What other manifestations do cowardly people have? These people can deny and renounce God’s name at any time, betray God at any time, and become Judases at any time. Cowardly people are unworthy of entering the kingdom of heaven—isn’t this the case? (Yes.) What is the fatal weakness of cowardly people? (They are afraid of death and can engage in betrayal.) These people drift through life ignobly, they covet life and fear death. Fear of death is their fatal weakness. As long as they are not made to die, they are willing to do anything—whether it be becoming a Judas, becoming a son of destruction, or being cursed—they are willing to do anything, as long as they can live. Living is their highest goal. No matter how you fellowship that people’s life and death are in God’s hands; that God controls, is sovereign over, and orchestrates people’s fate; and that people should submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, they neither believe nor accept these words. They just think that it’s a rare opportunity to be reborn as a human, so they absolutely cannot die; they also think that once they die and their flesh perishes, their soul will either be reborn as an animal or become a wandering ghost, never again having the chance to be reborn as a human. Therefore, they are especially afraid of death. To them, death is a catastrophic disaster, not a good opportunity for the next reincarnation, nor a new beginning for another rebirth. Therefore, they spare no cost to preserve their lives. Even if it means selling out others or causing any kind of damage to the church’s work, they will not hesitate to do so; and even if it means forsaking God’s name, they don’t care about the consequences—they only care about living safely. What kind of people are these? (People who drag out an ignoble existence.) They are lowlifes who drag out an ignoble existence! They live without dignity or integrity, willing to do anything just to stay alive, stooping to any low. Some people have already calculated in their hearts what to do before they face a dangerous environment: “If I get arrested, I’ll just talk. When the great red dragon tortures, threatens, and intimidates you, forcing you to sell out the church, you all refuse to say a word. Well, I’m not as foolish as you, who would rather endure physical pain than talk. I’d talk even before being beaten or intimidated—see how smart I am! As the saying goes, ‘A wise man submits to circumstances.’ What’s so bad about me selling out the brothers and sisters of the church? Everyone has to be selfish, right? Isn’t it just foolish not to look out for yourself?” Before anything happens, they’ve already worked out how to protect themselves. They thought it all through long ago. What is their creed for how they conduct themselves? “Why should a person make life hard for themselves? Why be so stubborn? Only by being good to yourself will this life not have been lived in vain!” This is their creed for conducting themselves. They have no moral boundaries. What do you think should be done with people like this? (If such people are discovered, they must be cleared out with wisdom—they are ticking time bombs.) Exactly, they are ticking time bombs. They are downright cowardly, and when danger comes, they will sell out the church. If someone has normal humanity, they will use wise methods to respond to dangerous environments, and they will have real faith in God. They won’t let attending gatherings or doing their duty be hindered, and they will do their best to expend themselves for God based on their stature and circumstances. This is the revelation of normal humanity. But cowardly people especially cherish their lives; they covet life and fear death, valuing their lives above all else. They have no real faith in God and cannot see that God is sovereign over everything. So, when faced with persecution, they are naturally revealed as cowardly people. Cowardly people, in order to protect themselves, can become Judases. Such people are dangerous elements, they are terrifying individuals. The church absolutely cannot assign them any work, nor allow them to do any duty. Otherwise, if they engage in betrayal, the damage to the church’s work would be too great; it would do more harm than good.

