Item Fourteen: Promptly Discern, and Then Clear Out or Expel All Manner of Evil People and Antichrists (Part Three)

The Standards and Bases for Discerning Various Kinds of Evil People

I. Based on One’s Purpose for Believing in God

At the last gathering, we fellowshipped on the fourteenth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly discern, and then clear out or expel all manner of evil people and antichrists.” Based on the content of this responsibility, we summarized the different manifestations of various people under different circumstances, and then discerned these various individuals based on their manifestations. Through discerning these individuals, we aimed to clearly identify those who are evil people that the house of God needs to discern and clear out—that is, those who are not allowed to remain in God’s house and are the targets for being cleared out. The last two times, we fellowshipped about the discernment and categorization of various kinds of evil people through three aspects. Today, we will continue to fellowship various details about the categorization of various kinds of evil people through these three aspects. First, read the fourteenth responsibility and the three specific categories listed in it. (The fourteenth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly discern, and then clear out or expel all manner of evil people and antichrists.” One: one’s purpose for believing in God; two: one’s humanity; three: one’s attitude toward their duty.) After reading, do you recall some of the basic content from the previous two fellowships? (Yes.) Let’s first review the content of our last fellowship. (Last time, God fellowshipped about one’s purpose for believing in God, covering points four through eight of this topic: fourth, to engage in opportunism; fifth, to live off the church; sixth, to seek refuge; seventh, to find a backer; eighth, to pursue political aims.) These five points were discussed in the last fellowship. Through fellowshipping about the basic manifestations and the revealed corrupt essences of these five types of people, judging from their behaviors and their intentions and purposes in believing in God, as well as their constant demands on God, should these people be considered brothers and sisters and remain in the church? (No, such people should be cleansed away, because their belief in God is not to pursue the truth or to pursue salvation. They all have personal intentions and designs, hoping to finagle advantages for themselves and gain benefits in the house of God. They are not people who truly believe in God; they are all disbelievers.) If disbelievers are not cleared out from the church, what harm do they pose to the church’s work and to the brothers and sisters? (They neither eat and drink God’s word nor experience God’s work; they stay in the church without accepting the truth. Moreover, they can vent negativity and notions, thus causing disruptions and disturbances, and playing a negative role.) These manifestations are basically visible to people.

