(1) Only by being persecuted and put through tribulations can one see clearly the great red dragon’s hideous countenance and its evil, reactionary essence, and hate it from their heart;

(2) It is necessary to recognize that all of the great red dragon’s theories, such as atheism, materialism, and evolution, are evil and reactionary and perverse;

(3) It is necessary to see clearly that the myriad fallacies and poisons of the great red dragon have deceived and corrupted the people of China such that they are hideously ugly and have now become demons and beasts;

(4) To forsake the great red dragon, it is necessary to understand a great deal of the truth, be able to see through the great red dragon’s wiles, and humiliate Satan with the true testimony of experience.

Relevant Words of God:

The manifestations of the great red dragon are resistance to Me, lack of understanding and comprehension of the meanings of My words, frequent persecution of Me, and seeking to use schemes to interrupt My management. Satan is manifested as follows: struggling with Me for power, wanting to possess My chosen people, and releasing negative words to deceive My people. The manifestations of the devil (those who do not accept My name, who do not believe, are all devils) are as follows: coveting the pleasures of the flesh, indulging in evil lusts, living in bondage to Satan, some resisting Me and some supporting Me (but not proving they are My beloved sons). The manifestations of the archangel are as follows: speaking insolently, being ungodly, often adopting My tone to lecture people, focusing only on outwardly imitating Me, eating what I eat and using what I use; in short, wanting to be on equal footing with Me, being ambitious but lacking My caliber and not having My life, and being a piece of waste. Satan, the devil, and the archangel are all typical demonstrations of the great red dragon, so those who are not predestined and chosen by Me are all the offspring of the great red dragon: This is absolutely how it is! These are all My enemies. (However, Satan’s disruptions are excluded. If your nature is My quality, no one can change it. Because now you still live in the flesh, occasionally you will be faced with Satan’s temptations—this is inevitable—but you must always be careful.) Therefore, I will abandon all the offspring of the great red dragon outside of My firstborn sons. Their nature can never change—it is the quality of Satan. It is the devil that they manifest, and it is the archangel that they live out. This is completely true. The great red dragon I speak of is not a big red dragon; rather it is the evil spirit in opposition to Me, for which the “great red dragon” is a synonym. So, all the spirits other than the Holy Spirit are evil spirits, and can also be said to be the offspring of the great red dragon. This should all be crystal clear to everyone.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 96

China is the most backward of all countries; it is the land where the great red dragon lies coiled, it has the most people who worship idols and engage in sorcery, the most temples, and it is a place in which filthy demons reside. You were born of it, you have been educated by it and steeped in its influence; you have been corrupted and tortured by it, but after being awoken you forsake it and are completely gained by God. This is the glory of God, and this is why this stage of work has great significance. God has done work of such great scale, has spoken so many words, and He will ultimately completely gain you—this is one part of the work of God’s management, and you are the “victory spoils” of God’s battle with Satan. The more you understand the truth and the better your life of the church is, the more the great red dragon is brought to its knees. These are all matters of the spiritual world—they are the battles of the spiritual world, and when God is victorious, Satan shall be shamed and fall down. This stage of God’s work has tremendous significance. God does work on such a grand scale and completely saves this group of people so you can escape from the influence of Satan, live in the holy land, live in God’s light, and have the light’s leadership and guidance. Then there is meaning to your life. What you eat and wear is different from unbelievers; you enjoy the words of God and lead a life of meaning—and what do they enjoy? They enjoy only their “ancestral heritage” and their “national spirit.” They have not the slightest vestige of humanity! Your clothes, words, and actions are all different from theirs. Ultimately, you will completely escape from the filth, no longer be ensnared in the temptation of Satan, and gain God’s daily provision. You should always be cautious. Though you live in a filthy place, you are untainted with filth and can live alongside God, receiving His great protection. God has chosen you from among all on this yellow land. Are you not the most blessed people? You are a created being—you should of course worship God and pursue a life of meaning. If you do not worship God but live within your filthy flesh, then are you not just a beast in human attire? Since you are a human being, you should expend yourself for God and endure all suffering! You should gladly and assuredly accept the little suffering you are subjected to today and live a meaningful life, like Job and Peter. In this world, man wears the devil’s clothing, eats food from the devil, and works and serves under the devil’s thumb, becoming completely trampled in its filth. If you do not grasp the meaning of life or obtain the true way, then what significance is there in living like this? You are people who pursue the right path, those who seek improvement. You are people who rise up in the nation of the great red dragon, those whom God calls righteous. Is that not the most meaningful life?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Practice (2)

