Today, we’ll continue fellowshipping on the fifteenth item of the various manifestations of antichrists: They do not believe in the existence of God, and they deny the essence of Christ. During our last fellowship, we divided this topic into two parts. The first part is the various manifestations of antichrists’ disbelief in God’s existence, which we further divided into two items: firstly, antichrists denying God’s identity and essence; secondly, antichrists denying God’s sovereignty over all things. Last time, we primarily fellowshipped on how antichrists do not acknowledge God’s essence or His disposition, and how antichrists do not acknowledge that all God does is the truth and represents His identity, and how antichrists certainly do not accept the meaning and truth behind everything God does. Antichrists worship Satan, regard Satan as God, and use all of Satan’s statements and viewpoints as the basis and standard by which they measure God’s identity, essence, and everything He does. So, in their hearts, they repeatedly exalt and worship what Satan does, they extol and praise Satan’s actions, and they use Satan to take the place of God’s identity and essence. Worse still, upon the basis of their acknowledgment of everything Satan does, they question and form notions and judgments about God’s words and work at every turn, and ultimately condemn His words and work. Therefore, in the process of following God, antichrists do not accept God’s words as their life, their truth, or their life direction and goal. Instead, at every turn they oppose God, and measure God’s identity and essence with such things as their notions and imaginings, Satan’s logic and thoughts, and Satan’s disposition and methods. In the process of following God, they continuously doubt, suspect, and watch God, they constantly judge Him, and despise, condemn, and deny Him in their hearts. All of these things that antichrists do and their various manifestations indeed prove that they are not followers of God, true believers, or lovers of the truth and positive things, and that they are instead enemies of the truth and God. When these people come to God’s house, to the church, they are not here to receive God’s salvation or to come before God and accept His words as life. So, what are they here to do? When these people come to God’s house, firstly, they are, at least, trying to satisfy their curiosity; secondly, they wish to follow this trend; and thirdly, they want blessings. These are their intentions and purposes, and that’s it. Judging based on the nature essence of antichrists, they never intend to accept God’s words as their life, they never plan to take God’s words as principles of practice or as their life direction and goal, and they never plan to change or abandon their own views, or to transform or abandon their own notions, and come before God to thoroughly repent, and prostrate themselves before Him and accept Him as their Savior. They have no such intentions. They just keep on boasting in front of God about how great they are, how capable, how powerful, gifted, and talented they are, how they can become a pillar and backbone of God’s house, and so on, aiming to thereby achieve their goal of being highly regarded in God’s house, recognized by God, and promoted in God’s house, in order to satisfy their ambitions and desires. Not only that, but they also want to satisfy their ambition, desire, and plan of “receiving a hundredfold in this life and eternal life in the world to come.” Have they ever abandoned these ambitions, desires, and plans? Can they subjectively understand, abandon, and resolve these issues? They never plan to do this. No matter what God’s words say or expose, even if they can link His words to themselves, even if they know that their plans, thoughts, and intentions are opposed to God’s words and not in accordance with them, that they go against the truth principles and are manifestations of the disposition of antichrists, they still hold firmly onto their own views, ambitions, and desires, and do not have any plans to change themselves, reverse their views, abandon their ambitions and desires, and come before God to accept His exposure, judgment, chastisement, and pruning. These people are not only intransigent in their hearts, but also arrogant and conceited—they’re arrogant to the point of being completely unreasonable. At the same time, they are deeply averse to and hate every word spoken by God in the depths of their hearts; they hate God’s exposure of the nature essence of corrupt mankind, and His exposure of various corrupt dispositions. They hate God and the truth for no good reason, even hating those who pursue the truth and those whom God loves. This fully shows that the disposition of antichrists is indeed wicked. Their unprovoked hatred, hostility, opposition, judgment, and denial toward God and the truth also show us that antichrists do indeed have a vicious disposition.

The various dispositions of antichrists are quintessential examples of those possessed by corrupt mankind, and the severity of antichrists’ various dispositions surpasses that of any ordinary corrupted individual’s. No matter how deeply or concretely God exposes the corrupt dispositions of mankind, antichrists deny and reject this, not accepting it as the truth or as the work of God. They just acknowledge and believe that being sufficiently evil, ruthless, wicked, sinister, and vicious is the only way to ultimately stand firm, and to stand out and keep one’s footing until the very end in this society and amid the evil trends. This is the logic of antichrists. Therefore, antichrists harbor hostility and hatred toward the righteous and holy essence of God, toward God’s faithfulness and almightiness, and toward other positive things like these. No matter how people testify about God’s identity, essence, and all His work, and no matter how concretely and genuinely they do so, antichrists do not accept it, they do not acknowledge that it is the work of God, that there is truth to seek within it, or that it is the best educational material and testimony for mankind’s knowledge of God. By contrast, with whatever little thing Satan does, be it consciously or unconsciously, antichrists prostrate themselves in admiration of it. When it comes to the things that Satan does, antichrists uniformly accept, believe, worship, and follow these things, regardless of whether they’re regarded as noble or lowly among mankind. However, there is one thing that unsettles antichrists: Buddha said that he can make people transcend to the Pure Land, and antichrists think: “This Pure Land seems to be inferior to the kingdom of heaven and heaven spoken of by god—it’s not quite ideal. Although Satan is mighty, and it can bring infinite benefits to people, and satisfy all their ambitions and desires, one thing it cannot do is make a promise to man, enabling people to enter the kingdom of heaven and obtain eternal life. Satan dares not make such a claim nor can it accomplish this.” Deep in their hearts, antichrists feel that this is unthinkable, and at the same time, they feel that it is the most regrettable thing. And so, while reluctantly following God, they still plot about how to obtain greater blessings, and about who can satisfy their desires and ambitions. They calculate and calculate, and ultimately, they have no choice but to make the compromise of remaining in God’s house. Based on these manifestations of antichrists, what is their attitude and viewpoint toward God? Do they have a shred of genuine belief? Do they have true faith in God? Do they acknowledge God’s actions even slightly? Can they say “Amen” from the depths of their hearts to the fact that God’s words are the truth, the life, and the way? God has done such great work among mankind—can antichrists praise God’s great power and righteous disposition from deep within their hearts? (No.) It is precisely because antichrists deny God’s identity, essence, and all His work that they constantly exalt and testify about themselves during the process of following Him, and try to win people’s favor and hearts, and even try to control and cage people’s hearts, and compete with God for His chosen ones. All of such manifestations prove that antichrists never acknowledge God’s identity and essence, or admit that mankind and all things are under the sovereignty of the Creator. This is what we dissected last time about the views, manifestations, and revelations that antichrists have regarding God’s existence. Since antichrists have these views and manifestations concerning God’s existence, what then is their attitude toward Christ, God’s incarnate flesh? Can they truly believe, acknowledge, follow, and submit to Him? (No.) Judging by the antichrists’ treatment of God’s existence, they harbor this kind of attitude toward God’s Spirit, so it’s needless to say that their attitude toward God’s incarnate flesh must be even more detestable than their attitude toward His Spirit, with more pronounced and severe manifestations.

II. Antichrists Deny the Essence of Christ

Today, we will fellowship on how antichrists treat Christ, God’s incarnate flesh, based on their disbelief in God’s existence. It’s a widely acknowledged fact that antichrists do not believe in the existence of God. After all this fellowship, exposing, and dissection, have you gained some concrete understanding of the dispositions and manifestations of antichrists? Regardless of whether they accept the work done by God incarnate, or the fact of God becoming flesh, in reality, they deny the existence of God. So, what kind of people are they exactly? Precisely speaking, they are opportunistic disbelievers, they are Pharisees. Some of them clearly appear evil, while others appear humble, with refined, dignified, and noble behavior—they are standard Pharisees. When it comes to these two types of people—those who appear evil and those who appear pious and not evil—if they fundamentally do not believe in the existence of God, can we say they are disbelievers? (Yes.) Today we are fellowshipping on what views and attitudes disbelievers have toward Christ, what manifestations they display toward the various aspects of Christ, and how we can understand the essence of antichrists through these manifestations.

A. How Antichrists Treat Christ’s Origin

When it comes to Christ, who is an ordinary person with a special identity, what things do people usually care most about? First and foremost, don’t many people care about His origin? That is a focal point of people’s attention. So, let’s first fellowship on how antichrists treat Christ’s origin. Before fellowshipping on this, let’s talk about how God planned the various aspects of the origin of His flesh when He became incarnate. As is well known, during the Age of Grace, Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin. He was born into an exceedingly ordinary, normal family, which in today’s terms would be called a household of ordinary citizens. He was not born into a wealthy, official, or eminent big family—He was even born in a stable, which was very unthinkable and beyond everyone’s imaginings. Looking at every aspect of the origin of God’s first incarnate flesh, the family into which God incarnate was born was very ordinary. Mary, His mother, was also ordinary, and not an outstanding person, and she certainly didn’t possess any special powers, or extraordinary, unique talents. However, it’s worth noting that she was not a disbeliever or a nonbeliever, but a follower of God. This is very important. Joseph, Mary’s husband, was a carpenter. A carpenter is a kind of craftsman, and he had an average income, but he was not wealthy and did not have much money to spare. However, he was far from being impoverished, and he could meet all his family’s basic needs. The Lord Jesus was born into this kind of family; judging by today’s standards of income and living conditions, His family could barely be considered middle class. Would such a family be regarded as noble or lowly among mankind? (Lowly.) Therefore, the family into which the Lord Jesus was born was far from being famous, wealthy, or illustrious, and even further from what is nowadays considered high-class. When children from wealthy or high-status families go out, people usually circle around them, and crowd around them, but the Lord Jesus’ family was the opposite. He was born into a family without luxurious living conditions or notable status. It was a very ordinary family that went unnoticed and ignored by people, without anyone singing their praises or crowding around them. Under such a background and social environment at that time, was Christ in the position to receive higher education or to be influenced and infected with the various lifestyles, thoughts, views, and so on of the upper society? Clearly, He was not. He received a common education, read the Scriptures at home, listened to stories from His parents, and attended church services with them. In all respects, the Lord Jesus’ origin and the context in which He grew up were not prestigious, or noble as people might imagine. The environment in which He grew up was the same as that of an ordinary person. His day-to-day life was simple and ordinary, His living conditions were similar to the average person, they were nothing special, and He lacked the special, superior living conditions of the upper echelons of society. This was the context in which God’s first incarnate flesh was born, and the environment in which He grew up.

