Item Eight: They Would Have Others Submit Only to Them, Not the Truth or God (Part One) Section Five
Antichrists are unable to cooperate with anyone. This is a serious problem. Whatever duty an antichrist is doing, whomever they’re partnered with, there will always be conflicts and disputes. Some may say, “If they’re in charge of cleaning and they tidy up inside every day, what’s there for them to be uncooperative with others about?” There’s a dispositional problem in it: Whomever they’re interacting with or doing a job with, they’ll always scorn them, always wishing to lecture them, to have them do what they say. Would you say that such a person can be cooperative with others? They can’t be cooperative with anyone; this is because their corrupt disposition is too severe. Not only can’t they cooperate with others, they’re also always lecturing and constraining others from above—they wish always to sit astride people’s shoulders and force their obedience. This isn’t a mere dispositional problem—it’s also a serious problem with their humanity. They have no conscience or reason. This is how evil people are. They can’t cooperate with anyone; they can’t get along with anyone. What are the things that are shared in humanity between people? Which of those things are compatible? Conscience and reason, and their attitude of loving the truth—these are shared. If both parties possess such normal humanity, then they can get along; if they don’t, then they can’t; and if one possesses it and one doesn’t, then they can’t, either. Good people and bad people can’t get along—benevolent people and evil people can’t get along. There are certain conditions that must be met for people to get along with each other normally: Before they can cooperate with each other, they must at least have a conscience and reason, and be patient and tolerant. People must be of one mind in order to be able to cooperate in doing a duty; they must draw on the other’s strengths and offset their own weaknesses, and be patient and tolerant, and have a baseline to their comportment. That’s how to get along in harmony, and though there may be conflicts and disputes at times, the cooperation can continue, and at least no enmity will arise. If one person has no such baseline, and isn’t conscientious or reasonable, and does things in a profit-focused way, seeking profit alone, wishing always to profit at others’ expense, cooperation will be impossible. This is how it is among evil people, and among devil kings, who do battle with each other, without cease. The various evil spirits of the spiritual realm don’t get along with each other. Though devils may, at times, form consortia, it’s all about mutual exploitation in order to achieve their own goals. Their consortia are temporary, and before long, they shatter on their own. It’s the same among people. People without humanity are bad apples that ruin the bunch; only those with normal humanity are easy to cooperate with, patient and tolerant of others, able to heed others’ opinions, and able to set aside their status in the work they do, to do it in discussion with others. They, too, have corrupt dispositions, and always wish to make others heed them—they, too, have that intention—but because they have a conscience and reason, and can seek the truth, and know themselves, and feel that doing so is inappropriate, for which they feel reproach, and they are able to curb themselves, their ways and means of doing things will change, bit by bit. And thus, they’ll be able to cooperate with others. They’re revealing a corrupt disposition, but they’re not evil people, and they don’t have the essence of antichrists. They won’t have any major problems cooperating with others. If they were evil people or antichrists, they’d be unable to cooperate with others. This is how all the evil people and antichrists are whom God’s house clears out. They’re unable to cooperate with anyone, and they all get revealed and eliminated as a result. Yet there are many people with the disposition of antichrists, who walk the path of antichrists, who, having undergone much pruning, can accept the truth, and can truly repent, and can be patient and tolerant with others. Such people are capable of coming gradually into harmonious cooperation with others. Antichrists alone are unable to be cooperative with anyone. However much of a corrupt disposition they reveal, they won’t seek the truth to resolve it, but will remain persistent in their own way, unscrupulous and unrestrained. It’s not just that they can’t cooperate in harmony with others—if they see that someone has discerned them and is displeased with them, they’ll even set out to torment that person, and adopt an exclusionary, hostile attitude toward them. They’ll remain in hostility toward them, at the cost of any interference with the church’s work. This is determined by the nature essence of antichrists.
