By Neil, Japan

In August 2015, I learned that Sister Nicole had been replaced, mainly because she did not do actual work and competed with others for reputation and status, as well as judging her partner in front of other brothers and sisters, all of which disrupted the work of the church. After Nicole was dismissed, through fellowship and being pruned, she gained some understanding of her transgressions and corrupt dispositions. She showed great remorse and blamed herself, and was willing to repent. Alina, one of my partners, had formerly been Nicole’s partner. When she heard that Nicole had been classified as a false leader, she said, “After Nicole became a leader, she set herself above everyone else. She was quite standoffish with me, and haughty, and was very arrogant. She also formed cliques and engaged in jealous disputes to gain status. Only an antichrist could do such things. It’s not enough to call her a false leader; she should be classified as an antichrist.” She also planned to ask the upper leaders to reclassify Nicole. Another partner, Rachel, having heard what Alina said, agreed. At the time, I thought, “Nicole is self-important and aloof and has a seriously arrogant disposition, but she didn’t do any great evil, nor was she constantly causing disruptions and disturbances, and after she was replaced, she was able to repent, reflect, and gain self-knowledge. She isn’t one of those who accept no truth at all. If we classify her as an antichrist based only on the limited corruption she has revealed and one or two passing transgressions, wouldn’t that be going too far? Wrongly classifying her would be treating a good person unjustly.” So, I stated my views. But not only did Alina not accept this, she added: “You don’t understand some of Nicole’s behavior. We have to stick to principles. We can’t let off any of the antichrists.” At the time, I felt a little uneasy, but what Alina did next surprised me even more.

One day Alina got Rachel to collect evaluations of Nicole, and without consulting upper leaders she privately arranged a gathering of brothers and sisters to discern and dissect Nicole. At the gathering, Alina reiterated at length how Nicole had previously behaved arrogantly, and emphasized in particular that Nicole had acted arbitrarily, but she didn’t say whether this was habitual behavior or a passing instance of corruption. Nor did she mention whether Nicole had been able to accept the truth later, and subsequently repented. One sister felt that the gathering seemed to be about oppressing and condemning Nicole, and subsequently alerted Rachel: “What are you actually trying to achieve by doing this? Is this in line with God’s intention? You can’t just classify others without sufficient evidence. That’s liable to offend God.” Rachel was a little afraid after hearing this, and she also felt that treating Nicole like this might be a little excessive, so she spoke to me and Alina about her doubts. Alina replied crossly, “Every time we want to practice the truth, Satan disrupts things.” Finally, she dissected Nicole’s behavior again, and emphasized that because Nicole was jealous of her partner, she had formed a clique, judged, and oppressed that partner. She also said that Nicole had acted arbitrarily and without consulting with others, and dismissed people at will. Seeing the seriousness of the behavior that Alina was talking about, Rachel was convinced, and again took Alina’s side. At this time, I was also a little unsure. Was the view of Alina and Rachel correct? When I heard Alina fellowship so forcefully on God’s words revealing the formation of cliques by antichrists, I was even more confused and felt that her analysis might be right. Could it be that the upper leaders had not properly identified Nicole, mistaking an antichrist for a false leader and allowing her to remain? And if so, had I not become someone who spoke for an antichrist without discerning the antichrist? In which case, I might lose my position. I could be accused of shielding an antichrist and end up being totally discredited. Perhaps I would be better off taking Alina and Rachel’s side. That way, if I was wrong, it wouldn’t be my fault alone. That would be better than being revealed as wrong and taking all the blame. Just as I was about to agree with their viewpoint, I felt a little uneasy. I thought that since things weren’t clear yet, I couldn’t just casually accept someone else’s opinion. If Nicole wasn’t an antichrist, and I blindly followed others in classifying her, I would be arbitrarily condemning someone, which is something that would offend God. Such a transgression can never be erased once it has been made. Pricked by my conscience, I chose not to go along with Alina.