Although the gender of God incarnate this time is entirely different from the last, His family background is similarly ordinary and without notable status. Some ask, “How ordinary?” In the current era, ordinary means a common living environment. Christ was born into a worker’s family, that is, a family that relies on wages for sustenance, that can take care of their own basic needs, but is not as affluent as the wealthy. Christ engaged with ordinary people, and was exposed to the lives of ordinary people; He lived in this kind of environment, there was nothing special about it. Generally, are children from workers’ families in the position to learn artistic skills? Do they have the opportunity to get exposed to various views prevalent in high society? (No.) Not only are they not in the position to learn various skills, even more so, they do not have opportunities to interact with people, events, and things in high society. From this perspective, the family into which God incarnate was born this time is very ordinary. His parents are people who pass their days in a respectable manner, whose livelihoods depend on their work and jobs, and they possess average living conditions. Such conditions are most common in modern society. From the perspective of nonbelievers, there were no superior conditions to Christ’s birth environment, and nothing in His family background or quality of life was worth boasting about. Some celebrities are born into scholarly families; their ancestors were all educators and senior intellectuals. They grew up in this environment, with the accompanying style and bearing of a scholarly family. Did God choose a similar family background for His incarnate flesh? No. This time God incarnate also lacks a distinguished family background and prominent social status, and even less did He have a superior living environment—His is an utterly ordinary family. Let’s not discuss yet why God incarnate chose such a family, living environment, and background in which to grow up; we won’t talk about the significance of this for now. Tell Me, are some people not concerned about whether Christ attended university? I’ll tell you the truth: I dropped out of school before taking the college entrance exam and left home at 17. So, did I attend university? (No.) Is this bad news or good news for you? (I think that knowing this makes no difference, it is irrelevant to following God.) That’s the right perspective. I’ve never mentioned this before, not because I wanted to hide or cover it up, but because it’s unnecessary to say, as these things are completely irrelevant to knowing and following God. Although the backdrop of God incarnate’s birth, His family environment, and the environment in which He grew up have no impact on knowing God or God incarnate, and aren’t really related to these things, why am I addressing these issues here? This touches on one of the antichrists’ views on Christ that we are dissecting today. God did not choose a prominent status, noble identity, or a distinguished family and social background for His incarnate flesh, even less did He choose a superior, carefree, affluent, luxurious environment in which for Him to grow up. God also did not choose a family background where He could receive higher education or be exposed to high society. Considering these aspects of the choice God made when He became incarnate, would these things affect the work Christ came to do? (No.) Looking at the process, nature, and results of His later work, these aspects in no way affect God’s work plan, steps, or results, but on the contrary, there is a certain advantage to these aspects of His choice, that is, Him choosing to be born in such an environment is more beneficial for the salvation of God’s chosen people, as 99% of them come from similar backgrounds. This is one aspect of the significance of the origin of God incarnate that people should understand.

Just now, I spoke in simple, broad terms about the background and environment of Christ’s birth, to give you a general understanding of it. Next, let’s dissect how antichrists treat the origin of God incarnate. First, antichrists secretly despise and feel defiant toward the environment and background of Christ’s birth. Why do they despise and feel defiant toward it? Because they harbor thoughts and notions within them. What is their perspective on this? “God is the creator, he is supreme above all, he is above the heavens, and above mankind and all other created beings. If he is god, then he should rise to the highest place among mankind.” What do they mean by him rising to the highest place? They mean that he should stand head and shoulders above everyone, that he ought to be born into a distinguished, noble big family, and want for nothing; that he should be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, possess absolute power, as well as authority and influence, and be especially wealthy and a billionaire. At the same time, he should be highly educated, learning everything that humans should know in this world. For example, like a crown prince, he should receive one-on-one tutoring, attend elite schools, and enjoy an upper-class life. He shouldn’t be a child of an ordinary family. Since christ is the incarnate flesh, his education should surpass that of all others, and his study materials should be different from those of ordinary people. They think that since christ comes to reign as king, he should learn the art of rulership, as well as how to govern and control mankind, and study the Thirty-Six Stratagems, and learn multiple languages and some artistic skills, so that these things can be put to use in his future work, and so that he can govern all types of people in the future. To them, only such a christ would be noble, great, and capable of saving people because he would have sufficient knowledge and talents, and a sufficient ability to read people’s minds so that he could control them. Antichrists harbor such notions about the origin of God’s incarnate flesh and they hold onto these notions while accepting God incarnate. First, they don’t set aside their notions and come to understand or comprehend what God does anew from the depths of their hearts. They don’t deny their own notions and views, or come to understand the fallacies they harbor, and they don’t come to know Christ and the incarnate flesh of God and to accept everything that Christ says and does with an attitude and principle of submitting to the truth. Instead, they measure everything Christ says with their own notions and views. “This statement by christ is illogical; that one is poorly worded; there’s a grammatical error in this; you can tell that christ isn’t highly educated. Isn’t he speaking like a common person? How can christ speak like that? It’s not his fault. He, in fact, also wants to be distinguished, to be esteemed by others, but that’s just not possible—he doesn’t come from a good family. His parents were just ordinary people, and the way they were has influenced him to be the same kind of person. How could god do this? Why don’t christ’s words and manner seem very elegant and noble? Why doesn’t he have the speech and manner of scholars and refined intellectuals in society, of princesses and princes from the upper classes of society? Why do christ’s words and deeds seem so inconsistent with his identity?” Antichrists harbor this kind of perspective and this kind of observing outlook in how they view Christ, and all of His words and work, how He treats people, and His speech and manner, and inevitably notions arise in their hearts. They not only do not submit to Christ, they also fail to treat His words correctly. They say, “Can such an ordinary person, such a commoner, be my savior? Can he bless me? Can I gain any benefits from him? Can my wishes and aspirations be fulfilled? This person is too ordinary, to the point of being looked down upon.” The more antichrists perceive Christ as being ordinary and average, and think that Christ is very normal, the more they feel themselves to be lofty and noble. At the same time, some antichrists even make comparisons, “You’re young and don’t know how to dress or talk to people. You don’t know how to worm things out of people. Why are you so straightforward? How does anything you say resemble god? How does anything you say represent that you’re god? How do your actions, speech, behavior, manner, and dress resemble god? I don’t think you resemble god in any of these respects. Christ should have a higher education, know the Bible inside out, and speak eloquently, but you always repeat yourself and sometimes you use words that aren’t suitable.” After many years of following Christ, antichrists not only haven’t accepted God’s words and the truth in their hearts, they also haven’t accepted the fact that Christ is the incarnate flesh of God. This is equivalent to them not accepting Christ as their Savior. Instead, they despise the incarnate flesh of God, this ordinary person, even more in their hearts. Because they see nothing special in Christ, because His origin was very common and ordinary, and as He seems unable to bring any benefits to them in society or among mankind, or to enable them to enjoy any advantages, they begin to wantonly and openly pass judgment on Him, “Aren’t you just a child from So-and-so family? What’s wrong with me judging you then? What can you do to me? If you had an eminent family or parents who were officials, I might be afraid of you. Why should I be afraid of you as you are? So, even if you are christ, the incarnate flesh testified by god, I’m not afraid of you! I’ll still pass judgment on you behind your back, and freely comment on you. Whenever I have the chance, I’ll study your family and birthplace.” These are antichrists’ favorite things to make a fuss about. They never seek the truth, and anything that doesn’t fit with their notions and imaginings is repeatedly judged and resisted by them. These people know full well that what Christ expresses is the truth, so why don’t they pursue the truth? They’re truly unreasonable!

