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

The fourteenth responsibility of leaders and workers is to “promptly discern, and then clear out or expel all manner of evil people and antichrists.” Last time, we fellowshipped about the second criterion for discerning various kinds of evil people, which is based on their humanity, covering three manifestations. Read these three manifestations. (H. Being capable of engaging in betrayal at any time; I. Being capable of leaving at any time; J. Wavering.) After fellowshipping about these three manifestations, do you understand them? (Yes.) Most of the people who have these problems generally lack the ability to comprehend the truth; they do not understand what the truth is, nor do they understand what it means to believe in God. Additionally, some of them cannot see through what believing in God is all about. They think believing in God is just religious faith and that merely observing religious rituals is all it takes. They do not understand the significance of believing in God, nor do they understand the significance of doing duty; they are even unclear in their hearts about whether God exists, and they are not sure whether the path of following God is correct. No matter how many years they have believed, or how many sermons they have heard, they are never able to establish a foundation in the true way. As a result, they waver, and if something happens that displeases them, they could even leave the church or betray the church at any time. God’s house has specific principles for dealing with these several kinds of people. Depending on their different situations, there are specific plans for their handling and resolution; those who should be cleared out will be cleared out and those who should be expelled will be expelled. Even though some of these people are not evil people, and even less so are they antichrists, based on the nature of these manifestations of theirs and their attitudes toward believing in God, they are not people of God’s house, nor are they true brothers and sisters. Even if they remain in the church, it will be very difficult for them to come to understand the truth. What are the implications of it being difficult for them to understand the truth? It implies that because they are never able to comprehend God’s words and never able to understand the truth, they will ultimately fail to attain salvation and fail to be gained by God. That is, in the end, they cannot become people of God’s house, cannot become true created beings, and cannot fulfill the duty of created beings and return before God. Additionally, they often play a negative role in the church. Not only do they fail to have a positive effect, but from time to time, they also cause disturbances and destruction, affecting the states of some people and disturbing some of those who are doing their duty. Therefore, the church should take corresponding measures to handle them, whether by persuading them to leave or by clearing them out or expelling them. In any case, they cannot be allowed to cause disruptions and disturbances in the church.

The Standards and Bases for Discerning Various Kinds of Evil People

II. Based on One’s Humanity

J. Wavering

People who waver are never able to confirm whether God truly exists, and they are even less able to confirm whether the God they believe in is the true God. Today they want to seek here, and tomorrow they want to go check things out over there, not knowing which is the true way, always harboring a wait-and-see attitude. In the case of people like this, quickly persuade them to leave, by saying: “You are never able to confirm that God’s work is the true way, and you do not seek the truth to resolve your difficulties. What result can come from continuing to believe like this? Since you do not love the truth and do not enjoy living church life, you should go wherever you are interested, based on your own choices. Don’t you want to pursue rising above the rest and achieving great success? Then you should go out into the world and strive for it. Maybe you can become rich or be an official and achieve your dreams out in the world. You shouldn’t linger in God’s house any longer.” In the case of such people, by no means should you force them or try to urge them to stay. If they want to leave the church, let them go. Constantly advising and encouraging these disbelievers and urging them to stay is not in line with God’s intentions. God’s work never forces people, and when you keep dragging and pulling those who are undecided, there is an element of forcing to it. These people want to go out to work, make money, and live a good life, or pursue things they personally like. They have always had these intentions, and they have always had their own aspirations and plans. Although no one knows this, their behavior has already revealed it. For example, when doing their duty, they are often half-hearted, or often they are forgetful, perfunctory, and just go through the motions. They often show particular reluctance in doing their duty, always feeling like they are losing out, thinking that doing their duty is holding them back from making money. For people like this, they should be persuaded to leave, by saying: “You are always half-hearted and perfunctory in doing your duty, and ultimately you will fail to gain the truth, and God will not approve of