A Dissection of How Antichrists Are Wicked, Insidious, and Deceitful

Last time, we fellowshipped on the seventh manifestation of antichrists—they are wicked, insidious, and deceitful. What aspect did we primarily fellowship on? We talked about how antichrists are wicked. Why do we say that they are wicked? What special dispositions, manifestations, and characteristics within their nature essence can classify them as wicked, insidious, and deceitful? What are the obvious traits that prove their wickedness exists, and that it matches with their true circumstances? What are the main characteristics of their nature essence that give us reason to say that people like this are wicked? Please share your thoughts. (Many antichrists understand the truth, but they brazenly go against it. They obstinately insist on choosing to walk their own path even though they clearly know what is right. The wickedness of antichrists is also manifested in their baseless hostility toward those who genuinely pursue the truth and toward positive individuals.) (Antichrists don’t want to see others doing well. They only want themselves to enjoy the benefits that God’s house provides to the brothers and sisters—they don’t want the brothers and sisters to enjoy them, so they don’t pass these benefits down to them.) (God, Your previous fellowship left a strong impression on me regarding how antichrists use God and the truth as tools for them to attain status, I feel that this is particularly wicked.) Most of you remember some things, that is, a few of the examples I gave when fellowshipping on the wicked essence of antichrists. You only remember the examples, but you’ve forgotten the content of My fellowship on and dissection of the wicked essence of antichrists. How many of the truths that I touched on while fellowshipping about and dissecting the wicked nature essence of antichrists are you able to understand then? Since you can’t remember these things, doesn’t that indicate that you didn’t understand any of them at the time? If My fellowship had left a strong impression on you, wouldn’t you be able to remember them to some extent? Aren’t the things that spring to your memory those that you understand? Aren’t the things you can’t recall those that you find very difficult to understand, or that you simply cannot understand? When you heard those truths at the time, you thought they were correct, and you remembered them in terms of doctrines, and it required great effort for you to do so. However, after one night’s sleep, you forgot them. A month later, they’re entirely gone. Isn’t that how it goes? To see through to a matter or a person’s essence, you need to understand the truth. If you still cling to the viewpoints of nonbelievers, and view and consider things based on the statements of nonbelievers, it proves that you don’t understand the truth. If you have gained nothing from the several years you’ve spent listening to sermons and fellowship, and when people fellowship the truth with you, you can’t understand it, no matter how they explain it, this indicates your lack of ability to comprehend the truth, it is called poor caliber. Isn’t that the case? (Yes.) Regarding the wickedness of antichrists, none of you mentioned the most crucial statement. Why didn’t you mention it? In one respect, it’s because it has been a long while, and you’ve forgotten it. In another respect, it’s because you didn’t realize the importance of this statement; you didn’t know that this statement is a key one that lays bare and exposes the wicked essence of antichrists. What is this statement? It’s that the wickedness of antichrists primarily manifests in their hostility and loathing toward all things positive and everything related to the truth. Why do antichrists feel hostile toward and loathe these positive things? Have these positive things harmed them? No. Do they touch on their interests? Sometimes perhaps yes, sometimes not at all. So why do antichrists groundlessly feel hostile toward and loathe positive things? (It’s their nature.) They have this kind of nature, they feel hostile toward and loathe all positive things and truths. This confirms the wicked nature of antichrists. Is this statement important or not? You don’t remember a statement this important; you only remember things that are not crucial. Why did I ask you those questions? So that you would speak, and so I could see to what extent you comprehend these things, how much you can remember in your hearts, and how much you were able to understand at the time. As expected, you only remember a few minor things. You treat all the things I talked about as mindless chit-chat. I did not come here to chat—I came here to tell you how to discern people. The statement I expressed is the highest truth principle for discerning the wicked nature of antichrists. If you can’t apply this statement, then you won’t be able to discern or know the wicked nature of antichrists. For example, when a person is defined as an antichrist, some people may say, “He is good to us, he is loving, and he helps us. Why define such a good person as an antichrist?” They don’t understand that even though antichrists may appear loving toward others on the surface, they disrupt and disturb God’s work, and specifically oppose God. This insidious and cunning side to them is something most people can’t see. They can’t discern it at all, and they misunderstand God, develop notions about God, and even condemn and complain about God because of this. Such people are simply scoundrels and they cannot receive God’s salvation. This is because they only see surface matters, such as how antichrists ensnare, entice, and curry favor with people, and they don’t notice the wicked essence of antichrists, nor do they see the methods antichrists use to resist God and establish independent kingdoms. Why can’t they see these things? It’s because they don’t understand the truth and can’t discern people. They are always misled by outward phenomena and can’t see through to the essence and consequences of the problem. They also always use traditional human notions of morality and ways of the world to measure people and pass verdicts on them. As a result, they are misled by antichrists, they stand on the side of antichrists, and conflicts and clashes arise between them and God. Whose fault is this? How did this mistake occur? This is the consequence of them not understanding the truth, not knowing God’s work, and always viewing people and things based on their notions and imaginings.

