Today we will fellowship on item eleven of the various manifestations of antichrists: They do not accept being pruned, nor do they have an attitude of repentance when they commit any wrong, but instead spread notions and publicly pass judgment on God. The specific content of this item is about how antichrists treat being pruned; namely, their attitude when they are faced with this, and what they go on to do and what manifestations they have while harboring this attitude. Have we already fellowshipped on content about how antichrists treat being pruned? (Yes, this was covered during the fellowship on how antichrists treat their prospects and destiny.) So, what is an antichrist’s attitude toward being pruned? Didn’t we fellowship at the time on the famous sayings that antichrists utter when they are pruned? (Yes.) They have two famous sayings for this kind of situation. One is “God is righteous, and I believe in god, not in some person!” and the other is “You’re too wet behind the ears to prune me. If I didn’t believe in god, I would give a damn about nobody!” Also, they hate whoever prunes them, and, in addition, as soon as they are pruned, they suspect they are going to be eliminated. At the end, we also fellowshipped about how they not only refuse to accept being pruned, but also spread notions everywhere. Isn’t that what we talked about? (Yes.)

I. The Reasons Why Antichrists Are Pruned

I just gave a quick review of our previous fellowship on how antichrists treat being pruned when it touches on their personal interests. Today we are going to fellowship and dissect this from another angle, and take a look at what specific dispositions antichrists reveal when they are pruned and what sort of attitude they have, as well as what their specific views are, and we will dissect their disposition based on these views. Since this involves the topic of pruning, first let’s fellowship about the reasons why antichrists are pruned. Pruning isn’t something that is done groundlessly, so in what context and under what circumstances will this happen to an antichrist? Would it just be because that person is an antichrist? Some people say: “Anyone who has status, anyone who is in the limelight, will end up being pruned.” Is that true? (No.) Then, what do antichrists do that causes them to be pruned? Will they be pruned harshly if they make an ordinary mistake? Shouldn’t this be fellowshipped on? (Yes.) Why are antichrists pruned? Looking at it theoretically, antichrists have arrogant dispositions, they don’t submit to the truth, they don’t love God’s words or positive things, they are averse to the truth, they hate the truth, and they are enemies of God, so they should be pruned or even mercilessly exposed. Is this statement correct? Based on their manifestations and revelations, they can be classified as antichrists, so they deserve to be pruned and even mercilessly exposed; no matter how they are pruned, they are not worthy of pity, they should be rejected, and anyone at all is justified in pruning them. Is that how things are? (It’s not.) Are you sure? Why are antichrists pruned? I just mentioned several reasons for this. Some among you may feel like those reasons aren’t correct, but you’re not sure about it; this is because you only understand doctrines, and can’t see through to the essence of this. The fact that you haven’t recognized this shows that you haven’t seen through to the matter of why antichrists are pruned. Most people only understand doctrines regarding this matter, and they know in their hearts that an antichrist should be pruned and mercilessly exposed, but they lack discernment regarding an antichrist’s actual behavior; this indicates that they cannot see through to the essence of this issue or the essence of antichrists. Those who do not possess the truth reality only understand doctrines, they apply regulations blindly, so if there really were an antichrist doing something, they wouldn’t be able to see through to it.

Why might an antichrist be pruned? The reason is very simple—it is on account of their various manifestations, and the different practices and behaviors that are revealed from their essence. And what are these practices, behaviors, and manifestations? First, antichrists establish their own independent kingdoms. Due to their antichrist essence, they vie with God for His chosen people, and they vie for turf and for people’s hearts—all of this is them establishing their own independent kingdoms. When someone is establishing their own independent kingdom, are they doing their duty? (No.) They are running their own enterprise, managing their own sphere of influence and their authority, trying to gain exclusive control of their own turf, to form their own faction, to mislead God’s chosen people so that they will reject God and follow them instead. This is not doing their duty, it is going head-to-head with God. When an antichrist exhibits these manifestations, when they do these things, should they be pruned? (Yes.) Is this one of the reasons for pruning an antichrist? Is this one of their specific manifestations? (It is.) Then why couldn’t you say that just now? Aren’t these words both on your lips and in your minds? (Yes.) Is this manifestation in conflict with the theoretical reasons that I just mentioned? What is the difference between them? (Those reasons were rather general, whereas the manifestation God just mentioned is detailed—it is a practical manifestation of an antichrist.) Those reasons mentioned before were general, they were just some doctrines; they were not the specific reasons why antichrists are pruned at all. This manifestation is one of the real reasons. The first manifestation is that they are trying to establish their own independent kingdoms. The second manifestation is their underhanded manipulation. This is of the same nature as trying to establish one’s own independent kingdom, but the specific practices are different. So what is meant by underhanded manipulation? Is this a positive or negative term? Does it have commendatory or derogatory connotations? (Derogatory connotations.) What is normally meant by underhanded manipulation? What kinds of manifestations does this include? (Antichrists doing things behind the scenes in order to consolidate their status. For example, during church elections, they solicit votes behind the scenes.) This is one of the things that it includes. In short, this kind of manifestation means doing certain things covertly, without discussing with others, without transparency, manipulating situations behind everyone’s back, in particular not allowing the Above or upper leaders to know about it. Antichrists do some things secretly, knowing full well that those things go against the principles and are not in line with the truth, that those things do harm to God’s house and that God loathes those things. They still insist on doing these things, using Satan’s tricks and human tactics to manipulate the situation, and then they act in secret. What are their goals behind doing things in secret? One goal is to seize power, and another is to gain whatever interests they want. To these ends, they do things that violate the truth principles, church rules, God’s intentions, and even more so, their own conscience. There is no transparency in their actions—they keep things from everyone, or they only tell a small number of accomplices within their sphere of influence, so that they can achieve their goal of controlling the situation, of pulling the wool over the eyes of upper leaders and God’s chosen people. Underhanded manipulation means that they make certain decisions and orchestrate some things, while most people are completely unaware, and after these things come to pass, most people don’t know their source or who started them, or what really happened. Why is it that most people are in the dark? This is the wickedness, the viciousness of an antichrist. They intentionally hoodwink the brothers and sisters, upper leaders, and the Above in their actions. No matter how you try to pry into these things or who you ask, no one knows what’s behind them, and, particularly for many things that happened a long time ago, most people still have no idea what was going on. This is underhanded manipulation. It is a common tactic used by antichrists—when they want to do something, they privately scheme and plan it, without discussing it with anyone else. They do their scheming in their heads if they don’t have anyone they trust; if they have any accomplices, then they will scheme and plan with them in secret, and anyone within their sphere of influence may become a target of their manipulation, of their plots. What is the primary characteristic of this kind of practice? It is a lack of transparency, with most people not enjoying the right to know what’s going on, and being toyed with, manipulated, and misled by antichrists while in a state of confusion. Why is it that antichrists engage in underhanded manipulation, and do not act in an open or transparent way, or allow everyone the right to know what’s going on? It is because they know perfectly well and clearly that what they are doing is not in line with the principles or the rules of God’s house, and that they are recklessly committing misdeeds. They know that if most people were aware of what they were doing, some of them would rise up and oppose them, and if the upper leadership knew, they would be pruned and dismissed, and then their status would be in jeopardy. That is why they adopt the method of underhanded manipulation in some of the things they do, and don’t allow other people to know about them. Are the consequences of their underhanded manipulation beneficial to the work of the church, and God’s chosen people? Are they edifying for everyone? Of course not. Most people are misled and hoodwinked, and do not benefit at all from it. Is this method of underhanded manipulation that antichrists employ in line with the truth principles? Is this acting according to God’s requirements? (No.) So when these manifestations of antichrists engaging in underhanded manipulation are discovered, should the antichrists be pruned? Should they be exposed and rejected? (Yes.) Engaging in underhanded manipulation is one concrete manifestation of antichrists.

What other manifestations are common when antichrists work? (Antichrists suppress and torment people for the sake of their own status.) It is a most common thing for antichrists to torment other people, and it is one of their concrete manifestations. In order to maintain their status, antichrists are always demanding that everyone obey and heed them. If they find that someone does not heed them or is antipathetic and resistant toward them, they will adopt the tactics of suppressing and tormenting that person, in order to subdue them. Antichrists often suppress those whose opinions are different from their own. They often suppress people who pursue the truth and loyally do their duties. They often suppress people of relative decency and uprightness who do not flatter or toady up to them. They suppress those who do not get along with or yield to them. Antichrists do not treat others based on the truth principles. They cannot treat people fairly. When they take a dislike to someone, when someone seems to have not yielded to them at heart, they find chances and excuses, and even come up with various pretexts, to attack and torment that person, going so far as to take up the banner of doing the church work to suppress them. They do not relent until people have become pliant and dare not say no to them; they do not relent until people have acknowledged their status and power, greet them with a smile, express endorsement and compliance toward them, and do not dare to get any ideas about them. In any situation, in any group, the word “fairness” does not exist in an antichrist’s treatment of others, and the word “loving” does not exist in their treatment of brothers and sisters who truly believe in God. They regard whoever constitutes a threat to their status as a nail in their eye and a thorn in their side, and they will find chances and pretexts to torment them. If that person does not yield, they torment them, and do not stop until that person is subdued. Antichrists doing this is very out of line with the truth principles, and in enmity with the truth, so should they be pruned? Not only that—nothing less than exposing, discerning, and classifying them will do. An antichrist treats everyone according to their own preferences, their own intents and aims. Under their authority, whoever has a sense of justice, whoever can speak fairly, whoever dares to fight injustice, whoever holds to the truth principles, whoever is genuinely talented and learned, whoever can bear testimony to God—all such people will meet with the antichrist’s jealousy, and they will be suppressed, excluded, and even trampled beneath the antichrist’s foot to the point they cannot rise again. Such is the hatred with which an antichrist treats good people and those who pursue the truth. It can be said that more or less the majority of those whom an antichrist feels jealous of and suppresses are positive figures and good people. Most of them are people whom God will save, whom God can make use of, whom God will make perfect. In employing such tactics of suppression and exclusion against those whom God will save, use, and make perfect, are antichrists not opponents of God? Are they not people who resist God? As they feel jealous of, attack, and exclude those who pursue the truth like this, they are directly disturbing the work of the church and the life entry of God’s chosen people. This kind of antichrist is not only antagonistic toward God incarnate, but also toward those who follow God and those who pursue the truth. This is an authentic antichrist. Should God’s chosen people be discerning toward this kind of manifestation of antichrists? Should they expose and reject antichrists? Can the kind of disposition that antichrists have be resolved by fellowshipping the truth? Their disposition is one of hating the truth and God, and they absolutely will not accept or submit to the truth. Therefore, the only way to handle such authentic antichrists is to expose, discern, and then reject such people. This is wholly in line with the truth principles and with God’s intentions. Antichrists tormenting God’s chosen people in this way is clearly them setting themselves up in confrontation with God and vying with God for His chosen people. They resent those they are unable to mislead and control. They are unable to gain these people, but they also do not allow God to gain them either. In this way, are they not playing the role of Satan in the church, who vies with God for God’s chosen people, and brings harm and ruination upon them? Antichrists wish to keep God’s chosen people who pursue the truth under their thumb, preventing God from gaining them, and they also wish to mislead all those who follow God and make these people follow them, ruining their chances at salvation. Only then will they have achieved their goal. Are the antichrists who harm people to death not the archenemies of God? You should be able to discern them.

