III. Despising the Words of God

Today, we shall continue to fellowship on the tenth item of antichrists’ various manifestations—they despise the truth, brazenly flout principles, and ignore the arrangements of God’s house. Last time we fellowshipped up to the third section of this major topic, which is antichrists despising the words of God. Our fellowship and dissection of this section was divided into three subtopics. What are those three subtopics? (The first is that antichrists arbitrarily tamper with and interpret the words of God; the second is that antichrists disclaim God’s words when they do not accord with their notions; and the third is that antichrists pry into whether God’s words come true.) Are these three the entirety of what it means for antichrists to despise God’s words? (There should be some more.) What other statements and manifestations are there? (Antichrists treating God’s words with irreverence.) Is treating God’s words with irreverence one of the manifestations that they despise God’s words? Isn’t treating God’s words with irreverence an interpretation of despising God’s words? Here we don’t need interpretations, but rather the various manifestations and practices of antichrists despising God’s words that you can see and touch, and that you have heard about. It seems that you don’t have much understanding of the various manifestations that antichrists despise God’s words. You might have some literal understanding of the three items I previously fellowshipped, but you can’t think of what other manifestations of antichrists despising God’s words there might be, right? You should have remembered all the three manifestations we previously fellowshipped. Are the behaviors and manifestations of antichrists in despising God’s words open and aboveboard? Are they what upright people should do? (No.) These are not manifestations that should exist in normal humanity; they are not positive, but negative. The underlying essence of these few behaviors points to Satan, to demons, to God’s enemies. In antichrists’ treatment of God’s words, there is no submission, no acceptance, no experiencing, no putting aside their own notions and accepting God’s words with simplicity and openness—instead, they generate various satanic attitudes toward God’s words. The disposition revealed through these manifestations and behaviors of antichrists is exactly what is revealed by Satan in the spiritual realm. These behaviors, in any situation, in any era, among any group of people, are not positive. They are wicked and negative, and not the manifestations or behaviors that a created being or a normal person should have. Thus, we characterize them as manifestations of antichrists. After fellowshipping these three items, most people might think that these three manifestations probably encompass all the basic attitudes of antichrists toward God’s words. However, there’s a point you’ve overlooked: Antichrists’ treatment of God’s words is far from limited to these three approaches. There is another manifestation and behavior that also illustrates that antichrists despise God’s words. What is this manifestation? It is that antichrists treat God’s words as a commodity. If we look at the literal meaning of this, some people might have some images in their minds pointing to certain individuals, but the specific and true manifestations of this are still not very clear; they’re still very vague and general. Today, then, we will fellowship about how antichrists treat God’s words as a commodity.

D. Antichrists Treat the Words of God as a Commodity

Antichrists treat the words of God as a commodity; it can also be said that antichrists treat the truth itself as a commodity. What does it mean to treat them as commodities? It means to just make some verbal claims, to show off, and then to fraudulently gain people’s trust, support, and endorsement to receive fame, gain, and status. God’s words and the truth thus become their stepping stones. This is the attitude of antichrists toward the truth. They exploit, play with, and trample on the truth, which is determined by the antichrists’ nature essence. So, what exactly are God’s words and the truth? How should we accurately define the truth? Tell Me, what is the truth? (The truth is the criterion for man’s comportment, actions, and worship of God.) This is an accurate and specific definition of the truth. How do you all understand this statement? How should you apply this statement in your day-to-day life and throughout your lives? How should you experience this statement? Say what you can think of and understand right away without filtering or processing. In the language of your experience, what is the truth? What are God’s words? (The truth can change a person’s outlook on life and their values, enabling them to live out the likeness of a normal human.) Although not comprehensive, everything you said conveys an experiential understanding of the truth; they are the insights and appreciations you’ve experienced and summarized from daily life. Who else would like to share? (The truth can purify our corrupt dispositions, enabling us to act on principles and do things in line with God’s intentions.) This statement is quite good and incisive. Continue, please. (The truth is life, the way to eternal life. Only by pursuing the truth and living by it can one attain life.) (The truth enables people to fear God and shun evil, to become a true human.) These two points both involve principles of practice for people’s daily living. Although the explanations are relatively deep and lofty, they are very practical. (The truth can expose the corrupt dispositions within us, change our incorrect viewpoints on matters, and enable us to live out the likeness of a true human.) These statements are practical and involve the value and significance of the truth to people, as well as the effects the truth can have on people. What you all have mentioned, we have often talked about before. Although each person’s emphasis differs, it all relates