How to Distinguish Antichrists From People Who Have the Disposition of Antichrists

Distinguishing Them Based on Their Attitudes Toward the Truth

Today we will continue fellowshipping on the responsibilities of leaders and workers. Before formally starting the fellowship, let’s review one of the topics concerning antichrists that was previously fellowshipped on: how to distinguish people with the disposition of antichrists from those with the essence of antichrists, and what the differences between these two types of people are. First, we will fellowship on how to discern antichrists; this is not very difficult. First of all, you should clearly see what the obvious characteristic manifestations are that those who are antichrists exhibit, so that you can identify a genuine antichrist in a short time, determining that they are definitely not someone who only has the disposition of antichrists or someone walking the path of antichrists. This way, you will have discernment about antichrists and will no longer be misled, ensnared, and controlled by them. Now the most crucial thing is to be able to distinguish the obvious differences between people with the nature essence of antichrists and those with the disposition of antichrists. To discern these two types of people, you must first grasp their main characteristics. Some people only grasp antichrists’ revelations of corruption in daily life, such as their tendencies to assert their status and lecture others, but cannot discern the nature essence of antichrists. Is this okay? (No.) There are also those who say that the most prominent manifestations of antichrists are their arrogance and conceitedness, and they label all arrogant and conceited people as antichrists. Is this correct? (No.) Why is it not correct? Because arrogance and conceitedness are not the most prominent manifestations of antichrists; they are corrupt dispositions shared by all corrupt humans. Everyone has an arrogant and conceited disposition, so labeling all arrogant and conceited people as antichrists is a serious mistake. So, what manifestations are the essential manifestations of antichrists, which can make the essential differences between antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists clear at a glance, and enable one to discern that the essences of these two types of people are different, and that such people should be treated differently? In certain aspects, such as actions, behaviors, and dispositions, do these two types of people have similarities and resemblances? (Yes.) If you do not observe carefully, distinguish seriously, or have an accurate understanding and discernment of the disposition and essence of these two types of people in your heart, it is very easy to treat these two types of people the same. You might even mistake an antichrist for a person with the disposition of antichrists and vice versa, that is, easily make these kinds of erroneous judgments. So, what are the main characteristics and differences between these two types of people that can allow one to distinguish with solid evidence who is an antichrist and who is a person with the disposition of antichrists? You should not be unfamiliar with this topic, so let’s hear your thoughts. (One aspect used to distinguish between antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists is through their attitude toward the truth; another is through their humanity. In their attitude toward the truth, antichrists hate the truth and do not accept it at all. No matter how many evil deeds they commit that cause disruptions and disturbances, and no matter how you fellowship with them or prune them, they do not acknowledge it and are staunchly unrepentant. People with the disposition of antichrists may also do wrong things when they do not understand the truth or grasp principles, but when they are pruned, they can accept the truth, reflect on and know themselves, and are able to feel remorse and repent. From the perspective of their attitude toward the truth, the essence of antichrists is that they hate the truth, while people with the disposition of antichrists can accept the truth. From the perspective of their humanity, antichrists are evil people without a sense of conscience or a sense of shame, whereas people with the disposition of antichrists have a sense of conscience and a sense of shame.) You mentioned two characteristics; was this content fellowshipped about before? Are these considered obvious characteristics? (Yes.) The attitudes of antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists toward the truth are completely different. This is a very important point, and is a manifestation with obvious characteristics. Antichrists are averse to the truth and do not accept it at all. They would rather die than admit that God’s words are the truth. No matter how you fellowship about the truth, they internally resist and are averse to it. They may even inwardly curse you, mock you, and despise you, treating you with contempt. Antichrists are hostile toward the truth; this is an obvious characteristic. And what are the characteristics of people with the disposition of antichrists? To be accurate and objective, people with the disposition of antichrists but with some conscience and reason can change their notions and accept the truth through others fellowshipping the truth with them. If they are pruned, they can also submit. That is, as long as people with the disposition of antichrists sincerely believe in God, most of them can accept the truth to varying degrees. In summary, people with the disposition of antichrists can accept the truth and submit through such means as reading God’s words themselves, accepting God’s discipline and enlightenment, or the pruning, help, and support of the brothers and sisters. This is an obvious characteristic. Antichrists, however, are different. No matter who fellowships the truth, they neither listen nor submit. They have only one attitude: They’d rather die than accept the truth. No matter how you prune them, it’s useless. Even if you fellowship the truth as clearly as possible, they do not accept it; they even internally resist and feel averse to it. Can someone with such a disposition that hates the truth submit to God? Definitely not. Therefore, antichrists are God’s enemies, and they are people who are beyond redemption.

Distinguishing Them Based on Their Humanity

Just now, you also mentioned another characteristic for distinguishing antichrists from people who have the disposition of antichrists, which is from the perspective of humanity. Who would like to fellowship some more about this characteristic? (Antichrists have a particularly malicious humanity; they can suppress and torment people, and no matter how much evil they commit, they do not know to repent.) That’s right, the main characteristic of antichrists is their malicious humanity, their shamelessness, and their lack of conscience and reason. No matter how many evil deeds they commit in the church or how much damage they cause to the church’s work, they do not think it shameful, nor do they see themselves as sinners. Whether God’s house exposes them or the brothers and sisters prune them, they remain unfazed, and do not feel reproached or upset. This is the manifestation of antichrists in terms of humanity. Their main characteristics are a lack of conscience and reason, and a lack of shame, and an extremely vicious disposition. Anyone who touches upon their interests is judged and tormented by them, and they have a particularly strong desire for revenge, sparing no one, not even their own relatives. This is how vicious antichrists are. On the other hand, people with the disposition of antichrists, regardless of how much corruption they reveal, are not necessarily evil people. No matter what shortcomings or deficiencies they have in their humanity, what mistakes they can make, or in what regards they can fail and stumble, they can reflect on themselves and learn lessons afterward. When they face being pruned, they are able to admit their mistakes and feel remorse; and when the brothers and sisters criticize or expose them—even though they might try to defend themselves a bit and be unwilling to acknowledge it at the time—they have actually already acknowledged their mistake in their hearts and submitted. This proves that they can still accept the truth and can be reformed. When they make mistakes or encounter any problems, their conscience and reason can still function; they are aware, not numb and unfeeling, or intransigent and refusing to admit things. Additionally, although this type of person has the disposition of antichrists, they are relatively empathetic and somewhat kinder. When they encounter various matters, the characteristics they display in terms of humanity can be described—in the most apt and easy-to-understand way—as relatively reasonable. If pruned severely, at most they might feel a bit resentful in their hearts, but looking at it from the manifestation of their humanity, it can be seen they still know shame, that their conscience is able to accuse them, and that their reason can exert a certain restraining effect. If they cause losses to the interests of God’s house or cause harm to any brothers and sisters, they always feel uneasy inside and feel that they have failed God. These manifestations are revealed to varying degrees by people with the disposition of antichrists. Even if they do not immediately make amends or make the right choices and practice correctly after things happen, these people still have a sense of awareness in their hearts. Their conscience accuses them; they know they have done wrong and should not act that way again, and they also feel that they are not good people—subtly, they can all have these feelings. What’s more, over time, their state will turn around, and they will have genuine repentance. They will feel deep remorse, regretting that they did not initially make the right choices or practice correctly. These manifestations are precisely the most common and ordinary manifestations of corrupt humans. However, those who are antichrists are special; they are not humans but devils. No matter how much time passes after they commit evil or sin, they have no remorse at all; they remain stubborn, and persistent until the end. People with the disposition of antichrists can submit when they encounter ordinary pruning. When faced with severe pruning, they might argue their case, deny things, and refuse to accept it at the time, but later they are able to reflect on and know themselves, and feel remorse and repent. Even if someone mocks them and judges them as having no humanity, they might feel pain in their hearts but will not fight back or treat that person as an enemy. They can also understand the other person, thinking, “I have only myself to blame for making that mistake; however others treat me is no more than I deserve.” These manifestations reveal themselves to varying degrees in different people. In short, these revelations are the normal and natural manifestations of people with the disposition of antichrists, people with corrupt dispositions, and this is where they clearly differ from antichrists. Through the different manifestations of these two states, it becomes immediately clear just which individuals are evil people and antichrists, and which are people who merely have the disposition of antichrists but are not evil people.

Distinguishing Them Based on Whether They Truly Repent or Not

Two aspects of the differences between antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists were just mentioned: The first aspect is their attitude toward the truth; people’s attitude toward the truth is their attitude toward God. In this aspect, there is a clear distinction between these two types of people. Secondly, in terms of humanity, these two types of people also have a clear essential difference. These two characteristics are very obvious; they are completely different types of people. Besides these two differences, another aspect is whether there is any manifestation of repentance after committing evil. In the case of those who are antichrists, no matter what evil deeds they commit—whether they torment people, establish independent kingdoms, vie with God for status, steal offerings, or anything else—even if they are directly exposed, they do not admit to these deeds. If they do not admit them, can they repent? They would rather die than repent. They do not accept the facts of their evil deeds. Even if they realize that the exposure is entirely accurate, they resist and oppose it. They absolutely will not reflect on whether they are on the wrong path or say, “I am characterized as an antichrist. This is very dangerous, and I need to repent.” They absolutely do not have these kinds of thoughts in their minds. Their humanity does not possess these qualities. Therefore, antichrists have an obvious characteristic: No matter how many years they believe in God, they do not accept the truth at all and show no real change. When they first start believing in God, they like to stand out in the crowd, vie for power and profit, torment people, and form cliques and divide the church. Their purpose in trying to hold power is to leech off the church and establish an independent kingdom. After three to five years of believing, when you see them again, they still exhibit these same manifestations and characteristics without any change. Even after eight or ten years, they remain the same. Some people say, “Maybe they’ll change after 20 years of believing!” Can they change? (No.) They will not change. They exhibit these same manifestations whether they are interacting with a few individuals or with the majority, whether doing ordinary duties or acting as leaders or workers. They never repent or turn back, persisting in the same path to the end. They absolutely will not repent. This is what antichrists are like. As for people with the disposition of antichrists, even if some are not evil people, they also have corrupt dispositions. They reveal arrogance, deceitfulness, selfishness, baseness, and other types of corruption. They also display poor humanity. When they first start believing in God, they also want to vie for fame and gain, stand out to garner people’s admiration, and have ambitions and desires to be leaders and hold power. These manifestations are present to varying degrees in corrupt humans and are not much different from those of antichrists. However, in the process of believing in God, they come to understand some truths through experiencing the judgment and exposure of God’s words, and they reveal these corrupt dispositions less and less. Why are these corrupt dispositions revealed less and less? It is because after understanding the truth, they realize that these behaviors and manifestations are revelations of corrupt dispositions. Only at this point does their conscience become aware, and they see that they are deeply corrupt and do indeed lack the semblance of a human. They then become willing to pursue the truth and think about how to cast off these corrupt dispositions, and how they can break free from their bondage, and become someone who pursues and practices the truth. What is this manifestation? Isn’t this gradually repenting? (Yes.) In the process of experiencing God’s work, they discover their own problems, recognize their corrupt dispositions, and understand their various states. They also come to know their humanity essence, and their conscience becomes increasingly aware; they increasingly feel that they are deeply corrupt and unfit for God’s use and that they have earned God’s loathing, and they detest themselves inside. Unconsciously, they gradually repent deep down in their hearts, and with this repentance, some slight changes occur, slight changes that can be seen in their behavior. For example, originally, when someone exposed their problems, they would feel resentful, fly into an embarrassed rage, and try to explain and justify themselves, making every effort to find various excuses and reasons to defend themselves. Through continuous experiences, however, they come to realize that this behavior is wrong and begin to rectify this state and behavior, working hard to accept correct views, striving for harmonious collaboration with others. When matters befall them, they learn to seek from and fellowship with others, and they learn to communicate from the heart and get along amicably with others. Are these manifestations of repentance? (Yes.) After believing in God, they gradually gain a true understanding of some of the dispositions, behaviors and manifestations of antichrists which they reveal. They then gradually cast off their corrupt dispositions, and are able to abandon their previous wrong ways of living, and give up the pursuit of fame and status, and are able to act, conduct themselves, and do their duty according to the truth principles. How is such a change achieved? Is it achieved through accepting the truth and continuously turning themselves around and repenting? (Yes.) These things are all achieved in the process of continuous repentance. Subsequently, their state certainly improves, their stature also grows as their experiences deepen, and when things befall them, they are able to reflect on themselves. Whether they encounter setbacks or failures, or they are pruned, they bring these matters before God and pray to Him, and can also correlate, dissect, and understand their corrupt state while reading God’s words. Although they may still reveal corruption and develop erroneous thoughts when things befall them, they are able to reflect on and rebel against themselves. As long as they become aware of these issues, they can continuously seek the truth to resolve them and practice repentance. Although this progress is very slow and the results are minimal, they are continuously changing in the innermost depths of their hearts. People of this type always maintain a proactive, positive, self-motivated attitude and state of turning themselves around and repenting. Although they sometimes vie with others for fame and status and reveal some manifestations and actions of antichrists to varying degrees, after experiencing some prunings, judgments, and chastisements, or God’s discipline, these corrupt dispositions are cast off and transformed to varying degrees. The main root cause for the achievement of these results is that this type of person can, in the depths of their heart, reflect on and understand their corrupt dispositions and the wrong paths they have taken, and can turn themselves around. Although the changes, growth, and gains from their turnaround are very small, and progress is very slow, to the extent that they themselves might not even notice, after three to five years of such experiences, they can feel some changes in themselves, and those around them can also see it. In any case, there is a difference between such people who have the disposition of antichrists and those who are antichrists. What is the main characteristic in this regard? (People with the disposition of antichrists are able to repent.) When they do something wrong, commit a transgression, or encounter pruning, judgment and chastisement, chastening or discipline, they can repent. Even when they realize that they have done wrong or made a mistake, they can reflect on themselves and have an attitude of turning themselves around and repenting within their hearts. This is a characteristic difference that sets people with the disposition of antichrists completely apart from antichrists.

