By Wang Ju, China

After believing in God for more than one year, I served as a group leader in the church. Ye Ping was our church’s leader. I saw that she was of high caliber, did her duty enthusiastically, and arranged work in an orderly and clear fashion. Whenever someone had a problem, she could always quickly find suitable words of God to fellowship with them and offer help. Everyone admired her and thought that she understood the truth. During gatherings, Ye Ping would often say, “The church is very busy with work now, and I must concern myself with the work of both spreading the gospel and watering. Most of the people in the church are new believers who don’t understand the truth, and so I have to pay attention to their life entry.” Brothers and sisters all thought that she had a burden, and when they encountered difficulties, they would wait for Ye Ping to fellowship. I also admired her and thought that she was a good leader of our church. At that time, everyone in the church thought highly of Ye Ping and would often say that she knew how to fellowship and was a capable worker. When Ye Ping heard this, she would reveal a pleased expression and say proudly, “I have sufficiently attended to all items of work within the church, and I remember the circumstances of each brother and sister.” I thought that it was arrogant of her to say such a thing. But I thought that since people of high caliber and those who had gifts were all relatively arrogant, it was enough for her to just do the church’s work well, and so I didn’t take the matter seriously.

After that, I discovered that Ye Ping was in charge of the gospel-spreading work but had never fellowshipped on the principles of spreading the gospel or on God’s will. She did not resolve practical problems, and only ordered people about and did superficial work. One time, Ye Ping arranged for me to go spread the gospel to a potential gospel recipient. While we were talking, the gospel recipient frequently physically harassed me. I saw that this person’s nature was very wicked, and he was not sincerely investigating the true way at all. I reported it to Ye Ping right away. To my surprise, she grumpily lectured me, “You only went a few times and are already giving up? What lessons have you learned?” She finished speaking and left. Back then, I was confused as to why she’d suddenly rebuke me, and I felt wronged, “I was harassed by someone, and you didn’t comfort me or resolve the problem, but instead reprimanded me. Where are your compassion and your sense of responsibility in that?” Later, I kept on seeking, and confirmed that this person’s nature was wicked, that he did not love the truth, and that he was not a worthy gospel recipient, and so I gave up on him. But after this, Ye Ping would always find fault with me for no reason. For example, she would deliberately ask me some questions, and when I couldn’t answer she would call me muddled-headed. She also made me go give aid to someone who was not pursuing the truth in the slightest. When I couldn’t help them, she took the opportunity to lecture me. I didn’t dare to report this problem to the superior leaders, because I thought that, after all, she was a leader, and many brothers and sisters thought highly of her. Meanwhile, I was only a group leader, and I should do my best not to offend her. But what I didn’t expect was that Ye Ping unreasonably stopped my duty as a group leader and arranged for me to gather together with two people who were not pursuing the truth at all. During the gatherings, one always dozed off, and the other always pestered me to talk about gossip. After two months, there had been no gains from these gatherings, and I was in a state of confusion. I thought of when I gathered before, of how everyone would open their hearts and fellowship on their experiences and knowledge, which I enjoyed very much. But now, I was in great pain, and I was also very negative and weak. I thought that attending gatherings here, the loss incurred on my life was too great. If I continued like this, could I gain the truth and attain salvation? I only found out afterward that Ye Ping was in fact isolating me by making me gather together with two people who were about to be cleared out. After I learned the truth, I was upset and furious. I really didn’t think that she was this insidious and malicious. Tormenting me like this because I didn’t listen to her, was this not the sort of thing that evil people did? At the time, I really wanted to report Ye Ping’s situation to the leaders and workers, and to fellowship with my brothers and sisters and discern her. But, since Ye Ping had always been a leader in the church and many brothers and sisters thought highly of her, if I fellowshipped with my brothers and sisters and discerned her, would they all believe me? If Ye Ping heard about it, she would certainly continue to take revenge and torment me. If she leveled an accusation against me and cleared me out, then would my path of believing in God not have reached its end? Thinking of this, I swallowed my grievances. Not long after, due to safety concerns, Ye Ping was unable to be in charge of the church’s work, and a sister was temporarily arranged to take charge. When this sister gathered with us, she saw that there was some enlightenment and light in my fellowship on God’s words and that I was willing to do my duty, so after understanding my situation, she let me resume my duty.