to the previously explained and defined statement about the truth—the truth is the criterion for measuring everything. Can the truth be equated with God’s words? (Yes.) God’s words are the truth. Based on the experiential understanding you have shared in your fellowship, can we say that the truth is the reality of all positive things? (Yes.) The truth is the reality of all positive things. It can be a person’s life and the direction in which they walk; it can allow one to cast off their corrupt disposition, to come to fear God and shun evil, to become one who submits to God and is a qualified created being, one whom God loves and finds acceptable. Given the preciousness of the truth, what attitude and perspective should one have regarding God’s words and the truth? It is quite obvious: For those who truly believe in God and have a God-fearing heart, His words are their lifeblood. People should treasure God’s words, eat and drink of them, enjoy them, and accept them as their life, as the direction in which they walk, as a ready aid and provision; people should practice and experience in accordance with the statements and requirements of the truth, and submit to each of the requirements and principles that the truth grants to them. Only thus can a person gain life. The pursuit of the truth is mainly the practice and experience of God’s words, rather than subjecting them to scrutiny, analysis, speculation, and doubt. As the truth is people’s ready aid and provision, and can be their life, they should treat the truth as the most precious thing. This is because they must rely on the truth to live, to come to satisfy God’s demands, to come to fear Him and shun evil, and to find within their daily life the path of practice and grasp the principles of practice, achieving submission to God; people must also rely on the truth to cast off their corrupt disposition, to become one who is saved and a qualified created being. No matter from which perspective or in what way it is expressed, the attitude people should least have toward the truth is to treat God’s words and the truth as a product or even as a commodity to be casually traded. This is what God least wants to see, and it is also the last kind of behavior and manifestation that a true created being should have.

What is the purpose and intention of antichrists treating God’s words as a commodity? What are they really aiming to do, and what is their motive? When a merchant acquires a commodity, their hope for the commodity is that it will bring them benefits and the substantial amount of money that they desire. Therefore, when antichrists treat God’s words as a commodity, they are undoubtedly treating God’s word as a material thing that can be exchanged for benefits and money. They do not treasure, accept, practice, or experience God’s words as the truth, nor do they regard God’s words as the way of life they should adhere to, nor as the truth they must practice to cast off their corrupt dispositions. Instead, they treat God’s words as a commodity. For a merchant, the greatest value of a commodity is to exchange it for money, for the desired profit. Thus, when antichrists treat God’s words as a commodity, their intention and motive are essentially the same. Antichrists treat God’s words as a commodity, meaning they are not using them to eat, drink, and enjoy, nor for their experience or practice, but rather as goods in their hands to be traded and sold anytime and anywhere, proffered to those from whom they can profit. When antichrists treat God’s words as a commodity, taken literally, it means treating God’s words like merchandise, used for transactions to exchange for money; they turn the buying and selling of God’s words into their profession. From a literal perspective, this is immediately clear. Such actions and behaviors of antichrists are disgraceful, garnering people’s repulsion and disgust. So, what are the specific manifestations of antichrists treating God’s words as a commodity? This is the key point which we will fellowship. Antichrists have some very obvious manifestations of treating God’s words as a commodity. To make it clearer and more understandable for you, we will still discuss them one by one. Why do I take this approach? Based on My many years of experience in working and speaking, most people have muddled thoughts and lack the ability to think independently. Based on this, I thought of the simplest and most effective method, which is to explain and clarify any issue or topic—no matter what—item by item, to help you think it through and mull it over. Is this suitable? (Yes.) Some people say, “That’s just perfect, it saves us the trouble of racking our brains and thinking hard. We’re too busy and don’t have the time for that! Our energy and thoughts are spent on big matters, not on these trivial, pea-sized issues. Having us ponder over these small matters, it seems a bit like You’re underestimating us and underusing our great talent.” Is that the case? (No.) Then what is it? (Our caliber is so low that sometimes we can’t comprehend the truth, and we need God to fellowship with us in detail, word by word, sentence by sentence, for us to understand some of it.) You see, I inadvertently described the actual state of affairs, revealing what’s really going on with you all, but that’s just what the facts are. It would still be the case even if I hadn’t exposed it. There’s no other way but to do it like this. If I just speak about the big topics simply and generally, then I will be speaking in vain and wasting My effort. That’s just wasting time, isn’t it? Let’s return to the main topic. Regarding antichrists treating God’s words as a commodity, we will divide this into several subtopics to explain and clarify step by step how antichrists do this, and what are the specific examples and manifestations that can sufficiently prove that antichrists despise God’s words, and also confirm that antichrists indeed possess such an essence. We will fellowship this item in two main parts.

