We finished fellowshipping on the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers at the last gathering. Have you compared yourselves to the content of this fellowship? Have you been pondering this fellowship? Once they have heard My fellowship, those who love the truth and those who have a sense of justice and some humanity can practice some truths after they understand them. Firstly, they can match the truths they understand with their situation, examine themselves against the truth, identify their problems, and then use some matters and environments in real life and in doing duties to resolve these problems. Gradually, with regard to the truths they understand, they grasp the principles people should practice and adhere to. For one thing, they gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of themselves, and for another, they understand more practically and accurately what the truth really says and contains. However, those who do not love the truth and are averse to it, regardless of how much truth they hear, have no awareness or change. Their state, attitude when doing their duty, the goals they pursue, lifestyle, and principles of being a person do not change at all. They continue to act as they wish and live as they please; these truths have no effect on them, nor are they able to make them reflect on and know themselves to the point of hating themselves. If they cannot reach the point of hating themselves, they certainly cannot achieve true repentance. Without true repentance, there is no real entry; without real entry, there is certainly no dispositional change. Therefore, many people who have believed in God for many years, although they also gather, do duties, have listened to sermons for many years, and often interact with the brothers and sisters, do not have any understanding of themselves, show no change, and their faith in God does not increase at all. They follow God with their initial notions and imaginings and with the intention and desire to gain blessings. No matter how many years they have believed in God, their viewpoints on believing in God, their views on things, their pursuit methods and the goals they pursue, and their attitudes when doing their duties have not changed at all. Their current revelations and the manifestations they live out are the result of not pursuing the truth. We fellowshipped twelve of the responsibilities of leaders and workers, yet the behavior of some leaders and workers has not changed at all. Their attitudes when doing their duties and toward God’s requirements have not changed at all. The fellowshipped content served to remind, supervise, and spur on those who relatively pursue the truth, and those who have some humanity and whose conscience has a bit of awareness. However, it has had no effect on some who are more intransigent, sly, and do not accept the truth at all. Why is this? Because these people’s attitude toward the truth is one of resistance and loathing. No matter how much truth is fellowshipped, their attitude remains the same: “At any rate, I am doing my duty and following God; I am genuinely expending myself for God. No matter how I behave, as long as I persist until the end, I can gain blessings!” Does this kind of thinking have any reason? They are completely incorrigible and dead to shame, aren’t they? Is this not stiff-necked and refusing to repent no matter what? (Yes.)

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers is: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church. Stop and restrict them, and turn things around. Additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” Previously, we divided our fellowship of this responsibility into twelve issues. The content of these twelve issues mainly addresses how leaders and workers should deal with and handle these problems when various types of people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances appear in the church so as to achieve the effect of safeguarding the work of God’s house and the normal order of the church, thereby fulfilling the roles that leaders and workers should play and the responsibilities they should perform. We have fellowshipped on each of the issues within the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers in detail, fellowshipping some specific manifestations of each one, and cited some specific examples. In terms of principles, the content that has been fellowshipped is quite practical. Although the examples given may not cover everything, the essential issues of various people, events, and things have been clearly fellowshipped. In particular, you as leaders and workers should understand this aspect of the truth in order to resolve the various problems that arise in the church. First, you need to find the words that dissect the essence of the problems from the fellowshipped content and correlate them with the problems. Understanding the essence of the problems makes it easier to find corresponding solutions and resolve problems according to the truth principles. Understanding the essence of a problem is crucial before resolving it. Once you understand the essence of the problem, you should also understand and grasp the principles for handling this problem. Both aspects are indispensable: One is the essence of the problem, and the other is the principles for resolving such problems. These are things that leaders and workers should be clear on. Only by grasping these two principles can you accurately resolve all problems and properly handle the people, events, and things involved in various issues, rather than applying regulations and blowing the issues out of proportion. Currently, when some leaders and workers handle certain issues, in part, they just follow regulations, and in part they fail to grasp the essence of the issues, easily wronging people and making deviations. This requires a clear understanding of the details, specifics, and context of the issues. Additionally, it is important to look at a person’s consistent behavior to determine just what category they belong to. Only by mastering these aspects can issues be handled according to principles. Some leaders and workers, when doing their work, only apply regulations to problems and blow them out of proportion, while they cannot see through to the actual essence of the people who are involved, whether they are good or bad people, whether their behavior is habitual or just an occasional transgression. They cannot discern these aspects, so they are very liable to make mistakes. In such cases, if the church can take a vote, it can effectively avoid some errors. The presence of these deviations and errors in the work of leaders and workers can most clearly reveal whether they have discernment and handle matters according to principles. It also reveals whether leaders and workers possess the truth reality. If a leader or worker who has believed in God for many years cannot handle these real problems, it is enough to prove that this leader or worker is not someone who pursues the truth.