What other manifestations do antichrists have? (They go against work arrangements and just do things their own way.) There are some similarities between this and establishing one’s own independent kingdom and underhanded manipulation, but it is also another specific manifestation. How do antichrists do things their own way? (The Above issues work arrangements to require God’s chosen people to discern false leaders and antichrists, but some antichrists don’t implement these work arrangements, instead they use the pretext of “you can only discern other people once you’re able to discern yourself” to get everyone to know themselves, preventing brothers and sisters from discerning false leaders and antichrists.) This is opposing the Above’s work arrangements, as well as doing things their own way. What else? (Antichrists have their own ideas about the Above’s work arrangements. Outwardly, it seems like they are able to implement these arrangements and that they are fellowshipping with the brothers and sisters, but they never follow up on or ask after these things, and just disregard them afterward.) Antichrists doing things their own way primarily means that no matter what work the Above is arranging or what work the Above requires those below to implement, antichrists will put it to one side, ignore it, not convey it, and not implement it, and then they will do what they want, what they are willing to do, and what will benefit them. For example, in the issuing of the books of God’s words, according to the church’s principles of book distribution, everyone who lives a normal church life is to have a book. But when an antichrist sees this, they think, “A book for everyone? Wouldn’t that be a bad deal for me? It can’t be one book per person—I have to carry out and implement this work based on what each person specifically thinks of me. It shouldn’t just be about living a normal church life, but about who generally gives more in offerings. Without exception, people who don’t give any offerings or who are poor shouldn’t get a book. If they beg me for one and cough up some cash, then, based on how they’re acting, I’ll decide whether or not to give them one.” Is this doing things according to the principles? What are they doing? They’re doing things their own way. Doing things their own way means setting up their own policies outside of existing work arrangements, acting according to those policies in their local church, not implementing the work arrangements and the principles required by God’s house at all, and acting instead according to their own aims and goals. Ostensibly they have been distributing books, and it appears that task was completed. But what was their basis for doing it? It wasn’t based on the work arrangements of God’s house or church rules, it was based on their own policies, their own approaches. This is doing things their own way. They don’t show any submission at all to the work arrangements of God’s house; they are unable to strictly implement or execute them, and instead secretly establish many of their own rules and regulations which they practice and implement within their local church. This is not only setting up their own independent kingdom, even more so, it is doing things their own way. In other words, when they implement work arrangements in their local church, they are doing their own thing, something different from the work arrangements that have been issued by the Above and implemented in other churches. On the surface, they’ve gone through the motions, they’ve received the work arrangements and read them, but they have their own methods for how they’re specifically implemented. They simply disregard the work arrangements of God’s house, and openly violate them. This is called doing things their own way. Why do antichrists do things their own way? (They want to wield power within the church, and they want the final say on everything.) Right. They just want to hold power; they look for and seize any and all opportunities to gain power and control others, to get others to heed them, obey them, and fear them. They wish to use their different practices to control others, to make everyone know that only they hold power in this place, and no one else, that it is simply impossible for others to not go through them, to go over their head, and that no one can surpass them. They primarily want to control God’s chosen people and seize power. It is very clear that antichrists behaving in this way is not handling things according to the truth principles or the requirements of God’s house. It is not something a leader, or anyone who is doing their duty normally, should do. So, when antichrists exhibit this manifestation, should they be pruned? Should they be exposed and rejected? (Yes.)

What are some of the other manifestations of antichrists? (Antichrists steal offerings, spend the money of God’s house for their own enjoyment, and revel in special privileges.) Reveling in special privileges is one specific manifestation. The moment an antichrist gains status, then there’s no holding them back—they see other people as things to be trampled underfoot, and in everything they do they want to steal the limelight, to take full advantage. They strive to gain the upper hand in everything they do, as well as when they speak. Whatever seat they sit in, they want it to be special. Whatever treatment they enjoy in God’s house, they want it to be better than what anyone else receives. They want everyone to think more highly of them and have a higher opinion of them than anyone else. When they don’t have status, they want to snatch it, and as soon as they do have status they become incredibly arrogant. Anyone speaking to them must gaze up at them, no one can walk side-by-side with them, and instead must stay one or two steps behind; no one can speak to them too loudly or too harshly, use the wrong words, or look at them in the wrong way. They will nitpick all, and will have something to say about them. No one can offend them or criticize them; instead, everyone must be respectful to them, fawn on them, and flatter them. Once an antichrist gains status, they will act arbitrarily and willfully everywhere they go, and show off so that others will esteem them. Not only do they revel in status and really value the esteem of others, material pleasures are also particularly important to them. They want to stay with hosts that provide the best treatment. No matter who their host is, they have particular demands regarding what they eat, and if the food isn’t good enough, they’ll find a chance to prune their host. They refuse to accept any substandard pleasures—their food, clothing, lodging, and transportation must all be a cut above, average will simply not do. They cannot accept things that are the same as what the regular brothers and sisters receive. If others are getting up at 5 or 6 a.m., they will get up at 7 or 8 a.m. The best food and items must be reserved for them. Even the offerings that people make must be sifted through by them first, and they’ll keep whatever is nice or valuable, or whatever catches their eye, and leave the leftovers for the church. And there’s one other, most disgusting thing that antichrists do. What is it? Once they have status, their appetite grows, their horizons broaden, and they learn to enjoy themselves, after which they develop a desire to spend money, to consume, and consequently want to have to themselves all the money the church uses for its work, to allocate it however they like, to control it according to their wishes. Antichrists particularly revel in this kind of power and this kind of treatment, and once they do have power, they want to sign their name on everything, like all the checks and various agreements. They want to enjoy that feeling of incessantly scribbling their signature with a pen, of squandering money like water. When an antichrist does not have status, no one can see these manifestations in them, or that they are this type of person, that they have this kind of disposition, that they would do such things. But as soon as they gain status, this all gets revealed. If they are elected in the morning, by that afternoon they become incredibly arrogant, they stick their nose up in the air, their head swells, and they have no regard for ordinary people. The change happens very quickly. But actually, they have not changed—they have just been revealed. They put on these arrogant airs, and what are they going to do? They want to live off the church, to indulge in the benefits of status. Any time someone puts out a spread of delicious food they begin scarfing it down, while demanding health supplements to maintain that stinking flesh of theirs. Antichrists reveling in special privileges often occurs; there are just differences in terms of the degree of severity. When any person who clings to fleshly pleasures becomes a leader, they want to revel in special privileges. This is the disposition of antichrists. The moment they gain status, they become completely different. They keep all the pleasures and special treatment that come along with status firmly and securely in their sights, in their grasp, and will not let go of, loosen their grip on a single shred of them, or allow any bit of them to slip away. Which of these manifestations and practices of antichrists is acting according to the truth principles? Not a single one. Each and every one of them is nauseating and loathsome to behold; not only are their practices and manifestations not in line with truth principles, but they certainly don’t possess the slightest bit of conscience, reason, or a sense of shame. When antichrists have status, aside from recklessly committing misdeeds and working on their own power and status, they not only fail to do anything that would benefit the church’s work or the brothers’ and sisters’ life entry, they also revel in the benefits of status, fleshly pleasures, and people looking up to them and venerating them. Some antichrists even find people to serve them, having the tea they drink served to them by others, having the clothes they wear washed by others, and even having a particular person who scrubs their back when they bathe, and one who waits on them when they eat. Worse still, some even have a set menu for each of the day’s three meals, and on top of this, they want to take health supplements, and to have all kinds of different soups boiled for them. Do antichrists have shame? No, they do not! Would you say that it is somewhat lenient to simply prune that type of person? Will pruning them make them feel shame? (It won’t.) So, how can this issue be resolved? It is quite simple. After pruning, expose them, and let them know what they are. Whether or not they yield to this, they should be dismissed and everyone should reject them. Once you have discovered an antichrist, can you reject them? Do you dare to stand up to report and expose them? (Yes.) Do you truly dare or not? When you have others to back you up now, you will dare to stand up and expose them, but without support, will you still have that courage? It is safe where you are now, without the great red dragon reigning, so you think, “What do I have to fear? Aren’t they just an antichrist? With God as our backer I have the courage to expose the antichrist and I am not afraid!” However, it is different in the country of the great red dragon. If you expose an antichrist and they lose their status, then they will dare to torment you, sell you out, and deliver you into the hands of the authorities. Would you still dare to expose them? (Perhaps not.) Perhaps not. Your attitude will change immediately; in that environment, you would not dare to expose them. So, is not daring to expose them correct? It is not correct, you have no testimony, and it means that you are not an overcomer; it is not something a follower of God should say. Suppose that you keep quiet, but your heart cries out again and again: “You antichrist, you devil and Satan, I will expose you. I will use wisdom to reject you, and cleanse you away from the church! You are not worthy of dwelling in God’s house, you are a devil, you are a Satan! Even though I do not expose you publicly with my words, I reject you from the bottom of my heart. I will seek out more brothers and sisters who understand the truth and together we will reject you. We will not accept your leadership or your manipulation!” Is this the correct way to act? (Yes.) The environment may be adverse, and publicly exposing an antichrist may put you in jeopardy, but God’s commission, the truth principles, and your duty cannot be renounced or abandoned. As for those antichrists who revel in special privileges, who unabashedly enjoy the benefits of status, we should reject them, and not allow them to become parasites in the house of God or to harm or mislead any more brothers and sisters. We should cleanse them away. The resources of God’s house are not for supporting these parasites. They are not worthy of eating within God’s house, nor are they worthy of enjoying everything in God’s house. Why is this? Because they are devils, and they deserve to be rejected. This is another manifestation of antichrists—reveling in special privileges, the shameless reveling in special privileges. Without contributing anything, as soon as they attain a position of leadership, they seize power, indulge in the benefits of their status, and force brothers and sisters to cook and buy delicious food for them, robbing them of their hard-earned property, and extorting their money and items. To them, it is a matter of course, an invaluable opportunity, a chance that will not come again. Is this not the way a devil thinks? What shameless thinking it is. This type of person should be pruned, exposed, and rejected by the brothers and sisters.

