II. The Interests of Antichrists

Today we’ll continue fellowshipping on the topic from our last gathering. Last time we fellowshipped on the second section of the interests of antichrists within item nine of the various manifestations of antichrists. In this section we fellowshipped on their own reputation and status, right? (Right.) Think back and give Me an approximate summary. How many points did we primarily fellowship on concerning antichrists’ own reputation and status? (God fellowshipped on two points last time. The first was on antichrists’ attitude toward being pruned. Antichrists can never accept or submit to being pruned, nor can they accept it as the truth. The second was on how antichrists protect their reputation and status in a group of people and what manifestations they have. The essence of antichrists is one of competing, and they must compete for their reputation and status.) So, let’s continue fellowshipping on this today. What homework did I give you last time? What did I ask you to contemplate and fellowship on after our gathering? Do you remember? (God asked us to hold ourselves against the fellowship and dissection of the manifestations of antichrists for comparison to see which of the dispositions of antichrists we possess, and to see which of the natures of antichrists we rely upon to do things.) This was the main topic. What was the subtopic about? (It was about which competing natures antichrists display while safeguarding their reputation and status, and holding ourselves up against these for comparison to see how we reveal them in our real lives, and how we do things, what we say, and what we do for the sake of reputation and status, and which manifestations of vying for fame and gain with brothers and sisters we display in order to safeguard our status.) Can anyone else add to this? (God told us to not always talk about what other people are like while fellowshipping on these manifestations of antichrists, but to instead hold ourselves up against them for comparison and fellowship on which dispositions and revelations we have that are the same as antichrists’.) That’s pretty much it. What was the motto for how antichrists act in a group of people that we fellowshipped about last time? Did this not leave an impression on you? (Their motto is, “I must compete! Compete! Compete!”) You remember this. How come you’ve been able to remember this? (Because this motto of antichrists that God spoke of, “I must compete! Compete! Compete!” is something I myself usually manifest and often reveal. Also, the tone of God’s fellowship was quite vivid, and the way in which God expressed these words matched the state of my own heart, so it left quite a deep impression on me.) Sometimes, when I fellowship on and dissect antichrists’ various manifestations and their different kinds of nature essences, I use some everyday language, as well as certain tones and methods which are easy for people to accept, and which leave a deep impression on people, and I also use some examples that are quite close to real life. Doing this really helps people to come to know the essence of antichrists and to come to know themselves. It is also beneficial to people coming to know themselves and experiencing God’s words in their real life, and it is even more conducive to them changing this kind of disposition of antichrists, right? (Right.) You’ve given an approximate recollection of the last fellowship, but the details go beyond these things—there are many more details. You should come up with a summary after listening to a fellowship. At the very least, after listening to a fellowship, you should gather together and listen to it again several times, and then everyone can make a summary together. After listening to your recollections and summaries of our last fellowship, I can tell that it’s quite rusty to you, it’s as though you listened to the fellowship a year or two ago and it left no impression on you. You may have been left with some concept and impression of a section, a sentence or two, or a matter or two, but it seems as though most people have no concept or impression of more of the essential knowledge and dissection of exposing antichrists. You must therefore ruminate and fellowship more among yourselves on the matters we discussed. Don’t just listen to them and then put them to one side without taking them seriously at all. If you do that, then your entry into the truth will be too slow—it won’t do to not ruminate on these sermons! So, how do you work in concert with these sermons in your church life? Do you fellowship on these sermons at your gatherings every week? Or do you listen to the latest sermons and fellowships several times over, so that most of you get an impression and in-depth knowledge of them, and then understand the truth through them? Do you do this? (God, at our gatherings every week we first eat and drink God’s latest fellowships.) Church leaders, preachers, and those who are in charge of the church life in decision-making groups must take responsibility for this; only in this way can the church work be done well.

