How to Pursue the Truth (13)

The topic we fellowshipped on last time concerned how to discern and view people. This kind of topic can be said to be of interest to people, but because this topic is somewhat special and relates to the significant issue of people’s prospects and destinies, it evokes some feelings in listeners that differ from those elicited by other aspects of the truth. For some, these feelings aren’t particularly pleasant. After hearing this topic, some people might experience significant inner turmoil, and those who are numb might also experience some slight inner turmoil. Right? (Yes.) Regardless of what reactions people have, in any case, after these topics have been fellowshipped on, God’s chosen people get some assistance in discerning people and in seeing through various matters, and are enabled to gain some insight and some discernment. Right? (Yes.) Last time, we fellowshipped about some manifestations and characteristics of people reincarnated from animals. So, what are the main characteristics of people of this sort? (Last time, we fellowshipped that people reincarnated from animals have four characteristics: First, they have distorted comprehension; second, they are particularly numb; third, they are particularly muddleheaded; and fourth, they are particularly foolish.) These four traits are the essential characteristics of people who are reincarnated from animals. So, have you all summarized what exactly the essential manifestations of people of this sort are? In other words, judging by their exterior—their speech and conduct, and the various manifestations of their humanity—what manifestations do they have that are related to these four characteristics? For example, what are the characteristics of how they approach the truth, and of the conscience and reason of their humanity? Of course, these traits are basically encompassed within the four characteristics of distorted comprehension, numbness, muddleheadedness, and foolishness, right? (Yes.) Now, based on some of the manifestations you can see and encounter in real life, explain these four characteristics in more detail. What other manifestations do you know of? For instance, people who are reincarnated from animals are very numb. If you point out their problem by merely providing a symbolic example, they still won’t understand even if you tell them about this problem several times. So, you have to explicitly say, “I’m talking about you,” for them to realize it’s about them. Otherwise, they assume it’s about someone else’s problem, that it’s unrelated to them, and think they’re doing just fine. Isn’t this numbness? (Yes.) You have to put it right under their nose for them to even react a little bit. So, can they comprehend the truth? (No.) Why can’t they comprehend the truth? (Because they’re sluggish to react and can’t understand the meaning of God’s words. When others point out their problems, they only grasp a doctrine or a regulation; they cannot comprehend it from a positive perspective, and thus it is impossible for them to have positive entry.) This is being devoid of comprehension ability. In terms of numbness, when someone points out a kind of state, they simply cannot realize what it has to do with them, whether they really have this kind of state or not, and whether or not they really have that kind of problem themselves—they cannot realize these things nor understand what the other person is saying. Even if you specify which thing they did, which words they said, or which manifestation they displayed on which day, and they know you’re talking about them, what they grasp is just a matter, a statement, or a sentence, and they memorize it in a vague, superficial manner. After memorizing it, they just cling to a regulation: Don’t say those words, and don’t do those things; do these things, and act in that way. They can stick to this regulation for a lifetime, refusing to accept anyone’s fellowship, and even wild horses couldn’t pull them away. As the situation develops, due to changes in time, geographical environments, people, events, and things, and so on, you tell them that acting the way they did before no longer works and that they need to adjust their approach or strategy—though the principle hasn’t actually changed—but they can’t comprehend it. They say, “I’ve been practicing this way for so many years, and it feels fine to me. I’ve been practicing based on what the leaders and workers fellowshipped about many years ago. Why should I change how I practice?” They even have a basis, but in reality, they’ve just been sticking to a regulation for years without even knowing or realizing it themselves.

In terms of the characteristic of having distorted comprehension, most people who are reincarnated from animals exhibit manifestations of distorted comprehension. Their manner of thinking differs from that of normal people. Their ideas are very eccentric, strange, and sometimes even astonishingly unexpected—you simply can’t imagine why they would think that way, and you never imagined that anyone in this world would consider issues in such an odd manner. Their ideas can leave you dumbfounded. This is because people with normal thinking generally consider issues according to a normal manner of thinking, whereas the manner of thinking of those who are reincarnated from animals is very peculiar. They frequently voice some odd and outlandish statements, and when someone with normal thinking hears them, that person will get startled. If you try to follow their manner of thinking to consider an issue, you’ll find that it is very strange and comes to an impasse. Because they have this manner of thinking, in real life—whether they’re doing their duties, interacting with others, or facing certain circumstances, people, events, and things—their ideas are always very weird, and they cannot get along with most people. They don’t seem like creatures that live in the human world, but instead it seems like they are living in another world. You can never understand why they think the way they do or why they come up with such thoughts. The way that they consider issues often exceeds the scope of the thinking of normal humanity and deviates from the proper track of normal thinking. The end result is that everyone finds their manner, stance, and principles for considering issues to be very strange. If such a person is present while everyone is considering or fellowshipping on an issue, and most of the people there lack discernment, lack their own opinions, or don’t understand the truth principles, it will often be the case that their trains of thought are brought to a standstill or that a normal discussion is disturbed and interrupted due to one of the distorted thoughts and views of that person. And what’s the end result? After going back and forth, people find that the view that person put forward strays from the right path, that it’s neither objective nor practical, and that it’s moreover highly eccentric, and that their manner of considering issues is even extremely weird. When normal people chat and talk, the conversation grows livelier, everyone becomes clearer on the issues in question, and the topic progresses further forward the more they chat. But if this person gets a word in, the conversation goes off-topic. Other people become lost for words, they all feel that this person’s words are too strange, and cannot respond to them. The topic of discussion is thus interrupted. Though this type of person has “unique” thoughts and views, they consistently differ from the views put forward by those with normal thinking. Their thoughts and views are not those that normal humanity should possess, and they aren’t within the scope of the thinking of normal humanity, so the things they say sound strange to other people or even unthinkable, and their solutions and paths aren’t of any help to people, and furthermore have a nature of disruption, disturbance, undermining, and sabotage to them. It’s alright if they stay silent, and everyone’s trains of thought remain somewhat clear, but once they interrupt and state their opinion or offer a suggestion, everyone gets disturbed and disrupted when they hear it, deviations arise in terms of the topic under discussion, and it’s difficult for good results to be achieved. A person of truly good caliber, however, can pinpoint the crux of an issue, and they can grasp its vital point and share a correct path to resolve the problem. At the very least, they can provide some meaningful and valuable suggestions that build on other people’s trains of thought. If they put forward a suggestion, and everyone finds it to be fitting and is willing to accept it, then this means that the suggestion put forward by this person with good caliber has hit the vital point, because this person is able to see through things. If they don’t speak, everyone might discuss for three days without reaching a conclusion. See, both of these types of people have unique views which are different than other people, but the views put forward by a person with good caliber can help others to see through to the essence of an issue, and assist people in finding the correct direction and path of practice when they’re lost. A person with distorted comprehension is different. Their views and distorted manner of thinking often have a dismantling and disturbing effect when people are discussing matters or having normal conversations. So, if a person with distorted comprehension who is reincarnated from an animal is involved in any church or any aspect of the work, they are likely to bring about disturbances and disruptions, and everyone will feel thoroughly fed up with them, thinking to themselves, “Just hurry up and send them away—they’re too annoying! They spout irrelevant nonsense every day and still consider themselves to be so profound, when in reality, what they say is all fallacies.” At first, some people may idolize them, but over time, they will see through them and say, “This person doesn’t have any profound insights. They’re just pretending to be a wise person all day long in an affected manner. In fact, the views and ideas they put forward are utterly absurd and simply have nothing to do with the issues that ought to be handled.” They will start to find them irritating and grow repulsed by them. So, if this type of person is responsible for some highly technical or professional work or takes on some important work while doing their duty, they’ll quickly provoke annoyance in others because the views and demands they put forward always leave people incredulous and unsure of the appropriate way to act. If they’re just an ordinary follower, merely obeying instructions and commands, then some deviations will frequently appear in the things they do. The leaders, workers, and those around them will have to constantly follow up on and supervise them. As soon as they take their eyes off of them, they will make mistakes, and others will invariably have to help them to correct and remedy their errors, and to clean up their messes. In the end, when everyone sees that this type of person is beyond help, they will say, “They’re always causing disturbances here, and no one is able to get any peace. Can’t they be sent away? Let them go wherever they want!” That’s the reaction everyone will have. At first, they will be patient with them, thinking, “We’re all brothers and sisters, none of us has great stature, and our understanding of the truth is shallow—let’s support and help each other.” But in the course of long-term contact with them, they will see through them. It turns out that their issue is not one of having small stature—there’s a problem with their caliber and comprehension. It’s not that their comprehension is shallow or their thinking childish; rather, their comprehension is distorted. Their way of viewing things and their thoughts and views fall outside the scope of normal thinking, and their opinions are often different from everyone else’s. They refuse to accept what others say even when it’s right, and they won’t listen to any kind of explanation. Once they’re set on their own idea, not even wild horses can pull them back from it. That is to say, they cannot differentiate good from bad. The things they deem good in their thoughts and views are, to people with the thinking of normal humanity, nothing but distorted things—things that can’t be presented openly. Their views aren’t just childish or base and worthless; they simply aren’t thoughts or views that are produced by the thinking of normal humanity. So, this type of person can’t get along with most people. This isn’t due to a corrupt disposition, or to barriers caused by differences in life habits or linguistic obstacles, and it’s certainly not due to them committing some evil deeds or engaging in bizarre behaviors. It’s primarily because of these characteristics that their humanity exhibits—distorted comprehension, numbness, muddleheadedness, and foolishness—which make it impossible for them to get along with most people. Of course, evil people and antichrists also can’t get along with most people, but though they have this same trait, the essence or phenomenon of their inability to get along with others is different from that of people who are reincarnated from animals. Evil people and antichrists can’t get along with others because they are in essence devils, whereas people who are reincarnated from animals completely lack the thinking and intelligence of normal humanity, as well as the conscience and reason of normal humanity, and so it is very difficult for normal people to chat with them—they can only talk about trivial, domestic matters that don’t involve the principles, leaving the scope of conversation very limited. People who are reincarnated from animals aren’t, after all, those who are reincarnated from devils, they’re distinct from people of that sort, and they also belong to a category of living beings. And so, as long as major principles aren’t involved, they can still manage to associate, communicate, and interact with others in their daily life or while doing their duties. However, as soon as major truth principles or choices about which path to take are involved, this type of person becomes completely out of tune with most people and can’t get along with them anymore. For example, you chat with this type of person about everyday life topics—what foods and dishes you like, how to cook them well, things about your hometown, and so on. The more you talk, the more you have to say and the warmer the conversation becomes. Does this mean that the two of you are compatible? Does it mean that you belong to the same category? (No.) You can’t tell those things just based on this kind of conversation. But when you talk about topics like why you believe in God and your views on belief in God, topics involving thoughts and views, truth principles, outlooks on life, values, the paths people walk, people’s pursuits, and so on, your thoughts and views and your manners of thinking increasingly diverge, and are no longer on the same track, and the conversation stalls. And why is that? Because their comprehension is distorted. When you first hear them speak, you think that they’re quite shrewd, but over time you discover that they speak only words and doctrines and are quite haughty. Your feeling toward them changes, it’s no longer so warm, barriers arise, and the categories that each of you belong to get distinguished. See, when you discuss family life or your personal past, or chat about topics within the scope of everyday life like food, drink, leisure, interests, and hobbies, you can still converse. But as soon as the conversation touches on thoughts and views, truth principles, outlooks on life, values, life paths, or attitudes toward God and duty, it stalls. Your view of them changes, and their view of you changes, too. You begin to feel some annoyance toward them in your heart, and barriers toward you arise in their heart. They dislike you, and you dislike them. Gradually, you drift apart and no longer have a common language. Different categories of people are thus distinguished. Therefore, to distinguish which category someone belongs to, one must look at what their comprehension ability is like, whether they possess the conscience and reason of a normal person, and whether they have normal thinking and intelligence. As for this type of person who is reincarnated from an animal, we won’t fellowship specifically on them anymore. Next, we will continue by fellowshipping on the other two types of people. After we finish that, we will come back and compare these three types. Through this comparison, how to discern these three types of people will become increasingly clear and distinct.