II. A Dissection of Antichrists’ Love of Negative Things

Today, we’ll continue fellowshipping on the seventh manifestation of antichrists: They are wicked, insidious, and deceitful. The focus of this manifestation is on their wickedness, as wickedness encompasses both insidiousness and deceitfulness. Wickedness is representative of the essence of antichrists, while insidiousness and deceitfulness are subordinate. Last time, we fellowshipped on and exposed the wicked essence of antichrists. We fellowshipped on some broad concepts and some relatively defining content, touching on some words about exposing this aspect of the essence of antichrists. Today, we will continue our fellowship on this subject. Some might ask, “Is there anything to fellowship on when it comes to this subject?” There is. There are some details that still need to be fellowshipped on here. We will fellowship about this subject in a different manner and from a different perspective today. What was the main characteristic and manifestation of antichrists’ wicked nature that we fellowshipped on last time? People like antichrists feel hostile toward and loathe all positive things and the truth. Their hostility and loathing toward the truth and positive things doesn’t require a reason, nor does it happen as a result of anybody’s instigation, and it’s certainly not the result of them being possessed by an evil spirit. Instead, they inherently just don’t like these things. They feel hostile toward and loathe these things; in their lives and in their bones, they feel repulsion when they encounter positive things. If you bear testimony to God or fellowship about the truth with them, they will develop a hatred toward you, and may even have a mind to attack you. We covered this aspect of antichrists feeling hostile toward and loathing positive things in our last fellowship, so we won’t discuss it again this time. In this fellowship, we’ll explore another aspect. What is that other aspect? Antichrists feel hostile toward and loathe positive things, so what do they like? Today, we will analyze and dissect the wicked nature of antichrists from this side and perspective. Is this necessary? (Yes.) It is necessary. Could you realize it on your own? (No.) Antichrists’ dislike of positive things and the truth is their wicked nature. So, on this basis, consider carefully what antichrists like, and what manner of things they like to do, as well as their method and means of doing things, and the kind of people they like—isn’t this a better perspective and side from which to view their wicked nature? This provides a more specific and objective view. First, antichrists dislike positive things, which implies that they are hostile toward them and like negative things. What are some examples of negative things? Lies and trickery—aren’t these negative things? Yes, lies and trickery are negative things. So, what is the positive counterpart to lies and trickery? (Honesty.) Correct, it’s honesty. Does Satan like honesty? (No.) It likes trickery. What is the first thing God requires of humans? God says, “If you want to believe in Me and follow Me, what kind of person should you be first and foremost?” (An honest person.) So, what is the first thing that Satan teaches people to do? To lie. What is the first evidence of the wicked nature of antichrists? (Trickery.) Yes, antichrists like trickery, they like lies, and they detest and hate honesty. Though honesty is a positive thing, they do not like it, and instead they feel repulsion and hatred toward it. By contrast, they like trickery and lies. If someone often speaks truthfully in front of antichrists, saying something like, “You like conducting work from a position of status, and sometimes you’re lazy,” how do antichrists feel about it? (They don’t accept it.) Not accepting it is one of the attitudes they possess, but is that all? What is their attitude toward this person who speaks truthfully? They feel repulsed and don’t like them. Some antichrists say to the brothers and sisters, “I’ve been leading you for some time now. Please everybody tell me your opinions about me.” Everybody thinks, “Since you’re being so sincere, we’ll give you some feedback.” Some say, “You’re quite serious and diligent in everything you do, and you’ve endured a lot of suffering. We can hardly bear to watch it, and we feel distressed on your behalf. God’s house could use more leaders like you! If we had to point out a shortcoming, it would be that you’re too serious and diligent. If you overwork yourself and burn out, you won’t be able to keep working, and won’t we be done for then? Who will lead us?” When antichrists hear this, they feel pleased. They know it’s a lie, that these people are currying