A Summary of the Differences Between Antichrists and People Who Have the Disposition of Antichrists

Those who are antichrists are living Satans. It can be said that they live as Satans; they are devils and Satans that are visible to people. So then, let’s summarize the essential differences between antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists. One aspect is their attitude toward the truth. Antichrists absolutely do not accept the truth. Although they can verbally acknowledge that God’s words are the truth, and positive things, and words which are beneficial to people, and the criterion for all positive things, and that people should accept, submit to, and practice them—although they can say all of this—they absolutely cannot put God’s words into practice. Why do they not practice them? Because they do not accept the truth in their hearts. They say with their mouths that God’s words are the truth, but for an entirely different motive: They say this to cover up the fact that they do not accept the truth and to mislead people. Just because antichrists can speak words and doctrines, it doesn’t mean that they acknowledge in their hearts that God’s words are the truth. They cannot put the truth into practice because they fundamentally do not accept the truth of God’s words in their hearts; they are unwilling to accept the truth and practice the truth to enter into the truth reality. On the other hand, people with the disposition of antichrists are not necessarily antichrists. Some of them can, to varying degrees, accept and submit to the truth, and to positive things, and to correct words—this is one difference. People with the essence of antichrists are hostile toward the truth, and turn their back on it, but some people with the disposition of antichrists can accept and practice the truth. Through reading God’s words, and through several years of experiencing God’s work, their attitude toward the truth can change somewhat. They feel deep in their hearts that although they are unable to put it into practice, the truth is good and it is right. It is just that they do not love the truth or are not that interested in it, so practicing it requires some effort and struggle. So, people with the disposition of antichrists but with some conscience and reason can accept the truth to varying degrees. At the very least, deep down in their hearts, they are not resistant to or repelled by the truth, and they are not averse to the truth. Most people are in this kind of state and display this kind of manifestation toward the truth. This way of describing such people neither sugarcoats nor vilifies them. It’s quite objective, isn’t it? (Yes.) Another aspect is to distinguish them from the perspective of humanity, that is, to distinguish based on their conscience, reason, and the goodness or evil of their humanity. Whoever has an evil humanity, does not accept the truth, and is especially averse to the truth is definitely a disbeliever or an antichrist. Some people do not particularly love the truth and are not interested in it. When others fellowship the truth, they become drowsy and listless. However, people of this type do not have an evil humanity and do not torment others. If you fellowship about God’s intentions, the truth principles, or the rules of God’s house, they can listen and are willing to accept the truth and strive for it, but they may not necessarily be able to put the truth into practice. If they become a leader, they may not be able to lead you to understand the truth or bring you before God, but they absolutely will not torment you. This is the humanity of people with the disposition of antichrists. In any case, the humanity of people with the disposition of antichrists is not that evil; they can accept the truth to varying degrees. In contrast, antichrists not only lack conscience and reason but also have extremely vicious humanity. People with the disposition of antichrists have a sense of conscience, and some reason, and they can handle certain matters rationally. For example, in terms of how to choose, which side to take, and other such matters in dealing with the requirements of God’s house, and dealing with the various people in the church, and dealing with positive and negative things, they can distinguish such matters and, ultimately, they are able to make the right choices based on their conscience. People of this type do not have such evil humanity and are relatively kind-hearted. There is another distinction, one we just fellowshipped about, which is that there are some people with the disposition of antichrists who can accept the truth, and when they do wrong, they can reflect on it and have a repentant heart. In contrast, antichrists absolutely do not exhibit these two manifestations. They are stubborn and unchanging because they are averse to the truth, do not accept the truth, and have extremely vicious humanity. It is impossible for people of this type to turn themselves around and achieve repentance. Whether someone can truly repent depends mainly on whether they possess conscience and reason, and on their attitude toward the truth. People with the disposition of antichrists, because they do not have evil humanity, have some conscience and reason, and can accept some truths to varying degrees, have the potential to turn themselves around. When they make mistakes or commit transgressions, they can repent after being pruned. This determines that people with the disposition of antichrists have hope of being saved, whereas antichrists are irredeemable; they are the ilk of devils and Satan. The essential differences between antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists are these several characteristics. Is this summary quite objective? (Yes.) Regarding these several characteristics of antichrists, the detailed manifestations we fellowshipped about are objective and in line with the facts, without any element of vilification whatsoever. God’s chosen people have all encountered and witnessed this; this is just what antichrists are. As for people with the disposition of antichrists, we have also exposed various manifestations, all of which are visible to people and conform to the facts, without any sugarcoating.

People with the disposition of antichrists have many defects and flaws in their humanity, and they also reveal various corrupt dispositions to different degrees. These corrupt dispositions have some obvious characteristic manifestations in everyone. For example, some people are particularly arrogant, some are particularly calculating and deceitful, some are particularly intransigent, some are particularly lazy, and so on. These expressions are the manifestations of people with the disposition of antichrists, and they are the characteristics of such people’s humanity. Although these people have some kindness in their hearts—in plain terms, they are somewhat good-hearted—when encountering matters, they clearly see that the interests of God’s house are being harmed, but because they are afraid of offending others, they become like a turtle hiding in its shell, living by Satan’s philosophy and unwilling to uphold the truth principles. Even though deep down they feel that they should not act this way and that they are wronging God by acting this way, they still can’t help but choose to be a people pleaser. Why is this? Because they believe that to live and survive, they must rely on Satan’s philosophy, and only in this way can they protect themselves. Therefore, they choose to be a people pleaser and do not practice the truth. In their hearts they feel that by acting this way, they are conscienceless and devoid of humanity; they aren’t human and are worse than a watchdog. However, after reproaching themselves, when faced with another situation, they still do not repent and still act the same way. They are always weak and always feel a sense of guilt. What does this prove? It proves that although people with the disposition of antichrists are not antichrists themselves, their humanity does have problems and deficiencies, so they certainly reveal much corruption. Looking at the overall manifestations of such a person, they are entirely someone who remains unchanged in being deeply corrupted by Satan; they are exactly what God refers to as the spawn of Satan. How are people with the disposition of antichrists better than antichrists? To be precise, although people who have the disposition of antichrists but not the essence of antichrists reveal various corrupt dispositions of Satan, they are definitely not evil people. Their situation is like what is typically said about how someone is neither treacherous and evil nor a good person; it’s just that they sincerely believe in God, are willing to repent, and can accept the truth after being pruned, having some submission. Although they are not evil people and still have hope of being saved by God, they are far from the standard of fearing God and shunning evil that God speaks of! Some people believe in God for three to five years and have some changes and progress. Some people believe in God for eight to ten years and have no progress at all. Some people have even believed in God for 20 years without any significant changes; they are still the same as they were before. They stubbornly cling to their notions. It’s just that, because they have heard God’s words and are restrained by various rules and regulations of God’s house, they have not made major mistakes, have not done evil deeds that cause serious losses to God’s house, and have not caused great disasters. People with the disposition of antichrists certainly cannot all be saved by God in the end. Most of them are probably laborers, and some of them will definitely be eliminated. In any case, although they are not evil people, they are people with poor humanity. Their outcomes and destinations will certainly not be the same. It all depends on whether they can accept the truth and how they choose their paths. Some people say, “Your words are contradictory. Didn’t You say that these people can turn themselves around and repent?” What I mean is that these people, in certain contexts and in different environments, can accept the truth to varying degrees. What does “varying degrees” mean? It means that some people have a bit of change after believing in God for three to five years, and significant change after 10 to 20 years. Some people believe in God for 10 to 20 years and are still the same as when they first started believing, always shouting, “I must repent, I must repay God’s love!” but in actuality having no change. It is only because they have a sense of conscience that they have this wish in their hearts and are willing to turn themselves around and repent. Willingness, however, does not equate to being able to practice the truth, nor does it equate to entering into reality. Willingness is merely not resisting the truth, not being averse to the truth, not openly slandering the truth, not openly judging, condemning, or blaspheming God—it is only these manifestations. But it does not mean being able to truly submit and accept and practice the truth, nor does it mean being able to rebel against the flesh and one’s own desires. Is this an objective fact? (Yes.) This is exactly how it is. Having some conscience and reason and a bit of a repentant heart in one’s humanity does not mean one does not have a corrupt disposition. People with the disposition of antichrists are essentially different from antichrists, but this does not mean they are people who can accept and submit to the truth. Nor does it mean that they are people with the truth reality, or that they are the people God loves. There are essential differences between these two aspects; they are completely different. People with the disposition of antichrists are certainly much better in terms of humanity, their attitude toward the truth, and their degree of repentance compared to antichrists. However, the standard by which God measures people is not based on how they differ from antichrists; this is not the standard. God measures a person’s humanity, whether they have conscience and reason, whether they love and accept the truth, whether they do their duties with loyalty, whether they submit to God, and whether they can obtain the truth and achieve salvation. These are the standards by which God measures people. God has put forth various requirements for those with the disposition of antichrists. God uses these requirements to measure people with the disposition of antichrists with the purpose of saving them. After hearing it put this way, you understand it, right? First, you must be clear that no matter how much of the disposition of antichrists you have, as long as you can accept the truth, you are not an antichrist. Although you are not an antichrist, it does not mean you are someone who submits to God. Not being repelled by the truth or being averse to the truth does not mean you are someone who practices and submits to the truth. Having some conscience and reason, being relatively kind-hearted, and having better humanity than antichrists does not necessarily mean you are a good person. The standard for measuring whether a person is good or bad is not based on the humanity of antichrists. No matter how many bad things antichrists do, they never admit to them nor repent, but continue to act the same way; they never turn back, and they oppose God to the end. Although some people with the disposition of antichrists sincerely want to turn themselves around and repent, turning themselves around a bit does not mean they have true repentance. Having the resolve to repent does not mean being able to understand the truth, obtain the truth, and gain life.

Some people say, “I am not an antichrist, so I am better than antichrists and less deeply corrupt than antichrists.” Are these words correct? Is this a distorted understanding? (Yes, it is.) People with the disposition of antichrists are the same as antichrists in their corrupt disposition, but their nature essence is different. Think about it—is this statement correct? (Yes.) Then explain it. (People with the disposition of antichrists have corrupt dispositions just like antichrists. They both have arrogant and wicked dispositions, and they both pursue status. However, their humanity essence is different. People with the disposition of antichrists have some sense of conscience, and can accept the truth to varying degrees. They are not averse to the truth and do not hate the truth. On the other hand, people with the essence of antichrists have a malicious humanity essence. They have no sense of conscience, and are averse to the truth and hate the truth. They will not repent.) They all have corrupt dispositions, so why does God determine people with the essence of antichrists as antichrists and as His enemies? (It is mainly based on their attitude toward the truth. Antichrists are averse to the truth and hate the truth, and hating the truth is actually hating God.) Anything else? (The essence of antichrists is that of devils.) Do people whose essence is that of devils have any hope of being saved? (No.) These people do not accept the truth at all and cannot be saved. Given that both types of people have corrupt dispositions, what is the difference between those who can be saved and those who cannot be saved? Just in terms of their corrupt dispositions, these two kinds of people are the same, so why is it that antichrists cannot be saved, while people with the disposition of antichrists but not the essence of antichrists have a slim hope of being saved? (People with the disposition of antichrists are not like antichrists, who are so hostile toward the truth and positive things. Although they do not particularly love the truth, they are not repelled by the truth and can accept it to varying degrees, changing little by little. Moreover, their humanity has some sense of conscience, unlike antichrists who have no sense of shame.) The hope of being saved lies here; this is the essential difference. Judging from the essence of antichrists, this type of person is irredeemable and has no hope of being saved. Even if you want to save them, you cannot; they cannot change. They are not an ordinary type of person with the corrupt disposition of Satan, but a type of person with the life essence of devils and Satan. This type of person absolutely cannot be saved. In contrast, what is the essence of ordinary people with corrupt dispositions? They merely have corrupt dispositions; however, they possess a certain amount of conscience and reason, and can accept some truths. This means that the truth can have a certain effect on these people, giving them hope of being saved. It is this type of person that God saves. Antichrists absolutely cannot be saved, but can people with the disposition of antichrists be saved? (Yes.) If we say they can be saved, this is not objective. We can only say they have the hope of being saved—this is relatively objective. Ultimately, whether a person can be saved depends on the individual. It depends on whether they can truly accept the truth, practice the truth, and submit to the truth. Therefore, it can only be said that this type of person has the hope of being saved. So why do antichrists have no hope of being saved? Because they are antichrists; their nature is that of Satan. They are hostile toward the truth, hate God, and do not accept the truth at all. Can God still save them? (No.) God saves corrupt humans, not Satan and devils. God saves those who accept the truth, not scum who hate the truth. Does this make it clear? (Yes.) We fellowship like this to avoid some people having a distorted understanding. After distinguishing between antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists, some people think that they are not antichrists and this means they are in a safe zone, that they’ve really secured refuge for themselves and will certainly not be cleared out, expelled, or eliminated in the future. Is this a distorted understanding? Having the hope of being saved does not mean one will be saved. This hope still requires people to go and grasp it. Your attitude toward the truth is different from that of antichrists. You are not averse to the truth, or your humanity is slightly better than that of antichrists; you possess some sense of conscience, are relatively kind-hearted, do not harm others, know to repent when you do something wrong, and can turn yourself around. Merely possessing these few qualities means you have the basic conditions to accept the truth, practice the truth, and achieve being saved. But not being an antichrist does not mean you will be saved. You are not an antichrist, but you are still a corrupt human being. Can all corrupt humans be saved? Not necessarily. Even if one is not an antichrist or an evil person, as long as they do not pursue the truth, they still cannot be saved. God’s salvation of people is achieved through their acceptance and pursuit of the truth. People’s corrupt dispositions are antagonistic to God. As long as corrupt dispositions are present in someone, they can still rebel against God, defy God, betray God, and so forth. Therefore, they need to accept the judgment, chastisement, trials, and refinements of God’s words; they need the supply and guidance of God’s words, God’s pruning, discipline, and punishment, and so on—none of this work that God does can be lacking. Therefore, to achieve being saved, for one thing, God’s work is needed, and additionally, people need to have the resolve to cooperate. They need to be able to endure hardship and pay a price, to enter into the truth reality after understanding the truth, and so on. This is the only way to attain God’s salvation of the last days, and to receive the incredibly rare blessing of being made perfect by God incarnate, on the basis of understanding the truth. It’s that simple. Okay, let’s end the fellowship on this topic here.