Last time, we mentioned that people are broadly divided into three categories. How are these three categories distinguished? They’re distinguished based on their origin. The first category is those who are reincarnated from animals, the second category is those who are reincarnated from devils, and the third category is those who are reincarnated from humans. We have finished discussing the characteristics of those who are reincarnated from animals, and now let’s talk about the characteristics of those who are reincarnated from devils. What main characteristics of people who are reincarnated from devils can you think of? (They are antagonistic to the truth and to God.) This is a rather general statement; you need to describe their essential manifestations, and you have to summarize the characteristics of people of this type using their daily revelations and their specific manifestations in life. Do you know what a characteristic is? A characteristic is a manifestation that represents the essence of a certain type of person. If someone possesses the characteristics of a certain type of person, they have the essence of that type of person, and if someone is that type of person, they will naturally possess those characteristics—no one is an exception. That is what a characteristic is. Can you think of the characteristics of people who are reincarnated from devils? (They are particularly averse to and hate the truth. They react with rage and revulsion upon hearing the truth.) Reacting with rage and revulsion upon seeing the truth is a specific manifestation. What else can you think of? (They are wicked and insidious. I don’t know if that counts as a characteristic?) That’s somewhat relevant. (They are also ruthless and arrogant.) Ruthlessness is another specific manifestation. Arrogance is a common characteristic possessed by corrupt humans, and it’s not only possessed by those who are reincarnated from devils; those who are reincarnated from animals and those who are reincarnated from humans—these two types—possess it too. Besides those specific satanic corrupt dispositions, what specific characteristics are possessed by those who are reincarnated from devils in terms of their humanity? That is, what are the main characteristics of what they reveal, say, and do in their daily lives? (Viciousness.) This is one characteristic. What other characteristics are there? Those who are reincarnated from devils and those who are reincarnated from animals both possess some particular and essential characteristics, but the characteristics of these two types are completely different. The characteristics of those who are reincarnated from animals are distorted comprehension, numbness, muddleheadedness, and foolishness. Why these characteristics? These characteristics are sufficient to prove that, in terms of their essence, this type of person falls short of human characteristics, and falls short of the proper intelligence and manner of thinking that humans possess. Therefore, these very typical characteristics prove that people of this sort are reincarnated from animals. Those who are reincarnated from devils are different from those who are reincarnated from animals. What are their characteristics? Since they are reincarnated from devils, they are devils turned human. Their inner essence is that of a devil. Although they are not animals—they are not foolish, or numb, and they perhaps do not have distorted comprehension—they are also not human, and they do not have the normal thinking of humans. As they are reincarnated from devils, they are certainly completely consistent with and identical to devils in terms of essence and true form, without any differences. So, what are the characteristics of those who are reincarnated from devils? The first characteristic is that they lie inveterately. No matter how they lie, their faces don’t go red, their hearts don’t flutter, and they act extremely normal and natural, without slipping up or showing any cracks at all. No one can discern which of their words are true and which are false. The second characteristic is deviance. You mentioned the third characteristic just now, which is evil. People who are reincarnated from devils have three characteristics—although there’s one fewer characteristic than those who are reincarnated from animals, the destructive power and degree of grievous harm that they inflict on people are much greater than the hurt or damage caused by those who are reincarnated from animals, because they are devils. In terms of degree, devils’ means of grievously harming people are much more severe than those of animals hurting people. Entrapping, trampling on, numbing, misleading, and grievously harming people is innate to devils; it is their nature essence. As for animals, so long as they are not ferocious ones, they generally have no great destructive power toward humans; only certain animals somewhat grievously harm people, eating human flesh or hurting people out of instinct. Devils are different. It doesn’t matter if they are great or small devils—there’s no need to distinguish between different types of devils—all of them inflict the same hurt and grievous harm on people. Any so-called differences are merely manifested in means or methods, but in terms of the essence of devils, it is always to grievously harm people. Regardless of whether you have provoked them, their nature essence is always to hurt people. As long as you get close to them, as long as matters great or small in your life involve them, you are liable to be harmed by them. If you understand some truths, possess some truth realities, and have discernment regarding these devils, then the degree to which you’ll be harmed by them is relatively lessened or reduced. But if your stature is small, you don’t understand the truth, and you are someone without the truth and life, then the degree to which you’ll be harmed can easily be inferred—however they want to harm you, they will harm you in that way, and whatever extent they want to harm you to, you will be harmed to that extent. This is the harm caused to people by those who are reincarnated from devils. You see, when devils are in power, even if you support them, you will still be harmed by them, and if you don’t support them or you oppose them, you will still be harmed. As long as you are ruled by them, as long as you are under their power, as long as you follow God but haven’t gained the truth or been completely gained by God, then you are, out-and-out, the defeated opponent of the devils, their victim, and no one is an exception to this. This refers to great devils. As for those reincarnated from devils, they are real-life small devils, they are various kinds of devils. If you live together with them, one of the most common occurrences will be that they will lie inveterately. You will always be tricked by them and always be duped by them; you won’t know which of their words are true and which are false, and you will be disturbed to the point that you feel uneasy every day. “Is this thing they said true or false? Are they trying to trick me again? How can I discern whether what they say is right or wrong?” You see, if you live together with them, you will suffer deeply from their harm. Just this matter of their constant lying will disturb you to the point that you’re in complete disarray, and every day your heart will have no tranquility, peace, or joy.

For the type of person who is reincarnated from a devil, they lie inveterately, and everything they do is very devious. Whatever they say secretly to others or whatever they do behind the scenes, they don’t tell the truth about it afterward; instead, they present a different story. They badmouth other people to you, and they badmouth you to other people. As a result, barriers arise between you and those other people, and you think ill of one another. In fact, you are not familiar with one another at all, and you don’t know much about one another. It is precisely because this devil made things up to sow discord between you that you have become enemies. You have been played by the devil yet still don’t know what’s going on, and think that what the devil said is true and that they are good to you. See, someone who is an inveterate liar can play people to this extent. They lie constantly; they often gossip, sow discord, and arbitrarily fabricate rumors by exaggerating and embellishing stories and making baseless claims when they are with you. This disturbs you to the point that you feel uneasy, and you constantly have to discern and be on guard: “What bad things did So-and-so say about me? How should I treat So-and-so?” They disturb you to the point that you’re in complete disarray, upsetting the rhythm of your life, your living patterns, and your current condition. When your stature is small and you don’t understand the truth, and when you haven’t yet obtained the truth, you are often subject to their influence, and even misled, disturbed, constrained, and bound by some of their lies. For example, suppose you are elected as a church leader, and they say to you, “So-and-so said about you: ‘That guy thinks he can be a leader? He’s actually nothing, yet he still has the gall to fellowship the truth to people!’” In reality, that person didn’t say this at all; it’s what this devil wanted to say, and they are shifting the blame for it on someone else. Just this one comment from them makes you feel weak, and you come before God and pray, “Oh God, my stature truly is small and I cannot shoulder this work. I am indebted to You, I haven’t done my work well. I want to resign, but I’m afraid that would be disloyal. What should I do?” They have disturbed you to the point that you cannot continue your work; even if you do carry on, you do so with a kind of negative emotion, gradually losing your sense of burden for the church’s work, until finally, the work is brought to a standstill. You have been disturbed, haven’t you? (Yes.) It really is troublesome living, interacting, and working with this type of person. There is too much untruthfulness in their words, too much adulteration, too much of their own will, and too many of their own motives; everything they say is lies. You constantly have to discern: “Which of their words are true and which are false? What have they actually done behind the scenes and what haven’t they done? Are they a true believer in God? They say that they will definitely do their duty well in the future and that they will definitely live up to this promotion that God’s house has given to them—are these words truly heartfelt? Will they act according to the oath they’ve sworn and the resolve they’ve expressed?” When you see their behavior, your mind is flooded with a series of questions. You often feel they are frightening, but their words sound quite credible and reasonable. Yet, at night in your dreams, you see that their face has turned into the face of a devil, that they are baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, and you wonder, “Are they actually human? Which of their words are true and which are false? How come I can’t see through them? This type of person is too frightening!” You feel they are frightening and untrustworthy, but when you check their work, it’s basically passable, and when you listen to them speak, you don’t notice any slip-ups. However, you are simply unable to see through them—you have a nameless suspicion in your spirit, and you always feel in your heart that they can cause trouble, always feel that their words are insincere and not entirely truthful. Perhaps one day their lying nature is exposed, and your feeling about them is confirmed: You discover that your suspicion and feeling about them back then were correct, and that although the words they spoke sounded very nice and credible, they were all false and deceptive; behind the scenes, they simply did no real work at all. So, can this type of person still be trusted? (No.) Although in your heart you feel they can no longer be trusted, when you meet them again and hear them speak, their comprehension seems quite pure, what they say sounds nice, and you can’t find any problems with their words, and outwardly they can also endure hardship and pay a price. You ponder, “What’s going on here? Maybe I misjudged them, maybe I was being mean-spirited. Let me trust them one more time. Anyway, right now I can’t find a suitable person to replace them in this work, so I’ll use them one more time.” You then continue to use them, and the final result is still the same: You discover that you’ve been deceived by them again. They speak nicely, but actually, behind the scenes, they just carry out their own enterprise and don’t do anything real. If they gain ten people in a month of preaching the gospel, they insist on saying it was fifty. They just won’t tell the truth. They are an inveterate liar, an expert at lying. You trust them and use them time and again, and as a result, you are fooled time and again. And who is it that suffers a loss in the end? Of course, through experiencing these things, people develop discernment regarding others, their insight grows, their experience increases, and they become better at judging people, but what truly suffers a loss? It is the church’s work. So tell Me, does just this one nature essence of people who are reincarnated from devils—that of being an inveterate liar—cause great harm to others or not? (It does.) How great is this harm? Can they mislead you? (Yes, we can be misled and exploited.) You can be misled, exploited, and disturbed—can it reach the point of you being manipulated? (Yes.) If you are young and lack experience, and you don’t understand the truth and cannot see through matters, you can be manipulated by them. What does it mean to be manipulated by them? It means you are helpless against them, you are controlled by them, your hands and feet are bound by them, your way of thinking about things and your thoughts and views are influenced and swayed by them, what you do next proceeds entirely according to their plan, and you fall completely into the trap they have designed for you—this is what it means to be manipulated. They plan it all out in advance behind the scenes, using all sorts of tactics to plot against you. They see right through to you—to what you understand and what you can’t see through, what matters you have discernment on and what you don’t, what your boundaries are, how you can be exploited, and what words can mislead you. In the end, they exploit your defects and various weak points to fabricate lies and fool you. In your heart, you clearly know that what they did was wrong, or that there’s a problem with what they said and they were lying, but you don’t have the wisdom to deal with it; you feel distressed but are helpless against them, and you can only be led by the nose by them. Isn’t this being manipulated by them? (Yes.) Ultimately, the direction the situation develops in, right down to the final result, proceeds according to their plan—this means you have been manipulated by them. That is, you completely lose the ability to control the direction of the situation’s development, and are totally led by the nose by them. They ultimately get their way in terms of whatever goal they want to achieve, whatever they want to accomplish, whoever they want to exploit, and however they want to do things. Tell Me, isn’t this being manipulated by them? (It is.)

Tell Me, just in terms of people reincarnated from devils’ nature of being inveterate liars, is the damage they do to God’s chosen people, and especially to the church’s work, great or not? (It is great.) The damage is immense! So besides affecting the everyday lives of some individuals, what other great harm do they cause to people? (The disturbance caused by the actions of people who are reincarnated from devils to those around them is very severe. I previously encountered a person like that; wherever he was, that place would be full of intrigue and vying for power and status, barriers would arise between people, and the brothers and sisters would also feel darkness in their hearts.) This created chaos, right? (Yes.) Causing people to be suspicious of and fight one another, and to enter a state of chaos—this harm is immense! So afterward, did everyone gain discernment of this devil? (Yes.) Was he cleansed away? (He was cleansed away.) After he was cleansed away, did everyone sum things up? The main specific manifestations of his lying, the lies he told, the things he lied for the sake of, the methods and tone of voice he used when he lied, the purpose that he wanted to achieve—did you all sum up these specific methods and manifestations? (We did. For example, he is an inveterate liar; his words have a nature of confounding right and wrong and calling black white to them, making positive figures out to be negative and negative figures out to be positive. He would pin baseless charges on whomever he envied or hated, and also incite the brothers and sisters to oppose them, creating chaos. He also suppressed some good people or those who got results in their duties, while promoting those who he viewed favorably and who curried favor with him.) This is an antichrist, right? (Yes.) What are the main methods of lying used by this type of person? Fabricating things out of thin air, embellishing and exaggerating stories, shifting blame onto others, telling tales to create conflict, and sowing discord—what else? (Fanning the flames.) Fanning the flames and intensifying conflicts. For example, two people are getting along quite well, not wanting to argue about anything or make enemies with anyone, but this type of person fans the flames between them to make them start fighting. If they see those two people fight, then they feel happy, and their plot has succeeded. There are some people of this sort in every group. Everyone has corrupt dispositions, but would people who are reincarnated from humans do these things? (No.) Why not? What is the difference between them and people who are reincarnated from devils? (Normal people have the minimum standard of conscience.) That’s right. They have the minimum standard of conscience; in their self-conduct, they are restrained by conscience. They won’t do these morally corrupt things, these things that mean losing integrity and dignity, or these things that harm others and benefit themselves. Having a conscience means they have a minimum standard, and their actions are thus restrained. So, do these people who are reincarnated from devils have consciences? (No.) Then what kind of hearts do they have? (Malicious hearts.) They have malicious and wicked hearts, and so they can lie inveterately, and no matter how they lie, they don’t feel uncomfortable inside. Why don’t they feel uncomfortable? Because they are devils and have no conscience, and so when they lie and do evil, they don’t feel uncomfortable, nor do they feel reproached. Conversely, if they don’t lie, and if—where they are—they don’t do some evil or cause some commotion and chaos, and everyone lives peacefully and joyfully, and everyone lives before God, they feel upset and uncomfortable inside. Why do they feel uncomfortable? It’s because everyone comes before God, ponders His words, acts according to His words and the truth principles, lives within normal humanity, and doesn’t worship them; they don’t stand out among people or feel important, so they think, “Living like this is so boring, it’s no fun!” In order to have fun, make life interesting, live respectably and with a feeling of importance, they have to stir up some trouble and cause some problems, make some waves and cause some unrest and chaos among people. What’s that saying? Whipping up a storm. This type of person likes to whip up a storm wherever they are; they don’t like to keep to their proper place. Normal people want to keep to their proper place—to live stable lives, and to do what they ought to do in a routine manner—they don’t like to whip up storms. But people who are reincarnated from devils do not keep to their proper place. Why do they not keep to their proper place? Because a devil lives inside this type of person, and devils like to cause problems in any group they are in. Even if you haven’t provoked or annoyed them, they just start trouble on their own—this is whipping up a storm. No matter what group this type of person is in, whether you look at it from afar or inquire about the circumstances of its members, you always feel that there is a demonic atmosphere there. From time to time, you hear that person A has a conflict with person B, that person C isn’t getting along with person D and they’re ignoring each other, that person E has disputes with person F in their work, that person G is always vying for status, and their work always needs to be redone. If you see any church where there is always a chaotic and turbid atmosphere, where there is no peace, where people are always unable to get along or cooperate harmoniously, there is one or even multiple devils causing disturbances inside it. No matter how many devils are causing disturbances in a church, those other people who have some minimum standard of conscience and want to act according to the truth principles are all deeply harmed by them. Once all types of devils have been cleansed away, when everyone lives church life and does their duties together again, the atmosphere is different. Although you can’t say that everyone is burning with passion, at least everyone feels that the people there have human warmth and don’t stir up trouble; the atmosphere there isn’t demonic, it’s a human atmosphere. In places where the atmosphere is demonic, when people talk together, there’s something amiss with the looks in their eyes, as well as with their tone of voice and the atmosphere when they speak. They don’t make eye contact when they talk; furthermore, what they say is very simple, none of them is willing to speak from the heart, and there’s no verbal communication. It’s like there’s a wall between them. There’s no communication between them; they harbor hatred in their hearts. It is possible that these people are the victims. Regardless of whether these people are victims or victimizers, in short, there are devils mixed in and causing disturbances within this group, disturbing people’s hearts to the point that they are in a mess and cannot find any peace. When the people in this group live together, they always feel things are unsatisfactory and not going smoothly, they cannot reside together harmoniously, and of course, harmonious cooperation is even more out of the question. When speaking, acting, and doing their duties in this group, people always feel displeased inside, and there are also barriers between them. This is because there are devils causing disturbances in this group, and so everyone is constrained and feels unhappy.

