2. Prying Into God’s Words of Curses and Punishment to Man

The second item is that antichrists pry into God’s words of curses and punishment to man. Antichrists hold the same view and stance toward the curses and punishment mentioned in God’s words as they do toward the first item. How do they pry into these kinds of words? When they see which type of people God’s words are meant to curse and which type they’re meant to punish, what words God has said to curse such people, what manner God uses to punish such people, as well as what method and words God uses to curse which type of people, they begin observing in their daily life, watching out for how these words of God are realized, and if they have been realized yet. For example, there is a church leader who embezzles the funds of God’s house, arbitrarily punishes and suppresses the brothers and sisters, acts tyrannically and recklessly in the church, operates without principles, does not seek God’s intentions, and does not harmoniously cooperate with others. God’s words state that there are curses and punishment for this type of person. An antichrist observes: “God does not love such people, he spurns them. But how is he spurning this person? The person lives quite comfortably every day and oppresses the brothers and sisters without being reproached; the brothers and sisters just have to bear it. So how are these words of god coming true? I don’t see how they could come true; maybe god’s cursing of such people is just a saying. God’s words should carry authority, and after god speaks, people’s hearts should feel uncomfortable and reproached. I need to observe and see if he is feeling uneasy in his heart, I need to have a chat with him and sound him out.” So, the antichrist asks the person, “How have you been experiencing things recently?” “Pretty good. God is leading us. Church life is not bad, the brothers and sisters have all entered onto the right track, they all love to read god’s words, and the gospel work is also progressing well.” “When the work doesn’t progress smoothly, don’t you feel distressed? Don’t you get negative? Does god discipline you? Do you feel reproached inside?” “No, why should I feel any reproach when the work is done so well? If anything, god is blessing me.” The antichrist thinks, “God hasn’t cursed such a person, so the words god said about cursing evil people, cursing those who resist god, have not been realized! This leader has committed such obvious acts of resisting god and disrupting the church’s work; god’s curses should have come upon him. How come it hasn’t happened? It’s hard to say whether god’s words of curses against people can be realized or not, so I will continue to observe.” There is a phrase in God’s words: “Resistance leads to death!” In the eyes of the antichrist, there are many people who resist God. For example, some people, when they first came into contact with this stage of God’s work and did not understand the truth, spoke some blasphemous and slanderous words against God, rejecting this stage of God’s work. The antichrist thinks to themselves, “Are these people who resist god? If they are, then according to god’s words, resistance leads to death. But after so many years, it seems none of these people have died; god’s words haven’t come true! Even if they don’t die, at the very least, these people should have broken arms or missing legs, or suffer some calamities at home, like a family member dying, or their house collapsing, or being in a car accident. None of these misfortunes have happened, so how can it be said that resistance leads to death? It might be that our ability to understand is poor and we still don’t know how god’s words come true and are realized. Whether god’s words will come true or not, people don’t know; it’s hard to say.” The antichrist, through these observable facts and their own mental analysis, and from their “unique” perspective, views whether or not these words of God come true and how they come true. They always put a huge question mark on this matter; they do not know the ultimate outcome of this matter, how to explain these events, or how to perceive these phenomena. Of course, they often pray about this: “Oh god, please enlighten me, let me understand how you curse and punish people, and how your words come true, so that I can develop a heart that fears you, so that I am afraid of you and do not do things that resist you.” Is this prayer useful? Will God lend His ear? (No.) God doesn’t even bother with it; He regards these prayers like the senseless buzzing of flies and bugs. Why doesn’t God lend His ear to such prayers? Because every sentence the antichrist utters is filled with test, provocation, slander, and blasphemy. For such a person, although God has not openly struck them down or condemned them, everything they do, their thoughts, views, and stance, are condemned in God’s eyes. These manifestations of the antichrist are all hidden in the heart; they do these things covertly and pry into these things in secrecy. Of course, God also condemns and curses them in His heart.