What are the lessons you should learn in training to cooperate in harmony? Learning to cooperate is one element of the practice of loving the truth, and one sign of it, too. It’s one way that a person’s possession of a conscience and rationality manifests. You may say you have a conscience, dignity, and rationality, but if you can’t cooperate with anyone, and can’t get along with your family, with outsiders, or with friends, and your interactions fall apart, and have endless disputes in shared tasks, which makes enemies of you—if you’re thus never able to get along with anyone, you’re in danger. If such behavior is among the behaviors of all your corrupt disposition, or one behavior among all those you have that do not conform to the truth, and is no more than a behavior, one that you know of, and in regard to which you’re constantly seeking and changing, you still have a chance. There’s still room for salvation; it’s not a major problem. But if you’re inherently a person like this, inherently unable to get along with anyone, and no talk about it is of use—you just can’t restrain it—then that’s a serious problem. If you don’t take it as something of note, no matter how the truth is fellowshipped to you, but feel that the problem is no big deal, that it’s your normal life, the main way in which your corrupt disposition manifests, then yours is the essence of an antichrist. And if that’s your essence, that’s a different matter than if you walk the path of antichrists. Some people walk the path of antichrists, and some are themselves antichrists. Isn’t there a difference there? (Yes.) Those who walk the path of antichrists exhibit these behaviors of antichrists in their actions; they’ll reveal an antichrist’s disposition a bit more noticeably and obviously than the average person, but they’re still able to do work that’s in line with the truth, has humanity, and has rationality. If someone can’t do any positive work at all, and what they do is instead entirely these behaviors of antichrists, these revelations of an antichrist’s essence—if all the work they do and the duties they perform are such revelations, without anything that’s in line with the truth—in that case, they’re an antichrist.
Some leaders and workers have, in the past, often revealed an antichrist’s dispositions: They were wanton and arbitrary, and it was always their way or the highway. But they didn’t commit any obvious evils and their humanity was not terrible. Through being pruned, through brothers and sisters helping them, through being transferred or replaced, by being negative for a time, they finally become aware that what they revealed before were corrupt dispositions, they become willing to repent, and think, “What is most important is to persist in doing my duty, no matter what. Though I was walking the path of an antichrist, I wasn’t classed as one. This is God’s mercy, so I must work hard in my belief and my pursuit. There’s nothing wrong with the path of pursuing the truth.” Bit by bit, they turn themselves around, and then they repent. There are good manifestations in them, they are able to seek the truth principles when doing their duty, and they seek the truth principles when engaging with others, too. In every regard, they are entering in a positive direction. Have they not then changed? They have turned from walking the path of antichrists to walking the path of practicing and pursuing the truth. There is hope and a chance for them to attain salvation. Can you class such people as antichrists because they once exhibited some manifestations of an antichrist or walked the path of antichrists? No. Antichrists would rather die than repent. They have no sense of shame; besides that, they are vicious and wicked of disposition, and they are averse to the truth in the extreme. Can someone who is so averse to the truth put it into practice, or repent? That would be impossible. That they are so absolutely averse to the truth means that they will never repent. There is one thing certain about people who are able to repent, and it is that they have made mistakes but are able to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, are able to accept the truth, and are able to try as hard as they can to cooperate when doing their duties, taking the words of God as their personal maxims, and making God’s words into the reality of their lives. They accept the truth, and deep down, they are not averse to it. Is this not the difference? This is the difference. Antichrists, however, don’t stop at refusing to be pruned—they won’t listen to anyone whose words accord with the truth, and they don’t believe that God’s words are the truth, nor do they acknowledge them to be so. What nature is that of theirs? It’s one of being averse to the truth and hating it, to an extreme degree. When anyone fellowships the truth or speaks of experiential testimony, they’re extremely repulsed by it, and they’re hostile to the person fellowshipping. If someone in the church is spreading various preposterous and evil arguments, saying absurd, preposterous things, it makes them very happy; they’ll get on board at once and wallow in the mire with them, in close