Antichrists particularly worship power and status. If Christ came from a wealthy, powerful family, they wouldn’t dare say anything. But as He is from an ordinary family without power, they are not afraid of Him at all, they feel that they can casually study and judge God, Christ, and they are completely nonchalant about this. If they truly acknowledged and believed that this person is the incarnate flesh of God, could they act this way? Would anyone with a bit of a God-fearing heart do this? Wouldn’t they restrain themselves? (Yes.) What kind of people can act this way? Isn’t this the behavior of antichrists? (Yes.) If you acknowledge that the essence of Christ is God Himself and that the person you follow is God, how should you treat everything related to Christ? Shouldn’t people have principles? (Yes.) Why then do they dare to violate these principles without the slightest misgivings? Isn’t this a manifestation of hostility toward Christ? Because Christ was born into an ordinary family, at the same time as feeling dissatisfied with Him, antichrists also harbor hostility toward His family and its members. And while this hostility arises in them, they don’t stop or rest, instead they hang around Christ’s house and make inquiries whenever they have the opportunity, as if they were engaging in a legitimate occupation: “Has christ returned? Has any part of the family’s life changed since christ’s emergence?” They poke their noses into these matters at every opportunity. Aren’t such people detestable? Aren’t they disgusting? Aren’t they despicable? They are extremely despicable and sordid! Let’s leave aside what their faith in God is like for now, and just consider: What kind of character must people who can do such things and harbor such sordid thoughts possess? They must be of lowly character. They are all lowlifes, and despicable and sordid to the extreme! If you don’t believe in Christ, you can say to Me clearly, “You don’t seem like god; you are just a person. I’ve passed judgment on you behind your back—what can you do about that? I’ve denied you—what can you do about that?” If you don’t believe, I won’t force you to, and no one will insist that you do. But there’s no need for you to secretly engage in these petty actions. What purpose do they serve? Can they help you to increase your faith? Can they help your life progress, or help you to understand God more? They serve none of these purposes, so why engage in them? At the very least, those who engage in such actions have extremely contemptible humanity; they don’t believe in the essence of Christ or acknowledge His identity. If you don’t believe, then don’t believe. Leave! Why drag out your stay in God’s house? Not believing in God yet still wanting blessings and harboring ambitions and desires—this is the despicableness of antichrists. Such people, being so extremely despicable, are capable of such “exceptional” actions. I was away from home for 20 years, and these people “took good care” of that home for 20 years; I was away for 30 years, and they “took care” of it for 30 years. I wondered why they were so “kind” and idle. I found the answer to this question, which is that they want to oppose God to the end. They don’t believe in God’s essence or in everything He has done. Superficially, they seem curious and concerned, but in essence, they are monitoring and seeking leverage, inwardly they are hostile, denying, and condemning. Why do these people still believe? What’s the point of them believing in God? They should stop believing and get out of here quickly! God’s house doesn’t need such people. They shouldn’t embarrass themselves! Would you do the same things under similar circumstances and conditions? If you could, then you are just like them, a group of antichrists determined to oppose God to the end, relentless until death, trying to find leverage and evidence on God to deny Him, His essence, and His identity.

No matter what God does, He is never wrong. Regardless of whether He was born into a common, ordinary environment and background, or a distinguished one, there would be no fault in this, and nothing that would leave room for people to find leverage on Him. If you try to find any fault or evidence in God’s incarnate flesh to prove that He is not Christ or that He lacks God’s essence, I say to you, you need not bother trying, and you need not bother believing. Just leave—won’t you then be spared the trouble? Why make life so difficult for yourself? Trying to find fault or evidence in Christ to accuse, deny, or condemn Him is not your legitimate occupation, duty, or responsibility. Regardless of the family Christ was born into, the environment He grew up in, or the humanity He possesses, this was the choice of God Himself, the Creator, and it has nothing to do with anyone. Whatever God does is right, it is the truth, and it is done for the sake of mankind. If God had not been born into an ordinary family but in a palace, would an ordinary person or someone from a lower social class have any chance to interact with God? You wouldn’t have the opportunity. So, is there anything wrong with God choosing such a way to be born and grow up? This is love that’s unparalleled in the world, it is the most positive thing. However, antichrists see the most positive thing done by God as a sign that He is easy to bully and toy with, and want to constantly monitor Him and look for leverage to use against Him. What are you monitoring? If you can’t even trust Christ’s character and humanity, and you follow Him as God, then aren’t you slapping yourself in the face? Aren’t you making things difficult for yourself? Why play this game? Is it fun? Subsequently, I observed that most people who accepted Almighty God later on could treat this matter correctly. A few were curious when they interacted with Me, but I avoided and ignored such people. If you can accept the truth, we are one family. If you can’t and are always trying to inquire about My personal information, then leave. I don’t recognize you; we are not family, but enemies. If, after hearing so many of God’s words, and receiving His work and shepherding for so many years, people still harbor such thoughts about God’s incarnate flesh and even act upon them, it must be said that such people have a disposition that is antagonistic toward God. They are born enemies of God, unable to accept positive things.

Two thousand years ago, Paul went to great lengths to resist the Lord Jesus, madly persecuting, judging, and condemning Him. Why? Because the Lord Jesus was born into an ordinary family, He was a regular member of the populace, and had not received the so-called education, impact, or influence of the scribes and Pharisees. In Paul’s eyes, such a person was not worthy of being called Christ. Why not? Because He had a humble identity, not much social standing, and He was a member of the lower class in human society, and thus not worthy of being called Christ or the Son of the living God. Because of this, Paul dared to make every effort to resist the Lord Jesus, using his influence, charisma, and the government to condemn and resist Him, dismantle His work, and arrest His followers. While he resisted the Lord Jesus, Paul believed he was defending God’s work, that his actions were just, and that he represented a just force. He thought he was resisting not God but an ordinary person. It was precisely because he deemed Christ’s origin to be lowly and not grand, that he dared to unscrupulously and recklessly judge and condemn Christ, and he felt particularly at peace and steady in his heart about his actions. What kind of creature was he? Even if he didn’t realize that the Lord Jesus was the incarnate flesh of God or know that His sermons and words came from God, did such an ordinary person deserve his all-out attack? Did He deserve this kind of malicious assault? Did He deserve to have Paul fabricate rumors and lies to deceive others and to compete with Him for people? Weren’t Paul’s lies baseless? Did any of the Lord Jesus’ actions affect Paul’s interests or status? No. The Lord Jesus preached and gave sermons among the lower social classes, and at the same time, quite a few people followed Him. This was a completely different world to the living environment of a person like Paul, so why then did Paul persecute the Lord Jesus? This is his antichrist essence at work. He thought, “No matter how grand, right, or accepted your sermons are, if I say you’re not christ, then you’re not christ. If I dislike you, I’ll persecute you, arbitrarily accuse you, and make you pay.” Because these things that Christ possessed within His normal humanity didn’t satisfy Paul’s requirements, and weren’t done or possessed in conformity with Paul’s notions and imaginings, antichrists like Paul were capable of unscrupulously judging, denying, and condemning Him. What happened in the end? After being struck down by the Lord Jesus, Paul finally acknowledged, “Who are you, lord?” The Lord Jesus then said, “I am Jesus, whom you resist.” From then on, Paul no longer believed Jesus to be an ordinary person or someone who was unlike Christ due to His humble origin. Why? Because the light of the Lord Jesus could blind people, He had authority, and His words could strike people down, and strike down their souls. Paul thought to himself, “Could this person called Jesus actually be god? Could he be a son of the living god? He can strike people down, so he must be god. But there’s just one thing—the one who strikes people down isn’t this ordinary person who’s called christ, but the spirit of god. So, no matter what, as long as you are called Jesus, I won’t bow down to you in worship. I worship only the god in heaven, the spirit of god.” After being struck down, Paul had a thought. Though him being struck down was a bad thing, it had made him realize that a person who was called christ had a special identity, and that to become christ was such an honor, and that whoever became christ could become a son of the living god, draw closer to god, and change their relationship with god, making that ordinary person special, and transforming that ordinary person’s identity into that of a son of god. He thought, “Although you, Jesus, are a son of the living god, what’s so impressive about that? Your father was a poor carpenter, and your mother a common housewife. You grew up among the common people, and your family had low social status, and you yourself have no special abilities. Have you ever preached in a temple? Do scribes and Pharisees acknowledge you? What education have you received? Do your parents possess a high degree of knowledge? You don’t have any of these things, yet you are still a son of the living god. Then, since I have such a high degree of knowledge, and I interact with people in high society, and my parents are very intellectual, educated, and they come from a certain background, wouldn’t it be easy for me to become christ?” What was he implying? “If someone like Jesus can be christ, then aren’t I, Paul, even more capable of being christ, a son of the living god, since I am so extraordinary, charismatic, knowledgeable, and possessed of high social status? When Jesus was alive, he just preached, read scriptures, spread the way of repentance, walked everywhere, healed people of their illnesses, cast out demons, and performed a lot of signs and wonders. That’s all, right? After that, he became a son of the living god and ascended to heaven. How hard can that be? I, Paul, am full of knowledge and have a noble social status and identity. If I walk among people more, like Jesus did, increase my fame, get more followers, and benefit more people, and if I can endure hardships, pay the price, lower my social standing, preach more sermons, do more work, and gain more people, won’t my identity then change? Won’t I transform from a son of man to a son of god? Isn’t a son of god christ? What’s so hard about being christ? Isn’t christ a son of man that was born of man? Since Jesus could become christ, why can’t I, Paul? It’s too easy! Whatever Jesus did, I’ll do; whatever he said, I’ll say; however he walked among people, I’ll do the same. Won’t I then possess the same identity and standing as Jesus? Won’t I meet the conditions for being approved of by god, just like Jesus did?” Therefore, it’s not hard to see from Paul’s letters his understanding and perception of Jesus’ identity. He believed the Lord Jesus was an ordinary person who, through work and paying the price, and especially after being crucified, gained the heavenly Father’s approval and became the Son of living God—that His identity changed later on. Thus, in the minds of people like Paul, they never acknowledge Jesus as the flesh worn by God on earth, as the incarnate flesh of God among mankind. They never acknowledge the essence of Christ.