Regarding God’s words of curses and punishment to man, antichrists do not believe or understand them; they often scrutinize and analyze: “How exactly do these words come true? Can they really come true? For whom will they come true? Do those who are cursed and punished by god truly receive curses and punishment? Can it be seen with the human eye? Shouldn’t god make it all visible to the human eye?” They constantly ponder these matters in their hearts, treating them as significant and important issues in their daily life. Whenever they have the time or opportunity, they ponder them. As long as the environment is right and such events occur, or as long as such topics are involved, their stance and viewpoint are clearly revealed. They are scrutinizing and slandering these words of God, attempting to understand these words from a human perspective and in a human way, while also testing whether these words can be realized, whether they have come true in everyday life and have had practical effects. Why do they do this? Why can they brood over and tirelessly ponder these things in their hearts? Because in the hearts of antichrists, no matter how many truths God expresses, they are not enough to prove God’s identity or essence. The only thing that can prove God’s identity and essence is whether God’s words come true and are realized. In other words, whether God’s words are realized and come true is their only criterion for testing God’s identity and essence. Similarly, whether God’s words of curses and punishment to man come true has also become their criterion to test God’s identity and essence. This is the most important thought and viewpoint of antichrists in measuring God. Antichrists, using human perspectives and methods of understanding, and relying on human intellection, test and evaluate God’s words of curses and punishment to people. When, no matter what, they can’t see the facts and can’t see the spectacle they wish to see, they repeatedly deny God’s identity and essence in their hearts. The less they can see, the more they intensify their denial of God, and the more they doubt whether what they have invested and expended has been worthwhile. However, when antichrists witness some evil people in God’s house who slander God or disturb the work of God’s house, or those who blaspheme and resist God, receiving varying degrees of punishment or curses, and see what becomes of these people, they hold God in awe, suddenly feeling, “God is truly formidable. Whatever he says gets accomplished. That person was fine before and suddenly died, because just yesterday she was verbally abusing god! Another person, who was as strong as an ox, suddenly fell ill because he caused significant losses to the work of god’s house and did not even acknowledge it, earning god’s curses. Someone else, because of committing some wrongdoing and doing some evil deeds in the church, had misfortunes befall her family, and since then, there has been no peace in her home. Another person, who always spoke blasphemously about god, has now gone mad, and claims to be god. This is possession by demons; god handed him over to Satan, placing him in a dwelling place of unclean demons. Making him suffer possession by evil spirits is not something humans can bring about; only god has the authority to do this. God reigns sovereign over all—he handed that person over to the evil spirits, and they possessed him, causing him to lose his mind and sense of shame, making him run naked through the streets. Look at what has become of these people, the punishments and curses they have suffered; what have they all done?” After summarizing, antichrists’ hearts skip a beat: “These people include those who openly verbally abuse god, those who openly blasphemed and judged god, and those who intentionally caused disturbances and disruptions in god’s house. It seems that nothing good comes of going against god! God is truly formidable! If you offend other people, they can’t do much to you, but if you offend god, that’s serious. You have to be responsible for your behavior; the cost is too great! At the least, you might go mad, and god will hand you over to unclean demons, which certainly means going to hell; at worst, god will annul your fleshly existence in this life, destroying you, and in the world to come—it goes without saying—you will have no destination, will not be able to enter the kingdom, and will not receive blessings. Judging from the various ways they resisted god, I need to be more careful and set some principles for myself. First, I must not verbally abuse god openly; if I must, I should do it quietly in my heart. Second, even if I have the desire and ambition to be god, I cannot reveal it or let others know. Third, I must restrain my behavior and movements, not doing anything that causes disruptions. If I cause losses to the work of god’s house and anger god, that would be terrible! In a lighter case, I might lose my life; in a more severe case, I would be cursed and fall into the bottomless pit, and that would be the end of me.” When antichrists see these things happening, they feel that God’s words have come true, and God is so great and formidable. The greatness and formidability of God are realized and recognized by them through these events. Aren’t these all thought processes in antichrists’ hearts, as well as the principles for action they summarized after seeing these things, activities of their inner worlds? All that they do in their hearts toward God is what is known as prying.

