Why It Is Necessary to Discern False Leaders

Now that we have finished fellowshipping on the various manifestations of antichrists, today we will fellowship on a new topic—the various manifestations of false leaders. In these years of believing in God, you’ve encountered all kinds of manifestations and practices of false leaders. In the process of God’s house dismissing false leaders at all levels, most people gain more or less some discernment concerning false leaders; that is, most people have a little understanding of some specific manifestations of false leaders. But no matter your comprehension or how much you understand, ultimately it’s not systematic or specific enough. During church elections, many people fail to understand the principles of electing leaders, what sort of person to choose as leader and what sort of person can, as leader, bring brothers and sisters into the reality of God’s words, and is a qualified leader. They are not very aware of or clear about these things. There are even some muddled and undiscerning people who expressly elect false leaders during elections, choosing whoever is like a false leader while being blind to whoever is truly qualified and able to be a leader, with a leader’s caliber and humanity. Those who fundamentally do not have the caliber and humanity to be leaders are elected because of their external enthusiasm or some good behaviors, and because they meet people’s notions of being “good,” while those who actually possess all the qualifications to lead will never be elected. Those who seek the limelight and expend themselves enthusiastically—yet are fundamentally incompetent—will always appear in all sorts of settings, looking particularly active, and most people will think this kind of person is qualified and should be elected. The result is that, after such people are elected, they can’t shoulder any work. They’re even unable to implement the work arrangements of the Above, nor do they know how to. Although they always busy themselves so enthusiastically, after leading for a period of time there is no improvement and little progress in any of the church’s work, and situations often occur whereby the work of the church is in disarray or people are disunited, thanks to the disturbance or usurpation of power by evil people. These are the consequences brought about by the work of false leaders. After a false leader is elected, not only will brothers’ and sisters’ life entry be influenced and suffer, but at the same time various items of church work will be negatively affected, so that the work of disseminating the gospel cannot be conducted smoothly or effectively. This is partly a problem caused by the false leader themselves, but it’s also partly related to those who elect them. If you don’t understand truth principles, have no discernment, and are blind and cannot see through people so that you end up electing a false leader, then you not only harm yourself and others, but the work of the church suffers too. This is the impact and damage caused by false leaders on the life entry of God’s chosen people and the work of the church. Therefore, we must discern and enumerate the various manifestations of false leaders, and on that basis I will enable you to understand which behaviors a qualified leader should exhibit, what work they should do, and what exactly is the scope of their responsibilities. The topic of discerning false leaders is of great importance, as it touches upon the work of the church, the life entry of every one of God’s chosen people, and in particular, how each duty is progressing. Some might say: “I don’t intend to stand for election, nor do I have any ambition or desire to be a leader or a worker. I am self-aware, and it’s enough to be an ordinary believer, so this aspect of the truth principles has nothing to do with me. If I want to listen, I’ll listen to something about my own life entry and salvation. The various manifestations of false leaders and the truths involved therein are not relevant to my own life entry, so I don’t have to listen, or I can listen absent-mindedly or half-heartedly and just stroll through the process without taking it to heart.” Is this a good attitude? (No, it isn’t.) Others say: “I have no ambition, and don’t want to run for leader. Since I was a child, I never intended to be an official or stand out from the others, I just like being a common, ordinary person. I’ve wanted to be a follower from the moment I started believing in God. I like following the orders of others, and I do whatever they ask me to do. How simple it is to be this kind of person! I’m just a simple person who doesn’t want to worry or be burdened, so I have no need of hearing these things, nor do I want to.” Is this view right or not? (It’s not right.) What’s not right about it? (Although they don’t want to be a leader, if they don’t understand this aspect of the truth and cannot discern false leaders then, during elections, they’re very likely to choose a false leader, which will affect the work of the church and the life entry of God’s chosen people.) This is one aspect. Anything else? (The problem of false leaders exists in each of us, and we should check, reflect on, and understand ourselves.) (If we cannot discern false leaders then we won’t even know when we’ve been misled by one, and our own lives will suffer.) (This kind of view is a manifestation of not pursuing the truth. Being a leader in God’s house is not the same as being ambitious and wanting to be an official in the world. Being a leader is to pursue the truth better, to bear a burden for the church’s work, and to be considerate of God’s intentions. This is striving toward the truth.) (As one of God’s chosen people, we have an obligation and responsibility to report false leaders. If we can’t discern false leaders, then we could let one take power and affect the work of the church.) How many aspects is that? (Five aspects.) Each of these five aspects is correct, and quite accurate. Dissecting the essence of this problem based on the view of the type of person I just mentioned, there are basically these five aspects. Regardless of whether or not you want to be a leader, as one of God’s chosen people you should assume a supervisory role toward leaders and workers. God’s house is your house too, and a leader is like a little housekeeper. If they don’t manage things well, you’ll also be affected and implicated, so you have a responsibility and an obligation to supervise all their work.