From top to bottom and from beginning to end, Satan has been disrupting the work of God and acting in opposition to Him. All this talk of “ancient cultural heritage,” valuable “knowledge of ancient culture,” “teachings of Taoism and Confucianism,” and “Confucian classics and feudal rites” has taken man into hell. Advanced modern-day science and technology, as well as highly developed industry, agriculture, and business are nowhere to be seen. Rather, all it does is emphasize the feudal rites propagated by the “apes” of ancient times in order to deliberately disrupt, oppose, and dismantle the work of God. Not only has it continued to afflict man until this day, but it even wants to swallow^[1] man whole. The transmission of the moral and ethical teachings of feudalism and the passing down of the knowledge of ancient culture have long infected humanity, turning them into devils big and small. Few are those who would gladly receive God, few who would jubilantly welcome His coming. The face of all humanity is filled with murderous intent, and in every place, a killing breath pervades the air. They seek to cast God out from this land; with knives and swords in hand, they arrange themselves in battle formation to “annihilate” God. All across this land of the devil, where man is constantly taught there is no God, idols are spread, and the air above is permeated by a nauseating odor of burning paper and incense, so thick as to be suffocating. It is like the stench of sludge that wafts up with the writhing of the poisonous serpent, so much so that one cannot keep from vomiting. Besides this, there can faintly be heard the sound of evil demons chanting scriptures, a sound which seems to be coming from faraway in hell, so much so that one cannot keep from shivering. Everywhere in this land are placed idols of all colors of the rainbow, turning the land into a world of sensual delights, while the king of devils keeps laughing wickedly, as if its dastardly plot has succeeded. Meanwhile, man remains completely oblivious, and nor has he any inkling that the devil has already corrupted him to the point where he has become senseless and hangs his head in defeat. It wishes, in one fell swoop, to wipe out everything about God, and once again to defile and assassinate Him; it is intent upon tearing down and disrupting His work. How can it allow God to be of equal status? How can it tolerate God “interfering” with its work among men on earth? How can it allow God to unmask its hideous face? How can it allow God to put its work in disarray? How can this devil, apoplectic with rage, allow God to have control over its imperial court on the earth? How can it willingly bow down to His superior might? Its hideous countenance has been revealed for what it is, so that one knows not whether to laugh or cry, and it is truly difficult to speak of. Is this not its substance? With an ugly soul, it still believes that it is beautiful beyond belief. This gang of accomplices in crime!^[2] They come down into the mortal realm to indulge in pleasures and cause a commotion, stirring things up so much that the world becomes a fickle and inconstant place and the heart of man is filled with panic and unease, and they have toyed with man so much that his appearance has become that of an inhuman beast of the field, supremely ugly, and from which the last trace of the original holy man has been lost. Furthermore, they even wish to assume sovereign power on earth. They impede the work of God so much that it can barely inch forward, and they close man off as tightly as walls of copper and steel. Having committed so many grievous sins and caused so many disasters, are they still expecting something other than chastisement? Demons and evil spirits have been running amok on earth for a time, and have sealed off both the will and the painstaking effort of God so tightly that they are impenetrable. Truly, this is a mortal sin! How can God not feel anxious? How can God not feel wrathful? They have gravely hindered and opposed the work of God: How rebellious! Even those demons, big and small, behave like jackals at the heels of the lion, and follow the evil current, contriving disturbances as they go. Knowing the truth, they deliberately oppose it, these sons of rebellion! It is as if, now that their king of hell has ascended to the kingly throne, they have become smug and complacent, treating all others with contempt. How many among them seek the truth and follow righteousness? They are all beasts, no better than pigs and dogs, at the head of a gang of stinking flies, wagging their heads in smug self-congratulation and stirring up all kinds of trouble,^[3] in the middle of a dung heap. They believe that their king of hell is the greatest king of all, little knowing that they themselves are no more than stinking flies. And yet, they take advantage of the power of the pigs and dogs they have for parents to malign the existence of God. As diminutive flies, they believe their parents to be as large as toothed whales.^[4] Little do they know that, while they themselves are tiny, their parents are unclean pigs and dogs hundreds of millions of times larger than they. Unaware of their own lowliness, they rely on the stench of putrefaction exuded by those pigs and dogs to run amok, vainly thinking to procreate future generations, oblivious to shame! With green wings upon their backs (this refers to their claiming to believe in God), they are full of themselves and boast everywhere of their own beauty and allure, while they secretly fling the impurities on their own bodies onto man. Furthermore, they are exceedingly pleased with themselves, as if they can use a pair of rainbow-colored wings to conceal their own impurities, and by these means they bring their oppression to bear on the existence of the true God (this refers to what goes on behind the scenes in the religious world). How would man know that, as enchantingly beautiful as the wings of a fly may be, the fly itself is after all no more than a tiny creature, with a belly full of filth and a body covered with germs? On the strength of the pigs and dogs they have for parents, they run amok across the land (this refers to the way in which the religious officials who persecute God rely on the strong backing of the government of the nation to rebel against the true God and the truth), unrestrained in their savagery. It is as if the ghosts of the Jewish Pharisees have returned along with God to the nation of the great red dragon, back to their old nest. They have begun yet another round of persecution, picking up their work of several thousand years ago. This group of degenerates is sure to perish on earth in the end! It would appear that, after several millennia, the unclean spirits have become even more crafty and sly. They are constantly thinking of ways to undermine the work of God in secret. With tricks and wiles galore, they wish to reenact in their homeland the tragedy of several thousand years ago, goading God nearly to the point of crying out. He can hardly keep Himself from returning to the third heaven to annihilate them. For man to love God, he must grasp His will, know His joys and sorrows, and understand what it is that He abhors. Doing this will spur on even more the entry of man. The faster man’s entry, the sooner God’s will is satisfied, the more clearly man sees through the king of devils, and the closer he draws to God, so that His desire may be brought to fruition.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (7)