What are some other manifestations of antichrists? Is deceiving those above and below oneself a specific manifestation? (Yes.) Antichrists are inherently wicked; they don’t possess a heart of honesty, of love for the truth, or of love for positive things. They are often living in dark corners—they do not act with an attitude of honesty, they are not forthright in their words, and they are wicked and deceitful toward other people and God. They want to deceive others, and to deceive God, as well. They will not accept others’ supervision, much less God’s scrutiny. When they are among other people, they never want anyone to know what, deep down, they are thinking and planning, what sort of person they are, and what attitude they harbor toward the truth, and so on; they don’t want others to know any of this, and they also want to wheedle God, to keep Him in the dark. That’s why, when an antichrist doesn’t have status, when they don’t have opportunities to manipulate the situation in a group of people, then no one can really figure out what lies behind their words and actions. People will wonder: “What are they thinking about each day? Are there any intents behind their performance of their duty? Are they revealing corruption? Do they feel any jealousy or hatred toward others? Do they have any biases against other people? What are their views on what others say? What do they think when they encounter certain things?” Antichrists never let others know what is really going on with them. Even if they do express a few words about their opinion on something, they will be vague and ambiguous, they will talk in circles so that others can’t tell what they’re trying to convey, and don’t know what they want to say, or what they’re trying to express, leaving everyone scratching their heads. After someone like that gains status, they become even more surreptitious in their behavior around other people. They want to protect their ambitions, their reputation, their image and their name, their status and dignity, and so on. That’s why they don’t want to be up front about how they do things or their motives for doing things. Even when they make a mistake, reveal a corrupt disposition, or when the motives and intents behind their actions are wrong, they don’t want to open up and allow others to find out about it, and they often put up an appearance of innocence and perfection to trick the brothers and sisters. And with the Above and with God, they only say nice-sounding things, and often use deceptive tactics and lies to maintain their relationship with the Above. When they report to the Above on their work, and talk to the Above, they never say anything unpleasant, so that no one can discover any of their weak points. They will never mention what they’ve done down below, any of the issues that have arisen in the church, the problems or flaws in their work, or things they can’t understand or see through to. They never ask or seek with the Above about these things, and instead just present an image and appearance of competence in their work, of being capable of completely shouldering their work. They don’t report any of the problems that exist in the church to the Above, and no matter how chaotic things may be in the church, the magnitude of the flaws that have appeared in their work, or exactly what they’ve been doing down below, they repeatedly cover all that up, endeavoring to never let the Above catch wind of or hear any news about these things, even going so far as to transfer people who are connected to these matters or who know the truth about them to faraway places in an effort to conceal what’s really going on. What sort of practices are these? What kind of behavior is this? Is it the sort of manifestation a person who pursues the truth ought to have? Very clearly, it is not. This is the behavior of a demon. Antichrists will do their utmost to conceal, to cover up anything that could have an impact on their status or reputation, keeping these things from other people and from God. This is deceiving those above and below them. They’ll often say to those below them, “The above thinks so highly of me, and values me so much. The above has assigned such-and-such tasks to me, entrusting me with such important work. They take really good care of me, giving me guidance for my work, and they have really taken on responsibility for my life, too. The above pruned me because of such-and-such matters, and I accepted it in such-and-such way, and my understanding of it is such-and-such. Look at how much god loves me—he has personally pruned me, and given me personal guidance in my work.” And to the Above, they assume a manner of taking a great deal of responsibility for their work, of deeply caring for the brothers and sisters, and of fully devoting their heart and strength, but they will never utter a word about a brother or sister putting forward a different idea or opinion to them, or about any flaws or deviations in their work. They do their utmost to maintain a good relationship with those below them while trying their hardest to keep various truths about them from the Above, terrified of being dismissed if the Above finds out what’s really going on with them. Is this not deceiving those above and below them? The moment an antichrist seizes power, they do absolutely everything they can to keep the truth about themselves hidden so that no one can see through to their true state, their real situation, or their actual humanity or work abilities. They will use all sorts of tactics and means to hide these things, so that they can gain a firm footing and enjoy their power and the benefits of status forever. Deceiving those above and below oneself is something that only antichrists do. Is it in line with the truth principles? Is this a manifestation someone who serves God ought to possess? Is it a manifestation someone who pursues the truth ought to possess? (No.) So, when an antichrist possesses this kind of manifestation, this kind of disposition, should they be pruned? (Yes.)

We’ve just spoken about six reasons why antichrists are pruned. The first was establishing their own independent kingdoms; second, engaging in underhanded manipulation; third, tormenting others; fourth, doing things their own way; fifth, reveling in special privileges; and sixth, deceiving those above and below them. Are there any others? (Spreading heresies and fallacies to mislead brothers and sisters.) (Never exalting or bearing witness to God, and instead always bearing witness to themselves, and spouting words and doctrines to mislead people.) (Judging, attacking and hating the man used by the Holy Spirit.) Among these three things, which one is comparatively close in essence to the six reasons we’ve already discussed? (Always exalting and bearing witness to themselves and never bearing witness to God.) That one is relatively serious in nature. Second to that is attacking and judging the man used by the Holy Spirit, followed by spreading fallacies to mislead people. There should be some other specific manifestations of antichrists, but these more or less represent everything, so we don’t need to go into unnecessary detail about each one of them today. That is not the focus for today’s fellowship; instead, today’s focus is on how an antichrist won’t accept being pruned, and how they lack an attitude of repentance when they commit any wrong, and instead spread notions and publicly pass judgment on God. In other words, an antichrist’s attitude after they have been pruned, the root of this attitude, and what their disposition essence really is—this is the focal point that we should fellowship on. The other things we just covered are smaller topics that are somewhat related to this. Since we have discussed them in enough detail before, today we just fellowshipped on them in a broad and general way, summing up our previous fellowship on the various manifestations of antichrists. Antichrists possess these manifestations, these dispositions and essences, and they have done these kinds of things, so they must be pruned and rejected. However, would a true antichrist, someone who possesses the essence of an antichrist, acknowledge these things they’ve done or that these manifestations of theirs are those of an antichrist? (No, they wouldn’t.) When have you ever seen Satan the devil acknowledge that it opposes God? It will never admit that it opposes God, and no matter what kind of mistakes it has made, it will never admit that it was in the wrong. So, let’s start on the topic for today’s fellowship from the perspective of this essence of antichrists.

II. How Antichrists Behave When They Do Not Accept Being Pruned

A. Refusing to Acknowledge That They Have Done Wrong

No matter how large a mistake an antichrist has made, and no matter how much evil they have committed, when they are pruned, the first behavior they resort to is one of completely denying that they have done anything wrong, desperately using sophistry to vindicate themselves. This is them lacking an attitude of repentance when they commit any wrong, which is mentioned in the eleventh manifestation of antichrists. Antichrists do not have an attitude of repentance, so what are they thinking deep down? Why do they not have an attitude of repentance? (Because they believe that they haven’t done anything wrong.) Right. Antichrists absolutely do not admit that they have done anything wrong. So are they able to admit that they are antichrists? This is even more difficult. If you are able to make a list of facts to expose an antichrist, will they be able to accept it? Without a shadow of a doubt, they will be even less capable of accepting this. Through these kinds of manifestations, we are able to see that the essence of an antichrist is one of resisting and betraying God, and that their disposition is one that is averse to the truth, hates the truth, and has absolutely no love for the truth. Therefore, when antichrists are exposed and pruned, the first thing they do is to look for various reasons in their defense, to look for all kinds of excuses to try and get themselves off the hook, thus accomplishing their goal of shirking their responsibilities, and achieving their aim of being forgiven. What the antichrists fear most is that God’s chosen people will see through to their character, to their weaknesses and flaws, to their Achilles’ heel, to their true caliber and work ability—so they try their utmost to package themselves in order to cover up their shortcomings, issues, and corrupt dispositions. When their evildoing is unmasked and exposed, the first thing they do is not admit or accept this fact, or do their utmost to make up for and compensate for their mistakes, instead they try to come up with various methods to use to cover them up, to hoodwink and mislead those who are privy to their actions, to not let God’s chosen people see the true face of the matter, to not let them know how harmful their actions have been to God’s house, how much they have disrupted and disturbed the work of the church. Of course, what they fear most is the Above finding out, because once the Above knows, they will be dealt with according to principle, and it will all be over for them, and they are bound to be dismissed and eliminated. And so, when the evildoing of antichrists is exposed, the first thing they do is not to reflect on where they went wrong, where they violated principles, why they did what they did, what disposition they were governed by, what their intents were, what their state was at the time, whether it was because of waywardness or because of the adulterations of their intents. Instead of dissecting these things, much less reflecting on them, they rack their brains for any way to cover up the true facts. At the same time, they do their utmost to explain and justify themselves in front of God’s chosen people, in order to hoodwink them, making major problems seem like small ones, and small problems seem unproblematic, and bluffing their way out of it, so that they can remain in the house of God recklessly committing misdeeds and abusing their power, and continue to mislead and control people, and make them look up to them and do as they say to satisfy their ambitions and desires. From start to finish, what are antichrists really doing? All that antichrists do is rack their brains trying to say things, do things, and busy themselves for the sake of their own status and reputation, instead of coming before God to pray and admit their mistakes and transgressions, and know their own intents and corrupt dispositions. They also don’t admit the harm that the mistakes they’ve made bring upon the work of the church and the brothers and sisters. Instead, they keep frantically searching over and over again in the depths of their hearts: “Whereabouts exactly have I made a mistake? Where have I not been cautious, thereby allowing someone to get leverage on me? Where have I not put in enough effort or fully considered things, thereby allowing something to go wrong, and turn into a source of criticism or a piece of leverage that can be used against me?” They think about and sift through these things again and again, unable to eat or sleep. But an antichrist never reflects on or knows themselves, much less do they pray to God and admit that they have done something wrong, and they do not search for answers based on God’s word, seek the truths they should practice or the truth principles they should abide by, and much less do they seek out brothers or sisters who understand the truth to open up to in fellowship and seek the truth with to resolve problems. When they are confronted with a matter, they don’t seek or submit, rather, they try using every means at their disposal to hide their problems, thinking that the fewer people know about them, the better, and that preserving their reputation and status is the best policy. The hearts of antichrists are this dark, and they are filled with rebelliousness and wickedness, lacking the slightest intention to submit to God. Antichrists are always looking for ways to keep their reputation and status from being harmed. No matter who fellowships the truth with them to support and help them, they don’t accept it, thinking to themselves: “I understand everything, I don’t need your help! Even when I have problems, I’m better than you. You think you can help me with what little you understand? You’re really overestimating your abilities here!” Antichrists are just this arrogant and self-righteous. They do so many bad things and yet refuse to admit that they have done anything wrong or that they have any problems. In their hearts, they are too intransigent and just won’t listen to anything anyone says. The only thing they can’t put aside in their minds is what kind of impact their actions will have on their reputation and status later on. This is the thing that worries them the most and the thing that they are most concerned about.