An Overview of the Fifteen Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers

It’s not difficult to discern false leaders, because this type of person is not uncommon within the church; they have existed ever since church leadership and church work began. Their caliber and comprehension ability, character and chosen path all have many definite manifestations. Before dissecting these definite manifestations, we should first understand what the responsibilities of leaders and workers are, and what specific work is principally included. Only those who are able to do this specific work well are qualified leaders and workers; those who cannot do this work are false leaders. Perhaps most people still don’t have a way to discern false leaders, cannot grasp the basic principles and don’t know which aspects are the most critical to discern. Today, let us first systematically fellowship on what exactly the responsibilities of leaders and workers are, listing them one by one so that everyone knows clearly. After understanding these principles then, when electing leaders and workers again, you’ll have an accurate standard by which to measure how exactly to elect and who exactly is the right person to be elected. So, let us first list the responsibilities of leaders and workers.

The responsibilities of leaders and workers:

1. Lead people to eat and drink of God’s words and understand them, and to enter the reality of God’s words.

2. Be familiar with the states of each sort of person, and resolve various difficulties relating to life entry they encounter in their real lives.

3. Fellowship the truth principles that should be understood in order to perform each duty properly.

4. Keep abreast of the circumstances of supervisors of different work and personnel responsible for various important jobs, and promptly alter their duties or dismiss them as necessary, so as to prevent or mitigate losses caused by using unsuitable people, and guarantee the efficiency and smooth progress of the work.

5. Maintain an up-to-date grasp and understanding of the status and progress of each item of work, and be able to promptly resolve problems, correct deviations, and remedy flaws in the work so that it will progress smoothly.

6. Promote and cultivate all manner of qualified talent so that all who pursue the truth can have the opportunity to train and enter the truth reality as soon as possible.

7. Allocate and make use of different types of people sensibly, based on their humanity and strengths, such that each is put to their best use.

8. Promptly report and seek how to resolve confusions and difficulties encountered in the work.

9. Accurately communicate, issue, and implement the various work arrangements of the house of God in accordance with its requirements, providing guidance, supervision, and urging, and inspect and follow up on the status of their implementation.

10. Properly safeguard and sensibly allocate the various material items of the house of God (books, various equipment, grain, and so on), and carry out regular inspections, maintenance, and repair to minimize damage and waste; also, avert their misappropriation by evil people.

11. Choose dependable people of up-to-standard humanity especially for the task of systematically registering, tallying, and safeguarding offerings; regularly review and check incomings and outgoings so that cases of profligacy or waste, as well as unreasonable expenditures, can be identified promptly—put a stop to such things and demand reasonable compensation; additionally, prevent, by any means, offerings falling into the hands of evil people and being misappropriated by them.

12. Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.

13. Protect God’s chosen people from being disturbed, misled, controlled, and grievously harmed by antichrists, and enable them to discern antichrists and forsake them from their hearts.

