II. The Interests of Antichrists

D. Their Prospects and Destiny

Last time, we fellowshipped on item four of the interests of antichrists: their prospects and destiny, which is divided into five additional items. First, please review these five items. (1. How antichrists treat the words of God; 2. How antichrists treat their duty; 3. How antichrists treat being pruned; 4. How antichrists regard the title “service-doer”; 5. How antichrists approach their status in the church.) Last time we fellowshipped on the first of these items, “How antichrists treat the words of God.” Firstly, we used the word “study” to expose one of antichrists’ primary attitudes in their treatment of the words of God. “Studying” is a primary and fundamental attitude of people like antichrists in their treatment of the words of God. They do not treat the words of God with an attitude of acceptance or submission at all, and instead they scrutinize them. They absolutely do not accept or regard the words of God as the truth or as the way that people should hold fast to, and they do not treat the words of God with an attitude of seeking the truth or accepting the truth. Instead, their purpose in everything is their own desires and ambitions, their own prospects and destiny, and they look for the destinations and the prospects and destiny that they want in the words of God. One of the primary attitudes in their treatment of the words of God is that they link God’s words with their prospects and destiny in every matter. Judging from their attitude in the treatment of His words, this kind of person’s nature essence is that they do not truly believe, accept, or submit to the words of God, but instead scrutinize and analyze them, looking for blessings and benefits within them to gain a great advantage. Judging from their attitude in how they treat God’s words, how much do they believe in God? Do they have true faith in Him? Judging from their essence, they do not have true faith in God. So why can they still hold the words of God and read them? Judging from their nature essence, intentions, and desires, they do not want to gain the truth and the path to changing their disposition from God’s words, thereby achieving salvation. Instead, they want to seek all the things that they want inside the words of God. What do they seek? They seek mysteries, they seek secrets known only to Heaven, and they seek some lofty doctrines and profound knowledge. Therefore, judging by the attitude of this kind of person in their treatment of God’s words and their nature essence, they are all out-and-out disbelievers. What they want is nothing more than a good destination, good prospects, and a good destiny. They do not accept the words of God with sincerity, but instead try to find various opportunities and avenues inside His words through which to get the things they want, and to satisfy their desires and ambitions for gaining blessings. Therefore, this kind of person will never regard the words of God as the truth or as the way they must abide by. If antichrists treat the words of God with such an attitude, then what is their attitude toward one of the most fundamental requirements of mankind in God’s words—performing their duty as created beings? Today we will fellowship on the second item—how antichrists treat their duty—and expose what manifestations and attitudes antichrists have when doing their duty.

2. How Antichrists Treat Their Duty

Antichrists do not treat the words of God with an attitude of acceptance and submission, so of course they cannot treat the requirement in His words that mankind perform their duty as created beings with an attitude of accepting the truth. Therefore, in one respect they are resistant to the duty entrusted to man by God and do not want to do their duty, and in another respect they are afraid of losing the opportunity to gain blessings. This gives rise to a kind of transaction. What transaction is that? They discover from the words of God that if people do not do their duties, they might be eliminated, that if they do not do their duties as created beings, they will have no opportunity to gain the truth, and that if they do not do their duties as created beings, in the future they might lose their blessings in the kingdom of heaven. What does this signify? This signifies that if somebody does not do their duty, they will inevitably lose their chance at gaining blessings. After antichrists have obtained such information from the words of God and from many fellowships and sermons, a desire and an interest to do their duty as created beings develops deep in their hearts. Does developing such desire and interest show that they can sincerely expend themselves for God and sincerely do their duty? Judging by the nature essence of antichrists, this point is very difficult to reach. So then what causes them to do their duty? There should be an account of this in everybody’s heart, and there should be some specific stories inside this account. So, what does this record in the heart of an antichrist look like? They make very fine, accurate, precise, and diligent calculations, so it is not a muddled account. When they decide to do their duty, they first calculate: “If I am going to do my duty now, I will have to give up the joy of being together with family, and I will have to give up my career and my worldly prospects. If I leave these things to do my duty, what can I gain? The words of god say that, in this final age, those who can meet god, who can perform their duty in god’s house, and who can remain in the end are the ones who can gain great blessings. Seeing as god’s words say so, I suppose god can do it and accomplish it according to these words. Also, god makes a lot of promises to these people who can do their duty and can expend themselves for him!” Through studying the words of God, they construe many promises made by God in the final age to people who do their duty, and this on top of their personal imaginings and all the notions created by their own analysis and scrutiny of these words creates a deep interest in and impulse toward doing their duty. Then they go to pray before God, where they make solemn pledges and oaths, establishing their willingness to forsake and expend everything for God, to dedicate this life to Him and give up all fleshly happiness and prospects. Although they pray in this way and their words all seem correct, what they think deep down is known only to themselves and to God. Their prayers and their resolution seem pure, as if they are only doing this to fulfill God’s commission, to do their duty and satisfy God’s intentions, but deep in their hearts they are calculating how they can obtain blessings and obtain the things that they want through doing their duty, and what they can do to let God see all that they have paid and make Him deeply impressed by what they have paid and what they have done, so that He will commemorate what they have done and ultimately bestow on them the prospects and blessings they want. Before deciding to do their duty, deep in their hearts, antichrists are brimming with expectations toward their prospects, gaining blessings, a good destination, and even a crown, and they have the utmost confidence in attaining these things. They come to the house of God to do their duty with such intentions and aspirations. So, does their performance of duty contain the sincerity, genuine faith and loyalty that God requires? At this point, one cannot yet see their genuine loyalty, faith, or sincerity, because everyone harbors an entirely transactional mindset before they do their duty; everyone makes the decision to do their duty driven by interests, and also based on the precondition of their overflowing ambitions and desires. What is the antichrists’ intention in doing their duty? It’s to make a deal, to make an exchange. It could be said that these are the conditions they set for doing duty: “If I do my duty, then I must obtain blessings and have a good destination. I must obtain all the blessings and benefits that god has said are prepared for humankind. If I can’t obtain them, then I won’t do this duty.” They come to the house of God to do their duty with such intentions, ambitions, and desires. It seems like they do have some sincerity, and of course for those who are new believers and are just starting to do their duty, it can also be called enthusiasm. But there is no genuine faith or loyalty in this; there’s only that degree of enthusiasm. It can’t be called sincerity. Judging from this attitude antichrists have toward doing their duty, it is wholly transactional and filled with their desires for benefits like gaining blessings, entering the kingdom of heaven, obtaining a crown, and receiving rewards. So, it appears from the outside that many antichrists, before being expelled, are doing their duty and have even forsaken more and suffered more than the average person. What they expend and the price they pay are on par with Paul, and they do no less running about than Paul either. This is something everyone can see. In terms of their behavior and their will to suffer and pay the price, they ought not to receive nothing. However, God does not regard a person based on their outward behavior, but based on their essence, their disposition, what they reveal, and the nature and essence of every single thing that they do. When people judge and treat others, they determine who they are based solely on their external behavior, how much they suffer, and what price they pay, and this is a grave mistake.