No matter how many wrong things an antichrist does, no matter what kind of wrong things they do, whether it be embezzling, squandering, or misusing God’s offerings, or if they are disrupting and disturbing the work of the church, making a huge mess of it and provoking God’s wrath, they always remain calm, collected, and totally unconcerned. No matter what kind of evil an antichrist does or what consequences it brings about, they never promptly come before God to confess their sins and repent, or come before the brothers and sisters with an attitude of baring themselves and opening up to admit their wrongdoings, know their transgressions and corruption, and regret their evil deeds. Instead, they rack their brains to find various excuses to shirk responsibility and shift the blame onto others to restore their own face and status. What they care about is not the work of the church, but whether their reputation and status are damaged or impacted in any way. They do not consider at all or think of ways to make up for the losses caused to God’s house due to their transgressions, nor do they try to make up for their debt to God. That is to say, they never admit that they are capable of doing something wrong or that they have made a mistake. In the hearts of antichrists, proactively admitting mistakes and providing an honest account of the facts is incompetence and foolishness. If their evil deeds are discovered and exposed, antichrists will only admit to a momentary careless mistake, never their own dereliction of duty and irresponsibility, and they will attempt to pin the responsibility on someone else to remove the stain from their record. At times like these, antichrists are not concerned with how to make up for the losses caused to God’s house, how to open up, admit their mistakes, or give an account of this to God’s chosen people. They are concerned with finding ways to make major problems seem like small ones and small problems seem unproblematic. They give objective reasons to make others understand and sympathize with them. They try their utmost to restore their reputations in other people’s minds, minimize the extremely negative influence of their transgressions on themselves, not let the Above have a bad impression of them, and ensure that the Above never holds them accountable, dismisses them, investigates the situation, or handles them. To restore their reputation and status, so that their own interests are not harmed, antichrists are willing to endure any amount of suffering, and they will think up every possible method to solve any difficulty. From the very start of their transgression or mistake, antichrists never have any intention of bearing any responsibility for the wrong things they do, they never have any intention to admit, fellowship about, expose, or dissect the motives, intents, and corrupt dispositions behind the wrong things they do, and they certainly never have any intention to make up for the damage they cause to the work of the church and the loss they cause to the life entry of God’s chosen people. Therefore, no matter what perspective you view the matter from, antichrists are people who stubbornly refuse to admit their wrongdoings and would rather die than repent. Antichrists are shameless and thick-skinned beyond all hope of redemption, and they are no less than living Satans. No matter how great the mistakes they make within the church are, they puff out their chests and hold their heads high, they are completely indifferent to this, believing that they’ve done nothing wrong and lacking the slightest intention to repent. They never shed any tears over the wrongs they have committed, nor do they ever feel any sadness or remorse because of these things. By contrast, they do feel pained or sad if they inadvertently expose themselves, thereby allowing the majority of people to see their true faces and reject them. After they have made mistakes and their actions have brought harm upon God’s chosen people and caused damage to the work of the church, every word they say and everything they do is not to make up for these errors or to recover the losses, instead they are harboring their own intents and devising any possible means to defend themselves, to put on a performance and a show. Their aim is to make more people see that what they did was unintentional, that they were just careless for a moment, so that they can gain their forgiveness, have them speak on their behalf, and gain the trust and favor of God’s chosen people, and thereby attain their goal of making a full comeback.

Some antichrists, after having been pruned, don’t reflect on themselves to understand why they were pruned, to find where their mistake really lay in the matter that was exposed, and how they should make up for it going forward. Instead, they exploit being pruned, they fellowship with others about how they accepted being pruned, how they learned a lesson from it, how they were able to submit, and how they gained the appreciation of the Above after having had closer contact with the Above. At the same time, these antichrists also create a facade by fellowshipping about how they accepted being pruned to disseminate their own dissatisfaction and notions about the Above, leaving people with the impression that the Above doesn’t have principles for pruning people, that the Above prunes people at random, and is unsympathetic, inconsiderate of people’s feelings, and inconsiderate of human weaknesses, and that, despite all this, they still submitted entirely, and were still able to do their absolute best at the work that falls to them, they did not become negative, weak or resistant, nor did they throw in the towel. When an antichrist says all these things, it not only fails to make people submit to the truth and willingly accept pruning, on the contrary, it makes people develop notions and opinions about God and become guarded against God, while developing envy, admiration, and respect for the antichrist themselves. Once these two results have been produced, the greatest oversights that people make are what transgression the antichrist committed, what they did wrong, and the fact that they incurred losses for the work of the church, for God’s house because they were not capable in their work and recklessly committed misdeeds. This is one of the tactics of an antichrist—making a false countercharge, and thereby misleading others. They never mention the fact that they brought so much trouble upon the work of the house of God, and such great losses to the lives of brothers and sisters because they were negligent in their duty, because they were foolish and ignorant, because they tried to establish their own independent kingdom. They never admit or dissect these things, they never mention the truth of these matters, they never mention the reason for their dismissal, or why they were pruned. All they talk about is how the Above pruned them, how brutal the Above’s pruning was, how severely the Above spoke to them, how much they cried, how they were scapegoated, and how much they suffered, how they nevertheless hung in there as always, continuing to unfailingly do their duty. From beginning to end, does an antichrist ever have the slightest attitude of acknowledging their own wrongdoing? They do not. When foolish and ignorant people who don’t know the real situation, who don’t understand the truth hear about this, they think, “The Above doesn’t have any principles in how they prune people. No matter how well someone does in their work or how they pay a price, they’ll be pruned all the same, and afterward they can’t show any weakness, they just have to submit.” After a round of an antichrist’s fellowship and misleading, and after them putting a considerable amount of effort into doing things, the result they achieve is to engender misunderstandings and guardedness toward God in people’s hearts, so that when people are pruned, they will feel more antipathy and resistance, instead of being able to better understand God’s heart or being able to gladly submit to and accept the pruning, followed by knowing their own corrupt disposition, their foolishness and ignorance, and knowing who they really are. Throughout this antichrist’s fellowship, do they ever mention what they did wrong? Do they ever show a little bit of an attitude of admitting their wrongdoing? Not in the slightest. All throughout the process, they never acknowledge their own error. Have you ever heard of an antichrist, after being dismissed, admitting that their mistake had caused a loss to the house of God? (No.) If that person were an antichrist, they would not admit it. We’ve talked about a few antichrists before, like that “female leader” and a few other well-known antichrists, whose actions resulted in losses of tens of thousands to God’s offerings, but in the end they never acknowledged that they had done anything wrong. They didn’t utter a single word about what they did wrong, and instead did nothing but blame others for being hard to work with. They pushed all the responsibility, the wrongdoing, the blame onto other people’s shoulders while taking credit for all the good things, whatever was done right, and all the correct decisions. Throughout the entire incidents, even though they were the main people in charge, they claimed that all the mistakes were made by other people. If that’s the case, then what were they doing? Antichrists cause losses to the house of God, and other people must take the responsibility for this. And yet whenever there is the slightest achievement, antichrists immediately pop up, saying they were the ones who did it, itching to let everyone in the church know about it, even nonbelievers. When they make the slightest mistake, they rush to find a scapegoat, to offload the responsibility. They make major problems seem like small ones, and small problems seem unproblematic, trying to nip any issues in the bud. This is so no one finds out about it, and so everyone forgets about it as soon as possible, and no one knows what really happened, so that they can regain others’ esteem right away, and quickly recover their original status and power. When an antichrist has done something wrong, no matter how practically people prune them or hit the nail on the head, they will be resistant, oppositional, and completely unaccepting, and even if there are witnesses or evidence, they will stubbornly refuse to admit their mistakes, and they will not acknowledge or accept it within their heart. The antichrist will say, “Even if I was wrong in this, there were other people involved, too. Why aren’t they being pruned, but just me? Why am I the only one being investigated for accountability and not anyone else?” No matter how in line with the truth and with reality the pruning is, they will feel that they have been wrongly accused, that they are being wronged, that they shouldn’t be treated that way after suffering so much and paying so many prices, and they shouldn’t be pounced on like that for one little mistake. They believe they shouldn’t have to accept that kind of pruning. If a regular brother or sister prunes them, then they will immediately fight back and resist it, throwing a tantrum and showing their hotheadedness, or possibly even daring to raise a hand against them. If it’s the Above who prunes them, they’ll begrudgingly keep quiet, but inside they feel incredibly wronged. They are displeased and unwilling, and will often spout skewed arguments, saying, “I guess it’s just my luck that you found out about this. Actually, many of the leaders at all ranks and brothers and sisters did such terrible things that you don’t know about, and I’m the one who was caught. That’s how bad my luck is!” No matter how the Above or the brothers and sisters prune them, they cannot just accept it as is, they cannot acknowledge the truth of the matter and take on responsibility. It’s as if admitting responsibility and what really happened would kill them. They will never acknowledge that they have committed a wrong, that they are responsible for the matter, much less that it caused a great loss to God’s house. Is this not the disposition of an antichrist? (It is.) This is the disposition of an antichrist.

After an antichrist is pruned for doing something wrong, they do not accept it and submit from deep in their heart, nor do they understand the truth and the truth principles that they should adhere to from it, nor do they admit that they are also capable of doing something wrong. Their primary characteristic is not being convinced, not accepting, and not acknowledging. Antichrists behave in these ways mainly because they believe that they are perfect people, that they are incapable of doing something wrong. To them, whoever accuses them of making a mistake is the one in the wrong—it’s that person who has the wrong viewpoint, who harbors a different perspective and stance on the matter. Antichrists think that anyone who prunes them does so because they have yet to see their strengths, that they are making things difficult for them, finding fault in them, and intentionally targeting them. Isn’t this the kind of disposition that an antichrist has? (Yes.) An antichrist won’t accept being pruned for this, nor will they have any repentance, mainly because they have never seen themselves as someone who can make mistakes—they believe that they are perfect, and that they alone are incapable of making mistakes. This implies that they definitely believe that they are righteous, that they are a saint. If they were to really acknowledge that they are a corrupt person, then they should acknowledge that they possess corruption, that they are capable of doing things wrong, and that as they are human, they are bound to make mistakes. Some people appear to be quite guileless, but there is something within their humanity that people hold in their notions to be a strength, which is competitiveness and an extreme eagerness to outdo others. These people have excellent self-control, and very high demands for themselves. They are very strict with themselves; in everything they do, they demand perfection and the very best, without permitting the slightest flaw or oversight. At the same time, they subconsciously believe that they can do no wrong, because they are incredibly careful in everything they do, they are great at thinking over things, and do so extremely thoroughly; they do everything without any flaws, while considering every matter thoroughly and perfectly. Consequently, they believe they will never err. When they are pruned, what is most difficult for them to accept is the fact that they are capable of making a mistake. This is why such people don’t know how to reflect on themselves, nor will they ever do so. They view the competitiveness and eagerness to outdo others in their humanity as positive things, and abide by them as if they were truth principles; they think that if they do things and perform their duty based on these principles, they will never slip up, and even if errors do occur, they see it as a matter of perspective, as people having different views, and think that this certainly doesn’t mean that what they did was wrong. Therefore, it doesn’t matter who prunes them, whether the pruning or what is exposed accords with the facts—they will not accept it. If they find out that they truly have done something wrong, will they acknowledge it? (They won’t.) They won’t acknowledge it, they will immediately go silent, and they will be the last one to ever mention it. They will never, ever bring it up. If an antichrist encounters somebody who exposes some errors or flaws in their work, and sees that they can’t hide from this, they will pretend to keep digging into who made the error, and unexpectedly after searching and searching it is discovered that they were the one responsible. If someone says, “You were the one who did it, not someone else; you just forgot about it,” how would an antichrist respond to this? What should a normal person do in these circumstances? A normal person with shame should go red in the face, feel embarrassed and awkward, and immediately admit it, saying, “I forgot about that. I did it, it was my mistake. Let’s quickly figure out how to make up for this and set things right, so that the error doesn’t continue.” Someone with shame, a conscience, and reason would immediately acknowledge their mistake, then resolve it and fix it. An antichrist, on the other hand, is shameless; the moment someone discovers that they were the one who committed the error, the moment they are exposed by someone and someone finds out about it, they will immediately change their tune, and think of various ways to avoid admitting their mistake, to avoid accepting that they were the one who made that mistake—they will tell bald-faced lies and argue their own case. Everyone around them will find this embarrassing and awkward, but the antichrist will feel nothing at all. They will make major problems seem like small ones, and small problems seem unproblematic, then never bring the matter up again. In this matter, their stupidity has been revealed, so they will openly deny their mistake and lie in front of so many people, trying to shirk responsibility, without their face growing red with shame, and without their heart skipping a beat. Do antichrists have any shame? (No.)