14. Promptly discern, and then clear out or expel all manner of evil people and antichrists.

15. Protect important work personnel of all sorts, shielding them from the interference of the outside world, and keep them safe to ensure the various important items of work can proceed in an orderly fashion.

The responsibilities of leaders and workers have been summarized in a total of fifteen items, and we’ll fellowship based on these. Let’s first look at each of the tasks in these fifteen items. The first three touch upon the issue of people understanding the truth, and life entry. This is the most basic work that leaders and workers should do, and is one of the major categories. As a leader or a worker, at the most basic you must be able to perform these tasks, possess this kind of caliber, have this kind of burden, and be able to shoulder this responsibility. These are the most basic things you should have. Leaders and workers must be able to fellowship on God’s words, from them find a path of practice, lead people to understand God’s words, and lead people to experience and enter into God’s words in real life and to be able to bring them into real life, using them to solve various problems or difficulties encountered in real life and in the process of doing their duty. If God’s chosen people have problems which need a leader or a worker to solve, but the leader or worker cannot use the truth to solve the problems, then that leader or worker is useless, incapable of doing even the most basic work. This kind of leader or worker is not qualified. The fourth and fifth items relate to the various items of church work and the supervisors of those items of work. If leaders and workers do not oversee supervisors properly, then the work of the church could be disordered or be disturbed by evil people, this would influence the effectiveness and progress of the work, and the work itself might even be paralyzed. Therefore, the fourth and fifth tasks are also those that a qualified leader must do well. The sixth and seventh items touch upon promotion, cultivation, and use of all kinds of people. The principle of using people is to make the best use of everyone, and all kinds of people can perform their duty as long as they have up-to-standard humanity and can meet the required standards of God’s house. That is, allow all kinds of people to be able to perform appropriate duties; there’s no need to try to force a donkey to dance, it’s enough that someone is suitable for a task, can do it well, and is competent. Moreover, some tasks involve technical, professional aspects, and some people may be good at them but haven’t actually done any work in this area, nor do they understand the relevant principles. For these people, if they meet the standard for promotion and cultivation in God’s house, then they should be given a chance and be promoted and cultivated, so they can learn. In this way, various tasks in God’s house can have even more suitable people to undertake them, and there will be no vacancies whenever the church needs people for various tasks. These are issues of the two aspects of promoting and cultivating people, and using people. Let’s look at items eight and nine: These two items touch upon the attitude with which leaders and workers treat work, that is, whether they can fulfill their responsibilities, have loyalty, and have the ability to do a good job in their treatment of God’s requirements and the arrangements of God’s house and while encountering difficulties in work. The tenth and eleventh items touch upon the principles behind the treatment of offerings and all kinds of possessions in God’s house. In one respect, these two items touch upon people’s caliber and work ability, and in another respect they touch upon issues of humanity, whether someone has loyalty, and if they can fulfill their responsibilities. Next let’s look at items twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, regarding some exceptional circumstances that happen in the church—for example, if someone is disrupting and disturbing, and upsetting the normal life of the church. Of course, the most serious is the appearance of antichrists or other kinds of people who should be cleared out or expelled. How to deal with these kinds of people, and under what principles, is also work within the scope of responsibility of leaders and workers. Being able to promptly discover problems, and, when you find that someone is causing disruptions and disturbances, being able to promptly stop, handle, and resolve this, and ensure that church work and church life are not disturbed—these are issues that these three items touch upon. The last item touches upon the issue of personal safety of all sorts of important work personnel, as well as the issue of whether all kinds of important work can be guaranteed. Work can progress when personnel are safe, but if problems or hidden dangers arise in personnel safety then whether or not the work can proceed becomes an issue. Let us look back and see how many major categories there are altogether. The first, second, and third items belong to the first category: human life entry. The fourth and fifth belong to the second: the various items of church work and the supervisors of those items of work. The sixth and seventh belong to the third: the use, cultivation, and promotion of all kinds of people. The eighth and ninth belong to the fourth: the work arrangements of God’s house and difficulties in work. The tenth and eleventh belong to the fifth: offerings and possessions of the house of God. The twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth belong to the sixth: exceptional circumstances that happen in the church. The fifteenth belongs to the seventh: the important church work and the safety of personnel. There are seven categories altogether, involving fifteen items. These seven categories are within the scope of responsibility for leaders and workers, and are part of their job. As a leader or a worker, your job’s most basic tasks are these seven categories, and these seven categories are the scope of requirements of God’s house for a leader or a worker. If we want to measure whether a leader can do a good job, whether they’re competent, whether they possess the caliber to be a leader, and whether they’re a qualified leader, we should use these seven categories. Having understood this, based on these seven major categories, we will fellowship on and dissect the manifestations and specific practices of false leaders one by one, as well as what they’ve done during their time as leader that proves they are false leaders and not qualified ones. When measured according to these seven categories there is conclusive evidence, and this is relatively fair and reasonable. Tell Me, should we fellowship on these seven categories one by one, or the fifteen items? Which way is better? (Fellowship on the fifteen items one by one.) That suits your preferences—the more detailed, the better, right? Next, we’ll formally begin our fellowshipping on the various manifestations of false leaders.