After that, I heard that another two sisters were also continuously being isolated for reasons still unknown. After learning the details, I found out that these two sisters were isolated by Ye Ping for coming to the defense of a brother. Because the brother had delayed the gospel work, Ye Ping dealt with him incessantly. The two sisters reminded her, “He already knows he was wrong. You shouldn’t just deal with him; you should also fellowship on the truth to resolve the problem.” After hearing this, Ye Ping was very irritated, and she isolated them immediately. If brothers and sisters were disobedient to her or provoked her, she would seize hold of their transgressions and shortcomings to torment them. This was an evil deed! During a gathering, I fellowshipped and discerned her, and a sister interrupted me and said, “Are you asking us to discern Ye Ping because you want to get revenge on her for isolating you earlier? If that’s the case, you really need to reflect on yourself.” When I heard this, it occurred to me that most brothers and sisters were misled by Ye Ping and thought highly of her. I was only a group leader, so how could they believe what I said and discern someone who had been a leader for many years? At this time, I suddenly felt deflated. I thought to myself, “My understanding of the truth is shallow, and I cannot thoroughly dissect Ye Ping’s problem all at once. If I continue speaking, they might misunderstand and think that I’m getting revenge for the sake of my personal interests. If Ye Ping found out about this, she might declare me guilty of taking revenge on a leader and expel me. Then wouldn’t even my chance to believe in God be lost? Forget it. I’d better make concessions to stay out of trouble and avoid bringing disaster upon myself.” Later, the church chose new leaders and workers, and I was chosen as a watering deacon. Xin Ya and Li Ru were selected as church leaders, and Ye Ping was put in charge of text-based work. Ye Ping harbored resentment in her heart because she wasn’t chosen to be a leader. After a while, she secretly drew in her sister and Wang Jing and distorted right and wrong and disseminated rumors in front of the brothers and sisters. She said that the leaders who were chosen this time were appointed in advance, thus misleading the brothers and sisters and getting them to support her in overturning the election results. Luckily, the leaders had fellowshipped to everyone about the election principles beforehand, so the brothers and sisters knew the ins and outs of this matter and were not tricked. Hearing about this matter, I was angry and worried, and I said to the leaders, “It was one thing for Ye Ping to torment people before, and now she is misleading and drawing in brothers and sisters and disturbing the church’s work. The nature of this is too bad! It must be reported to the upper-level leaders right away!” The leaders were of the same opinion as me and reported the situation to the upper-level leader, Liu Ruo. Liu Ruo exposed the evil deeds of Ye Ping, her sister and Wang Jing, but after Liu Ruo left, Ye Ping didn’t hold back in the slightest and continued to spread her words in the church, “The leaders and workers cannot do actual work and do not have the work of the Holy Spirit; they are all false leaders. False leaders cannot do church work, and do not know how to fellowship on the truth to solve problems. All they can do is harm people.” Ye Ping and the others also spoke to those who were isolated, “You were loyally doing your duty, and it was those false leaders who suppressed you and isolated you.” They also said to a sister who did hosting duty, “It is useless for you to loyally do your duty. So-and-so was doing hosting duties just like you, and now they have already been isolated. The same will happen to you.” After some undiscerning people were stirred up and misled by Ye Ping and her cohorts, they developed preconceived ideas about the leaders and did not fellowship on God’s words during gatherings, always making judgments about the leaders’ faults and attacking and judging the leaders to be incapable of doing actual work. They also held Ye Ping in high regard, saying that she knew how to fellowship, knew how to do church work, and was leader material. They also misled some brothers and sisters, getting them to report the current leaders. Ye Ping made an absolute mess of the church life and threw it into chaos, and the work could not progress. Seeing the church turn into this, there was a feeling in my heart that I couldn’t explain. In order to contend for the leadership position, Ye Ping did so much evil. She was a sheer devil and was setting herself against God!