collaboration. It’s a case of birds of a feather flocking together, of like seeking out like. If they should hear God’s chosen people fellowshipping the truth or speaking of experiential testimony of their self-knowledge and sincere repentance, it flusters them to exasperation, and they get to considering how to exclude and attack that person. In brief, they don’t look fondly on anyone who pursues the truth. They want to exclude them and be their enemy. Whoever is skilled at showing off by preaching words and doctrines, they like them very much and are quite approving of them, as if they’d found a confidant and fellow traveler. If someone should say, “Whoever does the most work and makes the greatest contribution will be greatly rewarded and crowned, and will reign together with god,” they’ll grow excited to no end, with a rush of hot blood. They’ll feel that they’re head and shoulders above others, that they finally stand out from the crowd, that there’s now space for them to display themselves and exhibit their worth. They’ll be quite satisfied then. Is that not being averse to the truth? Suppose you say to them in fellowship, “God doesn’t like people like Paul, and He’s most disgusted by people who walk the path of antichrists, and those who go around all day saying, ‘Lord, Lord, haven’t I done much work for You?’ He’s disgusted by people who go around all day begging Him for a reward and a crown.” These words are certainly the truth, but what feeling are they left with when they hear such fellowship? Do they say amen to and accept such words? What’s their first reaction? Revulsion at heart and an unwillingness to listen—what they mean is, “How can you be so sure about what you’re saying? Do you have the final say? I don’t believe what you’re saying! I’ll do what I’ll do. I’m going to be like Paul and ask god for a crown. That way, I can be blessed, and have a good destination!” They insist on maintaining the views of Paul. Aren’t they thus fighting against God? Is that not obvious opposition to God? God has exposed and dissected Paul’s essence; He’s said so much on it, and every bit of it is the truth—yet these antichrists don’t accept the truth or the fact that all Paul’s actions and behaviors were in opposition to God. In their mind, they still question: “If you say something, that means it’s right? On what grounds? To me, what Paul said and did looks right. There’s nothing mistaken in it. I’m pursuing a crown and a reward—that’s what I’m capable of! Can you stop me? I’ll pursue doing work; once I’ve done a lot, I’ll have capital—I’ll have made a contribution, and that being so, I’ll be able to enter the kingdom of heaven and be rewarded. There’s nothing wrong there!” That’s how stubborn they are. They don’t accept the truth in the slightest. You can fellowship the truth to them, but it won’t get through to them; they’re averse to it. That’s the attitude of antichrists toward God’s words, the truth, and it’s their attitude toward God, too. So, what feeling do you get when you’ve heard the truth? You feel that you’re not pursuing the truth, and that you don’t understand it. You feel you’re still far short of it, and that you’ll need to strive toward the truth reality. And whenever you hold yourselves up for comparison to God’s words, that’s when you feel that you’re just too deficient, and poor of caliber, and lacking in spiritual understanding—that you’re still perfunctory, and that there’s still wickedness in you. And then, you get negative. Is that not your state? Antichrists, on the other hand, are never negative. They’re always so enthusiastic, never reflecting on themselves or knowing themselves, but thinking they’ve got no major problems. This is how people who are always arrogant and self-righteous are—as soon as they get their hands on power, they turn into antichrists.
II. A Dissection of How Antichrists Always Have the Desire and Ambition to Control and Conquer People
We’ll continue by fellowshipping on the next item: Antichrists always have the ambition and desire to control and conquer people. This problem is more serious than that of their inability to cooperate with anyone. What sort of people would you say are those who like controlling and conquering others? What sort of person has the ambition and desire to control and conquer others? I’ll give you an example. Do those who particularly like status enjoy controlling and conquering others? Aren’t they the ilk of antichrists? They mislead, control, and subdue other people, who then worship and heed them. They thus gain people’s esteem and respect, and get people to worship and look up to them. Is there not then a place for them in people’s hearts? If people weren’t convinced by them and didn’t approve of them, would they worship them? Absolutely not. So, after these people have status, they still need to convince others, to completely win them over, and to make them admire them. Only then will people worship them. That’s one sort of person. There’s another—those who are particularly arrogant. They treat people in the same way: They begin by subduing people, making everyone worship and admire them. Only then are they satisfied. Very