When some antichrists have just been dismissed, they are filled with grievances; they feel a sense of loss, that they no longer have status, that no one esteems or waits on them anymore, and that they can no longer enjoy the benefits of status. They feel that all of the prices they paid and all of their past suffering has not been worth it, and their hearts are filled with a sense of injustice. However, they don’t experience a shred of guilt for the manifestations they displayed when they were pruned or for whatever they did wrong. They feel it’s unfair, their hearts are full of grievances and complaints, as well as misunderstandings toward God. They not only refuse to acknowledge their mistake and have no plans to make up for their fault, or to accept being pruned, to accept this dismissal, on the contrary, they think: “God is not righteous. No matter how much someone has suffered or how great injustice they have been subjected to, they have no place to recount this. This is so painful! Even god cannot be relied on, I have no one to lean on. Even if I continue doing a duty in god’s house in the future, I will have to proceed with extreme caution, and no one can be trusted.” They are full of defensiveness and misunderstandings toward God. What kind of disposition is this? No matter how many things they did wrong, how great losses they incurred to the work of the church, or how much they endangered the work of the church, they think that these things can simply be ignored, and they will not take any responsibility or acknowledge any error on their part. Instead, they’ll take any shred of a grievance they have, whatever paltry, worthless price they paid, and blow it way out of proportion, believing it was the house of God that has let them down, and that God has wrongly accused them. The loss that their mistake caused to God’s house is completely inconsequential in their minds. They think, “There’s no need to calculate that, or bother about it. Who would call that a loss? What leader doesn’t squander some of the offerings, anyway? How am I the only one? What leader doesn’t ever cause any losses to god’s house? What are god’s offerings? That money belongs to everyone, so if other people are allowed to spend it, why aren’t I? Other people are allowed to squander it, but I’m not? If we talk about losses caused to god’s house, other people cause much more than I do. Why am I the only one being severely pruned and dismissed? As for not acting in accordance with the principles but recklessly committing misdeeds, some people are much worse in that regard than I am, so why aren’t they dismissed when they’re pruned? As for paying a price, I’ve paid a greater one than most people. In terms of sincerity, whose can compare with mine? How about sermons? I’ve given more of those than any of the others. And as for understanding the truth, who understands as much of it as me? When it comes to accepting being pruned by the above, who accepts it more than me? In terms of forsaking, who has forsaken more than I have? As for helping brothers and sisters and resolving their problems, who does more of that than me? When it comes to running around and working in the church, nobody can match me. When it comes to who the brothers and sisters cast votes for, support, and endorse, who gets more votes than me?” You see, these are the comparisons antichrists make. When they are just faced with pruning, antichrists only speak about the matters involved. If an antichrist acknowledged all the mistakes they made and all the truth principles they violated, if they could accept and submit to pruning, if they acted based on the principles from then on, and did their utmost to make up for the losses they caused to the church’s work, would God’s house keep looking into their issues? Would it condemn them? Would it cast them into hell? Is there any need for them to put forth so much effort in explaining themselves and making excuses? Is there any need for them to keep complaining about their grievances in this roundabout manner? Could it really be that they don’t have a corrupt disposition and are incapable of making mistakes? After hearing so many sermons, do they still have no idea what kind of thing they really are? After being pruned a little, they feel wronged—if they didn’t do any evil, who would be willing to or want to prune them? Besides, if they weren’t a leader, bearing responsibility, who would be willing to prune them? God grants people the right to choose freely, allowing them to live the church life, and as for what path people take and what they pursue, that is their own business. No one will interfere in this. But right now as a leader in the house of God, a supervisor, if they make a mistake, the losses this causes to the house of God will not be a small issue, and if they say something wrong, the impact that has on God’s chosen people will not be a small issue either, because the responsibility they bear is different from that of a regular person. That’s why it’s perfectly normal for the Above to prune them. Would the Above do that if they didn’t have this status or didn’t take on this responsibility? How many regular believers has the Above pruned? Because they bear a great responsibility, and the scope of their work is also very large, whenever they make a mistake, the impact is very large, and so they are certain to be pruned. This is very normal. If they can’t accept even being pruned, then are they qualified to be a leader? They are unqualified for that, they’re not qualified to be elected by the brothers and sisters—they’re unworthy of it! When they make a mistake, they don’t even have the courage to take responsibility for it, to acknowledge it. They don’t even have such reason, so how can they be a leader? They are unqualified and unworthy!

It is precisely because they possess the essence of antichrists that antichrists cannot acknowledge that they have committed an error, and so when they are pruned, they are unwilling to take responsibility or seek the truth principles. Given that they are unwilling to do these things, and they refuse to acknowledge their wrongdoing, are they able to put the truth into practice? Are they able to carry out the work arrangements of God’s house? Absolutely not. Therefore, when an antichrist is a leader, aside from running their own enterprise, they cannot possibly do anything that would benefit the work of God’s house, and they will never do things according to the truth principles, nor will they ever carry out work in accordance with the work arrangements of God’s house. Whether an antichrist is pruned for a small mistake, or for a major blunder that causes great losses to the church work, they are incapable of acknowledging their error, and they cannot acknowledge that they committed a transgression and owe God in this matter. On the contrary, no matter when, they would rather die than admit that they had anything to do with the losses caused by this, and they will not acknowledge that they hold primary responsibility, that their actions were wrong, that they chose the wrong path, or admit their mistake of deliberately committing evil despite being well aware of the truth, much less will they admit that they have unshirkable responsibility in this matter. They will not admit that they had incorrect intentions when they acted, that they couldn’t cooperate with anybody, that they acted arbitrarily and willfully, that they reveled in the benefits of status, were negligent in their duty and caused losses to the work of God’s house. Instead, after they’ve made an error, at every turn they will explain how much they’ve suffered, that they went to prison but never became a Judas, how much of a price they’ve paid and what great contributions they’ve made to the work of God’s house. They’ll spread and proclaim these things everywhere. Aside from publicizing their contributions and the price they’ve paid, they’ll also spread that God’s house was wrong and unfair in its pruning of them, and in the way it treated them. On top of lacking an attitude of repentance, they will pass judgment on God and on how God’s house dealt with them all over the place. If more people believe what they’re saying, if more people try to defend them, acknowledge and accept the price they have paid for God’s house, and believe that God’s house was unfair and wronged the antichrist in its treatment of them, then the antichrist will have achieved their goal. They will never waver in doing these things, much less restrain themselves. They do not have a heart that’s afraid of God, much less any intention to repent. After they do something wrong, not only do they refuse to acknowledge it, on the contrary, they try to shirk responsibility, and at the same time, they are more concerned about their future destination. When an antichrist sees that their destination is under threat, or hears that the house of God will no longer cultivate people like them, they will feel even more hatred in the depths of their heart toward the people who pruned and exposed them, and the people who caused them to lose face. Throughout the entire process of them being pruned, an antichrist will not repent at all. If they really do find out that their status and destination won’t be secure, that their desires and ambitions will never be accomplished, then the gloves will come off, and they will start secretly spreading their notions and negativity. They will pass judgment on the brothers and sisters or the upper-level leaders who pruned them, and they will also pass judgment on and attack the man used by the Holy Spirit, saying that he had no reason to prune them, that he did not allow them to save face at all. They are simply unreasonable. This kind of person cannot understand the truth, or have the slightest bit of a God-fearing heart, no matter how many sermons they hear; they cannot possess even the conscience or reason they ought to, no matter how many years they believe in God for. They are really pathetic and loathsome! From the moment that an antichrist is severely pruned for recklessly committing misdeeds, they never admit that they did anything wrong, and they are also filled with a sense of injustice while they complain and pass judgment on God’s house for being unfair toward them, and finally they begin openly spreading their notions, taking the gloves off and clamoring against the house of God, and in the end they get expelled. Is there the slightest bit of normal humanity within the antichrist’s behavior in any of these stages? How about conscience and reason? Are there any manifestations at all of loving the truth and positive things? Is there the slightest bit of a God-fearing heart? No, none of these things are present. An antichrist is loathsome to the extreme, devoid of shame, and utterly unreasonable! When they can no longer enjoy the benefits of status, they write themselves off as hopeless and begin to act recklessly. No matter how incompetent they are in their work and how lacking they are in work ability, they still want to enjoy the benefits of status and the esteem of others. They see status and reputation as more important than their life, and, no matter how great an error they make, they don’t feel any guilt at all. Are they even human? They are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. On the outside, they wear the skin of a human and look like a person, but inside they aren’t human. They are truly detestable—they are nauseating and loathsome!

