why is it necessary to turn stones into food? Is there meaning here? (No.) Although He was fasting at the time, surely the Lord Jesus had food to eat? Did He have food? (He did.) So, here, we see the preposterousness of Satan’s use of this phrase. For all its treachery and malice, we see its preposterousness and absurdity, right? Satan does a number of things. You see its malicious nature and you see it destroy God’s work. It’s hateful and exasperating. But, on the other hand, do you find a childish, absurd nature behind its words and actions? (Yes.) This is a revelation about Satan’s nature; it has this kind of nature and it will do this kind of thing. To men, the phrase is preposterous and laughable. But such words can indeed be uttered by Satan. Can we say that it is ignorant? Absurd? Satan’s evil is everywhere and is constantly being revealed. And how does the Lord Jesus answer it? (“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”) Do these words have any power? (They do.) Why do we say that they have power? (They are the truth.) Right. These words are the truth. Now, does man live by bread alone? The Lord Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights. Did He starve to death? (No.) He didn’t starve to death, so Satan approached Him, prompting Him to turn the stones into food by saying things of this sort: “If You turn the stones into food, won’t You then have things to eat? Won’t You then not have to fast, not have to go hungry?” But the Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone,” which means that, although man lives in a physical body, what gives him life, what allows his physical body to live and breathe, is not food, but all the words uttered by the mouth of God. On the one hand, man regards these words as truth. The words give him faith, make him feel that he can depend on God, that God is truth. On the other hand, is there a practical aspect to these words? (There is.) Why? Because the Lord Jesus has fasted for 40 days and nights and He is still standing there, still alive. Is this an illustration? The point here is that He has not eaten anything, any food for 40 days and nights. He is still alive. This is the powerful evidence behind His phrase. The phrase is simple, but, as far as the Lord Jesus is concerned, was His phrase taught to Him by someone else, or did He think of it only because of what Satan had said to Him? Think about it. God is truth. God is life. Was God’s truth and life a late add-on? Was it born of experience? (No.) It is innate in God, meaning that truth and life reside in God’s substance. Whatever befalls Him, what He reveals is truth. This truth, this phrase—whether its content is long or short—it can let man live, give him life; it can enable man to find, within itself, truth, clarity about life’s journey, and enable him to have faith in God. This is the source of God’s use of this phrase. The source is positive, so is this positive thing holy? (Yes.) Satan’s phrase comes from Satan’s nature. Satan reveals its evil nature, its malicious nature, everywhere, constantly. Now, these revelations, does it make them naturally? (Yes.) Does anyone incite it? Does anyone help it? Does anyone coerce it? (No.) It issues them all of its own accord. This is Satan’s evil nature. Whatever God does and however He does it, Satan follows on His heels. The substance and the true features of these things that Satan says and does are Satan’s substance—evil substance, malicious substance. Now, reading on, what else does Satan say? Let’s carry on reading down.

(Matt: 4:5-6) Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said to him, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.

Let’s first talk about this phrase of Satan. It said, “If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down,” and then it quoted from the Scriptures, “He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.” How do you feel when you hear Satan’s words? Aren’t they very childish? They are childish, preposterous, and disgusting. Why would I say this? Satan is always up to something foolish, it believes itself to be very smart; and it often quotes the scriptures—even the very word of God—it tries to turn these words against God to attack Him and to tempt Him. Its purpose in doing this is to destroy the plan of God’s work. Nonetheless, do you notice anything in what Satan said? (There are sinister intentions in it.) Satan has always been a tempter; it doesn’t speak straightforwardly, it speaks in a roundabout way using temptation, beguilement, and seduction. Satan tempts both God and man alike: It thinks that God and man are both so ignorant, foolish, and unable to clearly distinguish things as they are. Satan thinks that God and man alike won’t see through to its substance and that God and man alike won’t see through its craftiness and sinister intent. Isn’t this where Satan gets its foolishness? (Yes.) Furthermore, Satan overtly quotes the scriptures; it thinks that doing so lends it credibility, and that you won’t be able to pick out any flaws in this or avoid being fooled by this. Isn’t this where Satan is being absurd and childish? (Yes.) This is just like when some people spread the gospel and bear witness to God, won’t non-believers say something similar to what Satan said? Have you heard people say something similar? (Yes.) Do you feel disgusted when you hear things like that? (Yes.) When you feel disgusted, do you also feel repulsed and revolted? (Yes.) When you have these feelings are you able to recognize that Satan and the corrupt disposition Satan works into man are wicked? In your hearts do you ever have a realization like, “God never speaks like that. Satan’s words bring attacks and temptation, its words are absurd, laughable, childish, and disgusting. However, in the speech of God and the actions of God, He would never use methods like this to speak or perform His work, and He has never done so”? Of course, in this situation people only have a modicum of feeling to go on and they do not have a realization of God’s holiness; they can only admit that God’s word is truth, but they do not know that truth is holiness in itself. With your current stature, you are merely feeling this: “Everything God says is the truth, it is beneficial to us, and we must accept it”; regardless of whether you are able to accept this or not, without exception you say that God’s word is truth and that God is truth, but you don’t know that truth is holiness in itself and that God is holy. So, what was Jesus’ response to Satan’s words?