Judging from the manifestations of the five types of people discussed in the last fellowship, do these people share a common characteristic? (Yes.) What is their common characteristic? (These people are all disbelievers.) (They do not believe in the existence of God, do not believe in the truth, and are not interested in the truth.) This touches on their essence. Since they do not believe in the truth, they will not accept the truth. The essence of those who do not accept the truth at all is that of a disbeliever. What are the hallmarks of disbelievers? They believe in God to engage in opportunism, to live off the church, to avoid disasters, to find support and a steady meal ticket. Some of them even pursue political aims, wanting to establish connections with the government through certain matters to gain favor and land an official appointment. Such people are disbelievers, every last one of them. They carry these motives and intentions in their belief in God, and in their hearts they do not believe with complete certainty that there is a God. Even if they acknowledge Him, they do so doubtfully, because the views they cling to are atheistic. They only believe in things they can see in the material world. Why do we say they don’t believe there is a God? Because they uniformly do not believe or acknowledge the facts that God created the heavens and earth and all things, and that after creating mankind God has been leading and holding sovereignty over them. Thus, they cannot possibly believe in the fact that God can become flesh. If they do not believe that God can become flesh, are they capable of believing and acknowledging all the truths expressed by God? (They are not.) If they do not believe the truths expressed by God, then do they believe that God can save humankind and in His management plan for saving humankind? (They do not.) They do not believe any of this. What is the root of their disbelief? It is that they do not believe God exists. They are atheists and materialists. They believe that only things they can see in the material world are real. They believe fame, gain, and status can only be achieved through schemes and untoward means. They believe that the only way to prosper and live a happy life is to live by satanic philosophies. They believe that their fate is only in their own hands, and that they must rely on themselves to create and secure a happy life. They do not believe in God’s sovereignty or in His almightiness. They think that if they rely on God they will have nothing. Ultimately, they do not believe that God’s words can accomplish everything, and they do not believe in God’s almightiness. That is why the intentions and purposes, such as engaging in opportunism, living off the church, seeking refuge, finding a backer, making friends with the opposite sex, and pursuing political aims—securing an official position and a steady meal ticket for themselves—arise in their belief in God. It is precisely because these people do not believe that God reigns sovereign over all that they are able to audaciously and unscrupulously infiltrate the church with their own intentions and aims, wishing to put their talents to use or realize their wishes in the church. This means that they are infiltrating the church in order to satisfy their intention and desire to gain blessings; they want to obtain fame, gain, and status in the church, and by doing so they will get their steady meal ticket. One can see from their behavior, as well as their nature essence, that their purposes, motives, and intentions for believing in God are not legitimate, and that none of them accept the truth or sincerely believe in God—even if they do infiltrate the church, they are just filling up seats, playing no positive role whatsoever. Therefore, the church should not accept such people. Although these people have infiltrated the church, they are not God’s chosen people, but rather were brought in out of good intentions by others. “They are not God’s chosen people”—how should this be interpreted? It means that God did not predestine and choose them; He does not view them as objects of His work; nor has He predestined them as human beings whom He will save. Once these people have infiltrated the church, we naturally cannot treat them as brothers and sisters, because they are not the ones who genuinely accept the truth or submit to God’s work. Some may ask, “Since they aren’t brothers and sisters who truly believe in God, why doesn’t the church clear them out or expel them?” God’s intention is that His chosen people may learn discernment from these people and thereby see through Satan’s schemes and reject Satan. Once God’s chosen people have discernment, these disbelievers should be cleansed away. The goal of discernment is to expose these disbelievers who have infiltrated God’s house with their ambitions and desires and clear them out of the church, because these people are not true believers in God, and even less are they people who accept and pursue the truth. Nothing good will come from them remaining in the church—but great harm will. First of all, after infiltrating the church, these disbelievers never eat or drink God’s words and do not accept the slightest bit of the truth. They always discuss things other than God’s words and the truth, disturbing others’ hearts. They will only disrupt and disturb the work of the church, to the detriment of the life entry of God’s chosen people. Secondly, if they remain in the church, they will run riot committing misdeeds, just like nonbelievers, disrupting and disturbing the work of the church, and subjecting the church to many hidden dangers. Thirdly, even if they remain in the church, they will not willingly act as service-doers, and though they may render a bit of service, it will only be in order to gain blessings. Should the day come when they learn they cannot gain blessings, they will fly into a rage, disturbing and impairing the work of the church. Rather than countenance that, it is better to clear them out of the church as early as possible. Fourthly, these disbelievers are liable to form factions, and to support and follow antichrists, creating an evil force within the church that poses a great threat to its work. In light of these four considerations, it is necessary to discern and expose these disbelievers who infiltrate God’s house, and then to clear them out. This is the only way to maintain normal progress in the church’s work, and effectively safeguard that God’s chosen people can eat and drink God’s words and live church life normally, and therefore enter the right track of belief in God. This is because the infiltration of these disbelievers into the church is of great detriment to the life entry of God’s chosen people. There are many people who cannot discern them, but instead treat them as brothers and sisters. Some people, seeing that they have a few gifts or strengths, choose them to serve as leaders and workers. This is how false leaders and antichrists arise in the church. Looking at their essence, one can see that none of them believe that God exists, or that His words are the truth, or that He rules sovereign over all. They are nonbelievers in the sight of God. He pays them no heed, and the Holy Spirit will not work on them. So, based on their essence, they are not objects of God’s salvation, and they are certainly not predestined or chosen by Him. God could not possibly save them. No matter how one looks at it, none of these disbelievers are God’s chosen people. They should be promptly and accurately discerned, and then cleared out. They must not be allowed to lurk in the church disturbing others. These disbelievers infiltrate the church with different purposes and motives, and you might not be able to see through or discern them at the beginning. However, as time goes on, as you interact with them more frequently and have more dealings with them, you will understand them more and more, and you will see the various manifestations that indicate they are disbelievers more and more clearly. Then, isn’t it easier to discern them based on God’s words? (Yes.) If God’s chosen people can all discern disbelievers, then it’s time to reveal them and clear them out. Regardless of their character, what their social status is, or how great their seniority is in the church, if after several years of listening to sermons they still cannot accept the truth and are full of notions about God, they are already revealed as disbelievers. Considering their purposes and manifestations in believing in God, they are undoubtedly the ones who should be cleared out or expelled. This is the cleansing work that a church must do in every period.