B. Refusing to Acknowledge That They Have a Corrupt Disposition

When an antichrist is pruned, not only do they not repent, they also spread notions and openly pass judgment. The first main reason for this is that they refuse to acknowledge that they have done wrong. What is the second reason? It is that an antichrist does not acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition. Is this not more serious and more concrete than refusing to acknowledge that they’ve done something wrong? The minimum knowledge that should be possessed by anyone who accepts God’s work, who accepts God’s judgment and chastisement, is to first acknowledge that humans are corrupt, that they have been corrupted by Satan, that they lack reason and humanity, do not possess the truth or know God, and are those who resist God. Only antichrists would never admit that they are too deeply corrupted, and that corrupt humans are all of Satan, much less would they ever admit that they themselves are devils and Satans. In particular, at times when most people are able to reflect, know themselves, and accept being pruned, antichrists can’t even admit that they have a corrupt disposition—this is a serious problem. Why do I say it’s serious? Since antichrists are incapable of acknowledging the truth and do not believe that God’s words are the truth, they refuse to accept anything that is said in God’s words from deep within their hearts. Some people say, “How can You say they refuse to accept that? They admitted they were devils and Satans, that they were God’s enemies.” How does that count as an admission? Even a nonbeliever might say that they are not a good person, but does that count as admitting to having a corrupt disposition? It does not. True admission of having a corrupt disposition means first knowing what kind of person you are. It also means being able to link yourself to the different corrupt dispositions described by God to varying degrees, and further acknowledge the different corrupt dispositions that you reveal while in different states. Aren’t these some concrete manifestations? (Yes.) But an antichrist does not possess these things, because they don’t acknowledge God’s words—instead they despise them. That is why they just listen to God’s words exposing mankind’s corrupt dispositions, and that’s it; they never reflect on themselves, dissect themselves, or compare themselves to these words deep within their heart. In other words, they don’t dissect and compare their various manifestations, intents, thoughts, and perspectives according to these words of God; they don’t do these things at all. What does them not doing these things signify? It signifies that to them, these words that God has spoken are simply one way of putting things, a different perspective—they are simply a different way of describing man’s dispositions, personality, practices, and essence, they are by no means the criterion for defining man’s dispositions. This is an accurate way to describe how antichrists do not regard God’s words as the truth. Antichrists only have an approximate understanding in their minds of God’s exposure of mankind’s various corrupt dispositions, but they never accept it deep in their hearts. Since they don’t accept it, when something befalls them, are they able to use God’s words to restrain their disposition, change their practices, and resolve their incorrect perspectives? Absolutely not. Antichrists do not accept the truth, which means that they do not admit that they have a corrupt disposition. Take arrogance, for example—God’s words exposing this disposition talk about some of the ways this is manifested and revealed in man. A person who pursues the truth and acknowledges that God’s words are the truth will weigh their own behavior and disposition against these words of God. They will weigh these things over and over, and then admit: “I have an arrogant disposition. It is the disposition I revealed when I did this. These thoughts, actions, and attitudes of mine are arrogant. These ways I have of treating others, doing my work, and approaching my duty are arrogant.” Isn’t that acknowledging that God’s words are the truth? (Yes.) They view God’s words as the standard, and use it to draw comparisons to their own behavior, and when they find a link, they unconsciously acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition, that everything God says is true, and not false at all. For now, let’s not get into whether people can use God’s words to resolve their corrupt disposition after they have acknowledged that they have one. First, let’s just talk about whether people acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition. When it comes to acknowledging, most people who possess rationality, conscience, and normal thinking can gain enlightenment and illumination from God’s word, and then, unconsciously accept and say “Amen” to God’s words, acknowledge that God’s words are the truth, and thereby acknowledge that they are a corrupt human being with a corrupt disposition and bow down before God. Once they have acknowledged that they have a corrupt disposition, they will have a correct, fitting attitude toward God, the truth, and in particular toward being pruned. That is to say, while acknowledging that they have a corrupt disposition, when they are pruned they will be able to unwittingly and subconsciously submit from the heart to this pruning, and be willing to accept it. There are even some people who long for others to restrain and discipline them through pruning, and they very naturally develop positive feelings toward being pruned; they have a positive, proactive attitude toward it. These are normal people. The only abnormal people are antichrists; such people don’t accept God’s words, often snort in contempt at them, and resist, judge and condemn them in their hearts. Therefore, they have the same attitude toward God’s exposure and characterization of man’s corrupt dispositions. What attitude is that? Take, for example, God saying that people have an arrogant disposition, and talking about its specific manifestations. When an antichrist hears about these specific manifestations, they don’t simply refuse to accept this, instead they escalate to despising these specific manifestations that God speaks of. Why would they do that? Because they follow the logic of Satan, that is, Satan’s attitude toward the truth and positive things. They say, “You call this arrogance, but among those who are capable, who isn’t ostentatious? Among people with leadership talent, who doesn’t speak in an imposing way? Among people with status, who isn’t a little ostentatious? None of these things are a big deal. All of these things are perfectly normal in the world of nonbelievers, but here you all are making a mountain out of a molehill. Also, does taking action without discussing things with others really count as arrogance? Is that really being a law unto oneself? People who are capable should call the shots, and being able to monopolize power is called being competent. What’s the use in discussing things with you ordinary people? What do you know? So, I’m not being arrogant, I’m just competent and capable. It’s called having leadership ability, and it’s an innate talent. I have such great aptitude, I can do anything. No matter what the circumstances are or what group I’m in, I can take charge—this is being a talented individual! Talented individuals should not be stomped on, nor should they be exposed. Instead, no matter what group they’re in, they should be recommended, exalted, and given important roles! Since they’re able, talented individuals with leadership abilities, they should have the demeanor of a leader, of a chief. If they bury these things, isn’t that putting on a facade?” They use this twisted reasoning and these heresies to judge and condemn God’s exposure of arrogant disposition, so no matter what you say, they will never acknowledge the various manifestations of the corrupt dispositions described and defined by God. They think, “What god said is just one way of putting things. It’s fairly positive, orthodox, and traditional, but it can’t be defined as the truth. It only fits some people. For example, some people are quite guileless, and they don’t have any talent, nor are they very capable or smart, and moreover they don’t have any leadership abilities. If they don’t have an appropriate partner, they have to consult with others when they act, and if they don’t, they cannot shoulder their work—this is the sort of person that god’s words fit.” Arguments like these are all satanic heresies and fallacies.

Antichrists never believe that God’s words are the truth, so any time they hear them, they just go through the motions; they are just like the Pharisees, using God’s words to keep up appearances. They don’t accept them deep in their hearts or make God’s words their life and the goal for their practice. This is why, when an antichrist commits an error, they won’t admit that they did something wrong when you prune and expose them for it, much less will they accept it when you prune them regarding the disposition and essence they revealed in that matter. Just like with them refusing to acknowledge that they’ve done something wrong, when an antichrist reveals a corrupt disposition, they will always have some reason, some excuse, some explanation to deny that they have a corrupt disposition. For example, when they reveal an arrogant disposition in a certain matter, they say that they were in a rush, that it was a bad choice of words and they raised their voice a little. When someone says they were being deceitful in another matter and not being open, they say that most people have poor caliber, so if they said what was going on, others wouldn’t understand them, and would misunderstand what they said, and this is why they weren’t being open. No matter what corrupt disposition they reveal, they can always find excuses and explanations. All in all, no matter what corrupt disposition they reveal, no matter how obvious or serious it is, they will never admit that it is a corrupt disposition. Antichrists often lie, saying one thing to people’s faces and another behind their backs, and no one can tell and nobody knows when they are telling the truth and when they are lying. However, they will never admit that they are a deceitful person, rather than an honest one. On the contrary, they often justify themselves and explain how utterly guileless they are, how particularly sincere they are with others, and when another person has any difficulties, how much they want to help them out of the kindness of their hearts. Antichrists not only do not admit that they have a corrupt disposition, they are always trying to whitewash themselves, bragging about how they are a good, kind person. Not only do they not admit that they have a corrupt disposition, at the same time they also brag about how great they are at working on people, how good they are at obtaining people’s favor and winning over people’s hearts. They brag about how strategic and capable they are when it comes to acting and speaking among people, about how no one can excel and surpass them, how no one is more competent for their job. When an antichrist pays a bit of a price, is able to preach some lofty doctrines and theories, and does something for a short time that misleads people and makes most people esteem them, then they’ll think that they have successfully cloaked their corrupt disposition, and that they have managed to get people to ignore their corrupt disposition. So based on these manifestations of antichrists, and this kind of understanding and attitude they harbor toward their corrupt disposition, when they are pruned, their first reaction will be to oppose and resist it, to do everything they can to clear their name. On top of refusing to acknowledge the losses they have brought upon the work of the church, they will also refuse to acknowledge the corrupt disposition that they revealed in the matter, and the error that they committed under the compulsion of their corrupt disposition. Considering this manifestation and essence of antichrists, is it possible for them to achieve dispositional change? (It’s not.)

I’ve encountered some antichrists who make mistakes in their work, who are lazy, don’t carry out their work, and neglect specific tasks, while still bossing people around, recklessly committing misdeeds, and doing things their own way. When such antichrists are pruned for this, on the surface they appear very compliant, but behind the scenes they are not at all repentant. Judging from their unrepentant attitude, they have not remotely accepted being pruned. Judging from them not accepting being pruned, they have never examined what revelations of corrupt dispositions they possess. Instead, after being pruned, they continue doing whatever they please, doing things their own way, engaging in underhanded manipulation, deceiving those above and below them, establishing their own independent kingdoms, and reveling in special privileges, without changing in the slightest. Why don’t they change in the slightest? It’s precisely because antichrists don’t remotely acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition, nor do they accept the truth; so, they leap on the chance of holding great power and make the most of having that power, and then take advantage of that time to do whatever they want to, to do their utmost to do bad things, and to disturb the work of God’s house and undermine the normal order of God’s house. While enjoying all kinds of material treatment from God’s house, they don’t do any good things at all. Aside from doing some superficial work, what do they do on the sly? They convene gatherings, preach words and doctrines, and even meddle in unrelated affairs—other than that, they just boss people around. They don’t carry out any of the specific work assigned to them by the Above, and they don’t appear in person to provide detailed instructions, supervision, or guidance. They simply order people around from up above, and occasionally, when they really have no choice, they’ll show up at the work site to get some things done and give some directions. This is just a temporary display of enthusiasm, and soon after they are nowhere to be found. When they promote someone or appoint someone to a post, no one can say that person isn’t good or oppose it, and antichrists will never check or supervise that person’s work. No matter how bad the things the person they’ve promoted or appointed does, they do not permit anyone else to expose them, no one can dismiss them, and no one is allowed to report them. Anyone who does report that person will become their adversary. Regardless of how great losses the person they’re using does to the work of the church, how great disturbances they cause to it, antichrists will do their utmost to protect them, and if they fail to do that, then they will hurry to disassociate themselves from that person, and quickly divest themselves of responsibility. Whatever antichrists do, whether it’s to other people’s faces or behind their backs, they utterly lack a God-fearing heart. They are disbelievers, demons, and living Satans, and they still shamelessly wish to occupy a position and enjoy the benefits of status; they are parasites freeloading off the house of God. There are even some who, when they have been pruned, and see that they won’t be able to hold on to their status, feel discouraged, disappointed, and downcast. Why do they feel downcast? Why do they feel discouraged? It’s because they can’t hold on to their status, their chance at enjoying special privileges and their special treatment are gone, no one esteems them anymore, and their days of playing with power are over. They will have to start doing everything for themselves—they’ll no longer have the chance to just stand there and issue orders. They don’t feel remorseful or upset about the evil consequences brought about by their corrupt disposition. Instead, they are upset, shed tears, and feel a sense of loss about no longer being able to enjoy the benefits of status. There are even some people who, after being dismissed, brazenly ask over and over again for another chance. Tell Me, can people like that be given another chance? What do they intend to do with that chance? To live off the church, to be freeloaders, and to act recklessly. If they were given another chance, would they come to know their own corrupt disposition? Would they be able to know themselves? (No.) If they were to get another chance, would they gain a bit of a sense of shame? Would their character change? With another chance, would they start doing things according to the truth principles, and no longer try to establish their own independent kingdoms? (They would not.) They wouldn’t do any of this—aren’t they done for? If you were pruned, and it was such a serious matter that the Above had no choice but to dismiss you, what would you be thinking? (That I really should be dismissed, because my nature is so wicked, I have done so many things that violate the principles and resist God, I have committed so much evil, and I have caused so many losses to the work of the church. I should be dismissed.) A person who possesses reason would first reflect on themselves, “What did I really do during this time? Why was I pruned? Was me getting pruned for doing those things, and the things that person said when they pruned me really right? How should I accept them? How should I approach this pruning?” They would then examine what they had truly done, if there were any adulterations of human will in their actions, whether there was conscience and reason in them, whether what they did was in line with the truth principles, how much of what they did was in line with God’s requirements and how many things they did according to their own will. A person with reason should examine these aspects, not fuss over whether they’ve lost their status, if God’s house has been fair to them, what people will think of them if they do not have status, or what kind of prospects and destination they’ll have. A person with reason would not fuss about such things.

