II. The Interests of Antichrists

B. Their Own Reputation and Status

Last time we fellowshipped on item nine of the various manifestations of antichrists. Let’s do a simple recap of that. How many subsections did we divide the interests of antichrists into for our dissection? (Three subsections. The first was antichrists’ own safety, the second was their own reputation and status, and the third was benefits.) Interests that relate to antichrists involve these three subsections: their own safety, status, and their personal benefits—is that right? (It is.) The first subsection, their own safety, is relatively easy to understand. It relates to the dangerous environments that they encounter, and it touches on the direct interests of antichrists: their personal safety. We have basically finished fellowshipping on this subsection. The second subsection is their own reputation and status. Last time we fellowshipped on some of the manifestations of this, but it was in rather broad terms. I reckon that you all just have a conceptual comprehension and knowledge of this subsection. If I don’t give you some examples, and provide some detailed, concrete analysis, you might only possess a bit of doctrinal and literal understanding of this aspect of the essence and manifestations of antichrists, and you may not be able to recognize any of these real, specific revelations and manifestations. From your perspective, when it comes to fellowshipping on these subjects, the more specific the better, right? (Yes.) You like hearing ready-made stuff; you don’t like having to figure things out. After you listen to these sermons, do you do some homework? If I fellowship in too much detail, will you feel like I’m being too pedantic and long-winded? You might say, “You’re really underestimating our IQs; are we really of such poor caliber? It’s enough for You to just give one or two examples. Also, when it comes to dissecting the essence of antichrists, we’ve already fellowshipped quite a bit on things to do with their love of status and power. Why does our fellowship on the interests of antichrists also touch on this topic? Isn’t that overly repetitive and finicky? Is it really necessary to fellowship on this?” Actually, a little repetition is not a bad thing. If we fellowship from all angles, you will have a more thorough understanding of this aspect of the essence of antichrists. Furthermore, when fellowshipping on the truth, you must not shy away from repetition. There are some truths that have been fellowshipped on for years without people gaining entry into them. Is it right to always be striving to avoid repetition, and always seek new styles and expressions? (It’s wrong.) The truth itself is intimately related to people’s lives. All the various things and corrupt dispositions people reveal in their lives, their manifestations, and the viewpoints and attitudes they have toward all manner of things are constantly playing out over and over each day. Fellowshipping on the truth and dissecting different content and essences from various angles is absolutely beneficial for people’s entry into the truth. Last time, we fellowshipped in a simple, broad manner on the second subsection of the interests of antichrists: their own reputation and status. Today I will give some examples so that we can fellowship on this in detail. Of course, if you have gained some new understanding or obtained some revelation or light upon the foundation of My fellowship, or if you have seen some relevant examples in the course of your own experience or life, you can also participate in the fellowship. Next, let’s specifically dissect, from the perspective of the interests of antichrists, what antichrists manifest when it comes to their reputation and status, what corrupt dispositions antichrists reveal, and in what ways antichrists reveal such nature essences.