After understanding the responsibilities that leaders and workers should perform, the principles they should follow, and the scope of their work, we should return to the theme of this stage of fellowshipping: exposing false leaders. This is the main topic. With regard to the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers, the topic we will fellowship today is the areas in which false leaders are derelict in their duty, and their manifestations of not doing real work. First, let’s read the content of the twelfth responsibility. (Number twelve: Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church. Stop and restrict them, and turn things around. Additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.) The twelfth responsibility clearly mentions three aspects of work that leaders and workers should understand. How is this related to exposing false leaders? (First, we must understand the several responsibilities of leaders and workers in this work. Then, we compare to see whether the false leaders have fulfilled these responsibilities, and what the manifestations of the false leaders are; measuring them according to this standard is relatively accurate.) That’s right. Discerning whether or not a person is a false leader is not done by using your eyes to look at their face and see whether their facial features are good or evil, nor is it done by looking at how much they outwardly appear to have suffered, or how much they have run around. Rather, you must look at whether they fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers and whether they can use the truth to resolve real problems. This is the only accurate standard by which to evaluate them. This is the principle of dissecting, discerning, and determining whether a person is a false leader. Only in this way can the evaluation be just, in line with principles, in accordance with the truth, and fair to everyone. The characterization of someone as a false leader or false worker must be based on sufficient facts. It must not be based on one or two incidents or transgressions, much less can temporary revelation of corruption be used as a basis for it. The only accurate standards by which to characterize someone are whether they can do real work and use the truth to resolve problems, as well as whether they are a right person, whether they are someone who loves the truth and can submit to God, and whether they possess the work and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Someone can only be correctly characterized as a false leader or false worker based on these factors. These factors are the standards and principles for evaluating and determining whether someone is a false leader or false worker.

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers includes three tasks, or three steps. By following these three steps to complete this work, the principles of this work are upheld, and the responsibilities of this work are fulfilled. What are these three tasks? (First, promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church. Second, stop and restrict them, and turn things around. Third, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.) These three tasks are the requirements for leaders and workers in the twelfth responsibility. For starters, the first requirement for leaders and workers is to promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and church life. It is to identify promptly and accurately, not to respond sluggishly and insensitively, nor to make blind and reckless judgments—imprudent judgments are not acceptable. Some leaders and workers, due to their poor caliber and muddledness, prune and lecture people recklessly over trivial matters, arbitrarily labeling them, and blindly judging them without adhering to principles. Working in this way violates the truth principles. Therefore, leaders and workers in God’s house must at least be able to discern various people, events, and things. Only with discernment can they promptly and accurately identify various problems that arise in the church. To achieve the ability to discern various people, events, and things, what is the first requirement? Firstly, it is necessary to understand God’s requirements for different types of people, as well as how God defines various people and the different states they develop. Additionally, it is important to dissect how various negative states arise and what their roots are. Furthermore, one must understand the impact of various people, events, and things on God’s work and the normal order of the church. What is the basis for meeting these conditions? What work should leaders and workers first of all undertake? If leaders and workers are always loftily aloof, acting like bureaucrats and not interacting with the brothers and sisters, not grasping the various states of the brothers and sisters, not having close contact with different types of people, and lacking detailed observation and in-depth understanding of them, is this acceptable? This is certainly not acceptable. Some leaders and workers often hide in their rooms, using spiritual devotion and writing experiential testimony articles as excuses to ignore and not grasp the church’s work. On the surface, it