In the many words God has expressed, God has required us many times to be honest people and made it clear many times that he likes honest people, blesses honest people, and saves honest people. And he also definitely tells us that the ones who will live forever in the kingdom are honest people. We know this requirement of God and know that God likes us to be honest people, but in our real life, we are unwilling to be honest people, considering that honest people will suffer losses, and we regard the brothers and sisters who expend themselves for God with a true heart and who pursue to be honest people as fools, lunatics, and dolts. For example, when seeing that some brothers and sisters have their families broken up for their belief in God, some think, “Such people are really foolish. What is it for to lose harmonious families and become homeless for the sake of belief in God?” When seeing that some brothers and sisters quit their well-paid jobs to perform their duties, some say, “Such people are really foolish. They give up such a secure job for the sake of belief in God. What a pity it is!” When seeing that some brothers and sisters leave their homes to expend themselves for God, some say, “These people are really foolish. How nice it would be for them to perform their duties near their homes! They not only could take care of their homes but also could receive a pleasant destination. Wouldn’t this satisfy both sides?” When seeing that some young brothers and sisters remain single for the sake of belief in God, some think that they are too foolish and are wasting their beautiful youth. When seeing that some brothers and sisters offer money, some think, “It is so foolish of them to give away their hard-earned money like that. I will never do it. I will just follow this way. If I can receive blessings, so much the better; if I cannot, I will suffer no loss.” Some say, “Those who perform the duty of hosting are really foolish. When they have the things in their homes eaten up and used up freely, I suppose the ones who suffer from poverty are still themselves.” Some say, “Those who do risky jobs for God’s family are really foolish. In case they fall into the hand of the great red dragon, the ones who suffer are still themselves and no one else will suffer in their stead. Won’t they lose more than gain?” And some, when seeing that God’s work has not ended after so long a time, regret their former efforts and say that they will no longer expend themselves and believe in God as they did before. The fact that we can regard expending for God as an act of folly shows that our viewpoints on things have not changed and that we do not know at all what kind of people are the real smart people. Of course, this is also directly related to our nature of being crafty and self-seeking.

Let us read a passage in the man’s fellowship: “Only those who can truly give their hearts to God are honest people…. Only honest people are willing to consecrate themselves to God and are able to give their hearts to God. In man’s eyes, to be an honest person seems foolish, lunatic, and too extreme. So, crafty people are unable to practice it. Crafty people think themselves very smart, but in fact, they are very foolish. Honest people are fools in others’ eyes, but in fact, they are the smartest ones. All those who give their hearts to God are the wisest ones, and the ones who are seemingly slow-witted but really wise. Crafty people think themselves wise, but they are caught in their own craftiness, which throws themselves down. When God’s work ends, all crafty people will have been eliminated and fallen in various kinds of disasters, whereas honest people will all have been saved and made perfect by God, full of peace and joy. Who, do you think, are smart and who are foolish? Man’s philosophy is not the truth, and God with full power and full wisdom is the One who decides everything; this point the human beings who belong to satan will never be able to know. Only those who truly give their hearts to God are honest people, and they are real smart ones. The ones God blesses are exactly the honest people who give their hearts to God. Only those who can receive God’s blessings are smart ones, extremely smart ones.” This passage clearly tells us that those who give their hearts to God and consecrate their all to God are honest people with whom God is pleased, are the wisest people, and are extremely smart people. They are fools and lunatics in man’s eyes, but not in God’s eyes. On the day when God’s work ends, honest people will all be saved and made perfect by God and receive God’s blessings and promises; whereas crafty people will be eliminated by God and fall in various kinds of disasters. Though they believe in God, they receive no blessings but fall into disasters and suffer punishment; so, they are the most foolish people. In fact, among those who believed in God and worshipped God throughout all ages, there are plenty of people who were called lunatics and fools. We may cite a few examples. Noah, in order to carry out God’s will, sold all that he had and built an ark, and then he called upon people to go into the ark. The people at that time all considered him a lunatic and a fool; however, when the flood came, only Noah’s family of eight were protected by God and survived. Lot was willing to give his two daughters in exchange for the two angels. In man’s eyes, Lot was very foolish to behave that way; however, when God destroyed the city of Sodom, only Lot and his two daughters were saved from the disaster. Another example is the poor widow who received Elijah. At that time, she had at home only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug, and she and her son were confronted with the danger of being starved to death. However, when the prophet Elijah asked her for a piece of bread, she still did as Elijah had told her. In man’s eyes, her behavior was even more incredible. But eventually she saw God’s deeds, was blessed and kept by God, and safely passed through three and a half years of famine. The disciples of Jesus listened to Jesus’ calling and left their families and careers to follow him. The people at that time also considered them to be very foolish, yet Jesus said that they were the blessed. Today, as for the brothers and sisters who have forsaken their youth for God’s sake, who have left their families and given up their careers for God’s sake, who do hosting, who do risky jobs, or who offer their money to God, though they are called fools and lunatics by some people who think themselves smart, their spiritual states become increasingly better because they expend themselves for God with a truth heart and pursue the truth. They not only have savored the delight of having the working of the Holy Spirit, but they have also understood more and more of God’s intention and painstaking care and attention, had more and more knowledge and understanding of their corruption and deficiencies, and gained some transformation in their disposition without their knowing it. Are these not God’s blessings? From these examples we see that the fools and lunatics in man’s eyes are kept and blessed by God. What does this show? It is sufficient to prove that people’s viewpoints on things do not contain any truth or anything in conformity with God but are all satanic views and logic. Whether in those days or at present, all people of the devil who do not sincerely believe in God consider Noah, Lot, and the poor widow as fools and lunatics because of their conducts, but they were good in God’s eyes and were blessed and kept by God.

