III. Despising the Words of God

Today, we continue from our previous fellowship, which addressed the tenth manifestation of antichrists—they despise the truth, brazenly flout principles, and ignore the arrangements of God’s house. This item is divided into three sections. The first two have been fellowshipped, and today we will fellowship the third: Antichrists despise the words of God. Previously, some manifestations and sayings about this aspect were fellowshipped, such as how antichrists doubt God’s words, do not believe them, and are filled with curiosity toward them, lacking any element of belief and consisting only of doubt, testing, and speculation. In short, antichrists do not regard God’s words as the truth, nor do they practice them. When faced with matters, they do not seek the principles of practice according to God’s words. In their hearts, they frequently harbor doubt, resistance, and denial toward God’s words. All these can be said to be manifestations of antichrists despising the words of God. Today, we will fellowship further on the more in-depth and specific attitudes and actions of antichrists toward God’s words, to dissect how exactly they despise God’s words. Regarding how antichrists despise God’s words, we will continue to fellowship item by item. Won’t this way be clearer? (Yes.) If I were to fellowship in a general way now, and you possessed a certain comprehension ability, sufficient caliber, and spiritual understanding, and often received light from God’s words, then what I previously fellowshipped would actually be enough for you. However, most people do not possess the caliber to comprehend God’s words; they do not reach the level where they can treat God’s words as the truth to be comprehended. Therefore, we need to fellowship item by item. This topic is specifically divided into several smaller sections.

A. Antichrists Arbitrarily Tamper With and Interpret the Words of God

The first item is that antichrists arbitrarily tamper with and interpret the words of God. Previously, we have fellowshipped on this aspect through some specific examples, though not in a targeted, detailed dissection, just in passing. What are the manifestations of antichrists arbitrarily tampering with and interpreting God’s words? In regard to this item, how do antichrists act? The fact that antichrists can display such behavior and adopt such actions toward God’s words indicates, from the point of view of their nature, that they do not believe in their hearts that God’s words are the truth, sacred, and unoffendable. Regardless of which aspect of the words of the truth God expresses, whether it appears simple or profound to people, it is still God’s words, it is the truth, and is inseparably linked with one’s life entry, dispositional transformation, and salvation. However, antichrists do not see it this way; they are not conscious of this in their hearts, nor do they have such awareness or understanding. They do not believe that God’s words are the truth, nor do they recognize the great importance of God’s words for one’s life entry. On the contrary, they believe that God’s words, on the surface, appear to be just human words, and quite ordinary. They only seem so important because all who follow God, God’s house, and the church have labeled them as “God’s words.” But in reality, on the surface, God’s words seem like common phrases often spoken by people. Literally, these words contain elements of human language, they contain the logic, thought, and diction of human language, including some colloquialisms, idioms, sayings, and even two-part proverbs. Antichrists do not see God’s words as something as grandiose, inscrutable, or profound as one might imagine, not like the legendary scriptures from heaven. To them, they are just plain and ordinary. Thus, after much scrutiny, they ultimately arrive at a definition in their hearts: These words are just plain language, quite practical, something believers should read, words that can help with one’s behavior and faith. After much reading, this is the conclusion they reach. Even some antichrists and egotists take God’s words and read so many chapters and pages in one go. Some even read the book The Word Appears in the Flesh from beginning to end within a month, leaving some profound impressions in their minds and thoughts. They gain a general understanding of some spiritual terminologies, the tone and manner of God’s speech, and even the content of God’s words at different stages. After reading, they say, “God’s words are just so-so. I’ve read them all in one go and understood the general content of god’s six-thousand-year management plan. So, god’s words are not that profound. To elevate god’s words to the level of the truth, as something essential for people’s life entry, seems a bit excessive.” Therefore, no matter how they view these words, their ultimate definition of God’s words in their heart is that they are not as profound or difficult to understand as people imagine. Anyone who is educated and has eyes can understand them. After reading back and forth, not only do they fail to recognize or understand the various truths about life entry that people ought to understand from God’s words, gaining enlightenment, sustenance, and help from them, but they also feel that God’s words are far from the truth and the scriptures from heaven. After reaching such a conclusion, antichrists despise God’s words even more. They believe that God’s words are merely this, that God is merely this, and the truth is merely this. With such an attitude and understanding, antichrists’ inner stance toward God’s words and The Word Appears in the Flesh leads them to further despise God’s words and the truth. They use their knowledge and intellect, relying on their memories and cleverness, to rapidly grasp the content and so-called principles of these words, as well as some of the tone, style, and diction used in them, the latter of which includes common and idiomatic expressions. Subsequently, they feel that they have attained everything and have it all. Such understanding and attitude lead them to even more recklessly despise and question God’s words in their hearts and further doubt God’s identity and essence.

