What kind of things do antichrists do while doing the duty of leaders? We just talked about how they try to win over people’s hearts and also attack and exclude dissenters, but antichrists share another common manifestation—what is their attitude toward those who pursue the truth? (Hatred.) And what does that make them do? Do they simply hate those people, and that’s it? No, they look for ways to exclude and suppress them. They attack and exclude dissenters. These dissenters may be people who are a bit muddled, who don’t know how to curry favor with others or utilize philosophies for worldly dealings. They could also be people who are relatively zealous and who pursue the truth quite a bit. So, what is the third technique of antichrists? They exclude and attack those who pursue the truth. There’s one more as well: They try to secure a place for themselves in people’s hearts. What is this called? (Occupying people’s hearts.) This is what they’re trying to achieve. What means do they use to do this? (They exalt themselves and bear testimony to themselves.) And what is the antichrists’ aim in exalting themselves and bearing testimony to themselves? It is to occupy people’s hearts and control them. What sort of things do people usually talk about when they exalt and testify to themselves? One thing is talking about their qualifications. For example, some people talk about how they have hosted certain upper-level church leaders. Some even say, “I hosted God Himself, and He was quite nice to me—I’m definitely going to be made perfect.” What do they mean by this? (They are trying to make people think highly of them.) They have an aim in saying these things. Others say, “I’ve come into contact with the Above, they have quite a high opinion of me, and urged me to work hard in my pursuit.” Actually, nobody has any idea what the Above thinks of them. Some people really exaggerate things, and sometimes even make stuff up. They wouldn’t know what to do if a group of people came together to verify and check their stories. The Above may well say to someone, “You are of good caliber and you have comprehension ability. You should practice writing out your experiential testimony. Once you have life experience you could become a leader.” What is the implication here? Even though this person is talented, they still need to train and experience things for a period of time. When that person flaunts and shows off before training or gaining experience, what is the nature of this? They are being arrogant and conceited, and have lost their reason, right? Even if the brother Above says that this person possesses caliber and that they’re talented, this is just offering them encouragement or giving them an appraisal. What is that person’s aim in going around showing off like this? It is to make people think highly of them, to make others worship them. What they’re saying is, “Look—the brother Above thinks highly of me, so why don’t you? Now that I’ve told you this, you should think highly of me too.” This is the aim they wish to achieve. There are also those who say, “I used to be a leader. I was the leader of a region, a district, a church—I kept falling down and down the ladder, and climbing up and up the rungs—I’ve been promoted and demoted several times. Eventually, Heaven was touched by my sincerity, and today, I am an upper-level leader once more. And never once have I been negative.” When you ask them why they have never felt negative, they reply, “I have faith that true gold is destined to glitter eventually.” This is the conclusion they have come to. Is this the truth reality? (No.) So what is it, if it is not the truth reality? It is a bizarre theory; we could also say that it is a fallacy. What consequence may there be of them speaking like this? Some people might say, “This person really pursues the truth. They didn’t become negative after being promoted and demoted so many times. And now they have been made a leader again—true gold really does glitter. It’s only a matter of time before they are perfected.” Isn’t this what the person was aiming for? In actuality, this is exactly what they were aiming for. Regardless of the manner with which antichrists speak, it is always to make people think highly of them and worship them, to occupy a certain place in their hearts, even to take God’s position there—these are all goals that antichrists wish to achieve when they testify to themselves. Whenever the motivation behind what people say, preach, and fellowship is to make others think highly of them and worship them, such behavior is exalting and testifying to themselves, it is done in order to occupy a place in the hearts of others. Though the ways that these people speak are not wholly the same, to a greater or lesser degree they have the effect of testifying to themselves and making others worship them. Such behaviors exist in almost all leaders and workers, to differing degrees. If they reach a certain point where they can’t stop themselves and find it difficult to restrain themselves, and they harbor a particularly strong and clear intention and goal, wanting to make people treat them as though they were God or an idol, and thereby achieve their goal of constraining and controlling others, and of getting other people to obey and worship them, then the nature of all this is exalting and testifying about themselves, and there is a quality of antichrists to it. What means do people typically use to exalt and testify about themselves? (They speak about capital.) What does speaking about capital include? Talking about how long they’ve believed in God, how much they’ve suffered, how much of a price they’ve paid, how much work they’ve done, how far they’ve traveled, as well as how many people they’ve gained and how much humiliation they’ve endured through spreading the gospel. Some people also often talk about how many times they’ve been arrested and put in jail without ever selling out the church or the brothers and sisters, standing firm in their testimony, and so on; these things all belong to talking about capital. Under the guise of doing the work of the church, they carry out their own enterprise, consolidating their status, establishing a good impression of themselves in people’s hearts. At the same time, they use all manner of methods and tricks to win over people’s hearts, even going so far as to attack and exclude anyone who has differing views from theirs, in particular doing all they can to exclude and suppress those who pursue the truth and stick to the principles. And as for those who are foolish and ignorant, and muddle-headed in their faith, as well as the ones who have only believed in God for a short while, and are of small stature, what methods do they use on these people? They mislead, draw in, and even threaten them, using these strategies to achieve their goal of consolidating their status. These are all the tactics of antichrists.