Some people experienced severe disturbance by devils and were basically manipulated by them. When I saw them after a month or two, their faces looked off somehow, as if they had been made fools of. Could it be that they lacked the work of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God? How come they looked so awkward? Later, through careful inquiry, I found out that something had indeed happened: Two devils had controlled all these people. To what extent did the devils control them? The devils did whatever they wanted; the work arrangements issued by the Above and the principles fellowshipped by the Above could not be implemented—they all existed there in name only. With these two devils blocking the way, no one dared to voice an opinion or report problems. Afterward, some people got so angry when these two devils were mentioned that they burst into tears. Why didn’t you expose them back then? Even with so many people there, no one dared to stand up and expose the devils—how much power must those devils have had? Outwardly they look human, but their essence is actually that of a devil. This type of person is feared by other people wherever they go. People only have to come into contact with them to feel afraid, to feel creeped out. If a child meets this kind of person, they will be scared to tears. To what extent do guileless people feel afraid when they meet this type of person? When they are in front of them, they don’t dare to breathe heavily or speak loudly, and even quickly try to avoid them by going around them. Someone saw that these devils weren’t implementing work according to the work arrangements and said, “Doing it like this isn’t right; this isn’t consistent with the principles fellowshipped by the Above.” One of those devils retorted, “I call the shots here. If you step out of line, believe it or not, I can expel you right now!” This scared the person so much that their face drained of color, and they did not dare to voice an opinion again, saying tearfully, “I was wrong. Just pretend like I didn’t say anything. Please, please don’t expel me!” The others saw this and said, “He’s too formidable, his power is too great! He will expel anyone who doesn’t obey him! Our opportunity to do our duties in God’s house was hard to come by. If he expels us, where could we plead our case? Wouldn’t we be finished? Wouldn’t our hope of salvation be gone? We really mustn’t voice our opinions; we mustn’t get expelled because of a moment of carelessness.” Look, they were afraid to this extent. Finally, when the devils were being exposed, some people exposed how the devils sowed discord and formed factions, while others exposed the fallacies the devils spread to mislead people. In fact, these people had seen clearly the evil done by the devils at the time; it was just that no one had dared to say a word or resist. Some even cried while speaking, looking quite pitiful. But why hadn’t they resisted when the devils were manipulating and controlling them? Why had they been devoid of strength then? Now that the Above was going to handle the devils, they found their strength. Tell Me, if God hadn’t watched over and protected these people who were small in stature and didn’t understand the truth, and if they hadn’t had God’s safeguarding, wouldn’t they have been grievously harmed by the devils to the point that they were finished? Isn’t that so? (Yes.) You see, people aren’t that afraid of God, but when devils and Satans torment people, they get so scared they tremble all over and can’t even cry coherently—how severely scared they are! When the Above exposed and handled these two devils, those people heard the news and felt finally liberated. For those few months, they had been controlled by devils and lived under Satan’s power, they had fallen into darkness, with no light at the end of the tunnel, and they were crying out into the void. Their lives were so pitiful! Finally, these two devils were cleared out, and everyone was liberated and happy. I wondered, “The Above has cleared out these two devils this time, so if these people encounter devils doing evil and controlling people again, will they be able to discern them? Will they be able to remove the devils from their posts without the Above needing to come forward and resolve the matter? Will they all be able to collectively expose the devils, summing up all their evil deeds and then removing them from their posts, and not listen to them, not be constrained by them in doing their duties, and kick them out of the church?” But judging by their stature, I’m afraid they can’t achieve that. Although these people believe in God sincerely, have the resolve to suffer, are willing to do their duty devotedly, and are willing to pursue the truth, they are just too cowardly. When just one small devil came out to cause disturbances, no matter how old they were, these people shrank back and were afraid, they could all be controlled by them and dare not resist. Upon seeing this, it struck Me how pitiful these people were. If God didn’t protect, have concern for, and watch over people, this human race would have no way to survive. Look at these things that happen in real life: The behavior of various devils, their aims, and their methods and tactics for doing things are basically consistent and easy to discern, and yet when various devils come out to cause disruptions and disturbances, and constrain, control, bind, and grievously harm God’s chosen people, few people dare to stand up and resist, no one takes the initiative to expose these devils, remove them from their posts, and cleanses them away from the church; they just allow the devils to control God’s chosen people and disturb and sabotage the church’s work. These pitiful people just endure it all; they feel upset in their hearts, and they cry bitter tears while praying to God, but they have no solutions; they have no wise methods, and they do not use the truth as a powerful weapon to resist and battle the devils, and to deal with them. No one does this, nor dares to do it; they don’t even have the courage to battle the devils. In any church, if evil people or devils emerge to control people and disrupt and disturb the church’s work, most people just endure it. In the end, it is God’s house that steps forward to deal with these various kinds of devils, putting an end to their time in the church, enabling the brothers and sisters to be protected, to live church life normally, to eat and drink God’s words normally, and to do their duties normally, and enabling the various items of the church’s work to proceed in an orderly manner. It is entirely through God dispatching people, and God’s house personally arranging and guiding the performance of this specific work, that these immature, ignorant, and weak people are protected from being misled and grievously harmed by evil people and antichrists. How pitiful these foolish and ignorant people who don’t understand the truth are! In the broader environment, the entire human race has been corrupted by Satan; in specific living environments, people are disturbed, controlled, and grievously harmed by various devils. Some people are small in stature and have a shallow foundation, so when they encounter the disturbances of evil people, they cannot see through these things. They always think that evil people shouldn’t exist in the church, and think that there is no love or human warmth between people. Some don’t even want to do their duties anymore, saying, “It would be better to believe in God at home. Why are such people allowed to exist in the church?” People who don’t understand the truth cannot see through these things. They aren’t able to learn lessons from these matters; they don’t know that God’s good intentions are behind them encountering such things; they don’t know whose side they should stand on or to approach these matters using the truth principles; they aren’t able to unite with the true brothers and sisters to oppose and battle the devils. Isn’t this being small in stature? Isn’t it pitiful? (It is.)

The first characteristic of the type of person who is reincarnated from a devil that is revealed in their daily life is inveterate lying. Regardless of age, gender, or background, regardless of how many years they have believed in God, as long as someone’s speech always contains lies, as long as they are full of lies and lie inveterately, then they are reincarnated from a devil; they are not human. Humans also lie, because they have corrupt dispositions; the deceitfulness and wickedness within corrupt dispositions can cause humans to lie. But the degree of human lying is different from that of people reincarnated from devils. If someone lies inveterately, this fact alone is enough to prove that, in their essence, they are not human, but are a devil. Because of the effect of conscience, it is absolutely impossible for humans to reach the point of lying inveterately. Although there are also times when humans lie and engage in deceit, their lying is only a normal revelation of corrupt disposition; it involves occasional lies regarding certain matters. Although humans lying and devils lying may look the same outwardly, in essence, there is a distinction. When devils lie, they never feel self-reproach or regret. Moreover, they feel pleased with themselves, satisfied, and have a sense of accomplishment regarding the lies they tell and the acts of deception they commit. If a lie is unsuccessful, they will step up their efforts in telling more lies and using more advanced deceptive tactics to deceive more people. But after normal humans with corrupt dispositions lie, they have an uneasy conscience and feel reproached, and they feel too disgraced to live. If they have deceived someone, they feel somewhat embarrassed when meeting them again. If they are asked to publicly admit they lied and promise to never lie again but only tell the truth, their current stature is not yet up to that. However, they have an inner awareness; they feel shame, guilt, and unease for the lies they told; they feel accused within. But this type of person reincarnated from a devil lies inveterately. After they lie, they feel no inner accusation and no sense of guilt. Why don’t they feel guilty? Because they are a devil. Feeling guilty toward people or God, feeling accused in one’s heart—that is the normal awareness of a human being. Since they are a devil, they are devoid of such awareness. Therefore, they can continue to lie, and even step up their efforts; they will keep lying and never change. Ultimately, when does their lying stop? Only after the last breath of their physical life, when they can no longer speak, does their lying cease. But the spirit of the lying devil inside them reincarnates into another person, and that person will then continue to lie. Therefore, the lying nature of devils never changes. This is inveterate lying. People reincarnated from devils deceive anyone and can tell any lie. They can lie in any situation and about any matter, and their lying tactics are particularly sophisticated; no one can see that they are lying. You see, when people who often lie tell a lie, it’s like a normal person telling the truth—it seems very natural, without any discernible flaws. You might think they are telling the truth. If you take their lies as the truth, they will laugh at you in their hearts, thinking, “Fool, I was just messing around and you took it to be the truth? You really are utterly foolish!” The next time they see you, they will still lie and toy with you, just to see what your reaction is after hearing the lie. If you again take it as the truth, they will become even happier, gain a greater sense of accomplishment, and feel even more that they are successful in how they conduct themselves. Tell Me, are they human? Do they have human awareness? Do they have a human sense of conscience? Obviously not. The more effective their lies, the more pleased and happy they are inwardly, the greater their sense of accomplishment, and the more capable they feel. If a day goes by when they haven’t lied to deceive or toyed with someone, they feel the day was uncomfortable and not worthwhile, and they have to find an opportunity to deceive people. For example, if a devil sees two people have a good relationship and cooperate harmoniously in their duties, they feel uncomfortable inside and ponder, “Let me sow some discord and start some rumors to make you two turn against each other, and you won’t be able to get back on good terms even if you want to.” With just a few words, this devil ensnares those two people in a web of confusion, and they then have disagreements and disputes and are no longer as harmonious as before, which makes this devil feel delighted, exceptionally happy. The devils hidden in the church are always doing these kinds of things. Devils of the nonbelieving world cruelly arrest brothers and sisters. As long as you say you no longer believe in or follow God, or if you complain about God or betray God, they are happy. You can do anything—you can eat, drink, whore, and gamble; you can commit arson, murder, and looting; you can commit any crime—as long as you don’t believe in God, they are happy. Is there a connection between the things devils do among humans and the things Satan does in the spiritual realm? Are there any similarities? These devils especially hate whoever believes in God and walks the right path. Whoever pursues the truth, or always insists on acting according to principles, or often bears witness to God, or does their duty devotedly—when they see such people, they get angry and regard them as enemies. It’s not jealousy; it’s hatred. To achieve the purpose of demolition, one of the methods they adopt is deception through lying to disturb you, mislead you, and drag you down. Doing this may bring them no benefit, but once they have dragged you down so that you lose faith in God, become negative and weak and unwilling to do your duty, or can no longer cooperate harmoniously with others, they have achieved their purpose, and they are happy, and their worries disappear. Is this not what devils do? (Yes.) The fact that devils are inveterate liars is certain beyond all doubt. Take any person—regardless of their race, their appearance, whether they are tall or short, fat or thin, ugly or handsome, regardless of their education level or personality, regardless of whether their gifts are great or small, whether they have strengths, what their interests and hobbies are—they only need to have one characteristic, that they can lie inveterately and never change. This is not occasional lying, nor having no other choice, nor needing to use wisdom in a certain matter, but rather, regardless of necessity, regardless of the situation or background, regardless of the matter, they insist on lying, fabricating, playing tricks, and engaging in petty maneuvers. If they have this characteristic, then this sort is an out-and-out devil. Absolutely do not believe they can become a good person, and absolutely do not believe the nice-sounding words that come from their mouth. Even if they express resolve or make terrible oaths, do not believe them, because they are a devil and not human. Even if devils make terrible oaths, it is just to temporarily deal with the situation; it’s all deception. They are fundamentally unable to act according to the oaths they swear. If you believe them, then you are foolish; you cannot see through to the essence of devils. They can lie about anything, so the terrible oaths they make are also lies. Because they never believe that God scrutinizes everything, and don’t believe that God will give retribution according to each person’s actions—they don’t believe that God can act in this way, they therefore just follow their own will in their actions, lying and deceiving as they please; they are capable of doing anything in order to achieve their aims. This is a characteristic of devils, and it is also their nature essence. You see this matter clearly now, right? (Yes.)

