B. Their Own Reputation and Status

Let’s continue with the second subsection of fellowship, antichrists’ own reputation and status. This also involves the interests of antichrists. Now, these three subsections we are discussing: antichrists’ own safety, their own reputation and status, and their own benefits—all of them relate to antichrists’ own interests. Do these have any connection to the work of God’s house? (Yes, they do.) What is the connection? (Antichrists, in order to preserve themselves and safeguard their reputation and status, may disturb and undermine the work of the church.) Antichrists harm the interests of God’s house and the work of the church in order to preserve their own interests. To look at antichrists’ selfish and despicable nature, what does this type of person cherish, beyond being particularly protective of their own safety? (They like reputation and status very much.) That is right. Antichrists like reputation and status very much. Reputation and status are their lifeblood; they feel life is meaningless without reputation and status, and they lack energy to do anything without reputation and status. To antichrists, both reputation and status are intimately tied to their personal interests; they are their Achilles’ heel. That is why everything antichrists do revolves around status and reputation. If it were not for these things, they may not do any work at all. No matter whether antichrists have status or not, the goal they are fighting for, the direction in which they are striving is toward these two things—reputation and status. When they believe in God in an autocratic environment such as mainland China, antichrists give no consideration for the interests of God’s house, in the interest of ensuring their own safety. Part of what they do is to pursue status with all their might, firmly holding on to power and controlling the church. The other part is that they are always talking, working, running around, and toiling for the sake of their own reputation and status. This is the core around which everything antichrists say and do revolves. Antichrists never do any actual work for the life entry of God’s chosen people, and they never do any actual work to disseminate the kingdom gospel. When they pay a price, look at why they pay a price. When they ardently debate an issue, look at why they debate it. When they discuss or condemn a person, look at what intent and goal they have. When they are upset or angry about something, look at what disposition they reveal. People cannot see inside people’s hearts, but God can. When God looks inside people’s hearts, what does He use to gauge the essence of what people say and do? He uses the truth to gauge it. In the eyes of man, protecting one’s reputation and status is proper. So why is it labeled in God’s eyes as the revelation and expression of antichrists, and as the essence of antichrists? This is based in the impetus and motivation for everything antichrists do. God scrutinizes the impetus and motivation for what they do, and in the end, determines that everything they do is for their own reputation and status, rather than for the sake of doing their duty, much less for the sake of practicing the truth and submitting to God.

Antichrists pursue reputation and status, so they certainly also speak and work in order to uphold their reputation and status. They value their reputation and status above everything else. If someone around them has good caliber and pursues the truth, and this person gains some prestige among the brothers and sisters and is chosen as a team leader, and the brothers and sisters really admire and approve of this person, how will antichrists react? Certainly, they won’t be happy about it, and jealousy will arise in them. If antichrists harbor jealousy, tell Me, can they behave themselves? Won’t they have to do something about it? (Yes.) What will they do if they truly envy this person? In their minds, they’ll surely make this kind of calculation: “This person has quite good caliber, they possess some understanding of this profession, and they are stronger than me. This is beneficial for the work of god’s house, but not for me! Will they take my position? If they truly replace me one day, won’t that be troublesome? I should act preemptively. If they’re able to stand on their own two feet one day, it won’t be so easy for me to sort them out. It’s better for me to strike first. If I delay and allow them to expose me, who knows what the consequences will be. So, how can I strike? I need to find an excuse, find an opportunity.” Tell Me, if people want to punish someone, isn’t it easy for them to find an excuse and an opportunity to do so? What’s one of the devil’s tactics? (“He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find his stick.”) Exactly, “He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find his stick.” In Satan’s world, this kind of logic exists, and this kind of thing happens. This doesn’t exist at all to God. Antichrists are of Satan and they are most skilled at doing these things. They will ponder on this: “He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find his stick. I’ll pin a charge on you, find an opportunity to punish you, suppress your arrogance and hubris, and stop the brothers and sisters from esteeming you and choosing you as team leader next time. Then, you won’t be a threat to me anymore, will you? If I eliminate this potential problem and remove this competitor, won’t I feel at ease?” If their minds are doing somersaults like this, can