After that, I sought the truth about how to discern antichrists. In God’s word I read: “A person who has only the disposition of an antichrist cannot be classified as being, in essence, an antichrist. Only those who have the nature essence of antichrists are genuine antichrists. To be sure, there are differences in the humanity of the two, and under the governance of different sorts of humanity, the attitudes those people harbor toward the truth are likewise not the same—and when the attitudes that people harbor toward the truth are not the same, the roads they choose are different; and when the roads people choose are different, the resulting principles and consequences of their actions also have their differences. Because a person with only the disposition of an antichrist has a conscience at work, and has reason and a sense of honor, and, relatively speaking, loves the truth, when they reveal their corrupt disposition, there is reproval for it in their heart. At such times, they can reflect on themselves and know themselves, and they can admit to their corrupt disposition and their revelation of corruption, thus enabling them to rebel against the flesh and their corrupt disposition, and come to practice the truth and submit to God. With an antichrist, however, this is not the case. Because they have no conscience at work or conscientious awareness, and less still do they have a sense of honor, when they reveal their corrupt disposition, they do not measure according to God’s words whether their revelation is right or wrong, or whether theirs is a corrupt disposition or a normal humanity, or whether it accords with the truth. They never reflect on these things. So, how do they behave? They invariably maintain that the corrupt disposition they reveal and the road they choose are the right ones. They think whatever they do is right, that whatever they say is right; they are bent on holding to their own views. And so, however great a wrong they may do, however severe the corrupt disposition they may reveal, they will not recognize the gravity of the matter, and they certainly will not understand the corrupt disposition they have revealed. Neither, of course, will they put their desires aside, rebel against their ambition or their corrupt disposition in favor of choosing such a path as that of submission to God and the truth. One can see from these two different outcomes that if a person with an antichrist’s disposition loves the truth in their heart, they have a chance to attain an understanding of it and to practice it, and to attain salvation, whereas the sort of person with the essence of an antichrist cannot understand the truth or put it into practice, nor can they attain salvation. That is the difference between the two” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus Five: Summarizing the Character of Antichrists and Their Disposition Essence (Part Two)). “Some leaders and workers have, in the past, often revealed an antichrist’s dispositions: They were wanton and arbitrary, and it was always their way or the highway. But they didn’t commit any obvious evils and their humanity was not terrible. Through being pruned, through brothers and sisters helping them, through being transferred or replaced, by being negative for a time, they finally become aware that what they revealed before were corrupt dispositions, they become willing to repent, and think, ‘What is most important is to persist in doing my duty, no matter what. Though I was walking the path of an antichrist, I wasn’t classed as one. This is God’s mercy, so I must work hard in my belief and my pursuit. There’s nothing wrong with the path of pursuing the truth.’ Bit by bit, they turn themselves around, and then they repent. There are good manifestations in them, they are able to seek the truth principles when doing their duty, and they seek the truth principles when engaging with others, too. In every regard, they are entering in a positive direction. Have they not then changed? They have turned from walking the path of antichrists to walking the path of practicing and pursuing the truth. There is hope and a chance for them to attain salvation. Can you class such people as antichrists because they once exhibited some manifestations of an antichrist or walked the path of antichrists? No. Antichrists would rather die than repent. They have no sense of shame; besides that, they are vicious and wicked of disposition, and they are averse to the truth in the extreme. Can someone who is so averse to the truth put it into practice, or repent? That would be impossible. That they are so absolutely averse to the truth means that they will never repent” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Eight: They Would Have Others Submit Only to Them, Not the Truth or God (Part One)). Genuine antichrists have a ferocious disposition, a malicious nature, and are evildoers. They lack conscience or shame, and no matter how much evil they do, or how much harm they cause to the work of the church or the lives of the brothers and sisters, they have no sense of conscience. Furthermore, they are deeply averse to and detest the truth. They never accept the least truth, and never admit their mistakes or repent, no matter how much evil they do. But people with antichrist dispositions don’t have evil natures; they are not essentially evildoers. They do, sometimes, exhibit antichrist behavior, such as being wayward and reckless, acting in a domineering way and excluding those who disagree with them, but through pruning, dismissal or adjustment, they can seek the truth and reflect on themselves, feel remorse for their wicked deeds, and afterward, genuinely repent and change. Just like some false leaders who, by means of self-reflection after several dismissals, are ultimately able to walk the path of pursuing the truth. It’s quite possible to wrong someone by classifying them as an antichrist when some of their behavior resembles that of an antichrist. After that, I reread what Alina and the others had collected on Nicole’s behavior, and I found it was mostly behavior that revealed corruption, such as an arrogant disposition, despising others, acting willfully, adjusting people without consulting co-workers, and so on. She also roped in other brothers and sisters to judge her partner, which disrupted church life. This was indeed an evil deed, but not something that she did habitually. In the past, she had never oppressed or judged others. After her dismissal, she was able to reflect on and recognize her transgressions and corrupt disposition, and she loathed herself and repented. It can be seen from this that she was not someone who refused the truth or who would never repent. Looking at it this way, she had some antichrist behavior but was not essentially an antichrist. To classify her as an antichrist because of such transgressions would have been disproportionate, and out of line with the truth principles. It would have been oppressing and condemning her, which was an evil thing to do.

