By Joanne, South Korea

While I was serving as a church leader, Wang Hua supervised my work. She often talked about how she managed the church’s work, telling me that she wasn’t simply in charge of the work in her own church, but that she also followed up on the work of several other churches, and that the upper leaders praised her for being wise, of good caliber and capable of the work. She said the reason she was successful in her work was mainly because she focused on her personal life entry. She also told me that during her school years, she’d enjoyed writing essays and had been a good writer—this meant her written correspondence with leaders and co-workers rarely required editing, and she could communicate complicated issues in clear prose. She said that God had endowed her with these skills, and now she was putting them to use. I was quite envious when she told me that, and admired her good caliber, impressive work performance, and seeking of the truth.

But after working with her for two months, I noticed that she would often stay at home instead of attending gatherings. I asked her: “Why don’t you come to gatherings?” She replied: “I eat and drink of God’s words and equip myself with the truth at home, so that I can better fellowship on God’s words with others and resolve their issues.” I thought to myself: “Now is the time to expand the gospel, and the gospel work is your main responsibility. Yet, at such a busy time, you’re still sitting at home. Aren’t you failing to do real work and greedily reveling in the perks of your status?” But then I thought: “She has such good caliber and has been a leader for such a long time. Even the upper leaders speak of her good caliber, wisdom, and work ability. Even if she does revel a little bit in the perks of her status, so what? We all have corruption; it’s perfectly normal to reveal it now and then. I should stop with these baseless assumptions.” Just like that, I dropped the matter and didn’t think about it anymore. During that time, a few co-workers and I were holding gatherings daily with each group to provide fellowship and resolve problems and difficulties in the gospel work. The more we fellowshipped, the more lucid we all became, and we found some paths of practice. We told Wang Hua about the results we’d achieved in the gatherings. To our surprise, however, she looked unimpressed—with a forced smile, she said: “You really shouldn’t be focused on fellowshipping about gospel work, and resolving these minor details. That’s work for those who are spreading the gospel—it’s just child’s play. In gatherings, you should focus on fellowshipping about how to seek the truth, and how to seek life entry. Then, success in gospel work will come naturally.” Hearing what she said, I didn’t dare adhere to my own opinion. I felt conflicted and was at a loss—if I didn’t do as she said and a deviation affected the gospel work, the brothers and sisters would say it was my fault. Disrupting and obstructing the gospel work is an evildoing. Being replaced would be a light punishment; in a more serious case, I could be expelled. “Forget it,” I thought, “I’ll just do as she says!”

The next day, during a gathering, the others brought up some real problems and difficulties they’d encountered while spreading the gospel. This time, however, I didn’t help analyze their problems and seek ways to resolve them according to the actual situations they faced. Instead, I just avoided these difficulties and problems, and asked them what they had learned about themselves through facing these matters. I also said that only by focusing on our own life entry can we achieve results in our duties. Hearing this, the brothers and sisters just looked around at each other, helpless. No one said a word. Gatherings proceeded in that way for the next few days. The more I fellowshipped in this way, the more tired I became. My fellowship was dull and boring, I didn’t have much to say, and lacked direction in leading the gatherings. I felt truly awful. It seemed gathering like this was fruitless—it wasn’t resolving their problems. My co-workers also felt the same way. We sought out Wang Hua to fellowship with her, and asked her if we were in error to be working like that. But Wang Hua insisted that we needn’t resolve real problems—so long as we fellowshipped on life entry, the gospel work would be effective. She also said that we were inexperienced and lacked insight, only focused on our work, and failed to seek the truth. After she said that, I was again at a loss as to how to proceed. I thought: “She has good caliber, supervises many different projects, and the upper leaders think highly of her, so I should just do as she says! After all, I have poor caliber, lack experience and insight, and I’m her inferior in every aspect.” So, ultimately, I kept going by her orders.