they outwardly restrain themselves from acting? Given the nature of antichrists, can they keep this idea buried inside of them and do nothing? Absolutely not. They’ll definitely find a way to act. This is the viciousness of antichrists. Not only do they think like that, they want to achieve this goal too. So, they’ll ponder on this matter desperately, racking their brains. They don’t consider the interests of God’s house, nor do they consider the work of the church. They care even less about whether their actions are in accordance with God’s intention. All they think about is how to maintain their reputation and status, how to safeguard their power. They think that their rival has already posed a threat to their status, so they try to find an opportunity to bring them down. When they learn that, without consulting them, their rival replaced someone who was doing their duty in a consistently perfunctory manner, they’ll see this as the perfect chance to pin something on their rival. In front of the brothers and sisters, they say, “Since everyone is here today, let’s bring this matter forward for dissection. Is it not an act of dictatorship to replace someone without authorization, without discussing it with your co-workers or partners? Why would someone make such a mistake? Isn’t there a problem with their disposition? Shouldn’t they be pruned? Shouldn’t the brothers and sisters abandon them?” They seize upon this issue and blow it out of proportion to denigrate their rival and elevate themselves. In reality, the situation isn’t that severe. It’s perfectly acceptable to make a report after a team member’s duty is adjusted or replaced, so long as that adjustment or replacement adheres to the principles. However, antichrists blow this issue out of proportion. They purposefully attack their rival and exalt themselves. Isn’t this a manifestation of punishing others? They viciously prune their rival, and make exaggerated allegations about them. After hearing about this, the brothers and sisters think, “What’s going on here? Something doesn’t seem right. What they’re saying doesn’t align with reality! The person whose duty was adjusted wasn’t doing it responsibly—that is a recognized fact. They were replaced in order to uphold the work of the church. Doing one’s duty in this way is a serious and responsible approach, and a manifestation of loyalty. So why label this as an act of dictatorship? This is clearly a case of ‘He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find his stick’!” Anyone with some understanding of the truth and a bit of discernment can recognize at a glance that these antichrists are just throwing their own weight around and taking out their frustrations on their rival. How is this taking responsibility for the work? How is this pruning the person? These antichrists are making a big deal out of nothing: It’s just plain retaliation and personal vengeance. This comes from human will and Satan, it does not come from God. It certainly does not come from an attitude of taking responsibility for the work and for their duties—that is not their intention. Antichrists expose their intentions too clearly, and some people can see this. Can antichrists sense that? (Yes.) That is the craftiness of antichrists. They’re the most skilled at safeguarding their status, at sophistry, at winning people over, and especially at having “insight” into people’s hearts. They think to themselves, “I can see through every thought you have in your hearts. You might understand the truth, but you can’t see through me. I can see through you. I can tell who isn’t convinced by the things I say.” But do they say any of this? No, they don’t. They use some pleasing words and expressions to convince everyone, to make them think they were reasonable for pruning that person. What words do they use? They say, “I did not prune you because of a selfish, personal motive. In reality, there’s no personal grudge between us. It’s just that when you arbitrarily removed that person from their duty, it harmed the interests of god’s house. Can I turn a blind eye to that? If I allowed you to do that, it would be irresponsible on my part. I’m not doing this to target you or anyone in particular. If I’m in the wrong, the brothers and sisters can criticize and rebuke me. I won’t run in the next election.” When some people hear this, they get all muddled. They think, “It seems I’ve misunderstood them. They’re even willing to not run during elections. They didn’t prune that person to compete for status, their action was based on an attitude of taking responsibility for the work of the church. There’s no wrongdoing in this.” These antichrists manage to mislead some people again. Aren’t antichrists cunning? (Yes, they are.) They’re extremely cunning! It can be said that antichrists rack their brains, plumb the depths of their minds, and employ any means necessary for the sake of their reputation and status. There’s a certain saying: “Give them a slap, then offer them a sweet date.” Won’t antichrists use this tactic? After they strike you, they might say some pleasant words to coax you, console you, and make you feel that they’re incredibly tolerant, patient, and loving. Ultimately, you have to approve of them and say, “Look, this person has such clear objectives in their work, and they are so proficient at it—what great skill! It’s clear they have the qualities of a leader, and we all feel inadequate compared to them.” Haven’t these antichrists achieved their goal then? These are the tricks of antichrists.