After that, I reported Ye Ping’s situation to the preacher. The preacher quickly went to fellowship with Ye Ping and the others. She had only fellowshipped a few words when Ye Ping and her cohorts attacked her, saying that she was taking the side of the false leaders and was not safeguarding the church’s work. This verbal assault made the preacher cry, and after that, in order to quell the chaos as soon as possible, she dismissed the two church leaders and one gospel deacon for no reason. Seeing such an arrangement, my heart was overwhelmed, and I thought, “Are things not being turned upside down? She did not handle the person who did evil, but rather dismissed those who were capable of doing some actual work. How unprincipled this was! Was she not following Ye Ping in doing evil?” I asked the preacher, “According to which of their behaviors and which of the principles was your decision to replace these people based?” She said that these leaders and the gospel deacon could not resolve the brothers and sisters’ problems, did not talk about their own corruption in gatherings and that they lacked the work of the Holy Spirit, and then she put me in temporary charge of the church’s work. Hearing how the reasons given by the preacher and the attacks against leaders by Ye Ping and her cohorts were so similar, I was very angry. On my way home, I just could not accept it. Now, even the preacher was taking Ye Ping’s side. All the church’s leaders had been dismissed, and I was only a watering deacon. I lacked the principles for discernment, and I could not fellowship clearly on the truth. If I did not do my work well, would Ye Ping not use this as leverage to condemn and report me? Moreover, Ye Ping and the others were all slick talkers, and the brothers and sisters had already been misled by them, so who would take my side? With these thoughts, I lost all my courage and felt very weak in my heart. As I thought I had to be responsible for the church’s work, I was somewhat timid. Ye Ping was after the leadership position, and if I was to be in charge of the church’s work, she would certainly think that I was occupying her position and target me. With such malicious humanity, would she let me off the hook? Would she use even more malicious means to torment me? The more I thought, the more worried and uneasy I was, and I planned to have Sister Li Ru handle the church’s work on my behalf. This way, Ye Ping and her cohorts would not direct their attack at me. After that, when we carried out work in small groups, I had Li Ru go to the group that Ye Ping was in. As a result, Li Ru was attacked by them. The work could not be carried out, and Li Ru’s state was also affected. I blamed myself and hated how selfish I had been. But, if I truly had to take up the matter myself, I would not have had the faith to do so. I prayed to God, “God, there are evil people disturbing the church, and I ought to stand up and safeguard the church’s work, but I am afraid that Ye Ping and her cohorts will use this as leverage to suppress and torment me, resulting in me losing my duty. I am hiding in the background like a coward, and I have not fulfilled my responsibility. God, I beg You to give me courage and faith.” After praying, I saw a passage of God’s words that made me feel very humiliated. God’s words say: “If people cannot express what they ought to express during service or achieve what is inherently possible for them, and instead fool about and go through the motions, they have lost the function that a created being should have. Such people are what are known as ‘mediocrities’; they are useless refuse. How can such people properly be called created beings?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Difference Between the Ministry of God Incarnate and the Duty of Man). God said that those who cannot do everything they are capable of are “mediocrities” and “useless refuse.” I was such a person. I saw that Ye Ping was particularly concerned with her reputation and status and attacked and took revenge on those who disobeyed her, using dirty tricks to torment them. In order to contend for the leadership position, she even plotted a scheme to mislead people and get them to overturn the election results with her. With her cohorts, she sowed discord among the brothers and sisters and the leaders. I undoubtedly saw her malicious behavior very clearly, but when I fellowshipped and discerned Ye Ping and the brothers and sisters suspected that I was taking revenge on her, I feared that if I continued discerning her, more people would eventually stand up to oppose me. In order to protect myself and avoid being harmed and attacked by Ye Ping and her cohorts, I even lost that little bit of courage to discern her that I had. When I was made to do the church’s work after the two leaders and the deacon were dismissed, what I thought of first were the scenes of Ye Ping and her cohorts attacking the leaders, and I feared that if I was in charge of the church’s work, Ye Ping would believe that I was occupying her position and use that as leverage to get revenge on me. I was constantly wanting to evade this responsibility and didn’t dare to take charge of the church’s work. I knew all too well that Ye Ping and her cohorts were exceedingly vicious. Li Ru had also been attacked by them many times. I only wanted to protect myself, so when I was assigning work, I deliberately had Li Ru go to confront them. I used Li Ru as a shield. How could I be so selfish and despicable? Facing the evil forces of antichrists that were disturbing the church, I did not adhere to the principles and could not stand on the side of justice. How could I be considered a created being? I was truly useless; I had greatly disappointed God! The more I tried to ponder God’s words, the more I reproached myself and felt remorse. I could not wound God’s heart any longer, and I could not be so selfish and cowardly anymore, only considering myself. I had to submit to the circumstances that God had arranged, and try my best to do the church’s work first and foremost. After that, I had the courage to face Ye Ping and her cohorts. Even though I would still be attacked by Ye Ping and the others when I went to carry out work, no matter how unreasonable they were, I would no longer evade them. I would only pay mind to fellowshipping the truth principles and not be influenced by them.

