What is the work of evil spirits? How is the work of evil spirits manifested?

Relevant Words of God:

What work comes from Satan? In the work that comes from Satan, the visions in people are vague and abstract, and they are without normal humanity, the motivations behind their actions are wrong, and although they wish to love God, there are always accusations within them, and these accusations and thoughts are always interfering within them, constraining the growth of their life, and stopping them from having normal conditions before God.
    Which is to say, as soon as there is the work of Satan within people, their hearts can’t be at peace before God, they don’t know what to do with themselves, the sight of an assembly makes them want to run away, and they are unable to close their eyes when others pray. The work of evil spirits wrecks the normal relationship between man and God, and upsets people’s previous visions or their former path of life entry, in their hearts they can never draw close to God, things always happen that cause disruption to them and enshackle them, and their hearts cannot find peace, leaving no strength to their love of God, and making their spirits sink downward. Such are the manifestations of the work of Satan. The work of Satan is manifested in the following: being unable to stand your ground and stand witness, causing you to become someone who is at fault before God, and who has no faithfulness toward God. At the interference from Satan, you lose the love and loyalty toward God within you, you are stripped of a normal relationship with God, you do not pursue the truth, or the improvement of yourself, you regress, and become passive, you indulge yourself, you give free rein to the spread of sin, and are not hateful of sin; furthermore, the interference of Satan makes you dissolute, it causes God’s touch to disappear within you, and makes you complain about God and oppose Him, leading you to question God, and there is even the risk of you leaving God. All this is of the work of Satan.

from “The Work of the Holy Spirit and the Work of Satan” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Today there are some evil spirits who work through supernatural things to deceive man; that is nothing but imitation on their part, to deceive man through work that is not presently done by the Holy Spirit. Many evil spirits imitate the working of miracles and healing of sickness; these are nothing but the work of the evil spirits, for the Holy Spirit no longer does such work in the present day, and all those who imitated the work of the Holy Spirit from that time onward—they are evil spirits indeed. All the work carried out in Israel at that time was work of a supernatural nature, only the Holy Spirit does not now work in such a manner, and any more of such work is the doing of Satan, the disturbance of Satan, and comes from evil spirits. But you cannot say that whatsoever is supernatural comes from evil spirits—this would depend on the age of God’s work.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

If, during the present day, there is to emerge a person who is able to display signs and wonders, cast out demons, heal the sick, and perform many miracles, and if this person claims that they are Jesus who has come, then this would be the counterfeit of evil spirits, and their imitation of Jesus. Remember this! God does not repeat the same work. Jesus’ stage of work has already been completed, and God will never again undertake that stage of work.

from “Knowing God’s Work Today” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

When man has some understanding of God, he is willing to suffer for Him and live for Him. However, Satan is still in control of the weaknesses in man, and it can still cause them to suffer. Evil spirits can still work in people to interfere with them, causing them to be in a confused state of mind, to take leave of their senses, to feel mentally disturbed and suffer interference in all things. There are within man still some things of the mind or the soul that can be controlled and manipulated by Satan. This is why it is possible for you to have illnesses, troubles and to feel suicidal, and at times also feel the desolation of the world, or that life has no meaning. That is to say, this suffering is still under Satan’s mastery; it is one of humanity’s fatal weaknesses. Satan is still able to use those things that it has corrupted and trampled on—they are weapons Satan can use against humans. … Evil spirits seize every opportunity to do their work. They can speak from within you or whisper into your ear, or else they can throw your thoughts and mind into disarray, and they can suppress the moving of the Holy Spirit so that you can’t feel it. After that they begin to interfere with you, confusing your thinking and addling your brain, leaving you restless and unhinged. Such is the work that evil spirits do on man and, unless you have discernment of it, you will find yourself in great danger.

from “The Meaning of God’s Experiencing the Pain of the World” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Some people say that the Holy Spirit is working in them at all times. This is impossible. If they were to say that the Holy Spirit is always with them, that would be realistic. If they were to say that their thinking and sense are normal at all times, that would also be realistic, and would show that the Holy Spirit is with them. If they say the Holy Spirit is always working within them, that they are enlightened by God and touched by the Holy Spirit at every moment, and gain new knowledge all the time, then this is not normal. It is extremely supernatural! Without a shadow of a doubt, such people are evil spirits! Even when the Spirit of God comes into the flesh, there are times when He must eat and must rest—to say nothing of man. Those who have been possessed by evil spirits seem to be without emotion and the weakness of the flesh. They are able to forsake and give up everything, they are capable of enduring torment and do not feel the slightest fatigue, as if they have transcended the flesh. Is this not extremely supernatural? The work of the evil spirit is supernatural, and these things are unattainable by man. Those who lack discernment are envious when they see such people, and say that they have such vigor in their belief in God and they have great faith, that they are never weak. In fact, this is the manifestation of the work of the evil spirit. That is because normal people inevitably have human weaknesses; this is the normal state of those who have the presence of the Holy Spirit.

from “Practice (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

The most obvious characteristic of the work of evil spirits is that it is supernatural, that the words evil spirits speak or things they ask people to do are abnormal, illogical, and even betray the basic morals of normal humanity and human relations, and that they are intended to do nothing but deceive people, disturb people, and corrupt people. When evil spirits possess people, some feel great fear, some become abnormal, while others fall into a daze, and still others find themselves incredibly anxious and unable to sit still. At any rate, when evil spirits possess people, they change, become something that is neither human nor demon, and lose their normal humanity. This is enough to prove that the essence of evil spirits is evil and ugly, which is precisely the essence of Satan. Evil spirits make people loathe and despise them, and have absolutely no benefit or aid for people. The only things Satan and all kinds of evil spirits are capable of doing are corrupting, harming, and swallowing people.