you—what a loss that will be! Since you are not interested in the truth, are unable to confirm God’s existence or His sovereignty, and think the world is fantastic, believing that if you pursue the world you could become greatly successful and rise above the rest, then it would be better for you to go back into the world and strive there. What’s the point in enduring this hardship here?” In particular, these people often feel that they have proficiency in a particular field, that they have some skills and capability, and believe that if they struck out into society or the world, they might gain both fame and fortune, enjoying high status and remuneration. However, after coming to believe in God and muddling about for a few years, they have not received any promotions or been chosen for any important position. Unable to stand out above the rest, they feel very aggrieved and very unwilling in their hearts. They are unwilling to walk the path of believing in God, and even less willing to do their duty. They constantly have a restless heart and a wandering mind, and are flighty and unstable. From time to time, they think about how their classmates and friends have landed such good jobs, achieved such high positions, and are living a life that’s superior to that of others, which especially makes them feel that they are wronging themselves greatly by believing in God, and think that they are good for nothing, incompetent, and a failure for believing in God, feeling too ashamed to face their parents and ancestors. This causes them to be even more upset and unwilling, and they bitterly regret choosing to believe in God in the first place! So then their minds waver even more. Over the years of believing in God and doing their duty, not only has their faith not been strengthened, but they have also lost the initial enthusiasm they once had. How do you think such people should be handled? (Persuade them to leave.) If you persuade them to leave, they might say, “I’ve believed in god for so many years, giving up my education, marriage, and prospects. Now you’re telling me to leave the church—doesn’t that mean all the hardship I’ve endured these years will have been for nothing? Won’t I have no future destination at all? That’d be losing out on both fronts. Isn’t that like taking my life?” Is persuading them to leave being too heartless? Is it appropriate to do this? (Such people never wanted to believe in God in the first place. They only tricked their way into the church to receive blessings. When they see that the church is always focused on eating and drinking God’s words and fellowshipping the truth, they feel averse to these things and want to leave. Such people should be persuaded to leave. Though you may keep hold of them, you cannot keep hold of their hearts.) If they do their duty with some sincerity but simply lack clarity on the truth, or temporarily become somewhat negative and weak because they face setbacks and failures or have experienced pruning, in these cases, you may fellowship the truth to help and support them. However, supposing their weakness is not temporary, but rather they are consistently perfunctory and go through the motions in doing their duty, and do it half-heartedly, and are merely satisfied with not being sent away; and supposing they do their duty without sincerity or drive, or, to put it more precisely, they have no goals of pursuit and are just passing the days—if it becomes clear that this is the type of person they are, then they can be persuaded to leave.

Some people are disbelievers. If you can clearly see that they essentially are people who do not love the truth and are unwilling even to labor, then they should be persuaded to leave. Their main manifestations are that they never read God’s words, never learn hymns, never listen to sermons, and never fellowship the truth or talk about knowing themselves. They also don’t like listening to the experiential testimonies of the brothers and sisters. They never watch the movies or hymn videos or experiential testimony videos produced by God’s house, and even if they do, it is merely for entertainment or out of curiosity, in which case they only reluctantly watch a little; and it is entirely not out of any sense of burden for their own life entry, but just watching for the fun and excitement of it. What do they spend most of their time doing? Chatting, gossiping, or going online to look at things they like. For example, some of them like the stock market and constantly check stock trends online; some like cars or electronic products and are always checking online to see which brands have released new models or developed some new technology; others like watching online news reports produced by self-media; and some like beauty, makeup, or health care and frequently go online to read things about beauty, health care, or ways to maintain good health and achieve longevity. These people have no interest whatsoever in the various truths that believers need to enter in order to be saved, or in the experiential testimonies of the brothers and sisters. Apart from reluctantly doing a bit of duty, they are otherwise always focused on the changing situation of the nonbelieving world, and on what new trends and important pieces of news there are in the world, and developments in their own country, among other things. They just look at this kind