Antichrists are especially treacherous and cunning. Everything they say is tightly considered; no one is more adept at putting on a pretense. But once the cat is out of the bag, once people have seen them for what they really are, they do their utmost to argue for themselves, and they think of ways to remedy the situation and bluff their way through as a means to salvage their image and reputation. Antichrists live each day only for reputation and status, they live only to revel in the benefits of status, this is all they think about. Even when they do occasionally suffer some minor hardship or pay some trivial price, this is for the sake of obtaining status and reputation. Pursuing status, holding power, and having an easy life are major things that antichrists always scheme for once they believe in God, and they don’t give up until they achieve their goals. If their evil deeds are ever exposed, they panic, as if the sky is about to fall on them. They can’t eat or sleep, and they seem to be in a trance, as if they are suffering from depression. When people ask them what was wrong, they make up lies and say, “Yesterday I was so busy that I didn’t sleep all night, so I’m very tired.” But actually, none of this is true, it is all deception. They feel this way because they are constantly pondering, “The bad things I did have been exposed, so how can I restore my reputation and status? What means can I use to redeem myself? What tone can I use with everyone to explain this? What can I say to keep people from seeing through me?” For a long time, they can’t figure out what to do, and so they are depressed. Sometimes their eyes stare blankly at a single spot, and no one knows what they are looking at. The issue makes them rack their brains, exhaust every train of thought, and not want to eat or drink. Despite this, they still put on the appearance of caring about church work, and ask people, “How is the gospel work going? How effectively is it being preached? Have the brothers and sisters gained any life entry recently? Has anyone been causing any disruptions or disturbances?” These inquiries of theirs about the church’s work are meant as a show for others. If they did learn of problems, they would have no way to resolve them, so their questions are a mere formality that others are liable to see as care for the church’s work. If someone should make a report of the church’s problems for them to resolve, they would just shake their heads. No scheme would avail them, and though they would wish to disguise themselves, they could not, and they would risk being exposed and revealed. This is the biggest problem antichrists face in their entire lives. At this moment, antichrists are like an ant on a hot plate, occasionally shaking their heads as though to say, “This can’t go on.” Then they tap their heads with their hands, as if thinking, “How am I so foolish? How could I stumble on this matter?” Antichrists can’t accept this fact and can only sigh. They labor, suffer, and pay the price only for their own reputation and status, indulging in all sorts of evil deeds to satisfy their ambitions and desires. Being exposed by God’s chosen people is an inevitable outcome. People are bound to fall sooner or later from not pursuing the truth. This saying is fulfilled perfectly on antichrists. Although skilled in disguises and able to speak persuasively and mislead others, if God’s chosen people understand the truth and they can discern a person’s essence, then no matter how deeply antichrists hide or how much evil they do, they can completely discern them. There are a couple of sayings: “Persisting in evil brings about self-destruction,” and “Playing with fire will get you burned.” These are objective laws governing the development of things, established by God for the development of all things and all events. No one can escape them. Although the church’s work continues under the rule of antichrists, its effectiveness has greatly diminished. Some important work is still controlled by evil individuals, and the work arrangements of God’s house have not been implemented. Although God’s chosen people are each doing their duty, there is no real result, and various tasks have long fallen into a state of paralysis. What is the root cause of these problems? It’s because antichrists have taken control of the church. Anywhere antichrists hold power, no matter the scope of their influence, even if it is just one group, they will influence the work of God’s house and the life entry of a portion of God’s chosen people. If they hold power in a church, church work and God’s will are hindered there. Why can’t the work arrangements of God’s house be implemented in certain churches? It is because antichrists hold power in these churches. Anyone who is an antichrist will not sincerely expend for God, the performance of their duties will just be a matter of formalities and going through the motions. They will not do real work even if they are leaders or workers, and they will only speak and act for the sake of fame, gain, and status, without protecting the work of the church at all. So, what do antichrists do all day? They busy themselves with putting on performances and showing off. They only do things involving their own fame, gain, and status. They are busy misleading others, drawing people in, and when they have amassed their strength, they will go on to control more churches. They wish only to reign as kings and turn the church into their independent kingdom. They wish only to be the great leader, to have complete, unilateral authority, to control more churches. They don’t care in the slightest about anything else. They don’t concern themselves with the work of the church, or the life entry of God’s chosen people, much less do they care about whether God’s will is carried out. They are only concerned with when they can independently hold power, control God’s chosen people, and stand on an equal footing with God. The desires and ambitions of antichrists are enormous indeed! No matter how hard-working antichrists appear to be, they are only busy with their own endeavors, doing what they like to do, and with things related to their own fame, gain, and status. They don’t even think about their responsibilities or the duty they should be performing, and they do nothing proper at all. This is the sort of thing antichrists are—they are devils and Satans, who disrupt and disturb God’s work.

