All judgments are based on truth, not on individuals. Whenever the basis of judgment is shifted to an individual, we have compromised God's way and His truth. The basis of judgment is the Word of God; its foundation is the truth. We should act the same way, whether or not others treat us well. When we confront a situation, we should ask what God's truth is, not what our feelings are. Personal judgments and feelings should never come into play in God's work. If truth tells us that we should totally separate ourselves, we should sever ties with even our best friends. We may have been eating together and living together every day in the past. But when the absoluteness of truth calls for a separation, we should obey. Human affection should not have a place. If truth dictates that we should not separate, we cannot separate even if we are arguing with each other and irritating each other every day. If we are together merely because of personal reasons, we do not know what the truth is, and we cannot go on.

Brothers and sisters, this is a very fundamental issue. The way ahead of us is very much related to the dealings we receive from the Lord. If we focus on how great and important we are, the truth will be sacrificed. In order to uphold God's truth, our self must go; we must keep the self at bay. We all have our own temperament and feelings. We cannot alter God's truth because of our temperament and feelings. No minister of God can sacrifice or compromise His truth for his own comfort. If we consider God's truth to be so low, we do not have a spiritual future with God. When a judge presides in court, he must be absolute to the law. A crime must be pronounced a crime, and an innocent man must be pronounced innocent. The judge cannot pronounce a criminal not guilty just because the criminal is his brother or friend. If he does this, there will be disorder. The law is absolute, and personal sentiments cannot be taken into consideration. It would be terrible if a defendant were judged guilty just because the judge happened to be his enemy. A judge must uphold the law. We must believe in God, serve Him, and maintain His truth. Our personal feelings cannot come in. I hope that we will remember that all of our personal feelings have to be denied. We must all be dealt with by the Lord. We must all say to Him, "Lord, I am nothing, but Your truth is absolute." If we do this, there will be no more disputes or problems in the work. One great advantage for the co-workers to uphold the absoluteness of God's truth is the great freedom they will have among themselves in speaking and working. Things will be done as they should be done, and there will be no need to worry about the reactions of others. If we all see the absoluteness of the truth, we will care for one thing only—whether or not something is according to God's will and decision. If it is according to God's will and decision, we will have no fear. But if we are not absolute for the truth, it will be hard for us to go on. When something comes up, we will consider Brother Wang's reaction, Brother Chow's thought, and Brother Liu's action. Since all three have different temperaments, we will have to compromise a little here and there. This is terrible. The truth will be sacrificed. If this is how we do things, we will not be able to say much or make many decisions for fear of offending men. Problems will develop among us. If a company of men would only care for God's truth and would reject human methods altogether, that would be a blessed body of men indeed. If they would firmly reject human manipulation and diplomacy, not compromising or mitigating anything through human hands but doing things strictly according to God's will, we can be assured that this group would be full of God's blessing. If we are able to take the absolute way of truth among the co-workers, we will be able to say what we should say and do what we should do. If not, there will be much consideration, diplomacy, and change, and the church will cease to be the church.

Let us deal with this matter conscientiously before the Lord. It is a very crucial and serious matter. Let us remember that there is no place whatsoever for personal feelings and sentiments in the work of the Lord. Even if our personal sentiments can positively influence others to receive the truth, we should still keep them out of the work. We may influence a person to receive the truth by inviting him for dinner, but this is wrong. Truth is absolute. Out of the goodness of our hearts we may want to do something to uphold the truth, but truth requires no human hand to uphold it. It has its own standing, its own authority, and its own power, and it needs no human hand to uphold it. We do not have to lend truth a helping hand. We should not be afraid of anyone's rejection of the truth. We only need to learn to honor God's truth, to take the way of the truth, and to not compromise the truth in any way.