of information. Due to their looking at these things all the time, their hearts are filled only with such matters, and they completely ignore the truths they should understand as believers in God. No matter who fellowships with them, they don’t take it in. They are neither interested nor concerned about matters related to life entry, such as what principles they should follow when doing their duty, what corrupt dispositions they reveal and what problems exist while doing their duty, and which of God’s various requirements for people they have and have not met. Though they do their duty, they are merely going through the motions, not seeking the truth principles in the slightest. Although such people claim they are believers in God, what they inwardly like and focus on are money, status, and the trends of the nonbelieving world, and they like to associate with those who follow the trends of the nonbelieving world. When talking about matters of the nonbelieving world, they do so with great gusto and tireless enthusiasm, talking eloquently and going on and on about it, but when they meet with those who love to fellowship about the truth, they have nothing to say. When a brother or sister says, “There’s a hymn that’s so beautiful, I’ve memorized all the lyrics,” they superficially say, “You’ve memorized it. That’s nice.” When a brother or sister says, “Sister So-and-so’s experiential testimony is really good!” they say, “There are so many experiential testimony videos now, which one isn’t good? They’re all pretty good.” They just respond in this superficial way; in actuality, they have no interest in the truth and share no common language with the brothers and sisters. When someone asks them, “Do you pray when faced with situations?” they respond, “Pray how? Pray about what?” They don’t pray, nor do they have anything to say to God. These people have no interest in anything related to believing in God, and their hearts are filled with all kinds of things from the nonbelieving world. What do you think—do such people have a problem? (Yes.) If you see that they are always half-hearted in doing their duty, and when assigned any task, they become very impatient, complaining as soon as they suffer a bit of hardship, and after a few years of believing in God, they frequently reveal thoughts such as, “I’ve lost out by believing in god. If I hadn’t believed in god, by now my salary would have increased to such-and-such an amount, and I would have been able to enjoy such-and-such status, and such-and-such a luxurious lifestyle,” how should such people be dealt with? (They should be persuaded to leave.) Just persuade such people to leave and do not have them do any duty anymore, as they are unwilling even to labor. They think that just attending gatherings as a believer is bearable, but doing their duty and following God gets in the way of their great undertakings. They feel that doing their duty and following God is a major obstacle to their pursuit of happiness. They believe that if they weren’t doing their duty, they would have already risen above the rest, becoming a high-ranking official and making a lot of money in the world. So why should we hold them back? So, persuading them to leave is good for everyone. Forcing them or trying to urge them to stay would be a huge mistake. You should persuade such people like this: “Why did you choose to believe in God? Can you ever gain the truth if you’re not interested in the truth and are always full of doubts about God? You’re someone with ideas, diplomas, and talent—if you were striving hard out in the world, you could absolutely become a president or CEO of a company, or become a millionaire or a billionaire. By just drifting along like this in God’s house, first of all, you can’t rise above the rest; secondly, you can’t achieve great success; and finally, you can’t bring glory to your ancestors. Moreover, when doing your duty, you’re always perfunctory, which leads to you being pruned, leaving you down in the dumps all the time. Why endure this suffering? You should go out into the world, either into politics or business, and surely you’ll achieve a certain level of success for yourself. You’re different from us: You have both diplomas and talent, and you are a noble individual—isn’t it beneath you to believe in God alongside us ordinary people? As nonbelievers often say, ‘The world is your oyster’—you should take advantage of the fact that there is still time left in the world to pursue some fame, gain, and status while you still have the chance. Don’t wrong yourself by staying here.” Is this an appropriate way to persuade them? The wording is fairly tactful, isn’t it? (Yes.) It doesn’t hurt them, and it is also saying what they want to hear. I think this approach is appropriate, it makes it easy for them to accept the advice, and they can boldly leave without any worries. When dealing with people of this kind, if you are certain they are disbelievers, and you see that they have no enthusiasm at all for believing in God, that they are never sincere in doing their duty, and that they have never gained any life entry—nor are they likely to in the long run—then they should be persuaded to leave. If you don’t persuade them to leave, they will always have a perfunctory and lukewarm attitude in doing their duty, and there may well come a time when they cause a major disaster.