During that time, other churches were improving their results in spreading the gospel, and their numbers of new believers were increasing exponentially. Our church’s results, however, were actually getting worse. I felt absolutely terrible and had no idea how to proceed. Just at that time, a co-worker gathering was held, and when the leaders from the other churches heard why our church hadn’t achieved good outcomes in spreading the gospel, they criticized Wang Hua for reveling in the perks of her position and not doing real work. Rejecting this, she cried and attempted to defend herself. She said that it wasn’t only her fault that results of the gospel work had been poor—that other co-workers were also to blame. We tried to fellowship with her and let her reflect on herself, but she just wasn’t having it. She went on crying and making a fuss, and completely disrupted the gathering. Seeing that unfold, I thought to myself: “We fellowshipped to resolve the problems of the gospel work, but you kept obstructing us and saying we needed to focus on life entry. You neglected to resolve real difficulties and problems in the gospel work, claiming that we should ‘focus on life entry.’ Is that not what you did? The facts of the matter are plain to see—instead of acknowledging what you’ve done, you’ve tried to pass the buck. Are you not failing to accept the truth?” I planned to inform the upper leaders about her situation and let them judge whether she was a right person. But then it occurred to me that maybe she’d just been in a bad state recently. Being pruned on top of that must have been a direct affront to her dignity and status. This was why she’d had such a big reaction. If she had just fallen into a bad state, and I reported her situation to the upper leaders, would they think I lacked truth and discernment, and was unable to treat people fairly? And if Wang Hua found out, would she think I was intentionally making things difficult for her? Would she isolate me and give me a hard time? Would she try to replace me because of this? I guessed I should just fellowship with her first and go from there. Once we’d fellowshipped and I had proper discernment of her, I could still report her if need be.

On the second day of the co-worker gathering, I happened to hear Wang Hua passing judgment on one sister in front of another, stirring up controversy between the two of them. I reminded her: “These two sisters already were having some misunderstandings, and you talking like that is just going to fan the flames. How are they supposed to keep collaborating after that?” She wouldn’t accept that, and quibbled with me: “Everything I said was true, I’m a straight shooter, I call it like I see it, and say what’s on my mind.” I said: “That’s not calling it like you see it. The way you described that sister’s behavior wasn’t factual or objective—you were passing judgment. You didn’t consider how what you said might harm that sister, or what effect it might have on the church’s work. All that can result from this is that their relationship will deteriorate, and they’ll be unable to collaborate properly. That’s called sowing discord.” To my surprise, she responded: “I’m not like some people that don’t say what they think, that always equivocate, aren’t transparent in their actions, and are deceitful.” Hearing the innuendo and aggression in her words, I knew her problem was severe, and wanted to report her to the leadership. But then I thought, “All I did today was give her some suggestions and she attacked me right away. If she finds out I’ve reported her issues, will she fly into a rage, and seek revenge? She’s already said I’m deceitful—what if she condemns me and says I’m not a good fit for church leader, and has me replaced? The CCP police are still pursuing me, so I can’t return home. If I’m replaced, yet still can’t return to gatherings back home, where else can I go?” That night, I felt truly awful. My thoughts were running rampant, and I didn’t get a wink of sleep all night. Ultimately, I decided not to report her. Then, the next morning, I banged my head on the bedpost of my bunk bed so hard that I felt dizzy and dazed. I had two big lumps that didn’t go away for several days. I thought to myself: “Is God disciplining me?” But at the time, I was numb, and didn’t reflect on myself. During those couple of days, I went around like a zombie, and felt like I’d lost the work of the Holy Spirit.

To my surprise, directly after the co-worker gathering, some brothers and sisters sent by the upper leaders came to investigate Wang Hua’s situation. I told them everything I knew. The brothers and sisters pruned me severely: “You clearly knew there was a problem, so why didn’t you report what you saw? Even if you couldn’t grasp the substance of the issue, you could at least have reported what you’d seen, what you knew, and the specific details of her behavior to the upper leaders. You knew that you should report her problems, but to protect yourself, you didn’t practice the truth and didn’t safeguard the work of the church in the slightest. You are truly selfish and despicable!” I felt truly repentant and regretful after being pruned like that. I prayed to God: “Oh God! I know that I didn’t safeguard the work of the church, but I don’t know the source of my problem. Please enlighten and guide me to know myself. I am willing to repent.”

