Exalting and testifying about themselves is the primary manifestation of antichrists, and defining their essence according to this manifestation is very appropriate and concrete—it is not an empty definition. By looking at their agendas, ambitions, the revelations of their essence, and the consistent aims of their actions, one can see that exalting and testifying about themselves is a characteristic manifestation of antichrists. Are there any antichrists who never exalt and testify about themselves? (No.) Why not? Because their ambitions and desires are so immense, and they cannot control them. No matter what group of people they live among, if no one exalts and worships them, they feel like life has no value or meaning, which is why they are so eager to exalt and testify about themselves to achieve their aims. They live to excel over others, and need people to worship and follow them, and even if those people are like annoying, disgusting flies or gangs of beggars, they don’t mind. As long as there are people who worship and follow them, then they feel at ease. If they could receive manic applause from fans as famous singers do, then they would be on cloud nine, they love enjoying that—this is the nature of antichrists. No matter what kinds of people follow or worship them, antichrists like them all. Even if the people following them are the most wretched and disgusting, even if they are beasts, as long as they exalt them and satisfy their ambitions and desires for status, then antichrists don’t mind. So, can antichrists stop themselves from exalting and testifying about themselves, and showing off everywhere they go? (No.) This is their essence. Tell Me, what kind of people are those who truly follow God? Among mankind, there is a type of person whom God wants to select and save, and these people have a bare minimum of conscience, reason, and shame. Those who are a little better than this are capable of loving the truth, loving positive things, and loving God’s fairness and righteousness; they are capable of hating wickedness, they feel indignant when they see unjust or wicked things, and even if they aren’t able to do anything about these things, they still hate them—these people are the ones God wants, at a minimum. As for those who don’t possess this humanity and essence, God doesn’t want them, no matter how much they talk about God’s goodness or how great God is. For example, the Pharisees in religion exalt God and bear witness to God with the same old empty theories and superficial words, and they aren’t sick of saying them even after two thousand years. Now God is expressing so many truths but they cannot see them, they ignore them, and some even condemn and blaspheme against them. This completely reveals them, and God has long since defined them as hypocritical Pharisees, all of whom are part of Satan’s gang; God has designated them as demons and Satans, swine and dogs. When antichrists arrive in such a group of people and see that very few of them can understand the truth, that none of them have any discernment or talent, they hurry to take advantage of this opportunity to show off. Some boast that they were once admitted into two world-class universities at the same time, and didn’t go in the end because they came to believe in God and accepted His commission. After hearing them say this, some people begin to hold them in very high esteem. If you don’t understand the truth, and if the things you love and your worldview are the same as those of worldly people, you will worship people like this, and that’s why when antichrists say such things, you will be misled and fooled by them. Antichrists covertly exalt themselves in this way, and those foolish people with no discernment are misled by them. Antichrists end up feeling very happy, thinking that nobody who’s under them is ordinary, when in fact those people are all just a bunch of muddled people and good-for-nothings. Those who have no ability to comprehend the truth can all be misled by Satans and antichrists. When they hear Satans and antichrists speak, they feel that it really matches their own thoughts and tastes, so they enjoy listening to it. They’re not capable of using normal thinking to make a judgment about what they’re listening to, nor will they find someone who understands the truth to help them discern such things; so long as they feel that what they’re listening to sounds reasonable, they’ll be willing to accept it, and so they are misled without even being aware of it. If those who have the ability to comprehend the truth and have discernment hear antichrists speak, they will know that those people are trying to mislead others and they will reject them. Those muddled people who lack discernment will believe antichrists to have learning, to be of good caliber, and to have prospects. They will see things in this way, and be misled by some superficial phenomenon; they won’t know what the truth principles are, and they’ll go off following Satans. Don’t such people cause their own destruction due to their foolishness and ignorance? This is how it is. If you have discernment of the various manifestations of antichrists frequently exalting and testifying about themselves, or their different ways of doing so, and you are able to judge the purpose and agenda behind their words, then it will be easy for you to see through to the essence of antichrists, and you will then be able to reject and curse them right away, and never see them again. Why will you do this? Because when you see antichrists speaking and acting, you will detest and hate them, you will feel disgusted as if you’re looking at flies and will need to drive them away as soon as possible. Therefore, once you have discernment of antichrists’ actions and behavior, you should expose them right away so that others can discern them, and then expel them from the church in accordance with the principles. Do you dare to do this? If God’s chosen people can do this, it shows that they have grown in stature, and that they can show consideration for God’s intentions and safeguard the work of God’s house. When God’s chosen people understand the truth and have discernment, antichrists will no longer have a foothold in the church or in God’s house.