Item Thirteen: Protect God’s Chosen People From Being Disturbed, Misled, Controlled, and Grievously Harmed by Antichrists, and Enable Them to Discern Antichrists and Forsake Them From Their Hearts

Several Tasks That Leaders and Workers Must Perform Upon Identifying That Antichrists Are Disturbing the Church

Next, we will fellowship on the main topic. Our fellowship on the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers is complete. For this fellowship, we’ll be discussing the thirteenth responsibility: “Protect God’s chosen people from being disturbed, misled, controlled, and grievously harmed by antichrists, and enable them to discern antichrists and forsake them from their hearts.” The thirteenth responsibility involves the topic of how leaders and workers should treat antichrists. What work should leaders and workers do when antichrists appear in the church? First, this responsibility states that when solving such problems, leaders and workers need to step forward to protect the brothers and sisters from the disturbance, misleading, control, and grievous harm of antichrists. This is the first task they should do. As for how antichrists disturb, mislead, control, and grievously harm God’s chosen people, a lot has been fellowshipped about this before, so this content will not be the main topic of today’s fellowship. Today, we will focus on what responsibilities leaders and workers must fulfill and what work they must do when facing these behaviors and actions of antichrists to protect God’s chosen people from harm. First, leaders and workers must protect God’s chosen people from the disturbance, misleading, control, and grievous harm of antichrists—this is one of the responsibilities of leaders and workers. What does “one of the responsibilities” mean? It means that among the many tasks leaders and workers undertake, protecting God’s chosen people so that they can lead a normal church life without the disturbance and grievous harm of antichrists is an important task. It is also an inescapable task in which they cannot shirk their responsibility. Leaders and workers should place importance on this and should not neglect it. Maintaining the normal functioning of church life is a very important task and is the foremost task among all church work. This is also a responsibility of leaders and workers. The fundamental work of leaders and workers is to lead God’s chosen people into the truth reality. When Satan and antichrists come to disturb and mislead people, and to vie with God for His chosen people, leaders and workers should stand up to expose the antichrists so that God’s chosen people can discern them, making the antichrists reveal their true forms, and then clear them out of the church. This is to prevent God’s chosen people from being controlled and grievously harmed by antichrists. This is the responsibility that leaders and workers should fulfill when doing church work. So what does it mean to prevent these things? How should they be prevented? The term “prevent” literally means to stop something from happening to the greatest extent possible. What is the key point here? Stopping incidents from occurring achieves prevention. In handling incidents of antichrists, the primary work of leaders and workers is to stop antichrists from disturbing, misleading, controlling, and grievously harming God’s chosen people to the greatest extent possible. They must protect God’s chosen people from the harm of antichrists as much as possible. This is the key work that leaders and workers need to do, and this is what we need to clearly fellowship concerning the thirteenth responsibility. So how can God’s chosen people be protected? By stopping these evil deeds done by antichrists from occurring. There are many ways and methods to stop them, such as exposing, pruning, dissecting, and restricting. What else is there? (Expelling.) That is the last step. When the brothers and sisters still lack discernment and do not know that someone is an antichrist, but leaders and workers have already identified them as such, if they directly expel them, those who lack discernment might develop notions and judgments, and some may stumble. In such cases, what work should leaders and workers do? What did I just mention? (Exposing, pruning, dissecting, and restricting.) Do you have any good methods to stop antichrists from doing evil? Is monitoring them a good method? Does it count as an effective way and method that is in line with principles? (Yes.) What is the appropriate way to treat antichrists? Can judgment, chastisement, trials, and refinement work on antichrists? (No.) Why not? (Antichrists do not accept the truth; they are averse to it.) Antichrists are averse to the truth and do not accept it, so using trials, refinements, judgment, and chastisement to deal with antichrists is not appropriate. Moreover, God does not perform this work on them. This idea is not appropriate, so this method definitely will not work. Just what method is appropriate then? Many people who have suffered greatly from the harm of antichrists hate them deeply and believe that antichrists should be judged, condemned, and publicly laid bare. They think antichrists should be made to admit to their mistakes and confess to their sins openly in the church and be thoroughly shamed. Do you think adopting these methods would be appropriate? (No.) If we consider the essence of antichrists, taking such actions would actually not be excessive—however devils get treated is fine; it can be done as casually as crushing a bug. So the purpose of leaders and workers doing this seems very legitimate and correct, but are there any issues with these methods? Is this work within the scope of the responsibilities of leaders and workers? Is doing things this way in line with principles or not? (It’s not.) Clearly, it’s not in line with principles. Where do principles come from? (From God’s words.) That’s right. Although the targets of such actions are antichrists—devils—the methods should also align with principles and God’s requirements, because in doing this work leaders and workers are fulfilling their responsibilities, not handling family affairs or personal matters.

I. Exposing

Dealing with antichrists and stopping them from doing evil and misleading and harming God’s chosen people is the responsibility of leaders and workers. The purpose is to protect God’s chosen people from harm, not to torment anyone or seize the opportunity to retaliate against anyone, and certainly not to carry out campaigns against anyone. Therefore, what are the tasks that leaders and workers need to undertake to stop antichrists from doing evil to the greatest extent possible? The first is to expose them. What is the purpose of exposing? (To help people develop discernment.) That’s right. It’s to help God’s chosen people discern the essence of antichrists, to make it so that they can internally distance themselves from antichrists and not be misled by them, and so that—when antichrists try to mislead and control them—they are able to actively reject them, rather than allowing the antichrists to manipulate and toy with them. So, is exposing them important? (Yes.) Exposing them is very important, but you must expose them accurately. How should you expose them, then? What should the basis for your exposure be? Is it okay to label them arbitrarily? Is it okay to recklessly condemn them without basis? (No.) So how should you accurately expose them to achieve the goal of protecting God’s chosen people? (For one thing, we must objectively and truthfully expose them based on the fact of their evil deeds. Additionally, we must discern and dissect them according to God’s words.) These two statements are spot on; both aspects are indispensable. For one thing, there must be factual evidence. You must judge and make a determination about their essence based on the erroneous words, actions, and absurd thoughts and viewpoints revealed by the antichrists. The most important thing, however, is to discern and dissect them according to God’s words. Which words of God should you refer to? Which words are the most direct and incisive? (The words that expose antichrists.) That’s right; you must find some words that unmask antichrists to expose them and draw comparisons aptly and impartially, ensuring absolute precision. The brothers and sisters will understand after hearing this; they will immediately have discernment toward the person involved, and guard against them. Having discernment in their hearts, they will feel repelled by this person: “So, they are an antichrist after all! They helped me before and even did me favors. I thought they were a good person. Through this dissection and fellowship, their hypocrisy and their essential antichrist manifestations have been exposed, helping everyone see that this person is dangerous. God’s words have exposed them so accurately! They are not a good person. They say nice things and there seem to be no problems in their actions, but by exposing their essence, it’s now evident they are indeed an antichrist.” Judging from the transformation of people’s thoughts, when leaders and workers are doing the work of exposing antichrists, they are stopping antichrists from misleading and disturbing God’s chosen people to the greatest extent possible. Of course, they are also fulfilling the responsibility of protecting God’s chosen people from the control and grievous harm of antichrists. They are doing one of their tasks in a practical way. Which task is this? Exposing antichrists. The work of exposing antichrists is one of the tasks that leaders and workers must undertake to protect God’s chosen people. As for the various tasks that leaders and workers must do, we won’t order them by their scale or the results they achieve; let’s first fellowship on the work of “exposing.” Exposing the nature essence of antichrists includes exposing the intents, purposes, and consequences of their constant evil deeds that disrupt and disturb the work of the church; exposing how antichrists, while serving as leaders and workers, do not do any real church work at all and disregard the life entry of God’s chosen people; exposing the ugly face of antichrists as being people who do not know themselves whatsoever, never practice the truth, and merely speak words and doctrines to mislead people; and exposing their different sayings and actions in front of people and behind their backs. Thoroughly exposing these aspects shows the true form of antichrists as Satans and devils. This is an important task that leaders and workers must undertake. So, what do leaders and workers need to possess to carry out this task? First of all, they need to have a certain sense of burden, don’t they? (Yes.) When leaders and workers bear this responsibility, they often think, “That person is an antichrist. Some brothers and sisters often go to them with questions, always drawing close to them and having a good relationship with them. Having been misled by this person, many people especially idolize them. What should be done about this?” They come before God to pray and often consciously seek out God’s words that expose antichrists, equipping themselves with the truth in this regard. They then ask God to prepare the right time or they look for a suitable time and opportunity themselves to fellowship with the brothers and sisters about this matter. They treat this as their burden and an important task they need to undertake next. They are constantly preparing, seeking, and praying to God for guidance; they are always in this kind of state of mind and condition. This is what is meant by having a sense of burden. After preparing with such a burden for some time, they must wait until conditions are ripe. At the very least, they must wait until two or three people have real discernment of the antichrist before they can begin to expose them. If they determine that someone seems to be an antichrist based on their feelings alone, but they cannot see through to whether that person actually is an antichrist or not, then they must not act rashly. In short, when carrying out this work, they will certainly have God’s enlightenment and guidance. This is what it means to do real work and fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers.

II. Pruning

After the work of exposing antichrists has been carried out, although the brothers and sisters gain some discernment, before the antichrists are completely brought to light, they inevitably do more to mislead and disturb the brothers and sisters, causing more people to idolize, admire, and follow them. This greatly delays God’s chosen people from entering into the right track of believing in God, hindering their life entry and causing significant harm. The second task that leaders and workers must undertake, then, is that when antichrists mislead and disturb the brothers and sisters, or when their words and actions clearly violate the truth principles, leaders and workers must seize the evidence and promptly come forward to prune them, and expose their evil deeds according to God’s words, so that the brothers and sisters can discern and see through to the antichrists’ true face. This is the unshirkable responsibility of protecting God’s chosen people and safeguarding the work of God’s house. Leaders and workers should not sit back and do nothing or turn a blind eye; they should promptly seize opportunities, pinpoint the incidents, and come forward to prune the antichrists, accurately exposing their actions, ambitions, desires, and essence. Of course, it is also necessary to more accurately characterize what kind of person the antichrists are, so that the brothers and sisters can see this clearly, so that the antichrists themselves know it, and so that the antichrists are aware that not everyone is without discernment of them and can be fooled by them—that at least some people can see through their actions and behavior and see through their ulterior ambitions and desires, as well as their essence. The purpose of pruning antichrists is, of course, not merely to expose their essence through words. More importantly, what is it? (For one, it is to help the brothers and sisters develop discernment, and also to restrict the evil deeds of the antichrists.) Correct. It is to restrict them, so that when they do things that mislead and disturb people, they have some scruples and feel some dread; to make them subject to restrictions, have some restraints, and not dare to act recklessly; to let them know that God’s house not only has the truth, with the truth holding power, but also has administrative decrees, and that it is not feasible to act tyrannically and with willful recklessness in God’s house, to damage the interests of God’s house, and to harm God’s chosen people; and to also let them know that they will be held accountable for committing reckless misdeeds that disturb the church’s work and harm the life entry of God’s chosen people. While promptly pruning the antichrists, leaders and workers must also stand up to expose them, helping people develop discernment and see through the ambitions, desires, intentions, and purposes of the antichrists. This is also, of course, to protect God’s chosen people and safeguard the interests of God’s house. These are all considerations leaders and workers must take into account, and it is within the scope of their responsibilities to carry out this work; they cannot neglect it or be careless about it. If leaders and workers discover antichrists in the church, they should always be vigilant about their words and actions and the fallacies they spread behind the scenes, and they must practice pruning and exposing them. This is one of the tasks for leaders and workers to protect God’s chosen people from being disturbed and harmed by antichrists.