vicious people also like controlling others, having people heed them, be in their orbit, and do things for them. When it comes to both very arrogant people and people with vicious dispositions, once they’ve taken power, they become antichrists. Antichrists always have an ambition and desire to control and conquer others; in their encounters with people, they always wish to ascertain how others see them, and whether there’s a place for them in others’ hearts, and whether others admire and worship them. If they encounter someone who is good at bootlicking, flattery and fawning, they get very happy; they then begin to stand on high, lecturing people and prattling on about high-sounding ideas, inculcating people with regulations, methods, doctrines, and notions. They have people accept these things as the truth, and even put a lovely face on them: “If you can accept these things, you’re someone who loves and pursues the truth.” Undiscerning people will think what they’re saying is reasonable, and though it is indistinct to them, and they do not know whether it’s in line with the truth, they feel only that there’s nothing wrong with what they’re saying, and that it doesn’t violate the truth. And so, they obey the antichrists. If someone is able to discern an antichrist and may expose them, it will rile the antichrist, who will unceremoniously heap blame on them, condemn them, and threaten them, with a show of force. Those without discernment get entirely subdued by the antichrist and admire them from the bottom of their hearts, giving rise in them to worship of the antichrist, reliance on them, and even dread. They have a sense of being enslaved by the antichrist, as if they’d be unsettled at heart if they lost the antichrist’s leadership, teachings, and reproaches. Without these things, it’s as though they’d have no sense of security, and God might not want them anymore. Then, everyone has learned to watch the antichrist’s expression when they act, for fear that the antichrist will be unhappy. They all attempt to please them; such people are dead set on following the antichrist. In their work, antichrists preach words and doctrines. They’re good at teaching people to adhere to certain regulations; they never tell people what the truth principles they should adhere to are, why they must act in this way, what God’s intentions are, what arrangements God’s house has made for the work, what the most essential and important work is, or what the primary work to be done is. Antichrists say nothing at all about these important things. They never fellowship the truth when doing and arranging work. They themselves don’t understand the truth principles, so all they can do is teach people to adhere to a few regulations and doctrines—and if people should go against their sayings and regulations, they’ll face the antichrists’ reprimand and rebuke. Antichrists often do work under the banner of God’s house, rebuking others and lecturing them from a high position. Some people even get so flustered by their lecture that they feel they’re indebted to God by not acting according to the antichrists’ requirements. Have such people not come under the antichrists’ control? (They have.) What sort of behavior is this, on the antichrists’ part? It’s behavior of enslavement. “Enslavement” is called “brainwashing” in the words of the nation of the great red dragon. It’s just like when the great red dragon captures believers in God. Aside from torturing them, it uses another technique: brainwashing. Whether they’re farmers, or workers, or intellectuals, the great red dragon uses its slew of heresies and fallacies—atheism, evolution, and Marxism-Leninism—to brainwash people; it inculcates these things in people by force, no matter how disgusting or loathsome those people find them, then uses these ideas and theories to fetter people’s limbs and control their hearts. This is how the great red dragon keeps people from believing in God, from accepting the truth, and from pursuing the truth to be saved and made perfect. In the same way, no matter how many sermons people who are controlled by antichrists hear, they can’t understand the truth, or what believing in God is really for, or what sort of path they should take, or the correct view they should have in doing each thing, or the stance they should adopt. They understand none of these things; all that’s in their hearts are the words and doctrines, and the hollow theories of those antichrists. And after being misled and controlled by antichrists for a long time, they grow to be entirely like them: They become people who believe in God, but don’t accept the truth at all, and even oppose and set themselves against God. What kind of people are those who are misled and controlled by antichrists? Without a doubt, none of them are lovers of the truth—they’re all hypocrites, people who don’t pursue the truth in their belief in God and who don’t attend to proper affairs in doing their duties. In their belief in God, these people don’t follow God; instead they follow antichrists, they become the antichrists’ slaves, and as a result they can’t gain the truth. This outcome is inevitable.