I have said so many times that God’s work of the last days is done in order to alter each person’s spirit, to change each person’s soul, such that their heart, which has suffered great trauma, is reformed, thus rescuing their soul, which has been so profoundly harmed by evil; it is in order to awaken people’s spirits, to thaw their cold hearts, and allow them to be rejuvenated. This is God’s greatest will. Put aside talk of how lofty or profound man’s life and experiences are; when people’s hearts have been awakened, when they have been roused from their dreams and know full well the harm wrought by the great red dragon, the work of God’s ministry will have been completed. The day that God’s work is finished is also the day when man officially starts on the correct path of belief in God. At this time, God’s ministry will have come to an end: The work of God become flesh will have completely finished, and man will officially begin to perform the duty that he ought to perform—he will perform his ministry. These are the steps of God’s work. Thus, you should grope for your path to entry upon the foundation of knowing these things. All of this is what you should understand. Man’s entry will only improve when changes have occurred deep within his heart, for God’s work is the complete salvation of man—man who has been redeemed, who still lives under the forces of darkness, and who has never roused himself—from this gathering place of demons; it is so that man may be freed of millennia of sin, and be beloved of God, completely striking down the great red dragon, establishing God’s kingdom, and bringing rest to God’s heart sooner; it is to give vent, without reservation, to the hate that swells your breast, to eradicate those moldy germs, to allow you to leave this life that is no different from that of an ox or horse, to no longer be a slave, to no longer be freely trampled upon or ordered about by the great red dragon; you will no longer be of this failed nation, will no longer belong to the heinous great red dragon, and you will no longer be enslaved by it. The demons’ nest will surely be torn to pieces by God, and you will stand beside God—you belong to God, and do not belong to this empire of slaves. God has long since loathed this dark society to His very bones. He gnashes His teeth, eager to plant His feet upon this wicked, heinous old serpent, so that it may never rise again, and will never again abuse man; He will not excuse its actions in the past, He will not tolerate its deceit of man, and He will settle the score for every one of its sins throughout the ages. Not in the slightest will God let this ringleader of all evil^[5] off the hook, He will utterly destroy it.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (8)

In many places, God has prophesied that He will be gaining a group of overcomers in the land of Sinim. Since it is in the world’s East that overcomers are to be gained, so the place where God sets foot in His second incarnation is without a doubt the land of Sinim, the exact spot where the great red dragon lies coiled. There, God will gain the descendants of the great red dragon so that it is thoroughly defeated and shamed. God is going to awaken these people, heavily burdened with suffering, to rouse them till they are fully awake, and to make them walk out of the fog and reject the great red dragon. They will wake from their dream, recognize the substance of the great red dragon, become able to give their whole heart to God, rise up from the oppression of the dark forces, stand up in the East of the world, and become proof of God’s victory. Only in this way will God gain glory.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (6)