This sort of thing happens often in churches: Some brothers and sisters listen to sermons and fellowship in which the Above says that if a leader or worker does something that violates the work arrangements of God’s house, God’s chosen people have the right to report it. After hearing this and discerning that a leader in their church is working in a way that’s not in line with the work arrangements, some of them decide that they want to report the leader. Then, the leader finds out about this, and thinks to themselves, “It turns out there are people who still have the gall to report me. How dare they! Who are these people?” Subsequently, they investigate every single one of the church’s several dozen members. How far do they go in this investigation? They look up everyone’s age, how long they’ve believed in God, what duties they’ve performed in the past, what their current duties are, who they’re in contact with, whether or not they can make contact with the Above, and so on. They look all this stuff up, putting so much effort into it. After their thorough investigation is complete, they discover that two or three people seem suspicious, so during the next gathering, the leader preaches a sermon that specifically targets this matter. They say, “People must have a conscience. In your faith in god, who has led you up to now? You now understand so many truths; if I didn’t hold gatherings and fellowship with you, could you understand these truths? Our church has brought so many people in by spreading the gospel to them, and our gospel work has made such enormous progress. If I was not here directing it, would you be able to bring anyone in? Who do you have to thank for all this, anyway?” Some people mull this over and think, “God is the One I should thank; what contributions has man made?” But then the leader continues on, saying, “If I hadn’t brought back these books of god’s words for you, would you be able to get a hold of them? Without me to organize gatherings, would you be able to congregate? People must have a conscience! So, if you have a conscience, what should you do? When your leader occasionally makes a minor error, you shouldn’t investigate it too thoroughly. By seizing at their shortcomings and refusing to let go of them, are you trying to revolt against them? If something minor transpires, we should handle it internally. What’s the point of filing a report? People who report matters are incompetent and small of stature. Is it appropriate to report everything to the above? How could the above have time to resolve such problems? If they must be resolved, then the church leaders shall resolve them. Can’t things be discussed behind closed doors? Do you have to report everything to the above? Won’t this just be disturbing the above? Listen, if you report something to me, I will calmly and amicably find a solution without pruning you. But do you know what the above’s attitude will be if you report it to them? The above is not to be trifled with—they are like lions and eagles. Can people with small stature like us reach their level? Nothing good will come of you reporting a problem to the above; you will definitely be subjected to being pruned. This has happened to me many times; how could someone with stature as small as yours be able to handle it? You might even stop believing, and who will be the one that bears the consequences of that? If you want to report something, you will bear the consequences. When the time comes and you are pruned and become negative and weak, don’t come blaming me. If you want to file a report, I won’t stop you. Go ahead and do it; I’ll see who is reporting it!” Would anyone dare to file a report when this leader is being so intimidating? (No.) Some people would want to, but they’d be too frightened to. Are these people not good-for-nothings? What are they afraid of? How could they be so frightened by the leader? Even if that leader wanted to torment them to death, their lives are not in the hands of that leader; how would that leader dare to torment them without God’s permission? After a few frightening words from that leader, there are people who really would be too afraid to file a report; they would think to themselves, “God is nowhere to be seen. Will the Above handle the leader if I file a report? What if they don’t—will the leader take revenge on me? Would I still be able to do my duty normally then? I must not file a report then. Besides, this matter is none of my business. No one else has reported it, so why should I?” They would shrink back, not daring to file a report. Is an antichrist likely to show mercy to such people? (No.) What will they