What is the principle by which God treats people? Is it force? Is it control? No—it’s precisely the opposite of control. What’s God’s principle in how He treats people? (He gives them free will.) Yes, He gives you free will. He enables you to come to your own understanding amid the environments He lays out, so that you naturally produce human understanding and experience. He enables you to understand an aspect of the truth naturally, so that when you encounter such an environment again, you know what to do and what to choose. He also enables you to understand what’s right and what’s wrong, from the depths of your heart, so that you ultimately choose the right path. God doesn’t control you, and He doesn’t force you. An antichrist, however, acts in the exact opposite way: They’ll brainwash and indoctrinate you by misleading you, then go on to make you their slave. Why do I use the word “slave”? What is a slave? It means that you won’t discern whether the antichrist is right or wrong, and you won’t dare to—you won’t know whether they’re right or wrong; you’ll be confused and muddled at heart. You’ll be unclear on what’s right and what’s not; you won’t know what you should and shouldn’t do. You’ll just wait like a puppet for the antichrist’s instructions, not daring to take action if the antichrist doesn’t give the word, and only daring to act once you’ve heard their orders. You will have lost your own innate abilities, and your free will won’t play its role. You’ll have become a dead man. You will have a heart, but you will not be able to think; you will have a mind, but you will not be able to consider problems—you won’t know right from wrong, or what things are positive and what things are negative, or what the right way to act is and what the wrong way to act is. Imperceptibly, the antichrist will have taken control of you. What is it that they’ll control? Is it your heart, or is it your mind? It’s your heart; your mind will then naturally fall under their control. They’ll tie your limbs up tight, binding them fast and firm, so that with each step you take, you get mired in hesitation and doubt, and you shrink back afterward; and then you want to take another step, to take some action, but you shrink back again. In each thing you do, your vision will be clouded and unclear. This is inseparable from the misleading remarks of the antichrist. What’s the main technique by which antichrists control people? All they say is stuff that accords with people’s notions and imaginings, with human sentiments, and with human reasoning. They seem to have a bit of humanity when they speak, but they don’t possess any truth realities. Tell Me, can people who are controlled by and follow antichrists do duties in God’s house with all their heart and all their strength? (No.) What’s the reason behind that? They don’t understand the truth—that’s the main reason. And there’s another reason: Antichrists engage in power plays; they don’t practice the truth in doing their duty, nor do they do it with all their heart and strength. Can their footmen practice the truth, then? Whatever an antichrist is like, their footmen in tow will be like that, too. Antichrists lead the way in not practicing the truth, in going against the principles, in betraying the interests of God’s house, in being unreasonable and acting like dictators. Could this fail to affect their footmen? There’s absolutely no way it could. So, what will become of those people whom they constrain and control? They’ll guard against each other, they’ll be suspicious of each other and fight with each other—competing for fame and gain, for a chance to shine, and for capital. Deep down, everyone controlled by an antichrist is in discord and no longer of one mind. They’re cautious and circumspect in their actions; they’re not open with each other, and they don’t have normal human relationships with each other. There’s no normal fellowship between them, no pray-reading, no normal spiritual life. They’re fragmented, just like the nonbelieving, satanic groups out there in the world. That’s how it is when an antichrist is in power. There’s guardedness between people, open and hidden struggles, sabotage, jealousy, judgment, and comparison of who’s taking on less responsibility: “If you won’t take responsibility, I won’t, either. On what basis would you have me consider the interests of god’s house, when you don’t consider them yourself? I just won’t consider them, then!” Is such a place God’s house? No. What sort of place is it? It’s Satan’s camp. The truth doesn’t reign there; it doesn’t have the work of the Holy Spirit, or God’s blessing, or His leadership. And so, every one of the people there are like little devils. Superficially, the words of praise they speak about others sound nice: “Oh, they really love god; they really make offerings; they really suffer in doing their duty!” But have them give an evaluation of a person, and what they’ll tell you behind their back will be different from what they say in their presence. If brothers and sisters should fall into the hands of a false leader, they will be as fragmented as a pile of loose sand in the performance of their duties—they won’t get results, and they won’t have the work of the Holy Spirit, and most of them won’t pursue the truth. What, then, if they fell under the control of an antichrist? Those people couldn’t be called a church anymore. They’d belong entirely to Satan’s camp, and to the antichrist’s gang.