Item One: Lead People to Eat and Drink of God’s Words and Understand Them, and to Enter the Reality of God’s Words

False Leaders Do Not Possess the Caliber and Ability to Comprehend God’s Words

What is a false leader? Certainly, it is someone who cannot do actual work, someone who does not attend to their duties as a leader. They do not do any real or critical work; they just see to some general affairs and some surface-level tasks, things that have nothing to do with life entry or the truth. No matter how much of this work they do, there is no significance to performing it. That is why such leaders are characterized as false. So how exactly is one to discern a false leader? Let us now begin our dissection. It must first be made clear that the first responsibility of a leader or a worker is to lead others in eating and drinking of God’s words and to fellowship on the truth in such a way that others may understand it and enter into the truth reality. This is the most important criterion by which to check whether a leader is true or false. See whether they can lead others in eating and drinking of God’s words and understanding the truth, and whether they can use the truth to resolve problems. That’s the only criterion by which to check what caliber and ability to comprehend God’s words a leader or a worker has, and whether they can lead God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality. If a leader or worker is capable of comprehending God’s words purely and understanding the truth, they should resolve the notions and imaginings people have about faith in God according to God’s words, and help people understand the practicality of God’s work. They should also resolve the actual difficulties encountered by God’s chosen people according to His words, especially when it comes to mistaken views they have in their faith or misunderstandings they have about doing a duty. They must also apply God’s words to resolve the problems that manifest when people face different trials and tribulations, and be able to lead God’s chosen people to understand and practice the truth, and enter into the reality of His word. At the same time, they must dissect people’s various corrupt dispositions based on the corrupt states revealed in God’s words, so that God’s chosen people may see which of these apply to them, achieve knowledge of themselves and hate and rebel against Satan, thereby enabling God’s chosen people to stand firm in their testimony, defeat Satan, and give glory to God amid all sorts of trials. This is the work that leaders and workers should do. It is the church’s most basic, critical, and essential work. If the people serving as leaders have the ability to comprehend God’s words and the caliber to understand the truth, they will not only be able to understand God’s words and enter into the reality of them, they will also be able to counsel, guide, and help those whom they lead to an understanding of God’s words and entry into their reality. But the caliber to comprehend God’s words and understand the truth is precisely what false leaders lack. They do not understand God’s words, they do not know the corrupt dispositions that people reveal in different circumstances which are exposed in His words, or which states produce resistance, complaint, and betrayal against God, and so on. False leaders are not able to reflect on themselves or link God’s words to themselves, they only understand a little doctrine and a few regulations from the literal meaning of God’s words. When they fellowship with others, they merely recite some of His words, then explain their literal meaning. And with that, they think they are fellowshipping on the truth and doing actual work. If someone can read and recite God’s words like they do, they’ll think them to be someone who loves and understands the truth. A false leader only understands the literal meaning of God’s words; they fundamentally do not understand the truth of God’s words, and so are unable to talk about their experience and knowledge of them. False leaders do not have the ability to comprehend God’s words; they can only understand the superficial meaning of them, but believe that is comprehending His words and understanding the truth. In daily life they