K. Being Cowardly and Suspicious

We’ve finished fellowshipping about the tenth manifestation—wavering. Now, let’s next take a look at the eleventh manifestation—being cowardly and suspicious. What are the manifestations of cowardly people? (Cowardly people feel scared when facing arrest and persecution. They want to do their duty but don’t dare to.) That’s only one small aspect. The main issue is that they have a viewpoint about believing in God: They always feel that believers in God seem out of place in this world; they feel that their belief in God is embarrassing. Especially in some authoritarian countries or countries without religious freedom, where believers in God are not only unprotected by law but also subject to persecution, some people don’t dare to admit they believe in God and are afraid that others will find out. They feel that believing in God isn’t something aboveboard and honorable. Although they know they believe in the true God, they don’t feel any honor in this, nor do they have confidence. When there’s any sign of trouble or when they see the government arresting, persecuting, oppressing, and ostracizing believers, they become especially worried that they might be implicated. In such situations, some people quickly disassociate themselves from the church, even rushing to return books to God’s house. Others, out of fear of being arrested, don’t dare attend gatherings anymore and don’t dare greet the brothers and sisters when they meet. Especially with those who are relatively well-known for their belief or have been previously arrested, these people even more so don’t dare to interact with them—they are cowardly to this extent. Even worse, upon hearing that the government has begun a major wave of arrests, they rush to the authorities to proactively admit that they previously believed in God and know which people believe, proactively selling them out and handing over books of God’s words and other materials related to belief in God in exchange for leniency, with the sole purpose of self-preservation. Tell Me, are these not manifestations of being cowardly? (Yes.) Especially for some people, after believing in God, they are always scared that others will find out about their faith, and they are even more scared that if someone gets arrested, they will be sold out. As soon as someone learns that they believe in God, they rush to explain that they no longer believe, even rushing to do things to make nonbelievers stop suspecting them of being a believer. For example, they foster connections with nonbelievers, eating, partying, gambling, drinking alcohol together, and so on. At the slightest sign of trouble, they don’t dare attend gatherings and no longer do their duty, ignoring anyone who tries to reach out to them. When everything is peaceful, they think about how believing in God brings blessings, allows one to avoid dying, and allows one to go to heaven and have a good destination—they are full of energy for believing in God then. But as soon as they face an environment that is a bit dangerous, they disappear without a trace. Then, when the situation passes and things are calm again, they return. This kind of person frequently goes ghost. No matter how important the duty assigned to them is, as soon as a bit of danger arises, they can immediately drop their work without making any arrangements for its continuation, and no one can reach them afterward. Other people, when similarly faced with a dangerous environment, can think of all sorts of ways to handle the aftermath properly. If the environment is currently too hostile and the risk of arrest is high, they wait until the danger passes before continuing the work. Or, if they are too well-known as believers and could easily be arrested if they show their face to do work, they arrange for someone else to do it. But when these cowardly people sense the slightest trouble, they rush to hide, and scramble to cover their heads and save their own skin, completely ignoring and disregarding the church’s work and property, not making any effort to safeguard the church’s work or protect the brothers and sisters. What are they most afraid of in their belief in God? First, they are afraid that the government will learn about their belief. Second, they are afraid that their neighbors will find out. Third, what they are most afraid of is being arrested and imprisoned, or beaten to death. So, whenever something happens, the first thing they think about is whether they might be arrested or whether they might be killed. If there’s even a 1% chance of either happening, they’ll figure out a way to escape. For example, during a gathering, some brother or sister might say, “On my way here, I saw someone nearby who looked unfamiliar. Could it be a nonbeliever keeping tabs on us?” Just from hearing this one comment, cowardly people won’t attend the next gathering and will cut off contact with everyone. Would you call this being cautious? (This isn’t normal caution, it’s cowardice—there’s no place for God in their hearts.) This is caution taken to an extreme. In countries or regions where the environment is particularly hostile, it’s true that believers should be cautious, but that doesn’t mean they should stop doing their duty or attending gatherings out of fear of being arrested, being so cautious that there’s no place for God in their hearts. What is cowardly people’s principle for being cautious? No matter what happens—big or small—they do not believe that everything is in God’s hands at all. They think no one is reliable, and they rely on themselves to protect themselves. This is their principle. They do not believe that everything is in God’s hands; that everything is orchestrated and arranged by God; that if something truly happens, it’s permitted by God, and that if it’s not permitted by God, no one will be arrested. They have absolutely no faith in this regard. Instead, their hearts are filled only with cowardice. Furthermore, there is a fatal flaw in their cowardice, and it is also the most detestable thing about them: To protect themselves and deal with any environment that makes them