III. Dissecting

What is the next task for leaders and workers? To dissect. Dissecting is almost identical to exposing, but there are differences in degree. When it comes to dissecting, it is not simply about exposing a fact, true situation, or background; it involves the issue of characterization, that is, it involves the disposition of antichrists, this essential, root issue. Dissect their attitude toward God, the truth, their duty, and the work of God’s house, as well as the motives, intentions, and purpose behind their spreading of fallacies—the reasons why they do this—and discern just what their essence is through their thoughts, viewpoints, speech, actions, and the dispositions and manifestations they reveal. These should be compared with God’s words and explained so that the brothers and sisters can gain a deeper understanding of the antichrists and clearly see from a practical perspective just why the antichrists before them say and do these things, what God’s perspective on such people is, and how He characterizes them. Of course, leaders and workers should also tell the brothers and sisters to distance themselves from and reject the antichrists, and also to be vigilant against being misled by the antichrists’ actions, behaviors, speech, and viewpoints so as to avoid misunderstanding God, guarding against God, distancing themselves from God, rejecting God, and even inwardly judging and condemning God like the antichrists do. The purpose of dissecting, like other tasks such as exposing and pruning, is to stop the antichrists from misleading, disturbing, and harming God’s chosen people. It is to protect God’s chosen people from being grievously harmed by the antichrists and from deviating from the right track of believing in God. When God’s chosen people clearly see the facts and true situation about how the antichrists disturb the church and clearly see the essence of the antichrists, they will no longer be misled and controlled by them. Even if some muddlers and foolish people still admire and idolize them inside and interact with and draw close to them, the antichrists can no longer cause major issues. They will only do some things to the foolish people, without affecting the life entry of those who sincerely believe in God at all, and thus, they will not be able to disturb and disrupt the work of the church. Reaching this level is what leaders and workers should be able to achieve. That is, they must ensure that those who sincerely believe in God and willingly do their duties and those who love the truth can live a normal church life and fulfill their duties. At the same time, they must also be able to ensure that these people can guard against the antichrists’ misleading and disturbances, and reject the antichrists. This is stopping the evildoing and disturbances of antichrists to the greatest extent, fully achieving the effect of protecting God’s chosen people. Of course, no matter how effectively you do your work and how thoroughly you speak, there will inevitably be some foolish people, people with poor caliber, and muddle-headed people who cannot reject the antichrists and will still admire and look up to them in their hearts. However, most people will have reached the point where they can reject the antichrists. If leaders and workers can achieve this, they will have already protected God’s chosen people to the greatest extent, fully achieving the desired result. As for those dimwits who cannot understand the truth no matter how it is fellowshipped, if they can still labor a little, they should be given some care and help, as well as some more love, patience, and tolerance. This is doing everything one ought to do, and working in this way is principled. Are there many leaders and workers who can meet this standard? (No.) Therefore, the utmost effort must be made; you must protect God’s chosen people tirelessly and to the greatest extent. What does “to the greatest extent” mean? It means to do everything possible to fellowship the truth principles you understand, to present the evidence already obtained—the various manifestations of the evil deeds of the antichrists—correlating them with God’s words that expose antichrists, and to fellowship and dissect them. This is so that the brothers and sisters can see the factual, true situation clearly, discern and see through to the essence of antichrists, and know God’s attitude toward antichrists. This is an important task that leaders and workers must undertake.

IV. Restricting

What is the next task leaders and workers must do? It is to restrict. This work of “restricting” is easy to carry out; it involves adopting some special measures to achieve the result of restriction. For example, antichrists always speak words and doctrines, always exalt themselves, sometimes belittle others, often testify about how much suffering they have endured and what contributions they have made in God’s house during gatherings, and shamelessly testify to themselves, talking about how others admire them, how they are better than others, how they are unique, and so on. Leaders and workers should do their best to restrict the various evil deeds of the antichrists that mislead and control God’s chosen people, instead of continually indulging them. They should restrict their speaking time and the topics they discuss. Additionally, concerning the actions of antichrists both in public and in private, such as using small favors to draw people over to their side, sowing dissension, spreading notions and negative remarks, and so on, leaders and workers should not act like they are deaf or blind. They should promptly grasp the actions of the antichrists; once they discover behaviors that mislead and disturb others, they should promptly expose and dissect these behaviors and impose restrictions on the antichrists, not allowing them to go around misleading people and disturbing the work of the church. Is this one of the important tasks that leaders and workers need to do? (Yes.) Can you restrict the antichrists’ evil deeds just by pruning, exposing, and dissecting them? (No.) You can’t restrict them this way because they are Satans and devils. As long as their hands and feet are not bound, and their mouths not sealed, they will spread fallacies and speak devilish words that disturb people. Leaders and workers must promptly take action to restrict them; especially when they spread fallacies to mislead and disturb people, leaders and workers must interrupt and stop them in a timely manner. They must also enable God’s chosen people to have discernment and see the true face of antichrists clearly. This is the actual work that leaders and workers should do.

V. Monitoring

After restricting antichrists, what comes next is monitoring them. See who the antichrists have misled and what fallacies and devilish words they’ve spread behind the scenes, check if they are siding with the great red dragon and acting in concert with it, whether they have allied with the religious community, whether they are secretly pulling shady maneuvers with members of their gangs, if they might sell out some important information about God’s house, and so on. This is also a responsibility that leaders and workers should fulfill. Before the antichrists’ actions come to light, leaders and workers should not “devote themselves entirely to studying books of sages and pay no attention to outside matters,” but should be as shrewd as serpents. Once leaders and workers discover that someone is an antichrist, if the time has not yet come to clear out or expel that person, they must closely monitor them to prevent them from continuing to do evil, ensuring that their words and actions are monitored by God’s chosen people. Because antichrists love power and making connections with powerful people, leaders and workers should closely watch whom the antichrists are always interacting with behind the scenes and whether they are in contact with religious people. Some antichrists often associate with religious pastors and elders, and some even interact with people from the United Front Work Department. When such incidents occur, leaders and workers should not turn a blind eye to this, but should be vigilant against the antichrists and be on guard. If an antichrist sees that their methods of misleading and drawing people over to their side do not work in God’s house and that their evil deeds have been exposed, and they know that they will not come to a good end, you cannot predict what they might do or to what extent their evil might go. Therefore, once you are certain in your heart that someone is an antichrist, you must closely monitor and watch them without letting up. This is your responsibility. What is the point of doing this? It is to protect God’s chosen people, and to stop, to the greatest extent possible, the antichrists from committing wrongful acts against the church and the brothers and sisters to harm the brothers and sisters. Some antichrists always inquire about the offerings: “Who manages the money of God’s house? Who keeps the accounts? Are the accounts kept accurately? Is it possible that there’s embezzling going on? Where is the church’s money kept? Shouldn’t these things be made public, giving everyone the right to know about them? How many assets does God’s house have? Who has donated the most? Why don’t I know these things?” Their words make it sound like they are concerned about the financial affairs of God’s house, but in fact, they have a different motive. There is not a single antichrist who does not covet money. So what should leaders and workers do in such cases? First, you should properly manage the offerings, entrusting them to reliable people for safekeeping, and you absolutely should not let the antichrists succeed in achieving their aims—you mustn’t be muddled on this point. As soon as this kind of situation arises, you should realize: “Something’s wrong. The antichrist is going to do something. The church’s money is being targeted by them. They might be planning to ally with the great red dragon to hatch plots about and seize the church’s money. We have to move it right away!” For one thing, you cannot let the antichrists know who manages the finances of God’s house. Furthermore, if the people managing the money feel there is a security risk, both the money and the people managing it must be moved quickly. Isn’t this something that the leaders and workers should concern themselves with, and the work they should perform? (Yes.) By contrast, foolish leaders hear the antichrists say these things and yet they think, “This person bears a burden and knows to show concern for the money of God’s house, so let’s give them some responsibility and let them help with the accounting.” In doing this, haven’t they become Judases? (Yes.) Not only have they failed to protect the offerings, but they’ve even sold them out to the antichrists, effectively becoming Judases. What do you think of these leaders and workers? Are they not evil people? Are they not devils? They have not only failed to fulfill their responsibilities, but they’ve also handed over God’s offerings and the brothers and sisters to the antichrists. Therefore, in places where there are antichrists, once leaders and workers discover any clues of this, they must commence an investigation and do some specific work, within which the work of “monitoring” is indispensable.

The monitoring work carried out by leaders and workers is not about conducting espionage or any spy activities; it is simply about fulfilling your responsibility, being more concerned, carefully observing more, and noting what the antichrists are doing and what they intend to do. If you discover any signs of them committing evil and disturbing the church, you must take countermeasures as soon as possible; you absolutely cannot allow them to succeed. This is stopping incidents that disturb the work of the church by antichrists from occurring to the greatest extent. Naturally, this also best safeguards the church’s work and protects God’s chosen people. This is a manifestation of leaders and workers fulfilling their responsibilities. Monitoring does not mean arranging for a few people to act as secret agents, and having them follow, tail, and surveil people like spies, or searching their homes and using severe interrogation methods. God’s house does not engage in such activities. However, you must promptly understand the antichrists’ situation. You can inquire about their recent situation by speaking with their family members or brothers and sisters who can discern them or are familiar with them. Aren’t these all methods and ways for doing this work? If leaders and workers perform the tasks that fall within the scope of their responsibilities and conform to the principles required by God, they are fulfilling their responsibilities. What is the purpose of leaders and workers fulfilling their responsibilities? It is for you to do all you possibly can to stop antichrists from causing disruptions and disturbances to the greatest extent possible, thereby preventing antichrists from harming God’s chosen people and betraying the interests of God’s house. This is the responsibility of leaders and workers. Doesn’t this stop the occurrence of antichrist incidents to the greatest extent? Aren’t leaders and workers who undertake these actions doing all that is humanly possible? (Yes.) Is it difficult to do this? (No.) It is not difficult; this is something that those who understand the truth can achieve. What people can achieve, they should do their utmost to accomplish; the rest is up to God to do, to exercise His sovereignty over and orchestrate, and to guide. This is what we worry about the least. We have God behind us. Not only do we have God in our hearts, but we also have genuine faith. This is not a spiritual support; in fact, God is in the dark, and He is at people’s side, always present with them. Whenever people do anything or do any duty, He is watching; He is there to help you at any time and place, keeping and protecting you. What people should do is to do their utmost to accomplish what they should. As long as you become aware, feel in your heart, see in God’s words, are reminded by people around you, or are given any signal or omen by God that provides you with information—that this is something you should do, that this is God’s commission to you—then you should fulfill your responsibility and not sit by idly or watch from the sidelines. You are not a robot; you have a mind and thoughts. When something happens, you absolutely know what you should do, and you definitely have feelings and awareness. So apply these feelings and awareness to actual situations, transform them into your actions, and this way, you will have fulfilled your responsibility. For the things you can be aware of, you should practice according to the truth principles you understand. This way, you are doing your utmost and making your best effort to do your duty. As a leader or worker, when you make your best effort, that is, when you stop the evil deeds of antichrists from occurring to the greatest extent, God will be satisfied that you can practice in this way. Why will God be satisfied? God will make a determination about such leaders and workers: They are fulfilling their responsibilities and making their best effort to perform the work inherent to their role. Is this God’s approval? (Yes.)

VI. Expelling

The thirteenth responsibility of leaders and workers includes specific tasks they must carry out, several of which we listed: They must practice exposing, pruning, dissecting, restricting, and monitoring antichrists. The fellowship on these basic principles has finished. Regardless of the specific actions leaders and workers take in special situations, the principles for dealing with antichrists remain unchanged. Additionally, the main purpose of these tasks is to protect God’s chosen people. Suppose that God’s chosen people have already unanimously recognized someone as an antichrist and have discerned and thoroughly perceived that the antichrist always seeks to mislead and control people; they know that with the antichrist’s presence, there can be no good days or good church life, and everyone unanimously demands to clear the antichrist out of the church. Under these circumstances, some leaders and workers still advocate for letting the antichrist remain to be used as training for practicing exposing, pruning, dissecting, restricting, and monitoring antichrists—is there still a need to go through these processes? Some leaders and workers might say, “If we don’t go through these processes, wouldn’t I be neglecting my responsibilities? Only going through these processes highlights my role as a leader. I must carry out this work. Whether the brothers and sisters agree or not, I must first let the antichrist remain. I will first expose them, and then prune and dissect them, and let the brothers and sisters further confirm that they are an antichrist. After unanimous agreement, we will then clear them out or expel them. Wouldn’t this be more effective?” As a result, during this time, the antichrist starts spreading notions to mislead people and disturbing the church’s work again, causing panic among everyone, with some even refusing to come to gatherings. In order to show their determination and to prove that they are not neglecting their responsibilities, these leaders and workers go through the motions superficially and drag out the work. As a result, they take many unnecessary detours, disturb the order of church life, and waste the valuable time of God’s chosen people in pursuing the truth, only clearing out the antichrist afterward. Is this approach acceptable? (No.) What is wrong with it? (It’s just following regulations and going through the motions.) What is the purpose of leaders and workers doing these tasks? (To protect God’s chosen people.) So, if some people have not yet discerned the antichrist and are still quite attached to them, and when the leaders and workers decide to expel the antichrist from the church, some people become indignant, saying that God’s house is not loving or fair to people, lacks principles in how it does things, and so on, and even some muddle-headed people are misled and influenced by the antichrist and want to follow them out of the church, what should be done in this situation? At this time, leaders and workers need to do some essential work, such as practicing pruning the antichrist and using God’s words to expose and dissect them so that brothers and sisters can learn lessons practically and ultimately discern the antichrist. One day, they say, “This person is so detestable. They are indeed an evil person and an antichrist. Let’s quickly cleanse them away!” This is not just one person’s voice but the voice of many brothers and sisters. In this case, is there still a need to do the work of restricting and monitoring the antichrist? No, just expel them directly. Leaders and workers who reach this level in their work have achieved the result of protecting God’s chosen people from the harm of the antichrists. What does this prove? In one aspect, it proves that the brothers and sisters of this church have discernment, caliber, and a sense of justice. In another, it may be that the leaders and workers are capable of doing actual work, or that this antichrist’s actions are too blatant, their humanity too bad and too wicked, arousing public indignation, and they themselves cut off their own path early, sparing the leaders and workers much of the process of dealing with them. Doesn’t this save a lot of effort? In such a situation, clearing them out or expelling them is a good thing, isn’t it? Moreover, the work that leaders and workers have to do is extensive and not limited to this one task. Do you think that expelling the antichrist is the end of it? That you’ve brought everything to complete success? Far from it! You have other work to do. Besides dealing with the antichrists and protecting God’s chosen people from their harm, leaders and workers also have the responsibility to lead God’s chosen people into the reality of God’s words, to lead them to resolve their corrupt dispositions, and to lead them to resolve their disposition of antichrists, among many other important tasks. However, if an antichrist appears while doing these tasks, then dealing with the antichrist becomes the top priority. They must first expose and address the antichrist, and also fellowship about other aspects of the truth. If the disturbance of an antichrist appears and it becomes very difficult for other work to proceed, with that work facing obstruction and interference and the antichrist severely impacting the growth of the brothers’ and sisters’ life, the order of church life, and the environment for doing duties, then it is of course necessary to first address this greatest scourge and root of disaster. Only after the antichrist is cleared out and dealt with can other work proceed normally and orderly. So, if an antichrist appears in a church and the brothers and sisters quickly discern them within a short period of time and unanimously say, “Beat it, antichrist!” wouldn’t this save the leaders and workers a lot of effort? Shouldn’t you be secretly delighted? You might say, “I was worried that I couldn’t restrict this antichrist, this devil. I was also worried that some brothers and sisters would be misled and grievously harmed by them, and that my own stature was too small to expose the essence of the antichrist, to dissect these matters thoroughly, and to solve this problem.” Now, there’s no need to worry. With this one statement from the brothers and sisters, the issue is resolved, and the leaders’ and workers’ “burden” is lifted. How wonderful this is! You should thank God; this is God’s grace! This sort of thing likely happens in the church, because much has been discussed concerning the topic of exposing antichrists, and because the brothers and sisters are not vastly inferior to the leaders and workers, as you might assume. Under the guidance of God’s words, they also have some ability to independently comprehend the truth and solve problems. When they unite to call a vote and expel an antichrist, it is a good thing, a good phenomenon! Leaders and workers don’t need to feel sad, disappointed, or negative about this. After clearing out these obstacles, the antichrists, every step of the subsequent work still remains a severe test for the leaders and workers. Every task they need to undertake involves their responsibilities and issues concerning their caliber and work capability.