People reincarnated from animals also lie just like devils because they have corrupt dispositions, but when reproached, they will admit it to some degree in their hearts. Although they can admit it, because of their animal quality they cannot comprehend the truth, so they never understand exactly what it means not to lie or what it means to act according to principles. Even if they say, “I will never lie again, I want to speak the truth,” when they try to put this into practice, they seem very clumsy and stupid. Others find the sight of this laughable, saying, “Who practices the truth like this? This is the first time I’ve seen it—it has really broadened my horizons!” It’s like an animal standing up and walking upright like a human; it looks very awkward and strange. Some people reincarnated from animals also want to be honest and do some good things, but they cannot find the accurate principles of practice. When they practice, it is very absurd and becomes a joke. Others find the sight of this laughable, yet these people still think they are being honest. Isn’t this ridiculous? Suppose you tell them, “If you want to be an honest person, you should make sure not to lie, make excuses, try and justify yourself, or argue unreasonably. Doing this is enough. This is being honest. If you do things that violate the truth and thus transgress, you can open up and lay yourself bare. Just accept whatever anyone says that accords with the truth. Don’t do things lacking reason or ridiculous.” But they don’t understand this. When they put this into practice, they err. What would you say is the biggest problem with this type of person? It is that they do not meet the standard of normal humans. Is there a difference between people reincarnated from animals and people reincarnated from devils? (Yes.) Where does the difference lie? (Their distorted practice is not because they are devils with a devilish nature, but mainly because they lack caliber and cannot achieve the normal thinking and reason that humans should possess.) That’s right, their caliber falls short. People of poor caliber may subjectively want to practice the truth, but they cannot grasp the principles; they can only hold to regulations. So their practice is radical, foolish, and stupid. People want to help them, but their disposition is like a hedgehog covered in spines, leaving people at a loss for where to begin. No matter how the truth is fellowshipped to them, they seem unable to understand or grasp it. After five or six years of help and support, they only understand a few words and doctrines and still cannot practice the truth. Their caliber is too poor. Yet these stupid people are always doing disgusting things. When it doesn’t concern major or proper matters, out of etiquette or concern for face, you can still bring yourself to talk with them. But once proper matters are involved, for example, when discussing the performance of duties or work, you get an awkward, uncomfortable feeling, fearing they will resist or object in some way and make you embarrassed. This type of person is unworthy of discussing proper matters with. You just can’t engage with them; engaging with them brings too many problems and will also affect the proper matters. They are always spouting skewed arguments and off-topic remarks, which are simply disgusting to hear. What other distorted things has this type of person done? If they develop feelings for someone of the opposite sex and have wicked lust, they think they must be an honest person, and that they must open up about this and it can’t be kept bottled up inside, so during a gathering, they publicly talk about this matter. The person of the opposite sex they have feelings for feels awkward and uncomfortable upon hearing this, and feels embarrassed. If you try to stop them, they feel upset, saying, “I’m speaking from the heart and being honest. What right do you have to stop me from practicing the truth? This is my right! I finally worked up the courage to speak about this, yet you restrict me! God doesn’t even restrict me, so what right do you have to do so? God even gives me the chance to be an honest person; it’s just you who looks down on me and won’t let me be honest. If I keep this matter bottled up inside and don’t speak out about it, isn’t that concealing the facts? Isn’t that being a deceitful person? Then I wouldn’t be an honest person. If I’m not an honest person, will God still save me?” As you can see, everyone listening feels awkward and embarrassed, yet this person insists on going into detail, and you can’t even restrict them. Tell Me, regarding this matter, should one be tolerant and patient, or should one fellowship the truth principles to restrict them? (We should fellowship the truth principles to restrict them.) If one first tries helping out of love, exhorting them not to say such things that don’t edify others in the future, will they be able to understand and accept this? (No.) Then this type of person is prone to distortions, somewhat foolish, and their reason is not very sound, so one can only resort to restricting them. Everyone has wicked lust, and occasionally one might have some feelings for or harbor some thoughts toward someone of the opposite sex. It’s enough to recognize this oneself privately. If things are heading in a bad direction, one should minimize contact with that person or avoid being alone with them in the future. People with normal humanity will use wise methods and act according to principles when dealing with such matters. They know that this kind of matter cannot be handled solely by applying the principles of practice for being an honest person, and that some principles of wisdom must also be applied. But people reincarnated from animals don’t know how to handle such matters, and they even regard publicly opening up about such things as being honest. They don’t know what consequences this will bring. When they try to be honest, they just adhere to a regulation and a formality. And what is the result? They bring trouble upon themselves, the person they have feelings for, and everyone else. The person they have feelings for is affected and constrained by this matter, feeling unable to face the situation. Everyone else also feels a bit embarrassed upon hearing it, thinking, “If we listen, it’s like we’re prying into someone’s privacy; but if we don’t, they’ll still insist on talking, believing they’re being honest.” You see, everyone finds this matter thorny and troublesome. Wouldn’t you say this type of person is a great trouble? If you fellowship the principles, they don’t accept them, saying: “When you are being honest and opening up, you can say anything, but when I say something, it’s not okay. Am I not also being honest? Why don’t I have the right to speak?” They don’t even pay attention to what others are saying. Is that matter of theirs suitable for fellowshipping publicly? This type of person just can’t see through this and doesn’t understand the principles of being honest. In the end, they make everyone feel the situation is quite difficult to handle. People of the same type will imitate them, saying, “Look, they can even fellowship about things like that. They truly have resolve, they are truly being honest!” Those with pure comprehension know upon hearing that their practice is wrong, and that it has deviated. If you want to help them, they simply won’t accept it. What will they say? “You won’t be able to help me. My comprehension is different from yours. I’m just going to practice this way.” What can be done then? Are you able to help them? (No.) If you really try to help them, you’ll just end up making things worse; not only will they not accept it, but they will also argue and get entangled with you. Isn’t this troublesome? (Yes.)

Those reincarnated from animals also exhibit manifestations of lying, but their lying does not manifest exactly the same as those reincarnated from devils. Their attitudes toward lying and the methods they adopt in lying are also different. When the lies told by those who are devils are exposed, even if, having no alternative, they outwardly admit they lied, they still feel perfectly justified. They think that it’s no big deal. Or even if they express their stance and admit in front of everyone that they were wrong to lie, behind the scenes they still lie and deceive just the same, without changing in the slightest. They simply do not regard lying as a wicked matter or a negative thing. It is their weapon for surviving—how could they give it up? Those who lie inveterately believe, “Living in this human world, if one didn’t lie, if they opened up and laid everything bare to others, and if everything were known and grasped by others, would they still have a self? Would life still have any point? Would they still have dignity? Besides, if one always spoke the plain truth about everything, how bland and dull life would be! One simply has to lie, whether there’s a reason or not.” From any perspective, whether they lie intentionally or unintentionally, it is a natural revelation of their nature. In short, inveterate lying is a prominent characteristic of devils—this is certain beyond doubt. Considering it from this point alone, it is absolutely impossible for people of this type to accept the truth and be honest people; they absolutely cannot do it. Moreover, they feel contemptuous of God’s requirement to be an honest person. Whether or not they are faced with a specific matter, their attitude toward God’s requirement for people to be honest is always one of contempt, mockery, repulsion, and detestation. They view God’s requirement and the principle of self-conduct concerning being an honest person with disdain. From the depths of their hearts, they are averse to and unaccepting of the truth; they even outright oppose being, and refuse to be, honest people.

Inveterate lying is a very obvious characteristic in those who are reincarnated from devils. As long as you have close contact with them, as long as you interact, communicate, and associate with them in work or life, this characteristic or true face of their inveterate lying will be exposed little by little. Therefore, discerning this type of person is very easy. You don’t need to look at someone’s thoughts and views about other people, events, or things. As long as you discover they are an inveterate liar, based on this point alone, you can say with one hundred percent certainty that they are a devil, not human. Some people ask, “Is there even a one percent chance that someone who lies inveterately is not a devil and still has hope of attaining salvation?” I tell you, there is absolutely no possibility. Anyone who lies inveterately is one hundred percent a devil; there isn’t even a one percent chance otherwise. Understood? Some people say, “Could it be that some people lie inveterately because they’ve been corrupted too deeply, they’ve been too severely influenced by society’s evil trends, and the conscience and reason of their humanity have been buried, or they have been completely assimilated by devils, which is why they lie inveterately? If, after a period of help and support from the brothers and sisters, and after being watered and fed with God’s words, their conscience can gradually awaken and their reason can gradually recover, won’t they change and stop lying inveterately?” I tell you, there is no such possibility, not even a one-in-ten-million chance. Therefore, anyone who lies inveterately is a devil, absolutely not human, lacking the slightest normal humanity. Understood? (Understood.) This is certain; there are no exceptions and no special circumstances. You must see clearly on this matter. Perhaps you see someone who, when handling a matter, says something untrue to nonbelievers—something like a lie—in order to safeguard the interests of God’s house and protect the brothers and sisters. You then feel doubtful about this matter, thinking, “I previously thought he was someone who pursues the truth, so how could he lie about such a major issue? If he can lie about this major issue, is he a devil? Is his pursuit of the truth a facade?” Is this way of understanding correct? (No.) What’s wrong with it? How should this matter be viewed correctly? (They haven’t discerned the intent behind that person’s actions or the effect achieved. If someone says something untrue, but does so to achieve a positive effect—to safeguard the interests of God’s house and protect the brothers and sisters—this isn’t lying; it’s a kind of wisdom. They haven’t discerned the difference between lying and exercising wisdom.) You must see clearly the nature of lying. Look at what principle a lie is based on and what purpose it aims to achieve. If someone says something untrue to achieve a positive effect and uphold principles, this isn’t lying—it’s wisdom. In addition, observe whether they are someone who lies inveterately in daily life. If they only lied in one instance, you cannot determine that they are a liar or that they lie inveterately, right? (Yes.) If, in a major matter, they said something untrue to safeguard the interests of God’s house, and you define them as someone who lies inveterately, this is being distorted. Characterizing and viewing people this way is not in accord with principles. If they lied in one instance to protect their own face and reputation, but do not generally lie in most matters, and even if they do lie, they can correct it afterward, then such a person cannot be determined to lie inveterately either. Only those reincarnated from devils lie inveterately. Some people say, “You say they lie inveterately, but sometimes they also tell the truth. For example, they bought something, and when someone asked the price, they stated it truthfully; they didn’t lie about that. How can you say they lie inveterately?” When privacy, interests, status, or face are not involved, they have no need to lie. Lying is tiring for them too, so to save trouble, they don’t lie about minor things. However, just because they don’t lie on one occasion or don’t lie about minor things doesn’t mean they don’t lie inveterately. You just need to observe whether they lie when communicating with others, describing or recounting major events, when their own interests, fame and gain, status, prospects, or responsibilities are involved, or when their own viewpoints are involved. In such a situation, observe how much untruthfulness is in their words, how much veracity, and how much credibility. If their words contain too much untruthfulness, practically turning black into white, fabricating things out of thin air, shifting blame onto others; if they attribute the bad things they did to others, and take credit for the good things others did; if they made a mistake in a matter and should be responsible, but they talked their way out of it, completely shirking their responsibility and pinning it onto others; if they didn’t do their work well, or didn’t pay a price or fulfill their responsibility, or they didn’t do it because they feared danger, and they lied, giving a relatively reasonable excuse to conceal the truth and absolve themselves of responsibility—are these not lies? (Yes.) These are all lies. This is inveterate lying. That is, whenever matters involve their personal interests, responsibilities, face, status, and so on, they lie in all of them. For example, someone bought a chair for a host family that cost seventy yuan. When reporting the expense after returning, they thought, “This trip was quite tiring, and I can’t have run around for nothing. I must make thirty yuan somehow. This thirty is for labor, for running the errand.” So, they said the chair cost one hundred yuan. See, they lied, didn’t they? Why did they lie? (They wanted to benefit a bit.) They wanted to make a little profit. Say they are doing duty together with brothers and sisters, and seeing two people get along well, they think, “No one is friends with me, everyone looks down on me, and no one gets along with me. Let me stir things up between you two and sow some discord in your relationship.” So, they say to one person, “So-and-so said you think you’re well educated, and that if you’re so educated, how come you can’t write articles?” Then they go to the other person and say, “So-and-so said although you’re tall, your figure isn’t well-proportioned, and your upper and lower body are out of proportion.” With these few words, they sow discord between the two. When the two meet again, remembering the divisive words, they view each other with dislike and feel awkward. What benefit did the instigator gain? Outwardly, it seems they gained nothing, but seeing the two become distant and their relationship sour makes them feel comfortable inside and no longer jealous. They then believe they have gained an advantage. Therefore, they even lie in this matter. Someone might say, “Isn’t this harming others without benefiting oneself? If those two talk with each other, won’t they know you instigated things between them? Won’t you have brought disaster upon yourself?” Do they care about this? They don’t care. As long as the two are separated, they no longer feel jealous and believe they have gained an advantage. Isn’t this something devils do? (Yes.) This is just how devils act.

Those reincarnated from devils might speak truthfully about trivial, insignificant matters, but this doesn’t mean they don’t have a lying nature. In all matters, whether significant or unremarkable, as long as they believe their image is involved, as long as they feel uncomfortable, or they want to obtain some benefit or achieve some goal—as long as they have an intention and want to act—their approach will certainly be to use lies to accomplish it. This is inveterate lying. Perhaps they don’t lie when it comes to matters of food, clothing, or shelter; ordinarily, they wouldn’t bother exerting mental energy to lie for the sake of minor things. Furthermore, in their eyes, some people are simply not on the same level or tier as them, they don’t even care to acknowledge them, and they derive no sense of accomplishment from toying with or manipulating them, so they don’t care to act against them in any way. If they are going to act against someone, it must be someone they consider to be on their level, someone they can play games with, and their rival—only then will they acknowledge that person. This is another characteristic of devils. If you are an ordinary person, they think you lack intelligence, that you’re not capable or worthy of playing games with them, and they find this uninteresting, so they ignore you. Devils are selective about whom they toy with. When they live alongside you, perhaps you never see them lie or never notice them intentionally lying about anything, but as long as they are devils, they will certainly lie; this is the innate nature of devils. If they don’t lie to you, it may be because they don’t see you as worthy. They think, “Humph! I won’t even bother to lie to you, and yet you’re afraid I’ll toy with you. Who are you? You think you’re somebody?” They simply have no regard for you; forget lying to you, they can’t even be bothered to speak to you. It’s like when you ask a muddleheaded person about their relationship with someone, and they say, “I’m not in their league. They have better caliber than me, they have a good head on their shoulders. I’m a lowly person, not as noble as them. They don’t want to engage with me.” Even muddleheaded people feel this way. Now let’s look at whom devils like to toy with, whom they like to contend with, whom they like to mislead, exploit, and manipulate. Don’t they also have standards and a certain scope? (Yes.) When they choose a group of people, those people must be ones who engage in mind games and play tricks like them. Only when interacting with such people do they feel happy and find it fun, and only then can they get some sense of accomplishment from their games. Therefore, when it comes to those who are reincarnated from devils, one must see through to their characteristic and essence of inveterate lying. Just because they haven’t lied to you doesn’t mean they don’t lie, and it doesn’t mean they don’t have a lying nature. If they haven’t associated closely with you, and don’t even acknowledge you, and they just think that you are an ordinary believer, that you are not a highly educated person—just a housewife or a farmer—and they don’t have any regard for you, then they will think that lying to you would mean lowering themselves, that it would mean wasting their brain cells, and they won’t even bother to lie to you. How, then, can you see through this type of person? Since they are devils who lie inveterately, their nature will be revealed in other suitable situations even if it’s not revealed in this one. Just because they haven’t lied to you doesn’t mean they won’t lie. As long as they have the essence of a devil, their lying nature will certainly be exposed; it cannot stay hidden. Whether they hide it well or not, regardless of how much of it is exposed, as long as they have a lying nature, and they frequently lie, then they are devils; they are absolutely not humans. True humans do not lie frequently; that is to say, those reincarnated from humans do not lie frequently. Why do I say they don’t lie frequently? Because as soon as they lie, their conscience reproaches and accuses them. If they tell one big lie that leads to consequences, they will feel disgusted with themselves for their whole lives; they will begin to feel repulsion toward lying in their hearts and won’t lie about unnecessary things. Thus, they will lie less and less. Because their conscience reproaches them, they will restrain themselves so that they commit fewer similar wrongs, eventually reaching the point of not committing them at all. This is something humans can achieve. But devils cannot achieve this. After they lie, they feel no reproach, so when they want to lie, there are no restraints; nothing can restrain them—no environment can restrain them, nor can any person with standing or status, and the truth, of course, has no restraining power over them either. Other people exposing them cannot possibly restrain them, to say nothing of the truth, which to them is just text written on paper, just doctrines and regulations, and cannot restrain them at all. Without restraints, them lying is their natural revelation; anytime, anywhere, they can tell various different lies as needed. This is their nature; it will never change at any time. How, then, can one see through to their nature? Look at how those around them evaluate them. If people familiar with them say, “That guy lies inveterately, everything that comes through their mouth is a lie, they lie without their face growing red or their heart skipping a beat, and they can lie about anything; no one dares believe a word they say,” then it can be determined that they are devils, not humans. Now that I’ve said so much, can you see through to this characteristic of inveterate lying in those who are reincarnated from devils and confirm its presence in them? At all times, this rule, this conclusion—“Those who lie inveterately are equivalent to devils”—remains unchanged. Understood? (Understood.)