Later, the upper leaders fellowshiped with us on the difference between corrupt behavior and nature essence. I thought, “Now Alina should understand, and won’t keep going on about this matter anymore.” Unexpectedly, after the meeting Alina said to us, “The upper leaders are shielding Nicole. They don’t look at the problem according to the essence of Nicole’s behavior. I don’t know if they are shielding her because she has some caliber.” I thought, “How come Alina is seizing on one transgression of Nicole and not letting go? Didn’t the leaders fellowship very clearly? Nicole’s behavior was just showing corruption. It was a temporary transgression. She really can’t be classified as an antichrist.” But Alina and the others wouldn’t accept this and said they would go higher up if the leaders wouldn’t handle Nicole. Alina’s attitude was so stubborn, and the other two partners were also on her side. I was the only one who disagreed with her. I was very troubled. If I continued to approve of how the leaders handled things, would Alina and the others say I worshiped status, lacked discernment, and would say whatever the leaders said? But if I agreed with their point of view, wouldn’t this be randomly condemning someone? Perhaps I should say I didn’t know how to discern. That way, they wouldn’t know my actual views, and wouldn’t say I lacked discernment or stood on the side of an antichrist. So, I said very hesitantly, “I don’t know enough about Nicole’s behavior, so I don’t know how to classify her.” Alina’s expression changed immediately when she saw that I didn’t go along with her. Afterward, they deliberately avoided me when they were discussing informing on Nicole. I felt like I was being isolated, which left a bad taste, “Did I do something wrong? Why are they treating me like this?” This was disturbing for me, and I was unsettled in doing my duty. I suspected that behind my back they would say I understood the truth too shallowly and lacked discernment. Would they continue to exclude me from now on? I felt even more despondent, and I thought, “All right, if they won’t listen to my suggestions and don’t want me involved, then I’ll save myself a lot of trouble and avoid offending them so they don’t make an accusation and have me dismissed. Let them do whatever they want; it’s none of my business anyway.” But after I made that choice, I reproached myself: “Aren’t I running away? I’m not upholding the work of the church.” Later, I opened up and fellowshiped about my state with the leaders, and they reminded me to seek God’s intention and uphold the work of the church, adding that if I backed off or thought of running away because Alina and the others were isolating me, I would be shirking my responsibility. Hearing what the leaders said, I realized I was only considering my own personal interests. I saw that someone was being oppressed, but I was acting like this was not my concern. I even wanted to run away to avoid being excluded. I was so selfish and despicable!