For thousands of years this has been the land of filth. It is unbearably dirty, misery abounds, ghosts run rampant everywhere, tricking and deceiving, making groundless accusations,^[6] being ruthless and vicious, trampling this ghost town and leaving it littered with dead bodies; the stench of decay covers the land and pervades the air, and it is heavily guarded.^[7] Who can see the world beyond the skies? The devil tightly trusses all of man’s body, it veils both his eyes, and seals his lips firmly shut. The king of devils has rampaged for several thousand years, right up until today, when it still keeps a close watch on the ghost town, as if it were an impenetrable palace of demons; this pack of watchdogs, meanwhile, stare with glaring eyes, deeply fearful that God will catch them unawares and wipe them all out, leaving them without a place of peace and happiness. How could the people of a ghost town such as this ever have seen God? Have they ever enjoyed the dearness and loveliness of God? What appreciation have they of the matters of the human world? Who of them can understand God’s eager will? Small wonder, then, that God incarnate remains completely hidden: In a dark society such as this, where the demons are merciless and inhumane, how could the king of devils, who kills people without batting an eye, tolerate the existence of a God who is lovely, kind, and also holy? How could it applaud and cheer the arrival of God? These lackeys! They repay kindness with hate, they have long since disdained God, they abuse God, they are savage in the extreme, they have not the slightest regard for God, they plunder and pillage, they have lost all conscience, they go against all conscience, and they tempt the innocent into senselessness. Forefathers of the ancient? Beloved leaders? They all oppose God! Their meddling has left all beneath heaven in a state of darkness and chaos! Religious freedom? The legitimate rights and interests of citizens? They are all tricks for covering up sin! Who has embraced the work of God? Who has laid down their life or shed blood for the work of God? For generation after generation, from parents to children, enslaved man has unceremoniously enslaved God—how could this not incite fury? Thousands of years of hate are concentrated in the heart, millennia of sinfulness are inscribed upon the heart—how could this not inspire loathing? Avenge God, completely snuff out His enemy, do not allow it to run rampant any longer, and do not permit it to kick up as much trouble as it wishes anymore! Now is the time: Man has long since gathered all his strength, he has devoted all his efforts and paid every price for this, to tear off the hideous face of this demon and allow people, who have been blinded, and who have endured every manner of suffering and hardship, to rise up from their pain and turn their backs on this evil old devil. Why put up such an impenetrable obstacle to the work of God? Why employ various tricks to deceive God’s folk? Where is the true freedom and the legitimate rights and interests? Where is the fairness? Where is the comfort? Where is the warmth? Why use deceitful schemes to trick God’s people? Why use force to suppress the coming of God? Why not allow God to freely roam upon the earth that He created? Why hound God until He has nowhere to rest His head? Where is the warmth among men? Where is the welcome among people? Why cause such desperate yearning in God? Why make God call out again and again? Why force God to worry for His beloved Son? In this dark society, why do its sorry guard dogs not allow God to freely come and go among the world which He created? Why does man not understand, man who lives amid pain and suffering? For your sakes, God has endured great torment, with great pain He has bestowed His beloved Son, His flesh and blood, to you—so why do you still turn a blind eye? In full view of everyone, you reject the arrival of God, and refuse God’s friendship. Why are you so unconscionable? Are you willing to endure the injustices in a dark society such as this? Why, instead of filling your bellies with millennia of enmity, do you stuff yourselves with the king of devils’ “shit”?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (8)