After that, I came across this passage of God’s words: “In their work, church leaders and workers must pay attention to two principles: One is to do their work exactly according to the principles stipulated by the work arrangements, never violating those principles and not basing their work on anything that they might imagine or on any of their own ideas. In everything they do, they should show concern for the work of the church, and always put the interests of God’s house first. Another thing—and this is most crucial—is that in all things, they must focus on following the Holy Spirit’s guidance and do everything in strict keeping with God’s words. If they are still capable of going against the Holy Spirit’s guidance, or if they stubbornly follow their own ideas and do things according to their own imagination, then their actions will constitute a most serious resistance against God. Frequently turning their back on the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit will only lead to a dead end. If they lose the work of the Holy Spirit, then they will not be able to work; and even if they do somehow manage to work, they will accomplish nothing” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). Pondering God’s words, I realized what God demands of leaders and workers in their work is that they work precisely according to work arrangements, and perform their duties in accordance with the principles of God’s house. If they go their own way, violating principles as well as the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and stubbornly sticking to their own ideas in their work, this constitutes severe resistance to God. It was only then that I realized why I had lost the work of the Holy Spirit and had sunk into darkness. I’d seen that Wang Hua wasn’t attending gatherings or fellowshipping on gospel work. Further, I’d known that this was in violation of the work arrangements, and I also knew that doing as she said clearly wasn’t working. But because I believed she had good caliber and was a capable worker, I went along with her in violating the work arrangements, and the gospel work suffered greatly as a result. I saw that Wang Hua wouldn’t reflect on herself no matter how many times she was in the wrong, that she would even turn the tables and attack others and wouldn’t accept the truth at all. But because I was scared of offending her and being replaced, I didn’t report her problem. I violated work arrangements and the guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit, and I was stubbornly resisting God. How could God not detest me? I hadn’t gained enlightenment from God’s words, didn’t have anything to say in my fellowship, failed to find a path in my duties, and had sunk into utter darkness. This was God hiding His face from me.

Reflecting on all this, I came across this passage of God’s words: “A confusion is when you cannot see through some matter; you do not know how to judge or discern in a way that conforms to principles or is accurate. Even if you can somewhat see through it, you’re unsure whether your view is correct, you do not know how to handle or resolve the matter, and it’s difficult for you to reach a conclusion about it. In short, you’re uncertain about it and unable to make a decision. If you don’t understand even a bit of the truth and no one else resolves the problem, then it becomes unsolvable. Isn’t this facing a tough challenge? When faced with such problems, leaders and workers should report them to the Above and seek from the Above so as to resolve the issues more quickly. Do you frequently face confusions? (Yes.) Regularly facing confusions is itself a problem. Let’s say you’re faced with an issue and you don’t know the appropriate way to handle it. Someone proposes a solution that you think is reasonable while another person proposes a different one that you also think is reasonable, and if you can’t clearly see which solution is more appropriate, with everyone’s opinions varying and no one grasping the problem’s root cause or essence, then slip-ups are bound to appear in the resolution of the problem. Thus, to resolve a problem, it is crucial and important to determine its root cause and essence. If leaders and workers are not discerning, fail to grasp the essence of the problem, and cannot reach the correct conclusion, they must promptly report the issue to the Above and seek a solution from them; this is necessary and not an overreaction. Unresolved problems can lead to severe consequences and impact the church’s work—this must be thoroughly understood” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (7)). Through reading God’s words, I realized that when we encounter problems in our duties, like conflicts between co-workers that we don’t know how to resolve, or if we’ve noticed a problem with someone but can’t fully ascertain the situation and don't know how to deal with it, we should report to the upper leaders in a timely manner and seek resolution. Reporting issues is not about picking out faults in people, or telling on people, and it’s not making a mountain out of a molehill; the point is to resolve issues that people can’t grasp themselves, so as to prevent delays in the work and in people’s life entry. As for me, no matter how many problems I faced or how serious they were, I preferred to delay the work and damage my brothers’ and sisters’ life entry than report them, if doing so threatened my interests or my future prospects. When I saw Wang Hua going against work arrangements and failing to supervise gospel work, even though I hadn’t fully grasped the issue, I felt something was off and that she was out of line. It was then that I should have reported her situation promptly to the upper leaders. Yet I worried that if I didn’t go along with her orders, I’d be held responsible, so I did as she said. When Wang Hua kicked up such an unreasonable fuss after being pruned, I hadn’t been sure if she was just in a bad state, or if she was someone who rejected and hated the truth in her very essence. Yet I could have made a timely report, and let the upper leaders send someone to investigate and discern, to avoid delaying the work of the church because the wrong person had been used. But I worried that if I reported her wrongly, the upper leaders would think I had poor judgment of others. Likewise, I feared that Wang Hua would suppress me afterward, so I kept putting off reporting her issue. If I were someone responsible, someone who safeguarded the church’s work, then no matter whether or not I grasped the essence of the issue and understood the truth, I wouldn’t have been constrained by anything. I would have found a way to safeguard the church’s interests. But instead, in order to protect myself, I stood by passively, excusing myself by saying I’d report her once I had proper discernment. But if I waited until I had proper discernment, wouldn’t it be too late? Wouldn’t the gospel work be even more adversely affected then? It was then that I realized how important it is to seek the truth when we face difficulties and are confused. Being committed to safeguarding the work of the church is truly important!