The main manifestations of those who have the work of evil spirits (those who are possessed by demons) are:

The first kind is that evil spirits often tell people to do this and that, or tell someone something, or direct people to speak false prophecies.

The second kind is that people often speak the so-called “tongues” in prayer that no one understands, and even the speakers themselves do not understand. Some of the speakers can even “interpret the tongues” themselves.

The third kind is that a person often receives revelations, with great frequency, at this moment being directed this way by evil spirits, the next moment being directed that way, in a constant state of anxiety.

The fourth kind is that people who have the work of evil spirits urgently want to do this or that, too impatient to wait, they don’t consider whether conditions permit, they even run out in the middle of the night and their behavior is particularly abnormal.

The fifth kind is that people with the work of evil spirits are wildly arrogant, they lack reason, and all of their speech is condescending and comes from a commanding position. They put people at a loss, and like demons, they force people to do things.

The sixth kind is that people who have the work of evil spirits are unable to fellowship about the truth, much less pay attention to God’s work, and they are defiant of God and act arbitrarily, committing all kinds of outrages to destroy the normal order of the church.

The seventh kind is that a person who has the work of evil spirits passes himself off as someone else for no reason, or claims that he was sent by someone and that people should listen to him. No one can figure out where he came from.

The eighth kind is that people who have the work of evil spirits usually have no normal sense, nor do they understand any truth; they do not possess any capacity to receive and also are not enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and what people see is that in receiving things these people are exceptionally absurd and are not the least bit right.

The ninth kind is that people who have the work of evil spirits pay particular focus to lecturing others during work, they always behave wildly and they always cause disruption and disturbance; everything they do and say attacks, binds and corrupts other people, and they go as far as to break people’s resolve and cause them to become negative so that they are unable to lift themselves back up. They are devils, pure and simple, who harm others, toy with others and devour others, and they are secretly happy when they get their way. This is the primary aim of the work of evil spirits.

The tenth kind is that people who have the work of evil spirits live an utterly abnormal life. Their eyes exude a murderous gleam, and the words they speak are extremely gruesome, as if a demon had descended to the world. There is no order to this kind of person’s life, they are very unstable, and are as unpredictable as a wild animal that has not been trained. They are extremely repulsive and odious to others. This is precisely what a person whom the demons have bound looks like.

The ten kinds above are the main expressions of the work of evil spirits. Any person who displays one of these expressions will certainly have the work of evil spirits. To be precise, all who display the above expressions of the work of evil spirits, regardless of which kind they possess, are people who have the work of evil spirits. A person who has the work of evil spirits often hates and keeps far away from people in whom the Holy Spirit is at work and who can fellowship about the truth. Often, the better someone is, the more he wants to attack and condemn them. The more foolish someone is, the more he tries to fawn upon and flatter them, especially desiring to come in contact with them. When evil spirits work, they always confuse truth with falsehood, saying that the positive is the negative and that the negative is the positive. This is precisely the doings of evil spirits.

from “12 Problems All Churches Need to Resolve Urgently” in Selected Annals of the Work Arrangements of The Church of Almighty God

Any spirit whose work is manifestly supernatural is an evil spirit, and the supernatural work and utterances of any spirit that is carried out in people is the work of an evil spirit; all of the means by which evil spirits work are abnormal and supernatural, and are primarily manifested in the six following ways:

1. Direct control of people’s speech, which clearly shows that the evil spirit is talking, not the people themselves are talking normally;

2. The feeling that the evil spirit is instructing people and ordering them to do this and that;

3. People who, when they are in a room, can tell when someone is about to come in;

4. People who often hear voices talking to them that others can’t hear;

5. People who are able to see and hear things that others can’t;

6. People who are always agitated, and talking to themselves, and are incapable of normal conversation or interaction with people.

All those in whom an evil spirit is working inevitably have these six manifestations. They are irrational, on tenterhooks, incapable of normal interaction with people, it is as if they are unamenable to reason, and there is something detached and otherworldly about them. Such people have been possessed by an evil spirit or have an evil spirit working in them, and all of the work of evil spirits is manifest and supernatural. This is the most easily distinguishable work of evil spirits. When an evil spirit possesses someone, it toys with them so that they are completely messed up. They become irrational, like a zombie, which proves that in substance, evil spirits are wicked spirits that corrupt and devour people. The utterances of evil spirits are easy to distinguish: Their utterances fully epitomize their wicked substance, they are stagnant, turbid and stinking, they exude the stench of death. To people who are of good caliber, the words of evil spirits feel hollow and uninteresting, unedifying, like nothing but lies and empty talk, they feel muddled and convoluted, like a load of nonsense. This is some of the most easily-distinguishable of the evil spirits’ nonsense. To bewitch people, some of the more high-grade evil spirits pretend to be God or Christ when they speak, while others pretend to be angels or famous figures. When they speak, these evil spirits are adept at imitating certain words or phrases of God, or the tone of God, and people who don’t understand the truth are easily taken in by such high-grade evil spirits. The chosen people of God must be clear that, in substance, evil spirits are wicked and shameless, and that even if they are high-grade evil spirits, they are utterly bereft of the truth. Evil spirits, after all, are evil spirits, the substance of evil spirits is wicked, and of a kind with Satan.

from “How to Discern the Demonic Speech and Fallacies of Evil Spirits, False Christs and Antichrists” in Selected Annals of the Work Arrangements of The Church of Almighty God