Has the first characteristic of those who are reincarnated from devils—inveterate lying—been fellowshipped clearly? (Yes, it’s clear.) This content should be easy to accept and understand. Why? Because you often see this type of person in your daily life; it’s just that previously, you considered their manifestations of lying as normal revelations of corruption. Now, through fellowship, you have learned why their lying nature and manifestations of lying never change—it turns out this is determined by their attribute, so this type of person cannot change. What should be done when encountering such people in the future? (There’s no need to fellowship with or help such people. If they are supervisors, they must be dismissed. If they have already shown some manifestations of evil deeds and begun to disrupt and disturb the church’s work, then they should be cleansed away as needed, and not allowed to remain in the church for one more day.) Devils lie inveterately; it’s certain they cannot change. However, there is a type of devil that has some gifts or strengths in certain areas. If they are willing to render service, they can be utilized for service. God utilizes all things to render service in His work; the great red dragon is one such service object and foil. To work in God’s house, one must have wisdom; this is also a principle. If those reincarnated from devils are willing or suitable to render service, utilize them for service. If they cannot even render service, or their service does more harm than good and causes too much damage, and God’s house gains no positive effect from using them but instead has to worry about them, then they are not suitable for rendering service, so their eligibility to render service should be revoked. Is doing this appropriate? (Yes, doing this is principled.) They must be treated according to the principles. Discernment is one thing, but when it comes to how to handle them, you must have wisdom and principles, and do so based on the actual situation. The aim of fellowshipping these matters is for you to gain discernment, to clearly know what the essences of various types of people are, and through a person’s essence, determine whether they can accept the truth and attain salvation. However, it is not for you to apply a one-size-fits-all approach, handling all those characterized as devils by clearing them out. Rather, it is to get you to effectively utilize devils for service according to the principles and to the needs of the work of God’s house. Suppose that some devils say, “Seeing that I am a devil, you want to utilize me for service. If I cannot attain salvation, I won’t render service!” What should be done in this situation? (If they are unwilling to render service, let them go.) If they are not even willing to render service, then let them leave quickly. Some devils say, “You want to utilize me for service? No way! I won’t render service for you! I won’t do anything bad, I’ll just muddle along in God’s house. When it’s time to work, I’ll just be perfunctory, just go through the motions; I won’t do it conscientiously for you!” What should be done when such people are discovered? (They should be cleansed away.) Once a devil is clearly identified, just quickly cleanse them away; show no mercy. If some devils are well-behaved, and they know that they lie inveterately and are devils, and that they cannot be honest people and cannot attain salvation because their nature dictates it, but after listening to the truth for so many years, they also want to follow God and ultimately gain blessings, and they do whatever God’s house asks them to do—if such people do not cause disturbances and there is suitable work for them, they can be given the opportunity to render service. When it comes to the duty given by the Creator, all created beings, regardless of the attribute of the category they belong to, should treat it as their own duty; this is something unshirkable. Even if someone is a devil and a Satan, if they willingly render service for God, God will not treat them unfairly; this is God’s principle for His treatment of all created beings. If you consider yourself a created being, and regardless of your attribute, you are willing to worship the Creator, willing to surrender under the Creator’s dominion, and fulfill your duty as a created being, and you are willing to render service even if there will be no good outcome or destination for you in the end, this is also permissible. God does not reject this; God gives people the opportunity to render service. It just depends on how people approach this matter. Some people say, “Since my innate attribute isn’t good, and there’s no hope of me attaining salvation no matter what duty I do, I won’t do a duty anymore, I won’t render service! You want to utilize me for service, and in the end, you guys will gain blessings and enter the kingdom of heaven, but there will be no share for me, so I’m not going to believe anymore!” That’s perfect. If devils want to leave, let them leave. If they don’t leave, clearing them out is entirely in accordance with the principles. Some devils say, “I can’t deny it that I lie inveterately, I lie to everyone, even to God. But, no matter if God’s house gets me to render service, or if it gets me to act as a foil—no matter how I’m treated, even if I’m not treated as human, I have no complaints. The fact that I’m a devil can’t be helped, can it? Whatever service I’m asked to render, whatever effort I’m asked to exert, I am willing to do it.” Should such people be accepted? (Yes.) In principle, they can also be accepted. As long as there is a glimmer of hope for their salvation, they should be accepted. Regardless of whether they admit they are devils, they at least have some self-knowledge, are willing to render service, and have a bit of submission; that is enough to meet the conditions for acceptance. As for whether they can do their duty in a way that is up to standard, that remains to be seen, right? (Yes.) In short, no matter what type of person someone is, even if their attribute has been discerned, one should still act according to the principles in their treatment of that person. Of course, there isn’t just one principle here—it’s not that all devils should be rejected and cleared out, that all devils should be cast into hell; that is not the sole principle. God holds sovereignty over all things and utilizes all things to render service. Which things can render service, which things render what service and how they render service, at which stage they render service, how long they render service for, how much service they render, under what circumstances they are no longer used, and under what circumstances they can continue to be used—there are principles for all this, and there is God’s wisdom in all of it. People cannot approach this matter impetuously; they must seek the principles. If everyone believes acting in a certain way is right and conforms to the principles, then act in that way; act in whatever way you ought to. Violating the principles, blindly and groundlessly handling a person based on momentary anger, is an attitude of not being rigorous toward the truth and God’s words; strictly speaking, it is also a manifestation of lacking a God-fearing heart, so absolutely do not act in this way. That is basically what there is to fellowship on the first characteristic of those reincarnated from devils—inveterate lying; the principles in all aspects have been clearly explained.

The second characteristic of those reincarnated from devils is “deviance.” Since it’s a characteristic, it’s not a temporary manifestation, but something often revealed from their nature, and it can wholly represent their thoughts and views, and their dispositions and essence. So, what are the specific manifestations of the “deviance” characteristic of those who are devils? What is deviance? What word is deviance often paired with? (Wickedness.) What else? (Deviant nature.) Deviant nature, wicked lust. What other manifestations are deviant? Being devious and abnormal, right? (Yes.) Besides being devious and abnormal, what else? (Also being extremely calculating and inscrutable, being a veteran schemer, giving off a feeling of being somewhat unfathomable.) These are basically all included. Being devious, insidious, crafty, calculating and inscrutable, and a veteran schemer—these are all specific manifestations and characteristics of deviance. In what matters, then, do devils manifest these characteristics? In essence, besides what people think of—the deviousness, insidiousness, craftiness, etcetera, related to disposition or manifested in methods of conducting oneself and handling matters—what is another kind of deviance? It is people’s wicked lust; this kind of deviance should be called lecherousness. Since the word “deviance” has been used, we’re not talking about the normal physiological needs or reactions of the flesh, but lecherousness—this is also called deviance. The deviousness, insidiousness, etcetera, mentioned just now relate to disposition; lecherousness is deviance related to the flesh. Isn’t the word “lecherousness” quite fitting? (Yes.) Here’s another term that is even more fitting—sexual provocativeness. Nonbelievers often say someone is secretly lustful, a slut; these terms all refer to the aspect of wicked lust. Besides lecherousness and sexual provocativeness, are there others? (Is baseness one?) Baseness is not; baseness is different from lecherousness. Baseness relates to a person’s dignity and integrity, while lecherousness and sexual provocativeness mainly relate to issues of one’s interpersonal conduct. What we just spoke about are two aspects of deviance: one related to disposition, the other related to fleshly lust. There is another aspect, which is that this type of person often experiences auditory and other sensory hallucinations—they always have some abnormal manifestations. For example, they often say, “God revealed to me that at six o’clock this morning I must go east; a potential gospel recipient there wants to meet me.” “Last night I had a dream; perhaps two brothers or sisters will come to my home today.” They frequently have auditory and other sensory hallucinations, they always conduct their lives based on phenomena such as unusual dreams, visions, or sudden flashes of words, and when something out of the ordinary happens, they act in an abnormal way—they are particularly extreme. Sometimes they get up at three or four in the morning to pray and read God’s words; sometimes at night when everyone else is resting, they stay awake half the night, insisting on reading God’s words or learning hymns. They sleep when others are eating or working, and become energetic when others are resting; they are always abnormal, always different from normal people. Can this also be considered a manifestation of deviance? (Yes.) Is there a suitable word to describe this abnormality? Suppose that someone appears normal outwardly, but they always do and comprehend things in a particularly distorted and extreme manner; no matter how you fellowship with them, they cannot understand. Sometimes they experience auditory and other sensory hallucinations; other times, although there’s no clear voice or statement, they have strange thoughts inside them telling them to do this or that. But no matter what they do, it has nothing to do with the truth, and it does not even measure up to abiding by regulations. You can’t think of a suitable word to describe this type of person, can you? (No, we can’t.) Do you think the word “bizarre” is suitable? Their outward behavior seems particularly strange and abnormal, and they are always volatile and jumpy. But if you condemn them, you can’t point out any major problems they have, and if you regard them as a good person, they still appear to be somewhat eccentric—you are somewhat unable to see through them. When you just occasionally hear them speak, they seem fine, but if you secretly observe them, you will find that their actions are very eccentric, very anomalous. This is not a good sign; there’s no telling what they might do. Later, it’s discovered they can speak in tongues during prayer; usually, they also talk to themselves constantly, as if they were chatting with someone, even laughing as they do so, which looks quite creepy. This is also a manifestation of deviance. Let’s use the word “bizarre” to describe this aspect for now. In short, we have summed up the manifestations of deviance of those who are devils. There are three aspects in total: One is the wicked lust of the flesh; one is always having some abnormal manifestations, being particularly bizarre; and another aspect relates to disposition—being very devious. Deviousness means this kind of person is treacherous and cunning to a certain degree, unfathomable to ordinary people. When people associate with this kind of person, they often feel worried, anxious, and afraid; they are often afraid that they’ll end up being sold out by them and still be helping them to count their change—they are afraid of falling into their traps. This type of person is particularly insidious and crafty. They may speak to your face in a very polite and refined manner, but behind your back, they have been scheming against you, fighting against you for a long time without you knowing. When you discover this, you will break out in a cold sweat, thinking, “Fortunately, God protected me! If I didn’t believe in God, I would have been harmed by them; my life might even have been lost!” This is the wickedness of this type of devil. Why do I say that such people are deviant? It’s truly not easy to tell from how they outwardly appear; you must start from the things they plan to do and the words they reveal every day—this is sufficient for you to see clearly the deviant essence and nature of this type of person.

What do those who are reincarnated from devils think about every day? For example, suppose a sister is promoted to be a leader. They then ponder, “That girl got promoted to leader at such a young age. How is she better than me? I used to look down on her, I never fawned over her, or established a good relationship with her. Now she’s a leader, my immediate superior, so I must fawn over her. I need to see if she needs help in terms of her daily life, or materially or spiritually. If she doesn’t fall for that, if I can’t win her over, then I’ll try other soft approaches—I’ll say some soft words, some submissive words, some ingratiating words in front of her. I first need to see what approach works on her. Does she fall for fawning, or for the rogue tactics of evil people? Does she like food or fun? Does she like clothes or jewelry? What does she like? I must figure her out, get close to her, fawn over her, establish a good relationship with her, and try to sound her out.” No matter who becomes a leader, they ponder how to get close to that leader and establish a good relationship with them. Previously, when this sister wasn’t a leader, they were defiant about whatever she said. For instance, if she said, “Let’s gather once a week from now on,” after hearing it, they would ponder, “Other churches gather twice a week, but we’re going to gather once. Why should we do as you say? Who do you think you are?” Now that this sister is a leader, their reaction when she speaks is different; they no longer speak words of refutation as they did before, instead they say, “What that sister says is the truth!” Outwardly they act very subservient, like they’re someone who can obey, but inwardly they say, “What do you know? You’ve only been a leader for a few days! I used to do this work, but now you’re a leader. Fine, the leader has the final say. I’ll agree with you first, but how I act behind your back is my decision. I’ll just toy with you!” Some people are elected as leaders, and when asked, “Was the election of leaders in your church conducted according to the principles?” they ponder, “If it had been conducted according to the principles, could I still have become a leader? But I can’t tell you the truth.” So they say, “It was conducted according to the principles. I’ve served two terms as a church leader. I originally didn’t want to do it again; I was afraid the brothers and sisters would object if I did, so I withdrew my candidacy. But in the end, the brothers and sisters still chose me, so I have been doing it reluctantly. Whenever there’s a new candidate for leader, I’ll step down.” This sounds nice, but do they actually intend to do that? They have no intention of doing it at all. They are just lying and toying with you, saying only things that sound nice, that satisfy you, that can deceive and mislead you. When it comes to the upper-level leaders, they ponder how to fawn over them and curry favor with them, and how to mislead them, so that these leaders will value and promote them. If they cannot get promoted, then they ponder how the flaws, deviations, and mistakes they previously caused while working, as well as the transgressions and deceptive behaviors they carried out behind the scenes, can be concealed from the leaders so they don’t find out about them, how they can get away with these things without bearing any responsibility. Are these manifestations that humanity should possess? Are they positive or negative? (Negative.) To what extent are they negative? To the extent that even before anyone follows up on or inspects their work, they have already premeditated these things in their minds, they have long been mentally prepared—their minds have long been filled with these things. Tell Me, isn’t this devious? (Yes.) This type of person slyly speaks to suit their audience, saying different things to different leaders. If the leader is female, they praise her as a goddess; if the leader is male, they praise him as a handsome guy, a hunk. Isn’t this devious? (Yes.) This is a major characteristic of deviance. Their attitude and manifestations toward leaders are like this—very devious and very insidious. Their inner world is extremely complex; there are so many thoughts packed in there, but none of them are positive. They don’t ponder on humanity, the truth, or the right path; they only ponder how to fawn over and curry favor with leaders, how to preserve their own status, how to get away with things, how to continue idling along, how to continue living off the church, eating and drinking and not giving anything in return without being discovered, without bearing any responsibility. In their mind, they only plan, scheme, and think about these issues; they play all sorts of tricks, and their conscience never feels any reproach or accusation. When they arrive among a group of people, they scan them with their eyes: “Those few housewives lack insight; they couldn’t possibly have any discernment of me. They wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails out of the tricks I play. Even if they could, they couldn’t bring me down. Guppies can’t stir up big waves; they won’t be a problem. No need to acknowledge them. As for the remaining few, one is a church leader, another is an older sister who has believed in God for many years, and another is a young sister who apparently studied psychology at university. These few pose a bit of a threat to me. Who should I deal with first? Who should I associate with and win over first? How can I become one of them? How can I establish prestige? Who will be my helper, and who will be my opponent? Whom should I befriend, whom should I stay away from, and whom should I guard against? These matters require long-term planning; I need to think them over.” After observing for a few days, they figure out whom they should associate and collude with, who can be drawn in and exploited, who constitutes their opposing force, and who understands the truth and upholds the principles and should be guarded against—they figure out all these things. They ponder in their heart, “I must guard against those who have discernment of me. I cannot offend them, nor should I get close with them. I must absolutely stay far away from them, lest I slip up and they see through me. In their presence, I must absolutely not speak carelessly, lest they find something they can use against me to expose and dissect me in the church. If the brothers and sisters gain discernment, they will cleanse me away. That won’t do!” Every day, they only think about these things. Whom to contend with and how to contend in order to gain fame and make themselves look good, whom to associate with so that they can gain advantages without suffering losses, how to remedy the losses they’ve suffered in certain matters—they ponder only these things all day long. They might even spend half a day pondering on a look that someone gives them: “Yesterday, So-and-so looked at me quite piercingly. What did that mean? Do they have discernment of me? This isn’t a good sign. What problem of mine have they seen? I need to be careful these next few days, and not let anything slip. Also, I need to learn to read things from the looks in others’ eyes, and I must not be careless. My eyelid has been twitching these past two days; it seems like something bad is about to happen. I must be careful, I really hope that nothing goes wrong; I might get cleansed away if I’m not careful.” No problems can be seen from the outside in how they interact with people. Their meals, sleep, and work all seem normal. But what’s in their heart and mind is not normal. What are the manifestations of this abnormality? It’s that the things they think about are all very devious, incomprehensible to others.