The antichrists’ attitude in the treatment of their duty has been like this from the beginning. They come to God’s house to do their duty with ambitions, desires, and transactions. This is what they calculate and plan deep in their hearts before doing their duty. What is their plan? What is the core and the focal point of their calculations? They are aiming to gain blessings, to have a good destination, and some people are even aiming to avoid disaster. This is their intention. They scrutinize the words of God over and over, but cannot for the life of them see that God’s words are all truth, that in God’s words lies the path of practice, and that God’s words can allow people to be cleansed, achieve dispositional change, and attain salvation. They cannot see these things however hard they look. No matter how they read the words of God, what they care most about and place the most importance on is nothing other than the blessings and promises God gifts to those who forsake, expend, endure hardship, and pay a price for Him. When they find in God’s words what they believe is the most central and most important content, it is as if they have found a lifeline. They feel that it seems they will gain great blessings, and think that they are the most blessed and fortunate people in this age. Therefore, they rejoice deep in their hearts: “I’ve happened upon a good time in this life; none of those apostles and prophets through the ages have met christ of the last days. Today I am following christ of the last days, so I cannot miss this opportunity to gain great blessings. This is a chance to be rewarded and get a crown! Nonbelievers won’t have this fortune, and no matter how well they enjoy this life or how high a status they have, come the great disasters they will all be destroyed. Therefore, I must give up the fleshly pleasures of the world, because no matter how much I enjoy these things, they are temporary and ephemeral. I shall look to the future and gain greater blessings and rewards, and a bigger crown!” And so, in their hearts they warn themselves: “In doing my duty, no matter how much I suffer or how much I have to run about, no matter if I am imprisoned or tortured, and no matter what difficulties I meet, I must persevere, persevere, and then persevere some more! I cannot be discouraged, I must put up with all humiliation and bear a heavy burden, and persevere until the final moment. I believe that what god said, ‘The one who follows to the end will surely be saved,’ is bound to come true for me.” Are any of the ideas and opinions that they think and believe in their hearts consistent with the truth? (No.) None of them are consistent with the truth, and none of them are in accordance with the words of God or the intentions of God—they are all calculations and plans for their personal prospects and destiny. Deep in their hearts, they have no interest in any requirement for mankind mentioned in the words of God; they pay no heed to them. Deep in their hearts, they are repulsed by and resistant to the exposure of humanity and the requirements of them in the words of God, and even develop notions, so when they see these words they feel resistant to them and feel uncomfortable, and they subsequently pass over them without reading. When it comes to the exhortations, comfort, reminders, mercy and sympathy for humanity in the words of God, they show impatience and are unwilling to accept or listen, believing these words to be phony. In their hearts, they are repulsed by and feel resistant to God’s words of judgment and chastisement and His work of trials among people, and they are unwilling to accept them and they avoid them. Instead, they only take great interest in words about God’s promises or blessings for humanity, and they even read them frequently to satisfy their hearts’ impatient desire to gain blessings, eager to be raptured into the kingdom of heaven right away and be freed from all suffering. When they can no longer persevere in the course of doing their duty, and they develop doubts about whether they can gain blessings, and their “faith” wavers, or when their willpower is not firm and they want to shrink back, they read these words and make them their motivation for doing their duty. They never try to ponder the truth in God’s words in any of their chapters or passages, and they do not want to experience the judgment of the words of God in the slightest, let alone come to know themselves and clearly see the reality of mankind’s profound corruption through those words of God which expose mankind’s corrupt essence. They also turn a deaf ear to God’s intentions, requirements, and exhortations for mankind, paying them no heed and treating them with an attitude of irreverence and indifference. Deep in their hearts, they believe, “What god says and does is just a formality; who can accept it? Who can understand it? Who can truly practice according to the words of god? These words of god are all superfluous. What’s most realistic is for people to exchange their performance of duty for blessings—nothing is more realistic than this.” So, they search in God’s words again and again, and once they have found this path, they regard doing one’s duty as the only path to gaining blessings. These are the intentions, purposes, and innermost calculations of antichrists when doing their duty. So, what manifestations and revelations do they show in the course of doing their duty that allow people to see that the essence of such people is an antichrist essence through and through? It is no accident that antichrists are able to do their duty—they absolutely do their duty with their own intentions and purposes and the desire to gain blessings. Whatever duty they do, their purpose and attitude are of course inseparable from gaining blessings, the good destination and the good prospects and destiny which they think about and are concerned with day and night. They are like businesspeople who don’t talk about anything besides their work. Whatever antichrists do is all linked to fame, gain, and status—it is all linked to gaining blessings and prospects and destiny. Deep down, their hearts are full of such things; this is the nature essence of antichrists. It is precisely because of this kind of nature essence that others are able to clearly see that their ultimate end is to be eliminated.

In God’s words, God has requirements for all kinds of people, and has requirements and clear sayings on all sorts of duties and work. These words are all God’s requirements for mankind, and these requirements are what people should abide by and what they should practice and achieve. What attitude do antichrists have toward the words of God and God’s requirements? Do they adopt an attitude of submission? Do they adopt an attitude of humble acceptance? They certainly do not. Given their disposition, when antichrists come to God’s house to do their duty can they do it well in accordance with God’s requirements and the arrangements of God’s house? (No, they cannot.) They absolutely cannot. When antichrists are doing their duty, their first thought is not to seek the principles that doing their duty entails, and what God requires, or what the rules of God’s house are. Instead, first they inquire about whether they will be blessed or rewarded for doing this duty. If it is not certain that they will be blessed or rewarded, they are unwilling to do this duty; and even if they do, they will be perfunctory. Antichrists reluctantly do their duty in order to obtain blessings. They also inquire whether they will be able to put themselves on display and be looked up to by doing this duty, and whether the Above or God will know if they do this duty. These are all things they consider when they do a duty. The first thing they want to determine is what benefits they can get by doing a duty and whether they can be blessed. This is the most important thing to them. They never think about how to be considerate of God’s intentions and repay God’s love, how to preach the gospel and testify to God so that people gain God’s salvation and obtain happiness, much less do they ever seek to understand the truth, or seek how to resolve their corrupt dispositions and live out a human likeness. They never consider these things. They only think about whether they can be blessed and gain benefits, how to gain a foothold, how to gain status, how to make people look up to them, and how to distinguish themselves and become the best in the church and in the crowd. They are absolutely not willing to be ordinary followers. They always want to be the first in the church, have the final say, become leaders, and make everyone listen to them. Only then can they be satisfied. You can see that antichrists’ hearts are full of these things. Do they genuinely expend for God? Do they genuinely do their duty as created beings? (No.) Then what do they want to do? (To hold power.) That’s right. They say, “As for me, in the secular world I want to outdo everyone else. I have to be the first in any group. I refuse to come in second, and I will never be a sidekick. I want to be a leader and have the final say in any group of people I’m in. If I don’t have the final say, then I will try all the means possible to convince you all, to make you all look up to me, and to make you choose me as the leader. Once I have status, I will have the final say, everyone will have to listen to me. You will have to do things my way, and you will have to be under my control.” No matter what duty the antichrists do, they will try to put themselves in a high position, in a position of primacy. They could never be content with their place as an ordinary follower. And what are they most passionate about? It is standing in front of people giving orders and telling people off, making people do as they say. They never think about how to do their duty properly—much less, while doing their duty, do they seek the truth principles in order to practice the truth and satisfy God. Instead, they rack their brains for ways to distinguish themselves, to make the leaders think highly of them and promote them, so that they themselves can become a leader or worker, and can lead other people. This is what they spend all day thinking about and hoping for. Antichrists are not willing to be led by others, nor are they willing to be an ordinary follower, much less to go quietly about doing their duty without fanfare. Whatever their duty, if they cannot be front and center, if they cannot be above others and lead other people, they find doing their duty boring, and become negative and start slacking. Without the praise or worship of others, it is even less interesting to them, and they have even less desire to do their duty. But if they can be front and center while doing their duty and get to have the final say, they feel fortified, and will suffer any hardship. They always have personal intentions in the performance of their duty, and they always want to distinguish themselves as a means to satisfy their need to beat other people, and satisfy their desires and ambitions. While doing their duty, in addition to being highly competitive—competing, in every regard, to stand out, to be on top, to get above others—they’re also thinking about how to keep their current status, reputation and prestige. If there is anyone who threatens their status or prestige, they stop at nothing, and give no quarter, in bringing them down and getting rid of them. They even use despicable means to suppress those who are able to pursue the truth, who do their duty with loyalty and a sense of responsibility. They are also full of envy and hatred toward brothers and sisters who perform excellently in their duty. They are especially hateful toward those whom the other brothers and sisters endorse and approve of; they believe such people to be a serious threat to what they strive for, to their reputation and status, and in their hearts they swear that “It’s you or me, me or you, there isn’t room for the two of us, and if I do not bring you down and get rid of you, I cannot live with myself!” Toward brothers and sisters who express a different opinion, who expose them, or who threaten their status, they are relentless: They think of anything they can to get something on them in order to pass judgment on them and condemn them, to discredit them and bring them down, and they will not rest until they do. They have only one attitude in their treatment of any person: If that person threatens their status, they will bring them down and get rid of them. All of their sworn followers are people who flatter them, and whatever bad things these people do and however much damage they cause to the work of the church and the interests of God’s house, they will cover up for them and protect them. In the course of doing their duty, antichrists are always managing their own fame, gain, and status, managing their own independent kingdom. The essence of doing their duty is to fight for their independent kingdom and to fight for their own prospects and destiny.