In the past, there was a leader to whom I entrusted five tasks during his term. However, after two months, none of these matters were implemented. On the surface, it appeared that the leader wasn’t just sitting around, he was quite busy and exhausted, and you hardly ever saw him. So, what was he busy with, and why wasn’t he able to fulfill the tasks I assigned to him? There was a problem here. The leader didn’t do some of the tasks because he didn’t like doing them, considering that they fell outside his duties. This was one problem. Additionally, he held different opinions on some tasks, intentionally laying them aside. There were also tasks that posed some challenges, requiring assistance from others and being somewhat troublesome, which the leader didn’t want to deal with. These were the scenarios that arose. So, two months passed by and not a single task was accomplished. Some people said, “Is it possible to complete all these tasks within two months?” It is possible, these tasks could all be completed in two months, and most of these tasks could be completed within a day or two, but the leader failed to implement them. When someone else took over and performed these tasks, all five were completed within a week. Do you think such a leader should be replaced? (Yes.) If you come across someone like this who doesn’t accomplish any of the tasks assigned from the Above, but on the surface they appear quite busy, then they are a false leader. Such individuals should be promptly replaced or eliminated. What do you think of this principle? (It’s good.) Don’t look at their outward enthusiasm and the fact that they look pretty busy all day long. In reality, they don’t do any actual work; they keep themselves occupied with trivial matters. What do they do? Their actions fall into a few different categories. First, they take on tasks they believe they can handle, those that are safe and don’t involve much risk. What do I mean by “don’t involve much risk”? I mean that, by doing these tasks, it’s easy to avoid making mistakes, they don’t have to interact with the Above, and they can avoid doing things wrong and getting pruned. Furthermore, they handle tasks they are proficient in, where they are less likely to make mistakes. This way, they can avoid bearing responsibility and, to a large extent, protect themselves from being pruned, cleared out, or expelled. These tasks are risk-free and don’t involve responsibility, so they can respond to and handle them. In reality, there’s a hidden element to this. Would they do these tasks if they could do them without anyone seeing them? If there’s no personal benefit for them, would they do them? They definitely wouldn’t. What kind of tasks do they prefer? They prefer tasks that are relatively easy, simple, and can be accomplished without too much suffering. Additionally, they’re willing to listen to and memorize more sermons they are interested in and that align with their notions. Once they understand them, they can discuss these sermons with others, doing this to showcase themselves and garner admiration from others. Moreover, if performing these tasks allows them to interact with more people and makes others aware that they are busy working, that they are in a leadership position, and have this status and identity, they will do them. They select tasks of this nature. However, if the work they need to perform is complex and beyond their capabilities, and if someone else is more skilled than them, and there’s a risk of them losing face if they fail, of being looked down upon by others, then they are unwilling to do these tasks. They are afraid of hard work, fatigue, and the embarrassment of not performing well. Furthermore, they are particularly lazy and tend to avoid strenuous and laborious tasks, hiding themselves far away from these. Instead, they prefer to do tasks that improve their image, are easygoing, where they can go through the motions and win over people’s hearts, without being seen through by the Above. These are all inherent traits of antichrists. When it comes to doing their duties, they pick and choose. They have personal choices, plans, and even schemes. They are absolutely not simply obedient to the arrangements of God’s house; instead, they make their own choices. Regarding certain arrangements from the Above, if they don’t agree with them, they will absolutely not implement them. They gum up these matters completely, and the brothers and sisters in the church are unaware of them. If implementing these arrangements from the Above would conflict with certain individuals or offend people, would they implement them? They wouldn’t. In their hearts, they think, “If the above wants this done, I won’t do it. Even if I do it, I have to do it in the name of the above, claiming that it was ordered from them. I can’t afford to offend those people.” Antichrists are a cunning sort, aren’t they? With anything they do, they connive and calculate it eight or ten times, or even more. Their heads are full of thoughts about how to make themselves have stable positions in a crowd, how to have good reputations and high prestige, how to curry favor with the Above, how to make the brothers and sisters support, love and respect them, and they do whatever it takes to get these outcomes. What path are they walking? For them, the interests of God’s house, the interests of the church, and the work of God’s house are not their main consideration, much less are they things that they are concerned about. What do they think? “These things have nothing to do with me. Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost; people have to live for themselves and for their own reputation and status. That’s the highest goal there is. If someone doesn’t know they should live for themselves and protect themselves, then they’re a moron. If I were asked to practice according to the truth principles and to submit to god and the arrangements of his house, then it would depend on whether or not there would be any benefit in it for me, and whether there would be any advantages in doing so. If not submitting to the arrangements of god’s house brings a chance that I might get cleared out and lose out on an opportunity to gain blessings, then I’ll submit.” Thus, in order to protect their own reputation and status, antichrists often choose to make some compromises. You could say that for the sake of status, antichrists are capable of enduring any sort of suffering, and for the sake of having a good reputation, they are capable of paying any sort of price. The saying, “A great man knows when to yield and when not to,” rings true with them. This is the logic of Satan, is it not? This is Satan’s philosophy for worldly dealings, and it is also Satan’s principle of survival. It is utterly disgusting!

Antichrists consider their own status and reputation as more important than anything else. These people are not only deceitful, cunning, and wicked, but also extremely vicious. What do they do when they detect that their status is at risk, or when they lose their place in people’s hearts, when they lose these people’s endorsement and affection, when people no longer venerate and look up to them, and they have fallen into ignominy? They suddenly change. As soon as they lose their status, they become unwilling to perform any duty, everything they do is perfunctory, and they have no interest in doing anything. But this isn’t the worst manifestation. What is the worst manifestation? As soon as these people lose their status, and no one looks up to them, and no one is misled by them, out comes the hate, jealousy, and revenge. They not only have no God-fearing hearts, but also lack any shred of submission. In their hearts, furthermore, they are liable to hate God’s house, the church, and the leaders and workers; they long for the work of the church to run into problems or come to a standstill; they want to laugh at the church, and at the brothers and sisters. They also hate anyone who pursues the truth and fears God. They attack and mock anyone who is loyal in their duty and willing to pay a price. This is the disposition of the antichrists—and is it not vicious? These are clearly evil people; antichrists are in their essence evil people. Even when gatherings are held online, if they see that the signal is good, they quietly curse and say to themselves: “I hope the signal drops! I hope the signal drops! It is better if no one can hear the sermons!” What are these people? (Devils.) They are devils! They are definitely not the people of God’s house. These kinds of devils and evil people stir the pot in this way, no matter which church they are in. Even if discerning people expose and restrict them, they won’t reflect on themselves or admit their mistakes. They will think it was just a momentary lapse on their part and that they should learn from it. A person like this, who absolutely refuses to repent, won’t submit, no matter who discerns and exposes them. They will seek retaliation against that person. When they feel uncomfortable, they don’t want the brothers and sisters to have it easy either. In their hearts, they even secretly curse the brothers and sisters, wishing for bad things to happen to them, and they curse the work of God’s house, wishing that trouble comes into it. When anything goes wrong in God’s house, they secretly rejoice and celebrate, thinking, “Hmph! Finally, something went wrong. This is all happening because you replaced me. It’s good that everything is falling apart!” They feel happy and take pleasure in seeing others weaken and grow negative, they speak words of mockery and ridicule to denigrate people, and even spread words of negativity and death, saying, “We