Those reincarnated from devils live in a very shady way. Everything in their thoughts can only be pondered, calculated, planned, and premeditated in dark corners. Their hearts are entirely filled with things like vying for fame and gain, scheming, comparison, jealousy, contention, retaliation, and so on. They never seek the truth in the slightest. Regardless of what matter they are handling, they do not bring it to the table to fellowship on it and come to a decision about it in an open and aboveboard manner; instead, they secretly seek out a few people and make the decision with them. There are some people of this sort in every church. They are taciturn and show no emotion; no matter what they encounter, they choose to remain silent and never readily express their stance. Outwardly, they speak politely to people, but they never say the truth or reveal what’s really in their hearts; they have no sincere words for anyone. For example, some people never reveal their innermost thoughts no matter whom they associate with; even their closest family members don’t know what they think about every day. Even their family doesn’t understand them, let alone outsiders. Even if you are their best friend, a childhood friend, an old friend of many years, or a good colleague at work, you still don’t know what they are calculating; no one can fathom them. No matter how they speak or act, no one can see through them. But occasionally, they might let slip a few words: “So-and-so is better than me, so what! One day I will surpass them, just you watch!” There’s a deeper meaning behind these words “just you watch”; it means they are ruminating and pondering in their hearts and minds every day. Outwardly, they appear calm and placid, but within their hearts, there is a tempest raging and unrest. What are the things they think about? If they were open and aboveboard matters, positive things like the right path in life, practicing the truth, acting according to conscience, how to conduct oneself, how to love God, and how to do their duty devotedly—if they frequently thought about, sought, pondered, examined, and tried to understand these things in their hearts, then their inner hearts would be very calm and possessed of peace and joy, and they would live more and more normally, not deviously. People living in these positive states will, from time to time, have spiritual resonance and communication with those around them and those they are relatively close to. But what devils ponder and think about in their hearts are all devious things. Deviousness refers to intangible things that normal people cannot see, rather abnormal things, things hidden in dark corners that are hard for people to discover and perceive, things not needed by normal people. These dark corners are the inner worlds of devils. Their hearts are filled with these devious things. Every day, they compare with others, contend with others, play schemes and tricks with others, vie for status, face, and the final say; they only think about these matters. If you ask them if they now have a path for being an honest person, they won’t answer you, won’t acknowledge you, and won’t want to mention it. This is because their hearts are filled with these negative, devious matters; they only think about these things. When they occasionally have to think a little about issues related to technical or professional aspects, they only do so temporarily, due to the needs of their work or life. Once their work in this aspect is finished, they immediately start thinking about those devious matters again, pondering, “Whose gifts are greater than mine? In what aspect am I stronger than them, in what aspect are they inferior to me? Didn’t So-and-so seem to intentionally belittle me last time they spoke to me? Those two people seem to have not communicated normally for a long time—what happened between them? If a conflict or problem has arisen between them, can I gain some benefit from it? One of them is beneficial to me and can help me, and I really want to associate with that person, but they never acknowledge me. If there’s a conflict between the two of them, could I take advantage of this opening and use this good opportunity to establish a connection with that person?” Everything they ponder and think about in their hearts has nothing to do with positive things, and nothing to do with believing in God and pursuing the truth. Is this type of person frightening? (Yes.) If you associate with them, it’s equivalent to associating with a devil. You do not scheme against them, but they are scheming against you and observing you every day, pondering about you and studying you behind your back: “What did they mean by that? Is it aimed at me? How can I respond so they can’t see through me? How can I respond in a way that benefits me? If I don’t respond, will they think I’m stupid, easy to bully, or that I don’t truly believe in God? Might they think that? I need to figure out what’s really going on in their head.” When you constantly live amid their schemes, do you feel comfortable at heart? (No.) It’s like having an invisible demon beside you; you cannot feel peace or joy. When you associate with them, you only have one feeling: a constant sense of unease. This unease is very normal, because the intuition or sixth sense of normal people makes them feel uneasy toward devils, toward abnormal beings that are around them. Even if you don’t really know them well, and can’t explain exactly what’s wrong, you always feel uneasy when you are with them, as if something bad is about to happen. This is enough to prove they harbor ill intentions, are scheming against you, and have designs on you. You live under their spying eyes, and they study you every day—this makes you feel more uneasy than having a tiger or lion beside you. If the tiger or lion were raised by you, even though it’s a fierce animal, you would never feel uneasy. But if there is a devil beside you, because they have a deviant nature essence, you feel uneasy. This unease is a feeling in the spirit; it’s caused by a devil being at work. Perhaps the devil doesn’t subjectively intend to grievously harm you to any extent, but just their constant scheming against you and spying on you will make your spirit uneasy. With a devil beside you, you absolutely will not live with peace and joy, unless they are not a devil, or you have sufficient stature and sufficient faith in God, or you have the truth as your life—unless one of these conditions is met, in which case they won’t pose any threat to you or have any impact on you, and you won’t feel uneasy. If none of these conditions are met, when a devil constantly spies on you, you will feel uneasy. To what extent will this gradually develop? You will feel repulsion toward them and guard against them, you will be disturbed inwardly, and you will be troubled, constrained, and bound in many matters. If they are nearby, when you do things or speak, you will always have to consider the look in their eyes, their demeanor, or their opinions. You might even constantly try to figure out, “What will they think of me? How come I can’t see through them? Why do I feel they are calculating and inscrutable? Why does that smile seem like it’s not one of approval? Why am I so afraid? Why am I so influenced by them?” If you don’t understand the truth, and you have no discernment, then after associating with this type of person for a period of time, you will naturally be influenced by them and end up in such a condition, which is very frightening.

Judging from what they naturally reveal in their daily lives and what they think in their hearts, those reincarnated from devils can be characterized as having a deviant essence. If you haven’t had deeper, further contact with them, you perhaps don’t understand their inner worlds, but the most direct and straightforward way to discern this type of person is a characteristic in their outward appearance: They often reveal a wicked look in their eyes and a sly smile. That wicked look in their eyes means a shifty look, a look that’s not so clean and limpid, or so honest and sincere, but rather seems unfathomable. You feel there’s a hidden meaning in this look, but they just won’t tell you what it is. Furthermore, by subtly implying things when they speak, they lead you to speculate, using words to hint at things and make you mistakenly believe they think a certain way, but actually, it is a red herring. What you comprehend is not their true meaning at all; they just want to play tricks on you and ridicule you. You cannot find any sincerity in the look in their eyes; this look is shifty and wandering, there is a vague, elusive feeling to it. The moment you see the look in their eyes, doubt suddenly arises in your heart, and you suspect that what you said or did was wrong. If you don’t see the look in their eyes, you feel that your opinion is right, that your own comprehension is pure, that these things accord with the truth principles, and that you should act in a certain way, and you have a firm conviction to do so. But as soon as you meet their gaze or they stare at you with that wicked look in their eyes, you unconsciously feel a chill run down your spine. Although no explicit words are spoken, that wicked look in their eyes gives you a psychological suggestion, it misleads you, making you instantly doubt yourself: “Did I say something wrong? Do something wrong? Where did I go wrong?” The matter and principle in question are obviously very clear and unequivocal, and you were certain that it should be done that way and that it was correct, but after meeting their gaze, you instead become doubtful. This kind of look is the look of a devil. This is one aspect: The wicked look in their eyes makes you doubt. Another aspect is that sometimes, there is a certain meaning within that wicked look in their eyes—contempt. You are young, have shallow experience, lack life experience, and may even have some defects of humanity, so when their eyes meet yours, you immediately lose self-confidence, you crumble, and immediately doubt yourself, feeling very insignificant, feeling inferior to them, and becoming diminished before them. This is the look of a devil. This wicked look sometimes muddles people’s thoughts, sometimes disturbs people’s self-confidence, and sometimes also makes people feel negative and downcast.

When it comes to discerning those reincarnated from devils, if you still lack experience of discerning them by observing the look in their eyes, then see what they think about every day, see what they converse about with people every day, and whether there is normal communication. If there is no normal communication, and the majority of people don’t understand them, and their principle in associating with most people is to be tight-lipped, and even those closest to them don’t know what they think about every day, and cannot easily grasp their precise thoughts and views or fathom what they are really thinking, then it’s clear that such people are really calculating and inscrutable. Their silence doesn’t mean they have no thoughts and views; actually, their real thoughts are hidden in their minds, they just don’t voice them. If they don’t voice them, how can you discover that they are cunning? They have a kind of sly smile; they often put on a fake smile. When they’re facing you, they display a fake smile, but when they turn away, their face becomes expressionless, devoid of any smile. This type of person is terrifying, frightening; they are a devil. Understood? (Understood.) For example, suppose that you discuss something with them. After you state your view, they don’t express their stance, but reveal a sly smile. Do you know what a sly smile means? It means that you don’t know whether this smile is one of approval or disapproval, and you don’t know if they actually understand what you mean. They just give a “heh heh” sort of laugh. Regarding what you said, they don’t say that it’s right or that it’s wrong, they don’t say that they understand it or that they don’t understand it, and so you cannot comprehend what this laugh really means. They have responded to you, but this response is the same as no response. If they hadn’t responded, you would guess that they perhaps didn’t understand; their responding in this way instead causes you to become perplexed. You don’t know if this laugh signifies ridicule, contempt, mockery, or agreement and approval. If you ask them for their view, they again give a “heh heh” laugh, say, “Okay, okay,” and after speaking, their expression suddenly darkens. This imperceptibly puts immense pressure upon you. If your stature is small, and you do not have a real stance, or correct thoughts and views, you can be cowed by them. That is why this smile of theirs is called a sly smile—being devious and cunning is called being sly. They don’t readily reveal their views. They believe that saying one word is too few, two words too many, and that once a view is stated clearly or refers to something specific, it’s a failure, a mistake. So the best method for them is to smile and allow you to speculate—you can speculate whatever meaning you want, you can speculate however you like, but at least you feel they are not hostile toward you, and thus their goal is achieved. Observe those old foxes who are scheming and extremely cunning, and those people who are insidious and crafty, and employ ruthless tactics: They don’t say much, nor are their faces very expressive, but the look in their eyes and their smiles are deviant. Normal corrupt humans and those reincarnated from animals all flee from those reincarnated from devils; they are unwilling to associate with such people, and being with such people feels frightening to them, it gives them the creeps. Why does it give them the creeps? Because such people are not human, they are devils, and devils are capable of anything. When normal humans interact with someone, they don’t give that person the creeps. Normal people have conscience and reason, they act with moderation and restraint, and they have minimum standards. At most, when they’re angry, they may curse you a bit, and say some unpleasant things that somewhat hurt your self-esteem. But devils are different; they don’t curse you or hurt your self-esteem, but they do harm you. They ponder behind your back how to mislead you; they dig a pit and get you to jump into it yourself. After you jump in, they watch you from above, gloating over your misfortune, while also pretending to be a good person, saying, “I’ll save you! How did you fall in? I thought most people knew there was a pit here.” They even want to play the good guy, making you buy their act. Isn’t this kind of person frightening? That pit was dug by them, and they tailor-made it for you; if you don’t jump into it, who will? After you jump into the pit, they extend a hand to save you, and as they save you, they say, “Why did you jump?” While gloating over your misfortune, they also make it so you don’t realize the pit was dug by them. It was clearly them who harmed you, yet they make you feel deeply grateful to them. Isn’t this deviance? (Yes.) This is utter deviance!