Antichrists do not openly say, “God does not curse people, god’s words have not come true,” nor do they openly say, “God has punished So-and-so, god has cursed So-and-so. God’s words have come true, god is truly great.” Instead, they scheme, plan, and contemplate these matters deep in their hearts. What is their goal in contemplating? They think of what to do if God’s words come true, and what to do if God’s words do not come true or are not realized. The purpose of their prying is not to understand God’s actions, not to understand God’s disposition, and even less so to gain the truth and be a qualified created being—rather, it is to deal with all these matters, to confront God’s curses and punishment, using human methods and strategies. This is what antichrists scheme in their hearts. Can this series of thoughts toward God’s words prove that they are hostile to God? Can it prove that they have been constantly slandering and blaspheming God? (Yes.) Absolutely! This is what antichrists do. If God’s words come true, they have countermeasures ready; if His words do not come true, they have countermeasures for that too—their countermeasures change depending on whether God’s words come true or not. If God’s words come true, antichrists behave properly, cautiously engaging in tasks within God’s house, maintaining a low profile, not being presumptuous or insolent, remaining careful not to do anything wrong. If God’s words do not come true, they will blatantly act perfunctorily. In any case, whether God’s words are seen as coming true or not in their eyes, their hearts will never truly regard God as God, their hearts can never be fully given to God. Their duties and actions are not carried out with heart but are done using schemes, tricks, and pretense, with deception, concealment, and covertness. What they think, ponder, and doubt in the depths of their hearts is never openly shared with others or with God. Instead, they stubbornly consider their own thoughts and ideas as the truth, as the correct and good direction and goal to carry out and practice. In the eyes of antichrists, whether God’s words of curses and punishment to man come true is very important, as it determines how they act and behave in daily life, how they treat work, and how they treat the brothers and sisters; it also decides what behaviors they reveal, as well as what actions and manifestations they have. When God’s words come true, antichrists behave properly and guilelessly, restraining their activities, trying not to do anything that causes disturbances or disruptions and trying not to speak words that disrupt or disturb, that slander God’s words, or that slander His work. If these words of God do not come true, they feel free to judge and condemn God’s work without any scruple. In this way, antichrists continuously oppose and clamor against God in the depths of their hearts—would it be possible for them not to be revealed and eliminated? This attitude, disposition, and essence of theirs are that of a true enemy of God. Although antichrists cannot do whatever they want, they do not conceal at all what they think, what they’re planning, what they ponder, or what viewpoints they have in the depths of their hearts, because they are not afraid of God. What is the reason they are not afraid of God? They do not believe in the existence of God, nor do they believe that God observes the innermost heart of man. Therefore, in the logic of antichrists, what they consider the most brilliant strategy for survival is this: “What I do and act out, what is visible to others, can become a standard to measure what kind of person I am. But what I think in my heart, how I plan and intend, what my inner world is like, whether I am slandering and blaspheming god, judging god, or believing in and praising god—if I don’t say it, none of you will know. Good luck condemning me! If I don’t speak, none of you can even hope to know what I think or plan in my heart, or what my attitude and viewpoint toward god is, and no one can accuse me of any sin.” This is the plan of antichrists. They believe this is the highest principle of conduct in living and doing things among people. As long as their behavior is not wrong and there aren’t any faults with their actions, no one can interfere with what they think in their hearts. Aren’t antichrists very clever? (No.) How are they not clever? They disguise themselves so well. When they pray, they do it on the street corners, and the words they say in front of others are all correct, with no faults to be found. The longer they believe, the more spiritual they become. What they really think in their hearts, they only say behind closed doors with their family, and some don’t even tell their family, so nobody can see through them. But they forget one thing: What use is it whether humans can see through them or not? It’s insignificant; no human can determine another person’s fate. Whether humans can see through them or not doesn’t matter; it’s irrelevant and doesn’t decide anything. The important thing is that God does not only look at people’s outward behavior, but He also observes the depths of their hearts. Precisely because antichrists do not believe and do not know that God observes the innermost heart of man, they foolishly and absurdly think, “No one can interfere with what I think in my heart, neither humans nor god.” God can observe the innermost heart of man, so your thoughts are related