Some antichrists lead a dozen or so people in a small team, and some lead a church of people or even more. No matter how many people they lead, they are already controlling these people when doing their duties, and they wield the power as a king among them. They are not concerned with how God condemns and loathes such matters, and only care about keeping a firm hold on the power in their hands and tightly controlling those people under them that they are able to control. Therefore, judging from the intentions and motivations of antichrists in doing their duties, their essence is vicious and wicked. So based on their behavior when doing their duties, what disposition do they reveal? Their disposition is also a vicious one. How is this vicious disposition characterized? While they may suffer hardship and pay the price when doing their duties, none of the duties that they do are done according to God’s words. In the course of doing their duties, they do not implement work arrangements at all, let alone seek the principles set by God’s house for each task. They only satisfy their personal preferences and their desire for power, and also their personal wish to always be doing something. These are all some conditions for which antichrists believe they can receive a crown. They wishfully think: “If I just do things this way, paying a price, forsaking and expending myself, god is sure to give me a crown and reward me in the end!” They never heed or take seriously the requirements and principles that are emphasized and repeatedly put forward to mankind in God’s words; they only consider them to be a set of sayings. Their mentality is: “Whatever your requirements, I can’t loosen my power or my pursuits, and I can’t let go of my wishes or ambitions. If I don’t have these things, then what drive or motivation do I have to do my duties?” These are some of the manifestations of antichrists when doing their duties. Whatever God’s words say, and whatever required standards and principles the Above has for various tasks, antichrists do not listen and pay no heed. However specific the words of the Above, however stringent the requirements about this aspect of work, they pretend not to hear or not to understand, and they are still acting recklessly and arbitrarily and running amok down below, doing things according to their own intentions. They believe that if they do things according to God’s requirements and according to the methods required by the Above, they will lose their status, and the power they hold will be transferred and dissolved. They believe that doing things according to the truth and according to the requirements in God’s words is an imperceptible attack on and deprivation of their power—it is an assault on their personal reputation. They think: “I’m not that foolish. If I accept your opinions, won’t I appear incompetent and lacking in leadership talent? If I accept your opinions, if I admit that I’m wrong, then will my brothers and sisters still listen to me afterward? Will I still have prestige? If I do things according to the requirements of the above, won’t I lose the chance to show myself off? Will my brothers and sisters still worship me then? Will they still listen to what I say? If none of them listen to what I say, then what’s the point in doing this duty? How can I still do this work? If I don’t have authority in the group and my prestige is reduced, and if they all listen to god’s words and practice according to the truth principles, then won’t my leadership be empty? Won’t I become a puppet? Then what enthusiasm will I have for doing these things? If my leadership is empty and whatever I do is meaningless, then will I still have any future prospects?” What antichrists want is to be placed above all others in any given group, thereby getting a future crown and future rewards in return. They believe that as long as they become an outstanding figure and a leader of others among God’s chosen people, they will be entitled to receive a future crown in return, and to receive great blessings in the future. Therefore, antichrists will not loosen up the power they hold at any time and will not relax their vigilance under any circumstances. They fear that if they let their guard down even a little, the power in their hands will be stripped or weakened. When doing their duties, they do not do them to the best of their abilities in their own position, doing their duties well and bearing witness to God according to the principles of God’s words and to His requirements. Instead, they use such opportunities to firmly grasp onto the crown they believe they are about to receive. Even if some antichrists are able to comply with the requirements of God’s house as a set of regulations, that still cannot show that they are people who accept the truth and submit to the words of God. What is the reason behind this? Some antichrists, in the course of doing their duties, always want to seize power and satisfy their desire for it, and always want to have status and lecture people and order them around from a position of status. But some antichrists are different and have this kind of worry: “The bird that sticks its neck out is the one that gets shot. That means whoever sticks their neck out and makes mistakes will suffer. I won’t be such a fool. No matter how capable I am, I’ll only put in thirty percent, and I’ll save the other seventy for myself to keep as a fallback—I must hold back a bit. Whatever god’s house says or requires of me, on the surface I will agree, and I won’t be someone who disrupts and disturbs. Whoever leads, I will follow, and I’ll approve of whatever they say. I’ll be fine as long as I stick to the regulations given by the above and don’t violate them. As far as devoting my loyalty to god and sincerely expending myself for him, there is no need for this. I will expend a bit of effort in doing my duty, doing just enough is acceptable, and I won’t be a fool. Whatever I do, I need to hold back a little to avoid receiving nothing and ending up having nothing to show for all this.” This kind of antichrist believes that it is foolish of others to take on responsibilities in doing their duties and always stick their neck out to resolve problems, and that they must not be such fools themselves. In their hearts, they know if someone pursues status and manages their own power, they’ll get exposed sooner or later, but to practice the truth they must pay a price, make an effort, offer their sincerity, and be loyal. They would have to suffer a lot of hardship, and they are not willing to do so. They adopt an approach of compromise, neither sticking their neck out nor shrinking back, following the middle path. They believe: “I’ll do whatever I’m asked. I’ll just go through the motions and be done with it, and if I’m asked to do it better, I just won’t do it. To do it better, I’d have to pay a higher price and check more materials—it would be so tiring! If god would give me extra rewards for doing it that way then fair enough, but god’s words don’t seem to say anything about extra rewards. Since this is the case, then I do not need to suffer and tire myself out; it’s better to just take it easy.” Can such a person do their duty well? Can they gain the truth? Can those who do not strive toward the truth but instead are perfunctory or negative and slacking off in their work receive God’s approval? Absolutely not.

What is an antichrist’s most obvious manifestation? Firstly, they do not accept the truth, which is something everyone can see. Not only do they not accept other people’s suggestions, but most importantly, they also do not accept being pruned. It is certain beyond doubt that antichrists do not accept the truth; if they could accept the truth then they would not be antichrists. So why do antichrists still do their duties? What exactly is their intention in doing their duties? It is to “receive a hundredfold in this life and eternal life in the world to come.” They are entirely following this saying in their duties. Is this not a transaction? This is absolutely a transaction. Judging by the nature of this transaction, is this not a wicked disposition? (Yes.) So in what way are they wicked? Can anyone tell Me? (Although antichrists hear so many truths expressed by God, they never pursue them. They firmly hold on to their status and don’t let go, only doing their duty for their personal benefit and to wield power over others.) That answer is kind of right, you’ve sort of got it, but it’s not specific enough. If they know full well that it is wrong to make transactions with God, but still persist to the end and refuse to repent, then this problem is serious. Nowadays, most people do their duties with the intention of gaining blessings. They all want to use the performance of their duties to be rewarded and get a crown, and they do not understand the significance of performing one’s duty. This problem needs to be fellowshipped on clearly. So, let’s first talk about just how people’s duty came into being. God works to manage and save humankind. Of course God has requirements of people, and these requirements are their duty. It is evident that people’s duty arises from God’s work and His requirements of humankind. Regardless of what duty one performs, it is the most proper thing they could do, the most beautiful and just thing among humankind. As created beings, people ought to perform their duty, and only then can they receive the approval of the Creator. Created beings live under the Creator’s dominion, and they accept all that is provided by God and everything that comes from God, so they should fulfill their responsibilities and obligations. This is perfectly natural and justified, and was ordained by God. From this it can be seen that, for people to perform the duty of a created being is more just, beautiful, and noble than anything else done while living on earth; nothing among humankind is more meaningful or worthy, and nothing brings greater meaning and worth to the life of a created person, than performing the duty of a created being. On earth, only the group of people who truly and sincerely perform the duty of a created being are those who submit to the Creator. This group does not follow worldly trends; they submit to the leadership and guidance of God, only listen to the words of the Creator, accept the truths expressed by the Creator, and live by the words of the Creator. This is the truest, most resounding testimony, and it is the best testimony of belief in God. For a created being to be able to fulfill the duty of a created being, to be able to satisfy the Creator, is the most beautiful thing among humankind, and is something that should be spread as a tale to be praised by all people. Anything the Creator entrusts to created beings should be unconditionally accepted by them; for humankind, this is a matter of both happiness and privilege, and for all those who fulfill the duty of a created being, nothing is more beautiful or worthy of commemoration—it is something positive. And as for how the Creator treats those who can fulfill the duty of a created being, and what He promises them, this is a matter for the Creator; it is no business of created humankind. To put it a little more plainly and simply, this is up to God, and people have no right to interfere. You will get whatever God gives you, and if He gives you nothing, then there is nothing you can say about it. When a created being accepts God’s commission, and cooperates with the Creator to perform their duty and do what they can, this is not a transaction or a trade; people should not try to trade expressions of attitudes or actions and behaviors to gain any promises or blessings from God. When the Creator entrusts this work to you, it is right and proper that, as created beings, you accept this duty and commission. Is there anything transactional about this? (No.) On the Creator’s side, He is willing to entrust to each and every one of you the duties that people ought to perform; and on the created humankind’s side, people should gladly accept this duty, treating it as their life’s obligation, as the value they should live out in this life. There is no transaction here, this is not an equivalent exchange, much less does it involve any reward or other statements that people imagine. This is by no means a trade; it is not about exchanging the price people pay or the hard work they provide when performing their duty for something else. God has never said that, and it should not be understood in this way by people. The Creator gives humankind a commission, and a created being, having received from the Creator the commission God gives, undertakes to perform their duty. In this matter, this process, there is nothing transactional; it is quite a simple and proper thing. It is just as with parents, who, having given birth to their child, raise them without conditions or complaints. As for whether the child grows up to be filial, their parents had no such requirements since the day they were born. There isn’t a single parent who, after giving birth to a child, says, “I’m only raising him so that he’ll serve and honor me in the future. If he won’t honor me, I’ll throttle him to death right now.” There is not a single parent like this. So, judging from the way parents raise their children, it is an obligation, a responsibility, right? (Yes.) Parents will go on raising their child, no matter if they are filial or not, and whatever the hardships, they will raise them until they become a grown adult, and hope for the best for them. There is nothing conditional or transactional in this responsibility and obligation that parents have for their child. Those with relevant experience can understand this. Most parents have no required standards for whether their child is filial. If their child is filial, they will be a bit more cheerful than they would otherwise be, and they will be a bit happier in their old age. If their child is not filial, they will just let that be the case. This is how most parents who are relatively open-minded will think. All in all, whether it’s parents raising their children or children supporting their parents, the matter is one of responsibility, of obligation, and it falls within a person’s expected role. Of course, these are all petty matters compared to a created being’s performance of their duty, but of the matters of the human world, they are among the more beautiful and just ones. Needless to say, this applies even more to a created being’s performance of their duty. As a created being, when one comes before the Creator, they ought to perform their duty. This is a very proper thing to do, and they should fulfill this responsibility. On the basis that created beings perform their duties, the Creator has done even greater work among humankind, and He has carried out a further stage of work on people. And what work is that? He provides humankind with the truth, allowing them to gain the truth from Him as they perform their duties and thereby to cast off their corrupt dispositions and be purified. Thus, they come to satisfy God’s intentions and embark on the right path in life, and, ultimately, they are able to fear God and shun evil, attain complete salvation, and no longer be subjected to Satan’s afflictions. This is the effect that God would have humankind achieve in the end by performing their duties. Therefore, during the process of performing your duty, God does not merely make you see one thing clearly and understand a little truth, nor does He merely let you enjoy the grace and blessings you receive by performing your duty as a created being. Rather, He allows you to be purified and saved, and, ultimately, come to live in the light of the face of the Creator. This “light of the face” of the Creator involves a large amount of extended meaning and content—we won’t go into this today. Of course, God is sure to issue promises and blessings to such people, and make different statements about them—this is a further matter. In terms of the here and now, what does everyone who comes before God and performs their duty as a created being receive from God? Truth and life, the most valuable and beautiful things among humankind. Not a single created being among mankind can receive such blessings from the hand of the Creator easily. Such a beautiful and such a great thing is twisted by the ilk of the antichrists into a transaction, in which they solicit crowns and rewards from God’s hand. Such a transaction turns something most beautiful and just into something most ugly and wicked. Is this not what the antichrists do? Judging from this, are the antichrists not wicked? They are quite wicked indeed! This is a manifestation of their wickedness.