To protect myself, I kept putting off reporting Wang Hua’s issues, and this did a lot of serious damage to the gospel work. I felt incredibly regretful. Later, I came across God’s words exposing antichrists: “How does the selfishness and vileness of the antichrists manifest itself? In anything that benefits their status or reputation, they make efforts to do or say whatever is necessary, and they willingly endure any suffering. But where work arranged by God’s house is concerned, or where work that benefits the life growth of God’s chosen people is concerned, they utterly ignore it. Even when evil people disrupt, disturb, and commit all kinds of evil, thereby seriously affecting the work of the church, they remain impassive and unconcerned, as if this has nothing to do with them. And if someone discovers and reports the evil deeds of an evil person, they say they saw nothing and feign ignorance” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus Four: Summarizing the Character of Antichrists and Their Disposition Essence (Part One)). “Some people do not understand many truths. They do not understand the principles in anything they do, and when they encounter problems, they do not know the proper way to handle them. How should they practice in this situation? The lowest standard is to act according to conscience—this is the baseline. How should you act according to conscience? Act from sincerity, and be worthy of God’s kindness, of God having given you this life, and of this God-given opportunity to attain salvation. Is that the effect of your conscience? Once you have met this bare minimum of standards, you will have obtained protection and you will not commit grievous errors. You will not then so easily do things to rebel against God or shirk your responsibilities, nor will you be so liable to act in a perfunctory manner. You will also not be so prone to scheming for your own status, fame, gain, and future. This is the role that conscience plays. Conscience and reason should both be components of a person’s humanity. These are both the most fundamental and most important. What kind of person is one who lacks conscience and does not have the reason of normal humanity? Generally speaking, they are a person who lacks humanity, a person of extremely poor humanity. Going into more detail, what manifestations of lost humanity does this person exhibit? Have a go at analyzing what characteristics are found in such people and what specific manifestations they present. (They are selfish and base.) Selfish and base people are perfunctory in their actions and stand aloof from anything that does not concern them personally. They do not consider the interests of God’s house, nor do they show consideration for God’s intentions. They take on no burden of performing their duties or testifying for God, and they have no sense of responsibility. … There are some people who do not take any responsibility regardless of the duty they are performing. They don’t promptly report problems they discover to their superiors, either. When they see people being disruptive and disturbing, they turn a blind eye. When they see evil people committing evil, they don’t try to stop them. They don’t protect the interests of the house of God, or consider what their duty and responsibility is. When they perform their duty, people like this don’t do any real work; they are people pleasers and are greedy for comfort; they speak and act only for their own vanity, face, status, and interests, and are only willing to devote their time and effort to things that benefit them” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. In Giving One’s Heart to God, One Can Obtain the Truth). Through reading God’s words, I realized that in our duties, we will often face issues we don’t fully grasp and don’t know how to resolve, but those with humanity safeguard the interests of the church in good conscience. Those without conscience and reason consider only their own dignity, status and self-interest. They don’t report problems they observe, and are incredibly selfish and despicable. That was exactly how I was. For the sake of my reputation, status, future prospects, and destination, I had put off reporting Wang Hua’s disruption of the church’s work. I was living by satanic poisons like “Sensible people are good at self-protection, seeking only to avoid making mistakes” and “When you know something is wrong, it is better to say less.” I was afraid that if I reported Wang Hua’s issues, I’d be suppressed or replaced, so I came up with excuses like, “Everyone is corrupt anyway,” “Perhaps she’s just in a bad state,” and “I’ll report the problem once I have a better grasp.” These excuses might have sounded right, but in reality, I was just trying to protect myself and shirk responsibility. I only cared about my reputation, status, future prospects, and destination—I hadn’t considered the work of the church, nor had I safeguarded its interests. I had been selfish, despicable, and inhumane. I really was biting the hand that fed me!