Later, I read a passage of God’s words, and only then did I see my nature essence a little more clearly. God says: “When people take no responsibility toward their duties, do them in a perfunctory manner, act like people pleasers, and do not defend the interests of the house of God, what disposition is this? This is cunningness, it is the disposition of Satan. The most prominent aspect of man’s philosophies for worldly dealings is cunningness. People think that if they are not cunning, they will be liable to offend others and unable to protect themselves; they think that they must be cunning enough not to hurt or offend anyone, thereby keeping themselves safe, protecting their livelihoods, and gaining a firm foothold among other people. Nonbelievers all live by Satan’s philosophies. They are all people pleasers and do not offend anyone. You have come to the house of God, read the word of God, and listened to the sermons of God’s house, so why are you unable to practice the truth, speak from the heart, and be an honest person? Why are you always a people pleaser? People pleasers only protect their own interests, and not the interests of the church. When they see someone do evil and harm the church’s interests, they ignore it. They like to be people pleasers, and do not offend anyone. This is irresponsible, and that kind of person is too cunning and untrustworthy. To protect their own vanity and pride, and to maintain their reputation and status, some people are happy to help others, and to sacrifice for their friends no matter the cost. But when they need to protect the interests of the house of God, the truth, and justice, their good intentions are gone, they have completely disappeared. When they should practice the truth, they do not practice it at all. What is going on? To protect their own dignity and pride, they will pay any price and endure any suffering. But when they need to do real work and handle practical affairs, to safeguard the church’s work and positive things, and to protect and provide for God’s chosen people, why do they no longer have the strength to pay any price and endure any suffering? That is inconceivable. Actually, they have a kind of disposition that is averse to the truth. Why do I say that their disposition is averse to the truth? Because whenever something involves bearing witness for God, practicing the truth, protecting God’s chosen people, fighting against Satan’s schemes, or protecting the work of the church, they flee and hide, and don’t attend to any proper matters. Where is their heroism and spirit to endure suffering? Where do they apply these things? This is easy to see. Even if someone reproves them, saying that they should not be so selfish and base, and protect themselves, and that they ought to protect the work of the church, they don’t really care. They say to themselves, ‘I don’t do those things, and they do not have anything to do with me. What good would acting like that be for my pursuit of fame, gain, and status?’ They are not a person who pursues the truth. They only like to seek fame, gain, and status, and they do not do the work that God has entrusted to them at all. So, when they are needed to do the work of the church, they simply choose to flee. This means that, in their hearts, they do not like positive things, and are not interested in the truth. This is a clear manifestation of being averse to the truth. Only those who love the truth and possess the truth reality can come forward when required by the work of God’s house and by God’s chosen ones, only they can stand up, bravely and duty-bound, to testify to God and fellowship the truth, leading God’s chosen ones onto the right path, enabling them to attain submission to God’s work. Only this is an attitude of responsibility and a manifestation of showing consideration for God’s intentions” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). It was only by comparison with God’s words that I saw I was especially cunning and deceitful. Alina and the others wanted to classify Nicole as an antichrist. I obviously didn’t agree with them, and I also knew they were treating Nicole unjustly by arbitrarily condemning her, but I was worried about offending them and being condemned or dismissed by them. To protect my status and reputation, I avoided voicing what I really thought and said something ambiguous. I didn’t have the courage to stick to the correct point of view. I always considered my own interests and put self-preservation first, and did absolutely nothing to protect the interests of the church. Nor did I consider how much trouble they would bring to the work of the church by doing this. In a major matter involving the church’s work and the life entry of the brothers and sisters, I feigned ignorance so that no one was offended or hurt, and to keep my position I went with the flow and spoke against principles. I really was too cunning. I was not only cunning, but I was averse to the truth. I understood that practicing the truth and protecting the work of the church is a just and positive thing, but when I thought my own interests might be damaged, I didn’t practice it. I even thought I might suffer for defending what is right. Didn’t this just show that I disliked positive things and was averse to the truth? I felt very remorseful and guilty.