In the last days, God comes incarnate to work, expresses many truths, opens up to humankind all the mysteries of God’s management plan, and supplies all the truths that people must understand and enter into in order to be saved. These truths and these words of God are treasures to all who love positive things. The truths are the needs of corrupt humankind, and they are also priceless treasures for humankind. Every one of God’s words, requirements, and intentions are things people should understand and grasp, they are things people must abide by to achieve salvation, and they are truths that human beings must gain. But antichrists regard these words as theories and slogans, they even turn a deaf ear to them, and worse still, they despise and deny them. Antichrists regard the most precious things among humanity to be the lies of charlatans. Antichrists believe in their hearts that there is no Savior, let alone truth or positive things in the world. They think anything beautiful or any benefit must be won by human hands and taken forcefully through human struggle. Antichrists think people without ambitions and dreams will never succeed, but their hearts are filled with aversion and hatred for the truth expressed by God. They consider the truths expressed by God to be theories and slogans, but they regard power, interests, ambition, and desire as just causes to be managed and pursued. They also use the service done with their gifts as a means to transact with God in an attempt to enter the kingdom of heaven, obtain crowns, and enjoy greater blessings. Isn’t this wicked? How do they interpret God’s intentions? They say, “God determines who is the boss by seeing who expends and suffers the most for him and who pays the highest price. He determines who can enter the kingdom and who receives crowns by seeing who is able to run around, speak eloquently, and who has the spirit of a bandit and can seize things by force. As Paul said, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness’ (2 Timothy 4:7–8).” They follow these words of Paul and believe that his words are true, but they ignore all of God’s requirements and statements for humankind, thinking, “These things are unimportant. All that matters is that once I have fought my fight and finished my course, I will receive a crown in the end. This is true. Isn’t that what god means? God has spoken thousands upon thousands of words and delivered countless sermons. Ultimately what he means to tell people is that if you want crowns and rewards, it’s up to you to fight, struggle, seize, and take it.” Is this not the logic of antichrists? In the depths of their hearts, this is how antichrists always view God’s work, and this is how they interpret God’s word and management plan. Their disposition is wicked, isn’t it? They twist God’s intentions, the truth, and all positive things. They regard God’s management plan to save humankind as a naked transaction, and regard the duty the Creator requires humankind to perform as a naked expropriation, aggression, deception, and transaction. Isn’t this the wicked disposition of antichrists? Antichrists believe that to obtain blessings and enter the kingdom of heaven, they must obtain it through a transaction, and that this is fair, reasonable, and most legitimate. Isn’t this wicked logic? Isn’t this satanic logic? Antichrists always hold such views and attitudes deep in their hearts, which proves that the disposition of antichrists is too wicked.

From the few items of content just fellowshipped, were you able to see the wicked disposition of antichrists? (Yes.) The first item was how antichrists treat their duty, wasn’t it? So how do antichrists treat their duty? (Antichrists consider their duty as a transaction that they exchange for their own destination and their own interests. No matter how much God has worked on people, how many words He has spoken to them, and how many truths He has expressed to them, they brush all this off and still do their duty with the intention of making a transaction with God.) Antichrists consider their duty as a transaction. They do their duty with the intention of making a transaction and gaining blessings. They think that believing in God should be for the sake of gaining blessings, and that gaining blessings through doing their duty is appropriate. They distort the positive thing that is performing one’s duty and denigrate the value and significance of performing one’s duty as a created being, while also denigrating the legitimacy of doing this; they turn the duty that created beings should naturally perform into a transaction. This is the wickedness of antichrists; this is the first item. The second item is that antichrists do not believe in the existence of positive things or the truth, and do not believe and do not acknowledge that God’s words are the truth. Is this not wicked? (Yes, it is.) What is wicked about it? God’s words are the reality of all positive things, yet antichrists cannot see it and do not acknowledge it. They regard God’s words as slogans, as a type of theory, and they distort the fact that God’s words are the truth. What is the biggest and principal problem here? God wants to use these words to save mankind, and man must accept God’s words before he can be cleansed and attain salvation—this is a fact, and it is the truth. Antichrists do not acknowledge or accept this promise of God to humankind. They say, “Being saved? Being cleansed? What use is that? It’s useless! If I am cleansed, can I really be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven? I don’t think so!” They pay no heed to this matter and are not interested in it. What is the unspoken implication of this? It is that they do not believe that the words of God are the truth; they believe that they are just sayings and doctrines. They do not believe or acknowledge that the words of God can cleanse or save people. This can be likened to when God defined Job at that time as someone who feared God and shunned evil, and as a perfect man. Are these words that God said the truth? (Yes.) So why would God say such a thing? What is the basis? God observes people’s behavior, scrutinizes their hearts, and sees their essence, and based on this He said that Job feared God and shunned evil and was a perfect man. God observed Job for more than just a day or two, and Job’s manifestations of fearing God and shunning evil also spanned more than just a day or two, and certainly did not cover just one or two matters. So what attitude did Satan take toward this fact? (A skeptical and doubting attitude.) Satan was not just skeptical, it denied it. Its words, put plainly, were “You gave Job so much, including cows, sheep and countless possessions. He has reasons to worship you. You say Job is a perfect man, but your words do not hold water. Your words are not the truth, they are not real, they are inaccurate, and I deny your words.” Is this not what Satan meant? (Yes, it is.) God said, “Job fears God and shuns evil, he is a perfect man.” What did Satan say? (Would he worship god with no reason?) Satan said, “Wrong, he is not a perfect man! He has received benefits and blessings from you, so he fears you. If you take away these benefits and blessings, he will not fear you—he is not a perfect man.” So, for every sentence spoken by God, Satan will put a question mark against it and a cross through it. Satan denies God’s words, and denies God’s definitions or statements on anything. Can we say that Satan denies the truth? (Yes.) This is the fact. So, what is the attitude of antichrists toward God’s words which expose, judge and chastise humankind, and put forward various specific requirements to humankind? Do they acknowledge them and say “Amen”? Can they follow them? (No, they can’t.) You could say that antichrists’ immediate response to all sorts of God’s words in their hearts is, “Wrong! Is this really how it is? How come what you say is what it is? That’s not right—I don’t believe that. Why is what you said so unpleasant? God wouldn’t talk like this! If I were to speak, it should be said this way.” Judging by these attitudes of antichrists toward God, can they abide by God’s words as the truth? Absolutely not. This is what is wicked about them; this is the second item. The third item is what antichrists think about the purpose of God’s management plan, which is that God wants to save humankind, and allow humankind to break away from Satan’s corrupt disposition and the forces of darkness and attain salvation. Why is their disposition said to be wicked? They believe that this is a transaction, and they even believe that it is just a game. A game between whom? A game between a god of legend and a group of ignorant and foolish people who want to enter the kingdom of heaven and be freed from the world of suffering. This is also a transaction in which both sides are willing participants, where one side is willing to give and the other is willing to receive. It is this kind of game. This is how they see God’s management plan—isn’t this the revelation of the wicked disposition of antichrists? Because antichrists are full of ambitions, and because they desire a destination and blessings, they twist humankind’s most beautiful undertaking and God’s management work to save humankind into a game, a transaction—this is the wicked disposition of antichrists. In addition, antichrists have another manifestation, which sounds quite comical and ludicrous. Why is it ludicrous? Antichrists do not believe in all the work that God has done, nor do they believe that everything God has said is the truth and can save humankind, but they are inexhaustible in their willingness to endure hardship, pay the price, and make and facilitate this transaction. Isn’t this funny? Of course, this is not the wickedness of antichrists, but the stupidity of antichrists. In one respect, they do not believe God exists, do not acknowledge that God’s words are the truth, and even distort God’s management plan, but in another respect they still want to gain personal benefits from God’s words and His management plan. In other words, in one respect they do not believe in the existence of all these facts, let alone their authenticity, while in another, they still want to angle for profits and take every advantage, wanting to be opportunistic and gain the things that they cannot acquire in the world, all while still thinking that they are extremely clever. Isn’t this funny? They are deceiving themselves and are extremely stupid.