Why is it that antichrists always want to control people? It’s because they don’t safeguard the interests of God’s house, nor do they care about the life entry of God’s chosen people. Their only consideration is for their own power, status, and prestige. They believe that so long as they have control over people’s hearts and get everyone to worship them, their ambition and desire will be fulfilled. As for matters that touch on the interests of God’s house, or on the work of the church, or on the life entry of God’s chosen people, they don’t care about those things at all. Even when problems arise, they can’t see them. They can’t see problems such as where staffing arrangements aren’t appropriate in God’s house; or where the property of God’s house has been distributed unreasonably, with too much of it lost, as well as who has squandered it; or who’s causing disruptions and disturbances in their work; or who’s using people unsuitably; or who’s being perfunctory in their work—and less still do they handle such problems. What do they handle? What things do they interfere in? (Trifling matters.) What sorts of things are trifling matters? Provide some details. (Some leaders will set off to resolve the household affairs of certain brothers and sisters—for example, someone in their family not getting along with someone else. These are just matters of everyday life.) That’s something false leaders do. And what do antichrists do? (They pay no mind to the brothers’ and sisters’ life entry, nor to things that go against the truth principles; they only pay mind to things that touch on their face and status—people not doing what they say, for instance, or some people taking a dislike to them. They handle things like that.) That’s part of it. Such things happen. Antichrists check to see who’s an unwelcome presence to them, who’s not deferential to them, and who can discern them. They see these things and make a mental note of them; such things are very important to them. What else? (If the person elected in some church has discernment of them and isn’t of one mind with them, they’ll seek out ways to find fault with that person, and have them replaced. They like doing that stuff.) No matter what faults or problems someone who does bad things has, or however they cause disruptions and disturbances, an antichrist pays this no mind—they specifically find fault with people who do their duty and those who pursue the truth, looking for justifications and excuses to get those people replaced. There’s one more main way in which antichrists controlling others manifests: In addition to controlling ordinary brothers and sisters, they try to control the people in charge of each aspect of the work. They always wish to hold all of power in their own grasp. So, they ask after everything; they keep an eye on and watch everything, to see how people do things. They don’t fellowship the truth principles to people at all, or give people free rein to act. They want to make everyone do as they say and submit to them. They’re always afraid that their power will be dispersed and taken by other people. When discussing an issue, no matter how many people are fellowshipping about it or what results their fellowship yields, they’ll reject all of it when it gets to them, and the discussion will have to start over again. And what’s the end result of this? Things aren’t over until everyone heeds them, and if that hasn’t happened, they’ll have to go on fellowshipping. This fellowship sometimes goes on into the middle of the night, without anyone being allowed to sleep; it doesn’t come to an end until the others heed what they say. This is something antichrists do. Are there people who believe that in doing this, an antichrist is taking responsibility for the work? What’s the difference between taking responsibility for the work and the despotism of antichrists? (It’s a difference in intention.) When people are being conscientious and responsible toward the work, they do this in order to fellowship the truth principles clearly, so that everyone may understand the truth. Antichrists, on the other hand, act like despots in order to maintain power, to gain the upper hand, to refute all views that diverge from their opinions and may cause them to lose face. Is there not a difference between these intentions? (There is.) What’s different about them? Can you discern that? Getting people to understand the truth principles through fellowship, and vying for esteem—what’s the difference between the two? (Intentions.) Not just intentions—of course the intentions are different. (One of these approaches will benefit God’s house more.) One of them benefitting God’s house more is another difference—considering the interests of God’s house. What’s the main difference, though? When someone is truly fellowshipping on the truth, it’s evident when you hear it that it’s not a personal justification or defense. All that they fellowship on is intended to make everyone understand God’s intentions, it is all testimony to God’s intentions. Such fellowship makes the truth principles clear, and after hearing it, people have a path forward—they know what the principles are, they know what they should do in the future, they won’t be likely to go against the principles in doing their duty, and the goal of their practice will be more accurate. Such fellowship isn’t contaminated in the slightest with personal justification or defense. But how do those people preach, who’d like to turn things in their favor and bring others under their control? What do they preach about? They preach about their self-justifications, and the thoughts, intentions, and goals behind whatever they did, so that people will accept it, buy it, and not misunderstand them. It’s all just self-justification; there’s no truth at all in it. If you listen closely, you’ll hear that there’s no truth in what they fellowship—it’s all human sayings, excuses, and justifications. That’s all it is. And after they’ve spoken, does everyone understand the principles? No—but they’ve