After that, I reflected on myself, thinking, “Why am I so afraid of them and why do I not dare to face them?” In the midst of this seeking, I saw two passages of God’s words that moved me very much. Almighty God says: “When justice clashes with wickedness, man’s anger will not flare up in the defense of the existence of justice or to uphold it; on the contrary, when the forces of justice are threatened, persecuted and attacked, man’s attitude is one of overlooking, evading or flinching away. However, when facing the forces of evil, man’s attitude is one of accommodating, of bowing and scraping” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique II). “God has said, ‘Without God’s permission, it is difficult for Satan to touch even a drop of water or grain of sand upon the land; without God’s permission, Satan is not even free to move the ants about upon the land, let alone mankind, who was created by God.’ To what extent are you able to believe in these words? Fighting against antichrists and evil people reveals the size of your faith. If you have a genuine belief in God, then you have true faith. If you only have a little belief in God, and that belief is vague and hollow, then you don’t have true faith. If you don’t believe that God can be sovereign over all this and that Satan is under God’s dominion, and you still fear antichrists and evildoers, can tolerate their wickedness in the church, their disturbing and ruining the work of the church, and can make compromises with Satan or beg for its mercy in order to protect yourself, not daring to stand up and fight it, and you have become a deserter, a people-pleaser, and a bystander, then you lack a genuine belief in God. Your belief in God becomes a question mark, which makes your belief terribly pitiful!” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Eight)). It was as if God’s words were judging me face-to-face, which made me deeply distressed and afraid. I saw that God truly did scrutinize the depths of the human heart, and that He saw clearly what was in my heart. Mulling it over carefully, I realized that no matter how strong Satan’s evil forces were, they could not surpass the limits that God had designated for them, and that they absolutely couldn’t and didn’t dare to do the things that God didn’t permit. The root cause of my fear of Ye Ping and her companions was that I did not believe in God’s sovereignty over everything. I thought that I didn’t have status in the church and that my words had no stature. Meanwhile, Ye Ping had always been a leader and a smooth talker who had also misled some brothers and sisters. She even got the preacher to turn to her side. I was weak and vulnerable, and my words carried little weight; I was no match for her. So even when I was isolated and tormented by her, and even when I saw her suppressing brothers and sisters while also doing evil and disturbing the church’s work, I still wasn’t brave enough to report her. I thought I would be dismissed and cleared out, thus losing my chance to attain salvation. I would rather lead a meaningless existence, not interfering as she continued to do evil and not exposing her evil deeds. I was simply complicit in her evil and giving my tacit consent to Satan damaging the church’s work. Thinking over my various experiences while believing in God, I saw that God was guiding and ruling over me every step of the way. I was met with Ye Ping’s suppression and torment, and I thought I would be isolated forever, but then, due to safety concerns, Ye Ping was not able to do the church’s work, and the new sister in charge of the work resumed my duty after understanding the situation. Everything that I experienced first-hand was ruled over by God; did He not also have the final say in my prospects and fate? I experienced all these environments that God arranged, and was supplied with so many truths, but why had I not had any faith in God up until now? When things befell me, I didn’t pray and call out to God or practice the truth. Instead, I was afraid of Satan’s status and power. I saw these evil forces of Satan as loftier than even God Himself. Was I not surrendering to Satan? What place had I left for God in my heart? I saw that I believed in theory that God holds sovereignty over everything and that He is righteous, but when something befell me, I compromised with Satan and became a deserter. I had such little faith in God! At that time, I finally understood that even though the evil forces of antichrists might run rampant for a while, suppressing brothers and sisters and misleading some muddled, undiscerning people, God used them to help people learn to be discerning. Sooner or later, antichrists would be shown for what they were and cast out. It was just like before, when our church had an antichrist who did many various evils while doing her duty. In the end, all of her evil deeds were exposed, and she was forsaken by the brothers and sisters and expelled from the church. I saw that the church is where God’s righteousness reigns. If one does not diligently experience it for themselves, how could they come to know God’s deeds? I only saw what’s on the surface, and when something befell me, I yielded to Satan’s forces; I had no place for God in my heart. I was an utter nonbeliever! I didn’t understand the truth; I was a pitiful creature! Thinking of this, I became ashamed of how cowardly and selfish I was. I was willing to practice according to the principles of God’s house and depend on God to expose and forsake the antichrists. I hurried to meet my fellow workers and discuss how we should deal with Ye Ping and her cohorts.