How does the suspiciousness of people who are cowardly and suspicious manifest itself? Some people can never see the various aspects of the work of God’s house clearly. They don’t know what work God is doing exactly, or whether the words God speaks are the truth. They don’t have a correct comprehension or viewpoint on these matters, so they cannot confirm just what exactly is being done in the work of God’s house, what results this work aims to achieve, or whether it is done for the purpose of saving people. They cannot see any of these things clearly. They are also unclear about what the church is. No matter how many sermons they hear, they don’t understand even a little of the truth. They always have doubts about the brothers and sisters doing their duties, thinking to themselves, “These people are constantly busy, coming and going every day—what exactly are they doing?” Particularly within the context of believing in God and doing duties in the country of the great red dragon, leaders and workers fellowship and discuss certain items of the church’s work—such as administrative work, personnel work, general affairs work, and especially some work that involves taking on risks—without letting the ordinary brothers and sisters know about these things. This protects them, it does not harm them. However, some people don’t get this and always want to inquire about these things. For instance, they inquire about where the books are printed or where certain leaders and workers are being hosted. Would knowing these things benefit you? (No.) Do you lose anything by not knowing these things? (No.) Not knowing these things doesn’t affect your eating and drinking of God’s words, it doesn’t affect your attainment of the truth, and it certainly doesn’t hinder your life entry or the transformation of your disposition. So, isn’t it unnecessary for you to inquire about and look into these matters? Some people who do hosting are always suspicious. When leaders and workers don’t make them privy to their fellowship and discussions on church work, they think, “Why are the leaders and workers always gathering and fellowshipping behind my back? What activities are they up to?” They aren’t privy to the personal information of some leaders and workers, and they start to wonder, “Why don’t they make me privy to this? I don’t know their names, where they live, or what their actual situation is. Could these people trick me or harm me while leading me in my belief in god?” There are also some sensitive kinds of work, such as work involving offerings or some dangerous work—these are things that shouldn’t be asked about in the first place, yet these people always want to inquire about them. When others don’t give them answers, they become even more suspicious. In particular, there are some people who never had much faith in God to begin with—after coming to believe in God, they see that their family business is doing better and their family members are healthy, and they think this is God’s grace and blessing. Out of this passing happiness, they offer a bit of money, but then they start wondering, “Where was the money I offered spent? Was it used for church work? Was it invested in business or used for illegal activities?” They always want to inquire and find out about these things, and always want to get to the bottom of these things. Some people’s doubts are even stronger. For example, when the church buys some equipment or apparatus due to the needs of the work, or when it provides some care and assistance for the daily lives of those doing their duty, this sort of suspicious person always suspects, “Money is being spent in so many different areas—where does it come from? Is the church also doing some kind of business? Does it have a wealthy patron or some kind of powerful backer behind the scenes? Is there some group supporting the church?” Especially when they are exposed to some baseless rumors and devilish words from the authorities that defame the church—claims like So-and-so from the church committed murder and broke the law, Such-and-such person is a criminal wanted by the state, So-and-so fled overseas with a huge sum of money, and so on—their doubts about the church and about God’s work grow even stronger. Do such people have normal thinking? Can they see the principles believers should follow clearly? For most people, once they are certain that this is God’s work, they no longer have doubts about God. No matter what problems or what kinds of people appear in the church, they are able to approach them according to God’s words. Even if evil people or antichrists cause disturbances, they can comprehend it correctly. They never have suspicions about God or God’s work, or about the church or God’s house. At most, they may have opinions about certain individuals or some notions about God’s work, but they can gradually resolve these through living church life. But suspicious people are different. From the very beginning of their belief in God, they carry suspicions and all kinds of notions. They are unsure whether God’s words are the truth, unsure whether God expressing these words is God’s work, and even more unsure whether the brothers and sisters gathering together is God’s church. They constantly harbor suspicions, and always look for factual evidence to prove their suspicions are correct. What kind of attitude is this? Do you think people with this kind of attitude can understand the truth in their belief in God? (No.) They will never be able to understand the truth. What do they focus on most in their hearts? They are always pondering, “Who are these people? Is this some kind of social organization? Although god’s house provides for these people’s living expenses while I host them, I am still taking a risk by being their host. So, will god remember my good deeds? If god doesn’t remember them, won’t my hosting have been in vain?” They constantly have such doubts in their hearts. Do you think they host the brothers and sisters willingly? (No.) They do it completely out of a desire to gain blessings, while being filled with doubts. Especially when they hear some things which they can’t see clearly and consider negative according to their notions, the doubts in their hearts increase. For example, during gatherings, someone