The Manifestations That False Leaders Display When Antichrists Are Causing Disturbances

We’ve finished fellowshipping on the thirteenth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Protect God’s chosen people from being disturbed, misled, controlled, and grievously harmed by antichrists, and enable them to discern antichrists and forsake them from their hearts.” Next, we will dissect and expose the manifestations of a type of people who cannot fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers—false leaders—by comparing them against the work that leaders and workers are supposed to accomplish. In doing this work, there are many tasks that leaders and workers need to undertake, requiring them to have a certain caliber, to be attentive, meticulous, earnest, responsible, considerate of God’s burden, to have a loving heart that protects God’s chosen people, and so on. Only with these qualities can they fulfill their responsibilities and obligations. False leaders, however, are completely opposite of this; they lack these qualities in their humanity. They may have a certain caliber, with the ability to comprehend the truth and discern antichrists, or they may have a slightly lower caliber, being able to at least discern some obvious antichrists that commit numerous evil deeds even if they cannot fully discern the nature essence of antichrists; or, their caliber might be so poor that they cannot discern or see through the differences between those with the essence of antichrists and those with the disposition of antichrists. In any case, false leaders exhibit these two manifestations: One is that they do not do actual work; the other is that they only engage in superficial, general affairs work, while being wholly unable to solve real problems or do actual work. In the work related to the thirteenth responsibility, these two characteristic manifestations of false leaders remain prominent. Next, we will fellowship about just which specific manifestations they have.

I. Not Exposing and Handling Antichrists for Fear of Offending Them

When antichrists disturb, mislead, control, or grievously harm God’s chosen people, the first manifestation of false leaders is inaction. What does inaction mean? It means not doing actual work. There are reasons behind not doing actual work, primarily the fear of offending people and the lack of courage to uphold principles. After becoming leaders, these people start flaunting their power, thinking, “I have status now, and I am an official of the church. I have to manage the food, clothing, housing, and transportation of the brothers and sisters; I have to discern whether what the brothers and sisters say aligns with the truth and conforms to the decorum of saints. I have to see whether they are sincere to God, whether their spiritual lives are normal, whether they do morning and evening prayers, whether their usual gatherings are normal—I have to manage all of this.” False leaders only care about these issues. In terms of formalities, they seem to fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers, but when essential issues of principle arise, or even when antichrists appear, false leaders hide in the shadows without making a peep, where they stay silent and pretend to be oblivious and unable to notice anything. No matter what fallacies antichrists spread, they pretend not to hear. When antichrists disturb, mislead, and control God’s chosen people, they also pretend to be oblivious, as if all this information disappears when it reaches them. They pretend to not be able to discern the antichrists that even ordinary brothers and sisters can discern, saying, “I can’t see through them. What if I expel the wrong person? What if I get the brothers and sisters wrong? Besides, God’s house still needs people to provide service!” Using all kinds of excuses to shirk the responsibilities of leaders and workers, they avoid dealing with antichrists and do not protect the brothers and sisters from the harm of antichrists. Some false leaders even say, “If I always expose the antichrists, what if they incite the brothers and sisters to attack me? Then no one will vote for me in the next election, and I won’t be able to be a leader anymore. My influence isn’t as strong as theirs!” To protect their status and personal safety, false leaders do not fulfill their responsibility to protect God’s chosen people at all, nor do they stop antichrists from harming the brothers and sisters to the greatest extent possible. They act both as a people pleaser and a turtle hiding in its shell, while at the same time being a selfish and despicable person. They do not protect the brothers and sisters but are very thorough in thinking of how to protect themselves. When it comes to dealing with antichrists or pruning and exposing them so that the brothers and sisters can gain discernment, they are scared to death, worried about losing their status, and feel that doing so is detrimental to themselves. They completely disregard the interests of God’s chosen people, considering only their own interests, reputation, personal safety, and the safety of their family, fearing that accidentally offending the antichrists might make them turn ruthlessly hostile and provoke retaliation. This type of false leader actually has some caliber. With their caliber and insight, they are fully aware of who the antichrists are, but the problem lies in their fear of offending the antichrists. Seeing the vicious disposition of antichrists, they dare not offend them. To protect themselves, however, they have no scruple sacrificing the interests of God’s house and God’s chosen people; they watch indifferently as the brothers and sisters are handed over to the antichrists, allowing the antichrists to mislead, control, and grievously harm them at will. False leaders only occasionally say behind the scenes to some relatively guileless people with good humanity who pose no threat to them, “That person is an antichrist. They mislead others. They are not a good person.” However, in front of all the brothers and sisters and in front of the antichrists, they never dare to say a single “no” to the antichrists. They never have the courage to expose any evil deeds or the essence of the antichrists. Even during gatherings, when the antichrists monopolize the floor and speak for one or two hours, they do not dare to make a sound. If the antichrists slam the table and glare at people, they do not even dare to breathe too loudly. Within their scope of work, those with small stature, those with cowardly humanity, and those who want to pursue the truth but have not yet gained discernment feel distressed because there are no leaders or workers who can come forward to expose and discern the evil deeds of the antichrists. They watch helplessly as the antichrists act tyrannically in the church, acting with willful recklessness and disturbing church life, without any means to counter them. False leaders, meanwhile, do not do any actual work and do not solve real problems for God’s chosen people. When the brothers and sisters fall into difficulties, false leaders not only fail to expose and restrict the evil deeds of antichrists, but they even do not dare to speak a single word of fairness. Even if their conscience feels something and accuses them a little, and they shed a few tears in prayer to God behind closed doors, the next day during the gathering, when they see the antichrists making irresponsible remarks about the work of God’s house and arbitrarily judging it, even indirectly judging God and spreading notions about God, they do nothing about it despite knowing it’s wrong. Even when they see the antichrists squandering offerings, they adopt an attitude of brushing it aside. They do not expose or restrict the antichrists at all, and yet they do not even feel a bit of reproach in their hearts—this is extremely irresponsible! Anyone with some sense of conscience, even if they feel their own power is too feeble, should unite with brothers and sisters who have some stature and discernment to fellowship about this matter and discuss how to deal with the antichrists. But false leaders lack such determination and courage, and even more so, they lack such a sense of responsibility. They even tell the brothers and sisters, “The antichrists are too vicious. If we offend them, they will report us to the government, and then none of us will be able to believe in God. The antichrists know the locations of the church’s gatherings, so we cannot provoke them.” This is completely the ugly demeanor of laying down arms and surrendering to antichrists, of compromising with Satan and begging it for mercy.

In addition to protecting themselves, false leaders do not do any of the work that leaders and workers should do, such as protecting God’s chosen people and helping them to gain discernment toward antichrists, and they don’t fulfill any responsibilities at all, and yet they constantly want the brothers and sisters to elect them as leaders. After they finish one term, they want to be elected for the next one. Isn’t this shameless and irredeemable? Are such people worthy of being leaders? (No.) God’s house entrusts the flock to you, but when wild beasts come, at the critical moment, you only protect yourself and you hand over the flock to the wild beasts. You act like a cowering turtle, finding a shelter, a safe place, to hide yourself away in. And as a result, the flock gets harmed—some sheep are bitten to death, and some are lost. Suppose that a leader sees antichrists unscrupulously disturbing the church’s work and misleading and controlling God’s chosen people, and yet they adopt an attitude of just brushing it aside to protect their own face, status, and livelihood, and to ensure their own safety. Most of God’s chosen people are consequently misled, feel helpless, and become negative and weak; some are even captured by the antichrists, and some are unwilling to do their duties. And yet this leader feels nothing when they see the disturbances caused by antichrists; their conscience feels no reproach. Does this kind of leader or worker have any humanity? For the sake of achieving their own goal of self-preservation, they have no scruples about handing over God’s chosen people to the antichrists and allowing the antichrists to mislead, grievously harm, and ravage them. What kind of leader is this? (A false leader.) Isn’t this an accomplice of Satan? Which side are they really on? Although they are characterized as a false leader, the essence of this issue might be even more serious than that of being a false leader. It has a nature of selling out the brothers and sisters to it, just like those people who are arrested and tortured and become Judases, handing over the brothers and sisters to the great red dragon to be grievously harmed. So, what is the nature of a false leader handing over God’s chosen people to antichrists? Aren’t such false leaders extremely vile? Compared to antichrists, these false leaders do not outwardly seem to have an intention to resist the truth. They appear to be able to fellowship some truths, to have some comprehension ability, and to be able to practice a bit of the truth, and some of them can even endure hardship and pay a price. And yet, when God’s house entrusts God’s flock to them, and when evil people and demons appear, they do not use their own lives to do everything they can to protect God’s chosen people. Instead, they do everything they can to protect themselves, shoving the brothers and sisters out to act as a protective shield in order to secure their own safety and interests. How despicable and selfish these people are! On the surface, their humanity seems to have no major issues. They have love for people, they can help others, they are willing to pay a price and can endure any hardship while doing their duties. However, when antichrists appear, they do something unexpected and incomprehensible: No matter how the antichrists mislead God’s chosen people or disturb church life, they do nothing, and no matter how many people are attacked, excluded, or harmed by the antichrists, they ignore it. In doing so, these leaders are completely handing God’s chosen people over to the antichrists’ control, allowing the antichrists to mislead and grievously harm them at will, while these leaders themselves do no work at all. When the antichrists are cleansed away and the problem is solved, these leaders then come out to fellowship about their self-knowledge, about how they were weak, cowardly, frightened, selfish, and deceitful, and that they weren’t loyal, didn’t protect God’s chosen people well, and disappointed God and the brothers and sisters. They seem very remorseful; they seem to have turned themselves around and to be capable of repentance. However, when antichrists appear again, they push the brothers and sisters toward the antichrists just as they did the last time, and find a safe place for themselves to hide. Although they have not been misled or harmed by the antichrists themselves, they have been derelict in their responsibilities and they have betrayed God’s commission, and their attitude toward their duty, their attitude toward God’s chosen people, and their true selves are completely exposed. Every time antichrists appear, they do not choose to stand on God’s side and fight the antichrists to the end, and they do not say a bit of what should be said or do a bit of the work that should be done to protect God’s chosen people and thereby feel at peace in their conscience, and even less do they fulfill the responsibilities of leaders to satisfy God’s intentions. All of these false leaders’ choices and actions are entirely for the sake of safeguarding their own status from harm. They do not care about the life or death of God’s chosen people. To them everything is fine as long as their own reputation, interests, and status aren’t damaged. Who exposes the antichrists, who expels the antichrists, how the antichrists should be dealt with—it’s as if these matters have nothing to do with them; they neither care nor intervene. When antichrists disturb church life, harm God’s chosen people, and frame and torment those who pursue the truth, they ignore it. These things don’t matter to them; it’s all fine to them, as long as their status is not jeopardized. What do you think of these kinds of people? Usually, their humanity does not seem bad, and they seem to be able to do some work. When they face pruning, they seem to be able to know themselves and have a bit of a remorseful heart. However, when they encounter antichrists disturbing the church, they completely lose their reason, they have no sense of justice, and they lack even the courage to fight against the antichrists. When they see devils and Satans, they compromise; when they see evil people causing disturbances, they avoid them. Judging from their attitude toward evil people and antichrists, just what path are they following? Isn’t this very illustrative of their issue? (Yes.) This kind of person may not appear to be an antichrist on the surface, but the attitude they display toward the actions and behaviors of evil people and antichrists is precisely the disposition of antichrists, and the nature of this is terrible. It can be said that it’s the nature of giving up on their responsibilities and selling out God’s chosen people. Isn’t this nature very serious? Do they show any loyalty toward the work of the church and God’s commission? Do they have even a hint of an attitude of responsibility? No matter when they are entrusted with a commission or a task, their principle is to avoid offending people and to protect themselves. This is their highest standard when it comes to how to be a person and their principle for doing things, and this will never change. Let’s put aside for now the question of whether such people can be saved—just judging in terms of the work of dealing with antichrists, are these false leaders worthy of accepting God’s commission? Are they worthy of being leaders and workers? (No.) These people are unworthy of being leaders and workers. This is because they lack conscience and reason, and they are not worthy of taking on the work of church leaders; they do not stop antichrists, to the greatest extent possible, from harming God’s chosen people, and they also do not do their utmost to fulfill this responsibility or do this work well in order to protect God’s chosen people—it is not that they have poor caliber and are unable to do this, but rather that they simply do not do it. Therefore, looking at it from this perspective, people who are afraid of offending others are absolutely unworthy of being leaders and workers. Aren’t there quite a few of these leaders and workers? (Yes.) When nothing has happened, they run about more enthusiastically than anyone else; they’re so busy that they don’t even comb their hair or wash their face, seemingly reaching a very spiritual level. But when antichrists appear, they vanish; they find all sorts of excuses to evade, and simply don’t deal with the antichrists. What is the nature of this behavior? It is lacking loyalty in the performance of their duty and being untrustworthy. At crucial times, they can even betray God and stand on the side of Satan, turning a blind eye as the church’s work is disturbed and damaged by evil people and antichrists. They are not even as useful as a guard dog. This is a type of false leader.