1. Treating God’s Words as a Tool for Gaining Status, Reputation, and Dignity

The first major aspect is that the most common manifestation of antichrists treating God’s words as a commodity is using them as a tool for gaining their own status, reputation, dignity, and even more so for material enjoyment, and even further for money. When antichrists come into contact with God’s words, they feel, “God’s words are great. Every sentence is rational and correct; these words cannot be spoken by people, and they cannot be found in the Bible.” In the past two ages, God did not speak these words. Neither in the Old Testament nor the New Testament are there such explicitly and plainly spoken words. The Bible records only a very limited part of God’s words. Looking at what God is saying now, the content is very rich. Antichrists then feel jealousy and envy in their hearts, and they start internally scheming: “This ordinary person can say so much; when can I also speak these words? When can I, like this person, speak god’s words endlessly?” They have such an impulse and desire in their hearts. Judging from this impulse and desire, in their hearts, antichrists feel envy toward and revere these words spoken by God. I use the words “envy” and “revere” to indicate that the antichrists do not regard God’s words as the truth, and they do not intend to accept them, but rather they envy the rich content of these words, the extensive pieces, and also the profundity of these words, which reflect a depth unreachable by humans—and even more, they envy that these are words they themselves cannot speak. From these aspects of “envy,” it is evident that the antichrists do not consider these words of God as the expressions of divinity, as the truth, or as the life and the truth that God intends to save humanity with and supply to humanity. Given that antichrists can envy these words, then clearly, in their hearts, they also wish to become the ones who express such words. Based on this, many antichrists have put in tremendous effort behind the scenes, praying daily, reading these words daily, recording, memorizing, summarizing, and organizing. They have put a lot of work into these words spoken by God, making countless notes, and noting down numerous insights during their spiritual devotions, as well as praying countless times to remember these words. What is their purpose in doing all this? It is so that one day they might suddenly have a burst of inspiration and be able to endlessly speak the words God would say, like a floodgate of water opened; they hope that like God’s words, theirs could provide what people need, provide life to people, provide what people should achieve, and make demands on people. It is so that, like God’s incarnate flesh, they can stand in God’s perspective and status, and say the same things as God does with His tone and manner of speaking, just as they desire to. Antichrists have put a lot of effort into this, and it is no exaggeration to say that some of them even often secretly take out notebooks to record the words they want to say, the words they are waiting for God to give them. However, no matter what they do, the antichrists’ desires are always unfulfilled, their wishes never realized. No matter how much effort they put in, no matter how much they pray, no matter how much they record God’s words, or how they memorize and organize them, it’s all in vain. God doesn’t speak a single sentence through them, nor has God allowed them to hear His voice even once. No matter how much they yearn or how anxious they become, they just can’t speak a single sentence of God’s words. The more anxious and jealous they become, and the more they fail to achieve their goal, then the more irritated they become internally. What are they irritated about, and why are they so anxious? They see that God’s words are bringing more and more people before God to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, and accept His word as life, but there’s not a single person worshiping or admiring them at their feet, in their presence. This is what makes them anxious and irritated. In their irritation and anxiety, what the antichrists can think of and ponder over is still: “Why do these people do their duty in god’s house? Why is it different when they come to god’s house compared to the world of nonbelievers? Why do most people, after coming to god’s house, start to behave