may bring up topics that involve the actions of the great red dragon’s regime and the ugly faces of the demon kings, or sometimes fellowship on the truth touches on the oppression and arrests carried out by the great red dragon, and the nature essence of the great red dragon, and so on. These topics don’t actually involve politics—they just help people learn to discern the great red dragon and see its face clearly, so that they can come to hate and reject the great red dragon and no longer be constrained and bound by Satan’s influence. But when suspicious people hear such topics, they are cowardly and frightened: “These people are even discussing politics! Aren’t they political criminals? Aren’t they counterrevolutionaries? These topics are too sensitive! Quick, shut the windows, lock the gate, unplug the internet and phone lines! If the government listens in on this, we could be in big trouble! We’d get life sentences for sure!” They are unwilling to listen to such topics and will try every means to interrupt the fellowship to stop them from being discussed. They think to themselves, “What kind of work do these people do exactly? It’s said that god doesn’t get involved in human politics, so why are these people talking about politics? Aren’t believers supposed to talk only about matters of believing in god? Why are they discussing these things? Isn’t this just asking for trouble? If they want to talk about these things, they can do it wherever they want, but they mustn’t do it in my house. I don’t want to be ‘piggybacking’ on this!” They cannot see anything clearly. When they hear some rumors fabricated by the government, not only do they fail to discern them, but their misgivings become even stronger. If they were frequently suspicious and skeptical toward the group of demons in power or the antichrist forces and sects of evil spirits within religion, that would actually help them protect themselves. But in the church where God works, God has expressed so much truth, and yet they still can’t understand it and cannot determine that it’s the true way. After listening to sermons for so long and seeing God speak so much, their suspiciousness remains unresolved, and their notions and imaginings haven’t been eradicated. It’s clear that their caliber is too poor, that they have no comprehension ability whatsoever, and that they are not people who pursue the truth. From the start of their belief in God, they’ve never believed that God is sovereign over everything, and they’ve never believed that all of God’s words are the truth; even less have they believed that the work of God’s house is fully led by the Holy Spirit. As a result, everything makes them doubtful. For example, when fellowshipping about discerning different kinds of people during gatherings, we may talk about how antichrists mislead people; or how some people don’t do any real work despite everything they consume and enjoy being provided for using God’s offerings, which constitutes living off the church; or how some people steal or squander offerings; or how certain individuals in the church engage in licentious activities; or how some people do things that disgrace God while preaching the gospel. We discuss these matters so that people can learn how to discern others, and so that they can view people and matters according to God’s words and the truth principles, draw lessons and learn from these things, and avoid being misled or constrained by others. However, when suspicious people hear these things, they say, “Oh no! This is god’s house, the place where god’s work is done—how could such things happen here? It seems I was right to be suspicious before. I need to be even more careful from now on. People are all too unreliable, and god’s house isn’t reliable either. Is god reliable, then? Who knows—maybe god isn’t reliable either.” See, they don’t understand the truth, nor can they comprehend it. No matter what aspect of the truth is fellowshipped by God’s house, what conclusion do they always reach in the end? That they were right to be suspicious for all those years, and that this was not unnecessary. If those who pursue the truth and have the thinking of normal humanity hear these things, they can treat them correctly. In one respect, their horizons are broadened and they gain discernment from these things. In another respect, they can draw lessons and learn from these things, and understand that people cannot follow other people, that they need to discern others and understand more of the truth, and that one can be misled at any time and in any place if they don’t understand the truth, and that once they understand the truth and have stature, they won’t be constrained, misled, or controlled by others. Suspicious people, however, will never think this way. The more God’s house fellowships about discerning different kinds of people and matters, the more they feel that their suspicions are correct and confirmed: “See, I’m the smart one! Good thing I stayed wary. People often say I’m suspicious and distrustful, but the facts prove I was right to be suspicious. Look how foolish you all are—in your belief in god, you only know to do your duties and talk about your experiential knowledge. What’s the use of that? Can that protect you? No! No matter what situations you face, you can only protect yourself if you’re warier and question things more. You have to guard against everyone. You can’t rely on anyone as much as yourself, not even your own parents!” Tell Me, just what kinds of people are they? Are they believers in God? (No.) No matter what kind of work God’s house fellowships about or which types of people it discerns, and regardless of what environments God lays out for people, the purpose is for God’s chosen people to learn lessons from these things, for them to receive training in the kingdom in a more practical manner, and for them—through these practical lessons—to come to understand the truth and gain discernment toward people, see people and various matters clearly, and thus better understand just which actual people, events, and things the words and truths that God expresses are referring to. But suspicious people aren’t just unable to learn any lessons from these things, and instead they become even more suspicious and cunning.