Later on, I reflected on why I kept putting off reporting Wang Hua’s problems and realized one of the reasons was that I lacked discernment of her. Through the exposition of God’s words, I gained discernment and understanding of Wang Hua’s behavior. God says: “Their method of exalting and testifying about themselves is to flaunt themselves and belittle others. They also camouflage and package themselves, hiding their weaknesses, shortcomings, and deficiencies from people so that they only ever see their brilliance. They do not even dare to tell other people when they feel negative; they lack the courage to open up and fellowship with them, and when they do something wrong, they do their utmost to conceal it and cover it up. Never do they mention the harm they have caused to the work of the church in the course of doing their duty. When they have made some minor contribution or achieved some small success, however, they are quick to show it off. They cannot wait to let the whole world know how capable they are, how high their caliber is, how exceptional they are, and how much better they are than normal people. Is this not a way of exalting and testifying about themselves? Is exalting and testifying about oneself something someone with conscience and reason does? It is not. So when people do this, what disposition is usually revealed? Arrogance. This is one of the chief dispositions revealed, followed by deceitfulness, which involves doing everything possible to make other people hold them in high esteem. Their words are completely watertight and clearly contain motivations and schemes, they are showing themselves off, yet they want to hide this fact. The outcome of what they say is that people are made to feel that they are better than others, that no one is their equal, that everyone else is inferior to them. And is this outcome not achieved via underhanded means? What disposition is behind such means? And are there any elements of wickedness? (There are.) This is a kind of wicked disposition. It can be seen that these means they employ are directed by a deceitful disposition—so why do I say it is wicked? What connection does this have to wickedness? What do you think: Can they be open about their aims in exalting and testifying about themselves? They can’t. But there is always a desire in the depths of their hearts, and what they say and do is in aid of that desire, and the aims and motivations of what they say and do are kept very secret. They will, for example, employ misdirection or some shady tactics to achieve these aims. Is such secretiveness not devious in nature? Can such deviousness not be called wicked? (Yes.) It can indeed be called wicked, and it runs deeper than deceitfulness. They use a certain way or method to achieve their goals. This disposition is deceitfulness. However, the ambition and desire deep in their hearts of always wanting to have people follow, look up to, and worship them frequently directs them to exalt and testify about themselves, and to unscrupulously and shamelessly do these things. What is this disposition? This rises to the level of wickedness” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Four: They Exalt and Testify About Themselves). Through God’s words I saw how antichrists have an arrogant and evil disposition. To accomplish their goal of ensnaring and controlling people, they use all kinds of methods to exalt and testify to themselves, making people unwittingly admire and worship them and feel that no one else can compare to them. God’s words allowed me to gain some discernment of Wang Hua’s methods and intentions. Thinking back on my interactions with her, she would often brag about how she managed the work and about the praise she received from the upper leaders. All of this served to make others feel she placed great importance on life entry and was someone who sought the truth. She would also show off her gifts and talents, claiming that she wrote letters with elegant and flowing prose that rarely needed editing. This made others feel inferior to her in all aspects, that they couldn’t compare with her. Wang Hua used all kinds of methods to show off and brag about herself, but never exposed her own corruption. She would even stand the facts on their heads and whitewash herself, packaging herself up completely, so that no one could see her weaknesses, deficiencies or her sly intentions. In fact, the upper leaders had exposed and pruned her many times for not selecting or using people according to principle, and acting recklessly in her duties, but she never brought that up. She only ever talked about how the upper leaders praised and thought highly of her, and only showed people the most presentable aspects of herself. She often stayed at home rather than doing real work. This, she would claim, was to equip herself with truth, in order to better fellowship God’s words and resolve people’s problems. But in fact, she was clearly just reveling in the perks of her status. She didn’t resolve any actual difficulties existing in the gospel work—instead, she spread the fallacy that by resolving issues in gospel work during gatherings, people were only placing importance on work and not on life entry. She also always attacked and disparaged others, characterizing other people’s real work as child’s play. She had sown discord, secretly undermined others, and destroyed relationships between brothers and sisters, yet she claimed she was a straight shooter, speaking bluntly and truthfully. All of Wang Hua’s words and actions were incredibly sinister and cunning. If it weren’t for God’s exposition, it would be easy to be misled into admiring and adoring her. Having realized all this, I finally came to my senses, and gained some discernment of Wang Hua’s antichrist essence.