do to them? Once they’ve ascertained who is planning to report them, who is not of one mind with them, they will start thinking: “You’re always up to something; you always want to spout high-sounding ideas, you’re always looking to stir up trouble, always wanting to report my issues—this is outrageous! You’ve been looking for a chance to get in touch with the above so that you can report my situation to them. Now you’re backing off, you don’t dare to do it; but who knows, if you find the right opportunity, you might still report me. Oh, I’m gonna get you!” So, the antichrist will look for pretexts and opportunities to disparage those people, to make the brothers and sisters feel repulsion toward them. Then they will think up all sorts of ways to catch them out, to create trouble for them and tarnish their reputations. And what do those people think to themselves afterward? “This is terrible! I disobeyed the leader, I blindly tried to report them, and now I’ve been made to suffer. I must remember this lesson: I absolutely must not offend the leader! Right now, it is this leader who calls the shots. If they say ‘east,’ I can’t say ‘west’; if they say ‘one,’ I can’t say ‘two.’ I must do whatever the leader tells me to do. I absolutely must not contact the Above to report problems. This is really serious! I’ve been made to suffer by the leader, and the Above doesn’t know about it—who will stand up for me? As they say, ‘Local officials have more control than state officials!’” These people have become negative. They do not believe that the truth rules in God’s house, much less that God is sovereign over all things. Do they still have God in their hearts? No, they don’t have God in their hearts. They lack true faith in God, they want to report a problem but they are afraid of that evil person, they have no discernment of wicked forces whatsoever, they have been made to suffer by that evil person in the place where they hold power, and they have become good-for-nothings. They originally had a bit of a sense of justice, which is a desirable quality, but because they do not understand the truth and don’t know how to act according to the principles, they were crushed by that evil person, false leader, and antichrist, to the point where they lost all faith; they don’t know how to rely on God to seek the truth or act based on wisdom. Now they become scared and timid whenever they see an antichrist. How scared are they? They think, “Evil people hold power in this world. Whatever group I’m in, I must behave myself. I lack that kind of ferocity and guts, so wherever I go, I’ll have to willingly endure mistreatment and willingly obey others—I have to treat them like my ancestors. If they say ‘east,’ I can’t say ‘west.’ I can’t voice differing opinions, I cannot file reports about other people’s issues, and I can’t stick my nose into other people’s affairs. I can only focus on believing in God. I mustn’t offend the leaders and workers, adhere to the truth principles, yearn for light, or love justice—there is no light or justice in this world. I’ll just concentrate on enduring to the end, and remember wherever I go in the future to always prioritize keeping the peace!” This is the conclusion they reach. Haven’t they been beaten by that antichrist? (Yes.) What confirms this? After being suppressed by that antichrist, they have become scared out of their wits, they are too afraid to say or do anything. They have lost their true faith and no longer do their duties loyally; in their hearts, the small flame of their love for justice has been extinguished; they have been utterly defeated and beaten by that antichrist. Are they not good-for-nothings? Are they not cowards? (Yes.) How can you tell? If you ask them, “How is so-and-so doing at your church?” they’ll reply, “Not bad.” If you say, “And how about that new church leader that you all chose; do you know them?” they will respond, “I’m not too familiar with them.” If you ask, “How is church life there now? Has anyone been causing disturbances?” they’ll say, “It’s good, it’s going alright.” Whatever you ask them, they will just reply with these few words. Is this not because they’ve been frightened? Why are they this frightened? It’s because they do not know the righteousness of God; they cannot see through the wickedness, cruelty, ruthlessness, and darkness of Satan; they don’t know what it means for the truth to rule, nor what significance this has—and so they are afraid. Therefore, whatever you ask, their reply will be vague and obscure; you won’t get an answer about what’s really happening in the church from them, or find out what they’re really thinking