Just how shameless are some antichrists? If, after these antichrists get dismissed, the brothers and sisters are no longer as deferential toward them, if they’re not as warm or kind, and are instead cold and ignore them, these antichrists won’t be able to stand this. Why are they so touchy about these things, while not being so sensitive about their corrupt disposition? Is that part of their nature? Do they have dignity? Do they have shame? (No.) The two most precious things in humanity are shame and uprightness. There is no trace of either of these things in an antichrist. Antichrists are shameless, and no matter how much they reveal corrupt dispositions or how much evil they commit, they feel absolutely nothing, they feel no guilt, yet they still want to drag out their stay and freeload off God’s house. After they’ve been pruned and exposed, after they’ve been dismissed and no longer have any status, they still want the brothers and sisters to venerate them deferentially and courteously. Isn’t that unreasonable? Does this manifestation of antichrists sound revolting to you? (It does.) Every person feels a sense of loss when they’re pruned, especially if they are dismissed and lose their status. They feel that they have been put in an awkward situation, and shamed a bit in front of others, and they are too embarrassed to face anyone. However, a person who knows shame won’t spout skewed arguments. What does not spouting skewed arguments mean? It means being able to face everything in the correct manner, without thinking and talking about things in a skewed way, and instead honestly acknowledging the things they did wrong, and facing the matter fairly and rationally. What does fair and rational mean? It means that, since you were pruned for something, there must be a problem with what you did—putting aside what corrupt disposition you have, let’s just say that if you messed up in this matter, then you certainly have some responsibility for it; and since you have responsibility, you should shoulder it, and acknowledge that you did it. Once you have acknowledged this, you should examine yourself, and ask: “What corrupt disposition did I reveal in this? If I wasn’t driven by a corrupt disposition, then were my actions adulterated with human will? Was this caused by foolishness? Did it have anything to do with my pursuit, with the path that I’m taking?” Being able to examine oneself like this is called having rationality, knowing shame, viewing things in a fair, objective way, in a way that is true to the facts. This is precisely what antichrists lack. When they are being pruned, they first think, “How could you so mercilessly prune a dignified leader like me in front of so many people, even exposing my shameful secret? Where’s my prestige as a leader? In pruning me, haven’t you obliterated it? Who will listen to me from now on? If no one listens to me, how can I have any status as a leader? Wouldn’t that make me just a figurehead? How am I going to enjoy the benefits of status then? Won’t I no longer be able to enjoy the items offered up by the brothers and sisters?” Is this idea correct? Is it in line with the truth? Is it justifiable? (No.) This is being devoid of reason, and spouting skewed arguments. What do you mean by prestige? What is a leader? Surely you aren’t devoid of corruption? What do you mean by “exposing your shameful secret”? What is your shameful secret? It is your corrupt disposition. Your corrupt disposition is the same as anybody else’s—that is your shameful secret. There is nothing different about you, you are not superior to others. God’s house just saw that you have a bit of caliber and can do some work, so it promoted and cultivated you, and gave you a special burden, a little more to shoulder. But this does not at all mean that once you have status, you no longer have a corrupt disposition. And yet, antichrists latch onto this, saying, “Now that I have status, you shouldn’t prune me, especially not in front of so many people, which would allow most people to find out about my true situation.” Isn’t this a skewed argument? Where can this approach be applied? Out in society, when you build someone up, you must adulate them as perfect, and establish an image of perfection for them, without the slightest flaw. Isn’t that deceptive? Would God’s house do this? (No.) That is what Satan does, and is also what antichrists demand. Satan is devoid of reason, and antichrists are similarly lacking in reason in this regard. Not only that, but they make skewed arguments and put forward excessive demands. In order to protect their status, they ask the Above to be mindful about how they are pruned and during what occasions they are pruned, and what kind of tone is used. Is this necessary? They are corrupt human beings, and they are being pruned for something that is real and true—what need is there to do it in a particular way? Wouldn’t building them up be harming the brothers and sisters? Should they, evil people that they are, be built up, and have their status protected, so that they can recklessly commit misdeeds among those below and establish their own independent kingdoms? Would that be fair to the brothers and sisters? Is that showing responsibility toward them? That is not a way of showing responsibility toward them. So an antichrist behaving this way, thinking this way, and making those sorts of demands is purely them spouting skewed arguments and deliberately causing trouble, utterly lacking shame. When being pruned for something they did wrong, an antichrist does not acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition, nor do they examine what corrupt disposition led to them doing such a thing. After spouting a load of skewed arguments, they not only refuse to examine themselves, they also think about countermeasures. “Who reported this? Who leaked this to the above? Who reported to the leaders that I did this? I need to find out who it was, and teach them a lesson. I need to rebuke them during gatherings, and show them how formidable I am.” When they are pruned, an antichrist will do everything they can to defend themselves, to find a way out, thinking, “I was careless this time and let the cat out of the bag, so I must do my best to keep this from happening again next time, and try a different approach to hoodwink the above along with the brothers and sisters below, so that none of them are aware. When I do something right, I should hurry to step forward and take credit for it, but when I make a mistake, I must be quick to push the responsibility off onto someone else.” Isn’t that shameless? It’s shameless to the extreme! When a normal person is pruned, deep inside, they privately admit to themselves, “I’m no good—I have a corrupt disposition. There’s nothing more to be said. I must reflect on myself.” They silently resolve to act according to what God requires if they encounter this kind of situation again. Whether they can achieve this or not, in any case, when they are pruned, they accept it within their heart in a rational way, and their rationality tells them that they indeed did something wrong, and that since they have a corrupt disposition, they must acknowledge it. They submit in the heart, without any resistance, and even if they feel a little wronged, their principal attitude is one of positivity. They are able to reflect on themselves, feel remorse, and resolve to strive not to make the same mistake in this matter in the future. On the other hand, not only does an antichrist feel no remorse, they are resistant in their heart, and not only are they unable to let go of the evil they are doing, they even try to find another way forward so they can keep recklessly committing misdeeds, continuing with their evil behavior. When they’re pruned, they don’t examine their own corrupt disposition, the source of their wrongdoing, their intents, or the different states and perspectives that arose within them when their corrupt disposition was revealed. They never examine or contemplate these things, nor do they accept it when anyone else gives them suggestions, advice, or exposes them. Instead, they scale up their efforts to hunt for various ways, means, and tactics to deceive those above them and below them, so that they can protect their status. They step up their efforts in causing disturbances in God’s house, and use their status to do evil. They truly are beyond all hope!

When antichrists take on any part of the work, they are perfunctory and they turn a blind eye to evil people and those who disturb the work of God’s house, or they may even cover for them, indulge, and protect them. After being dismissed, will an antichrist change when they do a different duty? (No.) Why is that? (Because of a problem with their nature essence.) After committing such a grave error, they still do not repent, and they still harbor notions and grievances in their heart, so is it possible for them to be a bit sincere in any duty they do? They recklessly commit misdeeds in their duty even before they have any notions or grievances, so when they are harboring these things, is it possible for them to be sincere in their duty? (No.) And without sincerity, will they be perfunctory? Will they recklessly commit misdeeds? (They will.) Some of you may not be convinced, so take a good look for yourselves, and the day will come when you are convinced. An antichrist can never change, and no matter where they’re placed, they’ll always be no good. After someone who pursues the truth has been pruned for revealing a corrupt disposition, they undergo some changes. Their state gets better and better, their attitude becomes more and more proactive, their perspective becomes more and more positive, the goals and direction of their pursuit become more and more correct, they increasingly develop a God-fearing heart, and their humanity appears more and more deserving of respect. By contrast, the more an antichrist is pruned, the more their inner resentment grows, the more guarded they become, the more wronged they feel in their heart, and the bigger their notions, hatred, and complaints about God grow. When they have not been pruned their flesh is able to pay a tiny little bit of a price, but when they are pruned a lot, they don’t even have the slightest bit of sincerity. They truly are a lost cause! Observe this for yourselves—anyone like this always preaches sermons to support others, but they themselves don’t practice at all or have any entry—this is one characteristic. Another characteristic is that, no matter what work they are doing, once they have status, they can take some initiative and show some enthusiasm, but they are always perfunctory and recklessly commit misdeeds in their work. When they lose status, the gloves come off, they write their situation off as hopeless, and even act in an audacious and reckless way, and act like a lawless savage, completely lacking a God-fearing heart. Among all mankind, this type of person is a classic antichrist. They are able to dissect other people’s states very clearly and logically, in a way that is easy to understand and leaves you feeling that they also have this kind of understanding of themselves. But when they make some kind of mistake, when they have revealed a corrupt disposition, and you try to expose and dissect them, look at what sort of attitude they have. They will be entirely unwilling to accept it, and they will think of every way they can to refute it and defend themselves, not admitting to it. No one will be able to touch them, and anyone who strikes a nerve in them, or exposes a problem of theirs, will find themselves in trouble and be treated as their enemy.