Just now we dissected the wicked disposition of antichrists using three manifestations, and concluded with one more: Antichrists are so stupid that one knows not whether to laugh or cry. What are the three manifestations? (First, antichrists regard doing their duty as a transaction; second, antichrists do not acknowledge the word of God, do not believe that God’s word is a positive thing, and do not acknowledge that God’s word can save people, instead they regard God’s word as theories and slogans; third, antichrists regard the purpose of God’s management plan—His work to save people—as a naked transaction and a game.) And one more manifestation? (The ludicrousness and extreme stupidity of antichrists.) Aren’t these quite specific? (Yes.) Would you say that the sort of person who possesses this disposition has a somewhat abnormal mental state and reason? (Yes.) In what way are they abnormal? (Antichrists want to make transactions with God and receive prospects and a destination from God, but they still don’t believe in God’s management plan or that God can save humankind. Their thinking is contradictory, the things they want are the things that they deny. This fundamentally does not make sense, so their reason is abnormal and there is something wrong with their mental state.) This shows that they are lacking in terms of normal humanity. They do not know that they are contradicting themselves with these ways of thinking and calculations. How does this come about? (They always follow the wrong path because they never accept the truth or practice the truth.) And do they know the path they are walking is the wrong one? They certainly do not. If they knew doing so would lead to suffering loss, then surely they wouldn’t do so. They think that doing so gives them an advantage: “Look at how smart I am. None of you can see through to things; you’re all foolish. How can you be so guileless? Where is god? I can’t see or touch him, and there’s no guarantee that god’s promises can be realized! See how astute I am—when I take a step forward, I’m thinking ten steps ahead, but you don’t even make any calculations for a single step.” They think they are so clever. Therefore, after doing their duty for two or three years, some people think: “I’ve been doing my duty for a few years and still haven’t gained anything, witnessed any miracles or seen any unusual phenomena. I ate three meals a day before, and I still eat three meals. If I skip a meal, then I am hungry. If I lose one or two hours of sleep at night, then I am still sleepy in the day. I haven’t developed any special powers! Everyone says god is omnipotent and you can receive great blessings if you do your duty. I’ve done my duty for several years and nothing is different. Isn’t it still like this? I often have weakness, negativity, and complaints. Everyone says the truth can change people and god’s word can change people, but I haven’t changed at all. In my heart I still often miss my parents, miss my children, and even reminisce about my days in the world before. So just what does god do on people? What have I gained? Everyone says that when people believe in god and obtain the truth, then they gain something, but if they had, wouldn’t they be different from the rest? Now I’m getting older, and my health is not as it was. The wrinkles on my face have grown a lot. Don’t they say that people who believe in god get younger the longer they live? Why have I got older instead of younger? God’s words aren’t accurate anyway, I need to make plans on my own behalf. I see that this is all there is to believing in god, every day busy reading god’s word, attending gatherings, singing hymns, and doing my duty. It seems boring and I don’t feel any different from before.” As soon as they think like this, they’re going to be in trouble, aren’t they? They go on thinking, “Now I’m really suffering in doing my duty, god’s promises and blessings seem very distant. Also, some people who believe in god die in disasters, so is there even such a thing as god’s protection of man? Say there isn’t, then the testimony articles that some people have written saying god worked miracles to save their lives at the most perilous moments, are they true or false?” They mull it over and in their hearts they are uncertain, and when they continue doing their duty they feel listless and unenthusiastic, and are no longer proactive. They keep drawing back and begin to do things half-heartedly and perfunctorily. What calculations are they making in their minds? “If I don’t receive blessings, if it’s always like this, then I need to make other plans. I must replan whether I’ll continue doing my duty or not, and how I’ll do it in the future. I mustn’t be this foolish again. Otherwise in the future I won’t get my prospects and destiny, or my crown, and I won’t have enjoyed worldly happiness either. Then won’t all this effort be futile and in vain? If I continue to get nothing as I do now, then I was better off before, working and pursuing the world while nominally believing in god. If god never says when the work will end, when he will reward people, when the duty will come to an end, and when god will openly appear to humankind, if god never gives people precise explanations, then what is the point in wasting my time here? I’d be better off going back to earning money out in the world and enjoying worldly happiness. At least I won’t have wasted my life. As for the world to come, who knows? It’s all unknown, for now I’ll just live this life well.” Has a change not occurred in their minds? When they are calculating in this way and take the wrong path, can they still do the duties they hold well? (No, they can’t.) Some people say: “Antichrists like status, don’t they? If you give them a position, won’t they stay in God’s house?” Do antichrists need status at this time? Perhaps status isn’t the most important thing for them at this time. What is it that they need? What they need is for God to give them a precise explanation. If they cannot gain blessings, then they will leave. In one respect, if they cannot be placed in an important position throughout the course of doing their duty, then they feel their prospects are uncertain, bleak, and hopeless. In another respect, if in the process of doing their duty, things never go as they expect them to—if they do not personally witness God coming down with His glorification on the day His great work is completed, or if God does not tell them in clear language what year, month, day, hour and minute He will openly appear to humankind, when God’s work will come to an end, and when the great disasters will come, if He doesn’t tell them these things in clear language, then their hearts will be restless. They aren’t able to do their duties while keeping to their proper place, and they cannot feel content with this situation. What they want is a result, what they want is for God to give them a statement in precise language and enable them to precisely know whether they can receive all the things they want. If they are waiting too long in vain for this statement, they will make another calculation in their minds. What calculation? They will calculate who can give them happiness, who can give them the things they want, and if they can’t get the things in the world to come, then they must get everything they want in this life. If this world and humankind can give them blessings, comfort and pleasures of the flesh and a reputation and status in this life, then they will forsake God at any time, under any circumstances, and live their good life. These are the calculations of antichrists. In God’s house they can let go of their duty and put down the work in their hands at any time, under any circumstances, to pursue worldly happiness and prospects. Some people can even sell out the brothers and sisters, sell out the interests of God’s house and betray God to obtain worldly benefits and prospects. Therefore, however outstanding antichrists may appear in the performance of their duties, however competitive, they can all drop their duties, betray God and leave God’s house at any time, under any circumstances. They could sell out God’s house at any time, under any circumstances, becoming a Judas. If antichrists do their duties, they will inevitably use this as a bargaining chip. They will certainly attempt to satisfy their own desire to gain blessings in a short space of time—at the very least trying to first satisfy their desire for the benefits of status and gain the adoration of others, and then trying to enter the kingdom of heaven and receive their reward. Their time limit for doing their duty might be three years, or it might be five, even ten or twenty years. This is the allotted time they give to God, and is the longest time they give themselves for doing their duty. When this time limit is up, their endurance will also have reached its limit. While they can make concessions for their own desire for blessings, for a beautiful destination, a crown and rewards, and endure hardship and pay the price in God’s house, the passage of time will never cause them to forget or let go of their prospects and destiny, or their personal ambitions and desires, much less will these things change or weaken with the passage of time. Therefore, judging from this essence of antichrists, they are out-and-out disbelievers and opportunists who dislike positive things and love only negative things, a group of degenerates who want to bluff their way through in God’s house, these people are shameful.

One of the main intentions and attitudes of antichrists toward their duty is to use it as an opportunity to make a transaction with God and to gain the benefits that they want. They also believe: “When people abandon their families and renounce their worldly prospects to do their duty in god’s house, it goes without saying that they ought to gain something, to get something in return, this is only fair and reasonable. If you do your duty and receive nothing, even if you receive some truths, it’s not worth it. Dispositional change isn’t such a tangible benefit either—even if you’ve received salvation, no one will be able to see it!” These disbelievers turn a blind eye to any requirement God has for humankind. They do not acknowledge or believe it, and they adopt an attitude of denial. Judging from the attitudes and intentions with which antichrists treat their duty, they clearly are not people who pursue the truth, but are disbelievers and opportunists; they belong to Satan. Have you heard that Satan can loyally do a duty? (No.) If Satan can do its “duty” in front of God, then this duty must be in quotation marks because Satan is doing it passively and under compulsion, Satan is being maneuvered by God, and God is exploiting it. Therefore, because of their antichrist essence, and because they do not love the truth, are averse to the truth, and even more so, because of their wicked nature, antichrists cannot do their duties as created beings unconditionally or without compensation, nor can they pursue the truth or gain the truth while doing their duties or do them according to the requirements of God’s words. On account of this nature of theirs, the attitude with which they treat their duties and the various manifestations in the course of doing their duties, antichrists’ treatment of their duties is neglectful. In the course of doing their duties they can do evil and play a role of disrupting and disturbing the work of God’s house at any time, under any circumstances. What is the main and prominent manifestation in the course of doing their duties? It is acting willfully and arbitrarily, being a law unto themselves, and doing things without consulting others. They do things however they like, without considering the consequences. They only consider how they can get ahead and how they can control more people through doing their duties. They only want to show God that they have endured hardship and paid the price in doing their duties, that they have capital and are entitled to ask God for rewards and a crown, so as to realize their ambitions and desires and achieve their goal of receiving blessings.