to God’s definition of you. God not only condemns people based on their outward behavior but more importantly, on their inner thoughts. This is where antichrists are foolish; while they pry into God’s words, they forget an important matter: God is also secretly observing their thoughts. They pry into whether God’s words come true, and the conclusion they come to is that they ought to deny God’s words and His existence. God, observing them in secret, sees the attitude they hold toward God and God’s words deep within their hearts; He sees all the evidence of their slandering and blaspheming God, denying and condemning God, and also observes the outward behavior produced under the control of all these thoughts and viewpoints. Based on their thoughts and behavior, what does God ultimately determine such a person to be? An antichrist, an enemy of God, who can never be saved. This is the result. Are antichrists clever? They are far from clever; they have led themselves to ruin. They believe they are especially capable of thinking, that their thinking is very logical, and that they are particularly adept at scheming. After scheming, they have countermeasures and methods for various unexpected events and for all kinds of things God does, always leading to the best results and gains. They often feel self-satisfied and admire themselves, appreciating their own abilities and skills. They believe they are the smartest person in the world: They can understand what the source of God’s words is, whom they are directed at, the context behind God’s words, what attitude they should adopt after God’s words come true, and what countermeasures they should deploy if God’s words do not come true. They often congratulate themselves for being so clever and perfect, for being more intelligent than the average person. What is it they are congratulating themselves for? They feel that scrutinizing, analyzing, and contending with God and prying into God’s words in the depths of their hearts is very thrilling and something that gives them a great sense of accomplishment. Therefore, they really admire themselves and congratulate themselves for being such people. Aren’t antichrists foolish? Contending with other people might indeed allow you to determine which of you is superior to the other, and might even make you feel your own advantage and sense of existence. But when you contend with God, pry into God’s words, into God’s actions, into everything God does, what is that called? And what are the consequences involved? This is courting death! You can pry into movie stars, singers, celebrities, great figures—anyone, but the one you absolutely must not pry into is God. If you do, you’re choosing the wrong target for your prying. In today’s world of advanced information and diverse tools facilitating the flow of information, prying into another person’s whereabouts, their thoughts and viewpoints, and their daily life might not be considered shameful. However, for a person who believes in and follows God, who holds God’s words up and eats and drinks them every day, to constantly pry into all of God’s actions, all of God’s words, and all of God’s work deep in their heart, this is an outrageous defiance! Humans have corrupt dispositions; when you reveal your corruption before God, God can provide the truth for you to understand and know, giving you time to achieve transformation. God can forgive and won’t remember people’s corruption, transgressions, and sins. The only thing God cannot forgive or tolerate is that antichrists have no heart of submission whatsoever, that they’re always scrutinizing God, as well as their constant, continual prying into God’s work and God’s words at all times and places. What are you trying to do? You want to test the correctness of God? Whom do you think you’re overseeing? You want to analyze the source and motive of why God does these things? Who do you think you are? All this, and you don’t consider yourself an outsider? Can God be the object of your prying? Can God be the object of your scrutinization? You accepting God’s scrutiny, accepting God’s guidance, accepting God’s judgment and chastisement, accepting being pruned by Him, and all such positive practices that involve dispositional change—these are legitimate. Even sometimes when you misunderstand God, when you are weak and negative and complain about God, God does not hold it against you, nor does He condemn you. But there is one thing: You are always prying into God, always trying to discern the correctness of God’s words and God’s work—this is something God will absolutely not forgive or tolerate; this is God’s disposition. Truly corrupt humans are not beasts; they do not oppose God like this, nor do they hold such viewpoints and attitudes, nor do they treat God this way. There is only one thing, one role, that can brazenly and publicly stand in opposition to God, and that is Satan. God does not remember the transgressions and corruption of humans, but Satan’s opposition, confrontation, blasphemy, and slander against God will never be forgiven by God. God only saves corrupt humans, not Satan. Antichrists, unchanging in their nature and possessing the essence of antichrists, can represent Satan, standing in opposition to God in Satan’s stead, prying into God’s words. What is God’s attitude toward them? It is one of curses and condemnation. Antichrists cannot help but act this way, and they are courting death.