How great are the obstacles to God’s work? Has anyone ever known? With people encaged by deep-seated superstitious colorings, who is capable of knowing God’s true face? With this backward cultural knowledge so shallow and absurd, how could they fully understand the words spoken by God? Even when they are spoken to face to face, and nourished mouth to mouth, how could they understand? Sometimes it is as if God’s words have fallen on deaf ears: People have not the slightest reaction, they wag their heads and understand nothing. How could this not be worrisome? This “distant,^[8] ancient cultural history and cultural knowledge” has nurtured such a worthless group of people. This ancient culture—precious heritage—is a pile of junk! It became an everlasting shame long ago, and is not worth mentioning! It has taught people the tricks and techniques of opposing God, and the “ordered, gentle guidance”^[9] of the national education has made people even more disobedient to God. Each part of God’s work is extremely difficult, and every step of His work upon earth has been distressing to God. How hard His work on earth is! The steps of God’s work on earth involve great hardship: For man’s weakness, deficiencies, childishness, ignorance, and everything of man, God makes meticulous plans and thoughtful considerations. Man is like a paper tiger that one dare not bait or provoke; at the merest touch he bites back, or else falls down and loses his way, and it is as if, at the slightest loss of concentration, he relapses, or else ignores God, or runs to his pigs and dogs of parents to indulge in the impure things of their bodies. What a great hindrance! At practically every step of His work, God is subjected to temptation, and at almost every step God risks great danger. His words are sincere and honest, and without malice, yet who is willing to accept them? Who is willing to fully submit? It breaks God’s heart. He toils day and night for man, He is beset by anxiety for man’s life, and He sympathizes with man’s weakness. He has endured many twists and turns in each step of His work, for every word that He speaks; He is ever between a rock and a hard place, and thinks of man’s weakness, disobedience, childishness, and vulnerability … around the clock over and over again. Who has ever known this? Who can He confide in? Who would be able to understand? Ever does He loathe the sins of man, and the lack of backbone, the spinelessness of man, and ever does He worry for the vulnerability of man, and contemplate the path that lies ahead of man. Always, as He observes the words and deeds of man, is He filled with mercy, and anger, and always does the sight of these things bring pain to His heart. The innocent, after all, have grown numb; why must God always make things difficult for them? Feeble man is utterly bereft of perseverance; why should God always have such unabating anger toward him? Weak and powerless man no longer has the slightest vitality; why should God always chide him for his disobedience? Who can withstand the threats of God in heaven? Man, after all, is fragile, and in desperate straits, God has pushed His anger deep into His heart, so that man may slowly reflect upon himself. Yet man, who is in grave trouble, has not the slightest appreciation of God’s will; man has been trampled underfoot by the old king of devils, yet he is completely unaware, he always sets himself against God, or else he is neither hot nor cold toward God. God has spoken so many words, yet who has ever taken them seriously? Man does not understand God’s words, yet he remains unperturbed, and without yearning, and has never truly known the essence of the old devil. People live in Hades, in hell, but believe they live in the palace of the seabed; they are persecuted by the great red dragon, yet think themselves to be “favored”^[10] by the country; they are ridiculed by the devil yet think they enjoy the superlative artistry of the flesh. What a bunch of dirty, lowly wretches they are! Man has met with misfortune, but he does not know it, and in this dark society he suffers mishap after mishap,^[11] yet never has he woken up to this. When will he rid himself of his self-kindness and slavish disposition? Why is he so uncaring of God’s heart? Does he quietly condone this oppression and hardship? Does he not wish for the day when he can change darkness into light? Does he not wish to once more remedy the injustices toward righteousness and truth? Is he willing to watch and do nothing as people forsake the truth and twist the facts? Is he happy to keep enduring this maltreatment? Is he willing to be a slave? Is he willing to perish at the hands of God together with the slaves of this failed state? Where is your resolve? Where is your ambition? Where is your dignity? Where is your integrity? Where is your freedom? Are you willing to lay down your entire life^[12] for the great red dragon, the king of devils? Are you happy to let it torture you to death? The face of the deep is chaotic and dark, while the common folk, suffering such affliction, cry to Heaven and complain to earth. When will man be able to hold his head up high? Man is scrawny and emaciated, how could he contend with this cruel and tyrannical devil? Why does he not give his life to God as soon as he can? Why does he still waver? When can he finish God’s work? Thus aimlessly bullied and oppressed, his whole life will ultimately have been spent in vain; why is he in such a hurry to arrive, and such a rush to depart? Why does he not keep something precious to give to God? Has he forgotten the millennia of hate?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (8)