In the course of doing their duties, antichrists are constantly calculating for their own prospects and destiny: how many years they have been doing their duties now, how much hardship they have endured, how much they have forsaken for God, how much of a price they have paid, how much of their energy they have expended, how many years of their youth they have given up, and whether they now have the entitlement to receive rewards and a crown; whether they have accumulated enough capital these few years doing their duties, whether they are a favored person in God’s eyes before Him, and whether they are a person who can receive rewards and a crown in God’s eyes. In the course of doing their duties they are constantly weighing up, calculating and planning in this way, while at the same time observing the words and expressions of others and observing the brothers’ and sisters’ assessments and statements about them. Of course, the thing they are most concerned with is whether the Above knows that they exist, and that they are doing their duties. They are even more concerned with how the Above sees them, talks about them and assesses them, whether the Above understands their “good intentions” in suffering hardship and paying the price, whether the Above knows clearly the suffering and tribulations they’ve endured in their years of following God, and how God in heaven judges everything that they do. At the same time as busying themselves with the duties they hold, their minds are also constantly calculating, and they seek to acquire information from multiple sources and weigh up whether they can avoid disasters, gain God’s approval and receive that unknown crown and blessings. These are the things they often calculate deep in their hearts, the most primary and core things they calculate every moment of every day. However, they never try to ponder or reflect on whether they themselves are people who practice the truth; just how much of the truth they understand; how much of the truth that they do understand they can actually practice; whether their disposition has undergone a real change; whether there is the slightest bit of sincerity, or any adulterations, transactions, or requests contained within the things they do for God; how much corruption they have revealed in the performance of their duties; whether each duty and task they do every day is done according to truth principles; and whether the performance of their duties is up to standard and satisfies God’s intentions. They never reflect on or try to ponder these things. They only calculate whether they can gain blessings in the future and what their destination is. They only calculate their own interests and their own gains and losses, but never expend any energy or effort on the truth, on dispositional change or how to satisfy God’s intentions. Antichrists never practice reflecting on, knowing, or dissecting their own corrupt disposition or the wrong paths they have taken, and never consider how to change their own mistaken perspective. They will never hate that they violated the truth and did many evil things to resist God, will never hate themselves because they live by their corrupt disposition, and will never feel remorse for the wrong paths they have taken or the things they have done to disrupt and disturb. In the course of doing their duty, besides concealing their own deficiency, weaknesses, negativity, passivity and corrupt disposition at all costs, they do their utmost to exhibit themselves so that they can get ahead, and think of every possible way to let God and God’s chosen people see their talents, gifts and abilities. They use this to comfort themselves and to make themselves think that they have the capital and assurance to get a crown and rewards, and that they do not need to walk the path of pursuing the truth. Therefore, the reason of antichrists is unsound. However the truth is fellowshipped, and however clearly it is fellowshipped, they still do not understand God’s intentions or just what believing in God is for, and what the correct path is that people should take. Because of their wicked disposition, because of their wicked nature, and because of the nature essence of such people, deep down they cannot distinguish just what is the truth and what are positive things, just what is right and what is wrong. They hold on firmly to their own ambitions and desires, regarding them as the truth, as the only goals in life, and as the most just undertaking. They do not know the truth that if a person’s disposition does not change then they will forever be an enemy of God, and do not know that what blessings God gives a person and how God treats a person is not based on their caliber, gifts, talents or capital, but on how much truth they practice and how much truth they gain, and whether they are a person who fears God and shuns evil. These are truths that antichrists will never understand. Antichrists will never see this, and this is where they are most foolish. From beginning to end, what is the attitude of antichrists toward their duty? They believe doing one’s duty is a transaction, that whoever expends the most in their duty, makes the biggest contribution to God’s house and endures the most years in God’s house will have a higher chance of being blessed and getting a crown in the end. This is the logic of antichrists. Is this logic correct? (No.) Is this kind of perspective easy to reverse? It is not easy to reverse. This is decided by the nature essence of antichrists. In their hearts antichrists are averse to the truth, they do not seek the truth at all and are taking the wrong path, so their perspective of making transactions with God is not easy to reverse. Ultimately, antichrists do not believe God is the truth, they are disbelievers, they are here to speculate and gain blessings. For disbelievers to believe in God, this in itself is untenable, it is a preposterous thing, and they want to make a transaction with God and obtain blessings by enduring suffering and paying the price for God, this is an even more preposterous thing.

Antichrists only believe in God in order to gain blessings and a crown. They did not take this path because somebody forced them, let alone because God’s words misguided them in any way. God gave promises to humankind, but at the same time as giving promises, He also bestowed on them a great number of truths and put forth a lot of requirements of them, which normal people should be able to see. What do people with the reason of normal humanity think? “It is not easy to gain these blessings, so I must act according to God’s requirements and walk the correct path; I must not walk the path of Paul. If people walk the path of Paul, then they are completely done for. Only when people believe, accept, and submit to the words of God will all the promises, blessings, prospects and destiny of which God has spoken have anything to do with them. If they don’t believe, don’t accept, and don’t submit to these words of God, then all these promises and blessings of which God has spoken will have nothing to do with them.” People with the reason of normal humanity will think like this. But why don’t antichrists think like this? Antichrists are Satans, they are devils, and they do not have the reason of normal humanity—this is the first reason. Second, antichrists are averse to the truth, do not believe each word spoken from the mouth of God, and are averse to positive things. Can a person who does not acknowledge the truth and is averse to positive things practice according to the truth and according to positive things? (No, they can’t.) This is like making a wolf eat grass like a sheep does—they fundamentally cannot do it. When there is no meat and they are about to starve to death, they might be forced to eat a little grass, but once there is meat to eat, their first choice is certainly to eat meat; this is decided by the wolf’s nature. Antichrists have such a nature. Their interests can prompt them to display some good behaviors, pay a certain price, and show some good manifestations, but they can never give up the pursuit of and desire for these benefits. For instance, what they pursue in the course of doing their duty is personal interests, and what they think about is how to turn doing their duty into capital to gain blessings for themselves. Once this hope is dashed, and once this line of defense collapses, they can give up on their duty at any time, under any circumstances. When that time comes, and you say to them how good and how perfectly natural and justified doing one’s duty is, will they still listen? (No, they won’t.) When they decide to give up and leave, people try to persuade them: “You should stay. Doing your duty is so good and going back out into the world is so hard. You’ll gain nothing, you’ll be bullied and exhausted, you won’t gain the truth and you’ll have no chance to be saved.” People may think it’s okay to give them advice, but not only will they not stay, they will also cry in embarrassment. Why will they cry? (They feel wronged.) This is true. And how are they wronged? (They feel wronged because they think they have endured a lot of suffering and paid a great price but haven’t gained what they wanted.) They think they have gained nothing, and they are full of grievances. God does such great work, and it has never moved them, nor have they ever shed a tear for it, but when others try to persuade them, they start crying. If they felt wronged, why didn’t they say so? Wouldn’t stating it clearly take care of things? What are they crying for? Why not just speak plainly? Because their thoughts are so unspeakable that even they are embarrassed to talk about them. At the outset, they made an oath to God that shook heaven and earth, and what about now? “I regret what I did; how could I have been so foolish? If I’d known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have acted how I did in the past! I didn’t understand anything back then. They said that believing in god was good, so I believed in him. I even forsook my family and my job to do my duty in god’s house. I suffered a lot, I was persecuted, and I was arrested, but I haven’t gained anything at all from doing my duty these last few years.” They feel wronged and sorrowful, and they regret all that they have done. They think it was not worth it and think they have been taken in and hoodwinked. What would you say should be done about this kind of person? (They should be made to leave quickly.) Would you still try to persuade them? (No.) If you keep trying to persuade them, they will roll about on the floor throwing a tantrum. You absolutely must not try to persuade such people.