II. Not Being Able to Discern Antichrists

There is another type of false leader: When antichrists appear, they cannot discern what disposition and essence they have, what they manifest and reveal, the kinds of disturbances they cause for the brothers and sisters, which statements, thoughts, viewpoints, and behaviors can mislead and disturb the brothers and sisters, the methods the antichrists use to control people, under what circumstances the brothers and sisters can be misled, controlled, and grievously harmed by the antichrists, and so on—these are all issues that false leaders cannot discern. The antichrists mislead the brothers and sisters; they and the misled brothers and sisters split from the church to hold their own gatherings and form independent kingdoms. They do not accept the leadership of God’s house, do not accept the work arrangements of God’s house, and do not submit to any arrangements or guidance from God’s house, much less do they submit to any of God’s requirements for people. But all such actions by the antichrists to mislead God’s chosen people are not regarded as problems by the false leaders. They cannot see what is off in these situations, much less can they see how the antichrists’ words, actions, thoughts, and viewpoints disturb, mislead, and harm people. They cannot see these negative impacts and do not know how to discern them. Some ordinary brothers and sisters, due to having seen and heard a lot, can have a bit of discernment, perception, and awareness, but false leaders cannot see through these things. Even when someone points out that So-and-so is doing certain things to mislead people and form cliques behind the scenes, the false leaders still obstruct, saying, “We cannot spread these statements. Don’t cause disturbances. They have a good relationship—what’s wrong with them fellowshipping together? We need to give people freedom!” They still cannot see through this. If they cannot see through things, they could observe and seek, and fellowship with brothers and sisters who understand the truth and have some discernment. However, false leaders are quite self-righteous. When brothers and sisters offer them a reminder, they do not accept it, thinking, “Are you the leader or am I? Since I was chosen to be the leader, I must understand the truth better than the average person. Otherwise, why would I be chosen instead of someone else? This proves that I am better than you all. Regardless of whether I am older or younger than you, my caliber is definitely better than yours. When an antichrist appears, I should be the one to identify them first. If you identify them first, I will not agree with your assessment. We will wait until I identify them before doing anything!” As a result, the antichrist spreads many heresies and fallacies among the brothers and sisters, openly resists the work arrangements of God’s house, and openly clamors against and opposes the church, God’s house, and the work arrangements from the Above. The antichrist even openly draws brothers and sisters to their side to partake in exclusive gatherings where participants only listen to the antichrist themselves preach and accept their leadership. Even those with the poorest caliber in the church can see that this person is an antichrist. Only in such a situation do the false leaders admit: “Oh dear, they are an antichrist! How did I only just realize this? No, I actually realized it before, but I didn’t say anything because I was afraid the brothers and sisters were small in stature and lacking in discernment.” They even concoct a splendid lie for themselves. It is clearly because they themselves are numb, dull-witted, of poor caliber, and unable to discern the antichrist that they let the brothers and sisters suffer so much harm from them. Instead of feeling guilty, they blame the brothers and sisters for talking nonsense, spreading baseless rumors, misunderstanding people, and so on. What kind of leader is this? Aren’t they utterly muddled? Such a leader is fundamentally incapable of shouldering the work of the church. On the surface, they often eat and drink God’s words, pray, attend gatherings, listen to sermons, write spiritual notes, and write testimonial articles, seeming to put in a lot of effort, but when problems arise, they cannot resolve them, cannot seek the truth according to God’s words, and certainly cannot discern antichrists based on God’s words. False leaders can usually preach for one or two hours, and when fellowshipping on God’s words and their own experiences they can ramble on without end, but when antichrists spread heresies and fallacies, misleading the brothers and sisters and disturbing the work of the church, they have nothing to say and do no work at all. They not only fail to enact any preventive measures or lead the brothers and sisters to discern the heresies and fallacies of the antichrists, but even when they see the disruptions and disturbances caused by the antichrists, they do not expose or dissect them, nor do they prune the antichrists; they do no work at all. What is the problem with such people? (Their caliber is too poor.) Despite their poor caliber, they still boast that they’re spiritual people, good leaders, and those who pursue the truth and love God’s words, and they shamelessly claim that they have given up familial and fleshly pleasures to fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers. In reality, they are bona fide false leaders who are irresponsible, devoid of conscience and reason, and numb and dull-witted to a high degree—they are authentic, hypocritical Pharisees. They know only how to preach doctrines and shout slogans. When people ask them questions, they can produce a torrent of theories to mislead them, but in actual fact, they cannot explain the truth principles clearly at all. Even so, they consider themselves to have comprehension ability and an understanding of the truth. In their hearts, they clearly know that when people seek solutions to problems from them, they cannot provide answers that align with the truth, yet they still pretend to be good leaders and spiritual people. Isn’t this somewhat devoid of shame? (Yes.) Most false leaders share a common trait and a common problem: being devoid of shame. They think that having the status and title of a leader and being able to speak about spiritual theories makes them a spiritual person. They spend more time than others eating and drinking God’s words, listening to sermons, and watching videos from God’s house, and fellowship more to others about God’s words, so they believe they can do the work of leaders and workers and fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers. But the fact is that when the major issue of antichrists unscrupulously misleading and disturbing God’s chosen people arises, they just watch but are powerless to do anything, and they do not know which parts of God’s words to use to link to and dissect the antichrists, so that the brothers and sisters gain discernment, reject the antichrists from their hearts, and avoid being misled and controlled by them. Although sometimes they feel a bit panicked inside, they still think that they have believed in God for a long time and listened to many sermons, and that they understand the truth better than the average person and can speak eloquently. They often boast: “I am spiritual. I can preach. Although I cannot resolve the problem of the antichrists misleading and disturbing God’s chosen people, and I cannot link God’s words to the antichrists and discern them, I have done the work I should do and said what I should say. As long as the brothers and sisters can understand, that’s fine!” As for what the ultimate result is, whether God’s chosen people have been protected, they are unclear on this in their hearts. They also think they are clever and pretend to solve problems, but in the end, they just speak a lot of words and doctrines without actually resolving the issues. They cannot fellowship the truth to expose and dissect the antichrists. Instead, they just spout words and doctrines to justify and defend themselves, speaking for one or two hours and leaving people utterly confused, and hazy on even the things they originally understood. They fail to rescue the brothers and sisters from the misleading of the antichrists, and they also fail to enable them to discern the antichrists and reject them from their hearts—they never achieve the result of protecting the brothers and sisters. Even if they can see this consequence, they still claim the identity of a leader and do not humble themselves to seek the truth with others, or report the problem upward to seek solutions. Aren’t such people scoundrels? You are nothing, yet you still pretend. What are you pretending for? Since you can’t be a leader, you should step down and go pretend elsewhere. You must not harm God’s chosen people! While you’re pretending, the antichrists take the opportunity to do so many evil things that disturb and control people, misleading and harming many! Who will take responsibility for this? God’s house will find out who’s responsible!

Some leaders and workers do not do any real work when dealing with antichrist incidents, and also cannot discern antichrists. During the period when antichrists mislead and control the brothers and sisters, they never truly expose the evil deeds and essence of the antichrists, nor can they explain them clearly. Later, some of God’s chosen people with discernment expose and expel the antichrists, and these false leaders feel it is their own achievement. After the antichrists are expelled, they make a summary and speak some doctrine: “Look, when the antichrists speak and act, church life becomes abnormal, people are disturbed, and they suffer losses to their life. To avoid the harm of the antichrists, we must discern the actions, words, humanity, essence, etc., of the antichrists—we should understand all of these things. God permits the appearance of antichrists in the church, allowing them to do things and expose their own ugliness, revealing the antichrists, so that we can equip ourselves with the truth, grow in discernment, and increase our stature as quickly as possible—God’s intentions are in this! Now we have discerned the antichrists and are no longer constrained by them; everyone is able to reject them. This is a matter worth celebrating!” In the end, the false leaders take on the tone of an official and offer their summary, speaking as if they had done much real work, paid a great price, and played a significant role in expelling the antichrists. Isn’t this a bit shameless? Clearly, from beginning to end, they could not discern what an antichrist is; they do not understand how antichrists mislead people, what antichrists do to God’s chosen people, or what the disposition essence of antichrists is, yet they pretend as if they have done a lot of work. It is obvious that it was the brothers and sisters who discerned the antichrists and expelled them from the church; it is obvious the false leaders did not play the role leaders and workers should play or fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers, yet they still make a summary and take credit for themselves, as if they had planned everything far in advance and are now telling the brothers and sisters that their actions yielded results and were a great success. Isn’t this shameless? Why are you speaking with such an air of officiality? You do no real work and yet speak like an official. Are you an official of the great red dragon? Aren’t such people Pharisees? (Yes.) They know only how to shout slogans and preach doctrines. When things happen, not only do they fail to treat them correctly, but they also have no path of practice. They just spout nonsense and blindly apply regulations; they are fundamentally unable to solve any problems. After things pass, they act as if nothing happened, pretend to be good people, and take credit for themselves with brazen shamelessness. These people are textbook Pharisees. They can only preach doctrines, shout slogans, exert some effort, and endure some hardship, and they are unable to do any real work, yet they still pretend to be spiritual people. They are Pharisees. Such is the essence of this type of false leader. They can preach so much doctrine in front of everyone, so why can’t they expose and deal with antichrists? They can preach for several hours on end and possess great eloquence, so why, when faced with actual problems—especially when faced with the evil deeds of antichrists—are they unable to handle them, appearing dumbstruck? What’s the reason for this? It is because their caliber is too poor. Just how poor? They do not have spiritual understanding. They are educated and intelligent, quite shrewd in handling external matters, and have some understanding of the law. However, when it comes to matters of believing in God, spiritual matters, and various essential issues, they are unable to discern and cannot see through anything, nor can they find any truth principles. When no issues are at hand, they sit as calmly as a fisherman waiting for his catch, but when issues arise, they behave like ridiculous buffoons, like ants on a hot pan, revealing a pitiful appearance. Sometimes they act extremely serious and solemn. When they are not solemn, they seem normal, but when they become solemn, it actually makes people laugh. This is because when they are solemn, they say nothing but fallacious things and words that lack spiritual understanding, all of which are amateurish remarks. Yet, they maintain a straight-faced solemnity—is this not laughable? If someone raises some critical questions for them to answer, they become bewildered and speechless, appearing particularly embarrassed. There are many such false leaders. Their primary manifestations are poor caliber and lack of spiritual understanding; they are muddled people. What does it mean to lack spiritual understanding? When it comes to spiritual matters and matters involving the truth, it’s like they’re trying to translate ancient Greek—they don’t understand any of it. Even so, they still pretend, saying, “I am spiritual. I have believed in God for a long time. I understand many truths. You are new believers, you have just started believing in God and do not understand the truth. You’re not reliable.” They always consider themselves as having believed in God for a long time and understanding the truth. Such people are both hateful and ridiculous. This concludes the fellowship on the manifestations of such false leaders.