The topic of the purpose for believing in God covered eight points, meaning there are eight types of people whose manifestations are sufficient for us to discern various kinds of evil people and then to make accurate characterizations and handle them accordingly. In short, these eight types of people cannot remain in the church. Some might ask, “Does each of these eight types of people exhibit only one kind of behavior?” That’s not necessarily the case; some people’s purpose for believing in God includes four or five points—they seek refuge, live off the church, engage in opportunism, pursue political aims, and randomly seek out the opposite sex, infiltrating the church to indiscriminately seduce others. Some people’s purpose of believing in God might cover two points—one is to seek to become an official in the church, and the other is to seek blessings through opportunism, or some might seek out the opposite sex as well as live off the church. Clearly, these people come to God’s house looking to take advantage, intending to use the house of God or the brothers and sisters to help them get things done, to exert effort for them; in order to achieve their purposes and satisfy their wishes, they use every possible means to make the brothers and sisters serve them. In short, the obvious purpose of these disbelievers and opportunists who have infiltrated the church and should be cleared out or expelled in coming to God’s house is to freeload and take advantage of the situation for their personal gain. Whether in their speech or actions, their purpose can always be vaguely discerned. These people do not accept the truth at all and have no interest in the truth; sometimes they even show moods and attitudes of revulsion or resistance. No matter what duty the church arranges for them, they only reluctantly cooperate if it benefits them. If there’s no benefit for them, they resist internally and exhibit negativity and passivity, and even revulsion or refusal. They engage in a bit of work only if there’s benefit; without it, they either evade or passively muddle through. At critical moments of work, they play hide and seek, disappearing and neglecting the church’s work. From these manifestations, it’s clear that their belief in God is merely to freeload; even using them to render service does more harm than good.

I. To Monitor the Church

Today, we will fellowship the last point in the topic of one’s purpose for believing in God. Apart from the previously mentioned eight points, there is another type of person whose purpose and intention in believing in God are not legitimate. What distinguishes them from those mentioned above who are solely motivated by benefits, doing their utmost to pursue fame, gain, and status? This type of person does not enter the church to become an official, for the sake of status or a steady meal ticket, or for the sake of making their lives more convenient, and so forth; they have a purpose that is difficult for ordinary people to detect. What is this purpose? It is to monitor and control the church. Monitoring the church is the ninth point in the topic of one’s purpose for believing in God. These people enter the church with a task to monitor it, aiming to control the course of the development of the church. The ones dispatching them, their superiors or bosses, might represent the government, a certain religious group, or some organization in society. Because they are unfamiliar with the church, filled with curiosity, and even uneasy about the church’s emergence, formation, and existence, they have the intention to deeply figure out the church, to learn about the church’s structure, its work, and various circumstances. Therefore, some people are dispatched to the church to carry out the job of monitoring. Those who undertake the job of monitoring the church, whether they come from the government, religious groups, or any social organization, have a purpose in believing in God that is entirely different from that of the true brothers and sisters. They are not here to accept God’s salvation; they have not come to accept God’s words, the truth, and God’s salvation on the basis of believing in and acknowledging God. Their belief in God is accompanied by political aims or a task given by any organization. Thus, monitoring the church is both their purpose for infiltrating the church and believing in God, and a task assigned by their superiors; it’s a job they do to earn their paycheck.