Looking at it from the nature of antichrists, one can see that they are averse to the truth, despise positive things, despise God’s humbleness and hiddenness, and despise God’s faithfulness, realness, and loveliness. This series of disdain leads antichrists to unconsciously and naturally carry out some nauseating actions that God detests and condemns. These actions include arbitrarily tampering with and interpreting God’s words. What does tampering refer to? Antichrists do not believe that there is truth in God’s words, do not believe that God’s words can grant people life, and even less do they believe that these words are the foundation man relies upon for survival and the direction and path for man’s progress. Therefore, they do not understand why God speaks in these ways, nor do they know why God speaks such words in a particular context, and they are even more clueless about why God speaks these specific contents. Regarding how these contents came about, what God thinks, and what God aims to observe, accomplish, and effectuate in people while speaking these words, as well as—within these words—all that God aims to achieve, His intentions, and the truth, antichrists are completely clueless and utterly ignorant—they are laypeople when it comes to this. Therefore, in their hearts, they often feel that God should not have said this phrase in that way, that sentence should follow this one, this sentence should be phrased like this, that passage should have this tone or that intonation, this word choice is incorrect, and that term is inconsiderate and unbefitting of God’s identity, thus forming their opinions. In their eyes, God’s words are not as good as any famous or great person’s works in the world. They feel that God’s speech isn’t rigorous enough, that it’s verbose, and that some words, if scrutinized closely, do not strictly speaking conform to human grammatical and lexical rules. “How can there be truth in these words? How can these be god’s words? How can they be the truth?” Antichrists calculate and ponder in their hearts while simultaneously doubting and condemning. With such an attitude, such thoughts, and such a perspective on God’s words, the antichrists ready their devilish claws.

I recall that a few years ago, an incident occurred in the hymn group. They wanted to compose music for an essential passage of God’s words to be sung in the church. During the composition, they found that the length of God’s speech and the number of words did not match the melody; each line of the lyrics had too many words. Additionally, the entire song’s melody, if applied to God’s words, made the words seem too numerous and too long. So, what was their solution? They found a way: They altered some of the phrasing and diction of God’s words without changing their apparent meaning—for instance, turning a four-character idiom into a two-character word, or deleting sentences that seemed lengthy, unnecessary, and nonsensical. Following this principle, they set the edited version of God’s words to music and disseminated it in the church for singing. Most people, muddled as they were, thought it was a hymn of God’s words, but who knew that such a passage was not God’s words at all? It was a passage arbitrarily modified and abridged by antichrists, messed with and altered. Later, when this hymn was being prepared for a program, I asked which chapter of God’s words the hymn was based on. They told Me it was the first passage of a particular chapter. I found that passage and compared it with the one in the hymnbook, and it gave Me quite a shock. The passage in the hymnbook was nominally a selected segment from that chapter of God’s words, but it had been altered beyond recognition. The tone of the speech was gone, many important words were omitted, the content of the speech was disordered, and even the sequence of words was inverted. If no one had told Me this passage was excerpted from a particular chapter of God’s words, I don’t think anyone could identify which chapter it was from; it didn’t match the original at all. On the surface, these people were doing their duty: By setting God’s words to music for everyone to sing and internalize, God’s words could continually lead and guide people, and it could help people enter into God’s words. What a wonderful deed this was! However, due to the antichrists’ utter lack of a God-fearing heart, they treated God’s words as if they were the words spoken by ordinary people in conversation, arbitrarily deleting and tampering with them. Without asking a single question and without anyone’s permission or agreement—or much less any authorization from anyone—they completely changed God’s words, and yet they led people to believe that they were doing their duty, that they had set God’s words to music. What kind of behavior and method is this? What disposition do the people who engage in such behavior and such a method have? Those who avail of such a method, who treat God’s words with such an attitude, do their hearts actually have any fear in the way they treat God’s words? Do they cherish God’s words? Do they treat God’s words as the truth? Judging from their irreverent and casual attitude toward God’s words, not only do they not cherish them, but they also treat God’s words as playthings, casually altering them at whim. Isn’t their attitude toward God’s words indicative of their attitude toward God Himself? (Yes.) It’s precisely the same. God’s words represent God Himself; they are an expression of God, an expression of His disposition, and a revelation of His essence. If people are so irreverent and casual toward God’s words, it goes without saying how they treat God Himself. This speaks volumes.