understood quite a bit about the speaker’s intentions. This is the method of antichrists. It’s how they control people. As soon as they feel that their status and prestige have suffered a loss and been impacted within the group, they call a gathering at once to try to salvage them, however they can. And how do they salvage those things? By giving excuses, by offering justifications, by saying what it was they were thinking at the time. What’s their goal in saying these things? To clear up all the misunderstandings everyone has about them. It’s just like the great red dragon: After it’s tormented and punished someone, it’ll vindicate them and clear them of whatever they’ve been charged with. What’s the goal of doing this? (Whitewashing.) It vindicates you and compensates you after it has finished doing something bad to you, so that you think that the great red dragon is actually good and trustworthy, after all. In this way, its rule goes unthreatened. This is how antichrists are, too: There’s not one thing they say or do that’s not for their own sake; they won’t say anything for the sake of the truth, much less will they say or do anything for the sake of the interests of God’s house. All they say and do is for the sake of their own reputation and status. Some may say, “It’s unjust of You to define them as antichrists, because they toil a lot, and they do their job very diligently, working and running about for God’s house from dawn until dusk. They’re sometimes too busy to eat. They’ve suffered so much!” And whom do they suffer for? (Themselves.) For themselves. If they had no status, would they do the same thing? They run about like that for their own reputation and status—they do it for a reward. If they weren’t rewarded, or if they had no fame, gain, or status, they would have backed out long ago. They do these things in front of others, and as they do, they want to let God know about them, and make Him give them their due reward, in light of all that they’ve done. What they ultimately want is a reward; they don’t want to gain the truth. You must see through to this point. When they feel they’ve accrued enough capital, when they have an opportunity to speak among others, what’s the content of what they say? Firstly, it’s flaunting of their contributions—a psychological attack. What’s a psychological attack? It’s letting everyone know, deep in their hearts, that they’ve done many good things on behalf of God’s house, made contributions, taken on risks, done dangerous work, run about a lot, and suffered no small amount—it’s laying out their credentials and talking about their capital in front of others. Secondly, they talk in an extravagant and nonsensical way about some unrealistic theories, which people feel they understand, though they don’t. These theories sound quite profound, mysterious, and abstract, and they make people worship the antichrists. Then, they talk in a grand and confusing way about stuff they believe no one has ever understood—technology, for instance, and outer space, finances and accounting, and matters of society and politics—and even underworld matters and scams. They narrate their personal history. What’s this, then? They’re flaunting themselves. And their goal in flaunting is to launch a psychological attack. Do you think they’re stupid? If this stuff they say had no effect on people, would they still say it? They would not. They have a goal in saying it: It’s about laying out their credentials, showing off, and flaunting themselves.
Furthermore, what manner do antichrists often adopt? No matter where they go, they adopt the manner of the head of a household—wherever they go, they say, “What are you working on? How’s it going? Are there any difficulties? Hurry up and handle the things you’ve been assigned! Don’t be perfunctory. All the work of god’s house is important, and can’t be delayed!” They’re just like the head of a household, always supervising the work of the people in their house. What does that mean, that they’re the head of a household? It means that anyone in their house might make a mistake, or take the wrong path, so they need to watch over them; if they didn’t, no one would do their duty—they’d all end up stumbling. Antichrists believe that everyone else is an idiot, a child, that if they didn’t fuss over them, if they let them out of their sight for a second, some of them would make mistakes and take the wrong path. What sort of view is this? Are they not assuming the manner of the head of a household? (They are.) Do they do concrete work, then? They never do; they arrange for others to do all the work, concerning themselves only with bureaucracy and being the master, and when others have done the work, it’s the same as if they’d done it themselves—all the credit goes to them. They just enjoy the benefits of their status; they never do anything that benefits the work of God’s house, and even if they find that someone’s being perfunctory or derelict in their performance of their duty, that someone’s disrupting and disturbing the church’s work, they just give them a few words of exhortation and comfort them, but they never expose or restrict them—they never offend anyone. If no one wants to listen to them, they’ll say, “My heart has broken into pieces worrying about you all; I’ve talked until my mouth ran dry—I’ve tired myself out to the point that it’s nearly broken me in two! You give me so much to worry about!” Isn’t it shameless of them to say this? Does it disgust you to hear it? This is one way that antichrists’ constant desire to control people manifests. How do such antichrists fellowship with people? They say to Me, for instance, “The people beneath me don’t do as they’re told. They don’t take the church work seriously. They’re perfunctory, and they indiscriminately spend the money of god’s house. They’re truly beasts, these people—they’re lower than dogs!” What’s their tone here? They’re making themselves the exception; they mean, “I consider the interests of god’s house—they don’t.” Who are the antichrists