properly and get progressively better? Why do most people expend themselves and pay the price in god’s house without compensation, and even when they are pruned, they do not leave, and some even don’t leave after being cleared out or expelled? At bottom, the only reason is god’s words, it’s the effect and the role played by The Word Appears in the Flesh.” When the antichrists see this point, they become even more envious of God’s words. Therefore, after exerting great effort and still being unable to speak God’s words or become a mouthpiece for God, the antichrists shift their focus onto God’s words: “Although I can’t speak words other than what god has said, if I can speak words that are consistent with god’s words—even if they are just doctrines or hollow—as long as they sound right to people, as long as they seem to align with these words of god, then can’t I secure a place among people? Can’t I stand firm among them? Or if I frequently preach and explain the words in The Word Appears in the Flesh, often using these words to help people, and everything I say and preach sounds like it comes from god’s words and is correct, then won’t my status among people become more and more stable? Won’t I gain more prestige among them?” Thinking this, the antichrists feel that they have found a way to realize their wishes for gaining status, greater reputation and acclaim, and they see hope in achieving this. After seeing hope, the antichrists feel secretly pleased in their hearts: “How clever am I? Nobody else has realized this; why don’t others know this way? I’m so smart! But as clever as I am, I can’t tell anyone about this; it’s enough that I know it in my heart.” With such a goal and plan in mind, the antichrists start to put serious effort into God’s words. They think, “Before, I just glanced over god’s words, listened casually, and said whatever came to mind. Now I need to change my strategy; I can’t do that anymore, it’s a waste of time. Doing it that way before didn’t produce any results; continuing like that would be really foolish!” So, they pull themselves together, determined to put effort into God’s words and to make a great show of their abilities. What actions do the antichrists take to make a great show of their abilities? They scrutinize God’s way of speaking, the tone of His speech, and also scrutinize the specific content of God’s words in each phase and period. At the same time, they prepare how to explain these words of God, and when they preach God’s words, how to speak and explain them in a way that makes people admire and idolize them. Thus, bit by bit, the antichrists have indeed put a lot of effort into God’s words. However, one thing is certain: Because their motives behind this effort are wrong and their intentions evil, the words they speak, no matter how others listen to them, are just doctrines, they are just copied words and phrases of God’s speech. So, no matter how much effort the antichrists put into God’s words, they do not realize any personal gains themselves. What does it mean to have no gains? It means they don’t treat God’s words as the truth. They don’t practice, but only preach, so no one sees any change in them. Their erroneous thoughts and viewpoints do not change, their incorrect outlook on life does not change, they have no understanding whatsoever of their own corrupt dispositions, and they completely fail to compare themselves to the various states of man as described by God. Therefore, no matter how much antichrists scrutinize God’s words, only two outcomes are visible in them: First, although the words of God that they speak of are correct, and even their explanations of these words are not wrong, you cannot see any change in them. Second, no matter how much they vigorously promote and preach God’s words, they have no self-knowledge whatsoever. This is clearly observable. The reason antichrists exhibit such behavior is that although they often promote and preach God’s words to others, they themselves do not accept that God’s words are the truth. They themselves have not accepted these words; they only want to use them to achieve their ulterior motives. They hope to gain the status and benefits they desire by preaching God’s words, and if people treat and worship them as if they were god, that would be ideal. Although they cannot yet achieve this purpose or result, this is the ultimate goal of every antichrist.

