Relevant Words of God:

He who is God incarnate shall possess the essence of God, and He who is God incarnate shall possess the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He intends to do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon him, and point the way for him. Flesh that does not have the essence of God is decidedly not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. If man intends to inquire into whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, then he must corroborate this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, to corroborate whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, one must discriminate on the basis of His essence. And so, in determining whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key lies in His essence (His work, His utterances, His disposition, and many other aspects), rather than external appearance. If man scrutinizes only His external appearance, and as a result overlooks His essence, this shows that man is benighted and ignorant.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface

God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the essence of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but also the particular flesh assumed by God as He carries out and completes His work among man. This flesh cannot be supplanted by just any man, but is a flesh that can adequately bear God’s work on earth, and express the disposition of God, and well represent God, and provide man with life. Sooner or later, those who impersonate Christ will all fall, for although they claim to be Christ, they possess none of the essence of Christ. And so I say that the authenticity of Christ cannot be defined by man, but is answered and decided by God Himself.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

All who experience God’s work of the last days are clear about one fact: Each time God does a new stage of work, Satan and all kinds of evil spirits follow close on His heels, imitating and falsifying His work in order to deceive people. When the Lord Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons, Satan and evil spirits healed the sick and cast out demons; when the Holy Spirit gave man the gift of tongues, evil spirits also made people speak “tongues” that no one could understand. Though Satan and evil spirits can do all kinds of things that answer people’s needs—manifesting, for example, certain supernatural things to deceive people—because Satan and evil spirits are bereft of the truth, they can never give people the truth, and this is what makes it possible to tell the difference between the true Christ and false Christs.

During the last days, God long remained humble and hidden after becoming flesh to work; the Holy Spirit only testified to Christ when His words reached their peak and people were conquered. Christ has never stated before others that He is Christ. He has never lectured people from the position of Christ, nor has He pressed them to accept and acknowledge Him; He is only humble and hidden, expressing the truth, providing what people need in life, and changing their life dispositions. Christ has never bragged or shown off; He has remained humble and hidden throughout. In this, no created being can compare. Christ has never used His position or identity to make people obey and follow Him. Instead, He expresses the truth to judge, chastise, and save people, by means of which He helps people know God, obey God, and be gained by God—which shows just how noble and holy God is. The myriad false Christs and evil spirits, meanwhile, are the exact opposite: They constantly testify to themselves as Christ, and even say that those who do not listen to them cannot enter the heavenly kingdom. They do their utmost to brag, show off, and praise themselves in order to make people come to meet them, or they may perform some signs and wonders to deceive people. And once people are deceived, if there is no one to fellowship on the truth and resolve this deception, they fall. There are so many examples of this. Because the false Christs are not the truth, the way, and the life and they offer no path, those who follow them will sooner or later be brought to shame. Thus, of chief importance to distinguishing between the true Christ and false Christs is recognizing that only Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. Only Christ can express the truth; false Christs are utterly lacking in the truth, as are the myriad evil spirits, and no matter how much they say or how many books they write, none of it contains any truth—this is absolute. What is more, for those who follow Christ, their understanding of the truth becomes ever clearer, and the way ever brighter, which proves that only Christ can save people, and that Christ is the truth. False Christs can merely speak a few derivative words or things that turn the truth on its head. They have no truth, and they bring to people only darkness, disaster, and the work of evil spirits. Those who follow false Christs will absolutely not be saved; they can only be more profoundly corrupted by Satan, growing increasingly numb and dull-witted, right up until they are destroyed. Those who follow false Christs are like blind people boarding a pirate ship, consigning themselves to watery oblivion