Today’s antichrists are like Paul. Firstly, they share the same thoughts, ambitions, and methods, as well as one more thing—a common trait of foolishness. Where does their foolishness stem from? It stems from their ambitions and desires. When antichrists look at the incarnate flesh of God, no matter from which angle, they fail to see the essence of God in Christ. No matter how they look, they cannot gain the truth from this or understand God’s disposition. No matter how they look, they always believe that Christ is an ordinary person. They think that if christ had descended directly from heaven for all to see, he wouldn’t be ordinary; they think that if christ had no origin or background at all, and had appeared out of thin air among people, that would be so unusual and extraordinary! Things that people cannot fathom, that are extraordinary, are exactly what satisfy the ambitions, desires, and curiosity of antichrists. They would rather follow a christ like that than an ordinary person who can express the truth and grant them life. It’s precisely because Christ was born of man, and really is an ordinary person—a normal, practical person who doesn’t attract enough attention or speak in a way that shakes the heavens and earth—that when antichrists have observed Him for a while, they believe there’s nothing more to all that Christ does. After summarizing some patterns, they then begin to imitate Christ. They imitate His tone, His manner of speaking, and His intonation. Some even imitate the specific words He uses, even mimicking His breathing sounds and coughs. Some people ask, “Is this imitation due to ignorance?” It’s not. What causes it? When antichrists see such an ordinary person as Christ, who just says some ordinary words, possessing so many followers and having so many people submit to Him, don’t some thoughts then arise in the depths of their hearts regarding this matter? Do they rejoice for God, feel happy for Him, and praise Him, or do they feel indignant, resentful, hostile, envious, and jealous? (Envious and jealous.) They think, “How did you become god? Why aren’t I god? How many languages can you speak? Can you perform signs and wonders? What can you bring to people? What gifts and talents do you possess? What abilities do you have? How did you get so many people to follow you? If your abilities were all it took to get that many people to follow you, then with my abilities, even more will follow me.” So, antichrists want to focus their efforts on this. For them, therefore, they wholly agree with Paul’s view that becoming christ is an achievable dream.

When God tells people to be dutiful humans and dutiful created beings, antichrists feel particular contempt for these words, saying, “Everything god says is good and right, but not allowing us to become christ is wrong. Why can’t people become christ? Isn’t christ just someone with god’s life? So, if we accept god’s words, receive his watering and shepherding, and possess god’s life, can’t we also become christ? You’re an ordinary person born of humans, and so are we. On what basis can you be christ, but we can’t? Didn’t you become christ later in life? If we suffer and pay the price, read more of god’s words, possess god’s life, speak the same words as god speaks, do what god wants to do, and emulate god, can’t we also become christ? What’s so hard about that?” Antichrists are not happy to follow Christ and become ordinary followers of Christ, or to be created beings under the Creator’s dominion. Their desires and ambitions urge them: “Don’t be an ordinary person. Following and obeying christ at every turn is a manifestation of incompetence. Beyond christ’s words and god’s promises, you should have higher aspirations, like striving to become a son of god, the firstborn son, christ himself, to be greatly used by god, or to be a pillar in god’s kingdom. What great and inspiring goals those are!” What do you think of these ideas? Are they worth promoting? Are they something that normal people ought to possess? (No.) It’s precisely because antichrists have this kind of understanding of Christ’s identity and essence, that they don’t take seriously their words and actions of resisting, judging, testing, denying, and condemning Christ. They think, “What’s so frightening about judging a person? You’re just a person, aren’t you? You admit you’re a person, so what’s wrong with me judging, evaluating, or condemning you? What’s wrong with me monitoring or studying you? It’s my freedom to do these things!” They don’t see this as resisting God or opposing Him, which is a very dangerous viewpoint. Thus, many antichrists have opposed Christ in this way for 20 or 30 years, always competing with Him in their hearts. I will tell you the truth—what you do is your freedom, but if, as a follower of God, you treat the incarnate flesh of God so unscrupulously, then one thing is certain: You’re not giving a person a hard time, you’re openly clamoring against and setting yourself against God—you’re standing against God. Anything that touches on God’s essence, disposition, actions, and especially God’s incarnate flesh, relates to the administrative decrees. If you treat Christ so unscrupulously, and judge and condemn Him so unscrupulously, then let Me tell you, your outcome has already been set. Don’t expect that God will save you. God cannot save someone who openly clamors against Him and unscrupulously sets themselves against Him. Such a person is God’s enemy, they are a Satan and a devil, and God will not save them. Hurry up and go to whoever you think can save you. God’s house will not restrain you, its doors are wide open. If you think Paul can save you, go to him; if you think a pastor can, go to them. But one thing is certain: God will not save you. What you do is your freedom, but whether God saves you is His freedom, and He has the final say. Does God have this power? Does He have this dignity? (Yes.) God incarnate lives among humans, He testifies that He is Christ, comes to do the work of the last days. Some people recognize God’s essence and follow Him wholeheartedly, and they treat Him and submit to Him as God. Others want to stubbornly resist Him to the very end: “No matter how many people believe that you are christ, I won’t believe it. No matter what you say, I won’t wholeheartedly regard you as god. Only when I see god truly speak and testify to you, when the god in heaven personally says to me with a thunderous voice, ‘This is my incarnate flesh, my beloved, my dear son,’ will I acknowledge and accept you as god. Only when I personally hear and see the god in heaven speak and testify to you will I accept you, otherwise it’s impossible!” Aren’t such people antichrists? When that day truly comes, even if they acknowledge Christ as God, it will be their day of punishment. They resisted God, clamored against Him, and they were hostile toward Him at every turn—can these actions be written off with a single stroke? (No.) So, there’s a statement here that is true, which is that God will repay each person according to their deeds. These people will not only face retribution, but they will also never hear God speak to them personally. Do they deserve it? God wishes to bear witness for Himself to humans, to appear to humans and to true created beings, revealing His real person, and speaking and uttering words. He does not appear to devils, or speak and utter words to them. So, antichrists will never have the chance to see God’s real person or hear His words and utterances with their own ears. They will never have this opportunity. Then will they have a difficult time in the future? (Yes.) Why? Antichrists, these shameless beings, oppose God and clamor against Him at every turn, and they despise, condemn, and even mock everything He does. So, how will God treat them? Will He treat them kindly and forgive them? Will He bless them? Will He give them His promise? Will He save them? Practically speaking, can such people receive God’s enlightenment and guidance? In this life, they will not receive God’s enlightenment and illumination, or His chastening and discipline, or His provision for their life. They won’t be saved, and in the world to come, they will pay a heavy price for their evil deeds, forever and ever. This is their outcome. Antichrists will have the same outcome as Paul.

B. How Antichrists Treat the Normality and Practicality of Christ

Just now, we fellowshipped and dissected the first manifestation of antichrists denying the essence of Christ, which is how antichrists treat Christ’s origin, what views and understandings they harbor, and what actions they take. We dissected the various manifestations of antichrists in order to identify the essence of such people. Regarding another aspect of Christ—His normality and practicality, what views do antichrists hold, what actions do they take, and what dispositions and essences do they exhibit? Next, we will dissect the second manifestation of antichrists denying the essence of Christ, which is how antichrists treat the normality and practicality of Christ. When it comes to normality and practicality, most people should have certain ideas and understandings. For example, not drinking water or eating for three days, but not feeling hungry or thirsty, and actually feeling physically stronger and more energized than before—does this count as normality and practicality? Normal people feel tired after walking four or five kilometers; if Christ does not feel tired even after walking 40 kilometers, and His feet do not hurt, and He is even lighter than air, feeling more energized, can this be considered normal and practical? If Christ does not catch a cold when exposed to cold, and never gets sick under any circumstances, if His eyes can emit a light that’s several dozen times stronger than whatever strong lights they are exposed to, and His eyes do not feel tired or become shortsighted no matter how long He looks at a computer, if He does not find the light of the sun glaring no matter how long He looks at it, and does not need a flashlight when walking at night, though others do, and His eyes get brighter as the day goes on—are these considered normality and practicality? None of these are, this is common knowledge that people often come into contact with. Normality and practicality means feeling thirsty after not drinking water for a long time, feeling tired after talking a lot, feeling foot pain after walking a lot, and feeling sad and shedding tears upon hearing sad and heartbreaking news—this is normality and practicality. So, what exactly is the precise definition of normality and practicality? That which conforms to the normal needs and instincts of the flesh, and does not exceed this range is the definition of normality and practicality. That which conforms to the capabilities and scope of normal humanity, the rationality of normal humanity, and the emotions of normal humanity, such as happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy, falls within the scope of normality and practicality. Christ is the flesh worn by God on earth; He, like any normal person, has normal speech and behavior, a normal life routine and schedule. If He does not sleep for three days and nights, He will feel sleepy, and wish to sleep even while standing; if He does not eat all day, He will feel hungry; and if He walks for a long time, He will be fatigued, and would like nothing more than to rest soon. For example, I also feel tired after gathering and fellowshipping with you for three or four hours, and I also need to rest. This is the normality and practicality of the flesh, it completely conforms to the characteristics of the flesh and to the various manifestations and instincts of normal humanity, it is not supernatural at all. Therefore, such a flesh has many manifestations and revelations of humanity, and the external lifestyle and life routine of the humanity of this flesh are no different from what every ordinary, normal person manifests and reveals, they are exactly the same. God created mankind, and the incarnate flesh of God possesses the same characteristics and normal, practical life instincts as mankind, He is not supernatural at all. Humans cannot go through walls or closed doors, and God incarnate is the same. Some people say, “Aren’t you god incarnate? Aren’t you christ? Don’t you possess the essence of god? Can you really be confined by a locked door? You should be able to pass through closed doors. People feel tired after walking five kilometers, but you should not feel tired even after walking 40 kilometers; people eat three meals a day, but you should be able to not eat for 30 days, only eating a meal when you feel like it, and not eating when you don’t, and still be able to preach at gatherings, and live more spiritedly than others. Getting sick is a part of human life, but you should not. Because you are christ, you should have a side of you that’s different from ordinary people, only then would you be worthy of being called christ, only this would prove that you possess the essence of god.” Is this correct? (No.) How is it incorrect? These are human notions and imaginings, not the truth.