inside. They’ll wrap themselves up so tightly, you won’t even be sure what they’re talking about. They’ll say nothing about the problems that exist in the church, or how the leaders and workers are, and you won’t learn anything about the difficulties that God’s chosen people are facing. You won’t find out any of this—they’ll only converse with you in this manner. And what will you feel as you listen to them? You’ll feel that there is something between the hearts of the two of you. Their mindset is: “Do not seek to learn anything about me, I don’t want to reveal any information or what’s really going on to you. Stay away from me; if you try and find out what’s going on in the church from me, then you’re trying to cause trouble for me and disrupt my current living environment, routine, and situation. Don’t get involved in any aspect of my life; let me handle these things myself.” They’re afraid that the antichrist will make them suffer or take revenge on them, and they’re scared to report any problems about their church. Is this not capitulating to that antichrist? Have they not been misled and controlled by that antichrist? (Yes.) And it pleases that antichrist to see this. They’ve tormented people to the point where they dare not report their issues anymore, so they have firm control over the church. Are many people in the church controlled by an antichrist in this way? Have you yourselves ever stopped someone from reporting an issue? You may have done but not be aware of it, or you may do so in the future. So, can people being won over and controlled by antichrists be considered a problem? (Yes.) Some people say: “Certain people in the church are afraid of an antichrist, but they do not believe in that antichrist or follow that antichrist, much less do they serve that antichrist. It’s just that they’ve been constrained a bit by that antichrist, and delayed in entering the right track of believing in God. Why do You say that this is a problem?” In one regard, by looking at the methods antichrists use to win over and control people, you should be able to see that their nature essence is the essence of Satan; it is hostile to the truth and to God. Antichrists want to vie with God for people, to compete for His chosen people. In another regard, the methods and ways by which antichrists operate can indeed have an effect on people who are foolish, ignorant, confused, and do not understand the truth. They can indeed mislead those people, keep them behaving themselves under the antichrists’ control, and make them have to consult the antichrists and comply with them in all things. Antichrists not only keep the mouths of these people shut; they also control their actions, influence their thoughts and ideas, and affect the direction they walk toward. These are the effects and consequences that the actions of antichrists bring upon those who are foolish and ignorant.

Just now I’ve talked about various truths relating to doing the duty of a leader or worker. I also exposed certain issues that leaders and workers possess, chiefly focusing on the manifestations of the most severe type of person—and which kind of person is that? (Antichrists.) What is a common manifestation shared by all antichrists? They try to seize power for themselves and control the church. Their desire for power surpasses all else; power is their life, their root; it is the theme, the direction, and the goal around which everything they do in life revolves. Therefore, the actions of antichrists and the dispositions they reveal are identical to the tactics that Satan uses to mislead, win over, and control people. It can be said that everything this sort of person does makes them nothing less than an outlet, an embodiment, and an expression of Satan; the main goal of their every action and all their behavior is to possess power. And whom do they try to control? It is the people they lead, who are followers of God, it is the people who are under the scope of their power, who they are able to control. A moment ago, we also talked about the techniques that antichrists use to control people. The first is to win over people’s hearts; the second is to attack and exclude dissenters; the third is to exclude and attack people who pursue the truth; the fourth is to constantly exalt and testify about themselves; and the fifth is to mislead, draw in, threaten, and control people. All five of these major manifestations are basic techniques and means employed by antichrists in order to obtain power, and possess and control people. These are the broad categories. Next, we will dissect and fellowship on these broad categories in greater detail.