Antichrists have put a lot of effort into God’s words; some people might misunderstand upon hearing this, asking, “Does that mean everyone who puts effort into God’s words is an antichrist?” If you interpret it this way, you lack spiritual understanding. What is the difference between the effort antichrists put into God’s words and the effort of those who pursue the truth? (The intention and purpose are different. Antichrists put effort into God’s words for their own benefit and status, to satisfy their personal ambitions.) What effort do antichrists put into God’s words? They memorize parts of God’s words that accord with their notions, learn to explain God’s words using human language, and write some spiritual notes and insights. They also distill, summarize, and organize God’s various statements, such as those people believe are relatively aligned with human notions, those that are easily perceived as having God’s speaking tone, some words about mysteries, and some of God’s words that are popular and often preached in the church for a time. Besides memorizing, organizing, summarizing, and writing insights, of course, there are more, including some peculiar activities. Antichrists will pay any price to gain status, satisfy their ambition, and achieve their goal of controlling the church and being god. They often work late into the night and wake at the crack of dawn, burning the midnight oil and rehearsing their sermons in the wee hours, and they also note down the brilliant things others have said, all in order to equip themselves with the doctrine they need to give lofty sermons. They ponder every day about how to deliver these lofty sermons, contemplating which of God’s words will be the most useful to choose, and will inspire admiration and praise among God’s chosen people, and then they learn those words by heart. Then, they consider how to interpret those words in a way that demonstrates their sagacity and brilliance. In order to really impress God’s word upon their hearts, they strive to listen to His word several times more. They do all this with the efforts like those of students vying for a spot in college. When someone gives a good sermon, or one that provides some illumination, or one that provides some theory, an antichrist will collect and compile it and make it into their own sermon. No amount of effort is too great for an antichrist. What, then, is the motive and intention behind this effort of theirs? It is to be able to preach God’s words, to say them clearly and with ease, to have fluent command of them, so that others may see the antichrist is more spiritual than them, more treasuring of God’s words, more loving of God. In this way, an antichrist can gain the admiration and worship of some of the people around them. An antichrist feels this is a worthwhile thing to do and worth any effort, price, or hardship. After putting in these efforts over two, three, five years, antichrists gradually become more and more familiar with God’s way of speaking and the content and tone of His words; some antichrists can even imitate God’s words or recite a few sentences of them whenever they open their mouths. Of course, this isn’t the most important thing for them. What is most important? As they are able to imitate and recite God’s words at will, their manner of speaking, tone, and even intonation become increasingly similar to god’s, more and more like christ’s. The antichrists rejoice about this in their hearts. What are they rejoicing about? They increasingly feel how wonderful it would be to be god, with so many people idolizing and surrounding them—how glorious that would be! They attribute all these achievements to God’s words. They believe that it is God’s words that have given them the opportunity, that have inspired them, and even more so it is because of God’s words that they have learned to imitate God’s way of speaking and God’s tone. This ultimately makes them feel more and more like god, increasingly approaching the identity and status of god. Even more so, it makes them feel that being able to imitate God’s way of speaking and tone, to speak and live with God’s manner of speaking and intonation, is extremely delightful, constituting their most enjoyable moments. The antichrists have reached this point—would you say this is dangerous? (Yes.) Where lies the danger? (They want to be god.) Wanting to be god is dangerous, just like Paul, who said that for him to live is christ. One is beyond redemption once such words are spoken. Antichrists treat God’s words as a pathway to become god. In this process, what have the antichrists done? They have put in a great deal of effort, spent a lot of energy and time on God’s words. During this period, they scrutinized and analyzed God’s words, repeatedly reading, memorizing, and organizing them. They even imitated God’s way of speaking and tone while reading His words, especially the commonly used phrases in God’s speech. What is the essence of all these actions? Here, I describe it as the essence of a merchant buying goods at wholesale prices; that is, the antichrists use the cheapest way to turn God’s words into a material thing they own. When they read God’s words, they don’t accept them as the truth, nor as the path that people should enter into and regard them as such. Instead, they try by all means to memorize these words, the way and tone of speaking, in an attempt to turn themselves into the ones who express such words. When antichrists are able to imitate God’s tone and way of speaking, and are able to fully utilize this way and tone of speaking in their speech and actions, living among people, what they aim to achieve is not to loyally do their duty, to do things with principles, or to be loyal to God. Instead, by imitating God’s speaking tone and manner, and by preaching these words of God, they want to enter deep into people’s hearts and become the object of people’s worship. They aspire to ascend the throne in people’s hearts and reign as kings there, and to manipulate people’s thoughts and behaviors, thereby achieving the goal of controlling people.