God’s incarnate flesh is normal and practical—all activities undertaken by His normal humanity, and His daily life, speech, and demeanor, are all the realities of positive things. From the beginning when God created humans, He endowed them with these normal, practical instincts; so, the incarnated flesh of God would likewise never contravene these laws. This is the reason and basis for why Christ’s normality and practicality are positive things. God created humanity, and made all of their manifestations and instincts exactly to His wishes. God gave man these instincts, and these are the laws of man’s daily life—would God make His incarnate flesh contravene these laws of normality and practicality? Clearly, God would not. God created mankind, and He is also the essence of the incarnate flesh—they come from the same source, so the principles and purposes of their actions are also the same. Because of Christ’s manifestations of normality and practicality, He naturally appears to be an exceedingly ordinary person in the eyes of the masses. In many things, He lacks the powers of foreknowledge and foresight that people imagine Him to possess, and He cannot make things disappear or appear, as people imagine, and even less can He surpass ordinary people, exceed the capabilities and instincts of the flesh, or go beyond the normal thinking of humans to do some things that no person can do, like people imagine. Contrary to these imaginings, to the naked eye of man, this ordinary person has not revealed or manifested a single hint of God from the start of His work to the present. To the naked eye of man, aside from His speech and work, no hints of God or revelations of the identity and essence of God can be observed in any of His normal human activities. No matter how people look at Him, He always appears like an ordinary person to them. Why? The reason is singular: What man sees is correct; the incarnate flesh of God is genuinely a normal, practical person, a normal, practical flesh. Such an outwardly normal and practical flesh experiences the persecution and pursuit of the great red dragon just like other people, without any place to lay His head, or anywhere to rest. In this, He is no different from any other human, and He is not an exception. While experiencing such persecution, He also hides Himself wherever He can; He cannot turn Himself invisible or flee underground, He does not possess supernatural powers to evade these dangers. The only thing He can do is to obtain information about them in advance, and then hurry to escape. When faced with dangerous situations, people feel nervous and afraid, do you think that Christ feels afraid? Do you think He feels nervous? (Yes.) You’re correct; how do you know? (Any normal person would feel nervous in that situation.) That’s right. You’ve put this very well. You truly understand normality and practicality, you have understood this perfectly. Christ will also feel nervous and afraid in these situations, but will He show cowardice? Will He feel terrified of the ruling party? Will He compromise with it? No. He will only feel nervous and afraid, and wish to escape this den of demons quickly. All these are manifestations of Christ’s normality and practicality. Of course, there are quite a few more manifestations of Christ’s normality and practicality, such as sometimes being forgetful, forgetting people’s names after not seeing them for a long time, and so on. Normality and practicality are merely characteristics, instincts, signs, and markers of a normal, ordinary person. It is precisely because Christ possesses normal, practical humanity, survival instincts, and all characteristics of the flesh that He can speak and work normally, interact with people normally, lead people in a normal and practical way, and also guide and assist people in undertaking the work of their duties in a normal and practical manner. It is precisely because of Christ’s normality and practicality that all created humans feel the practicality of God’s work more, benefit from this work, and receive more tangible and advantageous gains from it. Christ’s normality and practicality are marks of normal humanity, they’re necessary for His incarnate flesh to engage in all normal work, activities, and human life, and even more so, they’re something that all who follow God need. However, antichrists do not understand Christ’s normality and practicality in this way. Antichrists believe Christ to be just an ordinary person because He is normal and practical, and too similar to man—which means that He is unworthy of being called a son of god, the embodiment of god among men, or christ, because He is too normal and practical, practical to the point where people cannot see any hint or essence of god in Him. Antichrists say, “Can such a god save people? Is such a god worthy of being called christ? This god is too unlike god! He lacks several elements of man’s notions of god: firstly, being supernatural, extraordinary, and mysterious; secondly, having superpowers, and the capacity to display mighty power; thirdly, an appearance resembling god, possessing god’s identity, dignity, and essence, and so on. If none of these elements can be seen in him, how can he be god? Does him speaking those few words and doing that bit of work mean that he is god? Then, becoming god is too easy, isn’t it? How can an ordinary, normal flesh be god?” This is something that antichrists can never accept.

While experiencing the persecution of the great red dragon in mainland China, I, along with several of the brothers and sisters, often had to hide wherever we went, lacking any personal freedom. Sometimes, upon hearing news of danger, we would have to quickly run. Under these circumstances, none of the people with Me became weak. What was the reason for this? Were they foolish? Were they simple-minded? No, it was because they had firmly recognized the essence of God incarnate. They not only held no notions or condemnations about the normality and practicality of Christ, but also showed consideration and understanding toward these qualities, and comprehended them in the correct way. Whatever suffering Christ endured, they endured it along with Him, and no matter what persecution and pursuit Christ experienced, they still followed Him without complaint, never becoming weak due to these circumstances. It was only when I went to certain places, that there were some individuals who—knowing I had fled in haste to avoid dangerous environments, and that there might well be nowhere else for Me to stay, and no one else who would put Me up—thought to themselves: “Humph! You claim to be christ, god’s incarnate flesh, yet look at the sorry state you’re in. How are you fit to be christ? In what way do you look like god? You think that you can save others? You ought to hurry up and save yourself first! Can following you bring blessings? That seems impossible! If your words can save others, then why can’t they save you? Look at you now, you don’t even have a place to rest your head, and you have to seek help from us humans, from powerful people. If you’re god, you should not be so pitiable. If you’re god’s incarnate flesh, you should not be without a place to call home!” So, such people can never wrap their minds around this matter. If one day they see the gospel of the kingdom being spread abroad, with many people in various countries accepting it, and they see that the great red dragon has fallen, that God’s followers are holding their heads high, and no longer being persecuted, and that they are ruling and wielding power without anyone daring to bully them, they would surely completely change their typical attitude, and no longer harbor notions about God reigning in the flesh. Why would there be such a sudden change? These individuals rely solely on what they see with their eyes; they do not believe that God’s words are the truth, that He is almighty, or that everything He says will come to pass. Do such people believe in God? What do they believe in? (Power.) Does Christ have power? Among corrupted mankind, Christ has no power. Some people say, “Doesn’t god have authority? If christ’s essence is god, then why doesn’t he possess god’s authority? Authority is much greater than power, so shouldn’t he have power too?” What is the aim of the work of God incarnate? What is the duty of the incarnate God? Is it to brandish power? (No.) Therefore, like any normal person, He suffers rejection, insults, slander, and hostility from this world—Christ must endure all of these things, He is not exempt from them.