C. Scheming for Their Own Benefits

1. Embezzling the Assets of God’s House

Today we will fellowship on the third section of the interests of antichrists—benefits. What are benefits? (Receiving blessings, and interests.) This is a very simple explanation; this is the literal meaning. Add a bit more to it—what are benefits? (They are the material and non-material interests, desirable things, and conveniences people can receive from doing their duty or from working in the world.) This explanation is correct. Benefits are kinds of good treatment that people receive in addition to their salary, and include things like daily necessities, food, or coupons. They also refer to conveniences and the material or non-material treatment one gets while doing one’s duty; all of these things are benefits. Now that I’ve explained what this term means, do you all know the areas, examples, and manifestations that we will fellowship on in this section? Certain people’s behaviors and actions are flashing through your minds right now, as well as the people who are capable of doing these things, right? Who are the first people you think of? (People who take advantage of their status to live off the church.) This is one type of person. These people do their duties, too. Some of them have status, they are leaders and workers at various levels or supervisors, while others do ordinary duties. What manifestation do they all have in common? While doing their duties, they continuously do some work and do certain things for their own flesh, their families, and their own enjoyment. Every day they rush around and pay a price, and the thing they always bear in mind is what desirable things they will obtain through doing this task or doing this duty. They are always planning and calculating about what conveniences and preferential treatment they can get out of it. Once they know, they will do whatever it takes to get these things, and, even more so, they will certainly not pass up any such opportunity to get these conveniences and these interests for themselves. When it comes to this matter, you could say that they are ruthless and unfeeling, and they certainly give no consideration to their own integrity and dignity. They are not afraid that the brothers and sisters might view them negatively, and they certainly do not worry about how God might evaluate them because of it. All they do is secretly contemplate and plot how to take advantage of the duties they are doing so as to be able to enjoy all the beneficial treatment they can. Thus, people like these have a sort of thought and argument which, on a surface level, cannot be considered wrong, which is that: “God’s house is my family, and my family is god’s house; what is mine is god’s, and what is god’s is mine. People’s duties are their responsibilities, and all the benefits that they can enjoy from their duties are graces bestowed by god; people cannot refuse them and should accept them from him. If I do not obtain them, then someone else will, so I might as well go ahead and enjoy these benefits and not pretend to be humble, and I certainly should not modestly decline anything. I just need to strive for these benefits and reach out my hand to accept them with a submissive heart and a candid attitude.” They see such benefits as a kind of treatment that they naturally deserve and ought to take possession of; it’s like when a person works and puts in time and hard work, so he feels like the salary and remuneration he receives are his fair share. So, even if they’ve embezzled these things and obtained these benefits through striving for them, they do not see that as wrong or something that God would detest, let alone do they care if the brothers and sisters have any sort of opinion about them. As if it were perfectly right and natural to do so, antichrists enjoy all of these things, they strive for these things, and even more so, they scheme for all of these things in their hearts every day. This is the regular status of antichrists doing their duties, and it is also the regular status of antichrists contriving for their personal interests while doing their duties. So, what is the mindset of antichrists? “While people do their duty, they have to try to get something in return. Since I’ve forsaken my family in order to do this duty, and since I’ve given my hard work, energy, and time for god and his house, I should therefore get to enjoy all the good treatment I want.” Antichrists see all of these as things that they naturally deserve, as things that God should grant to people without them needing to strive for them. This is the viewpoint antichrists have. And so, while doing their duty, they’re constantly working hard for benefits, and always afraid that someone else might take one of those benefits, and leave them with less. This is a status of antichrists doing their duties. What do all their intentions, motives, and goals in doing their duty ultimately boil down to? These all boil down to them scheming to get all the benefits for themselves, thinking that otherwise they’ll just be big idiots and life will have no meaning. This is the mindset of antichrists.