A Dissection of How Antichrists Try to Win Over People’s Hearts

A. Drawing People In With Small Favors

The first technique that antichrists use to control people is winning over their hearts. How many ways are there to win over people’s hearts? One way is to draw them in with small favors. Sometimes antichrists give people some nice things, sometimes they compliment them, sometimes they make little promises to them. And sometimes, antichrists see that some duties can enable people to step into the limelight, or that others think these duties can bring advantages to whoever does them and make everyone esteem them, and they assign these duties to those they want to win over. “Small favors” include many things: Sometimes they are material things; sometimes they are intangible things; sometimes they are pleasing words that people want to hear. For instance, a person becomes weak when something befalls them, and loses motivation in their duty, and when they hold this weakness of theirs up against God’s words, they realize that it is disloyalty to God, an unwillingness to do their duty, a lack of true submission, and they feel very reproached. A leader, seeing this, may say, “You are just small of stature. God won’t view this matter in that way. You have only believed for a short time. You can’t expect so much from yourself. This kind of thing takes time—you can’t rush it. God doesn’t have high demands for people, and for you, a person who has only believed in him for a short time, being a bit weak sometimes is normal and you shouldn’t worry about it.” What this means is that there is nothing to worry about in being weak, less to worry about in continuing to be weak, and that all of this is normal negativity, and God does not remember it. Some people are overly sentimental, and they are always constrained by their feelings when doing their duty, and their leader says, “This is due to your small stature, it’s fine.” Some people are lazy and disloyal in their duty, but their leader does not rebuke them, instead they say nice-sounding things that those people want to hear at every turn in order to please them and be called good by them, and to show them how understanding and loving they are. Those people think, “Our leader is like a loving mother. They truly have love for us—they really do represent God. They really are from God!” The unspoken implication in this is that their leader can act as God’s mouthpiece, that they can represent God. Is this the goal of this leader? Perhaps it is not that clear, but one of their goals is obvious: They would have people say that they are a wonderful leader, considerate of others, sympathetic to people’s weaknesses, and very understanding of their hearts. When a church leader sees brothers or sisters doing their duties perfunctorily, they may not rebuke them, though they should. When they clearly see that the interests of God’s house are suffering, they do not concern themselves with this or make any inquiries, and they do not cause the least offense to others. In fact, they are not really showing consideration for people’s weaknesses; instead, their intention and goal is to win over people’s hearts. They are fully aware that: “As long as I do this and don’t cause offense to anyone, they’ll think I’m a good leader. They’ll have a good, high opinion of me. They’ll approve of me and like me.” They don’t care how much damage is done to the interests of God’s house, or how great losses are caused to the life entry of God’s chosen people, or how greatly their church life is disturbed, they just persist in their satanic philosophy and cause no offense to anyone. There is never any self-reproach in their hearts. When they see someone causing disruptions and disturbances, at the very most they might have a few words with them about it, downplaying the issue, and then be done with it. They will not fellowship on the truth, or point out the essence of the problem to that person, less still will they dissect their state, and they will never fellowship what God’s intentions are. A false leader never exposes or dissects the errors people frequently make, or the corrupt dispositions people often reveal. They don’t solve any real problems, but instead always indulge people’s erroneous practices and revelations of corruption, and no matter how negative or weak people are, they do not take this seriously. They merely preach some words and doctrines and speak a few words of exhortation to deal with the situation in a perfunctory manner, trying to maintain harmony. As a result, God’s chosen people do not know how to reflect on and know themselves, there is no resolution for whatever corrupt dispositions they reveal, and they live amid words and doctrines, notions and imaginings, without any life entry. They even believe in their hearts, “Our leader has even more understanding for our weaknesses than God does. Our stature is too small to live up to God’s requirements. We just need to fulfill the requirements of our leader; by submitting to our leader, we are submitting to God. If a day comes when the Above dismisses our leader, we will make ourselves heard; to keep our leader and stop them from being dismissed, we will negotiate with the Above and force them into agreeing to our demands. This is how we will do right by our leader.” When people have such thoughts in their hearts, when they have established such a relationship with their leader, and this kind of dependence, envy, and worship has arisen in their hearts toward their leader, they come to have ever greater faith in this leader, and always want to listen to the leader’s words, rather than seeking the truth in God’s words. Such a leader has almost taken the place of God in people’s hearts. If a leader is willing to maintain such a relationship with God’s chosen people, if they derive