After we met, we ate and drank a passage of God’s words. God says: “If a church contains no one who is willing to practice the truth and no one who can stand witness for God, then that church should be completely isolated, and its connections with other churches must be severed. This is called ‘burying death’; this is what it means to spurn Satan. If a church contains several local bullies, and they are followed by ‘little flies’ that entirely lack discernment, and if the congregants, even after having seen the truth, are still incapable of rejecting the binds and manipulation of these bullies, then all those fools will be cast out in the end. These little flies might not have done anything terrible, but they are even more deceitful, even more slick and evasive, and everyone like this will be cast out. Not a single one shall remain!” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth). After reading God’s words, I felt that He was unleashing His anger on me. “Burying death” and “Not a single one shall remain,” these words pierced the depths of my heart like a sword. I felt that God’s disposition is righteous and does not tolerate offense, and I trembled in fear. Ye Ping and the other antichrists and evil people disturbed the church for almost a year for the sake of vying for power and status and did so much evil. I clearly was somewhat discerning toward them and had already seen the nature essence of these evil people, but I delayed exposing and reporting them, allowing them to do evil; I had already offended God’s disposition. When I saw God say that slick and sly people must all be cast out in the end, I thought of how before, in order to safeguard my own interests, I had seen Ye Ping’s evil deeds yet not exposed or reported her, causing a loss in the life entry of my brothers and sisters. I felt a deep sense of self-reproach. In the midst of my reflection, I recognized that, being controlled by the satanic poison known as “The bird that sticks its neck out is the one that gets shot,” I had done things in a very sly and cunning manner. After Ye Ping tormented me, there were several times when I wanted to report the fact of her evil deeds, but as soon as I thought that Ye Ping might suppress and torment me again, jeopardizing my prospects and my destination, I recoiled out of fear. After taking over the church’s work, I simply sent Li Ru to act as a shield while I hid in the background, not offending anybody. I saw that I was living according to satanic poisons and that I had become selfish and despicable. When I encountered a crisis, I just hid inside my shell like a snail. I didn’t have a shred of bravery to face it, let alone any sense of justice! In fact, the more concessions I made to avoid trouble, the more I was allowing the antichrists and evildoers to disrupt the church, and the more I was handing the brothers and sisters over to the cruelty of Satan and devils. Now, I was in charge of the church’s work, and God’s will was for me to abide by the principles, to protect the brothers and sisters, and to not let the antichrists harm the work of the church. I needed to fulfill my obligation and responsibility. Before, I was protecting myself in all respects, and I wasn’t able to practice the truth and satisfy God, but God didn’t prohibit me from doing my duty; instead, He used His words to judge and warn me. This is God’s greatest love! This time, I had to report Ye Ping and fight against the evil forces of antichrists until the end. I had to be a true person for once! After that, we reported the fact of Ye Ping and her cohorts’ evil deeds, as well as the preacher’s manifestation of following them in doing evil to the upper-level leaders. After the leaders had an understanding of Ye Ping’s manifestations, they had us first fellowship with the brothers and sisters and discern her, and provide more facts about Ye Ping and her cohorts’ evil deeds as quickly as possible. Through fellowshipping for a period of time, the brothers and sisters began to discern Ye Ping, and they were all willing to provide evidence of the evil deeds of Ye Ping and her cohorts. Later, after the leaders verified their manifestations we put forward, they saw that the evidence was conclusive, and Ye Ping and the others were cleared out of the church.