When an antichrist has status, they are able to endure a bit of hardship and pay a bit of a price to protect it. They are also able to put on a kind face of having compassion for everyone under the sun, of wanting to save everyone—a hypocritical face. However, the moment they lose their status, all of their benevolence vanishes, and yet they still want to cling to and enjoy the support, esteem, and special attention they enjoyed in the past. They are simply shameless to the extreme! Whatever group an antichrist is in, they don’t provide the slightest assistance or edification to anyone, and yet they still want to enjoy everyone else’s support and esteem. No matter who else acknowledges that they have a corrupt disposition, an antichrist will not speak up and say that they also have one, or talk about what sort of corrupt disposition they have revealed in the past. They never dissect themselves, and when they have been backed into a corner, they will only say something like, “Yes, I am a demon, I am a Satan,” and that’s it. They just say a few of these sorts of high-sounding, empty words. If you ask them, “What specific manifestations and revelations of being a demon and a Satan do you possess? What kinds of motives and intents do you have when you act?” then they won’t say anything at all. Are they not a Satan? Since it came to power, the great red dragon has perpetrated countless evils, and throughout its rule it has been constantly admitting and correcting its wrongdoings, all the while constantly intensifying its abuse of its people. When you see it acknowledging its wrongdoings, you may think that it will repent and turn over a new leaf, that it has an attitude of confession, and that it probably will not commit such errors again. But judging from the things that happen next and how things develop, the great red dragon admitting its wrongdoings is merely for the sake of protecting its image and status, paving the way for it to continue to hold power and do more terrible things that abuse its people. Antichrists are the same—they possess the same nature essence as devils, Satan, and the great red dragon. They are good at disguising themselves and they are habitual liars; they know no shame, are averse to the truth and positive things, and do not remotely accept the truth. In addition, they say nothing but nice-sounding things, and just do all kinds of bad things. Around the brothers and sisters, antichrists often say the right things, and do things that look correct on the surface, but when they are asked to strictly practice in accordance with God’s words and the truth principles, to implement the work arrangements of God’s house, then they will do nothing of the sort, and instead will disappear without a trace. If you leave them without supervision, oversight, or urging, then they will recklessly commit misdeeds, and establish their own independent kingdom. To attain their goal of holding power, they will endure any hardship and pay any price. We can see from this that antichrists have another kind of nature essence, which is that they are selfish and despicable. Aside from paying a bit of a price when doing something for themselves, if they are asked to do or say something for the brothers and sisters, for the house of God, without receiving anything in return, will they be so kind-hearted? Will they take on that burden? (No.) So when it comes to things the Above has asked them to implement, when it comes time to check up on that work, they will not have implemented any of them. Why is that? Because doing so would require them to tire themselves and suffer; they would have to pay a price, and they likely wouldn’t stand to benefit much from it. So, they simply won’t do it. If the majority of people would profit from it, if most people would gain benefits from it, would an antichrist be willing to pay a price for it? They wouldn’t. If it were something that most people would esteem and commemorate them for, and worship and praise them for, and if they would be remembered for this good thing they did for generations, how would they act? They would immediately spring into action, and do so more happily than anyone else. This is shameless, isn’t it? Satan, the devil, is truly shameless. It has committed countless evils, yet still wants everyone to be deeply grateful to it, to have people following it closely and adulating it. It abuses people so much, yet still wants to be praised by them. Antichrists are the same. It doesn’t matter how many sermons an antichrist has heard, or how many doctrines they understand, if you ask them to do some work or a duty without being perfunctory, they can’t manage it. If you ask them to refrain from establishing their own independent kingdom or recklessly committing misdeeds, they can’t do it. If you ask them to refrain from enjoying the benefits of status, coveting comfort, reveling in status and special privileges, they can’t do it. If you ask them not to torment others, or not to lie, they can’t manage it. If you ask them not to squander offerings, and to protect the interests of God’s house, they can’t do it. If you ask them not to bear witness to themselves, they will never be able to do that; if you ask them to pay a bit of a price for God’s chosen people without getting anything in return, or to do a bit of work in obscurity, they will not be able to do it. What are they able to do? They are able to recklessly commit misdeeds, establish their own independent kingdom, bear witness to themselves, squander offerings, live off of the church, torment others, shout slogans, spout doctrines, spread heresies and fallacies to mislead people, and so on—it’s effortless for them to do these things. Is there anyone like that around you? The moment they wield power, once they have a tiny bit of power, they want to get a hold of the purse strings of God’s house; no matter what they’re buying, they want to get things that are high quality, expensive, and brand-name, and they do not discuss this with anyone else or listen to what anyone else has to say. Once they are given a bit of power they revel in it. When they are given a bit of power, they want to form cliques and do things their own way, and refuse to listen to the Above, or anyone else. When they are given a bit of power, they feel like they have become god, and want to bear witness to themselves so that others support them, and they want to form a faction, to form their own gang. When they are given a bit of power, they want the brothers and sisters to be tightly controlled within their grasp. If the work of God’s house requires that somebody be transferred away from them, it will be quite difficult. They must approve it, and someone will need to discuss it with them, and they won’t accept an attitude that they don’t like from that person. They want the whole world to know that they have power and influence, and everyone must be respectful and deferential to them. This is a commonly recognized fact. An antichrist will never acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition. Observe this for yourselves—see whether those who don’t admit that they have a corrupt disposition can repent after doing something wrong and revealing a corrupt disposition, and what direction they develop in and what kind of path they take in the end, how they behave while doing their duty and while interacting with others, how they act regarding status, and what their ways and methods for doing things are. Will you be able to discern this? If you can come to conclusions on these things, then you have some discernment.

C. Refusing to Acknowledge That God’s Words Are the Truth and the Criterion Against Which Everything is Measured

There is a third reason for antichrists refusing to accept being pruned and lacking an attitude of repentance when they commit any wrong, which is that they refuse to acknowledge that God’s words are the truth and the criterion against which everything is measured. I gave quite detailed fellowship on the previous two reasons; this one is slightly different from the first two in terms of its literal meaning, but in essence, they are related to this one of antichrists refusing to acknowledge that God’s words are the truth, so we can keep our fellowship short and brief. When an antichrist is pruned, and you fellowship with them on the truth, talk about the truth principles and the principles for doing things, will they be able to accept this after hearing it? (No.) Regardless of when an antichrist hears the truth, they will always have the same attitude toward it—condemnation and resistance. What are the truth principles? They are the standard for measuring how to do something. As long as it is done entirely in line with the truth of God’s words, then what a person does will be principled. This is doing things according to the principles. If your fellowship accords with the truth principles, an antichrist will absolutely not accept it; the more positive, practical, fair, correct, and based on fact your fellowship is, the more unacceptable it will be to an antichrist. They will respond with skewed arguments, refusing to accept the truth or the facts. If you talk to them about how to act so as to fulfill their responsibilities in the matter, they will tell you about how they have suffered and paid a price; if you talk to them about how to act in accordance with the truth principles, then they will tell you about how many roads they have traveled, how much they’ve suffered, and how much talking they’ve done. If you talk to them about how to be an honest person, how to act and do a duty with an honest and sincere heart, they will not be interested and they will ignore you. When they act, they will just focus on tactics, schemes, and tricks. All in all, an antichrist has their own set of unique principles for their actions, and no matter how wrong, low, ridiculous and absurd they are in the eyes of others or the eyes of God, they will never get tired of holding to these methods and principles. They will not accept God’s words as the truth principles, nor will they give up their own principles, so no matter whether you prune them, expose them, or dismiss them, their criteria, perspectives, and outlooks for measuring things will never change. Some of these criteria are of human science, some are of knowledge, some are of traditional culture, and some are of the evil trends of this world, but no matter how wrong these things may be, an antichrist cannot let go of them. They will accept whatever evil trends and whatever sayings and perspectives are popular in society, but God’s words or the truth are never their criterion for measuring all things and events, for measuring everything. While they are following God and freeloading off of God’s house, they are denying and condemning the truth. While denying and condemning the truth, they are revering and looking up to all kinds of heresies and fallacies from the world. The only things they cannot accept are God’s words, the truth. Judging from this essence of antichrists, although they attend gatherings, read God’s words, and do a duty in the course of their faith, one thing is certain—their disposition will never change, nor will their perspectives, which are of the world and evil trends. If you ask an antichrist to talk about life entry or dispositional change, you will wonder why their words sound so bizarre, sickening, and awkward. They will sound like the words of an outsider, and they are simply a muddled person who lacks spiritual understanding but is pretending to be spiritual and to possess life. It’s truly disgusting to the extreme! Can someone who has never acknowledged God’s words as the truth or accepted God’s words as their life possess life? That’s a joke, isn’t it? Take a look around you, and check if there’s anyone who keeps saying: “Such and such famous person said this; such and such book said this; such and such TV drama said this; such and such masterpiece said this” or “Our traditional culture is this; where I come from, we say this; in our family, we have this rule,” and so on and so forth. See who always has a whole stack of these things to say, who is unmoved by God’s words after hearing them, and only utters muddled words, absurd words, and words that lack spiritual understanding when they do manage to fellowship on their understanding of God’s words, and who, though they have no comprehension or understanding of God’s words, tries to forcibly piece some together, and pretends to be spiritual. This is utterly nauseating! These people have believed in God for many years, and heard sermons and attended gatherings for many years, yet they unbelievably still don’t know that they have a corrupt disposition, and haven’t discovered that they have incorrect perspectives, or that their fallacious perspectives are entirely contrary and contradictory to God’s words. What’s the reason for this? It is the third reason behind antichrists’ refusal to accept being pruned and lacking an attitude of repentance when they commit any wrong: They refuse to acknowledge that God’s words are the truth and the criterion against which everything is measured. This is the root of the issue.

Why is it that antichrists refuse to accept being pruned? Why is it that when they are faced with something, they do not repent, and instead spread various notions, and even pass judgment on God? The reasons are very clear: First, antichrists never acknowledge that they can do wrong; second, they never acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition; third, they refuse to acknowledge that God’s words are the truth and the criterion against which everything is measured. For all those who don’t accept being pruned, all those who clearly reveal a corrupt disposition when they make mistakes, all those who often bring harm upon God’s chosen people, who delay the life entry of untold numbers of God’s chosen people, and cause losses to the work of God’s house, if these people have no remorse or attitude of repentance when they are pruned, then one thing is certain, which is that they possess all three of these manifestations of antichrists. Right? (Right.) Altogether, there are three reasons why antichrists refuse to accept being pruned. Read through them again. (First, antichrists never acknowledge that they can do wrong; second, they never acknowledge that they have a corrupt disposition; third, they refuse to acknowledge that God’s words are the truth and the criterion against which everything is measured.) There are three in total. We fellowshipped in quite a lot of detail on the first two reasons. The last one is slightly different from the first two in terms of the literal meaning, but in terms of essence, the first two are related to the one of antichrists refusing to acknowledge that God’s words are the truth, so we will not fellowship on that reason in any more detail. Okay, let’s end our fellowship here for today. Goodbye! (Goodbye God!)

September 19, 2020