Antichrists’ cherishment of their reputation and status goes beyond that of normal people, and is something within their disposition essence; it is not a temporary interest, or the transient effect of their surroundings—it is something within their life, their bones, and so it is their essence. This is to say that in everything antichrists do, their first consideration is their own reputation and status, nothing else. For antichrists, reputation and status are their life, and their lifelong goal. In all they do, their first consideration is: “What will happen to my status? And to my reputation? Will doing this give me a good reputation? Will it elevate my status in people’s minds?” That is the first thing they think about, which is ample proof that they have the disposition and essence of antichrists; they would not consider these problems otherwise. It can be said that for antichrists, reputation and status are not some additional requirement, much less something extraneous that they could do without. They are part of the nature of antichrists, they are in their bones, in their blood, they are innate to them. Antichrists are not indifferent toward whether they possess reputation and status; this is not their attitude. Then, what is their attitude? Reputation and status are intimately connected to their daily lives, to their daily state, to what they pursue on a daily basis. And so for antichrists, status and reputation are their life. No matter how they live, no matter what environment they live in, no matter what work they do, no matter what they pursue, what their goals are, what their life’s direction is, it all revolves around having a good reputation and a high status. And this aim does not change; they can never put aside such things. This is the true face of antichrists, and their essence. You could put them in a primeval forest deep in the mountains, and still they would not put aside their pursuit of reputation and status. You can put them among any group of people, and all they can think about is still reputation and status. Although antichrists also believe in God, they see the pursuit of reputation and status as equivalent to faith in God and give it equal weight. Which is to say, as they walk the path of faith in God, they also pursue their own reputation and status. It can be said that in antichrists’ hearts, they believe that pursuit of the truth in their faith in God is the pursuit of reputation and status; the pursuit of reputation and status is also the pursuit of the truth, and to gain reputation and status is to gain the truth and life. If they feel that they have no reputation, gains, or status, that no one admires them, or esteems them, or follows them, then they are very disappointed, they believe there is no point in believing in God, no value to it, and they say to themselves, “Is such faith in god a failure? Is it hopeless?” They often deliberate such things in their hearts, they deliberate how they can carve a place out for themselves in the house of God, how they can have a lofty reputation in the church, so that people listen when they talk, and support them when they act, and follow them wherever they go; so that they have the final say in the church, and fame, gain, and status—they really focus on such things in their hearts. These are what such people pursue. Why are they always thinking about such things? After reading the words of God, after hearing sermons, do they really not understand all this, are they really not able to discern all this? Are the words of God and the truth really not able to change their notions, ideas, and opinions? That is not the case at all. The problem lies in them, it is wholly because they do not love the truth, because, in their hearts, they are averse to the truth, and as a result, they are utterly unreceptive to the truth—which is determined by their nature essence.

After antichrists listen to God’s words and the truth, they seem to find a direction in their hearts. But what is this so-called direction, actually? It is them obtaining a kind of tool—or, one might say, a sort of beneficial weapon—which enables them to be even more assured of obtaining status. So, they use this opportunity to listen more, read more, learn more, fellowship more, and practice more, and gradually get to the point where they can speak about many words and doctrines, and preach a bunch of so-called sermons that are memorable and make people esteem them. Once they have grasped these doctrines that people think are good in terms of their literal meaning, it’s as if they have grabbed hold of a lifeline, and found a direction and the light of dawn. So, antichrists do not listen to sermons and read God’s words for the sake of their practice or to follow God’s way, and they certainly don’t do these things to understand His intentions. They do these things so that they can win people over and entice more people to worship and follow them using God’s words, or using these theories that they believe to be spiritual, or by preaching lofty sermons. Intangibly, God’s words, the truth, and His way become a sort of channel, a sort of ladder, and a sort of tool that these people use to obtain status and prestige among others. Therefore, no matter what way you look at it, you won’t be able to find any genuine faith or any real submission within antichrists. On the contrary, regardless of how much effort they put into listening to sermons and reading God’s words, and no matter how “pious” their belief in His words seems to be, there is one thing that cannot be denied, which is that while antichrists do these things, their intention and plan is not to follow God’s will, and it is certainly not to perform their duties well; they do not wish to be the smallest of followers or to be created beings, dutifully accepting God’s commission and His sovereignty and arrangements in a well-behaved manner. Rather, they just want to use these things to achieve their individual goals, to obtain a place in the hearts of others, and a positive assessment before God—this is all they want. So, no matter how antichrists preach God’s words, and no matter how correct, lofty, spiritual, and suited to people’s tastes the sermons they preach are, they will have zero practice and entry. At the same time, their pursuit of status and reputation will bear more and more “fruit.” Why do I say this? I say it because no matter what people like this do, what they manage to achieve through great effort, the direction and goals they pursue, and the motive and point of origin they harbor in the depths of their heart whenever they act, cannot be separated from the status and reputation that is so closely entwined with their own interests.