favor with them, but they’re willing to listen to it. In fact, the people saying this are playing these antichrists like fools, but these antichrists would rather play the fool than reveal the true nature of these words. Antichrists love people who lick their boots like this. These individuals don’t bring up the antichrists’ faults, corrupt dispositions, or shortcomings. Instead, they covertly praise and exalt them. Even though it’s clear that their words are lies and flattery, the antichrists gladly accept these words, finding them comforting and pleasing. To antichrists, these words are better than savoring the most exquisite delicacies. After hearing these words, they feel smug. What does this illustrate? It shows that there is a certain disposition within antichrists that loves lies. Suppose someone tells them, “You’re too arrogant, and you treat people unfairly. You’re good to those who support you, but if someone keeps their distance from you or doesn’t suck up to you, you belittle and ignore them.” Aren’t these truthful words? (Yes.) How do antichrists feel after hearing this? They become unhappy. They don’t want to hear it, and they can’t accept it. They try to find excuses and reasons to explain things away and smooth things over. As for those who constantly flatter antichrists in person, who always speak nice-sounding words to covertly praise them, and even clearly trick them with their words, antichrists never investigate these people. Instead, antichrists make use of them as important figures. They even put perpetual liars in important positions, assigning them to do certain significant and dignified duties, while arranging for those who always speak honestly, and often report issues, to do their duties in less conspicuous positions, preventing them from having access to upper leadership or from being known by or close to most people. It doesn’t matter how talented these people are or what duties they can do in God’s house—antichrists ignore all that. They only care about who can engage in trickery and who is advantageous to them; these are the individuals whom they put in important positions, without considering the interests of God’s house one bit.

Antichrists love trickery and lies. For instance, suppose that the churches they supervise do not pay any attention to the gospel work, and do not focus on training people to spread the gospel, and as a result, the gospel work gets poor results, and few people are gained. Antichrists, however, fear that people may report the actual situation. They hate anyone who speaks honestly, and like those who can lie, engage in trickery, and sweep all disadvantageous information under the rug. So, what kind of talk do antichrists like to hear the most? “Everyone who spreads the gospel in our church is capable of testifying, and each one of them is an expert at spreading the gospel.” Aren’t these words meant to trick people? But antichrists enjoy hearing such things. How do antichrists respond after hearing this? They say, “Great, the results of our church’s gospel work just keep improving, they’re much better than those of other churches. The people who spread the gospel in our church are all masters at it.” Antichrists and those who flatter them laud each other in this way, and antichrists do not expose their shameless flattery. The antichrists work in this manner: When their subordinates trick them, they willingly fall for it. Antichrists just fool around in this way. If someone knows the real situation and steps forward to say, “This is not accurate. Out of the 10 individuals we’ve been spreading the gospel to, we’ve determined that two of them don’t accept the truth, and they’ve already given up on investigating. Only three out of the other eight genuinely believe in God. Let’s do our very best to bring those three in.” When the reality of the situation is exposed, how do antichrists react? They think, “I didn’t know about those things!” When someone speaks truthfully about the real situation of things that antichrists were unaware of, do they agree or disagree with them, are they happy or unhappy? They’re unhappy. Why are they unhappy? They’re leaders, and yet they’re unaware of and have no grasp of the particulars and the facts regarding the church’s work—they even need someone who understands what’s really going on to explain it all to them. When someone who understands the situation and speaks honestly clarifies these matters, what is the antichrists’ initial feeling? They feel like they’ve completely lost face, and that their prestige is going to take a dive. Given the wicked nature of antichrists, what will they do? Hatred will arise within them, and they will think, “You blabbermouth! If you hadn’t spoken up, this