No matter how God exposes the nature of antichrists or their manifestations of not loving the truth, they will not give up on these intentions and pursuits of theirs; they keep on striving for benefits. For example, after some people have begun doing the duty of hosting, the church or the brothers and sisters will buy some food or appliances or even give some money to the hosting families. If the person who does this duty is an antichrist, the desirable things that they try to get for themselves are not as simple as a mere match or a little spoon. They say, “I am providing my home to host these brothers and sisters, and offering a service for them while they do their duties, so god’s house should of course provide all the materials and money. I am providing my house and cooking for you all and guaranteeing your safety; that’s pretty good already. As for the rest—what you eat, drink, and use—it should be provided by the church.” It is indeed not wrong that the church will provide these things, but what I want to fellowship on here is the difference between how antichrists do hosting duties and how other people genuinely do this duty. When antichrists do hosting duties, this action cannot be simply taken at face value; they have ulterior motives. They think, “I’m doing this hosting duty, so I need to scheme to get something out of it. The church is providing some food and other necessities, so my family members need to eat that food along with the brothers and sisters and use all those things as they please, too. My family is of god’s house, so what belongs to god’s house belongs to my family, too.” This is the attitude with which antichrists do their duties, is it not? (Yes.) Therefore, once some people begin doing hosting duties, their hearts begin to change, they’re constantly thinking about the material things and money that are used for hosting brothers and sisters, and if no one looks carefully into these things, then the opportunity for these antichrists to get some benefits has arrived. What sort of opportunity? They will secretly calculate, “This is how much one person spends in a day, so whatever money is left over, I won’t give back to the church; I’ll just keep it for myself. This at the very least is money that I earned, so no one can blame me for keeping it; this is only what I deserve, of course!” They will then put the leftover money in their pocket. Some antichrists will look for all manner of excuses to keep for themselves some of the material things donated by brothers and sisters or provided by God’s house. In some places, when the brothers and sisters go to stay there again, the mattress on the bed is gone, the pillows and quilts are gone, the meat and vegetables are all gone, and when they ask their hosts about this, these antichrists say, “If you keep food for a long time, it won’t taste as good, so we ate it.” Aren’t these greedy people? (Yes.) As soon as the material things provided by God’s house, as well as the things bought for the host family by brothers and sisters, get brought into the domains of these antichrists, they become theirs; they use or eat them as they please, or even directly treat them as their own possessions and hide them away. Once the brothers and sisters go there again, these things are nowhere to be seen. If the church needs to use these antichrists’ places of residence again, it needs to spend money to purchase those things again, and brothers and sisters have to bring those things to their houses again. Seeing this, the antichrists get happy, thinking, “Believing in god sure is great! I can’t get rich this fast doing anything else; this is the most convenient way to get things by far. Also, no one would dare make a report to the police that these church belongings have gone missing; if you were to actually try to report me, then I’d report you first! So all you can do is shut up and take it, there’s nowhere for you to complain about this. I’ve taken possession of these things and eaten this food. What can you do to me? God doesn’t pick favorites. I’m providing my house for hosting brothers and sisters, so that’s the contribution I’ve made, and god will remember me for it. What’s there to be afraid of if I take a bit? This is only what I deserve! What’s to fear in eating some of this food? What, you’re allowed to eat it but I’m not? You are members of god’s house, but aren’t I one, too? I’m not only going to benefit from the situation, I’m going to eat things by myself and dine on them alone!” This is antichrists’ attitude toward their duties. In doing their duties, their goal is to get these things, and they see them as the greatest benefits, saying, “These are the greatest grace bestowed by god; nothing is more tangible than this grace, and nothing is more real and tangibly beneficial than this blessing. This is just so great! Everyone says believing in god means ‘gaining a hundredfold in this life and eternal life in the world to come’; this fulfills that saying. I’m now having a foretaste of this blessing. This truly is god’s kindness!” Thus, antichrists have no qualms at all about taking possession of things that belong to God’s house, and ruthlessly take them for themselves. How do antichrists see these assets of God’s house? They treat them like the public property of nonbelievers; they’re all greedy, they all want to take the things of God’s house for themselves, and yet they still believe these to be the grace and blessings that they deserve to enjoy for doing their duties. Furthermore, they never feel any remorse or shame about this, nor do they recognize their own wickedness or lack of integrity. Some of these antichrists even get increasingly greedy and ambitious. While doing their hosting duties, they never feel that their actions would be detested by God or that their actions would offend Him. Instead, they just keep calculating and comparing in their minds, thinking, “That family served as hosts and got those things. If I were to host the same people, then those things should rightfully be mine. That host lives in more comfort than I do, and they eat better too. How come I haven’t taken advantage like that, too?” They calculate and vie for these things too. As soon as an opportunity comes along, they are merciless and absolutely will not pass it up. Thus, when antichrists are doing hosting duties, they covet and try to take possession of anything they can—from objects as small as a pair of insoles to something as large as a piece of equipment purchased by God’s house. They take advantage of the opportunity of doing their duties to find all kinds of excuses and ways to take things for themselves, misappropriating the property of God’s house, while shamelessly saying that they are only doing it to protect the property of God’s house, and that these things are only what they deserve for doing their duties. These things happen among people who believe in and follow God.

