(1) Anyone who impersonates Christ or an angel, and who often spews devilish words that do not accord in the least with God’s words, is an evil spirit that beguiles man;

(2) All who call themselves God’s beloved children, His firstborn sons, angels, or prophets who have come to speak and work, and who say all manner of specious things, are evil spirits that beguile man;

(3) All whose understanding is especially absurd; who constantly let fly heresies and fallacies, and skew facts; and who deny Christ and the words of God are evil spirits that beguile man;

(4) All who focus on the supernatural, who often hear voices and see visions, and who can detect and point out sin and work signs and wonders, are evil spirits that beguile man.

Relevant Words of God:

There are today some evil spirits that deceive man with supernatural things; that is nothing but imitation on their part, to deceive man through work that is not presently done by the Holy Spirit. Many people perform miracles and heal the sick and drive out demons; these are nothing but the work of the evil spirits, for the Holy Spirit no longer does such work in the present day, and all those who have imitated the work of the Holy Spirit from that time onward are evil spirits indeed. All the work carried out in Israel at that time was work of a supernatural nature, though the Holy Spirit does not now work in such a manner, and any such work now is the imitation and disguise of Satan and its disturbance. But you cannot say that whatsoever is supernatural comes from evil spirits—this would depend on the age of God’s work.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)

If, during the present day, there is to emerge a person who is able to display signs and wonders, cast out demons, heal the sick, and perform many miracles, and if this person claims that they are Jesus who has come, then this would be a counterfeit produced by evil spirits which imitate Jesus. Remember this! God does not repeat the same work. Jesus’ stage of work has already been completed, and God will never again undertake that stage of work. The work of God is irreconcilable with the notions of man; for example, the Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah, and the result of this prophecy was Jesus’ coming. This having already happened, it would be wrong for another Messiah to come again. Jesus has already come once, and it would be wrong if Jesus were to come again this time. There is one name for every age, and each name contains a characterization of that age. In the notions of man, God must always display signs and wonders, must always heal the sick and cast out demons, and must always be just like Jesus. Yet this time, God is not like that at all. If, during the last days, God still displayed signs and wonders, and still cast out demons and healed the sick—if He did exactly the same as Jesus—then God would be repeating the same work, and the work of Jesus would have no significance or value. Thus, God carries out one stage of work in every age. Once each stage of His work has been completed, it is soon imitated by evil spirits, and after Satan begins to follow on the heels of God, God changes to a different method. Once God has completed a stage of His work, it is imitated by evil spirits. You must be clear about this.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing God’s Work Today

There are some who are possessed by evil spirits and cry out vociferously, “I am God!” Yet, in the end, they are revealed, for they are wrong in what they represent. They represent Satan, and the Holy Spirit pays them no heed. However highly you exalt yourself or however strongly you cry out, you are still a created being and one that belongs to Satan. I never cry out, “I am God, I am the beloved Son of God!” But the work I do is God’s work. Need I shout? There is no need for exaltation. God does His own work Himself and does not need man to accord Him a status or give Him an honorific title: His work represents His identity and status. Prior to His baptism, was not Jesus God Himself? Was He not the incarnate flesh of God? Surely it cannot be said that it was only after receiving witness that He became the only Son of God? Long before He began His work, was there not already a man by the name of Jesus? You are unable to bring forth new paths or to represent the Spirit. You cannot express the work of the Spirit or the words that He speaks. You are unable to do the work of God Himself, and that of the Spirit you are unable to do. The wisdom, wonder, and unfathomability of God, and the entirety of the disposition by which God chastises man—all of these are beyond your capacity to express. It would therefore be useless to try to claim to be God; you would have only the name and none of the substance. God Himself has come, but no one recognizes Him, yet He continues on in His work and does so in representation of the Spirit. Whether you call Him man or God, the Lord or Christ, or call Her sister, it does not matter. But the work He does is that of the Spirit and represents the work of God Himself. He does not care about the name by which man calls Him. Can that name determine His work? Regardless of what you call Him, as far as God is concerned, He is the incarnate flesh of the Spirit of God; He represents the Spirit and is approved by the Spirit. If you are unable to make way for a new age, or to bring the old to an end, or to usher in a new age, or to do new work, then you cannot be called God!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)

When people have some understanding of God, they can willingly suffer for Him and devote their lives to Him. However, Satan is still in control of the weaknesses within them, and can still cause them to suffer. Evil spirits can still work in people, interfering with them and causing them to be in a confused state of mind, to take leave of their senses, to feel ill at ease, and to be disturbed in every respect. There are things of the mind or soul in people that can still be controlled and manipulated by Satan. This is why you fall ill and become troubled, and it is possible for you to commit suicide, and at times you also feel that the world is desolate or that life has no meaning. In other words, these human sufferings are still under Satan’s command; they comprise one of man’s fatal weaknesses. Satan is still able to use those things that it has corrupted and trampled; they are weapons Satan can use against humanity. … Evil spirits latch onto every opportunity to do their work; they can speak to you from within or whisper into your ear, or they can throw your thoughts and mind into disarray. They can even suppress the Holy Spirit’s touch so that you cannot feel it. After that, they begin to interfere with you by confusing your thinking and addling your brain, leaving you restless and unhinged. Such is the work that evil spirits do on people. If they cannot discern it, then they will find themselves in great danger.

—“The Significance of God’s Tasting of Worldly Suffering” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

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 they are, what they are doing, just what they are saying, what their plans are for people, and what path they give people—it becomes easy to distinguish these things. We see that the words of evil spirits all fundamentally share the same characteristic: They are only able to mimic the words and phrases of God, and do not 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. People can see in God’s words that they are possessed of authority and power, that they can enthrall them, 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, negative and depressed; 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.

—Work Arrangements