believers give up our families and careers to do our duties and endure suffering. Do you think god’s house can really take responsibility for our futures? Have you ever thought about that? Is it worth the price we’re paying? My health isn’t great right now, and if I wear myself out, who will take care of me in my old age?” They say such things so that everyone will feel negative—only then will they feel happy. Aren’t they up to no good, aren’t they sinister and malicious? Shouldn’t such people receive retribution? (Yes, they should.) Do you think such people truly have God in their hearts? They don’t seem like genuine believers in God, they fundamentally don’t believe that God scrutinizes the depths of people’s hearts. Aren’t they disbelievers? If they truly believed in God, how could they say such things? Some may say that it’s because they lack God-fearing hearts—is that correct? (No, it isn’t correct.) Why is it incorrect? (God is simply absent from their hearts; they are in opposition to God.) In reality, they dare to say such things because they don’t believe in the existence of God. They believe even less that God is scrutinizing everyone, and they don’t believe that God is observing their every word and deed, every thought and idea. They don’t believe these things, so they are not afraid and can freely and unscrupulously speak such devilish words. Even nonbelievers often say, “Heaven has eyes” and “When man acts, Heaven is watching.” Anyone with even a bit of genuine faith wouldn’t casually utter these devilish words of disbelievers. Won’t there be severe consequences for believers who think and speak like this? Isn’t the nature of this severe? It’s very severe! That they can deny God in such a way means that they are authentic devils, and evil ones who have infiltrated God’s house. Only devils and antichrists dare to openly clamor against God. The interests of God’s house represent God’s interests, and everything God’s house does is under God’s leadership, His permission, and His guidance; it is closely related to God’s management work and cannot be separated from it. People who openly curse the work of God’s house in this way, who slander it in their hearts, and want to make fun of God’s house, who wish to see God’s chosen people all arrested, the church’s work completely paralyzed, and believers turning away from their faith, who will be happy when this happens—what kind of people are these? (Devils.) They are devils, they are evil demons reincarnate! Ordinary people have corrupt dispositions, they are occasionally rebellious, and they entertain a few little ideas when they feel negative and weak, that’s it, but they wouldn’t be so bad or give rise to such wicked and malicious thoughts. This kind of essence is only present in antichrists and devils. When antichrists have these ideas, do they suspect that they might be mistaken? (No, they don’t.) Why not? (Because they consider what they think and say to be the truth. They don’t believe in God, they lack God-fearing hearts, and their nature is to resist God.) Exactly, that’s their nature. When has Satan ever treated God as God? When has it believed that God is the truth? It never has, and it never will. Antichrists, these devils, are the same; they don’t treat God as God or believe Him to be the truth. They don’t believe that God is the One who created and holds sovereignty over all things. That’s why they think that whatever they say is right. They unscrupulously think and act in this way; this is their nature. When corrupt humans do the same, they experience inner conflict. They have consciences and human awareness. Their consciences, awareness, and the truths they understand have an effect on them internally, and this gives rise to conflict. When this conflict arises, a battle between correct and incorrect, right and wrong, and justice and wickedness, takes place, and an outcome is reached: Those who pursue the truth stand on the side of God, while those who don’t pursue the truth stand on the side of Satan’s wicked forces. Everything that antichrists do is in collaboration with Satan. They disseminate negativity, spread rumors, and make fun of God’s house. They curse and slander the work of God’s house and curse the brothers and sisters. They even feel at ease doing all this, without any accusation from their consciences, without the slightest bit of remorse, and they believe that their actions are entirely correct. This fully reveals the satanic nature of antichrists, and reveals their ugly faces that resist God. Therefore, it’s no exaggeration to say that antichrists are genuine devils and Satans. Antichrists are born devils and are absolutely not recipients of God’s salvation. They are absolutely not a part of ordinary corrupt mankind. Antichrists are devils reincarnate, they are born evil demons. That’s how things are.