a feeling of enjoyment from this in their heart, and believe that God’s chosen people ought to treat them like this, then there is no difference between this leader and Paul, they have already set foot on the path of an antichrist, and God’s chosen people have already been misled by this antichrist, and are completely lacking in discernment. In fact, that leader doesn’t have the truth reality, and they do not bear a burden at all regarding the life entry of God’s chosen people. They can only preach words and doctrines, and maintain their relations with others. They’re good at showing off using hypocritical methods, their speech and actions accord with people’s notions, and they thereby mislead people. They don’t know how to fellowship the truth or know themselves, and this makes it impossible for them to lead others into the truth reality. They work only for the sake of reputation and status, and they say only nice-sounding words that ensnare people. They’ve already achieved the effect of getting people to worship and look up to them, and they have seriously impacted and delayed the work of the church and the life entry of God’s chosen people. Isn’t a person like this an antichrist? Some people act in the same way as antichrists, but when they see an antichrist revealed, they’re able to hold themselves up against that antichrist for comparison. They feel that the path they’re on is also the path of antichrists, that they should rein themselves in from the brink of disaster and repent to God at once, and stop focusing on their personal status and image; they think that they should exalt and bear witness for God in all things, and get people to have a place for God in their hearts, and honor Him as great—they feel that only then will they know true peace in their hearts. Only a person who does this is one that loves and can accept the truth. If a person has an antichrist’s nature, they’ll also feel ill at ease in their heart when they hear words that expose antichrists, but they won’t be able to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, or open up and lay bare their corrupt dispositions. This demonstrates that they can’t accept the truth and that true repentance is impossible for them. They’re going to persist in asserting their status, enjoying the benefits of status, and enjoying God’s chosen people worshiping and looking up to them. This causes those who have been misled by them to stray from the true way and from God’s words; they shun God and follow that person instead. Yet that person doesn’t reflect on themselves at all. Unaware that they’ve already fallen into peril, they still think quite well of themselves, and continue misleading others and winning them over. So long as people heed what they say and obey them, then no matter how perfunctory or irresponsible those people are in the performance of their duties, they’ll turn a blind eye to it. What’s more, they’ll delight in enjoying those ignorant, foolish people worshiping and looking up to them, and even grant them protection, not permitting anyone to expose or discern them. In doing this, isn’t the antichrist establishing an independent kingdom for themselves? An antichrist does not do real work, they do not fellowship on the truth to solve problems, they do not guide people in eating and drinking God’s words and entering the truth reality. They work only for status, fame and gain, they care only about establishing themselves, protecting the place they hold in people’s hearts, and making everyone worship them, look up to them, and follow them all the time; these are the aims they want to achieve. This is how an antichrist tries to win over people’s hearts and control God’s chosen people—isn’t such a way of working wicked? It is simply too disgusting! They work like this for a while, making people well disposed toward them, trustful of them, reliant on them—but what are the consequences? Those people aren’t just unable to understand the truth, they don’t just fail to progress at all in their life entry—instead, they adopt the antichrist as their spiritual parent, as a stand-in for God, allowing the antichrist to displace God’s status in their hearts. When someone has an issue, they no longer come before God, and whatever problem befalls them, they don’t pray to God or rely on Him, nor do they seek the truth in His words. Instead, they go ask this leader about it. They ask the leader to show them the way, and more and more, they look up to this leader and depend on them. They don’t know how to seek God, and they don’t know how to look up to Him and rely on Him, much less how to act in accordance with the truth and with the principles. No matter what befalls them, they wait with bated breath for the leader to make the call about it. They do whatever the leader tells them they should do, and they comply with whatever the leader’s directions are. By bringing people to this point, is an antichrist not misleading and controlling them? Why aren’t God’s chosen people seeking the truth from God when things happen to them? Why are God’s chosen people blindly obeying what their leader says, without subjecting their words to examination or exercising discernment? Why can God’s chosen people submit to their leader’s words immediately upon hearing them, but can’t do this with God’s words? They’re seeking their leader’s desires instead of seeking God’s; they’re heeding their leader’s words instead of heeding God’s, and instead of seeking and submitting to the truth. They rely on their leader to act, as well as to bolster them, speak for them, and make decisions for them, instead of relying on God, looking up to Him, and submitting to Him. Haven’t these so-called leaders occupied a certain position in people’s hearts? This is the consequence of an antichrist misleading people and ensnaring them.