Some suspicious people, whenever they say or do something in God’s house, are always extremely cautious, constantly fearing that the brothers and sisters or the leaders and workers will prune them or even torment them. They say, “If I stop believing in god and leave the church, will the church retaliate against me?” They ought to rest easy about this. If a disbeliever leaves the church, it’s a happy occasion for all parties—it benefits everyone. So, if you want to leave the church or give up your duty to go back home and live your life, you should boldly bring it up without any worries. You could also write a statement, saying: “As of such-and-such date, I officially leave The Church of Almighty God and withdraw from the ranks of those doing their duty.” This is completely allowed. The doors of God’s house are open, and you can leave boldly without worrying about anyone retaliating against you. There’s no need to be afraid or suspicious. Do you see any evil people among these people in the church? Absolutely not. Even if there are evil people, they must get cleansed away. Most people are quite well-behaved and like to walk the right path in life. Retaliating against or harming others violates the truth principles, and they could never do such a thing. What do you think is wrong with how suspicious people conduct themselves? They have only a distrustful mind but no intelligence. They believe that their cunning, deceitful, and distrustful mind is the highest form of wisdom when it comes to how they conduct themselves. They aren’t interested in the truth principles nor in God’s work and words—they neither understand nor seek to. Instead, they live only according to Satan’s philosophies, thinking, “No matter what befalls me, I should question things more. In addition, I think that no matter whom I harbor suspicions toward, it is reasonable for me to do so, and regardless of whether my suspicions align with the facts, it’s justified. In summary, suspecting more when confronted with situations benefits me.” As a result, no matter how many years they believe in God, they never seek the truth in God’s words, nor do they seek answers in God’s words to resolve the various problems and misgivings they have. Instead, they rely on their own mind, distrustful mentality, philosophies for worldly dealings, or their own life experiences to analyze and deal with these matters. In the end, the more they encounter various situations and the more information of various kinds they hear, not only does their suspicious nature remain unchanged, but their misgivings grow and grow. For example, when this kind of suspicious person has believed in God for one or two years and hears about the Zhaoyuan Incident fabricated by the CCP to defame God’s house, they think, “Maybe it was done by god’s house. Even if it wasn’t ordered by god’s house, it must have been done by some brothers and sisters below, and you’re just not admitting it.” After believing in God for three to five years, they still believe the great red dragon’s version of events. Even after eight to ten years, their misgivings about God’s house remain unresolved. They don’t believe that it was the great red dragon framing and defaming the church; they simply assume that the people of God’s house did it. You see, when they view some matter, they never do so based on God’s words or the truth principles—they believe the great red dragon’s version and view the matter from the standpoint of devils and Satan. No matter how Satan oppresses and brutalizes God’s chosen people, they feel that it is understandable, but they never believe that God’s house is innocent or that the brothers and sisters who suffer persecution for believing in God are blameless. Even though they see with their own eyes that the brothers and sisters in God’s house are all people who are well-behaved and keep to their place, in their heart they always believe, without any doubt, the things that the great red dragon has done to defame the church. Although, in believing in God, such people can endure hardship, pay a price, and even make offerings, they are ultimately still disbelievers. In fact, suspicious people are more troublesome than those who don’t love or accept the truth. In what way are they more troublesome? Those who are uninterested in the truth are completely indifferent to and uninterested in the church’s work and the performance of duties; no matter how believers follow God or do their duties, it’s unimportant to them. As a result, they don’t have misgivings about matters of believing in God or doing a duty, and they basically never inquire about the church’s affairs. But suspicious people are the exact opposite—they love to inquire about hearsay. Why do they want to inquire about these things? One of their goals is definitely: “If I inquire more and know more, it’ll help me to prepare my backup plan in advance, and to decide at any moment whether to stay or leave.” They also focus on inquiring about certain matters, such as what the real name of a particular leader or worker is, where they live, what kind of career they have in the secular world, or why they left their home to do their duty. They might also inquire about those preaching the gospel, such as whom they have preached to, which of their family members believe in God, how many years they have been preaching the gospel, how many people they have gained, and so on. They inquire about all these things in great detail. Suspicious people love gathering this kind of information, and once they’ve gathered it, they feel at ease, thinking it’s very necessary to know these things, and that they can put this information to use at crucial times. Suspicious people know too much. They are “information databases,” and they even know some things that leaders and workers don’t know, such as who has gone abroad to do their duty and which country they went to—they even know these things about people going to other countries. But if you ask them which episode of sermons was issued most recently, they won’t be able to tell you. They never pay attention to matters of life entry, but when it comes to the personal information of the brothers and sisters and some of the church’s circumstances, they are very clear on those things. One of their purposes for often inquiring about things is to know more about all kinds of circumstances, after which they can prepare a way out for themselves at any time. They believe that it’d be extremely foolish to not give any thought to their way out—to use the words of nonbelievers, they’d be “helping someone count their money after being sold down the river by them!” In actuality, they’re like rotten old