always interpret the literal meaning of God’s words to advise and help others, believing doing so is doing work, and that they are leading people to eat and drink the words of God and enter into their reality. The fact is that although false leaders often fellowship with others in this way about God’s words, they cannot resolve the slightest real problem, and God’s chosen people are left unable to practice or experience His words. No matter how much they attend gatherings or eat and drink the words of God, they still don’t understand the truth, nor have life entry, and none of them are able to talk about their experiences and knowledge. Even if there are evil people and disbelievers causing disturbances in the church, nobody is able to discern them. When a false leader sees a disbeliever or an evil person causing a disturbance, they do not exercise discernment, but extend their love and exhortations to them, asking others to be tolerant and patient toward them, indulging these people as they continue to cause disturbances in the church. This leads to each item of church work being quite fruitless. This is the consequence of a false leader’s failure to do actual work. False leaders cannot use the truth to resolve problems, which suffices to demonstrate that they do not have the truth reality. When they speak, they just spout words and doctrines, and all they tell others to practice are doctrines and regulations. For instance, when someone develops a misunderstanding of God, a false leader will say to them, “God’s words covered all this already: Whatever God does, it’s man’s salvation, it’s love. Look at how clear, how explicit His words are. How can you still misunderstand Him?” This is the sort of instruction false leaders give people. They spout words and doctrines to admonish people, constrain them, and make them adhere to regulations. This is not the least bit effective, and it cannot resolve any problems. False leaders can only speak words and doctrines to guide people, which makes those people think that being able to speak doctrines means that they have entered into the truth realities. Yet when a difficulty befalls them, they don’t know how to practice, they have no path, and all the words and doctrines they understood fall to the wayside. What does this show? It shows that understanding doctrines is not at all useful or valuable. The only thing false leaders understand is doctrine. They cannot fellowship about the truth to resolve problems; there are no principles to their actions, and in their lives they merely follow some regulations that they deem good. Such people do not possess the truth realities. That is why, when false leaders lead people to eat and drink of God’s words, there is no true effect. They are only able to make people understand the literal meaning of God’s words, and can’t help them to gain enlightenment from God’s words or understand what sort of corrupt dispositions they have. False leaders do not understand what people’s states are or what disposition essence people reveal in the face of any given situation, which of God’s words should be used to resolve these erroneous states and corrupt dispositions, what is said about them in God’s words, the requirements and principles of God’s words, or the truths within. False leaders understand nothing of these truth realities. They just advise people by saying, “Eat and drink more of God’s words. There is truth in them. You’ll understand when you’ve read more of His words. If you don’t understand some of them, you should just pray, seek, and ponder on them more.” This is how they counsel people, and they are unable to resolve problems by doing so. No matter who encounters a problem and comes to seek from them, they say the same thing. Afterward, that person still does not know themselves and still does not understand the truth. They won’t be able to resolve their own real problem, or understand how they should practice God’s words, and they will just adhere to the literal meaning of God’s words and to regulations. When it comes to the truth principles of practicing God’s words or which realities they should enter, they still do not understand. This is what comes of the work of false leaders: not a single real result.