There is one thing that those reincarnated from devils often do, which everyone has seen: Devils are best at saying nice-sounding things to curry favor with people. For example, when one such person sees you working, they hide inside and observe. When you’ve finished the work, they come out and say, “Oh, you’ve been working! Why didn’t you let me know? I could have helped you and shared the load. If it’s going to be tiring, we can tackle it together. Next time you’re working, just let me know—it’s just a small thing. Don’t be shy to ask me for help!” When you hear this, your heart feels warm, and you think that although they didn’t help, they had the intention to do so, and their words are enough. They trick you with their nice-sounding words. See, they can actually bring themselves to say such things, and they feel no shame saying them. So how can you know that their words are false? The next time you finish your tasks, they come and say nice-sounding words again: “Why didn’t you let me know you were working? Every time, you don’t ask me to help; you’re really treating me like an outsider. Why are you being so formal with me?” After this happens two or three times, you know that they actually don’t want to help you with the work, and that they are just saying some nice-sounding things to deceive you and curry favor with you. When there’s really something that needs their help, they are nowhere to be found. What kind of person is this? This is a devil, definitely not a human. Those reincarnated from devils will say nice-sounding things to anyone they meet to deceive them and achieve their own purposes. They are full of crafty schemes; they are not humans, but devils. Is there any value in associating with people like this? You shouldn’t even pay them any attention. Are there such people in your daily life? (Yes.) This is how such a person behaves in this matter, and in other matters, they behave the same way—they always deceive people. That’s how deviant they are; they aren’t sincere toward people.

Are you all somewhat able to discern one manifestation of the “deviance” characteristic of those reincarnated from devils—namely, deviousness? (Yes.) This type of person is particularly deceitful, particularly devious, and particularly insidious and crafty. If you still treat their manifestations as normal revelations of corruption and still help and support them as brothers and sisters, is this not a manifestation of foolishness? (Yes.) You must not do these foolish things again in the future; they are not human, but devils, and not ones for you to help and support. They know in their hearts what the truth is, and that it is good to be an honest person. But knowing is one thing; they have no such requirement for themselves and never practice being an honest person. It’s not that they want to practice it but cannot; rather, they never intend to practice this way. Think about it—what do they scheme about and plan in their hearts? Not a single thing is related to positive things, and not a single thought is related to positive thoughts and views. They do not intend to practice the truth, nor do they intend to walk the right path, and so they never seek the truth principles in their hearts, nor do they seek how to act in accordance with God’s intentions. They also do not intend to fulfill the duty of a created being, or to be devoted and offer up their sincerity. All they calculate are devious things. Some people say, “What they calculate is a matter of their inner worlds—it’s not easy to discern. How can others know what they’re thinking when they don’t open up and fellowship about it? They behave quite well outwardly, and they also busy themselves with the tasks at hand. Why do You say that they are devious and characterize them as devils?” Others say, “They just reveal a bit of a wicked look in their eyes, a bit of a sly smile; we still can’t see through to what they’re thinking in their inner worlds.” So how can one discern that they are devils? A person’s thoughts are intangible; if they do not express them, you cannot see or discover them, and you will not be able to discern them. However, no matter what thoughts and views a person has, no matter what they yearn for or calculate in their inner world, they will certainly act to achieve their purposes, and so they will always have some things that they live out, some manifestations. As long as they live among people, others will be able to see or come into contact with the things they do. You may not know what they are calculating, plotting, and planning in the depths of their heart, but the things they plot, plan, and calculate will one day be revealed and manifested by them; they will turn them into a reality, and they will take some actions among people. When these things happen before your eyes, won’t you be able to see them? Won’t you be able to discern that person? Some people say, “Even if I see their manifestations, I still don’t know how to discern or characterize this type of person.” That’s easy to handle; this type of person has several characteristics, and you can discern them through these characteristics. The first characteristic is that they always act according to their own will and never seek the truth principles. No matter what they do, they plan it in advance themselves and act entirely according to their own plans, lines of thought, and intentions, entirely according to their own will. They do not ask for everyone’s opinions, and, of course, even more so they do not seek the truth principles or act according to work arrangements. If you can see these manifestations, aren’t the devils then completely exposed? (Yes.) Some people say, “Perhaps they understand the truth and know the truth principles, so they know what to do without discussing it with others.” This statement is wrong again; it reflects an inability to see through things. For you, the things that devils say and do are a series of difficult hurdles. Regardless of whether they have sought the opinions of the brothers and sisters, you should see clearly whether the purpose, motive, starting point, and principle of their actions are to safeguard their own reputation, status, and face, or to safeguard the work of the church, and whether the final effect achieved safeguards the interests of God’s house, and whether it brings losses, harm, and sabotage or benefits to most people. No matter what those reincarnated from devils do, it is always to safeguard their own interests; this is another characteristic of those reincarnated from devils. In their eyes, their interests are above all else, just like a merchant doing business: the interests are paramount. Whose interests are paramount? The devils’ own interests are paramount. If doing something can safeguard their interests, face, status, reputation, or material possessions and money, they will absolutely not hold back, but will carry it through to the end, doing it to the very end. Even if the upper-level leaders or brothers and sisters oppose it and it cannot be carried out further, and they hit a wall, they will still use roundabout tactics, trying every means to eliminate all opponents and remove all obstacles, to carry on with what they want to do. They absolutely will not hold back; all they safeguard are their own interests. Now, you can see this clearly: Whether it be the plans, or the means, or the measures, or the steps that they plot about, plan, and devise, these things have all been calculated in their minds; all they think about is interests, and their minds are filled with thoughts of interests; whom to use, whom to get close to, whom to stay away from, whom to support, whom to oppose, whom to get dismissed—they strategize all these things according to their interests. If, in doing work and performing their duty, they reach this point, then they are antichrists, devils revealing their true selves. Such people are extremely inscrutable and calculating; they ponder these things every day. If they were to get a complete grasp of everyone in the church, how long would that take? Only after they have a crystal-clear grasp of the situation of all the church members, of each person’s actual problems and real difficulties, and the time is ripe, do they begin to act, doing whatever they want—they do not show leniency to anyone, and no one can obstruct them. They engage in their own enterprise under the guise of doing church work, striving to obtain benefits for themselves. Ultimately, it is the church’s work and the life entry of the brothers and sisters that suffer losses. They achieve their goal of making the satisfaction of their personal interests paramount at the cost of sacrificing the life entry of all the brothers and sisters and the interests of God’s house. At this point, can’t you see them clearly? Judging from the way they do things and the final results, they are devils; they are not human. All day long they seem to say very little and seldom express their views, but they actually spend every day calculating how to act so that they may gain benefits. Although outwardly they appear quite calm, quite refined, quite delicate, and quite well-behaved, and not talkative, inwardly their hearts are turbulent, like a raging sea. They get a complete grasp of these things, and then they implement the plans they’ve thought out, and the final result is that they succeed just as they plotted to. Is this not the work of a devil? (Yes.) This is the work of a devil. At this point, can’t you see through them?

Such a major problem arising in last year’s gospel work was directly related to a few devils, directly related to the actions of devils. Those devils never sought the truth principles when they acted. After the Above assigned work, they accepted it readily in person, but when they went to work in the churches, they just ran amok doing bad things. They did not safeguard the interests of God’s house, and as a result God’s offerings suffered losses, the gospel work suffered losses, and church life suffered losses; losses were suffered in several areas, and they also caused chaos in the church’s work. You may not see through to what a devil is thinking, nor do you know if they have sought the principles. But when they act, and you see the first indications, you will know that the method and source of their actions are wrong, that they are entirely showing themselves off, doing things according to their own will, and acting arbitrarily and willfully and establishing an independent kingdom. Moreover, gangs of devils protect each other; none of them safeguard the interests of God’s house. No matter what the major devils do, the followers and small devils go all out to flatter and adulate them. The major devils act recklessly and willfully, and the small devils follow suit, and lick their boots—they work hand in glove with each other. Some people say they still can’t see through to the fact that the essence of someone is that of a devil. In that case, look at the nature of something they do and its consequences. If the nature and consequences are very serious, then one can be certain that it is the work of a devil. For example, regarding the matter of reporting false numbers of people gained in preaching the gospel, some people said, “Isn’t reporting false numbers against the principles? We must report the actual numbers; however many people are gained, that’s how many we should report. How can we lie in our reports? How can we report one thousand when a hundred were gained, or ten thousand when one thousand were gained?” What did one of these false leaders say? “You must report it this way; everyone reports it this way. This is the stream of the Holy Spirit!” Can you discern this statement? Reporting false and fabricated numbers is clearly an attempt to deceive God. How could it possibly be the stream of the Holy Spirit? This is an evil trend. The Holy Spirit has never told people to tell lies or report false numbers; only devils can say such things. Can you discern this? Since that false leader was able to utter such absurd words, they are not a normal person; that false leader also belongs to the category of devils. Can you see through to this matter? Can you discern that such words are spoken by devils? Only devils and Satans can say such things. If you cannot see through to this matter, then you are too lacking in discernment. If those reincarnated from animals cannot see through to it, that’s somewhat excusable, because they are not human; they do not have a human spirit. If you truly have discernment and can see through to this matter, then have you fulfilled your responsibility? Have you stood up to stop and expose this matter? Suppose that you say, “I have seen through to it, but my words carry little weight due to my humble status, and I am weak and alone; I dare not stop or expose it!” In that case, you are a useless coward! You haven’t stood your ground and you haven’t stood firm in your testimony; you are not God’s loyal servant, you haven’t fulfilled the responsibility of a person. You are just a muddleheaded person, a useless coward. Tell Me, does God like useless cowards? (No.) God bestows life upon you, supplies you with the truth, and protects you from Satan’s harm in your daily life. But it turns out that you do not accept the truth and instead follow Satan in doing evil, living among devils and allowing Satan to harm you. You see the true faces of Satans clearly, yet do not expose them. That is asking for trouble; you deserve to be fooled by Satan. God supplies you with the truth to enable you to grow in discernment. If you have discernment but still play deaf and dumb, not standing up to expose false leaders and antichrists, then you are a useless coward! You haven’t fulfilled the responsibility a person ought to; you are derelict in your responsibility, you are trash, a useless coward, a freeloader, a good-for-nothing! Devils forcing people to report false numbers in preaching the gospel—this practice should be quite obvious and not difficult to discern. Suppose someone kicks you or punches you. You don’t know why they are treating you this way and can’t discern what they mean by it. Then they stab you in the neck with a knife, and only then do you realize, “They’re trying to kill me!” Tell Me, just how stupid are you? They kick you with malicious intent, yet you can’t even tell that they are an evil person, and you still try to reason with them, “I haven’t offended you, why are you kicking me? Do you have any humanity?” If they kick you for no reason, are they not an evil person? Is there any use in reasoning with an evil person? If they were to come at you with a knife, it would be too late for regrets. By the time you shout for help, it would be too late; your life would be over. Look at how small you are in stature, how stupid you are! When encountering Satans, you must take the initiative to attack, don’t be passive. If you are always passive, only reacting and crying out to God to save you when Satans are about to take your life, that is too passive, too slow-witted! God does not like such people.

Some people report issues concerning false leaders and antichrists in a very circuitous way. They don’t dare to report them in their local church, and instead go to churches in other areas to do so, afraid that someone in their local area will spread the news, and the evil people will find out and torment them. These people have such little stature. You believe in God, yet you’re so afraid of evil people and devils? Do devils have such great power? Can devils take your life? Is your destiny in the hands of devils? Why are you so afraid of them? They are just evil people; what can they do to you? Even in a worst-case scenario, this country has laws—what are you afraid of? This isn’t China where devils run rampant; this is a democratic country under the rule of law. And that’s not to mention the fact that you have brothers and sisters in the church—what can those evil people do to you? Some people get this scared just reporting issues with leaders and workers. This isn’t a problem of them having little faith; these are useless cowards and wimps who don’t even deserve to live! The breath that God gave you is wasted on you; giving it to an animal would have been better. Even an animal, when pressed, can bite a person. You are alive yet lack even this bit of fortitude; you are too cowardly! Though some people don’t dare to fight evil people head-on when they encounter them, they employ wisdom to safeguard the church’s work. They report the evil people’s issues to the higher-ups and join forces with those who love the truth to remove those evil people from their posts. They have this kind of resolve: “You are an evil person, but I’m not afraid of you. I won’t let you do evil to disturb and sabotage the work of God’s house. I won’t let you get your way. I’ll risk my life to fight you—what can you do to me? At worst, you’ll take my life, but as long as I have breath in me, I will fight you to the end!” Do you have this faith? Those useless cowards do not have such faith. When they see devils disturbing the church’s work, they know in their hearts that this is wrong, that these are devils and antichrists doing evil. But they think, “I can’t expose or report them; I shouldn’t make any trouble for myself. The less trouble, the better; protecting myself is critical. If I get expelled from the church by evil people for exposing them, and I’m deprived of even the chance to believe in God and attain salvation, and I can’t even do my duty, won’t I have been completely eliminated?” They don’t dare to expose evil people, greatly fearing their retaliation. So, when the great red dragon frenziedly suppresses and persecutes God’s chosen people, they are certainly afraid too, and if arrested, they will surely become Judases and betray God. So, if you are afraid of evil people in the church, and do not dare to expose them when you see them doing evil, then isn’t this surrendering to Satan? God supplies you with the truth, gives you faith, and has protected you and kept you alive until now. You breathe the breath that God gave you, enjoy the truth He supplies to you, and enjoy His grace. You have such good conditions of church life and live quite comfortably. But when there are evil people causing disturbances in God’s house, you see this and discern this, yet you don’t dare to say even a single word, you don’t even dare to breathe heavily—what kind of creature are you? You don’t even deserve to live! You don’t report issues in your local church to the local leaders, but instead go to churches in other areas to report them. With this kind of petty, cowardly mindset, can you accomplish great things? And yet you say that you want to bear witness to God and be an overcomer—you are nothing, you are worse than a beast! Even a dog knows to protect its master. If a stranger comes, a dog barks with all its might, fearing a threat to its master’s safety. Some dogs are not big and can be knocked to the ground with a single kick, but they are not afraid and still bark with all their might—they do this to protect their masters. Some dogs even risk their lives to protect their masters. These people lack even this bit of faith and are less loyal than a guard dog is to its master—they are all useless wretches! They enjoy God’s grace and provision freely, not giving anything in return, and even take it for granted that God should love people and show people mercy. When they see the church’s work being disturbed and sabotaged, they don’t feel upset in their hearts. This means they are worse than a beast, far worse than a guard dog. What should you do when you encounter devils again in the future? If you can’t see through them, and don’t know what bad things they plan to do when they smile, or what wicked intentions are hidden in the look in their eyes, then you can first observe them. Find a reliable person to supervise them, and see what they say and do in secret, and what they plot with their accomplices. You must nip all their plots and schemes in the bud, not letting them succeed, and not allowing the interests of God’s house to suffer losses. Some people have this kind of resolve: “I must guard the gate of God’s house well, I must be a good guard dog. I don’t know how others would treat this matter, but as for me, I won’t let it slide; I will fight devils to the end!” This is called loyalty to God; this is not them trying to prove how capable they are. “I’ll rely on God to do this; there’s no chance of any devil getting their way or succeeding when I’m here! I will guard the gate for God’s house, protect the brothers and sisters, protect the interests of God’s house, and safeguard the work of God’s house. There’s no chance of anyone causing disturbances or engaging in sabotage—if I see anyone doing those things, I will not be lenient with them. If they ought to be dismissed, they will be dismissed, if they ought to be expelled, they will be expelled, and if they ought to be cleared out, they will be cleared out. I will absolutely not hold back!” Do you have this faith? (Yes.) If you are quite capable when it comes to fighting humans or animals, but when you have to fight devils, you become timid and afraid, and you retreat into your shell like a tortoise, then God says you’re finished, you’re good for nothing, you won’t be able to gain the truth, and you cannot attain salvation. Fighting devils is a true battle; it’s a battle to bear witness for God. It’s a battle that overcomers, saints, and followers of God must engage in, the stance they must take, and the determination and resolve they must possess. “Fight devils to the end! It’s either them or me! I absolutely will not be afraid, I absolutely will not shrink back, and I absolutely will not be discouraged!” Do you have this determination? (Now we do.)