Knowledge of ancient culture and history spanning several thousand years has closed off man’s thinking and notions and his mental outlook so tightly as to render them impervious and non-biodegradable.^[13] People live in the eighteenth circle of hell, where, just as if they have been banished by God into the dungeons, the light may never be seen. Feudal thinking has so oppressed people that they can barely breathe and are suffocating. They have not the slightest jot of strength to resist; all they do is endure and endure in silence…. Never has anyone dared to struggle or stand up for righteousness and justice; people simply live a life worse than an animal’s, under the blows and abuse of feudal ethics, day after day, and year after year. They have never thought to seek out God to enjoy happiness in the human world. It is as if people have been beaten down to the point where they are like the fallen leaves of autumn, withered, desiccated, and yellow-brown. People have long since lost their memory; they live helpless in the hell which is called the human world, waiting for the coming of the last day so that they may perish together with this hell, as if the last day that they yearn for is the day when man shall enjoy restful peace. Feudal ethics have taken the life of man into “Hades,” further weakening man’s power to resist. All sorts of oppression push man, step by step, to fall deeper into Hades, farther and farther away from God, until today he has become a complete stranger to God and makes haste to avoid Him when they meet. Man does not heed Him and leaves Him standing alone to one side, as if man has never known Him, has never seen Him before. Yet God has been waiting for man all through the long journey of human life, never hurling His irrepressible fury toward him, merely waiting quietly, without a word, for man to repent and start anew. God long ago came into the human world to share the sufferings of the human world with man. In all the years that He has lived with man, no one has discovered His existence. God only endures in silence the misery of shabbiness in the human world while carrying out the work He brought in person. He continues to endure for the sake of the will of God the Father and for the sake of the needs of mankind, undergoing sufferings never before experienced by man. In man’s presence He has quietly waited upon him, and in man’s presence He has humbled Himself, for the sake of God the Father’s will and also for the sake of the needs of mankind. Knowledge of ancient culture has surreptitiously stolen man from the presence of God and turned him over to the king of devils and its progeny. The Four Books and Five Classics^[a] have taken man’s thinking and notions into another age of rebellion, causing him to give even greater adulation than before to those who compiled the Book/Classic of Documents, and as a result to further exacerbate his notions about God. Unbeknownst to man, the king of devils heartlessly cast God out from his heart and then occupied it itself with triumphant glee. Since that time, man became possessed of an ugly and wicked soul and of the countenance of the king of devils. A hatred of God filled his chest, and the spiteful malice of the king of devils spread within man day after day until he was utterly consumed. Man no longer had the least bit of freedom and had no way of breaking free from the toils of the king of devils. He had no choice but to be taken captive on the spot, to surrender and fall down in submission in its presence. Long ago, when man’s heart and soul was still in its infancy, the king of devils planted in it the seed of the tumor of atheism, teaching him such fallacies as “study science and technology; realize the Four Modernizations; and there is no such thing as God in the world.” Not only that, it shouts out at every opportunity: “Let us rely on our industrious labor to build a beautiful homeland,” asking each and every person to be prepared from childhood to render faithful service to their country. Man, unwitting, was brought into its presence, where it unhesitatingly arrogated all the credit (meaning the credit belonging to God for holding all of mankind in His hands) unto itself. Never did it have any sense of shame. Moreover, it shamelessly seized God’s people and dragged them back into its house, where it leaped like a mouse onto the table and had man worship it as God. What a desperado! It cries out scandalous, shocking things, such as: “There is no such thing as God in the world. The wind comes from transformations according to natural laws; rain comes when water vapor, meeting with cold temperatures, condenses into drops that fall to earth; an earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the earth due to geological changes; drought is due to dryness in the air caused by nucleonic disruption on the sun’s surface. These are natural phenomena. Where, in all this, is there an act of God?” There are even those who shout out statements like the following, statements that should not be given voice: “Man evolved from apes in the ancient past, and the world today comes from a succession of primitive societies starting from approximately an eon ago. Whether a country flourishes or declines rests entirely in the hands of its people.” In the background, it makes man hang it on the wall or place it on the table to pay homage and make offerings to it. At the same time that it cries out, “There is no God,” it sets itself up as God, with summary roughness pushing God out of the bounds of the earth, while standing in God’s place and taking up the role of the king of devils. How utterly lost to reason! It makes one hate it to the very bone. It seems that God and it are sworn enemies, and the two cannot coexist. It schemes to chase God away while it roams free, outside the reach of law.^[14] Such a king of devils it is! How can its existence be tolerated? It will not rest until it has made a mess of God’s work and left it all in a complete shambles,^[15] as if it wants to oppose God to the bitter end, until either the fish dies or the net breaks, deliberately setting itself against God and pressing in ever closer. Its hideous face having long since been completely unmasked, it is now bruised and battered^[16] and in a sorry condition, yet still it will not relent in its hatred of God, as if only by devouring God in one mouthful will it be able to relieve the hatred pent up in its heart. How can we tolerate it, this enemy of God! Only its eradication and complete extermination will bring our life’s wish to fruition. How can it be allowed to continue running rampant? It has corrupted man to such a degree that man does not know the heavensun, and has become deadened and devoid of feeling. Man has lost normal human reason. Why not offer up our whole being to destroy it and burn it up to eliminate all worries for the future and allow the work of God to sooner reach unprecedented splendor? This gang of scoundrels has come into the world of men and reduced it to turmoil. They have brought all of humanity to the edge of a precipice, secretly planning to push them over to be dashed to pieces so that they may then devour their corpses. They vainly hope to break up God’s plan and enter into a match with Him, staking everything on a single throw of the dice.^[17] That is by no means easy! The cross has been prepared, after all, for the king of devils, who is guilty of the most heinous crimes. God does not belong to the cross. He has already tossed it aside for the devil. God has long before now emerged victorious and no longer feels sorrow over the sins of mankind, but will bring salvation to all mankind.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (7)