The primary focus of antichrists is put on reputation and status. When it comes to reputation and status, what are the actions undertaken by antichrists? They act unscrupulously, rack their brains, exhaust all thought, and spare no cost to manage their own reputation and status. These two things are their lifeblood, their everything. They believe that obtaining these two things means they’ve obtained everything. In their world, there is only status, reputation, and their own interests; nothing else matters to them. Therefore, is it useful to fellowship about the truth, humanity, justice, or positive things with people like antichrists? (It’s not useful.) That’s right, it’s not useful. It’s like trying to tell a prostitute about how to be a woman in a virtuous house, or teach her to be a virtuous wife and mother; she doesn’t want to listen, she doesn’t like it, and she finds it repugnant. How repugnant does she find it? She scolds you in her heart, and seizes opportunities to mock you, ridicule you, attack you, and exclude you. Nowadays, in the church, aren’t there people who, as soon as they hear someone fellowshipping about the truth, or about such truths as submitting to God’s orchestration and arrangements or obeying the arrangements of God’s house, display a particularly rebellious attitude? (Yes, there are.) There ought to be. Observe and identify those who exhibit such behavior. When you fellowship about the need to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, they react with a strong repulsion, thinking, “All day they keep talking about submitting to god’s arrangements, as if everything were arranged by god, and people don’t have any choice at all!” As soon as you fellowship about the truth or the need to cooperate harmoniously, seek God’s intentions, and act according to the truth principles in their duties, they become especially repulsed and unwilling to listen. Even if they reluctantly listen, they can’t sit still, and if they somehow manage to sit still, it’s almost certain that they’ve fallen asleep. When you fellowship about the truth and about following principles when handling matters, they become drowsy and nod off. After some time without fellowshipping about the truth, without pruning, they become full of energy. They act wantonly and recklessly, make unilateral decisions, and with one hand make a grab for reputation, while with the other they seize status. They leap higher than anyone else and indulge in all kinds of trouble-making. These people are all antichrists; they all resist God and can make big trouble at any moment.

Anyone who possesses the nature of antichrists should be classified as an antichrist. When they want to act unilaterally, they should be restrained and stopped; this is beyond doubt. Some might say, “What if we can’t stop them? What should we do?” I’ll tell you a surefire way to stop them with just one sentence. When you encounter such a situation, simply say, “If you stop acting recklessly, making unilateral decisions, and having the final say, will you die?” How does that sound? (Good.) Do you think an antichrist could really die if they are prevented from acting unilaterally? (Yes.) How did you arrive at this “yes”? (Antichrists are like this at their very core; if they can’t act unilaterally, they feel miserable, and they can’t go on living.) Exactly, that’s just who they are at their core, and if they can’t act this way, they feel miserable. So, are these people normal? (No.) They are not normal. How would a normal person think? “If I can’t act unilaterally, then I’ll just give it up; what’s so difficult about that? It even makes life easier for me!” That’s how a normal person would think. But an antichrist will feel miserable if you don’t let them act this way. Isn’t there a devil dwelling inside them? (Yes.) So, not letting them act unilaterally can make them feel as if they’re dying. What does this “dying” mean? It means that the devil torments and disturbs them in their heart, making it so that they feel unable to bear it or to go on living, as if they were on the verge of death; that’s what it means. For antichrists, evil people, and those devils who seek to disturb the work of God’s house, saying this one sentence to them is more effective than discussing any truth with them. This one statement is useful on people like antichrists, evil people, and devils, who disturb the work of God’s house. Is speaking the truth to these people useful? (No, it isn’t.) “You have to cooperate harmoniously, and do your duty and handle matters according to the truth principles”—these kinds of words have been spoken for many years; is there anyone who doesn’t understand or remember them? There ought not to be. So why do some people still act unilaterally? This can only mean one thing: They are not in control of themselves; they are not normal people. Their minds and hearts cannot govern them; there is something else inside governing them, violently and forcefully directing them to act in this way, which is precisely to disrupt and disturb the work of God’s house, harm the work of God’s house and make the interests of God’s house suffer losses. Who could do such things? Only Satans and devils. Those who follow God, the normal people, the true created beings, would not have the motivation to do such things; only Satans and devils have the motivation and deliberately do these things. Have you remembered this statement? (Yes.) Then, we’ll conclude our fellowship here for today. Goodbye!

February 29, 2020