God’s house is the good land of Canaan. It is a piece of pure land. People come to God’s house and receive the judgment and pruning of the words that come from God, and they receive His provision, assistance, guidance, and blessings. God works and shepherds personally, and even though people have to pay a bit of a price and endure some suffering, it’s worth it. Everything people do in order to free themselves from this evil world, to change their dispositions and to be saved is worthwhile. But for antichrists, if it isn’t to gain blessings or rewards, if the crown and rewards don’t exist, then doing all these things isn’t worth it—they are all foolish actions, and they are all manifestations of being hoodwinked. However big a resolution or however lofty an oath they have made before, it can all be written off just like that and cannot be counted. If they suffer and pay a price in doing their duty like this, and in the end they don’t gain anything, then they would be better off escaping this “troubled place” as soon as possible. Antichrists regard expending themselves for God, suffering hardship, and paying a price while doing their duty as things they have no choice but to do, and as bargaining chips to obtain capital, to exchange for a crown and rewards. This starting point itself is wrong, so what is the end result? For some people, their performance of their duty fizzles out and they cannot labor until the end. At the same time, because of their nature essence, such people constantly violate the truth principles in the course of doing their duty, acting recklessly and arbitrarily and only doing things that disrupt and disturb. So, what do the duties they do turn into? In God’s view, they are not good deeds but evil deeds, and heaps of them at that. Such results have a root cause. Can a person who simply does not believe in the truth or in the words of God act according to His words? They certainly cannot. They will only find every opportunity to show themselves off, seize power, control others, control the behavior and thoughts of others, and even control everything about people for their own purposes. Therefore, some of these people who commit many evil deeds are expelled, and some who are relatively treacherous and good at disguising themselves still stay in God’s house. Why is it said that these people stay in God’s house? These people haven’t done obvious evil, and some of them even know their place and are well-behaved and obedient, doing whatever they are asked, but as far as their essence is concerned, they cannot fulfill their duties and obligations to the best of their abilities. They do not expend themselves for God, instead muddling along and whiling away the time, believing that if they endure until the end they will win and gain something. What kind of people are they? They are those opportunists, those people who fundamentally do not pursue the truth. Some people have done some evil in God’s house, but according to the administrative decrees of God’s house, they have not reached the level of being cleared out or expelled, and they are still doing their duties. Actually, deep down, they know that the reason God’s house has not cleared them out or expelled them is not because it is not well-informed about them or does not know their true state of affairs, but for various other reasons. A number of these people who have not been expelled are also antichrists. Why do I say this? This is because these people now have no chance, yet based on their nature essence, once they gain status and wield power, they will immediately do a lot of evil. In addition, even though these people have not been cleared out from God’s house, usually the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to the performance of their duties. They frequently do some bad things, things which harm the interests of God’s house. Although they know it themselves, they never feel remorse, never think they have done wrong, and never think that they should not have acted like this. They have no regrets, and what kind of state arises in their hearts instead? “As long as god’s house doesn’t expel me, I’ll just drag out my stay here and muddle along until my time’s up. I won’t pursue the truth, and if they ask me to do something, I’ll do what I can. If I’m happy, I’ll do a bit more, and if I’m not happy, I’ll do a bit less. Also, I have to hold them back and spread some negativity and notions, spread some judgmental words. When the time comes, even if they clear me out and expel me and I don’t gain any blessings, I will use some people as scapegoats and bring some others down with me.” Aren’t these evil people? They observe which people have no discernment, which are often weak and negative, which have a bad humanity, which are promiscuous, which seem like nonbelievers, and then they draw these people in and spread negativity to them behind the scenes. Do they know the nature of such actions? They know all too well. Then why can they still act like this? (Their nature cannot be changed.) That their nature cannot change is something that is apparent on the surface, but in reality what do they think? (They want to make it a lose-lose situation and have others perish along with them to get back at God.) They have this malicious mind. They know that their days are numbered and that sooner or later they must be cleared out. They know what they have done and know the nature of these things that they have done, but not only do they not turn back, repent or relinquish the evil that they hold, they double down instead and draw in more evil people to commit evil with them. They even spread negativity and disseminate notions, causing more people to abandon their duties and harming the interests of God’s house. This carries a little of the nature of revenge, and what they are saying by doing this is: “I can’t go on believing, and sooner or later I’m bound to be cleared out by god’s house, so I won’t give you all an easy time of it, and I won’t let god’s house have an easy time of it either!” Before God’s house has made any decision on them, they strike first. Are these not the deeds of evil people? They believe, “I have no hope of gaining blessings. You don’t need to tell me the things I did before—I understand it all clearly. You don’t need to expel me; I will give up myself.” They even believe that doing so is self-aware and reasonable, that it is a wise move. They say, “If you don’t allow me to gain blessings, and I gain nothing, not only will I not repent, but I will also hold you back, spread negativity, and spread notions and fallacies behind your back. If I can’t gain blessings, then don’t think that others will!” Aren’t such people malicious? Some antichrists also spread such words: “People like us are objects of exploitation in god’s house; we’re all too foolish!” They see that they cannot gain blessings, so they specially focus on spreading these things to those negative, muddled, and undiscerning people. Doesn’t this carry the nature of disturbance? Once they believe that they cannot stand firm in God’s house and that they won’t be blessed, and that sooner or later they will be cleared out, the path they choose is not to relinquish the evil they hold and confess and repent to God, do their duty with sincerity, and make up for their past errors. Instead, they double down in spreading negativity in God’s house, disturbing others’ performance of their duties, damaging and disturbing the work of God’s house, trying to cause more people to do evil like them, become negative and withdraw, and abandon the performance of their duties, which achieves their goal of revenge. Is this not what evil people do? Do such people still have God in their hearts? (No, they don’t.) In their hearts is a vague God in heaven, and they regard the God who can be seen by people on earth and works among people as a human. There are also some people who do the opposite. In their hearts they have always believed in a vague God, but in the end, they submit to the people they idolize as gods, so they submit to these people in everything they do. What does it mean to believe in God as though He were human? When they believe in a vague God, they believe that this vague God which they cannot see can bestow blessings upon them and has enough capability to take them into the next age and give them rewards and a crown. Before they know it, they start to doubt the practical God on earth. No matter how they look at Him, He doesn’t seem like God, so they find it hard to believe in Him. In their hearts, they only believe that God in heaven is the true God, and because the practical God who they can see is too insignificant, too normal, and too practical, in their view He doesn’t have what it takes to make them believe in Him, and they regard this God as a human. When they regard God as a human, their difficulties arise: “Besides giving people the truth and giving them some promises, what else can this person do? Regardless of how I look at him, he doesn’t resemble god and he can’t bring people any advantages or benefits. He is just a human; what can this person do? If people believe in god, they still have a little hope, a little spiritual sustenance. But if they believe in a human, what advantages and benefits can this human give people? Can people’s hopes and sustenance be realized in him? Will they come to nothing? If he is a human, then there is no need to be afraid of him. I’ll say what I should say and do what I should do before his eyes.” This is how evil people treat God. When they haven’t seen Him, they imagine that God is so lofty, so sacred, so unoffendable, but when they see God on earth, their imaginings and their notions become untenable. What will they do when this happens? They treat God as a human. Then the bit of respect for God in their hearts is gone, to say nothing of their dread or fear for Him. Without these things, evil people become bolder and the lines of defense and the wariness in their hearts disappear, and then they will dare to do anything. Even if such people believe until the very end, they will still be people who resist God.

Antichrists find it easy to believe in God in heaven, but believing in God on earth is truly difficult for them. Paul was a living example of this. What was the end result of his belief in Christ? What did the goal that he pursued in his belief in Christ ultimately turn into? He wanted to become christ and replace Christ. He denied God on earth and wanted to obtain a crown and blessings from God in heaven. These antichrists are exactly the same as Paul. They regard God on earth as a human, and they regard the vague God in heaven who cannot be seen as the greatest God in their hearts, who can be deceived, toyed with at will, interpreted however they like and be made the subject of notions and resisted as they please. This is the difference between how disbelievers and antichrists treat God in heaven and God on earth. It is precisely because they treat God on earth with such an attitude that they produce different manifestations in the treatment of their duties. These manifestations include becoming less and less interested in and willing to do their duties when they see God on earth. This causes them to lose interest in believing in God and produce some negative thoughts and manifestations. Therefore, antichrists are all unable to stand firm in the end; even if the church doesn’t clear them out, they will leave of their own accord. Do you know of any such examples? (Yes, I have met an antichrist before. He was particularly willful. He did not pursue the truth or practice the truth, and he did his duty in a perfunctory and unconscientious way. Also, he did not work hard to study his profession, and he was particularly lazy, and he put on airs. Every day all he was concerned with was food and clothing, and he engaged in fornication. When he was expelled, he didn’t have the slightest intention to repent, but instead felt it was a kind of relief.) People like this do not cherish the opportunity to do a duty, much less do they respect or value their own duty, they are perfunctory and waste their time. Did anyone fellowship to him that this was no way to perform a duty? (Yes. I also fellowshipped to him, but he wasn’t listening, his attitude was quite perfunctory.) Somebody else give an example. (There was a director who consistently did his duty in a perfunctory way; much of the material he shot was unsuitable, and he also caused disruptions and disturbances. After he was moved to Group B, he stopped doing his duty. He busied himself all day with going to work and earning money, and he hung around with nonbelievers, and in the end, he was cleared out. In fact, even if the church hadn’t cleared him out, he would have withdrawn of his own accord. He did not pursue the truth, and ultimately was unable to stand firm.) The disposition essence of these antichrists is the same, they are averse to the truth and averse to positive things, they are fond of unrighteousness, and they have extremely strong ambitions and desires. They treat their duty like a game and in a perfunctory manner, and their style of behavior is particularly improper and unrestrained. Their nature is wicked and vicious. They only come to God’s house and do a duty to obtain blessings, and if it weren’t for obtaining blessings, they wouldn’t believe in God! There is fundamentally no difference between these people and the nonbelievers, they are out-and-out disbelievers and nonbelievers; this is their essence. If you do not allow them to be like the nonbelievers, and make them do their duty around believers in God, they will find this life very painful, and every day will seem like torture to them. They feel that it is uninteresting to do their duty with the brothers and sisters in God’s house in a well-behaved way, keeping to their proper place, and that this life isn’t as free and unfettered as it is hanging around with nonbelievers out in the world—they feel that way of life is interesting. Therefore, them coming to God’s house and doing their duty is done purely out of necessity, it is driven by the intention to gain blessings, and done for the sake of satisfying their personal ambitions and desires. Judging from their nature essence, they fundamentally do not love the truth or positive things, let alone believe in the things that God can accomplish. They are out-and-out disbelievers, and out-and-out opportunists. They have not come to do their duties, they have come to do evil, to cause disturbances, and to make transactions. Therefore, judging from the sum total of these manifestations of antichrists, when these people are in God’s house are they useful or harmful to its work? (Harmful.) Have you ever seen a person with an antichrist essence who is somewhat gifted and capable, and who can keep to their proper place while doing their duty in God’s house without causing trouble or disruptions? Suppose that you say to an antichrist, “For a person like you, who has done some evil in the past, it’s not certain if you will have any kind of prospects or destiny in the future. Since you are somewhat gifted, just work hard at rendering service in God’s house!” Will they be willing to render service with no regard for whether they will be blessed or suffer misfortune? Absolutely not. People who can achieve this are those with relatively good humanity, but do antichrists possess such humanity? (No, they don’t.) Their disposition is vicious. They think, “If you don’t give me benefits, or some promises or commitments, then how can I work hard for you? Don’t even think about it, there’s no way!” This is a vicious disposition. This is the comprehensive manifestation of how antichrists treat their duty, God, and God’s requirements. Do you think there are any antichrists that say, “God has lifted me up and given me this gift, so I will offer myself up to God”? (No.) What would they say? “You want to exploit me? You just favor my gifts and talents. If you want to take advantage of me, then you need to give me some benefits. If you want to exploit me then there’s no way that’s happening!” They do not believe that this is God lifting them up, nor do they believe that this is a God-given opportunity which they should cherish, they believe that this is them being exploited. This is what antichrists believe. Some people are perhaps temporarily ignorant, they cause disruptions and disturbances, and do some bad things, and then they are isolated for self-reflection. Those who pursue the truth reflect for a while and say: “I must confess and repent to God, and I cannot act like that again in the future. I must learn to submit, learn to cooperate with others, and learn to seek the truth and act according to God’s word, I must not commit evil again.” Afterward, the church arranges for them to do their duty, and they thank God in floods of tears, cherishing from the bottom of their hearts this chance that God has given them. They feel honored to have the chance to do their duty again. They feel they should cherish it and not let it slip away again, and they do their duty better than before. They have some knowledge of themselves and they have undergone some changes. While they may still do some ignorant things, and might still become negative and weak, and throw up their work at times, judging from their overall mentality and attitude, they have already transformed. They hate their own prior actions and have some knowledge of this matter. They can accept the truth and are somewhat submissive. More importantly, when God’s house allows them to come back and do their duty, they do not refuse, make excuses, or resist, and they certainly do not say unpleasant things. Instead, they feel honored and that God has not abandoned them, and they think that, since they still have the chance to do their duty in God’s house, they should cherish it. Their attitude has already undergone a great change. Such people are the ones who can be saved.