For those who infiltrate the church to monitor it, what is it that they monitor? They monitor many aspects, such as the church’s teachings, its aims, what it advocates, the work it does, and the thoughts and views of its members, evaluating whether it poses any harm to the government, religions, or society. They check for any anti-social, anti-government, or anti-state statements in terms of speech. In terms of teachings, they monitor what exactly the ideas advocated by the church are. It might not be easy for you to detect these individuals when they infiltrate the church because they might listen attentively and take serious notes during gatherings without dozing off. They might even earnestly summarize the speeches of various individuals at each gathering, eventually summarizing and categorizing the different thoughts and views of various people to see which ones align with the national government’s interests and requirements, and which ones are detrimental to the state’s governance, are at odds with the government, and so on. They might meticulously summarize and categorize these deep-seated viewpoints of church members, keeping records. Why do they do this? Because it is their job, their task; they must report to their superiors. This is the first part of their job: to grasp the church’s teachings and the ideological tendencies of all its members. Once they believe these tendencies contain elements that are detrimental to society or the state, or if they believe some radical thoughts and viewpoints emerge, they will promptly report and tell this to their superiors so that appropriate measures can be taken. What they aim to understand first is the church’s teachings—this is one of their main jobs in monitoring the church—followed by information about the church’s personnel. For example, they gather information on who the senior leaders of the church are, including their residential addresses, ages, appearances, educational levels, interests and hobbies, health conditions, what they talk about in daily life, where they go, what work they do, as well as their daily work hours and work content. They look at whether these leaders have made any statements or undertaken any actions that are against the government, against religions, or against societal trends, as well as these leaders’ reactions to the nation’s system of governance and current political developments, among other things. These are all aspects that those monitoring the church aim to grasp. Furthermore, they also continually pay attention to the church’s structure and administrative structures. For instance, they keep track of who the leaders and workers in the church are, which level of leaders have been dismissed, how they were reassigned after being dismissed, which leaders have been arrested, and who took over their work afterward. They gather information about the successor’s age, gender, how many years they have believed in God, their educational levels, and—if they are talented university graduates—whether they have any negative impact on the country or society, and if they could potentially be recruited to work in government departments, among other specific information. They even want to find out specific church leaders taking up their posts or being dismissed. That is, the status of personnel, specific administrative work, and the church’s structure are all aspects they aim to familiarize themselves with. Additionally, they aim to fully grasp information about how many items of work there are in the church, how many groups there are, and the details of each group’s supervisors, among other things. They go around inquiring, observing, and learning, conducting their work in great detail. The job to do and task to accomplish of people of this type who infiltrate the church are to promptly grasp all aspects of the church’s situation and its various developments to achieve the purpose of monitoring the church. This includes, for instance, how the church is developing overseas, how many countries the gospel has spread to, and in which countries churches have been established—they need to grasp all of these details. These are the main tasks they perform in monitoring the church: First, to grasp the church’s teachings; second, to grasp the situation of the church’s personnel; and third, to grasp the status of the church’s work and its recent key dynamics. They act entirely as accomplices and minions of Satan, the great red dragon; they are genuine servants of Satan.

People of this type who monitor the church infiltrate the church for the purpose of grasping information related to the church’s teachings, personnel, work trends, the scale of the church, and other aspects. They aim to grasp each of these aspects and then report them to their superiors, who may, at any time, develop corresponding policy plans or measures to address the church based on the situation. In short, their purpose in monitoring the church is absolutely not well-intentioned. Otherwise, why would they still monitor the church, given that it brings them neither wealth nor benefit? Isn’t it because they are uneasy about the existence of the church? They do not believe that the church established and led by God consists of people who believe in God purely, having no relations with the state, society, or political groups and organizations. But regardless of how they look into the church, they remain uneasy. Why? Because they are atheists, do not acknowledge God, and also hate the truth. Therefore, they are capable of performing foolish and absurd acts such as oppressing and arresting believers, as well as monitoring the church. Why do they adopt monitoring and resistance measures against the church? Because their greatest worry is that the church growing too large and having too many members will have a significant impact on the country, the government, and society, and even threaten and influence traditional cultures and traditional religious groups. This is the real reason behind their monitoring and resistance against the church. Therefore, they treat monitoring and resisting the church as a political task to be executed.

People of this type who monitor the church might not be easy to discern within the church because they have ulterior motives and hide themselves deeply so that others cannot detect them. Thus, they might go along with the majority in the church, doing nothing unusual, appearing particularly well-behaved, and never expressing any dissenting views about the work done by the church. However, these individuals have a characteristic: They are lukewarm toward believing in God, neither very active nor very passive about it. They can do a bit of the duties assigned to them, but they never reveal their personal details, such as where they work, their family situation, or whether they have believed in God before. If someone mentions working in a government department, they are very evasive, avoiding giving any opinions on the government, politics, policies, or religion. Their behavior is characterized by avoiding any sensitive topics; they neither criticize nor praise the government, nor discuss its policies or system of governance. When someone points out that a particular individual is a spy, they become notably nervous and may even quickly stand up to defend themselves. Besides being nervous, you might also notice from their gaze a tendency to avoid such sensitive topics; they steer clear of anyone who can see through them. Additionally, they often receive calls from unknown sources, or are contacted and interacted with by mysterious individuals not associated with the church, and as soon as they answer one of these calls, they move away from others. If someone happens to see them during these moments, they become visibly flustered, blush, and appear extremely uneasy, fearing that their identity might be discovered. Besides covertly gathering information about the church, they also inquire about the situation with the brothers and sisters from time to time, asking questions like, “How many years have you believed in God? Do your parents believe? Are your family members in the mainland? Of your family members in the mainland, which of them believe in God, and for how many years? How old are they? How many people are in your local church? How are they doing now?” From time to time, they seek sensitive and private information that people are unwilling to disclose. In general interactions among the brothers and sisters, nobody deliberately or actively asks about sensitive personal information if someone is unwilling to share. However, this individual pays special attention to such matters, even going as far as to track the movements of some leaders and workers or people in charge of important work, trying to gain access to data on these people’s computers and mobile phones or their address information, insisting on investigating these details thoroughly. If they notice a certain leader hasn’t attended a gathering, they’ll ask, “So-and-so’s not at the gathering today. What are they doing?” If someone mentions they are busy, they’ll probe further: “Busy with what? Are they watering those new believers again? Who are those new believers? When did they start believing? How come I don’t know about this?” They keep digging deeper. The brothers and sisters say, “If we’re not supposed to know, then let’s not ask. Why keep asking? This isn’t about life entry, it doesn’t involve the truth; there’s no need to know.” To which the infiltrator replies, “But these are matters of God’s house, the church’s work; why can’t we know about it? We all believe in God, knowing a little doesn’t hurt. If you don’t want to know, it means you don’t care about the church’s work or the church leaders. Who exactly did the leader go to meet? How many new believers are there? Where are they? I’d like to meet them too.” They’re always inquiring about these matters.