If we describe the antichrists putting effort into God’s words as merchants cheaply buying God’s words as commodities, then isn’t the antichrists’ imitation of God’s speech, their use of God’s way of speaking and tone to preach His words, the same as selling the word of God as a commodity? (Yes.) No merchant buys goods without later selling them. Their purpose in acquiring these goods and possessing them is to gain higher profits from these items, to exchange them for more money. Thus, the extensive effort antichrists put into God’s words and their attitude toward them are nothing more than antichrists acting like merchants to acquire them using the cheapest, most low-cost, and most expedient means, turning them into their own possessions, and then selling them at a high price to gain the benefits they desire. And what are these benefits? They are people’s high regard, idolization, admiration, and especially their following. Therefore, it is common in the church to see a phenomenon where a person who fundamentally does not practice God’s words and does not know themselves has many followers, many who rely on and idolize them. What is the reason for this? It’s because this person has a glib tongue, is articulate, and easily misleads people. They don’t practice God’s words, nor do they handle things according to principles, and they also fail to implement the church’s work and arrangements from the Above. But why can they still make a good impression on some people? When something really befalls them, why are there many people covering for them, protecting them? Why do some people defend them when they are a leader? Why do some people obstructively oppose their removal? The reason a person full of faults, filled with Satan’s corrupt disposition, and who never practices the truth can still receive such treatment in the church is only because this person is too skilled at speaking, too good at pretending, and too adept at misleading people—antichrists are precisely such people. Can we say that such people are antichrists, then? Yes, such people absolutely are antichrists. They often read God’s words, frequently memorize and preach them, often use God’s words to lecture and prune others, and assume God’s perspective and stances to lecture people, making them completely obedient and compliant to them, and rendering people speechless after they hear the grand doctrines they speak. Yet such people are the ones who never know themselves and never handle things according to principles. If they are a leader, their superior leaders are rendered ineffective. It becomes impossible to understand the situation in the church under their leadership. With them present, the work arrangements of God’s house, the principles and requirements set by God’s house, cannot be implemented. Aren’t such people antichrists? Do they treat God’s words as the truth? (No, they don’t.) They have put effort into reading God’s words and can recite some of them. During fellowship at gatherings, they often mention God’s words, and in their spare time, they listen to the recitation recordings of God’s words. When they speak to others, they only imitate God’s words and say nothing else. Everything they preach and say is faultless. Such a person, seemingly so perfect on the outside, a so-called “right person,” causes the work arrangements, requirements, and principles of God’s house to hit a roadblock when they reach them. The people under them recognize no one but them. Those under them, apart from revering them and the vague god in heaven, listen to no one else and ignore everyone. Is this not an antichrist? What means have they used to achieve all this? They have exploited God’s words. Those who are confused in their faith, who lack spiritual understanding, who are ignorant, who are muddled in thought, as well as those who do not pursue the truth, disbelievers, and those who are like reeds swayed by the wind, regard the antichrist as a spiritual person. They take the words and doctrines preached by the antichrist as the truth reality and regard the antichrist as their object of following. As they follow the antichrist, they believe they are following God. They use their following of the antichrist to replace following God. Even some people say, “Our leader hasn’t spoken or fellowshipped yet; even if we read God’s words, we can’t understand them ourselves.” “Our leader is not here—we pray to God about something but we cannot obtain light; we read God’s words but cannot understand the path. We have to wait for our leader to return.” “Our leader has been busy these days and doesn’t have time to resolve our issues.” Without their master, these people do not know how to pray, or how to eat and drink God’s words, they do not learn to seek and rely on God or to find the path of practice in God’s words on their own. Without their master, they are like blind people, it is as if their hearts have been dug out. Their master is their eyes, as well as their hearts and lungs. They believe their master is the best at eating and drinking God’s words. If their master is not present, they have no interest in eating and drinking God’s words themselves and must wait for their master to return to pray-read and interpret God’s words to them so that they can understand. Deep down, these people believe their master is their messenger who can help them come before God. To achieve such an “effect” is something the antichrists find most worthy of rejoicing over in the depths of their hearts: “All my years of effort have finally paid off; finally, the time I spent has not been in vain. Effort does indeed reward those who persevere—even an iron bar can be ground to a needle with enough perseverance. This effort was worth it!” Upon hearing that their followers can’t live without them, the antichrists do not feel any guilt deep inside. Instead, they secretly rejoice, thinking, “God’s words sure are great. My decision back then was right; the effort I’ve put in over these years was correct, and my approach over these years has been affirmed and has borne fruit.” They secretly feel pleased. Not only do they feel no guilt, regret, or hatred for their evil actions, but they become even more convinced and certain that their approach is right. Therefore, in the time to come, in their future life, they plan to study God’s way of speaking and tone as they did before, and to do so more diligently than they did in the past, and to imitate God’s way of speaking and choice of words even more extensively and deeply.