food, not worth a dime, and yet they see themselves as very valuable. What do you think, are these people suspicious? (Yes.) These are suspicious people indeed. Suspicious people have an especially cunning and deceitful humanity. Some people see cunning and deceitfulness as signs of high intelligence, but this is wrong. In actuality, these cunning and deceitful people are extremely stupid and lack any caliber. Their caliber is so poor, and this is already difficult to change; their also being cunning means that they are even harder to cure. If someone merely has poor caliber but they are relatively honest and not cunning, and they can sincerely do their duty, perhaps they still have a glimmer of hope of being saved. If they have poor caliber and are somewhat deceitful but they can accept the truth and know themselves, they perhaps have a glimmer of hope of casting off their deceitful disposition. If they can understand the truth and gradually know and enter into it, their suspiciousness might be lifted bit by bit. But unfortunately, these people are both lacking in caliber, and deceitful and cunning, and they are also stupid to a great extent. This is like a blind person suffering from an eye problem—there’s no cure, right? (Right.) Such people are irredeemable. Since these people are suspicious to an irredeemable degree, how do you think they should be treated? (If such people are discovered, they must be guarded against. They are capable of selling out the church to protect themselves; they are dangerous individuals. We can seek out opportunities to expose them and clear them out, or if we can’t find an opportunity to do so, we can persuade them to leave in a wise manner.) Once you’re certain that someone is a suspicious person, don’t engage with them. Engaging with them will only bring trouble. If you engage with them, they will always try to figure you out. If you are going to go out, they will keep a close eye on you, constantly asking, “Where are you going? How many days will you be gone? What are you going to do?” When you return, they will ask, “Who did you meet? Did you accomplish your task? What did you all talk about?” If you don’t answer them, they will complain: “They won’t let me be privy to anything. They don’t trust me, do they? They’re not treating me like a member of god’s house! They said that they were going to do church work, but why were they keeping it from me? They must have gone out to do something illegal.” They will always spy on you behind your back. Such people are really troublesome. They inquire about lots of things, wanting to know everything. But once they know those things, they can’t comprehend them purely or treat them correctly, and they also try to look for suspicious parts in them, which causes their doubts to grow larger and larger. Suppose that you advise them, saying, “Since you have such big doubts about God, and since you don’t believe that God’s words are truths, and that they can purify and save man, you should just stop believing in God!” They won’t be willing to do that—they’ll still want to believe and they’ll still want to gain blessings. Aren’t these people troublesome? (Yes.) These people are easy to handle. If they can bring major trouble to the church, then quickly persuade them to leave. These people aren’t trustworthy, they don’t have the ability to comprehend the truth, and even if they can do a bit of a duty, they will bring great trouble to God’s house—they do more harm than good. So, persuading them to leave is necessary.

Cowardly people are troublesome, and suspicious people are also troublesome. But people who are both cowardly and suspicious are even more troublesome. These people are extremely timid and afraid of death, and they are suspicious about everything, constantly being suspicious about whether believing in God could lead them to be tricked. They are afraid that their prospects might be hindered and think that being arrested and persecuted, leading to their death, would hardly be worthwhile. If they are suspicious to this extent, what’s the point of believing in God for them? Isn’t this just making things hard on themselves? They guard against the brothers and sisters and every work arrangement of God’s house as if they were guarding against swindlers, just like they guard against the great red dragon or devils and Satans. Some people still try to advise them, saying, “Just make sure to believe in God diligently, pursue the truth, and do your duty well, and God will approve of you.” But what are they thinking inside? “You want me to do my duty properly, but once I’m well known and the great red dragon arrests me, won’t that be the end of me?” If this really is their mindset, then there’s no point in trying to advise them. They are extremely timid, and always terrified of death. When they hear that believers in God have been arrested, they are so scared that they wet their pants. But when it comes to swindling and cheating people in business, no matter how much trouble they get into, they aren’t afraid at all—they are quite bold in this regard. Yet, when it involves matters of believing in God, they are utterly timid. They are full of all kinds of misgivings about the brothers and sisters, about God’s house, and especially about God and God’s words and work, and no amount of fellowship can resolve these misgivings. No matter how many years they believe, they still don’t know what it means to believe in God or why they need to gather and do their duty. It’s obvious that these people have impaired intelligence, and are quite cunning and deceitful. Such people should be persuaded to leave quickly. If they stop coming to gatherings and no longer want to do their duty because they’re cowardly or for any other reason, then that’s perfect—it saves the trouble of clearing them out and avoids the hassle. If one day they become interested in believing in God again and want to return to believing in God, you can tell them, “As a believer in God, you could be arrested and imprisoned at any time, and there’s even the risk of losing your life. But if you don’t believe in God and instead do business in the world and make lots of money, maybe you’ll be able to enjoy some comfortable days.” After hearing this, their hearts will fully settle, and they’ll no longer think about believing in God. They’ll think, “Finally, my years of worry and dread are over. I don’t need to suspect the church, the brothers and sisters, or god’s house anymore. I’ve finally broken free.” And just like that, these cowardly and suspicious people are convinced to leave. This resolves the major trouble, right? (Yes.) This is a great way to resolve the matter.