II. The Second Characteristic: Deviance

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.

A. Deviousness

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.