Do you truly hate the great red dragon? Do you truly, sincerely hate it? Why have I asked you so many times? Why do I keep asking you this question, again and again? What image is there of the great red dragon in your hearts? Has it really been removed? Do you truly not consider it to be your father? All people should perceive My intention in My questions. It is not to provoke the anger of the people, nor to incite rebellion among man, nor that man may find his own way out, but is to allow all people to liberate themselves from the bondage of the great red dragon. Yet no one should be anxious. All will be accomplished by My words; no man may partake, and no man can do the work that I will carry out. I will wipe clean the air of all lands and eradicate all trace of the demons on earth. I have already begun, and I will commence the first step of My work of chastisement in the dwelling place of the great red dragon. Thus it can be seen that My chastisement has befallen the entire universe, and that the great red dragon and all kinds of unclean spirits will be powerless to escape My chastisement, for I look upon all lands. When My work on earth is completed, that is, when the era of judgment comes to an end, I will formally chastise the great red dragon. My people will surely see My righteous chastisement of the great red dragon, will surely pour forth praise because of My righteousness, and will surely forever extol My holy name because of My righteousness. Hence you will formally perform your duty, and will formally praise Me throughout the lands, forever and ever!

When the era of judgment reaches its peak, I will not hasten to conclude My work, but will integrate into it the evidence of the era of chastisement and allow this evidence to be seen by all My people; in this will be borne greater fruit. This evidence is the means by which I chastise the great red dragon, and I will cause My people to behold it with their own eyes so that they will know more of My disposition. The time when My people enjoy Me is when the great red dragon is chastised. Causing the people of the great red dragon to rise up and revolt against it is My plan, and this is the method by which I make perfect My people, and it is a great opportunity for all My people to grow in life.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 28

God intends to use a portion of the work of evil spirits to perfect a portion of humanity, enabling these people to see completely through the devils’ iniquities, that all humanity may truly know their “ancestors.” Only in this way can humans break completely free, not only forsaking the posterity of the devils, but even the devils’ ancestors. This is God’s true purpose in utterly defeating the great red dragon, to make it so that all humanity knows the great red dragon’s true form, to tear its mask off fully and to look upon its true form. This is what God wants to achieve, it is the final goal of all the work He has done on earth, and it is what He aims to accomplish in all humanity. This is known as mobilizing all things to serve God’s purpose.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Interpretations of the Mysteries of God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 41

To bear testimony to God and to shame the great red dragon, one must have a principle, and one must meet a condition: One must love God in their heart and enter into His words. If you do not enter into the words of God, then you will have no way of shaming Satan. Through growth in your life, you renounce the great red dragon and bring utter humiliation upon it; only this is truly to shame the great red dragon. The more you are willing to put the words of God into practice, the greater the proof of your love of God and your loathing of the great red dragon; the more you obey the words of God, the greater the proof of your longing for the truth. People who do not long for the words of God are people without life. Such people are those outside the words of God, who belong to religion. People who truly believe in God have a more profound knowledge of God’s words through eating and drinking His words. If you do not long for the words of God, then you cannot truly eat and drink His words, and if you have no knowledge of the words of God, then you have no means of testifying to God or satisfying God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Those Who Know the Work of God Today May Serve God