III. Acting as the Antichrists’ Protective Umbrella

There is another type of false leader that is even more hateful. Not only do they fail to expose antichrists, but they also act as the antichrists’ protective umbrella, using loving help as an excuse to indulge the antichrists’ evil deeds that disturb the church’s work. No matter how many fallacies the antichrists spread to mislead people, these false leaders not only do not refute or expose them but also provide opportunities for the antichrists to freely express their viewpoints and speak out. Regardless of what kinds of disturbances, misleading, or harm God’s chosen people suffer, they remain indifferent. Even when some people point out: “These individuals are antichrists. They are those who should be restricted by God’s house; they should not be promoted or cultivated, and they certainly should not be protected. They have harmed the brothers and sisters enough. It’s time to settle accounts with them and thoroughly expose and deal with them,” the false leaders come forward to speak up for antichrists. Considering factors like the antichrists’ age, years of believing in God, and previous contributions, they use various excuses to speak for and defend them. When upper-level leaders go to inspect the work or deal with the antichrists, the false leaders prevent the brothers and sisters from reporting the facts of the evil deeds of the antichrists upward. They even take measures to seal off the church so that the upper-level leaders remain unaware of the antichrists disturbing the church, and they also obstruct discerning brothers and sisters from exposing the antichrists. Regardless of what excuses the false leaders use or what purposes they have for acting as the antichrists’ protective umbrella, in doing so, they are ultimately protecting the interests of the antichrists while betraying the interests of the church and God’s chosen people. They use various excuses to protect the antichrists, such as “the antichrists also believe in God and have the right to speak in God’s house” and “they have done dangerous duties before; God’s house should consider their past contributions.” They prevent the brothers and sisters from discerning the antichrists and do not allow the upper-level leaders to learn about their various evil deeds, while at the same time they themselves do not expose and certainly do not prune the antichrists. These antichrists may be their family members, close friends, or, even more likely, people they idolize and find it emotionally difficult to let go of. Regardless of the situation, as long as they know that these people are antichrists and still defend their evil deeds, telling others to treat them with love, and even using various means to provide the antichrists with opportunities to spread various fallacies to mislead and disturb God’s chosen people, these manifestations demonstrate that they are acting as protective umbrellas for the antichrists. Some false leaders may have done a bit of real work in other areas, but when it comes to dealing with the antichrists, they do not handle them according to the requirements of God’s house. Even more so, they do not fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers as required by God’s house—they do not stop the antichrists from spreading notions, negative emotions, heresies, and fallacies to mislead people in the church to the greatest extent. Instead, they often uphold the specious doctrines spoken by the antichrists, as well as their statements and remarks which are based on knowledge or on Satan’s philosophy, as positive things. These are all manifestations of them acting as protective umbrellas for the antichrists. Of course, there are also some false leaders who do not deal with the antichrists because they value their influence in society. They say, “Most brothers and sisters are from the lower strata of society and have no influence. Although this person is an antichrist with an evil humanity, they have power and influence in the world and are capable. When the brothers and sisters or the church face danger, don’t we need a formidable person to come forward and protect us? So, let’s turn a blind eye to their wrongdoings and not be so serious about it.” The false leaders are willing to act as protective umbrellas for the antichrists so that the antichrists stand up for them and back them up—even this is not below false leaders. There are also some false leaders who hold an erroneous viewpoint. They say, “Some antichrists have status and influence in society; they have prestige. Our church has two such individuals. Although they are antichrists, if we clear them out, people will think our church has no capable people, and those in religious circles will look down on us. We need to keep them around for appearances. Therefore, these two people are treasures of our church; no one can discern or clear them out. They must be protected.” What kind of logic is this? They consider the antichrists as talents, so they protect them. Aren’t these false leaders scoundrels? (Yes.) Regardless of the circumstances, as long as leaders and workers allow antichrists to do whatever they want in the church and disturb the church’s work, they are false leaders and workers. Regardless of how antichrists and evil people spread fallacies, how many people are thus misled, how they attack and exclude positive figures, and how many of God’s chosen people they harm, the false leaders ignore it and play dumb—as long as they can preserve themselves, that’s fine to them. These are the primary manifestations of false leaders. No matter what the antichrists say or do, false leaders do not expose, dissect, or restrict them so that the brothers and sisters can discern and reject them. Instead, they nurture the antichrists like their pets, serve and protect them like dignitaries, give them the green light, and create various opportunities for them to perform. Whose interests are sacrificed while they let the antichrists fully enjoy their freedom? (The interests of God’s chosen people.) Not only do false leaders fail to protect God’s chosen people, but they also allow the antichrists to take charge in the church, making the brothers and sisters serve the antichrists like oxen and horses, like slaves, making them follow the antichrists’ orders, accept their fallacious remarks and thoughts and viewpoints, accept their control, and even accept the grievous harm they do, and so forth. This is the work that false leaders do. Are they stopping the antichrists from grievously harming God’s chosen people to the greatest extent? Have they fulfilled the responsibilities of leaders and workers? Have they done the work of protecting God’s chosen people? (No.) In short, regardless of the reason, any leader who gives antichrists the green light to do as they please without doing any work is a false leader. Why do I say they are false leaders? Because when antichrists mislead and control God’s chosen people, they let the brothers and sisters suffer various harms from the antichrists, failing the commission given to them by God. God’s house entrusted God’s sheep, God’s chosen people, to you, and you did not fulfill your responsibility. You are unworthy of bearing God’s commission! Regardless of the reason or whatever justification you may have, if during your tenure as a leader you acted as a protective umbrella for antichrists, causing the brothers and sisters to suffer profusely from the disturbances, misleading, control, and grievous harm of the antichrists, then you are a sinner for all ages. The reason for this is, it’s not that you cannot discern antichrists or see through to their essence—you clearly know in your heart that antichrists are Satans and devils, yet you do not allow God’s chosen people to expose and discern them. Instead, you let the brothers and sisters listen to, accept, and obey them. This is completely contrary to the truth. Does this not make you a sinner for all ages? (Yes.) Not only did you fail to protect those who sincerely do their duties and pursue the truth, but you also promoted antichrists to the positions of leaders and workers, nurturing them like pets and making the brothers and sisters obey their orders. God’s house entrusted God’s chosen people to you not to have them serve as slaves of the antichrists or as your slaves, but for you to lead God’s chosen people to fight against Satan and antichrists and discern and reject antichrists, and to enable God’s chosen people to live a normal church life, do their duties normally, enter into the truth reality, and submit and testify to God under God’s guidance. If you cannot even fulfill this responsibility, do you deserve to be called human? And yet you still want to protect the antichrists. Are the antichrists your ancestors or your idols? Even if you have a blood relationship with them, you should adhere to the truth principles and put justice above family. You should feel duty-bound to fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers—exposing, discerning, and rejecting antichrists, and doing your utmost to protect the brothers and sisters, to prevent them from being harmed by antichrists, to the greatest extent. This is loyally doing your duty and completing God’s commission; only by doing this can you be called a leader or worker who is up to standard. If you fail to fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers and willingly act as a protective umbrella for antichrists, what else could you be but a sinner for all ages? This concludes the fellowship on false leaders who act as protective umbrellas for antichrists. Clearly, placing such people among the ranks of false leaders is not unjust at all; this is one of the manifestations of genuine false leaders.

IV. Not Caring or Asking About People Who Have Been Misled by Antichrists

There is another manifestation of false leaders that is even more infuriating. Some false leaders can discern antichrists to some extent during their interactions but fail to deal with them promptly. They also fail to promptly expose and dissect the evil deeds and essence of the antichrists through their various behaviors, enabling the brothers and sisters to discern and reject the antichrists. This already counts as not fulfilling the responsibilities of leaders and workers. When some brothers and sisters are misled and follow antichrists, these false leaders remain indifferent, as if it has nothing to do with them. Moreover, they do not feel any self-reproach or self-accusation in their hearts. They do not feel they’ve failed God or the brothers and sisters. Instead, they often say this “classic” line: “These people were misled by the antichrists. They deserved it! It’s their fault for lacking discernment. Even if they did not follow the antichrists, they would still be targets for being cleared out by God’s house.” These false leaders not only feel no self-reproach or guilt after the brothers and sisters are misled by antichrists, but even more so they do not reflect or repent. Instead, they say such inhumane things, claiming that these brothers and sisters deserved to be misled by antichrists. What can be seen from these words? Do these people have any humanity? (No.) Their lack of humanity is certain. So why do they say these things? (To shirk responsibility.) Firstly, it is to shirk responsibility, to mislead and benumb people. They believe: “Those people were misled by the antichrists because they lack discernment, which has nothing to do with me. They did not pursue the truth, so they deserved to be misled!” What does “deserved” mean? It means these people should be misled and controlled by antichrists, and should be grievously harmed by antichrists—whatever treatment they receive from the antichrists, they deserve it; they deserve to follow the antichrists. The implication is that these people should not follow God but should follow the antichrists, that following God was a mistake for them, and God choosing them was also a mistake, and that even though they’ve entered God’s house, their being led away by the antichrists was inevitable. Isn’t this what the false leaders imply? Not only do they slander the brothers and sisters, but they also blaspheme God. Aren’t such people hateful? (Yes.) They are extremely hateful! In addition to shirking responsibility and covering up the fact and the truth that they did not protect the brothers and sisters, they even attack them, saying that these people deserved to be misled by the antichrists and that they are unworthy of believing in God and receiving God’s salvation. This one statement reveals how vile their character is! Although they did not directly disturb, mislead, or suppress the brothers and sisters like the antichrists, their attitude toward the brothers and sisters, toward God’s commission, and toward the flock entrusted to them by God’s house shows how cold-hearted and cold-blooded they truly are! Nobody who accepts God’s work does so easily; it involves the sacrifices and cooperation of those who preach the gospel. This costs a lot of manpower and resources, and, even more so, God’s painstaking effort is in it. It is God who arranges various people, events, things, and environments to bring people before Him. False leaders pay no attention to any of this. No matter who is misled by antichrists, they dismiss it with a single phrase: “They deserved it!” In doing so, they nullify all the hard work of everyone involved and God’s painstaking effort, reducing it to nothing. What does “They deserved it” mean? It means, “Who told you to preach the gospel to them? They are unworthy of believing in God. Preaching the gospel to them was a mistake. Who told them to follow antichrists? Although I didn’t do any real work, I also didn’t make them follow the antichrists. They insisted on it themselves; they deserved to follow the antichrists!” What kind of humanity does someone like this have? Do they have any heart at all? They are a cold-blooded animal, worse than a watchdog, and yet they are a leader? They are unworthy! You must have discernment: Seeing that such people lack conscience and reason and are so cold-blooded, you must not choose them as leaders. Don’t be muddled! Not only do they fail to do everything possible to recoup the losses and recover those misled by antichrists, but they also say such cruel things—they’re so malicious! The problem with this type of person is more severe in nature than that of an average false leader. Although they cannot be regarded as antichrists, based on their manifestations, it is clear they have no humanity and are unworthy of being a leader or worker. They are nothing but an ugly, ungrateful traitor! They do not know what God’s commission is, nor do they have any awareness of what work they should be doing. They do not treat it with conscience and reason; they are unworthy of being a leader of God’s chosen people and unworthy of accepting God’s commission. In particular, false leaders have no love for God’s chosen people. When the brothers and sisters are misled, they even kick them when they are down, saying things like “They deserved it,” showing no sympathy whatsoever. Such a person, if they see someone beset by misfortune or difficulties, will not help but will instead kick them while they’re down. Their conscience won’t feel any self-reproach, and they will continue being a leader the way they always have. Is this not shameless? (Yes.) Not to mention the brothers and sisters, even if a good nonbeliever is grievously harmed by devils, as a believer in God and as a created being, anyone with normal humanity would feel sympathy; how much more should their heart feel pained when it is the brothers and sisters—those who sincerely believe in God—who are misled and harmed by antichrists. These false leaders do no real work during the time when the antichrists commit evil and harm God’s chosen people. They neither expose nor dissect the evil deeds and essence of the antichrists, much less do they have the sense of burden to help the brothers and sisters gain discernment of the antichrists and reject them from their hearts. They feel no sense of responsibility for this matter. Even when some people are misled by the antichrists, they just throw out the cold, heartless remark, “They deserved it.” It’s truly infuriating! To shirk responsibility, to preserve themselves, to mislead and benumb more people, and to avoid being condemned by God, they say such inhumane things. Isn’t this hateful? (Yes.) No matter what you say, you did not fulfill your responsibilities, and you did not do your job properly—these are the manifestations of a false leader; you cannot deny these things no matter how much you try. You are a false leader.

Some false leaders not only act cold-hearted, heartless, and irresponsible after some brothers and sisters are misled by antichrists, saying that these people deserved to be misled, but even when the work arrangements of God’s house require that they fulfill their responsibility to recover those who have relatively good humanity and hope of being recovered among them to the greatest extent possible, these false leaders still do no real work. Even when some people request to return to the church, they remain indifferent and dismissive, not treating people’s life as the most precious thing to cherish. They fail to recover those misled brothers and sisters to the greatest extent possible. They cannot fulfill this responsibility, and they make no effort to do so. Even though the work arrangements of God’s house repeatedly demand that this work be done well, the false leaders remain unmoved, taking no action and doing no work. As a result, some people who were misled by the antichrists and were isolated or cleared out still cannot return to God’s house and have not resumed a normal church life. Of course, some people indeed do not meet the conditions for recovery by God’s house in various aspects, but there are others who can be recovered. If, through loving help and patient support, they can understand the truth, discern, and reject the antichrists, they can be recovered. However, because the leaders and workers do not do real work, do not implement the work arrangements of God’s house, and do not treat these people’s life as important, some people are still left to wander outside. These leaders and workers ignore the work arrangements of God’s house using various excuses. They even ignore those brothers and sisters who want to return to the church and meet the church’s conditions for acceptance. They come up with all sorts of excuses, saying that these people have bad humanity, face security risks, love to dress up, enjoy fleshly pleasures, are fond of status, and so on. Using these fabricated excuses and reasons, they refuse to let them return to the church. These people have been misled and are controlled by the antichrists, but their being lost is of no concern to the false leaders. They have no sense of responsibility or no sense of conscience whatsoever. Maybe they think recovering these people is difficult or dangerous, or maybe they are unwilling and disagree deep down. In any case, for various reasons, they do not implement the abovementioned work arrangement of God’s house at all. These are the manifestations of such false leaders. Not only do they fail to actively cooperate and fulfill their responsibilities regarding any task assigned by God or God’s house, but when someone exposes their dereliction of responsibility, they defend themselves, saying things that shirk their responsibilities and justify themselves so as to cover up the truth of their neglect. Aren’t such false leaders even more hateful? (Yes.) In summary, these false leaders are also negligent in dealing with antichrists grievously harming God’s chosen people, doing no real work at all. They ignore every detail of this work required by God’s house. They are unwilling to endure hardship or pay a price, preferring only to do as they please and act however they want—doing a bit if they feel like it and doing nothing if they don’t. They completely disregard the work arrangements of God’s house, they disregard the duties and responsibilities entrusted to them by God’s house, and they especially disregard God’s intentions and requirements. These people have no humanity and no conscience; they are walking corpses. Would you dare entrust this major matter of your life of pursuing salvation in believing in God to people without humanity? (No.) Even if they do not hand you over to antichrists, will they do their utmost to fight against antichrists when they mislead and grievously harm God’s chosen people? No, they will not, because such people are cold-blooded animals with no sense of responsibility. They serve as leaders only to secure benefits for themselves.