As I reflected, I realized that one of the reasons I had lacked discernment of her was because I couldn’t distinguish between an isolated instance of corruption and a corrupt nature essence. Later, I found some of God’s words: “All who have been corrupted by Satan have corrupt dispositions. Some have nothing more than corrupt dispositions, while others are different: Not only do they have corrupt satanic dispositions, but their nature is also extremely malicious. Not only do their words and actions reveal their corrupt, satanic dispositions; these people are, moreover, the genuine devils and Satans” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth). “How does God characterize antichrists? As those who hate the truth and oppose God—they are God’s enemies! Opposing the truth, hating God, and hating all positive things—this is not the momentary weakness or foolishness found in ordinary people, nor is it the revelation of incorrect thoughts and viewpoints that arise from a moment’s distorted comprehension; this is not the problem. The problem is that they are antichrists, the enemies of God, hating all positive things and all truth; they are characters who hate and oppose God. How does God view such characters? God does not save them! These people despise and hate the truth, they have the nature essence of antichrists. Do you understand this? What is being exposed here is wickedness, viciousness, and hatred of the truth. It’s the most severe of satanic dispositions among corrupt dispositions, representing Satan’s most typical and substantial characteristics, not the corrupt dispositions revealed by ordinary corrupted mankind. Antichrists are a force inimical to God. They can disturb and control the church, and they have the capacity to dismantle and disrupt God’s management work. This is not something that ordinary people with corrupt dispositions can do; only antichrists are capable of such actions. Do not underestimate this matter” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Six). God’s words helped me understand that while all who have been corrupted by Satan have a corrupt disposition, some people have humanity, conscience and reason, and can accept the truth. If there are deficiencies or deviations in their duty, and they are notified of them, exposed, and pruned, they may at first feel ashamed and resistant, and defend themselves. Yet afterward, they are able to reflect on themselves, and come to despise their corrupt nature and flawed methods. When they realize how they have delayed and obstructed the church’s work, they feel regretful, hate themselves, repent and achieve transformation. Yet there are some that not only have Satan’s corrupt disposition, but also have a malicious nature, can’t accept the truth in the least, and even despise it. No matter how much evil they do, or how great the harm they cause to the church’s work, they don’t suffer in the slightest and don’t reflect on themselves at all. They don’t have even an ounce of guilt. No matter how much they are pruned or exposed or dissected, they never acknowledge their wrongs, and never accept the plain facts as they’re revealed. They despise being pruned, judged and chastised. Based on their attitudes toward the truth and toward positive things, they are clearly hostile to God—they are His sworn enemies. This is exactly how Wang Hua behaved. She didn’t do real work, she was arrogant, and she upheld her own beliefs to the obstruction of gospel work. When other leaders exposed and pruned her, she not only didn’t accept what they said, she kicked up a fuss and tried to pass the blame, disrupting the whole gathering. When I warned her that she was judging others and sowing discord between two sisters, not only did she not accept this, she turned the tables, attacking and condemning me. She was always talking about focusing on life entry, making people think she was really seeking the truth. In reality, however, she was particularly disgusted by and opposed to God’s requirements, as well as the work arrangements of God’s house. She didn’t submit at all when she was exposed and pruned—she was even offended and repulsed. No matter how many mistakes she made, or how much she harmed the church’s work, she never acknowledged it, didn’t feel regretful or indebted and completely lacked conscience. She only looked after her own interests—if you said anything that threatened her status, she’d get angry and make unfounded countercharges. She didn’t accept the truth or positive things at all, and she would treat anyone that tried to fellowship with or correct her as an enemy. She would attack anyone that tried to expose her. Given that she truly hated the truth, despised those who practiced truth, and hated those that exposed her out of a sense of justice, was she not taking God as her enemy? It’s just like God’s words say: “This is not the momentary weakness or foolishness found in ordinary people, nor is it the revelation of incorrect thoughts and viewpoints that arise from a moment’s distorted comprehension; this is not the problem. The problem is that they are antichrists, the enemies of God, hating all positive things and all truth; they are characters who hate and oppose God” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Six). After Wang Hua was replaced, she couldn’t accept it, and didn’t acknowledge her evildoing whatsoever. She even said, “I do things before God and don’t care what others think.” She really didn’t seem regretful or self-reflective at all. Her nature was malicious and truth-hating—wasn’t she just a classic antichrist? People like this will only destroy and disturb the church’s work.