seems like they are working on church matters while hiding in their rooms, but in fact, they have already isolated themselves from the church’s work and from God’s chosen people. Can this way of working resolve the problems that exist in the various items of church work? Can it help God’s chosen people do their duties well? When they hide in their rooms to write testimonial articles, are they experiencing God’s work? Therefore, this approach is inappropriate. According to the twelfth responsibility, the first task of leaders and workers is to promptly identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work based on God’s words and the truth principles. Some people ask, “Is having leaders and workers be deeply involved in church life only so they can promptly and accurately identify the people, events, and things that cause disturbances and disruptions?” Is this comprehension correct? (No.) This is a distorted comprehension. Leaders and workers must have the correct attitude and approach to their work and must also go deep into the grassroots. Only in this way can they promptly and accurately identify and resolve problems. If they do not immerse themselves in the grassroots and live with God’s chosen people, it will be very difficult to identify all the problems in the church’s work. If they can only resolve a few problems after people have made reports and sought solutions, the effect of this work will be very limited. The most erroneous way for leaders and workers to work is to shut themselves away and work behind closed doors, like the ancient scholars who devoted themselves entirely to studying books of sages and paid no attention to outside matters. This attitude and lifestyle are unacceptable for leaders and workers. You stay alone in your room, listening to sermons, reading God’s words, writing notes of spiritual devotion, and writing sermons, but does acquiring some doctrines and words mean that you understand the truth? Does it mean you understand the actual situations and true states of people exposed by the truth? (No.) So, although a life of spiritual devotion is essential in the work of leaders and workers, the most important thing is to have the correct working methods and lifestyle.

The second requirement for leaders and workers outlined in the twelfth responsibility is that when they identify various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work, they must be able to promptly and accurately make judgments. They need to clearly discern the nature of various people and events, and understand how they impact church life, whether they threaten, disturb, or sabotage the states, life entry, and performance of duty of God’s chosen people, and whether they affect the results of people’s performance of duty—leaders and workers must promptly and accurately judge and evaluate these matters. This is the responsibility of leaders and workers. If they lack the brains for this and they don’t have the right caliber, they will be unable to do the church’s work. Additionally, leaders and workers need to have a sharp response and discernment toward various people, events, and things. For example, when disputes arise in the church and various disruptions and disturbances occur, you cannot identify the problem and think it is insignificant, which results in many people being affected and not doing their duties well. Isn’t such a leader or worker numb and blind? (Yes.) This is a problem with leaders and workers. What should you do when you discover that someone is disrupting and disturbing the church’s work? First, you need to ascertain the seriousness of the issue and evaluate and judge the essence of such people and the impact and consequences of such things on the church’s work and church life. What should the basis for such judgment be? It should be based on God’s words and the truth. Some people say, “How do you base it on God’s words? I find this to be empty talk.” Actually, it’s not empty talk. Why do I say this? When you encounter such things or see or hear about them, you simply have to compare them with the issues exposed by God’s words. Look at how God’s words expose and dissect such people and matters, and at how He characterizes these issues, such as how He exposes false leaders and antichrists, or how He exposes various people’s corrupt dispositions, and so on. Then, you compare and dissect these matters according to those words, and through fellowship with the brothers and sisters and your own observations, you can finally make an accurate assessment and characterization of the people, events, and things you see, and formulate corresponding solutions. How should those who are determined to be among the various people who disrupt and disturb be handled? Not only should they be exposed and dissected to help people discern them, but they must also be stopped and restricted, and those who remain incorrigible despite repeated admonishments should be cleared out. What are the methods and specific approaches for stopping and restricting them? (Prune and warn them.) Is pruning a good method? (Yes.) Exposing their actions, pointing out their most egregious problems, dissecting their essence, and giving warnings—aren’t these all feasible