regarding themselves as? A “brand ambassador.” What’s a brand ambassador? Take a look at the brand ambassadors from some countries—what sort of people are they? They’re chosen for their beauty; they’re very pretty, they can speak well, and they’ve all been through training. Behind the scenes, they all have connections and dealings with tall, rich, and handsome men, with high-ranking officials, with wealthy businessmen—that’s why they’re brand ambassadors. What do they rely on, to get to be brand ambassadors? Is it purely their nice looks, good figures, and eloquence? They mainly rely on their behind-the-scenes connections. Isn’t that how it works? (Yes.) Yes, that’s how it works. Antichrists, who always have the manner of a leader or the head of a household, want always to use this manner, this posture, to mislead people and control them. Isn’t that a bit like the style of a brand ambassador? They stand there, hands clasped behind their back, and when the brothers or sisters nod and bow to them, they say, “Nice—do a good job!” Who are they to say that? What position have they appointed themselves to? I don’t say such things, anywhere I go—have you ever heard Me say such a thing? (No.) Occasionally, I’ll say, “This opportunity you have to do your duty with peace of mind is no easy thing to come by! You have to seize this opportunity, and do your duty well—don’t get yourself sent away for doing evil and causing disturbances.” What do I say this out of, though? Sincerity. But is that how an antichrist thinks? That’s not how they think, and it’s not how they act. They tell others to do a good job—do they do so themselves? They do not. They’d have others do a good job, working themselves to the bone for them, laboring for them, and in the end, they’re the ones who get all the credit. Do you work yourselves to the bone for Me now, doing your duties? (No.) You’re not laboring for Me, either; you’re performing your own duties and obligations, and then God’s house provides for you. Would it be excessive to say that I provide for you? (No.) This isn’t an incorrect statement, and in fact, it’s truly how things are. But if you’d have Me say that, I wouldn’t—that would never come from My lips. I’d say only that God’s house provides for you: You do your own duties in God’s house, and God provides for you. So, who is it you’re doing your duties for? (Ourselves.) You’re performing your own duties and obligations; this is the responsibility you ought to fulfill as created beings. You’re doing this before God’s presence. You absolutely mustn’t say that you’re working for Me—I don’t need that. I don’t need anyone working for Me; I’m not the boss, nor am I the president of some company. I’m not making money from you, and you’re not eating My food. We’re just cooperating with each other. I fellowship the truths I should fellowship to you so that you may understand them, and you set off on the correct path, and with that, My heart is put at ease—My responsibility and obligation have been carried out to completion. It’s mutual cooperation, with everyone playing their part. It’s far from being a case of who’s exploiting whom, who’s using whom, who’s feeding whom. Don’t affect that manner—it’s useless, and it’s disgusting. Truly do the work well, such that it’s evident to everyone, and in the end, you’ll be well positioned to settle your accounts before God. Do antichrists have such reason? No. If they take on a bit of responsibility, make a bit of a contribution, and have done some work, they show off about it, in a way that’s frankly disgusting—even wishing to be brand ambassadors. If you don’t try to be a brand ambassador, and you get down to some actual work, everyone will have some respect for you. If you adopt the posture of a brand ambassador, but you’re unable to do any concrete work, and make it so that the Above must concern themselves with and personally give directions for all the work, and follow up by supervising you and giving you guidance, with the Above doing every aspect of the work, and if you still think yourself able, that you’ve become more skilled, that it was you who did it all—is that not shameless? Antichrists are capable of this. They rob God of His glory. When normal people have experienced a few things, they can understand a bit of the truth, and see that, “My caliber is just so poor—I’m nothing. Without the concern and supervision of the Above, without them holding my hand so to help me, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’ve just been a dummy. I’ve now come to know myself a little bit. I know my paltry measure. I won’t have any complaints if the Above prunes me again in the future. I’ll just submit.” Knowing your own paltry measure, you’ll do the work that’s yours to do in a well-behaved manner, with both feet on the ground. Whatever the Above assigns you, you’ll do it well, with all your heart and all your strength. Is this what antichrists do? No, it’s not—they don’t consider the interests of God’s house, or the work of God’s house. What is the greatest interest of God’s house? Is it the church’s wealth? Is it offerings to God? No. What is it, then? What aspect of the work does everyone’s performance of their duty revolve around? Spreading the gospel and bearing witness for God, so that all mankind understands God and returns to Him. This is the greatest interest of God’s house. And that greatest interest branches downward, splitting into each group and each aspect of the work, and then splitting more finely all the way down to the various duties that each person does. This is the interest of God’s house. Did you see this before? No, you didn’t! When I speak of the interests of God’s house, you think they’re money, houses, and cars. What kind of interests are those? Aren’t they just a few material things? Will some people then say, “Seeing as those aren’t interests, let’s squander them as we please”? Is that alright? (No.) Absolutely not! Squandering offerings is a grave sin.
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