What is the difference between antichrists and people who can be saved? When antichrists do their duty, they want to have the final say, they will strive for power and benefits, and they will just do whatever they like. If they do not gain power or benefits, then they do not want to do their duty. After they disrupt and disturb the church’s work and are replaced, isolated, or cleared out by God’s house, are they able to truly repent? What do they say? “You want me to repent so you can exploit me? You pull me in when I’m useful and kick me away when you have no need for me.” What twisted logic is this? What does kicking away mean? If they had not committed evil, would God’s house have dealt with them? Would God’s house arbitrarily deal with them if they performed their duty according to the principles? These people brought losses upon the work of the church because they caused disruptions and disturbances, and committed evil. God’s house dealt with them, and they not only refuse to accept this or reflect on and try to know themselves, instead they are full of resentment. They feel that they are not popular or in power anymore, and that they are being bullied and mistreated. When they are given the chance to do their duty again, they not only aren’t grateful in their hearts and don’t cherish this opportunity, they even make a false counteraccusation, saying that God’s house is exploiting them. They do not accept from God the attitude with which God’s house treated them. Instead, they believe it was people bullying them, kicking them away, and mistreating them. Their hearts are full of complaints, and they do not want to do their duty again. Their justification for not wanting to do their duty again is that they do not want to be exploited, and they believe that everyone who does their duty is being exploited by God’s house. This is so nonsensical and fallacious! Is there any word of this that corresponds to the truth, humanity, or rationality? (No.) So, antichrists do not accept the truth, their hearts are full of hotheadedness, full of viciousness, full of complaints, full of transactions, and even more so, their hearts are full of personal desires. These things fill up their hearts. They cannot accept from God being dealt with by God’s house in any way or any environment which God orchestrates for them. They can only approach these things with hotheadedness, taking a tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye. They approach all of it using Satan’s methods and Satan’s logic. So in the end they still don’t gain the truth and can only be eliminated. Different people have different reactions to being replaced and having their duties adjusted, or even to being isolated or cleared out. People who truly love the truth abhor their own deeds. The antichrists who do not love the truth not only do not accept these things from God in their hearts, but are also full of hatred. What are the consequences of this? It gives rise to complaints, vilification, judgment, and condemnation in them. It leads to them rejecting and blaspheming against God. This is the source of their outcome, it is decided by their nature essence. Antichrists are incapable of understanding the truth, accepting things from God, and submitting to everything God has arranged, so their outcome is set. They are cleared out by God’s house in this life; there’s no need to mention what will happen to them in the world to come. Can you see through to these matters? If you discover such people around you, can you compare these words of Mine with them? What are the most prominent manifestations of antichrists? Not believing the truth, not accepting the truth, not submitting to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, not being able to accept anything from God, and not admitting their mistakes or repenting no matter what misdeeds they commit. This determines that these people are of Satan and that they are targets of destruction.

You should all compare yourselves with the various revelations, manifestations, and practices of antichrists which I have exposed; in the course of doing your duties, you will undoubtedly exhibit some of these manifestations, revelations, and practices, but how are you different from antichrists? Can you accept from God the things that befall you? (Yes, we can.) To be able to accept from God what befalls you, this is the rarest thing. Can you turn yourself around if you take the wrong path, do something wrong, do ignorant things, or commit transgressions? Can you repent? (Yes, we can.) To be able to repent and turn yourself around is the most precious and rare thing. But antichrists lack exactly this. Only people who will be saved by God have this. What things are the most important to possess? First is believing that God is the truth; this is the most fundamental thing. Can you do this? (Yes, we can.) Antichrists don’t possess this most fundamental thing. Second is accepting that God’s word is the truth; this can also be considered the most fundamental thing. Third is submitting to God’s orchestration and arrangements. This is absolutely unattainable to antichrists, but this is where it begins to get difficult for you. Fourth is accepting everything from God without disputing, justifying yourself, giving reasons, or complaining. This is absolutely impossible for antichrists. Fifth is repenting after rebelling or committing transgressions. This will just be difficult for you to achieve. It is when, after committing transgressions, people gradually gain some knowledge of their own corrupt dispositions through a period of reflection and seeking, sadness, negativity, and weakness. Of course, this requires time. It could be one or two years, or it could be longer. One can only truly repent after fully understanding their corrupt dispositions and yielding from the heart. Although this is not easy, ultimately manifestations of repentance can be seen in those who pursue the truth, those who can attain God’s salvation. But antichrists do not possess this. Think about it, what antichrist does not dredge up the past three or five years, or even 10 or 20 years, after doing something bad? No matter how much time has passed, after you meet them again, all they talk about are still those arguments of theirs. They still do not recognize or accept their own evil deeds, and they do not even show the slightest bit of remorse. This is the distinction between antichrists and ordinary corrupt people. Why can antichrists not show remorse? What is the root cause? They do not believe that God is the truth, which leads to their inability to accept the truth. This is hopeless, and it is determined by the antichrists’ essence. When you hear Me dissect the various manifestations of antichrists, you think: “I’m done for. I also have the disposition of an antichrist—am I not also an antichrist?” Isn’t this a lack of discernment? It is true that you have the disposition of an antichrist, but where you are different from antichrists is that you still possess positive things. You can accept the truth, confess, repent, and change, and these positive things can enable you to cast off the dispositions of antichrists, and enable your corrupt dispositions to be cleansed, and you to achieve salvation. Doesn’t this mean that you have hope? There is still hope for you!

You all find writing experiential testimony articles very difficult and cannot produce them. Some people only write a single testimony article after many years of experience. Some only write one after believing for 10 or 20 years, and they summarize the quintessence of these years’ experiences all together. Some have believed in God for 30 years, and still have no true experiential knowledge. The bottom line is that they do not understand the truth. So, what should I do when faced with this current situation of you not understanding the truth? I must speak to you more, patiently and earnestly, talking and prattling on more, and you must have a little patience and listen more to My fellowship. Listen carefully, gain discernment, and strive to understand the essence of each aspect of the truth. As I just said, if you understand what the manifestations of those who possess the disposition of antichrists are, what the manifestations of those people with the essence of antichrists are, and what the distinction between the two is, then you will have a path to walk, and at the same time, you will also have discernment. You will be able to discern your own corrupt dispositions and the essence of antichrists. If you meet an antichrist, you will be able to promptly discern and expose them, promptly stop and limit their rash and arbitrary actions and practices, and avoid or reduce the losses caused by their evil deeds to the work of the church. Otherwise, if you have poor comprehension ability and lack discernment, or if you are not meticulous when it comes to the truth, and always just understand doctrines, and cannot see through to a person’s essence, this will lead to you not only being unable to discern the antichrists around you, but also to you following them as though they were good leaders. Think carefully, consider carefully, do the things that antichrists do bring more benefit to God’s house or more harm? After careful consideration, you can see that, although antichrists appear to do some good things while working in God’s house, they actually do more harm than good. The gains are not worth the losses. In fact, their good deeds bring even greater hidden dangers, causing more harm than good to the work of the church. The role these people play in God’s house is that of the lackeys of Satan.

April 25, 2020