methods? Of course, the most important thing is to read God’s words to them and use God’s words as a basis to persuade and dissect them. If they do not accept the truth and adamantly refuse to admit their mistakes, then more severe measures are needed. First, give them a warning, then use the church’s administrative decrees to restrict them, not allowing them to recklessly commit misdeeds and disturb the brothers and sisters. They should also be pruned and then supervised. These methods are necessary, all to ensure the church’s work is done well and to save people, guiding them onto the right path. Using these methods will certainly achieve good results. For one thing, use the truth that people understand to persuade and expose them, dissecting their disposition and essence, exposing the nature of their actions and the serious consequences caused by them—this is the minimum that people can do. The next step is to dissect and discern them based on God’s words, and to characterize them accordingly. If they heed the advice, accept it, and repent, that of course would be the best. However, if they do not accept it and continue to disturb the church’s work, what should be done then? In that case, there is no need to be polite. God’s house has administrative decrees, and at this point, the person should be stopped and restricted according to the administrative decrees of God’s house. If the person is a new believer with a small stature who does not understand the truth, they can be aided with love; you can fellowship the truth to help them know themselves. For those who can accept the truth and repent, there is no need to stop, restrict, or prune them. If they do not accept the truth, it is not a matter of having a shallow foundation or a small stature and not understanding the truth; it is a problem with their humanity. For such people, administrative management and administrative punishment should be used to stop and restrict them. The ultimate effect achieved is upholding the church’s work and the normal order of church life, allowing church life to proceed in an orderly manner. This is called turning things around, and this is the effect that leaders and workers should achieve in their work. Only by achieving this effect are they fulfilling their responsibility. If leaders and workers ignore any problems that arise, merely responding perfunctorily with some words and doctrines, or rebuking and pruning those who disrupt and disturb the church’s work in a simple manner with only a few words, can this resolve the problem? Not only does this fail to resolve the problem, but it also leads to greater chaos in the church—most people lose the will to do their duties and are disturbed to varying degrees, impacting their performance of duty. Have such leaders and workers fulfilled their responsibility? (No.) This shows that these leaders and workers are not competent in their work.

The third requirement in the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers is that when dealing with disruptions and disturbances caused by evil people, leaders and workers should eat and drink God’s word together with God’s chosen people to reflect on and know themselves, and have a genuine turnaround. They should be able to lead God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality, cast off their corrupt dispositions, and achieve following God, submitting to God, and bearing witness to God. Only this kind of work aligns with God’s intentions. For one thing, leaders and workers who work in this way are able to solve problems and equip themselves with the truth while working. Additionally, through fellowshipping the truth to solve problems, they help the brothers and sisters understand the truth, know how to reflect on and know themselves, cast off their corrupt dispositions, do their duties well, know how to discern and treat people, achieve following God and submitting to God, not be constrained by others, and be able to stand firm in their testimony. This is fulfilling the duties of leaders and workers; this is the principle that leaders and workers should practice for solving problems while carrying out the church’s work. No matter what problems arise in the church, first and foremost, leaders and workers should seek the truth, grasp God’s intentions, and seek God’s guidance together. They should then look for relevant words of God to resolve the various existing problems. In the process of resolving problems, leaders and workers should fellowship more about the relevant words of God with the brothers and sisters, and understand the essence of the problems based on God’s words. They should also have God’s chosen people fellowship their own understanding to discern these issues. Once the majority are able to have the same understanding and arrive at a consensus, the problems become easier to resolve. In resolving problems, do not always repeatedly recount the events or pursue minor details or blame individuals involved in the problems. At first, do not focus on minor issues; instead, clearly fellowship the truth, as this will reveal the nature of the problems. Only this approach helps God’s chosen people learn to discern issues based on God’s words, gain