Those who genuinely pursue the truth not only have no notions about Christ’s normality and practicality—on the contrary, they also see God’s loveliness in these qualities more, and gain a better understanding of the true essence of God and the true essence of the Creator through them. Their understanding of God becomes deeper, more practical, more genuine, and more accurate. By contrast, antichrists often feel unwilling to follow a Christ like this because of all His normality and practicality, thinking He lacks supernatural abilities and does not stand out from ordinary people, and furthermore experiences the same living environments as mankind. Antichrists are not only unable to happily accept all of this, and understand God’s disposition from it, they also condemn and guard against it, and even more so make accusations about it. For instance, when someone does something that goes against the principles, if I don’t ask about it and no one tells Me about it, then I won’t know about it—isn’t this a manifestation that falls within the scope of normality and practicality? (Yes.) Those who possess a correct understanding and normal humanity would explain the matter to Me clearly and thoroughly, and then allow Me to deal with them however I see fit. Antichrists do quite the opposite; they observe Me with their eyes, and they test Me by means of worming things out of Me. Then they think to themselves, “Since you don’t know about this matter, that makes it easy to handle—I had a scheme to deal with you in case you did know about it, and I had another scheme to deal with you in case you didn’t; for a major issue, I’d make it sound like a small issue, and then reduce it to nothing at all, keeping you completely in the dark, and allowing this matter to blow over—since you’re unaware of this issue, you don’t need to or have to know about it going forward. I’ll take charge of it. When you find out about it one day, it will have already unfolded as I intend it to, and what will you be able to do to me then?” Which people treat Christ in this manner? Are they good people? Are they people who pursue the truth? Do they possess humanity and integrity? (No.) There were some leaders who did certain things; they promoted individuals in the church arbitrarily, they squandered offerings, and made excessive, indiscriminate purchases, and no matter how much money was spent, or what significant issues arose, they didn’t say a word about it. I went there many times, and they never consulted Me or asked Me about these things, they just made decisions on their own; they didn’t let Me carry out any checks either, and I had to pry information out of them. They treated Me like an outsider: “Since you’re here, we’ll just report to you and tell you about what you can see before you. As for the things we’ve done behind your back, you’d better not think of trying to find out about any of them. We won’t permit you to step in or make inquiries.” No matter how many times I visited, they never allowed Me to make any inquiries. Fearing that I might begin to ask questions, they deliberately concealed the truth with false, nice-sounding words, engaging in trickery. They colluded together, reached a consensus, and exchanged meaningful looks with each other; they maintained a united front, and did not report each other’s problems, shielding one another. When I found out about the things they were doing behind My back and wanted to hold them accountable, they continued shielding each other, not saying who was responsible, acting dumb, and playing word games with Me. What error did they commit? They thought, “Aside from his normal, simple thinking, and ordinary, normal humanity, christ—this ordinary person—has nothing worth boasting about, and no supernatural powers. Since that’s the case, we can make some little moves behind your back, and feel at ease engaging in our own enterprises. We control the church’s money, so we’ll just buy whatever we want. We don’t need to seek at all when a signature is required, we can just sign off on the purchases arbitrarily, without needing them to be reviewed, and spend money in a casual manner. Isn’t christ god? Can you keep a handle on these things? We’ll do as we please; aside from when you’re around, the rest of the time this is all our domain!” How did they treat Christ’s normality and practicality? Didn’t they regard Him as someone who is easy to bully? They thought, “As long as you possess normal humanity, we’re not afraid to bully you. If you don’t possess supernatural humanity, we’re not afraid of you.” What kind of people were they? If judged in terms of their humanity, would they be considered good people? Would they be considered people who possess morals and humanity? Would they be considered people who possess noble integrity? What were they really? Weren’t they a group of miscreants? Whom did these people represent when they worked in God’s house? They didn’t even represent man, they represented Satan. They did things for Satan, they were its lackeys and accomplices; they were here to disturb and destroy the work of God’s house, they were not performing their duties but committing evil. How was this group of Satan’s accomplices different from the great red dragon that captures, persecutes, and abuses God’s chosen people? The great red dragon sees that God’s incarnated flesh is just an ordinary person, that He isn’t frightening at all, so it arbitrarily tries to capture Him, and once it has caught Him, it will try to kill Him. Didn’t these accomplices of Satan, these antichrists, treat Christ in the same way? Isn’t their essence the same? (Yes.) What did they regard Christ as in their belief? Did they believe in Him as God or as a human? If they regarded Christ as God, would they treat Him this way? (No.) There’s only one explanation: They saw Christ as a human, as someone they could casually judge, trick, toy with, scorn, and treat as they wished; this means that they were very bold. If we categorize such audacious people, can they be put in the category and group of created beings, God’s chosen people, His followers, people who can be perfected by Him, and people who can be saved by Him? (No.) Where should such trash be placed? In Satan’s camp. The people in this group are classified as antichrists. They treated Christ like an ordinary person, and acted willfully and recklessly and wielded absolute power within the scope of their influence, thinking, “No matter what the issue is, as long as I don’t seek from you or inform you about it, you have no right to interfere, and you’ll never know about it.” Tell Me, does Christ have the right to deal with them? (Yes.) What would be an appropriate way to do this? (Expel them from the church.) This is how one must deal with antichrists and Satans; one must not show them leniency. When people like this believe in God, regardless of what God does, how He provides people with the truth, or what work He does, they pay this no heed. If they lack power, they think of ways to obtain it, and once they’re in power, they seek to stand on equal footing with Christ, to divide the world with Him, to compete to see who is superior and contest for status with Him. Within the scope of their influence, they want to challenge Christ, saying, “I want to see whose word carries more weight, yours or mine. This church is my turf; I’ll spend the church’s money however I wish, buy whatever I desire, and handle matters as I please. Whoever I decide is no good is no good. I’ll use whoever I want to, and no one is permitted to touch the people I choose to use. If anyone does, I’ll never let the matter drop—even if god says he wants to, I won’t stand for it!” Isn’t this courting death?

If people come to understand God’s loveliness more and gain a clearer and more accurate understanding of God’s practicality and essence through the normal and practical humanity of God incarnate, then they are people who pursue the truth and those who possess humanity. However, some people do not regard Christ as God due to His normal, practical side. They act more impudent and bold before Him, they are more emboldened to act freely, and they become more possessed of thoughts of surpassing Christ and controlling God’s chosen people. They feel that they have capital with which to disdain and compete with Christ, and evidence upon which to regard Christ as a human. They think that after they obtain this evidence, they don’t have to be afraid of Christ, and that they can criticize Him freely, casually converse and laugh with Him and put themselves on equal footing with Him, and discuss their domestic affairs and personal worries with Him. Some even say, “I’ve shared my inner thoughts, weaknesses, and corrupt dispositions with you, so tell me about your state. I’ve told you about my experiences before and after coming to believe in god, and I’ve told you about how I accepted god’s work, so share your experiences with me.” What are they attempting to do? Don’t they see God incarnate as too ordinary and normal, and wish to turn Him into a family member, a buddy, a friend, or a neighbor? Regardless of how normal and practical Christ is, His essence will never change. No matter His age, where He was born, or how His qualifications and experience compare to yours, whether He appears lofty or insignificant to you, never forget that He will always be different from you. Why is this so? He is God living in an outwardly normal and practical flesh; His essence is eternally different from yours; His essence is that of the supreme God who is forever and always above all mankind. Do not forget this. On the surface, He appears to be an ordinary and normal person, He is called Christ, and He has the identity of Christ, but if you regard Him to be a human in your belief, and view Him as an ordinary person, as a member of corrupt mankind, you are in danger. Christ’s identity and essence never change, His essence is the essence of God, and His identity is always that of God. The fact that He lives within the shell of a normal, practical flesh, does not mean that He is a member of corrupt mankind, nor does it mean that humans can manipulate or control Him, or that they can be equals with Him or vie with Him for power. As long as people see Him as human, and measure Him using human ways and perspectives, and try to turn Him into a friend, peer, colleague, or senior officer, they are placing themselves in a dangerous position. Why is it dangerous? If you see Christ as an ordinary, normal human, your corrupt dispositions will begin to emerge. From the moment you regard Christ as human, your evil deeds will start to be exposed. Isn’t this the dangerous part? As long as people see Christ as human, and think that He is normal and practical, that He is easy to trick, and that He is just like mankind, they are not afraid of God, and at this time their relationship with God changes. What does this relationship turn into? Their relationship is no longer that of a created human being and the Creator, it is no longer that of a follower and Christ, and it is no longer that of an object of salvation and God, instead it becomes the relationship of Satan and the Sovereign of all things. People stand opposed to God, and become His enemies. When you view Christ as human, you also change your own identity before God, and your value in His eyes; you completely destroy your prospects and destiny with your self-indulgence, rebelliousness, wickedness, and arrogance. God will only acknowledge, guide, and bestow life and the chance to attain salvation upon you, on the basis that you are a created being, a follower of Christ, and a person who has accepted God’s salvation. Otherwise, your relationship with God will change. When people regard God, Christ, as a person, are they not making a joke? People typically do not see this as problematic, they think, “Christ said that he’s an ordinary and normal person, so what’s wrong with treating him like a person?” Actually, there’s nothing wrong with this, but there are serious consequences to it. Treating Christ like a person has many benefits for you. In one respect, it elevates your standing, in another, it narrows the distance between you and God, and besides that, you won’t be so reserved in God’s presence, you will feel relaxed and free. You will possess your human rights, freedom, and a sense of the value of your existence, and feel a sense of your own presence—isn’t that good? There’s nothing wrong with treating a real person this way, it shows that you have dignity and integrity. A man should not bow down easily; people should not kneel, yield, or admit their inferiority to any person lightly—aren’t these the laws of human survival and man’s game rules? Many apply these laws and game rules to their interactions with Christ. This means trouble, and it is very likely to offend God’s disposition. This is because the nature essence of all members of mankind, regardless of race, is the same. Only Christ is different from mankind. Though Christ has the appearance of normality and practicality, and possesses the lifestyles and routines of normal, practical humanity, His essence is unlike that of any corrupted human. It is precisely because of this that He is qualified to demand that His followers treat Him in the way that He requires. Apart from Christ, no other person is qualified to use these methods and standards to make requirements of people. Why? Because Christ’s essence is God Himself, and because Christ, this ordinary, normal person, is a normal flesh that God is clothed in, and God’s incarnation among humans. Just based on this alone, seeing Christ as a person is incorrect, treating Him like a person is even more incorrect, and tricking Him, toying with Him, and fighting against Him as though He were a person is even worse. Antichrists, this gang of wicked individuals who detest the truth, remain forever oblivious of this significant problem and clear mistake. Why is this? Because their nature essence is the essence of an antichrist. They fight with God in the spiritual realm, vying with Him for status, never addressing Him as God or treating Him as such. In God’s house, they repeat this behavior, treating Christ in the same manner. Their ancestor treated God in this way, so it’s no surprise that they can’t help but act in this way. Since they can’t help but act in this way, and their nature essence has been ascertained, can such people still be saved by God? Are they not to be cleared out and expelled from God’s house? Are they not to be rejected by all of God’s chosen people? (Yes.) Do you still have notions about God’s house condemning, clearing out, and eliminating such individuals? (No.) Are they pitiable? (No.) Why are they not pitiable? They are hateful and detestable, so they are not pitiable.