Today, you can seek to be made perfect or seek changes in your external humanity and improvements in your caliber, but of principal importance is that you can understand that everything that God does today has meaning and is of benefit: It enables you who are born in a land of filth to escape the filth and shake it off, it enables you to overcome the influence of Satan, and leave behind the dark influence of Satan. By focusing on these things, you are protected in this land of filth. Ultimately, what testimony will you be asked to give? You are born in a land of filth but are able to become holy, never again to be sullied by filth, to live under the domain of Satan but divest yourself of Satan’s influence, to be neither possessed nor harassed by Satan, and to live in the hands of the Almighty. This is the testimony, and the proof of victory in the battle with Satan. You are able to forsake Satan, you no longer reveal satanic dispositions in what you live out, but instead live out that which God required that man attain when He created man: normal humanity, normal sense, normal insight, normal resolve to love God, and loyalty to God. Such is the testimony borne by a creature of God. You say, “We are born in a land of filth, but because of God’s protection, because of His leadership, and because He has conquered us, we have rid ourselves of the influence of Satan. That we can obey today is also the effect of being conquered by God, and it is not because we are good, or because we naturally loved God. It is because God chose us, and predestined us, that we have been conquered today, are able to bear testimony to Him, and can serve Him; so, too, it is because He chose us and protected us, that we have been saved and delivered from the domain of Satan, and can leave behind the filth and be purified in the nation of the great red dragon.” In addition, what you live out externally will show that you are possessed of normal humanity, there is sense to what you say, and you live out the likeness of a normal person. When others see you, you should not cause them to say, “Is this not the image of the great red dragon?” The sisters’ conduct is unbecoming of a sister, the brothers’ conduct is unbecoming of a brother, and you have none of the decorum of the saints. Then people would say, “No wonder God said they are the descendants of Moab, He was totally right!” If people look at you and say, “Though God said you are the descendants of Moab, what you are living out has proven that you have left behind the influence of Satan; although those things are still inside you, you are able to turn your backs on them, this shows that you have been completely conquered,” you who have been conquered and saved will say, “It is true that we are the descendants of Moab, but we have been saved by God, and although the descendants of Moab in the past were forsaken and cursed, and exiled among Gentiles by the people of Israel, today God has saved us. It is true that we are the most corrupt of all people—this was decreed by God, this is fact, and it is undeniable by all. But today we have escaped that influence. We detest our ancestor, we are willing to turn our backs on our ancestor, to utterly forsake it and obey all of God’s arrangements, acting according to God’s will and achieving His requirements of us, and attaining the satisfaction of God’s will. Moab betrayed God, he did not act according to God’s will, and he was hated by God. But we should be caring of God’s heart, and today, since we understand God’s will, we cannot betray God, and must renounce our old ancestor!” Previously I spoke of renouncing the great red dragon, and today, it is mainly about the renouncement of people’s old ancestor. This is one testimony of people’s conquest, and regardless of how you enter today, your testimony in this area must not be lacking.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Inside Truth of the Work of Conquest (2)

Footnotes:

1. “Swallow” refers to the vicious behavior of the king of devils, which ravishes people in their entirety.

2. “Accomplices in crime” are of the same ilk as “a band of hoodlums.”

3. “Stirring up all kinds of trouble” refers to how people who are demonic run riot, obstructing and opposing the work of God.

4. “Toothed whales” is used mockingly. It is a metaphor for how flies are so small that pigs and dogs appear as big as whales to them.

5. “Ringleader of all evil” refers to the old devil. This phrase expresses extreme dislike.

6. “Making groundless accusations” refers to the methods by which the devil harms people.

7. “Heavily guarded” indicates that the methods by which the devil afflicts people are especially vicious, and control people so much that they have no room to move.

8. “Distant” is used mockingly.

9. “Ordered, gentle guidance” is used mockingly.

10. “Favored” is used to mock people who seem wooden and have no self-awareness.

11. “Suffers mishap after mishap” indicates that the people were born in the land of the great red dragon, and they are unable to hold their heads up high.

12. “Lay down your entire life” is meant in a derogatory sense.

13. “Non-biodegradable” is intended as satire here, meaning that people are rigid in their knowledge, culture, and spiritual outlook.

14. “Roams free, outside the reach of law” indicates that the devil goes berserk and runs amok.

15. “A complete shambles” refers to how the devil’s violent behavior is unbearable to see.

16. “Bruised and battered” refers to the ugly face of the king of devils.

17. “Staking everything on a single throw of the dice” means placing all one’s money on a single bet in hopes of winning in the end. This is a metaphor for the devil’s sinister and nefarious schemes. The expression is used mockingly.

a. The Four Books and Five Classics are the authoritative books of Confucianism in China.