discernment from the people, events, and things that arise, and learn practical lessons from them. It also allows them to compare the words and doctrines they usually understand to real life, enabling them to truly understand the truth. Isn’t this what the leaders and workers should do? Leading God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality primarily involves using the truth to resolve the notions and imaginings of God’s chosen people and their corrupt dispositions. This approach yields the best results. The more leaders and workers are able to use the truth to solve problems, the more easily God’s chosen people can understand the truth. In this way, they will know how to practice and apply God’s word in real life. If leaders and workers often lead God’s chosen people to solve actual problems, they will be able to bring God’s chosen people into the truth reality and also integrate God’s word into their own daily lives. Some people say, “Isn’t this requirement for the leaders and workers too demanding? How can we have so much understanding?” You may not have had it before, but can’t you learn and practice to achieve this result? This is the way in which God’s work trains leaders and workers and God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality. If you do not know how, you can learn and practice. No matter what problems arise, you must learn to reflect on yourself and know yourself based on God’s words; this is the process of practicing. After practicing a few times and achieving results, you will have a path and know how to practice the truth. When God comes to work, this is the way in which He leads people to learn to enter into the truth reality. Leaders and workers should often communicate with the brothers and sisters, face problems together, solve problems together, and do the church’s work well. How should church leaders lead God’s chosen people? The main way is to lead God’s chosen people to identify and solve problems in real life, to practice and experience God’s word in real life, so that God’s chosen people are not only able to practice the truth, but also able to discern negative things and negative people—false leaders, false workers, evil people, disbelievers, and antichrists. The purpose of discerning various people is to solve problems. Only by thoroughly resolving the disturbances caused by evil people and antichrists can the church’s work progress smoothly, and God’s will be carried out in the church. At the same time, addressing evil people also serves as a warning to avoid making mistakes or doing evil, enabling oneself to achieve fearing God and shunning evil. This way, not only do you fulfill your duty and gain life entry, but you also understand the truth and enter into the truth reality. Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone? When you understand the truth and can solve problems, this proves that you possess the caliber to be a leader or worker and meet the requirements for being cultivated in God’s house; thus, you should take the lead and guide the brothers and sisters in learning to discern various people, events, and things in real life; achieve understanding of the truth; know how to treat all kinds of people who disrupt and disturb the church’s work; know how to practice the truth, treat various people according to principles, and fellowship the truth to solve problems. This is your responsibility. By practicing in this way, you enter into the reality of God’s words. You will learn lessons, gain discernment, and understand God’s intentions in every matter that comes your way in real life, having principles of practice in how you handle matters, treat people, and do your duties. This way, you will be able to practice the truth. God’s requirement for people is to achieve such results. Therefore, no matter what matters arise, you must always learn your lesson and develop discernment; you can’t let them slip away, nor can you miss any opportunity to learn your lesson and develop discernment. Since it is the case that something has happened, we must not approach it with a negative, blaming attitude; instead, we should face it with a positive attitude. How is that done? By seeking the truth to resolve the problem. All people have corrupt dispositions, and their humanity can be either good or evil, so how could problems not arise when people gather? What should your attitude be, given that God has laid out this environment for you, that He has shown you such people, events, and things as occur around you? Thank God for laying these various problems out before you. He is giving you a chance to practice and learn lessons, and to enter the truth reality. As leaders and workers, you should also thank God for giving you such an opportunity. No matter what problems you encounter, you must lead the brothers and sisters to learn to discern, draw lessons, and derive insights along with you. Additionally, you must lead them along with you to reflect on and understand what notions and imaginings people have regarding the problem, what distorted views exist, what lessons have been learned from encountering this matter, what erroneous notions and views have been resolved, and what truths have ultimately