C. How Antichrists Treat the Humility and Hiddenness of Christ

How antichrists treat the normality and practicality of Christ manifests in many ways, and we have exposed some specific examples just now. We will conclude our fellowship on this aspect here. Regarding another aspect of Christ—His humility and hiddenness—antichrists still exhibit their unique disposition essence, and they possess the same essential manifestations and approaches as they do in their treatment of Christ’s normality and practicality. They still cannot accept these things from God, or accept them as positive things, instead they despise them, they even mock and condemn them, and then they deny them. It is a three-part series: First, they observe, then they condemn, and finally they deny. These are all habitual actions of antichrists; this is determined by the essence of antichrists. What is humility and hiddenness? It should not be hard to understand in literal terms—it means not liking to show off, not flaunting oneself, keeping a low profile, and remaining unknown. This touches on the disposition of God incarnate and the intrinsic personality of God. Based on appearances, it should not be difficult for people to notice: Christ has no ambition, He does not try to seize power, He has no desire for power, He does not cage people’s hearts, nor does He study mind-reading; Christ speaks simply, plainly, clearly, never using prying words or tricks to coax out people’s true thoughts. If people wish to say something, they may; if not, He does not force them. When Christ exposes people’s corrupt dispositions and various states, He speaks directly and clearly points them out; moreover, Christ’s way of handling things is very simple. Those who have interacted with Me should have this impression, saying, “You are quite straightforward, without any tactics for worldly dealings. Despite having status, You don’t seem to feel a sense of superiority in any group.” This statement is indeed accurate; I do not enjoy being in the limelight or increasing My fame in front of others. If I truly lacked this status and God had not testified to Me, My inherent personality is to stay at the back of crowds, not wishing to make Myself seen, not wanting others to know even if I have some special skills, for if people knew, they would follow Me around, which is troublesome and difficult to handle. So, no matter where I go, as soon as people start following Me around, I look for ways to send them away, discussing matters when necessary, and when it is not, quickly returning them to their proper places to do what they ought to be doing. To corrupted people, this is inconceivable, “We humans love You and support You so much! We are so infatuated with You! Why won’t You accept this affection of ours?” What is this talk? I have said what I should say to you, instructed what I must, so go do what you should be doing, don’t circle around Me, I don’t care for it. In people’s view, they think, “God, having done such great work, do You not often feel self-satisfied too? With so many followers, do You not always feel superior too? Do You not always wish to enjoy special treatment?” I say that I never have felt like that; I am never conscious of having so many followers, I don’t feel superior, and I have no sense of how high My standing is. Tell Me, how ecstatic would a normal person ordinarily be on a daily basis if they were in such a position? Wouldn’t they not know what to eat or wear? Wouldn’t they be floating in mid-air all day? Wouldn’t they always be hoping to have people following them around? (Yes.) In particular, those who possess some abilities would always find ways to hold meetings, to enjoy the feeling of attention and applause during speeches, thinking that it surpasses the joy of eating meat and drinking wine. I wonder, why don’t I feel that way? Why don’t I feel that it is good? Why don’t I care for that feeling? In the world’s music scene, those with a bit of talent, especially those who can sing and dance, are called goddesses, gods, music kings, music queens, and even fathers, mothers, and granddaddies. These are not good titles. Moreover, some people feel dissatisfied when they are called “Xiao^[a] Wang” or “Xiao Li,” thinking that it lowers their seniority, and so they seek ways to change their level of seniority, to get people to call them king or queen in the future. This is the corrupted human race. Some people, after coming to believe in God, say believers should not be as insolent as nonbelievers, that they should not be called god, king, or queen, that they must be low-key and humble. They believe that directly calling themselves Humble is a bit vulgar, that it’s not small or lowly enough, so they call themselves Tiny, Minuscule, Dust, Little, and some even Grain of Sand and Nanometer. They do not focus on the truth but ponder over vulgarity, with names like Little Weed, Sprout, and even Dirt, Mud, Dung, and so on. These names are each more unpleasant and lowlier than the last, but can they change anything? I see that people with these names are also very arrogant, bad, and some are even evil people. Those named thus not only have not become smaller or humbler but remain insolent, wicked, and malicious.

The first time that God became flesh to work on earth, His work was simple and brief, but it was an indispensable and important stage of work for the salvation of mankind. However, after the Lord Jesus was crucified, He came back to life and ascended to heaven, without appearing to mankind again. Why didn’t He appear to mankind again? This is the humility and hiddenness of God. According to normal human logic, God became flesh and suffered for thirty-three and a half years, enduring mankind’s rejection, slander, condemnation, abuse, and so on, and He should have returned among people to enjoy the fruits of His victory and glory after He was crucified and came back to life. He should have lived another thirty-three and a half years or even longer, enjoying mankind worshiping and looking up to Him, and the status and treatment He deserved. However, God did not do this. In this stage of the work, God came quietly and silently, without any ceremony, and unlike humans who seek to make their presence felt whenever they have a bit of ability, God would not want to proclaim to the world, “I am here, I am God Himself!” God did not utter a single word like this for Himself but was quietly born in a stable. Apart from the three wise men who came to worship God, the rest of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ was filled with hardships and suffering, which only ended with His crucifixion. God obtained glory and forgave man’s sins—this means that He performed a great deed for mankind because He helped people escape from sin and the sea of suffering, and He is the Redeemer of mankind. So, it stands to reason that God should have enjoyed mankind’s worship, admiration, and prostration. However, God departed quietly and silently, without making a sound. Over the past two thousand years, God’s work has always been expanding. The process of this expansion has been filled with hardship, bloodshed, and the condemnation and slander of all mankind. But, regardless of mankind’s attitude toward God, He has continued to express the truth and has never given up on His work of saving man. Moreover, during these two thousand years, God has never used clear words to declare Himself, to say that the Lord Jesus is His incarnate flesh, and that mankind should worship and accept Him. God just uses the simplest method, sending His servants to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven to all nations and places, allowing more people to repent, come before God, and accept His salvation, and thus obtain the forgiveness of their sins. God has never used any superfluous words to say that He is the coming Messiah; instead, He has proven through facts that all He has done is the work of God Himself, that the salvation of the Lord Jesus is God’s own salvation, that the Lord Jesus redeemed all mankind, and that He is God Himself. In the present incarnation, God came among people in the same manner and form. God’s coming in the flesh is a huge blessing for mankind, an incredibly rare opportunity, and even more so, it is the good fortune of mankind. But what does it mean for God Himself? It is the most painful thing. Can you understand this? The essence of God is God. God, who possesses God’s identity, inherently lacks arrogance, and instead He is faithful, holy, and righteous. By coming among mankind, He must face man’s various corrupt dispositions, meaning that all those people He wishes to save are those He hates and finds disgusting. God lacks an arrogant disposition, wickedness, and deceitfulness, He loves positive things, He is righteous and holy, but what He faces is precisely a group of humans that is opposite and inimical to His essence. What does God give the most? His love, patience, mercy, and tolerance. God’s love, mercy, and tolerance are His humility and hiddenness. Corrupt mankind thinks, “God does such great work, gains such great glory, and He is sovereign over so many things, so why doesn’t He announce or declare Himself?” For humans, this seems as easy as snapping their fingers; when they do a good deed they exaggerate it tenfold, when they do a little bit of good they inflate it by two or three times, infinitely magnifying it, and think that the more detail with which they do so, the better. But these things are not in God’s essence. Regardless of what God does, there’s none of man’s so-called “transactions” to it; God doesn’t want to solicit anything, He does not “seek remuneration” as humans call it. God does not have a desire for status, like corrupt mankind does, He does not say, “I am God; I do what I want, and no matter what I do, you must remember My goodness, you must take the things I do to heart and always commemorate Me.” God lacks precisely this kind of essence; He has no ambition, He does not have the arrogant disposition of corrupt mankind, and He doesn’t declare Himself. Some say, “If You don’t declare Yourself, how can people know You are God? How can they see that You have the status of God?” It’s unnecessary; this is what God’s essence can achieve. God possesses the essence of God; no matter how humble and hidden He is, how secretly He works, how He shows mercy and tolerance to mankind, the ultimate effect of His words, work, actions, and so forth on people is bound to be created humans accepting the sovereignty of the Creator, bowing down to and worshiping the Creator, and willingly submitting to the Creator’s sovereignty and arrangements. This is determined by God’s essence. And what antichrists cannot achieve is precisely this. They have ambitions and desires, as well as arrogant, vicious, and wicked dispositions, they lack the truth, and yet they still want to possess and control people, and to make people submit to and worship them. Judging based on the essence of antichrists, aren’t they wicked? Antichrists contend with God for His chosen people, will God contend with them? Does God have this essence? Does God obtain the worship and submission of created humans by contending for it? (No.) How does He obtain it? Created beings are made by God; only the Creator knows what mankind needs, should possess, and how mankind should live. For instance, say that a person creates a machine. Only its inventor knows its defects and flaws, and how to fix it, whoever attempts to make a counterfeit of the machine does not. Similarly, mankind was created by God; only God knows what people need, only God can save mankind, and only God can transform corrupted humans into true humans. God does all this not by His authority, not by self-declarations, self-justifications, or by suppressing, misleading, or controlling people; God does not use these means and methods, only Satan and antichrists do.