(Matt 4:7) Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Is there truth in this phrase that Jesus said? (Yes.) There is truth in it. On the surface it seems like a commandment for people to follow, it is a very simple phrase, but it is one that both man and Satan have often violated. So, the Lord Jesus said to it, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God,” because this is what Satan often did and it made every effort to do so, you could even say that Satan shamelessly did so. It is Satan’s essential nature to not be in fear of God and not have reverence for God in its heart. So even when Satan was beside God and could see Him, Satan couldn’t help itself but tempt God. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said to Satan, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” This is a phrase that God has often said to Satan. Isn’t it appropriate to use this phrase even today? (Yes.) Why? (Because we also often tempt God.) People often tempt God, but why do people often do so? Is it because people are full of corrupt satanic disposition? (Yes.) So what Satan said above is something people often say? (Yes.) In what situations? One could say that people have been saying things like this and revealing them naturally irrespective of time and place. This proves that the disposition of people is exactly the same as the corrupt disposition of Satan. The Lord Jesus said a simple phrase, one that represents truth and one that people need. However, in this situation was the Lord Jesus arguing with Satan? Was there anything confrontational in what He said to Satan? (No.) How did the Lord Jesus view Satan’s temptation in His heart? Did He feel disgusted and repulsed? (Yes.) The Lord Jesus felt repulsed and disgusted but He did not argue with Satan, much less did He speak about any grand principles, isn’t that right? (Yes.) Why is that? (The Lord Jesus did not wish to acknowledge Satan.) Why didn’t He wish to acknowledge Satan? (Because Satan is always like this, it can never change.) Could we say that Satan is unreasonable? (Yes, we could.) Can Satan recognize that God is truth? Satan will never recognize that God is truth and never admit that God is truth; this is its nature. Furthermore, there is something else about Satan’s nature that is repulsive to people, what is it? In its attempts to tempt the Lord Jesus, what did it believe in its heart? Even if it tempted God and it would not succeed, yet Satan tried anyway. Even though it would be punished, it did it anyway. Even though it would get nothing good out of doing so, it did it anyway, and persisted and stood against God to the very end. What sort of nature is this? Isn’t that evil? (Yes.) He who gets infuriated when God is mentioned, have they seen God? He who gets angry when God is mentioned, do they know God? He does not know who God is, does not believe in Him, and God has not spoken to him. God has never disturbed him, so why would he be angry? Could we say that this person is evil? (Yes.) Would this be someone with an evil nature? Whatever trends are happening in the world, whether it is fun, food, famous people, beautiful people, none of these would bother them, but one mention of the word “God” and they get upset; wouldn’t this be an example of an evil nature? This serves as satisfactory proof of man’s evil nature. Now, speaking for yourselves, are there times when truth is mentioned, or when God’s tests for mankind are brought up or when God’s words of judgment against man are mentioned, and you feel annoyed, repulsed, and you don’t want to hear about it? Your heart may think: How is this truth? Didn’t people all say that God is truth? This isn’t truth, this is clearly just God’s words of admonishment toward man! Some people might even feel disgusted in their hearts: This is brought up every day, His tests for us are mentioned every day as is His judgment; when’s all this going to end? When will we receive the good destination? It isn’t known where this unreasonable anger comes from. What sort of nature is this? (Evil nature.) It is prompted by the evil nature of Satan. As for God in regard to the evil nature of Satan and the corrupt disposition of man, He never argues or bickers with people, and He never makes a fuss when people act out of ignorance. You will not see God hold similar views on things that people have, and moreover you will not see Him use men’s viewpoints, their knowledge, their science or their philosophy or man’s imagination to handle things. Instead, everything God does and everything He reveals is connected to truth. That is, every word He has said and every action He has taken concerns the truth. This truth is not some baseless fantasy; this truth and these words are expressed by God due to God’s substance and His life. Because these words and the substance of everything God has done are truth, therefore we can say that God’s substance is holy. In other words, everything God says and does brings vitality and light to people; it allows people to see positive things and the reality of those positive things and it points humanity toward the road of light so that they may walk the right path. These things are determined because of God’s substance and they are determined due to the substance of His holiness. You have seen it, right? We will continue with a reading of the scriptures.