The saying goes that you will reap what you sow. No matter what kind of good caliber and gifts antichrists possess, or what pious and spiritual manifestations they display, since they harbor the ambition and desire to wield power and control God’s chosen people, and since they do not pursue the truth and only seek reputation and status, can they practice according to God’s requirements? Can they meet the standards that God requires in their actions? (No.) So what consequences will their actions and behavior actually lead to? (Definitely to them establishing their own independent kingdom and calling the shots.) That’s right. No matter what antichrists do, this is the ultimate result. So, what gives rise to this consequence? It is primarily due to their inability to accept the truth. No matter if they are pruned, judged, or chastised, antichrists will not accept it in their hearts. No matter what it is they’re doing, antichrists always have their own aims and intentions, they are always acting according to their own plan, and their attitude toward the arrangements and work of the house of God is, “You may have a thousand plans, but I have one rule”; this is all determined by the nature of antichrists. Can antichrists change their mentality and act according to the truth principles? That would be absolutely impossible, unless the Above directly demands them to do so, in which case they will be able to reluctantly do a bit, out of necessity. If they did nothing at all, they would be exposed and dismissed. It is only under these circumstances that they are able to do a bit of real work. This is the attitude that antichrists have toward doing duties; this is also the attitude they have toward practicing the truth: When practicing the truth is beneficial to them, when everyone will approve of them and admire them for it, they are sure to oblige, and make some token efforts that appear just about acceptable to others. If practicing the truth is of no benefit to them, if no one sees it, and the superior leaders don’t see it, then at such times there is no question of them practicing the truth. Their practicing of the truth depends on the context and situation, and they consider how they can do this in a way that will be visible to others, and how great the benefits will be; they have an ingenious grasp of these things, and they can adapt to different situations. They are at all times considering their own fame, gain and status, and not showing any consideration whatsoever for the intentions of God, and in this they fall short of practicing the truth and upholding the principles. Antichrists only pay attention to their own fame, gain, status, personal interests, and their not gaining any benefit or putting themselves on display is unacceptable, and the practice of the truth is troublesome for them. If their efforts are not recognized, and even if they are working before others their work is not seen, then they won’t practice any truth at all. If the work is arranged directly by the house of God, and they have no choice but to do it, still they take into consideration whether this will benefit their status and reputation. If it is good for their status and can improve their reputation, they put everything they have into this work and make a good job of it; they feel they are killing two birds with one stone. If it is of no benefit to their fame, gain, and status, and doing it badly could discredit them, they think of a way or excuse to get out of it. No matter what duty antichrists perform, they always stick to the same principle: They must make some gain in terms of reputation, status, or their interests, and they must not incur any losses. The kind of work antichrists like most is when they don’t have to suffer or pay any price, and there is a benefit to their reputation and status. In sum, no matter what they’re doing, antichrists first consider their own interests, and they only act once they’ve thought it all out; they do not truly, sincerely, and absolutely submit to the truth without compromise, but do so selectively and conditionally. What condition is this? It is that their status and reputation must be safeguarded, and must not suffer any loss. Only after this condition is satisfied will they decide and choose what to do. That is, antichrists give serious consideration to how to treat the truth principles, God’s commissions, and the work of God’s house, or how to deal with the things they face. They do not consider how to satisfy God’s intentions, how to keep from damaging the interests of God’s house, how to satisfy God, or how to benefit the brothers and sisters; these are not the things they consider. What do antichrists consider? Whether their own status and reputation will be affected, and whether their prestige will be lowered. If doing something according to the truth principles benefits the work of the church and the brothers and sisters, but would cause their own reputation to suffer and cause many people to realize their true stature and know what sort of nature essence they have, then they will definitely not act in accordance with the truth principles. If doing some real work will cause more people to think highly of them, look up to them and admire them, allow them to gain even greater prestige, or enable their words to carry authority and make more people submit to them, then they will choose