After that, the upper leaders reminded me that after Nicole had been dismissed this time, Alina had continued reporting her as an antichrist, and wouldn’t stop until Nicole was expelled. This was no longer an ordinary manifestation of corruption. If Alina’s intention really was to discern an antichrist and protect the work of the church, but simply wasn’t discerning accurately, then, after the leaders had fellowshiped in accordance with the truth principles, she would have been able to see her mistakes and treat Nicole’s transgression correctly. But she didn’t accept the fellowship at all, stuck to her guns and wouldn’t let go, which smacked of oppressing and punishing someone. The leaders asked me to investigate Alina and find out the truth of the matter, and I agreed. But when I was going to ask others about it, I started to back off again. “Now it’s not just Rachel who doesn’t discern Alina. Even some of the brothers and sisters in the church are taking her side. If I try to find out the truth of the matter in private, and they tell Alina about this, would Alina and the others have me dismissed?” When I thought about this, I started to feel conflicted again. Later, I remembered God’s words: “All of you say you are considerate of God’s burden and will defend the testimony of the church, but who among you has really been considerate of God’s burden? Ask yourself: Are you someone who has shown consideration for His burden? Can you practice righteousness for Him? Can you stand up and speak for Me? Can you steadfastly put the truth into practice? Are you bold enough to fight against all of Satan’s deeds? Would you be able to set your feelings aside and expose Satan for the sake of My truth? Can you allow My intentions to be satisfied in you? Have you offered up your heart in the most crucial of moments? Are you someone who follows My will? Ask yourself these questions, and think about them often” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 13). God’s words stirred my heart. In the face of God’s questions, I saw I was being timid and cowardly, frightened of trouble. I always wanted to run away from trouble. I wasn’t considerate of God’s burden at all. I didn’t protect the work of the church for fear that doing so would offend others and be to my detriment. I was so selfish and despicable! God’s words awakened me. Now Alina’s behavior was disrupting church life. If I didn’t stand up now, it would be too late when Alina caused even greater harm to the work of the church. My timidity and fear were a lack of faith in God. I didn’t believe everything was in God’s hands, so I always feared being oppressed by others. God is righteous, the truth rules in God’s house. In the end negative people and evildoers cannot find a footing here, but my faith was too small. So, I came before God and prayed, “God, I have fear and timidity in my heart. Please give me the faith to stand up and safeguard the work of the church.” After I prayed, I thought of a group leader who was upright and had some discernment. So I sought him out and asked him to work with me in investigating the matter. On checking Alina’s reports about antichrist behaviors by Nicole, we were aghast. We found that some of the accusations were untrue, and others concerned behaviors which simply revealed corruption and were not substantive problems. By condemning Nicole as an antichrist on the basis of such behaviors, wasn’t Alina twisting the facts to oppress Nicole? The deacon of general affairs had also seen that Alina was being unrelenting toward Nicole, and had warned her not to do evil, but Alina remained unmoved and was still clamoring to condemn Nicole as an antichrist. We saw that Alina had a particular hatred of Nicole and was determined to have her expelled. We learned about the situation when Alina and Nicole were partners, and discovered that the upper leaders had given a lot of important work to Nicole at that time because her caliber and work ability were superior to those of Alina. Alina thought Nicole was stealing her limelight, and was jealous and dissatisfied as a result. Also, Nicole often pointed out problems in her work, so Alina felt that Nicole despised her. Alina held a grudge against Nicole and was always looking for a chance to get her own back. On this occasion, when Nicole violated principles and was shown to be a false leader, Alina wanted to take the opportunity to classify Nicole as an antichrist and expel her. At first, I thought she condemned Nicole because she didn’t understand the truth. Now, I saw that Alina’s desire for revenge was so strong that she distorted the facts to mislead others into joining her in condemnation of Nicole. It was utterly abominable!