While antichrists are doing their hosting duties, they may present themselves externally as though they do not covet or try to take things, refusing to accept any payment for hosting brothers and sisters, and when they see certain worthless objects, they’ll hurry to keep them safe. When it comes to valuables belonging to God’s house, however, they absolutely will not let them go like this. They will perhaps hand over something worth one yuan, but with anything worth a hundred yuan, a thousand yuan, ten thousand yuan, or something even more valuable, they’ll firmly stuff it into their wallets and keep it for themselves. For some people, a dangerous situation arises locally while they’re taking care of the assets of God’s house, and the people who know they’re doing this perhaps flee elsewhere or get arrested, and so no one but them knows about these assets that they’re keeping safe—it is in situations like these when people are tested. Those who truly believe in God, who love the truth and possess a God-fearing heart, can keep to their duty at all times, and they will have no idea or thought of misappropriating these assets. Antichrists are not like this, however; they will rack their brains and think of any way possible to take these assets for themselves. As soon as something happens to the people who know they’re safeguarding the assets, antichrists secretly feel happy in their hearts and even jump for joy. They immediately take the assets for themselves without feeling afraid at all, much less feeling any self-reproach or guilt. Some antichrists use these assets for their own household expenses and dispose of them at will, some immediately use the money to buy things they want for their home, and some even put the money directly into their bank account and keep it for themselves. And when the brothers and sisters go to collect the assets, are antichrists then able to admit what they’ve done? Antichrists will absolutely never admit it. Their aim in believing in God and doing their duty is to obtain desirable things, and these desirable things include God’s offerings, the property of God’s house, and even the personal belongings of the brothers and sisters. Therefore, antichrists do their duty with greed, desire, and personal ambition; they aren’t here to pursue the truth, to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, or to accept God’s salvation, but rather they came here in order to get every benefit, all the conveniences, and all the assets. These people can be said to be filled with greed and desire. Upon what do they set their hearts? They set their hearts upon the assets of God’s house. That’s why when they do hosting duties, they focus on what God’s house buys for whom, how much money God’s house issues to whom, and how great advantages and what desirable things certain people obtain from God’s house and the brothers and sisters for doing hosting duties—these are the things they keep their eyes on. If they’re asked to host ordinary brothers and sisters and can’t get anything desirable from doing so, they’ll come up with all kinds of excuses so that they don’t have to. The moment they’re asked to host an upper-level leader, their attitude does a 180-degree turn, it changes, they’re all smiles, and they await the leader eagerly; they can’t wait to invite this “big shot” they’re to host to their home and worship this leader like god. They think that their ship has come in, that this is their cash cow, and if they miss this opportunity then their chance to get rich will be gone, so how could they possibly let it pass them by? With greed, desire, and the motivation and intent to misappropriate the assets of God’s house, they accept this duty that can bring them desirable things—what is their final aim? Is it to do their duty well? Is it to host brothers and sisters well? Is it to offer up their loyalty? Is it to gain the truth? No, it’s none of these; they want to use this opportunity to obtain desirable things. They won’t host ordinary people, but when they hear that they are to host a leader or worker with status, they’ll fall over themselves to do this, and then they’ll come up with various excuses for God’s house to purchase all kinds of daily