would have slipped past without anyone noticing it. Thanks to you, everyone knows about it, and they might start admiring you instead of me. Doesn’t this make me look incapable, like I’m not doing any actual work? I’ll remember you. You tell the truth, challenging and opposing me at every turn. I’ll make sure you regret it!” Think about it, how do they view those who work conscientiously, who speak honestly, and who loyally do their duties? They see them as adversaries. Isn’t this distorting the facts? Not only do they fail to promptly cooperate and make up for their work-related mistakes, but they also continue to neglect their duties. They even harbor hatred toward those who speak truthfully and who are careful and responsible in their work. They may even try to torment them. Is this not the behavior of antichrists? (Yes.) What kind of disposition is this? This is wickedness. The wickedness of antichrists is exposed in this way. Whenever an honest person appears, whenever someone speaks honest, truthful words, and whenever someone adheres to the principles and investigates the true nature of the matter, antichrists feel repulsed and loathe them, and their wicked nature erupts and reveals itself. Whenever there is trickery, and whenever lies are told, antichrists become delighted, revel in it, and even forget themselves. Have any of you read “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? The behavior of antichrists is somewhat similar in nature. In that story, the emperor paraded naked in the streets, and thousands of people exclaimed, “The emperor’s new clothes are truly beautiful! The emperor looks so wonderful! The emperor is so great! The emperor’s new clothes are indeed magical!” Everyone was telling lies. Did the emperor know? He was completely naked, how could he be unaware of the fact that he was not wearing any clothes? This is called foolishness. So, these wicked antichrists, despite being insidious and deceitful, lack wisdom. Why do I say they lack wisdom? It is because they are like that naked emperor. He had no discernment of words that were meant to trick him. He was even capable of walking around naked, exposing his ugliness. Isn’t this foolishness? So, what is it that antichrists’ wickedness often reveals? It is their foolishness.

Because antichrists have a wicked nature, because they love trickery and lies but dislike honesty, and because they detest truthful speech, therefore, in churches that are under the rule of antichrists, those individuals who are either honest or pursuing to be honest, those who practice the truth and don’t want to trick or lie, are often subjected to torment. Is this not the case? The more you speak truthfully, the more an antichrist will torment you, and the more you speak truthfully, the more they will dislike you. Conversely, those who flatter and trick them gain favor and are well-liked in their eyes. Are antichrists not wicked? Do you have such wicked antichrists around you? Have you ever encountered them? They don’t allow people to speak truthfully; whoever speaks truthfully has their mouth shut. If you ever manage to lie and line up with what they say, becoming their accomplice, then they will no longer be your adversary. If you persist in speaking truthfully and handling matters according to the truth principles, sooner or later, they will torment you. Have any of you been tormented? Just because you exposed the evil deeds of false leaders and antichrists, you were tormented, and in the end, you were tormented to the point that you dared not say anything even if you wanted to. Has this ever happened? Speaking truthfully and reporting issues led to you being tormented. In various churches, have any of you been tormented for reporting issues? If someone who tells lies and tricks the church is pruned, are they being tormented? (No.) This is normal discipline; it’s not the same as torment. This happens because you are derelict in your duty, you violate principles, and you act with wrong intentions, lying and tricking, which leads to being pruned. So, in God’s presence, you will never bear any consequences for speaking truthfully. However, in the presence of Satan and of antichrists, you must be more cautious. This reflects the saying, “Kings and bears often worry their keepers.” When you talk to them, you always have to consider their mood, gauging their happiness and whether their expression is gloomy or sunny, then decide what to say to be in line with their thoughts. For example, if an antichrist says, “Isn’t it going to rain today?” you have to say, “The forecast says it will rain today.” In reality, when the antichrist says it might rain today, it’s because he doesn’t want to go out and do his duty. If you say, “The forecast says it will be sunny today,” he’ll get angry. You’ll have to quickly say, “Oh, I misspoke. It’s going to rain today.” The antichrist says, “You just said it wouldn’t rain. How can you say now that it will rain?” You’ll have to respond, “Just because it’s sunny now doesn’t mean that it will continue that way. As the ancients said, ‘Heaven has its unexpected storms.’ Weather forecasts aren’t always accurate, but your judgment is spot on!” When the antichrist hears this, he becomes pleased and praises you for being sensible. Do you ever comport yourselves like this? You do, right? Are you capable of doing what antichrists often do, not allowing people to speak truthfully and tormenting anyone who does? Haven’t you all watched palace dramas? What’s the relationship between the emperor and his ministers at court? Their relationship might not be easy to express in one sentence, but there is a phenomenon among them, that is, the emperor doesn’t take anybody’s words at face value. He analyzes and scrutinizes everything his ministers say, never taking it as the truth. This is his principle for listening to his ministers speak. As for the ministers, they have to be skilled at listening to unspoken implications. For instance, when the emperor says, “Prime Minister Wang mentioned something today,” and so on and so forth, everyone listens to this and thinks, “The emperor seems to want to promote Prime Minister Wang, but he’s most afraid of people forming factions, seeking private gain, and rebelling, so I can’t openly support Prime Minister Wang. I have to stand in the middle, neither opposing nor supporting him, so that the emperor can’t discern my true intentions—but I’m not opposing the emperor’s will either.” You see, in their minds, even a single statement involves so much thought, with twists and turns even more intricate than a snake’s path. The core meaning of what they say remains elusive, shrouded in ambiguity. It takes years of accumulated experience to analyze which statements are true or false, and you have to decipher their intended meaning based on how they usually behave and talk. In short, there’s not a single truthful statement in their speech, and everything that they say is lies. Everyone’s dialogue, whether those lower in rank or higher up, contains its own manner of speaking. They speak from their own standpoint, but what they say is never the literal meaning you hear—it’s just lies. How do lies come about? Because people carry certain intentions, purposes, and motivations into their speech and actions, when they speak, they are careful with their words and the implications of their words, they beat around the bush, and they have their own method of speaking. Once they have a method, is it still truthful speech? No, it’s not. Their words contain many layers of meaning, a combination of truth and falsehood—some true, some false—and some meant to trick. In any case, they are not truthful. Take the example of Prime Minister Wang that was just mentioned. Someone openly opposes Prime Minister Wang at court. His opposition is not immediately apparent as true or false. You have to look further. In the next scene, he’s drinking in a secret drawing room in Prime Minister Wang’s house. It turns out the two of them are working together. If you just watch the scene where this person opposes Prime Minister Wang, how can you see that the two are working together? Why did he oppose him? To avoid suspicion and use this to make the emperor lower his guard, preventing him from suspecting that they are in cahoots. Isn’t this a tactic? (Yes, it is.) These people live in that circle where they dare not speak a single word of truth. If telling lies every day is so exhausting, why don’t they leave? They even visit the grave of an opponent who has died—what’s up with that? They simply love to fight against others; without fighting, they feel that life is dull. If there’s no fighting, they think that this lifetime is too uneventful. With all these schemes and plots in their mind but nowhere to put them to use, they need a rival to fight against, to see who is superior. That’s when they feel their life has value. If their opponent dies, they feel like there’s no meaning left in their life. Tell Me, can people like this be reformed? (No, they can’t.) This is their nature. Antichrists have this kind of nature: They fight against others and with leaders and workers every day. They even fight against God, telling lies and tricking every day, disrupting and disturbing the work of God’s house. They can’t sit still for a moment. They can’t accept the truth, no matter how it’s fellowshipped to them. Like the great red dragon, they won’t rest until they’re completely destroyed.