When something happens to some people and you tell them to pray to God, they say that they’re too small of stature and don’t know how to seek. If you tell them to eat and drink God’s words, they say they have no caliber and can’t attain great light. If you tell them to listen to sermons, they say that the content of sermons is too lofty and profound for them, that it’s beyond them. They believe that if a person is of poor caliber, and has weaknesses, and they’re inadequate in every way, then they need to seek out leaders. Suppose that you ask them, “Why do you need to seek out a leader? Why don’t you seek God and come before Him?” They say, “It’s very difficult for people to come before God: We have notions, our caliber is poor, and we’re slow-witted and numb. God’s words aren’t always so straightforward, and there aren’t any examples in His words to show what they mean. Our leader just tells us outright what to do, in a way that’s really straightforward, like how one plus one equals two. When it comes to reading God’s words, if I can read them out loud, that’s already quite good, but I have no clue what they mean, and I don’t know what God requires of man or how to practice in a way that’s in line with God’s intentions. I can never find answers. Seeing as I’m a person of poor caliber, someone who’s so small of stature, who’s numb and dumb, who can’t see through to anything, I have to ask our leader about everything that comes up, and have them call the shots. Our leader can find answers for me; I just do whatever they tell me. That’s just the kind of person I am—simple and obedient.” “There’s nothing wrong with being simple and obedient, but does your leader really have the truth reality? Are they really someone who submits to God? If all they can do is preach words and doctrines and they’re not someone who submits to God, then does you submitting to them mean that you’re submitting to God?” They say, “Our leader is of high caliber, and everything they say is right. That proves that they understand the truth and that they are in line with God’s intentions.” There’s a bit of logical reasoning in what they’re saying, isn’t there? It’s all based on their personal feelings. Their caliber is poor and they lack discernment, so if there really were something wrong with their leader, they wouldn’t be able to see it. Most people are foolish, ignorant, and of poor caliber, but let’s leave that reason aside for the time being. Looking at it in terms of the leader, if people exhibit these manifestations, have such dependency on their leader, and harbor this kind of view and attitude toward them, doesn’t that have some connection to the leader’s tactics and methods for winning over people’s hearts? (It does.) How big of a connection? Does it connect directly to the leader’s way of working? We can say with certainty that there’s an absolute, direct connection there, that these things are one hundred percent connected. Why do I say this? There are a lot of leaders who, in terms of their subjective will, would like to bring people before God, but because they don’t understand the truth, or know how to resolve various real problems, can only handle some administrative tasks and general affairs, and show off so that people will esteem them, they unwittingly set off on the path of antichrists. They use their own ways and means to keep trying to win over people’s hearts, and to control their hearts, behavior, and thoughts, so that people always do what they say in their actions, their practice of the truth, and in every aspect of their performance of their duties. If people submit to an antichrist, and don’t truly submit to God—if they submit to the antichrist far more than they do to God—and their performance of their duties yields no results whatsoever, and they aren’t doing man’s duty well, then are such people those who will be saved? People have “accurate” paths of practice for obeying and being loyal to leaders and workers, but they don’t even practice accurately when it comes to submitting to God and being loyal to Him—no one fellowships on this, and no one performs this aspect of real work. People all like to speak and act for the sake of their own status and reputation, and they rack their brains and forget to eat or sleep working to make God’s chosen people obey and worship them. Obviously, they do all this in order to achieve their aim of reigning in the church as a leader or worker. What’s the reason for this? It’s that all corrupt humanity has the same disposition and the same preferences. When someone points out a path for you, and you’re very willing to practice it, that doesn’t mean you’re practicing the truth—it means you’re doing what that person says and obeying them. So, why aren’t people willing to come before God, or to seek Him? Because there’s nothing that lines up with the truth in man’s humanity. What people like, what they yearn for, and what they hold in their hearts all runs contrary to the truth, in contradiction to it. Therefore, if you ask someone to seek the truth when something happens to them, they’ll find it harder than flying to the moon—yet if you ask them to pay heed to a person, they’ll find that much easier. It’s evident that antichrists achieve results very quickly when they use the technique of winning over people’s hearts to control people. With just a comment dropped in passing, they can make someone have a favorable opinion of them; with just a casual comment that harbors some intent or point of view, they can make someone see them from a new perspective, in a new light. This reveals exactly what the things inside of people are. This means that if you don’t pursue the truth, and instead take the path of pursuing status and power, the impact and consequence everything you do will have on any member of corrupt mankind, will be to make them turn their back on the true way, shun the truth, shun God, and reject God. That’s the only consequence, the only outcome. This is plain to see.