Later on, we read yet another passage of God’s words and fellowshipped on why God in the last days permitted antichrists and evil people to do evil and cause disturbances in the church, what God’s will was here, and what lessons we should learn. Almighty God says: “Antichrists and wicked people appear in some churches and create disturbances, and in doing so they deceive some people—is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is this God’s love, or is it God playing with people and exposing them? You can’t understand this, can you? God brings all things into His service to perfect and save those He wishes to save, and what those who genuinely seek the truth and practice the truth ultimately gain is the truth. Some who don’t seek the truth, however, complain, saying, ‘It isn’t right for God to work this way. It causes me to suffer so much! I almost fell in with antichrists. If this really is arranged by God, how can He allow people to fall in with antichrists?’ What’s going on here? You not following antichrists proves that you have God’s protection; if you fall in with antichrists, then that is a betrayal of God and God no longer wants you. So, is it a good thing or a bad thing that these antichrists and wicked people cause disturbances in the church? From the outside, it appears to be a bad thing, but when these antichrists and wicked people are exposed, you then grow in discernment, they are cleansed away, and you grow in stature. When you encounter such people again in the future, you will have discernment of them even before they’ve shown their true colors, and you will reject them. This will allow you to learn lessons and be benefited; you will know how to discern antichrists and will no longer be deceived by Satan. So, tell Me, is it not a good thing to have antichrists disturbing and deceiving people? Only when they have experienced to this stage can people see that God has not acted in line with their notions and imaginings, and that God permits the great red dragon to frenziedly create disturbances and permits antichrists to deceive God’s chosen people so that He can use Satan in His service in order to perfect His chosen people, and only then do people understand God’s painstaking intentions. Some people say, ‘I’ve been deceived by antichrists twice and I still can’t discern them. If a yet more cunning antichrist comes along, I’ll just be deceived again.’ Then let it happen again so that you can experience it and learn the lesson—God must do things this way so that He can save mankind from Satan’s influence” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Resolving One’s Notions Can One Embark on the Right Track of Belief in God (1)). God’s words made me feel that He was truly too almighty and wise in His work! Evildoers and antichrists disturbing the church was not a good thing on the surface, and was not in line with man’s notions and imaginings, but it happened with God’s permission and there was God’s wisdom in it. God used Satan’s and devils’ performances in the church to expose them and cast them out, and also to help us learn to be discerning. God knew that our statures were too small and that it was easy for us to be misled by antichrists and evildoers, so through them doing evil in the church, He made us grow more discerning. At the same time, He also exposed those who were muddled and undiscerning and blindly followed others. I thought of God’s words: “Many are called, but few are chosen” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen). I saw more clearly in my heart that there are many people who believe in and follow God, and at the beginning, the wheat and the weeds are all bundled up together, and one cannot see which is good and which is bad. However, as God’s judgment work in the last days progresses, those who can accept and pursue the truth are able to accept God’s judgment and rid themselves of corruption. Meanwhile, nonbelievers, evil people, and antichrists are shown for what they are and thoroughly cleared out, and the church becomes cleaner and cleaner. This is the inevitable outcome of the successful completion of God’s judgment work!

On December 4, 2018, the notice of Ye Ping and the others’ expulsion was passed down to the church. The brothers and sisters all rejoiced and praised God’s righteousness from the bottom of their hearts. The chaos in the church finally subsided, and the brothers and sisters returned to their normal church lives. From the depths of my heart, I thank God for His guidance!