Some individuals are too small in stature. When they encounter people with power and status, especially those who are fierce-looking, seasoned and extremely cunning, as well as insidious and crafty, they feel fear in their hearts. Despite knowing full well that these people are devils, they still insist on flattering, coaxing, and accommodating them, and do not dare to offend them in the slightest, let alone expose them. When they see devils and Satans, they do not dare to uphold any principles, nor do they have any of the decorum of a saint. Some even say, “We must fit in with these people and build good relationships with them, otherwise the church’s work cannot progress.” Clearly, these people serve no good purpose in God’s house, and clearly, they are those who are characterized as devils and antichrists, and those who should be expelled or cleared out, yet some individuals tolerate them. These individuals feel that they cannot beat those people; they are fearful and terrified in their hearts, worried about their own situation, and worried about being isolated or picked on by them. They lack the wisdom to deal with them, they lack sufficient stature to fight them, and they repeatedly shrink back, and repeatedly give in and compromise. As a result, three months pass, then six months, and the church’s work ends up in a state of paralysis, and church life ends up in disarray. They clearly see these evil people and devils causing disturbances, they see these local bullies running rampant in the church, yet they dare not expose or handle them, afraid of implicating their own safety, status, reputation, and interests. How can your status, reputation, and personal safety be so important? Isn’t any item of work in God’s house more important than that little life of yours? Even if, in a worst-case scenario, you take some risks out of loyalty to God, won’t God protect you? If you use wisdom and act according to the principles to safeguard the interests of God’s house, will God hand you over to Satans for them to abuse and grievously harm you at will? (No.) God cherishes this kind of person dearly, He can’t cherish them enough; how could He hand you over to Satans? Your faith is too small. You are just like Peter back then—the Lord Jesus called to him from the sea, saying, “Come,” meaning that Peter should walk on the sea as if it were flat ground, but the more Peter walked, the more afraid he became, and he lost faith in God. If God asks you to come, He has made a promise to you and can definitely protect you; He won’t let you encounter danger. Even if your life is in danger, how should you approach this? Shouldn’t you just willingly entrust your life to God? What’s the big deal? Are devils really that terrifying? The great red dragon suppresses and arrests believers, and yet you are able to persist in your faith; such a harsh environment does not daunt you. However, when a few small devils appear in the church, you become so scared you shrink right back into your shell, and feel compelled to follow them in doing evil. Isn’t this losing your testimony? (Yes.) It can be said that devils getting their way in some churches and certain work environments, throwing the church’s work into such chaos and leaving it in shambles just as they wished to, leading to brothers and sisters lacking a suitable environment for doing their duties, is related to some people seeing through these devils yet not standing up to fight them, and instead compromising with these devils and Satans to protect themselves. It can be said that these people deliberately allow devils to do evil and disturb the church’s work. If you see through to devils disturbing the church’s work yet do not fight them or expose them, isn’t this allowing devils to do evil? If, upon discovering devils doing evil, you promptly expose, handle, and stop them, then the losses can be reduced and the chaos mitigated to a certain extent. Isn’t this beneficial to both the work of God’s house and the life entry of the brothers and sisters? So why don’t you do it? If you don’t, you have no loyalty to God. Regardless of whether you are a leader or worker at any level, or an ordinary follower, as long as you see through to devils doing evil and disturbing the church’s work but do not expose them to safeguard the interests of God’s house, then you have not stood firm in your testimony, you are a muddleheaded person, and you do not deserve to live! You have not fulfilled the responsibility of a human being, so you do not deserve to breathe the breath that God has given you. Do you understand? (We understand.) What should people do in this matter? Regardless of what kind of devil you face—whether deviant, evil, insidious, ruthless, or cunning—and regardless of their purpose, as long as you see them disturbing the church’s work and you discern it, then you should stand up to expose and stop them. This is where your responsibility lies. Some say, “I don’t know what to say to stop them.” Then pray to God and treat them using wise methods. For now, do not provoke them; do not provoke them by directly exposing them. Instead, try every means to stop them from succeeding in their schemes and purposes. First safeguard the church’s work to the greatest extent possible and ensure the interests of God’s house are protected. Then, find an opportunity to consult with those who understand the truth, or with leaders and workers, about the most appropriate way to handle the devil. This work must be done with wisdom. On the one hand, you must fight against Satan, stop the evil deeds of Satans and devils, help the brothers and sisters gain discernment, and protect the brothers and sisters as well as the work of God’s house. On the other hand, you must also protect yourself to the greatest extent possible. If it is truly necessary for you to face danger or adversity, then you should do so as your bounden duty, not considering your own way out or safety. This is due to the needs of the church’s work and it is where your responsibility lies. You must do it, and you should do it; otherwise, you will be unworthy of the life God has given you, and the provision He has supplied you with for so many years. Isn’t that so? (Yes.) Everyone should have such a stance when it comes to the treatment of devils. You are a created being made by God’s hand. Regardless of whether you belong to the category of humans or another category of living creatures, as long as your current identity is human, a created human being, then you should shoulder the responsibilities of a created human being, you cannot shirk them. Suppose that you know someone is stealing offerings but you neither care nor ask about it, saying, “I’m afraid of offending them. If I expose them and offend them, not only will they make things difficult for me behind my back, but they’ll also never let it go. They’re an evil person! I don’t dare to expose or report them!” In that case, you’re finished, you are a useless coward, and you have failed to fulfill your responsibility. So, what should you do if you want to fulfill your responsibility? Find an opportunity to write a note to your leader, don’t sign your name, and clearly state the facts so the leader knows and can promptly handle and stop this, thus protecting the offerings from losses. The leader doesn’t need to know who reported it; it’s enough that God knows. So, what is the principle that should be upheld in the matter of protecting offerings? What is the correct mentality? It is to protect the offerings from losses and not let evil people succeed. This is your responsibility. God’s house isn’t asking everyone to take risks to protect its interests, to protect the brothers and sisters, to safeguard its work, and to protect God’s offerings; it isn’t asking you all to offend other people or put yourselves in difficult situations for the sake of this. That’s not what God’s house means. If you are afraid of evil people or of offending people, you can report issues anonymously; you can also expose evil people and devils anonymously. That way, although you haven’t signed your name, you have still fulfilled your responsibility and obligation, and you have not shirked your responsibility. If you can do this, then you have not been derelict in your responsibility. This is because you have this heart, feeling that this is where your responsibility lies, and that you should fulfill this responsibility, safeguarding the work of God’s house and protecting its interests. This is a good deed, and God will remember it. Here’s the plain truth for you: There is no set form for fighting against devils; being able to defeat devils, safeguard the interests of God’s house, protect the various items of church work, protect church life, and safeguard the life entry of the brothers and sisters—this is the highest principle. Do you understand? (We understand.) There is no set form for fighting against devils; you can use the method of pruning them, you can use the method of exposing them, and of course, you can also use the method of dismissing them and reassigning their duties, as well as the method of talking things over with them and comforting them in order to hold them off—using various wise methods to restrict devils while at the same time safeguarding the different items of church work. This is being wise. You know in your heart that these people are devils, and that no matter how you treat them, it is not wrong, because they are not true brothers or sisters, they are not true human beings, and they have not been selected by God. They have come to God’s house as servants of Satan to disturb the church. You should have this attitude toward devils: “If you have come here to cause disturbances, I will not be lenient with you. If you have come here to engage in sabotage, that is absolutely not allowed! If you don’t cause disturbances or engage in sabotage, and you quietly keep to yourself in the church, I will ignore you. But once you make a move or say something, intending to do evil, I will not be lenient with you! Whatever bad things you want to do, whatever fallacies you want to spread, you’ll have to get past me first—see if I spare you or not. Otherwise, don’t even think about disturbing the church’s work!” This is the attitude and principle people should have in how they treat devils, and it is also the testimony people should bear.

Why does God express the truth and supply people with the truth? It is so that believers in God can gain the truth as their life, and so that people can discern devils, get rid of devils, and thoroughly rebel against Satan, the evil devil. People have heard so many truths and received so much provision of the truth, yet ultimately, when they encounter devils doing evil and causing disturbances, they fail to discern them. Some people have some discernment of devils but do not dare to expose them, and even more so do not dare to handle them—people of this sort are good-for-nothings. You have no testimony, and you have not stood on God’s side—you have broken God’s heart. The purpose of people pursuing and understanding the truth is for them to shun devils, reject devils, and be able to achieve true submission to God, stand on God’s side, and fulfill God’s commission. When it comes to devils, whenever one is discovered, clear that one out, and whenever two are discovered, clear the pair of them out, so that the church remains pure. In this way, Satan and devils will be thoroughly shamed and will no longer be able to disturb the church’s work. How they cause disturbances in the secular world is none of our concern; what illegal acts they commit, what bad things they do, and whom they fight with in the secular world has nothing to do with us. We neither interfere with this nor inquire about it, and we don’t care about it either. But there is just one thing: Their causing such disturbances in God’s house is not permissible, and they must be handled, stopped, and cleared out. Firstly, leaders and workers should take the lead in doing this work; they should take this as their unshirkable responsibility. Secondly, all supervisors, team leaders, and ordinary brothers and sisters should possess this stature and also have this testimony. Some people say, “Is God’s house launching some kind of movement? Is this tormenting people?” This is not tormenting people; this is tormenting devils. Tormenting devils is what should be done; we do not torment people. Brothers and sisters have revelations of corruption, but they are normal people, and they have conscience and reason, as well as minimum standards in their actions and self-conduct. Even if their pursuit of the truth and life entry are somewhat poor, and they are small in stature and do not possess much of the truth reality, we should be tolerant and patient with them, treat them correctly, and handle them according to the principles. But the principle for how to treat devils is different. If they are willing to render service, then we can use them to render service. If they are unwilling to render service, then we should handle them by clearing them out; we should not be lenient with them at all! This is the principle for the treatment of devils. When brothers and sisters have weaknesses or revelations of corrupt dispositions, they can be forgiven and pardoned, and treated with tolerance and understanding. But devils are not brothers and sisters. If they only say some negative or irresponsible things, but they are not spreading heresies or fallacies to mislead people, and they have not caused any disruptions or disturbances, then they can be spared, and you can turn a blind eye to them. If you see they are about to cause some problems and do evil, and it is reaching a certain scale, then they must be exposed and restricted. If they cannot be restricted, clear them out directly. Devils think the church is an easy place to muddle along; they think that anyone can whip up a storm in the church, just like in society. They are wrong to think this way. The church is a place for God’s chosen people to pursue the truth and attain salvation, not a place for devils to whip up a storm, nor a place for devils to engage in their own undertakings or realize their own dreams, and neither is it a place for devils to satisfy their ambitions and desires. Once devils give themselves away and are about to carry out their own enterprises, establish their own independent kingdoms, and disturb and sabotage the church’s work—once their cloven feet are revealed—what should you do at this time? Act according to the principles; the brothers and sisters must stand up and fight against these devils, and they absolutely must not show mercy or be lenient. If you are always lenient with devils, then you are being cruel to yourself. They are always misleading and disturbing people in the church, and sabotaging the church’s work. Under such circumstances the faith and knowledge of God you have gained over many years of belief will be depleted in just a few days through the misleading and disturbance of these devils. Therefore, if you want to gain the truth, you must proactively stand up to fight and contend with devils. When you see their cloven feet fully exposed and their hideous countenance revealed, you should expose them and characterize their essence, and then cleanse them away. Is this not what God’s chosen people should do and the responsibility they should fulfill? (Yes.) This is precisely the testimony that overcomers should have. Everyone should understand this and never forget it. Not fearing Satans and devils doesn’t mean disassociating from them as a formality, instead it means standing up to fight against devils in the face of major issues of right and wrong, in the face of matters of principle, in the matter of choosing one’s path, and in matters involving the interests of God’s house, stopping their evil deeds, protecting the interests of God’s house, and safeguarding the normal environment for the brothers and sisters to do their duties. This is the obligation of every one of God’s chosen people.

Haven’t we more or less finished our fellowship on these two manifestations—inveterate lying and deviance—of those with the essence of a devil? The viewpoint and stance people should hold toward this kind of person are clear, and the responsibilities people should fulfill are also clear. So, what issue do you face next? It is how to take the manifestations and revelations that we’ve fellowshipped on and match them up to these people, and then discern them, and see through to the essence of this kind of person. Once you have discernment, you will be clear in your heart about what the attributes of various kinds of people truly are, your principles for how to treat people will be more accurate, and you will not do foolish or stupid things, or you won’t do them as much. That’s all for our fellowship today. Goodbye.

January 27, 2024