to do it that way; otherwise, they will never choose to disregard their own interests out of consideration for the interests of God’s house or of the brothers and sisters. This is the nature essence of antichrists. Isn’t it selfish and despicable? In any situation, antichrists see their status and reputation as of utmost importance. No one can compete with them. No matter the method required, so long as it wins people over and makes others worship them, antichrists will do it. If someone else is esteemed and approved of by God’s chosen people for bearing witness to God, antichrists will also use this method to win people over. But antichrists do not possess the truth, or practical experience, so they rack their brain manufacturing a set of theories that testify for God based on human imaginings, talking about how great God is, how much God loves man, how God pays a price to save man, and how much God humbles and hides Himself. After they testify for God in this way, the outcome they achieve is that people esteem them even more, and have more of a place for them in their hearts, and no place for God. If they see that speaking about self-knowledge can make more people trust, look up to, and esteem them, they will often talk about knowing themselves, and will often dissect themselves. They will dissect the fact that they are a devil, that they are not human, that they have no reason, that they do not pursue the truth, and that they do not possess the truth. They will fellowship on a few specious, insignificant topics to mislead others, win their trust, and get more people to praise and look up to them. This is how antichrists act. If a certain method of sharing experiential testimony will enable them to gain other people’s approval and admiration, they won’t hesitate to use it. They will really focus, put in effort, and rack their brain over this method. In sum, their goal and motive in doing all of this revolves around nothing more than status and reputation. Regardless of whether it’s their external language, methods, behavior, or a kind of thought, view, or method of pursuit, these things all revolve around reputation and status. This is the way that antichrists work.

For antichrists, if their reputation or status is attacked and taken away, it is a matter even more serious than trying to take their life. No matter how many sermons they listen to or how many of God’s words they read, they will not feel sadness or regret over never having practiced the truth and having taken the path of antichrists, nor over their possession of the nature essence of antichrists. Instead, they are always racking their brains for ways to gain status and increase their reputation. It can be said that everything antichrists do is done to show off in front of others, and is not done before God. Why do I say this? It is because such people are so in love with status that they treat it as their very life, as their lifelong goal. Moreover, because they love status so much, they never believe in the existence of truth, and it can even be said that they harbor absolutely no belief in God’s existence. Thus, no matter how they calculate to gain reputation and status, and no matter how they try to use false appearances to trick people and God, in the depths of their hearts, they have no awareness or reproach, let alone any anxiety. In their consistent pursuit of reputation and status, they also wantonly deny what God has done. Why do I say that? In the depths of antichrists’ hearts, they believe, “All reputation and status are earned through one’s own efforts. Only by gaining a firm foothold among people and gaining reputation and status can they enjoy god’s blessings. Life only has value when people gain absolute power and status. Only this is living like a human. By contrast, it would be useless to live in the way that is spoken of in the word of god—to submit to god’s sovereignty and arrangements in everything, to willingly stand in the position of a created being, and to live like a normal person—no one would look up to a person like that. A person’s status, reputation, and happiness must be won through their own struggles; they must be fought for and seized with a positive and proactive attitude. No one else will give them to you—waiting around passively can only lead to failure.” This is how antichrists calculate. This is the disposition of antichrists. If you hope for antichrists to accept the truth, admit mistakes, and have real repentance, it is impossible—they absolutely cannot do it. Antichrists have the nature essence of Satan, and they hate the truth, so no matter where they go, even if they go to the ends of the earth, their ambition of pursuing reputation and status will never change, and neither will their views on things, or the path that they walk. Some people will say: “There are a few antichrists who can change their views on this.” Is this statement right? If they can truly change, are they still antichrists? Those who have the nature of an antichrist will never change. Those who possess the disposition of an antichrist will only change if they pursue the truth. Some people who walk the path of an antichrist do some evil that disturbs the church’s work, and though they are classified as antichrists, after they get dismissed, they feel true remorse, and they resolve to comport themselves anew, and after a period