necessities and household equipment for them, saying, “Leaders can’t stay in poor conditions when they come to stay here. Shouldn’t everything be prepared to make hosting convenient? We don’t enjoy the things provided by god’s house; if we do, we’re just basking in the light alongside the leaders. Besides, if a leader comes, I’m afraid they won’t be used to the food we eat here every day. Leaders have to manage a lot of things every day, and if they become unwell, wouldn’t we be remiss in our duty as hosts? So, the church should prepare three meals a day for leaders. We have to have milk, bread, eggs, and all kinds of vegetables, fruit, meat, and health supplements ready for them.” Isn’t this a wonderful and considerate thought? Antichrists speak human language out loud, but are they really thinking of the leaders in their hearts? What exactly is their hidden aim? Their aim is not that simple. They may be poor and have never eaten or seen nice things before, and they want to use this opportunity to gain experience, to live like the rich, to live a life where all their basic necessities are taken care of, to use this opportunity to take care of their health, to eat things ordinary people can’t eat and enjoy some treatment that ordinary people can’t enjoy. That’s why their thoughts appear so considerate. But what lies behind their consideration? They want to scheme for their own sakes, they want to obtain these things, seize these things, and they are certainly thinking over every aspect of their own schemes—they wouldn’t do this for anyone else. And when they host a leader, these antichrists really are living the good life. Afterward, they wonder, “Living like this is great, but these things don’t actually belong to me. When will these things be mine? If I get rid of this leader, I won’t be able to enjoy these things anymore, but if I don’t get rid of him, I really don’t have the goodwill to keep hosting him. There’s no way I would do this duty if it wasn’t for these desirable things. Every day, I have to get up early and go to bed late, I’m constantly in a state of fear, and I have to wait on him. I always think now that there is more to lose from doing this duty than there is to gain, and that the advantages and pleasures I get from it aren’t enough. What will I do if the leader keeps living here long term? I’ll have to think of a way to make him leave, and then I’ll have peace and quiet in my home again.” Is this how people think? Would people who possess normal humanity and who genuinely do their duty think this way? (No.) This is how antichrists think. No matter how great the desirable things or advantages they obtain are, their greed and desire can never be satiated; they are insatiable, they think they haven’t gained anything, and they don’t think doing this duty is the job they ought to do. On the contrary, they think this is an additional sacrifice and price. No matter how many things they obtain or how great advantages they gain, they feel they’ve lost out and think that it’s God’s house that’s benefitting at their expense, that it’s the brothers and sisters who are benefitting at their expense, and that they themselves aren’t getting anything desirable out of it. As time goes on, they feel that these desirable things can’t satisfy them and their greed cannot be satiated. Tell Me, what humanity do antichrists possess? Do they possess any humanity? (No.) And do people with no humanity have a conscience? Can they do their duty while harboring a desire to perform it genuinely, as well as a desire to be humble, to be sincere, and to genuinely exert themselves? Can they do their duty without requiring payment, without seeking any remuneration, and without seeking any reward? (No.) Why not? They have no awareness of conscience, and no matter how great the advantages they obtain, they think them well deserved. Isn’t this “well deserved” something which normal people can’t think of and something which they would never think of? Is there any sense of shame to be found in this kind of thought and attitude? (No.) Do people with no sense of shame possess any humanity? This matter exposes a nature which antichrists possess, which is that of being without shame or conscience.