(Matt 4:8-11) Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said to him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus to him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil leaves him, and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Satan, the devil, having failed at its previous two tricks, tried yet another: It showed all the kingdoms in the world and the glory of them to the Lord Jesus and asked Him to worship the devil. What do you see about the true features of the devil from this situation? Isn’t Satan the devil absolutely shameless? (Yes.) How shameless can it be? Everything was created by God, yet Satan turns it around and shows it to God saying, “Look at the wealth and glory of all of these kingdoms. If You worship me I’ll give them all to You.” Isn’t this a role reversal? Isn’t Satan shameless? God made everything, but was it for His enjoyment? God gave everything to mankind, but Satan wanted to seize it all and afterward it said, “Worship me! Worship me and I’ll give this all to You.” This is the ugly face of Satan; it is absolutely shameless, right? Satan doesn’t even know the meaning of the word “shame,” and this is just another example of its evil. It doesn’t even know what “shame” is. Satan clearly knows that God created everything and that He manages it and has dominion over it. Everything belongs to God, not to man, much less to Satan, yet Satan the devil brazenly said that it would give everything to God. Isn’t Satan once again doing something absurd and shameless? God hates Satan even more now, right? Yet no matter what Satan tried to do, did the Lord Jesus fall for it? (No.) What did the Lord Jesus say? (“You shall worship the Lord your God.”) Does this phrase have a practical meaning? (Yes.) What sort of practical meaning? We see Satan’s evil and shamelessness in its speech. So if man worshiped Satan, what would the conclusion be? Would they receive the wealth and glory of all of the kingdoms? (No.) What would they receive? Would mankind become just as shameless and laughable as Satan? (Yes.) They would be no different from Satan then. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said this phrase which is important for each and every person: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,” which states that except for the Lord, except for God Himself, if you serve another, if you worship Satan the devil, then you wallow in the same filth as Satan. You would then share Satan’s shamelessness and its evil, and just like Satan you would tempt God and attack God. Then what would your end be? You would be loathed by God, struck down by God, and destroyed by God, isn’t that right? After Satan had tempted the Lord Jesus several times without success, did it try again? Satan did not try again and then it left. What does this prove? It proves that Satan’s evil nature, its malice, and its absurdity and preposterousness is not worth a mention before God because the Lord Jesus defeated Satan in only three sentences, after which it scurried away with its tail between its legs, too ashamed to show its face again, and it never tempted Him again. Since the Lord Jesus had defeated this temptation of Satan, He could now easily continue the work that He had to do and assume the tasks that lay before Him. Does everything that the Lord Jesus said and did in this situation carry some practical meaning for everyone if it is applied now? (Yes.) What sort of practical meaning? Is defeating Satan an easy thing to do? (No.) What would it be then? Must people have a clear understanding of Satan’s evil nature? Must people have an accurate understanding of Satan’s temptations? (Yes.) If you ever experience Satan’s temptations in your own life, and if you are able to see through to Satan’s evil nature, will you be able to defeat it? If you know about Satan’s absurdity and preposterousness, would you still stand by Satan and attack God? (No, we wouldn’t.) If you understand how Satan’s malice and shamelessness are being revealed through you—if you clearly recognize and know these things—would you still attack and tempt God in this way? (No, we wouldn’t.) What will you do? (We will rebel against Satan and abandon it.) Is that an easy thing to do? (No.) This is not easy, to do this, people must frequently pray, they must often place themselves before God, and they must always examine themselves. They must submit to God’s discipline and His judgment and chastisement and only in this way shall people gradually remove themselves from Satan’s domain and control.

We can sum up the things that make up the substance of Satan from these things that it has said. Firstly, Satan’s substance can generally be said to be evil, which stands in contrast to the holiness of God. Why do I say Satan’s substance is evil? One must look at the consequences of what Satan does to people in order to see this. Satan corrupts and controls man, and man acts under the corrupt disposition of Satan, and inhabits a world that is corrupted by Satan and lives among corrupt people. The masses are unwittingly possessed and assimilated by Satan and man therefore has the evil nature of Satan. From everything Satan has said and done, we can see its arrogance and we see its craftiness and malice. How is Satan’s arrogance primarily displayed? Does Satan always want to occupy God’s position? Satan always wants to tear down God’s work and God’s position and take it for itself so that people will follow, support, and worship Satan; this is the arrogant nature of Satan. But when Satan corrupts people, it does so in a sly and treacherous way: When Satan does its work on people, it does not directly tell people how to refuse and oppose God. When Satan tempts God, it does not come out and say, “I am tempting You, I am going to attack You,” so what method does Satan use? (Seduction.) It seduces, tempts, attacks, and sets its traps, and even by quoting the scriptures. Satan speaks and acts in various ways to achieve its sinister motives. After Satan has done this, what can be seen from what’s manifested in man? Aren’t people arrogant? Man has suffered from Satan’s corruption for thousands of years and so man has become arrogant and extraordinarily conceited, and he has become sly, malicious, and unreasonable, right? All these things are brought about due to Satan’s nature. Since Satan’s nature is evil, it has given man this evil nature and brought man this evil corrupt disposition. Therefore man lives under the corrupt satanic disposition and, like Satan, man goes against God, attacks God, and tempts Him to the extent that man does not worship God and does not revere Him in their hearts. Is that right?

from: "God Himself, the Unique V" Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

Recommendation: Eastern Lightning , The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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