One day, through the revelation in God’s word, I saw Alina’s essence rather more clearly. God says: “What is a dissenter? Who are the people an antichrist views as dissenters? At a minimum, they are those who do not take the antichrist seriously as a leader, meaning that they do not look up to them or worship them but treat them as an ordinary person. That is one sort. Then there are those who love the truth, pursue the truth, pursue a change in their disposition, and pursue the love for God; they take a different road from that of an antichrist, and they are dissenters in the antichrist’s eyes. Are there any others? (Those who always make suggestions to antichrists, and who dare to expose them.) Any who dare offer an antichrist their suggestions and expose them, or whose views are different from theirs, are seen by them as dissenters. And there is another sort: those who equal the antichrist in caliber and ability, whose capacity for speech and action is similar to theirs, or whom they see as above them and able to discern them. To an antichrist, this is beyond the pale, a threat to their status. Such people are the antichrist’s greatest dissenters. The antichrist does not dare neglect such people or slacken in the least. They consider them as thorns in their side, a constant irritation, are vigilant and guarded against them at all times, and avoid them in everything they do. Especially when the antichrist sees that a dissenter is going to discern and expose them, a special panic grips them; they are desperate to exclude and attack such a dissenter, such that they will not be satisfied until they have cleared that dissenter out of the church. … For an antichrist, the dissenter is a threat to their status and power. Whoever threatens their status and power, no matter who it may be, antichrists will go to any lengths to ‘take care’ of them. If these people truly cannot be brought to heel or recruited, then the antichrists will bring them down or clear them out. In the end, the antichrists will achieve their goal of having absolute power, and being a law unto themselves. This is one of the techniques that antichrists habitually use to maintain their status and power—they attack and exclude dissenters” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Two: They Attack and Exclude Dissenters). “When a vicious person is faced with any kind of well-intentioned exhortation, accusation, teaching or help, their attitude is not to be grateful or accept it humbly, but instead to become enraged from shame, and to feel extreme hostility, hatred, and to even retaliate. … Of course, when they retaliate against another because of hatred, it is not because they have hatred toward or an old grudge against that person, but because that person has exposed their mistakes. This shows that the mere act of exposing an antichrist, regardless of who does so, and regardless of their relationship with the antichrist, can trigger their hatred and instigate their revenge. Regardless of who it is, whether they understand the truth, or whether they are a leader or worker or an ordinary member of God’s chosen people, as long as anyone exposes and prunes the antichrist, they will treat that person as an enemy. They will even openly say, ‘I’ll go hard on whoever prunes me. Whoever prunes me, exposes the skeletons in my closet, gets me expelled by the house of god, or robs me of my share of blessings, I’ll never leave them be. That’s how I am in the secular world: No one dares give me trouble. The person who dares to bother me hasn’t been born yet!’ These are the type of ruthless words antichrists let out when they face being pruned. When they let out these ruthless words, it isn’t to intimidate others, nor are they venting to protect themselves. They are truly capable of doing evil, and they will stoop to any means available to them. This is the vicious disposition of antichrists” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Eight)). It was only through the revelation of God’s word that I clearly saw Alina’s motives. She kept on saying she wanted to safeguard the work of the church and could not let any antichrist go, when in reality she was waging a personal vendetta. Merely because Nicole had pointed out errors in her work, she bore a grudge. She made use of Nicole’s dismissal to make a big fuss, and seized on Nicole’s passing transgression to classify her as an antichrist. After our leaders fellowshiped clearly on the difference between corruption and evildoing, she wouldn’t let it go, and continued doing everything she could to present slanted information about Nicole. She made inflated accusations and misled brothers and sisters into joining her condemnation of Nicole, as part of her effort to remove those who held different views. When the leaders didn’t handle Nicole as she wanted, she became dissatisfied and told co-workers that the leaders were shielding Nicole, which misled them into taking her side and prejudiced them against the leaders. When I put forward a different view on Nicole’s affairs, she excluded and isolated me. When some brothers and sisters alerted her to what she was doing, she refused to accept it and said this was disruption by Satan. From these facts, we can see that Alina hated the truth and had a very vicious disposition. If anyone discerned her or posed a threat to her status, she treated them as an enemy to be attacked, excluded and punished in retaliation. Alina was an evildoer. After that, I reported the facts I had learned to the leaders. They then dismissed Alina, isolated her, and monitored her behavior so that if she caused further disruption she would be expelled. Through fellowship, Rachel also gained discernment of Alina. When she saw that she had gone along with Alina in doing evil, she was full of remorse and hated herself.

Although this happened a long time ago, I am ashamed to think about how, for the duration, and in my own self-interest, I hadn’t cared at all if the work of the church suffered. But for the enlightenment and guidance of the words of God, I wouldn’t even have had the courage to safeguard the work of the church. It was God’s word that gave me the principles of practice. No matter how much I understand the truth, so long as the interests of the church are involved, I have to stand up in their defense. This is an unwavering responsibility.