There is another task that those who monitor the church pay most attention to, which is to grasp the church’s financial situation. In one regard, they seek to understand the sources of the church’s finances. They want to know if the church has established factories or enterprises, owns sweatshops, employs child labor, and whether the church’s various items of work involve profitable ventures. For example, whether the church’s production of videos, movies, hymns, and printing books of God’s words turn a profit or generate excessive profit; what the sources of the church’s finances are; whether there are any affluent individuals donating to support the church; if these individuals include political elites or multimillionaires and billionaires—these are the details they want to grasp. Beyond figuring out the church’s administrative structures and financial sources, they also aim to grasp the custody of the church’s finances, with their objective being to track the direction of these funds. How the church spends its money, whether it is involved in any unlawful activities, whether it organizes social elites or collaborates with various social organizations and groups to jointly oppose dictatorial governments and uphold human rights, and so on—these are also some of the important situations they aim to grasp. Some people question: “Is the work of monitoring the church only undertaken by the nation of the great red dragon?” Is this statement accurate? In fact, the entire world and the whole of human society resist God. It’s not only the nations under dictatorial rule that resist God; even in the so-called Christian countries, the majority of those in power are atheists and nonbelievers, and even among those in power with faith or who profess Christianity, the number of them who can accept the truth is in the minority. Most people do not acknowledge, much less accept, the truth. So, aren’t these people who believe in God yet resist Him? For example, in religions like Christianity, Catholicism, and Judaism in Israel, are the upper echelons composed of people who accept the truth? Not at all. None of them come to investigate God’s work; not one can accept the truth. To be precise, they are all disbelievers; they all resist God and amount to antichrists. They disturb and sabotage God’s work and brutally suppress and persecute those who follow God, which is proven by their treatment of God’s work in the last days. Which denomination allows its believers to freely investigate the true way, listen to preachers from outside, or receive strangers? Not a single one can do this. Which race or nation is friendly to the church? (None.) It’s already commendable if they grant you a bit of religious freedom and some breathing space. Do you still expect them to support you on top of this? When God’s church appears or when the church begins to preach the gospel, these people who do not believe in the existence of God at all and who feel a particular revulsion and loathing toward the truths expressed by God then undertake a special job, which is to assign individuals to closely monitor the church. “Monitor” here means to surveil, to grasp and control; that is, to tightly surveil, grasp, and control all aspects of the church in every period. Some people say: “They haven’t publicly condemned or opposed God’s work, nor have we suffered persecution or harassment in our local life. We feel that believing in God, gathering, doing our duty, and spreading the gospel overseas is much better and safer than in the nation of the great red dragon. We haven’t experienced any interference.” Just because there has been no interference and some freedom has been granted to you, you should not deny their work of monitoring the church. The bit of religious freedom you’re given is a basic societal institution; what you’re enjoying is merely the basic rights of any citizen in the country you live in. Enjoying these basic rights does not mean that the national government, social groups, or the religious community have accepted and acknowledged God’s work and the church’s work, have become friendly, or that there is no longer any hostility and monitoring. Isn’t that the case? (Yes.) This matter isn’t abstract, is it? (No, it isn’t.)