—The Fellowship from the Above

The true God incarnate is surely possessed of the expression and essence of God. If someone claims to be Christ, that they are the incarnation of God, then let us examine their substance from their work, their words, and the disposition that they reveal, to determine just whether they are Christ, whether they are the incarnation of God. By engaging our discernment from these several aspects, we will find the right answer; if we do not engage our discernment from these aspects, then we will be easily deceived. So how, specifically, should we tell the difference? First, they can be discerned from the aspect of their work. If it is the work of God, then they will be able to express the words of God, what God has and is, and the righteous disposition of God. If it is the work of man, then they will only be able to speak of what man has and is, and the experiences and knowledge of man; they will be able to say nothing of what God has and is, nor of the work of God, what God asks of man, and His disposition, much less will they be able to speak of God’s management plan and the mysteries of His work. This is viewing things in terms of work. Secondly, they can be discerned from the aspect of what they say. There is an essential difference between the words of man and the words of God: The words of God represent what God has and is, while the words of man represent what man has and is; God’s words represent the disposition of God, while man’s words represent the humanity of man; all of God’s words are the truth, while the words of man do not pertain to the truth. This is differentiation based on words. Thirdly, they can be discerned from the aspect of disposition. God’s work can express the disposition of God, while the work of man is incapable of expressing the disposition of God, and can only embody man’s character. And what is contained within the character of man? Is there righteousness, majesty, and wrath? Is there the truth? The character of man gives no sign of what God has and is, and so the work of man is totally unrelated to the disposition of God. Using these aspects to differentiate between the words and work of God and man makes it possible to determine who is the incarnation of God, and who is not. If people cannot tell the difference, it becomes easy for them to be deceived by false Christs.

—Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

All who impersonate Christ when they speak and deceive people are false Christs, and all false Christs are possessed by evil spirits, they are deceivers. But how can people distinguish false Christs if they keep uttering words of deceit? Judging from a single speech, people may be unable to understand what it is all about or see just what this evil spirit is doing. If you keep tracking this evil spirit, and look at everything they say together, then it is easy to see just what this evil spirit is, what it is doing, just what it is saying, what its plans are for people, and what path it gives people—it becomes easy to distinguish these things. We see that the words of many evil spirits all fundamentally share the same characteristic: They are only able to mimic the words and phrases of God, and are unable to possess the essence of God’s words. God’s words elucidate cause and effect, they have purpose, it is clear what the ultimate aim and effect God wishes to achieve in expressing these words are. You can see in God’s words that they are possessed of authority and power, that they can enthrall people, and touch their souls. The words of all kinds of evil spirits and Satan, meanwhile, are unable to elucidate cause and effect, they achieve nothing, they are like a pool of stagnant water, and after reading them, people’s hearts feel clouded, and they gain nothing. And so, these myriad evil spirits are bereft of the truth, inside they are unquestionably turbid and dark, and their words do not bring people light, and do not show people the path they should walk. In the words of evil spirits, it is not clear what their ultimate aim is, what they ultimately wish to achieve; they say nothing of anything to do with the essence and origins of the truth, these are totally absent, and there cannot be found in their words any sign of what people should understand, and what they should gain. And so, the words of evil spirits can do nothing except deceive people, and leave them turbid and dark inside; they provide people with nothing. From this can we see that the nature essence of evil spirits is wicked and dark, that they have no vitality, that they are filled with the aura of death, and are surely negative and deserve to be cursed. In the words spoken by evil spirits, there is not a shred of truth, they are nothing but bilge and devilish words, they are offensive and disgusting to look upon, making people feel like they are eating a dead fly. People who pursue the truth and possess the caliber to understand God’s words are able to tell the words of evil spirits for what they really are upon reading them, while those who do not understand spiritual things and lack the power to understand God’s words will surely be deceived by their devilish words. All who have been enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, have knowledge of God’s words, and understand some truths will naturally be able to discern the devilish words of evil spirits, and when reading any of their utterances, will be able to see that evil spirits lack the truth, lack what God has and is, have not the slightest power and authority, and that their words are as different from the words of God as heaven is from earth. It can be said that the words of evil spirits are similar in nature to the words of dolts who lack the truth: They are devilish words and nonsense, pure and simple.

—A Collection of the Work Arrangements of The Church of Almighty God