No matter what the occasion, so long as antichrists have the opportunity, they will show off and testify about themselves, and so long as there are people who worship them and look upon them with admiring, envious, and revering eyes, they’ll be happy—they don’t care who those people are. Do they have standards they require from those who follow, worship, and look up to them? (No.) Regardless of whether those people are idiots, mentally incompetent ones, evil people, or disbelievers, regardless of what kinds of people they are, even including people who should be cleared out and eliminated, as long as those people can follow, worship and exalt them, then antichrists accept them, they like them a lot, and win those people over to their side and protect them. Antichrists regard those people as their sheep, as their personal property, and they do not permit anyone else to transfer them, expose them, or handle them. No matter how those people fawn on and ingratiate themselves with antichrists, no matter what nauseating and sickening things they say, antichrists will enjoy it all; it’s all fine to antichrists as long as those people flatter them. Everything antichrists say and do is so that other people hold them in high esteem, like them, and follow them, and no matter how many bad things the people who follow them do, antichrists won’t investigate them, and they won’t mind it no matter how insidious and malicious their humanity is. As long as those people follow and worship them, antichrists will like them, and as long as those people can maintain antichrists’ power and status, and not go against them or oppose them, then antichrists will feel exceedingly satisfied—that is how antichrists are. Conversely, how do antichrists treat those people who always expose them and who hinder them from exalting and testifying about themselves, and who hold them in contempt for doing so, as well as those who fellowship on the truth with them, who can see through to the essence of their problems, and who have genuine discernment of them? They instantly get angry from shame, and they guard against, exclude, and attack those people, finally thinking of ways to isolate those who can discern and oppose them. What is the reason behind them doing this? It’s because when they’re exalting and testifying about themselves, they always think that those people are eyesores and thorns in their side, and that those people will discern and reject them, expose them, and ruin the good thing they’ve got going. The moment they lay eyes on those people, antichrists will feel uneasy in their hearts and always want to handle those people, thinking that as long as they can handle those people, then when they exalt and testify about themselves again, there won’t be anyone to expose or hinder them, and they’ll be able to rampantly commit evil. This is the principle by which antichrists act. No matter what kinds of people flatter, praise, or exalt them, regardless of whether what those people say accords with the facts, even if they’re telling lies, antichrists will be willing to accept them, they will enjoy listening to them, and they will like those people from the bottom of their hearts. They don’t care what problems those people have, and even if they discover issues with those people, they will conceal them, cover them up, and not breathe a word about them. As long as antichrists have those people beside them, following and flattering them, they’ll enjoy it. This is how antichrists do things. Are you capable of doing these things that antichrists do? For example, say that you are leaders and workers in the church, people with status and standing among God’s chosen people. If brothers and sisters were to hold you in high esteem, flatter you, fawn on you, and frequently praise you, saying that you give good sermons, that you’re good-looking, and that to them you’re the best leader, how would you feel? Would you be able to discern the intent behind their words? Would you be able to reject and shun such people? If not, then you’re in danger. You clearly know that you’re not that good-looking, that you’re not able to fellowship on the truth reality, and yet you still feel happy when you hear people flatter you in this way, and always want to get close to and promote such people, doesn’t that mean you’re in trouble? This means that you’re in danger.

When leaders and workers are working, they are sometimes enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, they can speak of some true experiences, and naturally they will have people holding them in high esteem and worshiping them, naturally they will have people following them, as inseparable from them as their own shadow—at times like these, how should they approach these things? Everyone has their own predilections, everyone is vain; if people hear someone speaking approvingly and flatteringly about them, they will enjoy it greatly. This is a normal thing to feel and is not a big deal. However, if they promote someone who can lavish praise on them, and flatter them, and they put someone like this to some important use, then that is dangerous. This is because people who love to flatter and lavish praise on others are all exceedingly sly and deceitful, and they are not honest or truthful. As soon as such people gain status, they are of no benefit to the life entry of God’s chosen people or to church work. These people are cunning, and they are most capable of messing things up. Those people who are comparatively upright never lavish praise on others. Even if they approve of you in their hearts, they won’t say it out loud, and if they discover that you have flaws or that you’ve done something wrong, then they’ll point it out to you. Some people, however, don’t like straightforward people, and when someone points out their flaws or reproaches them, they will oppress and exclude that person, and will even seize upon that person’s flaws and shortcomings to constantly judge and condemn them. By doing this, aren’t they oppressing and harming good people? Doing things like this and persecuting such good people are things God most detests. Persecuting good people is a villainous thing to do! And if someone persecutes a great many good people, then they are a devil. Leaders and workers should treat everyone fairly and lovingly, and they should handle matters according to principle. Especially when you have people flattering and fawning on you, revolving around you, you must treat them correctly, lovingly help them, and get them to perform their proper tasks and not flatter people like the nonbelievers do; state your position and perspective clearly, make them feel humiliated and ashamed so that they never do it again. If you can adhere to principles and treat people fairly, then would these contemptible clowns and satanic types not feel ashamed? This would make Satan feel