The first manifestation of antichrists’ trying to win over people’s hearts is drawing people in with small favors. Small favors are not necessarily material things; they cover a wide range. Sometimes they are considerate words; sometimes they are the fulfillment of someone’s desire or preference; and sometimes they are feeling out someone’s thoughts and saying whatever pleasant-sounding things that person wants to hear, to make that person think their leader is very good and very understanding. In other words, antichrists pile on tolerance, love, warmth, and so-called consideration in order to conceal their secret ambition to control people. If the brothers and sisters have donated some nice things, for instance, they may share a few of those things with whomever they’re on good terms with. They use these small favors to win over people’s hearts and buy them off. If there’s an undemanding job in the church, one that doesn’t involve exposure to the elements and can enable someone to step into the spotlight, they’ll have whoever they’re on good terms with go do it. Why are they capable of doing this? Part of it is that they inherently don’t love the truth, and act without principles. The other part is that they reserve this good duty for those they’re on good terms with, and then say some nice-sounding things to them, so that those people feel grateful to them. In doing so, they accomplish their goal of winning over these people’s hearts. This tactic isn’t merely about giving out little things and saying a sweet thing here or there—there’s an intent in it, a goal. And what goal is that? It’s meant to leave people with a favorable appraisal of them in their hearts. If there’s a group of ten people, they’ll begin by assessing them: “Of these ten, there are two who are good at sucking up to people. I don’t need to bother with them, and they’ll butter me up all the same. Then, there are two muddleheaded people; they’ll do what I say if I give them a few perks. Another two are people of some caliber; as long as I preach a few lofty sermons and speak some impressive words to them, they’ll yield to me. Then, there are three who seem to pursue the truth, so they’ll be a bit tough to handle. I’ll need to get a clear read on their actual situation, see what they need, and then satisfy them. If any of them don’t buy this and don’t obey me, I’ll ultimately handle them and clear them out. Even if the last one’s against me, there’s only so much trouble they can cause me, and they’ll be easy to deal with.” With just a sweep of their eyes, they can determine whom in a group they can handle and whom they cannot. How can they know this so quickly? They are capable of this because their hearts are filled with satanic politics and philosophies. The principles of their conduct and their ways of comporting themselves and interacting with others are not about getting along amicably with people, or having normal interpersonal relationships, they are not about helping or supplying for others, or edifying them, or about engaging with others as equals, or using the truth principles to handle matters and deal with other people. They absolutely do not possess the slightest bit of these principles. What are their principles? “How does each person regard me in their heart? I don’t need to bother with those who think highly of me, who have me in their heart, and who are afraid of me, respect me, and revere me. Such and such is what I should do next with those who don’t revere me, and such and such is what I should do about those who do revere me, but haven’t quite yielded to me yet. And as for those who don’t generally pay much attention to others, such and such is what I should do about them.” They have a step-by-step procedure to control people. Why do they produce these steps and thoughts? Because the desire for power in their hearts is uncontrollable. If they were to get along amicably with the people in a group, they would feel quite unfulfilled and undignified. So what is their goal? To make everyone have a place for them in their hearts—if not first place, then second place, and if not second, then third. To interact with others on equal footing just won’t do. As leaders, can these people heed the differing opinions of others? They cannot. What does everything they do revolve around? (Power.) Everything they do revolves around power. What things do they do that revolve around power? First, they probe into your heart and get a grasp on it; that is, first they buy you off, and make you open up to them, they get your true feelings out of you, and figure out your true opinion of them. Having grasped this, they tailor their methods to each situation, acting on each case individually. They want to control people’s hearts, and when they find someone who isn’t of one mind with them, someone who does not revere them, someone who isn’t loyal to them, then that is when they strike and torment that person. So, the impetus of antichrists in winning over people’s hearts is power. And what are the methods and techniques they use to acquire power? They thoroughly understand, grasp, and control people’s hearts. What are people’s thoughts controlled by? By their hearts and their nature. When someone’s heart is controlled by an antichrist, that person’s ideas and thoughts are no longer of any concern. Once the antichrist controls someone’s heart, they control their whole person.