Later on, a majority of brothers and sisters voted to expel Wang Hua from the church. After replacing her, we fellowshipped to resolve the actual problems in the gospel work, and the results of the work noticeably improved. At that time, I felt even more indebted, and I hated myself for being so selfish and despicable, only looking out for myself, not safeguarding the church’s work, and indulging the evil deeds of an antichrist who had disrupted and disturbed the church’s gospel work. I swore to myself that, in the future, whenever I observed someone disrupting and disturbing the church’s work, I would practice the truth and safeguard the church’s work. No matter how high their status, no matter how much work they’d done, or how convincingly they spoke doctrine, as long as they disrupted and disturbed the church’s work, I would stand by the truth principles. Even if others called me arrogant or condemned me as an evildoer or antichrist, I would safeguard the church’s work. Even if I didn’t quite grasp the situation, I would report what I had seen faithfully to the upper leaders. I prayed to God, and said if I didn’t safeguard the church’s work upon finding a problem, I was willing to be punished and disciplined by God.

A few months later, some people reported that a leader named Li Na from another church wasn’t doing real work, had failed to replace false leaders and workers, and had even promoted evildoers. These people hadn’t been working according to principle, and the church’s finances had been damaged as a result. Li Na was particularly given to showing off and disparaging others and the brothers and sisters all admired and worshiped her. Her co-workers had fellowshipped with her and pointed out this problem many times, but she wouldn’t accept what they said. On top of that, she also judged the upper leaders, which led her co-workers to develop biases toward them. When the upper leaders sent someone to help carry out the work, she ostracized them. She not only didn’t cooperate, but passed judgment and undermined them—she said the person the leaders sent couldn’t resolve problems, meaning the work didn’t get done. After hearing all this, I realized that this person might very well be an antichrist, so I talked with my co-workers about replacing her quickly. But when I learned that Li Na was my partner’s younger sister, I hesitated. If I replaced Li Na, what would my partner think of me? Would she say I had it out for Li Na? I went back and forth in my head; I felt increasingly conflicted and didn’t know what to do. It was then that I realized my state and intentions were incorrect—I was trying to protect my own interests again. I remembered how last time, because I’d been too concerned about protecting myself, I hadn’t exposed the antichrist in time, and had severely harmed the church’s work—a transgression that I could never make right. I couldn’t protect my own interests again. I had to practice the truth and safeguard the work of the church. No matter what others thought of me, satisfying God’s intentions was paramount. So my co-workers and I dismissed Li Na according to principle. Later on, investigations revealed that Li Na had continually exalted herself and shown off in order to mislead and ensnare others, to control the church, and to establish an independent kingdom. She was an antichrist. The majority of people in the church voted to have her expelled. I experienced how rebelling against my flesh, practicing the truth and acting according to principle brought me peace, contentedness, and joy. I also realized that only by practicing the truth can one bear testimony and shame Satan. Thank God for His guidance!