of reflection, self-knowledge, and repentance, they undergo some real change. In this case, these people cannot be classified as antichrists; they just possess the disposition of an antichrist. If they pursue the truth, they can change. However, it can be definitively said that most of those who are classified as antichrists, cleared out, or expelled by the church will not truly repent or change. If any of them do, they are rare cases. Some people will ask: “Then were those rare cases misclassified?” This is impossible. They did commit some evil, after all, and this cannot be written off. However, if they are able to truly repent, if they are willing to do a duty, and if they possess true testimony of their repentance, the church can still admit them. If these people absolutely refuse to admit fault or to repent after being classified as antichrists, and they keep trying to justify themselves by any means possible, then it is accurate and completely correct to classify them as antichrists. If they had acknowledged their errors and felt true remorse then, how could the church classify them as antichrists? That would be impossible. No matter who they are, no matter how much evil they did, or how serious their errors were, whether a person is determined to be an antichrist or to possess the disposition of an antichrist depends on whether they are able to accept the truth and being pruned, and whether they possess true remorse. If they can accept the truth and accept being pruned, if they possess true remorse, and if they are willing to spend their whole life laboring for God, then this truly indicates a bit of repentance. A person like this cannot be classified as an antichrist. Can those veritable antichrists truly accept the truth? Absolutely not. It is precisely because they do not love the truth, and are averse to the truth, that they will never be able to let go of reputation and status, which are so closely entwined with their whole life. Antichrists firmly believe in their hearts that only with reputation and status do they have dignity and are they true created beings, and that only with status will they be rewarded and crowned, qualify for God’s approval, gain everything, and be a genuine person. What do antichrists see status as? They see it as the truth; they regard it as the highest goal to be pursued by people. Isn’t that a problem? People who can obsess over status in this way are genuine antichrists. They are the same kind of people as Paul. They believe that pursuing the truth, seeking submission to God, and seeking honesty are all processes that lead one to the highest possible status; they are merely processes, not the goal and standard of being human, and that they are done entirely for God to see. This understanding is preposterous and ridiculous! Only the absurd ones who hate the truth could produce such a ridiculous idea.

When it comes to antichrists, no matter what aspect of the truth you fellowship on, their method of comprehension and understanding will be different from that of people who pursue the truth. After hearing the truth, people who pursue it think, “I do not possess this aspect of the truth, and I can link this state that God has revealed to myself. Why, after listening to it, do I feel so full of remorse and so indebted to God? I still fall far short of pursuing the truth, and am nowhere near being able to truly submit. I feel very frightened; this has served as a wake-up call to me. I thought I’d been doing pretty well recently, and I had no idea that I am actually not someone who practices the truth or someone who pleases God. From now on, I must be careful and prudent, and focus on praying before God and imploring Him for guidance and illumination. I must not go my own way. I am going to enter deeply into this aspect of the truth, and I still have room to progress. I hope God will set out an environment that can allow me to perform better, and to offer up my sincerity and loyalty.” This is how people who pursue the truth think. So, how do antichrists comprehend various sorts of truths? After hearing God’s words that reproach man, what do they think? “I didn’t do a very good job at that, I let something slip in my actions, and mistakes appeared. How many people know about it? God’s words were spoken quite clearly; does that mean he has seen right through me? Well, this is not a great outcome; this is not what I want. If god has seen right through me, does anyone else know about it? If someone has found out, that’d be even worse. If only god knows, and no one else does, then that’s okay. If some people hear these words of god that expose man and they link them to me and apply them to me, that would be bad for my reputation. I’ll need to think of a way to remedy this. How can I remedy this?” Antichrists ponder in this way. For example, after listening to God fellowship about how people must be honest, an antichrist will immediately think, “Only morons try to be honest people. How could someone as smart as myself be an honest person? Honest people are dummies and idiots; they say whatever comes into their minds, they tell other people everything and allow them to understand everything. I would never do that! God saying that we should be honest people is relative, so I’m just going to be a wise person, and that’s that. As for being an honest person, I’ll just pick and