Antichrists dislike those who speak truthfully, they dislike honest people. They enjoy trickery and lies. So, what is their attitude toward God? For instance, what is their attitude toward God requiring people to be honest? First, they hold this truth in contempt. Their ability to disdain positive things is really indicative of their problem, and it already proves that their nature is wicked. However, this isn’t the complete or total picture. Digging deeper, how do antichrists understand God’s demand for people to be honest? They might say, “Being an honest person, speaking to god about everything, telling him everything, and sharing everything openly with the brothers and sisters—doesn’t that mean losing my dignity? It means having no dignity, no self, and certainly no privacy. This is terrible; what kind of truth is this?” Don’t they view it like this? Antichrists not only hold God’s words and demand about being honest in contempt deep within their hearts, but they may even condemn it. If they can condemn it, can they be honest people? Absolutely not, they absolutely cannot be honest. What’s the reaction of antichrists when they see some people admitting that they told lies? From the depths of their hearts, they scorn and mock such behavior. They believe that people who try to be honest are too foolish. Isn’t it wicked for them to define honest people as fools? (Yes, it is.) This is wicked. They think, “Who tells the truth in today’s society? God asks you to be honest, and you actually try to be honest—you even speak honestly about such matters. You truly are incredibly foolish!” The contempt they feel for honest people in the depths of their hearts proves that they condemn and loathe this truth, and that they neither accept it nor submit to it. Is this not the wickedness of antichrists? This truth is clearly a positive thing, and an aspect of living out normal humanity that people should possess in terms of their comportment, but antichrists condemn it. This is wicked. In the church, there are often people who, because they report problems or describe the true state of affairs to the Above, end up being “pruned” by certain leaders—they get tormented. Sometimes, when the Above asks about the situation in the church, some leaders report only positive things and leave out the negative things. When some people hear that these leaders’ reports aren’t factual, and ask them to tell the truth, these leaders push them to the side, and prevent them from telling the truth. Some people don’t accept the antichrists’ way of doing things. They think, “Since you won’t speak honestly, I won’t treat you like a leader. I’ll tell the truth to the Above. I’m not afraid of them pruning me.” So, they faithfully report the real situation to the Above. When they do this, it blows the lid off the church. How come? Because these people have exposed the facts about those antichrists—they have exposed the true state of affairs. Do the antichrists agree to this? Can they tolerate it? They will absolutely not spare the people who reported the issue. What do the antichrists do? Soon after, they call a meeting about this matter, they ask people to discuss it and observe their reactions. Most people, easily swayed, consider the matter and think, “Someone has reported the facts, and now this leader is in danger. We didn’t report what was going on—if the Above decides to punish this leader, won’t we be implicated along with them?” So, these people find ways to defend the leaders, and as a result, the people who reported the truth become isolated. In this way, the antichrists can do as they please, because no matter what evil things they do, nobody dares to report the situation to the Above, and they thereby achieve their goals. Therefore, for some people, reporting the situation to the Above presents many actual difficulties. They know the facts, but antichrists always want to silence them. Out of fear and timidity, they compromise, and in doing so, don’t they fall victim to the antichrists’ coercion? In the end, once these antichrists are revealed and replaced, how do you think the people who compromised feel? Do they regret it? (Yes, they regret it.) They feel both pleased and regretful, thinking, “If I’d known this is how things would end up, I wouldn’t have given up. I should have continued to expose them and report their issues until they were replaced.” But most people can’t do that; they are too cowardly.