ashamed, and it would satisfy God. Those who love to flatter others believe that leaders and workers all love people who flatter them, and whenever anyone says anything flattering or fawning to them, their vanity and desire for status are satiated. People who love the truth don’t like all this, and they very much detest it all and are disgusted by it all. Only false leaders enjoy being flattered. God’s house may not applaud or praise them, but if God’s chosen people applaud and praise them, they feel so pleased and they enjoy it greatly, and eventually they derive some comfort from it. Antichrists enjoy being flattered even more, and the thing they enjoy the most is when people like this get close to them and revolve around them. Isn’t this troublesome? This is what antichrists are like; they like having people praising and applauding them, worshiping and following them, whereas those who pursue the truth and who are relatively upright don’t like any of this. You must get close to people who can speak truthfully to you; having people like this beside you is greatly to your advantage. In particular, having such good people around you as those who, when they discover a problem with you, have the courage to reproach you and expose you, can prevent you from going astray. They don’t care what your status is, and the moment they discover that you have done something against the truth principles, then they will reproach and expose you if necessary. Only such people are upright people, people with a sense of justice, and no matter how they expose and reproach you, it is all of help to you, and it is all about supervising you and pushing you forward. You must draw close to such people; having such people beside you, helping you, you become relatively much safer—this is what it is to have God’s protection. Having people who understand the truth and uphold principles by your side every day supervising you is so beneficial to you doing your duty and work well. You must absolutely not have those sly, deceitful people who toady up to you and flatter you as your assistants; having people like this stuck to you is like having stinking flies on you, you’ll be exposed to so many bacteria and viruses! Such people are liable to disturb you and affect your work, they can cause you to fall into temptation and go astray, and they can bring disaster and calamity to you. You must keep away from them, the farther the better, and if you can discern that they have the essence of disbelievers and get them cleared out of the church, then even better. Once an upright person who pursues the truth sees that you have a problem, they will tell you the truth regardless of your status, regardless of how you will treat them, and even if you will dismiss them. They’ll never try to cover it up or prevaricate. It is so beneficial to have more people like this around you! When you do something that goes against principles, they will expose you, give opinions on your issues, and point out your problems and faults frankly and honestly; they will not try to help you save face, and they will not even give you a chance to avoid embarrassment in front of lots of people. How should you treat such people? Should you punish them or get close to them? (Get close to them.) That’s right. You should open your heart and fellowship with them, saying, “That issue I have that you pointed out to me was right. At the time, I was filled with vanity and thoughts of status. I felt that I had been a leader for so many years, yet not only did you not try to help me save face, but you also pointed out my problems in front of so many people, and so I couldn’t accept it. Now, however, I see that what I did really was at odds with principles and the truth, and that I shouldn’t have done that. What does having the position of leader count for? Isn’t this simply my duty? We’re all doing our duty and we’re all equal in status. The only difference is that I shoulder a little more responsibility, that’s all. If you discover any problem in the future, then say what you ought to say, and there shall be no personal grudges between us. If we differ in our comprehension of the truth, then we can fellowship together. In God’s house and before God and the truth, we shall be united, not estranged.” This is an attitude of practicing and loving the truth. What should you do if you wish to give the path of an antichrist a wide berth? You should take the initiative to draw close to people who love the truth, people who are upright, get close to people who can point out your issues, who can speak truthfully and reproach you when they discover your problems, and especially people who can prune you when they discover your problems—these are the people who are most beneficial to you, and you should cherish them. If you exclude and get rid of such good people, then you will lose God’s protection, and disaster will gradually come to you. By getting close to good people and people who understand the truth, you will have peace and joy, and you will be able to keep disaster at bay; by getting close to vile people, shameless people, and people who flatter you, you will be in danger. Not only will you be easily duped and tricked, but disaster may come upon you at any time. You must know what kind of person can benefit you the most—it is those who can warn you when you do something wrong, or when you exalt and testify about yourself and mislead others, that can benefit you the most. Getting close to such people is the correct path to take. Are you capable of this? If someone says something that damages your reputation and you spend the rest of your life resenting them, saying, “Why did you expose me? I’ve never mistreated you. Why do you always have to make things difficult for me?” and you bear a grudge in your heart, a rift opens up, and you always think, “I’m a leader, I have this identity and status, and I won’t allow you to speak that way,” then what kind of manifestation is this? It is not accepting the truth and setting yourself in opposition to others; it is being somewhat deaf to reason. Isn’t this your thought of status stirring up trouble? This shows that your corrupt dispositions are too severe. Those who always harbor thoughts of status are people with a severe antichrist disposition. If they also commit evil, then they will very quickly be revealed and eliminated. It is so dangerous for people to reject and not accept the truth! Always having the desire to vie for status and wanting to covet the benefits of status are signs of danger. When one’s heart is always constrained by status, can one still practice the truth and handle things according to principle? If one is unable to put the truth into practice and always acts for the sake of fame, gain, and status, and always uses their power to do things, then aren’t they an obvious antichrist showing their true colors?