What kind of people are those without shame? What kind of people within mankind have no shame? (Schizophrenic people.) Mentally ill people have no shame, they run naked through the streets, unaware of all the people looking at them, perhaps even laughing at the people wearing clothes, and saying, “Look at how troublesome it is for you to wear clothes. I’m running naked through the street without clothes, and I feel so free and unrestrained!” Isn’t this what it is to be without shame? (Yes, it is.) This is what it is to be without shame. People with no shame have no awareness of conscience and they are mentally ill; they benefit at everyone else’s expense, they want to take whatever belongs to anyone else, their greed and desire have surpassed the scope of normal human rationality—they’ve reached the point where they cannot control themselves and have no awareness of conscience. Can people like this gain the truth? Certainly not. They pursue only fame, gain, status, and material interests, and they never gain the truth. So, will they have a place in the kingdom of heaven? God does not save or perfect such people. Are these people to be pitied? (No.) These people are to be hated; they are disgusting, loathsome, and despicable. The character of these people is despicable and lowly; they are without dignity or shame. Their hearts are filled with greed, ambition, and desire. They just want to take advantage of the opportunity to do their duty to try to obtain interests for themselves, and they do not accept the truth at all, nor do they do things according to the truth principles. When they pray to God, they also ask for desirable things, for interests, and for God’s blessings. They describe to God how they’ve suffered and sacrificed, and they come before God to pray about these things only in order to use the suffering they’ve endured and the prices they’ve paid to strike bargains with Him, to ask for blessings and rewards from God, and to even openly stretch out their hands to God and ask for the material treatment they want. What they want to express when they come before God are their complaints, their defiance, their dissatisfaction, their grievances, and their resentment, as well as their disappointment about their greed and desires not being satisfied. When God sees these manifestations, does He love them or detest them? (He detests them.) When they make some small exertion for the sake of the church, they immediately come before God to declare it and claim the credit, to tell God about their sacrifices and what they’ve dedicated when doing various duties or doing various jobs; they’re terrified that God won’t know about these things, that God can’t see these things, and that God will forget the prices they’ve paid. Therefore, these people are seen as evil and quite dead to shame before God. When they come before God to describe and declare the prices they’ve paid, to describe to Him what things they wish to get, and to stretch out their hands to God and ask for the rewards they want, God says, “Depart from Me, you that work iniquity.” What is God’s attitude? “People like you don’t deserve to come before Me. I’m disgusted with you and feel an aversion toward you. I’ve given you all that you want; you’ve already received the hundredfold that you wish to obtain in this life. What else do you want?” What God wants to give to mankind is not primarily material, instead He wants to bestow the truth upon mankind, so that through the truth they may attain salvation. Antichrists, however, brazenly oppose God’s work, they don’t seek the truth, and they don’t practice the truth. Rather, they want to use the opportunity of doing their duty during God’s work to improperly obtain desirable things for themselves; they exploit loopholes and profit at others’ expense in everything, yet they often feel like they’re losing out and haven’t profited much. They also often feel like they’ve sacrificed and dedicated too much, that their losses outweigh the gains and, even more so, they often regret their sacrifices, and they think they haven’t thought things through enough or thought of an exit route for themselves. So, they often feel angry in their hearts for not receiving timely rewards for their sacrifices, and they are also full of complaints toward God. In their hearts, they are often calculating, thinking, “Isn’t god righteous? God doesn’t play favorites, right? Isn’t god the god who blesses people? Doesn’t god remember all one’s good deeds and all that one has devoted and expended of oneself? I forsook my family for god’s work and I’ve paid the price, but what do I get from god?” If their greed and desire are not satisfied in the short term, they become negative and begin to complain. If their greed and desire are not satisfied in the long term, then their innermost hearts become filled with accumulated rancor. And what are the consequences of this accumulated rancor? In their hearts, they will begin to doubt and question God, they will begin to judge God’s righteous disposition, and they will even begin to doubt God’s love and essence. If this rancor accumulates for a long time, these things turn into malignant tumors and begin to spread, and they will become capable of betraying God at any time. Especially when they’re before some people who are negative and weak and who are of relatively immature stature, or before some people who are new to the faith, every now and then they will reveal and spread these negative emotions, spreading their dissatisfaction with God and blasphemy about God, and they will even misguide some people who lack discernment to have doubts about God’s righteous disposition and His essence. Isn’t this done by antichrists? Because their ambitions, desires, pursuits, and intents are not satisfied, they are capable of doing these things and can produce this kind of attitude toward God—what disposition is this? This is clearly an antichrist’s disposition and a satanic disposition.