Antichrists like trickery and lies and loathe honesty; this is the first obvious manifestation of their wicked nature. You see, some people always speak in a way that makes it difficult for people to wrap their minds around it. Sometimes their sentences have a beginning but no end, sometimes an end but no beginning. You can’t tell at all what they mean to say, nothing they say makes any sense to you, and if you ask them to explain clearly, they won’t. They often use pronouns in their speech. For example, they report something, and say, “That guy—um, he was thinking that, and then the brothers and sisters weren’t very …” They could go on for hours and still not express themselves clearly, stuttering and stammering, not finishing their sentences, just uttering some single words that have no connection to one another, leaving you none the wiser after hearing it—and anxious, even. In fact, they have undertaken a lot of studies and are well-educated—so why are they incapable of uttering a complete sentence? This is a problem of disposition. They are so slippery that it takes great effort to speak even a bit of the truth. There is no focus to anything antichrists say, there is always a start but no end; they blurt out half a sentence then swallow the other half, and they are always testing the waters, because they don’t want you to understand what they mean, they want you to guess. If they tell you directly, you’ll realize what they’re saying and see right through them, won’t you? They don’t want that. What do they want? They want you to guess on your own, and they are happy to let you believe what you guess is true—in that case, they didn’t say it, so they don’t bear any responsibility. Beyond that, what do they gain when you tell them your guess at what their meaning is? Your guess is exactly what they want to hear, and it tells them your ideas and views on the matter. From there, they will speak selectively, choosing what to say and what not to say, and how to say it, and then they will take the next step in their plan. Every sentence ends with a trap, and as you listen to them, if you keep finishing their sentences, you will have completely fallen into the trap. Is it tiring for them to always speak like this? Their disposition is wicked—they don’t feel tired. It’s completely natural for them. Why do they want to create these traps for you? Because they can’t see your views clearly, and they fear that you will see through them. At the same time they are trying to stop you from understanding them, they are trying to understand you. They want to elicit your views, ideas, and methods out of you. If they succeed, then their traps have worked. Some people stall by often saying “hmm” and “hah”; they don’t express a specific point of view. Others stall by saying “like” and “well …,” covering up what they’re really thinking, using this in place of what they actually want to say. There are many useless function words, adverbs, and auxiliary verbs in every sentence of theirs. If you were to record their words and write them out, you would discover that none of them reveal their views or attitudes on the matter. All of their words contain hidden traps, temptations, and enticements. What is this disposition? (Wicked.) Very wicked! Is there trickery involved? These traps, temptations, and enticements they create are called trickery. This is a common characteristic of people with the wicked essence of antichrists. How does this common characteristic manifest? They report the good news but not the bad, they exclusively speak in pleasing terms, they speak haltingly, they partially hide their true meaning, they speak confusingly, they speak vaguely, and their words carry temptations. All of these things are traps, and all of them are means of trickery.

The majority of antichrists exhibit these manifestations and speak and act in this way. Could you discern this if you came into contact with them for a long time? Could you see through them? First, you have to determine if they are honest people. No matter how much they demand that others be honest and speak truthfully, you have to see if they themselves are honest people, if they are striving to be honest, and what their viewpoint and attitude is toward honest people. See if they are repulsed by, loathe, and discriminate against honest people in the depths of their hearts, or if they also want to be honest people deep down, yet find it difficult and challenging to do so, so they can’t achieve it. You need to figure out which of these is their situation. Could you discern this? In a short period of time, you might not be able to do so, because if their tricky methods are clever, you may not see through them. However, over time, everybody will be able to see through them; they can’t hide the truth about themselves forever. It’s like how the great red dragon often says it’s “serving the people” and “acting as the people’s public servant.” But nowadays who still believes that it’s the party of the people? Who still believes it’s making decisions on behalf of the people? Nobody believes that anymore, right? Initially, the people had optimistic expectations, thinking that with the Communist Party, they could change their fortunes and become masters, that it would serve the people and act as their public servant. But nowadays, who still believes its devilish words? How do people evaluate it now? It has become a public enemy of the people. So, how did it go from being a public servant to being a public enemy? Through its actions, and by comparing its actions to its words, people discovered that all the things it said were just deceitful lies, falsehoods, and words intended to whitewash itself. It spoke the most pleasant-sounding words but did the worst things. Antichrists are like this too. For example, they tell the brothers and sisters, “You should do your duties loyally—don’t let them be adulterated by personal impurities.” But think about it, do they act in this way themselves? When you suggest something to them, as soon as you just reveal a bit of your opinion, they won’t agree with it or accept it. When their personal interests clash with their duties or the interests of God’s house, they fight for every inch of profit and won’t give an inch away. Think about their behavior, then compare it to what they say. What do you notice? Their words sound nice but they are all falsehoods meant to trick people. When they scheme and fight for their interests, their behavior, as well as the intentions, means, and methods of their actions, are all genuine—they aren’t fake. Based on these things, you can gain some discernment of antichrists.