been understood. This is how one should experience God’s work, not missing a single matter. If you have experienced God’s work for several years and have resolved many problems, you will see that God’s words are all the truth and absolutely can cleanse people and save them from Satan’s influence. When people understand and gain the truth, they will see that God’s words are completely fulfilled and accomplished. When God’s chosen people are able to practice and experience God’s words, they will then be able to integrate God’s words into their real lives, use God’s word correctly to view people and matters, and measure people and everything they do by God’s word, rather than relying on what they see or their feelings, and certainly not on notions and imaginings. Once they have learned these lessons, it becomes easier for them to live by God’s words, and they can often live in God’s presence. In this way, leaders and workers are completely up to standard in their work, and their responsibilities are fulfilled. Only when leaders and workers do their work thoroughly can God’s chosen people achieve these gains. If, in many of the situations you encounter, you do not know how to lead the brothers and sisters to learn lessons and you cannot discern various people, events, and things, then you are someone who is blind, a numb and dull-witted muddler. Faced with such situations, not only will you be overwhelmed, unaware of how to handle them, and incompetent for this work, but it will also affect the brothers’ and sisters’ experience of these people, events, and things. If you handle things improperly, do not do any work, do not say a single thing to fellowship the truth that you should, and cannot say anything beneficial or edifying to others, then when many people face these people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances, they will not only fail to accept these matters from God, treat them positively and actively, and learn lessons from them, but their notions and guardedness toward God will grow increasingly severe, as will their mistrust and suspicion of Him. Isn’t this the consequence of leaders and workers lacking the truth reality and being unable to use the truth to solve problems? Isn’t this a sign that leaders and workers cannot do actual work? You have not done the church’s work properly, have not completed the commission God gave you, have not fulfilled the responsibilities of leaders and workers, and have not led the brothers and sisters out from under Satan’s power. They still live within corrupt dispositions and Satan’s temptations. Are you not delaying the life entry of God’s chosen people? You are harming people deeply! As a leader or worker, you should accept God’s commission, to lead the brothers and sisters before God, to let God’s chosen people eat and drink God’s words to achieve understanding of the truth and to do their duties with principles, thereby increasing their faith in God. Not only have you failed to practice in this way, but you also did not restrict or resolve the disturbances caused by evil people, causing harm to the life entry of God’s chosen people. After believing in God for many years, not only have they not made progress and not understood the truth or gained knowledge of God, but they have even developed many notions and misunderstandings about God, with no real submission whatsoever. Isn’t everything you have done actually disrupting and disturbing God’s work, then? You have not only not led God’s chosen people into the truth reality or protected them, but instead allowed them to be disturbed by evil people and misled and controlled by antichrists. Have you not done things that hurt your own people and pleased your enemies? Are you not aiding and abetting evil? You have worked for so long; however, not only have you failed to achieve positive results, but you have even made the distance between the brothers and sisters and God increasingly greater, and made it so God’s chosen people have believed in God for years without understanding the truth or knowing how to discern the disruptions and disturbances of evil people, severely affecting their life entry. What is the issue here? Isn’t this doing much evil? No matter what work leaders and workers do, if they cannot act according to God’s requirements and handle matters and solve problems according to the truth principles, their impact will extend beyond themselves or merely a few people; it will impact the church’s work, the life entry of all God’s chosen people in the church, the results of God’s chosen people doing their duties, the results of the spreading of the kingdom gospel, and even whether God’s chosen people can be saved and brought into God’s kingdom—these are all areas it could possibly impact. Some people believe in God but follow false leaders and antichrists, resulting in their ruin. It’s just like people in religious circles who become misled and controlled by pastors and elders, with the result being that they fail to welcome God upon His return and instead fall into disaster. This is all demonstrably true. Therefore, being able to discern false leaders and antichrists is extremely beneficial for the life entry of God’s chosen people!