People outwardly follow God, forsaking, expending, and enduring hardship for Him, but their attitude toward God’s words is so irreverent and casual. Antichrists might even decorate the book The Word Appears in the Flesh beautifully, wrap it in cloth, and store it in the safest place. But what can this prove? Can it show that they cherish God’s words, that they have God-fearing hearts? Can these superficial actions cover up their irreverent attitude toward God’s words? They cannot. Whenever they read God’s words, they always think about altering some of the terms, expressions, and tones in them. And to what extent are some antichrists audacious? When they find something in God’s words that doesn’t match their notions, or they think the wording is improper or grammatically incorrect, or even they believe a punctuation mark is wrong, they will loudly proclaim and exaggerate the matter, wishing the whole world knew about a misplaced punctuation mark, an improper word choice, or a seemingly unreasonable statement in God’s words. They spread this with a mocking and disdainful tone. It seems that at these moments, they finally find what they consider evidence of errors in God’s words, a handle to gain leverage, a flaw, and they can finally reassure themselves in their hearts that God’s words also have mistakes and that God is not perfect. Isn’t this the disposition of an antichrist? Antichrists aim to find faults and errors in God’s words; this is an attitude of hostility, not one of submission and acceptance. Speaking of antichrists arbitrarily tampering with and interpreting God’s words, can the incident that occurred in the hymn group that was just mentioned be considered tampering with God’s words? (Yes.) Tell Me, what kind of person would alter God’s words so arbitrarily? Do they have any fear of God? (No.) What disposition is this? Firstly, do they treat God’s words as God’s words? (No.) Then what do they treat God’s words as? They treat them as human words. It might be acceptable to alter articles of people’s experiential testimony if the words are incoherent or imperfect, but to dare to do the same with God’s words, what is the nature of this? Isn’t this acting willfully and recklessly without having a God-fearing heart? To dare to arbitrarily comment on and alter God’s words, to change them whenever they don’t suit one’s own ideas or viewpoint—is the nature of this serious? (Yes.)

Who else is involved in tampering with God’s words? During the process of spreading the gospel, some potential gospel recipients come into contact with God’s words and have various notions about God’s tone, style, the perspective from which He speaks, and even the wording and pronouns used, among many other aspects. Different people all have different notions; those from different denominations have different tastes and requirements. Some members of the gospel team say, “It’s difficult to spread the gospel this way! Some of god’s words are too harsh; with some of them it seems like god is cursing at people. They’re not at all gentle, they lack love, and are all everyday language. Some are specifically targeted at certain ethnicities, while others disclose mysteries—people don’t find any of this acceptable! These words have become a stumbling block for potential gospel recipients to accept god’s new work. What should we do?” Someone says, “I have a solution. Since potential gospel recipients can’t accept god’s new work because of these words, why not just delete them? Mark all the words and contents that people are unwilling to accept, even if it’s a single sentence, and remove them when printing. This way, when potential gospel recipients read it, there won’t be any words that wound their pride or hurt their feelings, nor anything that contradicts their notions. All of god’s words will be appropriate, the recipients won’t have any notions, and they will be able to smoothly accept god’s new work.” In the gospel team, some have actually done this, and without even inquiring or asking for consent from the Above, they printed and widely distributed booklets containing these abridged and tampered words of God. For the sake of their convenience in work, to gain more people, to show their work capability, and to appear loyal in their duty, they concocted this method and even turned it into reality by printing it into a book. But this book is entirely different from The Word Appears in the Flesh. Is this method not tampering with God’s words? (Yes.) Do most people realize that tampering with God’s words is a way of resisting God? (Yes.) Do most people have this awareness? Today, after fellowshipping so much, you can readily say yes. But if you were spreading the gospel three or five years ago, would you have been aware that not a single word or sentence of God’s should be altered? Would you have had such a God-fearing heart? (No.) So, within what context would you have lacked this awareness? Would it have been within the context of totally lacking a God-fearing heart that you would have dared to arbitrarily tamper with God’s words? If someone entirely lacks a God-fearing heart, they will dare to arbitrarily tamper with God’s words, changing the original meaning, the manner of God’s speech, and the desired effect of a certain passage of God’s words, deleting the intentions, core, and emphasis of what this passage articulates—this all amounts to tampering.