feel timid, they follow what they see as their “supreme wisdom,” which is that no matter what happens—whether they are being watched or arrested and imprisoned—once something goes wrong and their safety is threatened, for one thing, they deny that they believe in God, and for another, they betray everything they know without holding anything back. Why do they do this? Simply to protect themselves from physical suffering; thus, they divulge whatever they know. First, they sell out the church leaders, and also divulge who the district leaders and the regional leaders are and where they live, divulging everything they have knowledge of. They betray everything, even before being tortured. Furthermore, if asked to sign the “Three Letters,” they immediately sign without even having to think about it—they had been prepared for this all along. This is so that they can avoid imprisonment, avoid torture, and steer clear of any danger of death. They are so cowardly. They neither believe in God’s sovereignty nor are they able to risk their lives. Instead, they think of every way possible to protect themselves. For them, the best method is to sell out others and the church—this is the most effective way. They use the betrayal of others as the price to secure their own safety and avoid any anguish. This is something they had planned far in advance—it is their “supreme wisdom.” Tell Me, is the cowardice of this kind of person normal cowardice? (No.) Then what’s the issue here? (They are so cowardly that they become Judases, ready to sell out the brothers and sisters and the church at any time and place. Such people are not true believers.) Let’s set aside for now whether they are true believers or false believers. Just look at their humanity—they think that believing in God is something sneaky and shameful, rather than an aboveboard and honorable thing, and they regard the matter of believing in God, something so aboveboard, honorable, and positive, as something negative—what kind of people do you think they are? (Muddled people, who are relatively wicked.) Their perspective on and way of comprehending things are different from those of normal people. Sometimes they can even call white black, unable to distinguish right from wrong. How is it possible that believers in God could be purposely sneaky? It’s because this world is too evil—the law doesn’t protect religious freedom, and to an even greater extent the satanic regime hates God and regards God’s work with hostility. It doesn’t allow positive things to exist and goes to great lengths to persecute those who believe in God. So, under such societal circumstances, believers have no choice but to act cautiously when gathering and doing their duty; they don’t dare do it openly. From the outside, it may look as if they are being sneaky like thieves, but actually this is entirely due to the context of being persecuted, right? (Yes.) So how does the great red dragon describe the acts of believing in God and doing one’s duty? As “suspicious behavior.” Is this suspicious behavior? (No.) It’s not suspicious behavior—it’s something people do because they have no other choice. Have these people done anything illegal? (No.) They haven’t done anything illegal or anything to oppose the government, much less have they broken the law or disturbed public order. What have these people been doing? They have simply been doing the duty of created beings. This work is the most valuable, meaningful, and just undertaking in the world. But because this world is evil and dark and proclaims white to be black, it calls the most just, valuable, and meaningful undertaking “suspicious.” This is Satan’s interpretation. Is Satan’s interpretation the truth? Is it positive? (No.) It certainly is not. When cowardly people hear this interpretation, however, they not only fully agree with it in their hearts, but they also accept this interpretation from Satan. As a result, they also think that believing in God and doing their duty secretly is improper and must be wrong. They are always afraid that one day they, too, will be tormented by society and the government, with no place to argue in their defense and no one to help or rescue them. Thus, they are especially afraid of people finding out about their belief in God. They do not acknowledge in their hearts that the words God has expressed are the truth, or that the path God leads people to walk is the right one, yet they still want to receive blessings from God. Isn’t this contradictory? In the end, they feel incredibly aggrieved for believing in God and suffering these hardships in such an environment. Why do they feel aggrieved? Because they are deeply afraid of the evil regime in this world and of the evil forces of devils and Satans, and they are always afraid that devils and Satans will torment them and take their lives. Since they do not have any real faith in God, they act especially cowardly, even to the point of not doing their duty altogether. If there is absolutely no danger, they will attend gatherings or interact with the brothers and sisters, or do some things for the church, but they simply don’t dare to admit that they believe in God, that they are part of the church, or stand up to testify for God or do their duty—they are deeply fearful. They have no real faith in God, yet they still want to receive blessings and a good destination from God. Would you say this is contradictory? (Yes.) Hasn’t their focus on their own personal interests clouded their minds? (Yes.) These people are consumed by greed for personal gain. They don’t believe that God is sovereign over everything, yet they still want to receive blessings from God. They don’t believe that the work of the church and the duty the brothers and sisters are doing are just, valuable, and meaningful. They are especially afraid of doing important duties, or that the leaders and workers will often ask them to go out and handle matters, fearing that if something goes wrong, they will be implicated. These cowardly people, when faced with danger, can become Judases and sell out the church—this is also a type of dangerous individual.