After so much fellowship, what is your understanding of God’s humility and hiddenness? What is God’s humility and hiddenness? Is hiddenness the deliberate concealment of His identity, the intentional hiding of His essence and true circumstances? (No.) Is humility something feigned in an artificial way? Is it self-restraint? Is it pretense? (No.) Some people say, “You are God incarnate, how can someone of such noble status wear such ordinary clothes?” I say I am just an ordinary person, living an ordinary life; everything about Me is ordinary, so why can’t I wear ordinary clothes? Some say, “You are Christ, the incarnate God. Your status is noble—don’t belittle Yourself.” I say, what belittling? I don’t overrate or belittle Myself; I am who I am, I do what I should do, and I say what I should say—what’s wrong with that? Neither overrating nor belittling is correct; overrating is arrogance, belittling is pretense and deceit. Some say, “The incarnate God should have the demeanor of a celebrity, and Your speech and behavior should be elegant. Look at the hairstyles, outfits, and makeup of those powerful women in society, those are the people of status, those are the ones who people think highly of!” I say, what is status? What does it matter if people look up to Me? I don’t care for it; if you look up to Me, I find this disgusting and nauseating. You absolutely must not look up to Me. Others say, “Look at those female entrepreneurs in society, they dress so nobly and elegantly. At one glance, you can see that they are powerful, elite figures—why don’t You learn from them?” Why should I learn something I don’t like? I wear clothes that match My age, why should I pretend? Why should I learn from others? I am Me, who am I pretending for? Isn’t that deception? Tell Me, what kind of likeness, appearance, speech, and behavior should God incarnate have to match His identity? Do you have standards for this? You must have, otherwise, you wouldn’t view Christ in such a way. I have My standards—do My standards go beyond the scope of the truth principles? (No.) Why do some people always have notions about whatever I wear or eat, constantly summarizing and passing verdicts on Me—isn’t that disgusting? Why do they see Me this way? In their eyes, whatever Christ does is wrong, it is all negative, there’s always something fishy going on with it. How wicked they must be! Judging from this series of different identities, different perspectives of God—from the essence of the Spirit of God and God Himself, to the humanity of the incarnate God—there is no arrogance or any of Satan’s ambitions and desires within God’s essence, and even less so is there man’s so-called drive for status. Aside from His own essence, the most prominent feature of what God possesses, from God’s Spirit to His incarnate flesh, is His humility and hiddenness. This humility is not feigned, this hiddenness is not deliberate evasion; this is God’s essence, this is God Himself. Whether God is in the spiritual realm or incarnated as a human, His essence does not change. If someone cannot see that the incarnate Christ possesses the essence of God based on this, what kind of person are they? They lack spiritual understanding, they are a disbeliever. If they look at God’s essence of humility and hiddenness, people think: “God doesn’t seem to have such great authority. Saying that God is almighty doesn’t seem very credible, it’s safer to say God is mighty. Since He doesn’t have such great authority, how can He hold sovereignty over mankind? Since He never displays God’s status and identity, can He defeat Satan? God is said to have wisdom—can wisdom decide everything? Which is greater, wisdom or almightiness? Can wisdom sway almightiness? Can wisdom influence almightiness?” People ponder on this but cannot see through to it or understand it. Some people harbor some doubts in their hearts, and then they gradually digest them, continuously seeking and trying to understand this matter through their experiences, and they unknowingly gain some perceptual knowledge. Only antichrists, after doubting all these aspects of God’s essence, all these manifestations, and all of His actions, not only fail to understand that this is God’s humility and hiddenness, that this is what’s lovable about God, but on the contrary acquire more doubts about God and more severe condemnations of God. They doubt God’s sovereignty over everything, they doubt that God can defeat Satan, they doubt that God can save mankind, they doubt that God’s six-thousand-year management plan can be successfully completed, and even more so, they doubt the fact that God will reveal Himself to all people with His glorification. After doubting these things, what do they do? They deny these things. So, antichrists say, “Christ’s humility and hiddenness mean nothing, they are not worthy of praise or extolment, and they are not god’s essence. Such humility and hiddenness are not things that god possesses; christ’s humility and hiddenness are manifestations of his impotence. In the world, as long as someone has a bit of status, they are crowned king, marquis, or emperor. Christ has established his kingdom and has so many followers, and at the same time the expansion of the gospel work is flourishing—doesn’t that mean christ’s power is increasing? But judging based on his actions, he doesn’t intend to increase his power, or to possess such power. It’s as if he doesn’t have the ability to possess this power, to possess christ’s kingdom. Can I gain blessings by following him, then? Can I become the master of the next age? Can I rule over all nations and peoples? Can he destroy this old world, this corrupt mankind? Looking at christ’s ordinary appearance, how can he accomplish great things?” Such doubts always arise in the hearts of antichrists. Christ’s humility and hiddenness are things that all corrupted humans, especially antichrists, are unable to accept, approve of, or see; antichrists take God’s humility and hiddenness as evidence for their doubts about God’s identity and essence, as evidence and leverage for denying God’s authority, thus denying God’s identity and essence, and the essence of Christ. After denying Christ’s essence, antichrists start to act against God’s chosen people within their jurisdiction, without mercy, without leniency, and without fear, and at the same time, they do not deny or doubt their own abilities, skills, or ambitions in the slightest. Within their sphere of influence, within the sphere where they can act, antichrists stretch out their claws, controlling those they can control, and misleading those they can mislead; they throw Christ and God completely out of consideration, thoroughly breaking with God, Christ, and God’s house.

What are we primarily fellowshipping on when it comes to this item about how antichrists treat Christ’s humility and hiddenness? God’s humility and hiddenness—which people ought to understand—are the most advantageous conditions in the eyes of antichrists for doing whatever they want and establishing an independent kingdom in God’s house. God is hidden in the flesh, and this stage of work in the last days differs in form from that of the Age of Grace. Although God does not perform miracles and wonders in this stage, He has spoken far more words, countless more words. No matter how God works, as long as He is incarnate, tremendous humiliation comes along with Him performing His work. Only a God like this, who possesses a divine essence, can truly humble and hide Himself to become an ordinary person to do His work, because He possesses the essence of humility and hiddenness. By contrast, Satan is absolutely incapable of this. What kind of flesh would Satan wear to do work among humans? First, it would have an imposing appearance, and it would be vicious, deceitful, and wicked; then, it must master various strategies and techniques to toy with and manipulate people, along with various deceitful tricks, it must be ruthless and malicious enough. It must constantly make itself seen among people, and get itself into the limelight everywhere, for fear that someone might not know it, and it must always try to increase its fame and promote itself. When people finally call it king or emperor, it will be satisfied. What God does is exactly the opposite of what Satan does. God keeps exercising patience and hiding, and while He does this, He works His words and His life into people using the mercy and lovingkindness of the Creator, so that people can understand the truth, be saved, and become true created beings with normal humanity and a normal human life. Although what God does is priceless to mankind, God considers it His own responsibility. So, He personally became flesh, and tirelessly provides for, helps, supports, enlightens, and illuminates people like a mother or a father. Of course, He also chastises, judges, chastens, and disciplines people, watching them change day by day, live a normal church life day by day, and grow in life day by day. Thus, all that God does is the reality of positive things. Among mankind, humans praise the prices paid by God, His great power, and His glory, but in God’s words, when has He ever told people: “I have done this and that for mankind, I have sacrificed so much; people must praise and extol Me”? Does God have such demands for mankind? No. This is God Himself. God has never used conditions to make exchanges with people, saying, “I have placed Christ among you, you must treat Him well, listen to His words, submit to Him, and follow Him. Do not cause disturbances or disruptions, do whatever He tells you to do, how He tells you to do it, and when everything is accomplished, you will all be credited.” Has God ever said such a thing? Is this God’s intention? No. On the contrary, it is antichrists who are always trying to use various means to seduce, constrain, control, and master everything about people, to make people leave God to come before themselves. It is antichrists who proclaim and announce everywhere whenever they do some small deed. Antichrists not only cannot understand, accept, praise, or extol God’s humility and hiddenness, instead they also despise and blaspheme these things. This is determined by the disposition essence of antichrists.

Today, we’ve fellowshipped on the three manifestations of how antichrists deny the essence of Christ. Let’s conclude our fellowship on this here. Do you have any questions? (No.) Alright, goodbye!

November 21, 2020

Footnotes:

a. Chinese speakers put “Xiao” before the surname of a person who is younger than themselves.