A few years ago, during a chance encounter, someone from the gospel team posed a question: “When testifying for god’s new work to a certain ethnic group, they feel repulsed and unwilling to listen to the parts where god exposes them, and they have notions about these parts. So these words become a barrier to their acceptance of god’s new work. We’re thinking of altering those words. Once changed, they will be able to accept them, and no longer have notions about god’s new work or this incarnation of god.” What do you think about this question? If it weren’t for this opportunity to meet and discuss the work of the gospel, they might have taken it upon themselves to alter these words. Perhaps according to their imaginings, three, five, ten, or even more people from that ethnic group might then accept God’s new work. But leaving that aside for now, those spreading the gospel always want to change God’s words to align with human notions. They always want to delete the words where God exposes and judges corrupt humankind, where He exposes the essence of corrupt humankind. What is the nature of such behavior? Does this kind of action reflect a God-fearing heart? (No.) In My view, it’s not that people of a certain ethnicity or denomination have notions about God’s words; it’s fundamentally the people spreading the gospel who have notions. God’s words don’t pass muster with them; they contradict and are averse to them deep down, they don’t want to listen and don’t like these words from God. They believe that if these are truly god’s words, they should be loving and not expose people so nakedly and bluntly, as if slapping their faces. So, they strongly demand, if they are to spread the gospel, can these words be removed? To spread the gospel and gain people, can God make concessions just once, speak more tactfully and pleasingly? To make more people accept God’s new work, to bring more people before God, can God change His strategy and manner of speaking, compromise and yield to corrupt humankind, bow down, apologize, and beg for forgiveness? Thus, the problem lies fundamentally with the gospel workers, not with people of any particular denomination. Without altering a single word or sentence of God’s words, and given that God’s words can make all people engender notions, there are still many who gradually come before God and accept His new work. Have their notions prevented them from accepting God’s new work? Not at all. If these words spoken by God are not what man needs and don’t reflect the actual situation of man, then it would be understandable for people not to accept God’s words, and God might consider changing His way of speaking and the content of His speech. However, every word and sentence spoken by God reflects the actual situation of man and is related to man’s life entry and salvation. If people have notions and can’t accept them, it proves that humans are wicked, filthy, and so deeply corrupted, and that they are unworthy to come before God. It does not prove that God’s words are wrong or that they aren’t the truth.

What should be done about corrupt humankind having notions about God’s words and work? Those spreading the gospel have been watered by God’s words and have listened to them for so many years. Not to mention how much truth you understand, just speaking theoretically, the visions of God’s work, God’s intentions, the purpose of God’s six-thousand-year management plan, the work of God’s salvation of man—haven’t you understood, remembered, and grasped all these aspects of the truth? If you had all these equipped, would you still be afraid of people having notions? If you are afraid, you should proactively clarify to the potential gospel recipients; testify for God’s intentions to them, explain the truth clearly! If after listening to God’s words for so many years you still can’t explain or clarify them, then you are utterly useless! You are doing this duty, and every day you’re engaged with these topics, these contents, these matters—why would you still think of using such a despicable method as tampering with God’s words to spread the gospel and gain people? Outwardly, this may seem like only a mistaken action, a despicable means, a display of incompetence, but essentially, it is an undoubted manifestation of an antichrist’s essence—not a bit less. It is God’s people who treasure God’s word, who cherish God’s word, who fear God’s word, who respect every word and sentence that God says as well as how He speaks, the perspective from which He speaks, and what He says in each passage. Only God’s enemies often mock and scorn His words. They hold them in disdain. They do not treat God’s words as the truth, as words expressed by the Creator. As such, in their hearts, they often desire to tamper with God’s words and interpret them arbitrarily. They attempt to use their ways, their modes of thought and the logic of their thinking to alter God’s words, so that they conform to corrupt human tastes, corrupt human points of view, and corrupt human modes of thought and philosophy, in an effort to win acclaim from more people in the end. God’s word is God’s word, whichever part of God’s words it is, however it is spoken, and from whichever perspective it is spoken. In order that corrupt mankind can more readily understand, better appreciate, and more easily gain the word of God, so that they can understand the truth in His words, God often uses human languages, human methods, as well as ways, tone of speech, and verbal logic that are much easier for people to comprehend, to explain His intentions and to tell mankind of that which they should enter. Yet it is precisely these inconspicuous methods and this inconspicuous tone, and various inconspicuous words that are exploited by antichrists to condemn God and to deny that His word is truth. Isn’t this the case? (Yes.) These antichrists often use knowledge and the works of famous people, even the speeches, diction, and demeanor of famous people, to compare with God’s words. The more they compare, the more they feel God’s words are too shallow, too straightforward, too colloquial. Thus, they increasingly want to alter God’s words, to “correct” them, as well as “correct” the tone, style, and perspective from which God speaks. No matter how God speaks or how much benefit His words bring to man, in the hearts of antichrists, they never regard God’s words as the truth. They do not seek out the truth, principles of practice, or the path for life entry in God’s words. Instead, they consistently approach God’s words from a perspective of scrutiny, with an attitude of studying, with an attitude of thorough scrutiny and investigation. After all the scrutinizing and investigating, they still feel there are many of God’s words that need to be changed and amended. Thus, for antichrists, from the day they first came into contact with God’s words to ten, twenty, or thirty years later, deep down, they still don’t believe that God’s words contain life, the truth, the gate to the kingdom or the path to heaven that people speak of. They can’t see it, and can’t discover it. So, what do they feel? They wonder why it is that the more they believe, the more they find God’s words too colloquial. They wonder why it is that the more they believe, the less interested they become in God’s words. They begin to doubt whether God’s words are really the truth. What kind of sign is this? A good sign or a bad sign? (A bad sign.) It is quite a miracle that they have believed in God to this point! They have believed themselves into a dead end, losing sight of the truth entirely. Isn’t this the end of their faith?