choose when to be that. I’ll open up about some things, but I won’t talk about all those secrets and hidden things that I harbor deep inside my heart, things that might make people look down on me if I spoke about them. What advantage is there in being an honest person? I don’t think there are any advantages to it. Some people are always dissecting themselves, trying to be honest and speak honestly, and bringing their corrupt dispositions to light, but they haven’t gained god’s grace, and when they should be pruned, they still get pruned; god doesn’t give them any additional exaltation.” They ponder on and on, “I’ll have to choose another way. This is not the path I should be on; I’ll just leave it to others. How can a smart person such as myself live like that?” No matter what aspect of the truth an antichrist hears, what calculations do they make in their heart? Can they comprehend that truth purely? Are they capable of accepting it as the truth in the depths of their heart? Absolutely not. They are constantly calculating and plotting, and continuously observing. How do they ultimately respond? They change according to the situation, they adapt to the conditions, they are smooth and slick in their dealings with other people, and they act in total secrecy. No matter what they do, no matter what they are thinking or calculating deep down, they cannot let others know, nor can they let God know; they cannot lay these things bare to God, let alone communicate about them clearly with people—they believe that these things are their own personal business. Thus, antichrists are the sort of people who are absolutely incapable of practicing the truth. Apart from not practicing the truth themselves, they also disdain people who do practice the truth, and even more so, they mock those people who get pruned because they have made some deviations while practicing the truth, or because they have taken some wrong turns, or made some mistakes, and laugh at them from the sidelines. They do not believe in God’s righteousness, let alone that the various ways in which He treats people have the truth and His love in them; antichrists do not believe these things. From their point of view, they believe all of these things are lies meant to deceive people; they think they are all just a kind of excuses, a bunch of sayings that sound nice. And what do they often secretly delight in? “Luckily, I’m not dumb enough to offer up everything; luckily, I haven’t spoken about those filthy, ugly things that I harbor deep down; luckily, I am still holding on to my status and reputation and doing my utmost to pursue them, and running around for their sake. If I didn’t run around for my own sake, then who would spare any thought for me?” Antichrists are not only deceitful, but they are also wicked, they are averse to the truth, and vicious by disposition; that is, all of the aspects of corrupt dispositions that manifest in corrupt humans have, in antichrists, been confirmed and “elevated” one step further. If you want to look at the corrupt dispositions of humankind, find an antichrist to dissect and interact with; that is the best way of illustrating the issue, and the best way to see through the corrupt essence of corrupt humanity and the face of Satan. If you take an antichrist as a prime example, and dissect and get to know them, you will be able to understand these things more clearly.

Antichrists’ pursuit of status and reputation goes far beyond that of ordinary people, and so does their desire for status and reputation. Ordinary people do not have such a huge desire for status and reputation, whereas that desire in antichrists is extremely strong and obvious. Once you have interacted with an antichrist and talked with them and spent time with them, their nature essence will be exposed before your eyes, and you will immediately see right through them. This is how great their desire is. When your interactions with them deepen, you will feel disgusted with them and reject them. Ultimately, you will not only reject them, but you will even condemn and curse them. Antichrists are not good things; they are God’s enemies, as well as the enemies of everyone who pursues the truth. Antichrists are averse to the truth, and are capable of doing all sorts of bad things for the sake of status and reputation. In everything they do, they will disguise themselves, imitate, and play along according to the situation, making compromises for the sake of status and reputation. The very souls and essences of people like these are filthy; they are disgusting. They do not have one iota of love for the truth or positive things. At the same time, they use positive things and the preaching of correct words and doctrines to mislead people, so that they can gain reputation and status, and satisfy their desires and ambitions. This is the behavior and essence of antichrists. You cannot see what Satan looks like, how Satan conducts itself in the world and deals with people, and what sort of nature essence Satan has; you do not know what kind of thing Satan is exactly in God’s eyes. This is not a problem; all you have to do is observe and dissect an antichrist, and you will see all of these things—Satan’s nature essence, Satan’s ugly visage, and Satan’s wickedness and viciousness—all of them will be visible to you. Antichrists are living Satans; they are living demons.