False leaders sometimes show concern for the brothers and sisters; they ask them if there’s anything they need, how they are doing in terms of food and accommodation, and so on. They are quite attentive when it comes to matters related to day-to-day life, but when it comes to matters involving God’s commission, the life and death of the brothers and sisters, and the truth principles, they remain indifferent and do nothing regardless of who asks them. They only care about people’s fleshly enjoyment, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, or material benefits, and they only handle such matters. Some people say, “Your words are contradictory. Didn’t You say they are cold-blooded? Would a cold-blooded person be willing to do these things for others?” Would a cold-blooded person be so kind-hearted to do these things for everyone? (No.) In fact, some cold-blooded people would indeed do these things, and there are two reasons for this. One is that, while they are doing things for everyone, they are also doing things for themselves, and they benefit from this. If they can’t derive any benefits from doing something, look and see whether they still do it—they will immediately change their attitude and stop. Moreover, whose money are they using to do these things and seek benefits for everyone? It’s God’s house that foots the bill. Being generous with the resources of God’s house is the specialty of these people. How could they not do these things when they personally gain benefits? While they are seeking benefits for everyone, they are actually doing things for themselves. They are not so kind-hearted as to seek benefits for everyone else’s sake! If they were truly seeking benefits for everyone, they ought to not have any selfish motives, and they ought to handle matters according to the principles of God’s house. However, they are instead always seeking benefits for themselves, and they do not spare any thought for the life entry of God’s chosen people. Additionally, they do things for everyone so that people will esteem them and say, “This person seeks benefits for us and strives to protect our interests. If we lack anything, we should ask them to take care of it. With them around, we will not suffer any poor treatment.” They do these things so that everyone will thank them. By acting in this way, they gain both fame and benefits, so why wouldn’t they do these things? If they sought benefits for everyone, but no one knew it was their doing, and everyone thanked God, and no one ever felt grateful toward them, would they still do it? They would definitely not be in the mood to do so; their true selves would be exposed. When people like this do anything, their nature essence is fully exposed. Therefore, when antichrists disturb the church, they absolutely will never do any real work to protect God’s chosen people.

Just now we fellowshipped that after God’s chosen people suffer the misleading, control, and harm of antichrists, false leaders still turn a blind eye to it. They do not think of any means to recover God’s chosen people, nor do they fulfill their obligations and responsibilities. They only consider their own feelings, moods, and interests. They do not fulfill their responsibilities and they do not hold themselves accountable; instead, they shirk their responsibilities and evade them. And they even pass judgment on God’s chosen people after they are misled and controlled by antichrists, saying that they do not sincerely believe in God, to shirk their own responsibility, without feeling any pangs of conscience whatsoever. These false leaders are the most hateful. The different kinds of manifestations of false leaders that we have discussed are all quite disgusting, but this last type of person simply has no humanity at all. This kind of person is a cold-blooded animal, a beast in human attire; they cannot be considered part of humankind, but should be classified among beasts. Why do they not fulfill their responsibilities? Because they have no humanity, no conscience or reason. Responsibilities, obligations, love, patience, compassion, protecting the brothers and sisters—none of these things are in their heart; they do not possess these qualities. Not having these qualities in their humanity is equivalent to having no humanity. These are the manifestations of the fourth type of false leader.

These are more or less the four kinds of manifestations of false leaders that need to be exposed within the thirteenth responsibility of leaders and workers. Of course, there are some other similar manifestations, but these four types can basically already represent the various manifestations of false leaders in performing this work, as well as their humanity essence. No matter how many categories we divide their manifestations into, the two prominent manifestations of false leaders can, in any case, still be found within these four categories: One of them is not doing actual work, and the other is being unable to do actual work. These are the two most prominent manifestations of false leaders. Regardless of what false leaders’ humanity and caliber are like, and regardless of how they treat the truth, in any case, these two manifestations are embodied within these four categories. This is the end of the content about exposing false leaders in our fellowship today on the thirteenth responsibility of leaders and workers.

Supplement: Answering Questions

Do you have any questions? (God, I want to ask a question. At the beginning of the gathering, God asked us what the difference is between people with the disposition of antichrists and actual antichrists, and what the typical characteristics of the essence of antichrists are. At that time, we felt our minds go blank, and after pondering for a while, we could only think of some very simple words and doctrines. God has been fellowshipping truths about exposing antichrists for more than a year now, but we are only able to understand and practice a very small amount of them. One reason for this is that we have not put effort into these truths, and another is that we have encountered relatively few antichrists and have not come to understand these truths by seeing how they link to actual situations. Therefore, even now we don’t really have any entry into these truths, we do not have much discernment of antichrists, and there are many manifestations of the disposition of antichrists in ourselves that we have not identified yet. I want to ask how to solve this problem.) For any aspect of the truth, you must have some real experiences and experiential knowledge, and achieve a genuine understanding, in order for the words of the truth to be engraved in your heart. The process of gaining the truth is always like this. The things you can remember are those you have gained through your experiences; they are the most profound impressions. Therefore, as we were fellowshipping on the topic of antichrists today, I got you to review this content first. You were able to recall some of it. Of the things you could recall, some of it is theoretical to you, but naturally there are some manifestations of antichrists that you can more or less match up to real life—everyone must experience it in this way. The normal situation for people is that no matter how well they seem to understand while listening to sermons, they are only understanding theoretically and in terms of doctrine, and they do not have knowledge of the truth. When can one understand the truth? It is only when one has experienced these things that they can have some practical knowledge. Without experiencing real circumstances, no one can gain knowledge. And so, as we were fellowshipping on the topic of antichrists today, it was necessary to do a quick review and give you a simple reminder. After this, regardless of whether we fellowshipped about the responsibilities of leaders and workers or the various manifestations of false leaders, it at least wouldn’t be too hollow for you—that’s all. However, you still need to gain exposure to the various manifestations of antichrists. Some people say, “If God doesn’t arrange some real people, events, and things, where can we gain exposure? We can’t seek out antichrists ourselves, can we?” You don’t need to seek them out. The simplest solution is that when you encounter antichrists, try your best to match them up with God’s words. Match up their external revelations, statements, actions, and dispositions, as well as their thoughts and viewpoints, and even their way of comporting themselves and dealing with the world, their lifestyle, and so on—that is, match them against the fifteen manifestations of antichrists that we have discussed. Match up as many of them as you can. This is how people’s comprehension is: They cannot recall much from memory because human memory is limited. People can speak consummately about the things they’ve truly gained through first-hand experiences. No matter how much they say, it is not based on memory but on experience and what they’ve undergone. These things they’ve gained are closest to the truth and to what is factually true—these are things people have gained through experience. Aside from them, things that conform to human notions and imaginings and things that are knowledge-based do not conform to the truth, no matter how many years they have occupied a predominant position in your mind after entering it first. When you genuinely understand the truth, these things will be eliminated and discarded. However, those things that are close to the truth and conform to the truth, which you have gained through experience, are the ones that are valuable. Whether or not you fully understand the questions that I’ve asked today, there is certainly a part of the topic of discerning antichrists that you can understand, because you have all experienced some misleading and disturbance from antichrists. This has given you a bit of discernment, and when you encounter antichrists doing evil and disturbing the church’s work, these truths can come into effect for you. These words only come into effect when you encounter real environments. If you haven’t experienced the misleading of antichrists and merely imagine their actions with your mind, this is useless. No matter how good your imagination is, it will not mean that you’ll be able to discern them. It is only when facing real environments that people instinctively react, using their own thoughts and viewpoints, some theories they have been exposed to, and some doctrines, methods, and ways they have learned, to face and handle these matters, ultimately making various choices. But before people have encountered these situations, it is already quite good if they have a pure comprehension and impression of various theories. Some people say, “What’s the use of You saying so much before we’ve encountered antichrists?” It is useful. Aren’t the words exposing antichrists printed in a book? Are those words something you can fully experience and see through in one or two days? No. The purpose of printing them in that book is to save you and to allow you to read these words often, and understand these truths, as well as to read God’s words and receive a supply of life when you encounter various situations in the future—whether it’s an antichrist incident, difficulties in changing your own disposition, or anything else. The words of God in this book are the source for you to experience and handle these matters and to enter into these aspects of the truth. How much you can understand when listening to sermons does not represent how much reality you possess. If you cannot figure out or remember something at one time, it does not mean you will never experience it or never come to understand it in the future. In short, you must understand that only things people gain through experience and come to know based on God’s words are related to the truth. The things people remember and the things they understand in their minds are mostly unrelated to the truth; they are just doctrinal. What are the most important things when it comes to the truth? The most important things are experience and entry. With any aspect of the truth, when people actually experience it, their final harvest is the fruit of the truth and the path for their survival. Therefore, not remembering is not a problem.

If I had started discussing the main topic directly at the beginning of the gathering, wouldn’t you have been unable to react in time? Therefore, I needed to use some methods, and first ask you, “Do you remember the difference between people with the essence of antichrists and people with the disposition of antichrists?” My purpose in asking this question first was not to leave you dumbstruck or to lay you bare, but to give you a prompt. Then, we did a review, and some people gradually remembered: “We have fellowshipped before about how antichrists treat the truth, and what the humanity of antichrists is like.” Some of the content on antichrists has already left a deep impression on you; this content is waiting to be used by you when you experience such things, to serve as a guide and direction for your practice. But there is even more content that you had no impression of at all after you first heard it. This content also needs to be experienced. When you go through these experiences and then eat and drink, and pray-read these words, you will gain even more. Whether it is content that you have an impression of or not, after you go through these things, it will all get mixed together. The doctrines you remembered will become your practical understanding and your gains after you experience them. As for the content you had no impression of, after experiencing it once, you might have some impression, but it will just be a bit of perceptual knowledge. This perceptual knowledge can only stay at the level of doctrine. It remains for you to experience similar things again, at which point it will then guide you, give you direction, and provide you with a path for practice. Experiencing God’s words and experiencing the truth is this kind of process. Is it embarrassing that you didn’t know how to answer the question I asked? It’s not embarrassing. If you ask Me a question out of the blue, I will also need to mull it over on the spot, considering what the question means and which aspects of the truth it involves. The human brain and mind work like this—they need time to respond. Even if it’s something you are very familiar with, if you haven’t encountered it for many years, you will still need time to respond when you suddenly come across it again. No matter how deeply you’ve experienced something, if you encounter it again after many days or years, you will still need time to respond—not to mention, your understanding of the topic of antichrists is only at the level of words and doctrines, you cannot yet match it with the antichrists you encounter in real life, and it can be said that you still basically cannot discern antichrists. So, these truths are waiting for you to practically experience them—only then can you verify the authenticity and accuracy of God’s words. For example, we previously fellowshipped that antichrists are staunchly unrepentant. Suppose that you memorized this and you say, “God said that antichrists are staunchly unrepentant. They will defy God and oppose Him to the end. They do not accept the truth and they will never admit that God’s words are the truth, no matter what. They are averse to the truth.” It is only doctrinally that you understand, accept, or have an impression of this statement; it is just a bit of perceptual knowledge. In your subconscious, you feel that this statement is correct, but which specific words that antichrists say, which corrupt dispositions that they reveal, and what nature that drives them, and so on, match up and correlate with God’s words that expose antichrists? Which of them can demonstrate that God’s exposure is factual? This requires you to either meet an antichrist in person, or hear from observers about an antichrist’s deeds and words, and in the end, you realize, “God’s words are so practical, they are completely correct. This person has been characterized as an antichrist and dismissed several times. Although they have not yet been expelled or cleared out, their manifestations and revelations show that they do not accept the truth at all, are staunchly unrepentant, and not only have the disposition of antichrists but also the nature essence of antichrists—they are truly a thoroughgoing antichrist.” And one day, when this person is expelled, you confirm in your heart: “God’s words are so accurate! People with the disposition of antichrists can change, but those with the essence of antichrists will not change.” These words take root in your heart. It is not just a memory or a bit of an impression, nor is it just a kind of perceptual knowledge. Instead, you deeply understand and accept God’s words: “An antichrist will not change; they will oppose God to the end. No wonder God does not save them; no wonder God does not work on such people. No wonder they never have enlightenment or light when doing their duty and show no growth whatsoever—they are determined to go their own way. This truly is an antichrist!” When you verify the accuracy of God’s words, you think to yourself: “God’s words are truly the truth. These words are correct. Amen!” What does it mean for you to say Amen? It means that through your experiences, you have come to understand that God’s words are the criterion for measuring all things, that God’s words are the truth, and that even when this age and this humankind pass away, God’s words will not pass away. Why will they not pass away? Because no matter when, the essence of antichrists will never change, and the words of God that expose the essence of antichrists will never change. Even though this age will pass away, even though this corrupt humankind will pass away, these words of God will always be the truth of the facts—nobody can deny this. This is the word of God! When you feel that God’s words correspond and match up to the facts you see and encounter, and your heart gains confirmation, and it is not just a feeling that God’s words must be right or that God’s words are not wrong, and instead you have seen and personally experienced and gone through it, then you will naturally say Amen to God’s words. At that time, if I ask again, “What are the manifestations of people with the essence of antichrists?” your inner understanding will come out immediately. You won’t just have an impression, a remembered phrase, or a kind of awareness or perceptual knowledge. You will immediately say, “Antichrists absolutely do not accept the truth and are staunchly unrepentant!” Though this statement may not have much logical structure to it, though it is spoken quite abruptly, and people will not get it at first, you know what it means because you have experienced it and seen it with your own eyes. Antichrists are precisely such wretched things—they will never repent. These words need to be experienced; anyone who does not experience them will not gain anything.

October 2, 2021