What were the outcomes of those who thought themselves smart, then? Take the well-known Judas for example. He was one of those covetous people who pursued to gain advantages only and suffer no losses. He always spent God’s money secretly when he followed Jesus, and later, he even betrayed the Lord Jesus for thirty silver coins. In the end, he was punished by God—his body burst open. Another example is Ananias and his wife’s lying to the Holy Spirit. At that time, people had everything in common, but this couple was unwilling to take out all they had and kept for themselves some money. In man’s eyes, they were smarter than others; however, they suffered God’s punishment—they died on the spot. And so on. Were these people who thought themselves very smart the real smart people? Actually, they were not. Their outcomes have told us that these people who thought themselves smart were thoroughgoing foolish people, and were crafty people hated and eliminated by God. It was altogether their petty tricks that had forfeited them; they could in no way blame God or others. They were too crafty and too blind and ignorant, and so they had come to such ends. Then, what about the states of the people of today who think themselves smart? The “smart people” of today believe in God only for receiving blessings, and they feel that expending for God suffers losses. When doing things, they leave some leeway, harbor secret designs, and play tricks. They are never willing to give up or spend anything, much less willing to give alms to others or offer anything. What they follow is the principle of “gaining advantages only and suffering no losses” and the philosophy of “everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” For example, some people, while believing in God, do not pursue the truth but always expend themselves for God with an eye on God’s day; when seeing that God’s day draws near, they exert all their strength to offer things and expend themselves, but when hearing that the time is still long, they begin to prepare and plan for their fleshes. When some people read in God’s word that anyone who does not perform his duty will eventually be eliminated, they use tactful means, either performing some duty to treat God perfunctorily or choosing to perform some duty that is light as well as free from danger and responsibility. Some people do not believe in God sincerely but prepare themselves for both eventualities, taking the money with one hand and the truth with the other. While expending themselves for God, some people leave themselves a way out and try their best to maintain relationships with their families only lest one day God lead them into a blind alley. Some people, while believing in God, do not pursue the truth and do not perform any duty but always want to take a shortcut, wishing to be able to receive blessings in the end without enduring any suffering or paying any price. While performing duty, some people always safeguard their own interests and consider their own gain and loss, never willing to give up personal interests for the sake of the work of God’s family and for the sake of satisfying God. Though these “smart people” have followed God many years, we cannot see much working of the Holy Spirit on them and cannot see any transformation in their disposition after they believed in God. All their viewpoints on things are still views of satan, and the rules by which they live have not changed in the least. They believe in God, yet they are more and more estranged from God. One can imagine what their outcomes will be on the day when God’s work is ended if they still do not repent. How can their outcomes be better than those of Judas and of Ananias and his wife? Thus, whether one is smart or foolish hinges on whether or not he can give up his all for the sake of righteousness, whether or not he can be so honest that he only knows to satisfy God and does not know to think of himself or make any demand, that is, whether or not he can be an honest person. By being an honest person, though one has lost much and suffered a lot, he will receive God’s commendation, and God’s care, keeping, and blessing.

Actually, God has already decided the outcomes of the honest and the crafty. God says: “Those crafty people who act one way to others’ faces and another behind their backs are all ones who are not willing to be perfected and are all sons of perdition or sons of destruction, and they belong to satan, not to God. The ones chosen by God are not such people!” “…but I like honest people facing my truth and my expectations and even more like people showing every possible consideration for my heart and even expending everything for me. Only then can my heart be comforted.” “If you are willing to be candid, if you are willing to fully spend your whole being, if you can sacrifice your life for God and stand testimony, and if you are so honest a person that you only know to satisfy God but do not think about yourself or demand anything for yourself, I say that such people are ones who are nourished in the light and who will live forever in the kingdom.” From God’s words we see that crafty people are all the ones who do not love the truth and are not willing to be made perfect and the ones who are crafty with God and practice deceit; such people all belong to satan and are to be cursed and destroyed by God. On the contrary, those who expend everything for God and expend themselves with their hearts attached to God, who do not consider their personal gain or loss, and who only know to be faithful to God but do not know to make any demand for themselves are the real smart people; such people are the ones blessed by God and the ones who will live forever in God’s kingdom. Therefore, only if we pursue to be honest people are we the real smart people, and only by pursuing to be honest people can we receive God’s blessings and promises. Conversely, those crafty people who think themselves smart are really the most foolish people, and eventually they will only end up falling into the disasters by which God punishes people.

May we all pursue to be honest people, that is, to be the real smart people. Do not be crafty people and foolish people who think themselves smart. Do not have our pleasant future and destination forfeited by our petty tricks.