Such manifestations as exalting and testifying about themselves are antichrists’ most common manifestations. Whether it be in everyday life or in the way they conduct themselves in relation to others, or whether it be in church life, these manifestations can always be seen, because these manifestations are the revelations of corrupt dispositions. For instance, the truths related to how one approaches one’s duty, how one treats others, and how one discerns others are truths we have covered in fellowship. Is it that you know the concrete manifestations of these things in your ordinary lives, but you can’t perceive them to be problems? Or is it that you haven’t set about entering based on these specific problems? If you don’t begin with dispositions, or you sometimes display these manifestations yet don’t know whether they are a dispositional problem, and so you ignore them, then you are nowhere near achieving dispositional change. If you fail to realize that these manifestations are you exalting and testifying about yourself, if you don’t know that these manifestations are being governed by your corrupt disposition, and you take them as a kind of personality trait or an innate way of doing things or cognition, and downplay them, and you don’t take them as the revelations of your corrupt disposition and corrupt essence, then you will find it hard to change the relevant corrupt disposition. That which people can realize that is related to dispositions, whether it be a way of doing things or a state they are in, whether it be external behavior or their speech and statements, whether it be their thoughts and views or their understanding of a certain matter, as long as it is related to disposition essence, then they should always regard it as an embodiment or revelations of man’s nature essence, and in this way, won’t their understanding be broadened? They should not just understand the big things, such as that one resists God, doesn’t love the truth, is greedy for status, or that one misleads people with the things one says, but rather should understand everything from the small things, such as specific ideas and intents, to the big things such as an argument or statement. I just mentioned six things altogether, among which were thoughts and views, as well as one’s understanding of a certain matter. Thoughts and views are things which exist within one’s consciousness and thought; understanding is something that has already been recognized and about which one can form concrete words and statements; then there are behavior and language. Altogether these are four things. There are also statements and arguments. What are statements and arguments the opposite of? (Intents and ideas.) Ideas are rather vague things which unconsciously arise in the mind. They are not yet defined as being right or wrong, you just think them, and they have not yet taken form within you, whereas spoken arguments are formed. Altogether there are three groups and six things. Take these six things as a path to dissecting the essence of your corrupt dispositions and achieving dispositional change, from now on set about knowing your own corrupt dispositions and corrupt essence from these six things, and in this way you will truly come to know yourselves.

Do you need some time after listening to today’s fellowship to digest what you’ve heard? When you gather together, can you fellowship some light or make a comparison with yourselves on this foundation? This is key, and it is most beneficial to you. When you gather together, you need to fellowship, exchange ideas, and discuss your experiences and realizations—this is most effective. We always used the word “ponder” before; in colloquial terms, we say, “chew the cud.” This means to read more, to pray-read more, to think more, and to seek more, to take what you understood at the time, as well as what you didn’t understand and regarded as doctrine, important points, points which everyone had misunderstood, and points which you hadn’t comprehended, and focus on them all in fellowship—this is what “chewing the cud” means. In this way, your understanding of the details of these truths, the various differences between the truths, and the definitions of each truth will become increasingly clear and accurate. Do you think the various truths you’ve understood and put into practice in recent years have become more ambiguous or clearer compared to before? (Clearer.) And over these years, has there been any great change in your path of faith in God, the direction in which you comport yourselves, and the intent, motivation, and original impetus behind doing your duty? (After undergoing some chastening and disciplining by God, and eating and drinking God’s words, I feel like there has been some change.) That there has been change is right, and it is what is supposed to happen. Some people have been indifferent all the way along and haven’t changed in the slightest after listening to so many sermons. They aren’t moved in their innermost hearts, that is, no gathering or fellowship can change the direction in which they’re going—they’re so numb and dull-witted! The path to attaining salvation should now be getting clearer and clearer, and those with experience see clearly and lucidly the ways in which God saves man and His purpose in doing so. If, after believing in God all these years, you still don’t know how God saves people and how He cleanses them of corruption, then that shows you have no understanding of the truth whatsoever and no comprehension of God’s work in the slightest. Aren’t such people all muddled up in their faith?

March 20, 2019