Have you noticed this fact? From the day everyone started believing in God, reading His words, forsaking their families, careers, studies, and prospects in the world, everyone was at the same starting line. But, imperceptibly, during the race, some people fell behind and no longer wanted to do their duty. Where did they go? Some were relegated to Group B, others to ordinary churches, and some barely managed to stay in a part-time church. Those who don’t wish to do their duty in God’s house and become the targets of clearing out, who no longer qualify to do their duty—why have they ended up where they are today? If you try to perceive their attitude toward God with human eyes, you can’t see it because you don’t know what’s in their hearts. Whether they love or hate God, whether they resist or submit to Him, you can’t tell. So, how do you determine a person’s disposition essence? It’s easy: Just look at their attitude toward God’s words. This group of people has one common characteristic regarding their attitude toward God’s words: No matter the situation, they don’t feel the need for God’s words for sustenance. No matter what difficulties they face, they don’t seek principles or search for the truth in God’s words. These people rarely read God’s words, and they even feel repulsed when someone pray-reads God’s words or fellowships about their understanding of them. How do they show repulsion? They think, “I already know all you’re saying; you don’t need to say it. I’ve read these words of god before; I understand everything.” If they understand everything, why were they cleared out? Why were they relegated to Group B? What’s going on? The root is that these people fundamentally don’t accept God’s words; they despise and are hostile toward them. Can someone who despises and is hostile to God’s words practice them? When you tell them, “If you’ve encountered some situation, you should read God’s words!” what’s their attitude? What are their specific reactions? (They would say practical problems need practical solutions; there’s no need to read God’s words.) They think reading God’s words is a vague approach, and practical problems require practical solutions. This is the tone of an antichrist. What do they mean? “Humans have their own ways; what’s the use of reading god’s words? Do you think god’s words can solve everything?” They assume that if a person encounters some difficulty, it’s merely a difficulty, not at all a reflection of that person’s inner state or disposition. They don’t see this, nor do they acknowledge it as fact. They believe, “Human difficulties are like a machine missing a screw; just put the screw in, and it’s fixed. Why seek god’s words? That’s all fake spirituality. I would never do that; it’s foolish! Do you think god’s words can solve everything? It’s not like that at all.” This is clearly someone who does not accept the truth. Moreover, when some people face issues, and you fellowship with them to help, reading them a passage of God’s words, they respond after listening: “I’ve already memorized that passage, I’ve recited it many times. Why are you telling me? I understand it better than you do, and it’s useless, it won’t solve my problem!” What is the issue here? (They don’t accept the truth.) They don’t accept the truth and refuse to acknowledge their own corruption, which is problematic. They don’t admit their corruption, so they think reading God’s words is just going through the motions, is useless. They want to find a quick fix, a miracle cure to solve their problems, and the essence of this issue is a refusal to accept the truth.