God requires people to dress modestly and decently, with the decorum of a saint. “Modestly and decently, with the decorum of a saint”—nine words in total, but do you understand what they mean? (We all know that doctrinally, God requires people to dress modestly and decently, with the decorum of a saint, but when dressing ourselves we do not know how to gauge what is modest or decent.) This touches upon the problem of whether or not the truth is understood. If you cannot gauge this, then it proves you don’t understand the words of God. So, what does understanding God’s words mean? It means understanding the criteria for modesty and decency that God talks about or, more specifically, the color and style of clothing. Which colors and styles are modest and decent? Those with the ability to comprehend the truth know what is modest and decent, and what is bizarre. Although some clothes are modest and decent, they have an old-fashioned style. God doesn’t like old-fashioned things, and He isn’t asking people to imitate the styles of the past or to become hypocritical Pharisees. What God means by “modest and decent” is having a normal human likeness, appearing noble, elegant, and possessed of class. God doesn’t ask people to wear bizarre clothes, nor dress in rags like a pauper, but He asks people to dress modestly and decently, with the decorum of a saint. This is the comprehension of normal people. But after hearing this, a false leader got all fired up, saying: “God’s words give us the scope of how to dress. ‘Modestly and decently, with the decorum of a saint’—if we keep these nine words then we glorify God, not shame Him, and will be highly regarded people among the nonbelievers. So, what is modest and decent? It’s that you must speak and act with a human likeness, and must have a saintly decorum. Speaking of saints, in general we refer to ancient saints. If we want to have saintly decorum then we must imitate the style of the ancient saints, but if you walk around wearing ancient clothes then people will think you’re crazy. This isn’t in line with the principle of honoring God, but there should be some evidence of the clothes that saints wore in recent times that we can track down. The social milieu was better several decades ago. People were simpler, and dressed more conservatively and properly. If you dressed according to this standard then you’d be modest and decent, and have the decorum of a saint. This is the path for practice.” Finding out that people in the 1970s and 1980s wore white shirts and blue pants, he told the brothers and sisters, “I’ve seen the light in God’s words. People in the 70s and 80s dressed in outfits that were quite proper and simple. They couldn’t be said to be dignified, but it seems more aligned with the requirements of God’s word, so we’ll dress according to this standard.” The leader took the lead in wearing this, and everyone thought it looked good, pretty decent and simple. The leader said: “God said not to wear bizarre clothes. First of all, the buttons on the shirt must be done up right to the neck, and all the buttons on the cuffs must also be fastened. The wrists must not be exposed, the shirt must be tucked in, and everything must be tightly covered up, with no bare chest or back. See how modest and decent it is! Isn’t this modest and decent, and doesn’t it accord with saintly decorum, as God requires?” The leader particularly took pleasure in the outfit he was wearing right at that moment, and at the same time he required of others, “Your clothes are too modern, too fashionable. They bring shame upon God, and He doesn’t like them. Everyone, hurry up and wear what I’m wearing, be just like me!” People without discernment followed suit, finding and wearing a so-called modest and decent outfit which accorded with saintly decorum, and most people even thought it was good. But some people were disgusted in their hearts by these old-fashioned things, and felt that doing this was inappropriate, and this understanding of God’s words was distorted. These people, despite not being able to clearly say if it was right or wrong to listen to the leader and not daring to draw conclusions, advocated for not blindly following the crowd. They believed that what the leader said was not entirely correct, and they did not follow it. Only those dimwits, those people who lack the ability to comprehend God’s words, didn’t read God’s words themselves, went along with whatever the false leader said, and did whatever they were told to do however they were told to do it. They followed the false leader and emulated him, dressing the same when going out. Whenever they went out among a crowd, they felt quite delighted, thinking “We believe in Almighty God, and there is so much saintly decorum in my outfit. What are you wearing? How gaudy, how modern, how wicked! Look at us, we’re not revealing anything!” They thought they were amazing. The false leader not only failed to realize this is a misinterpretation of God’s words, but actually thought he was practicing God’s words and entering into their reality. This is what false leaders do. For even the simplest and easiest to understand of God’s requirements for people, false leaders cannot truly understand what God’s words refer to, their required standards, or principles. Can they then understand what God says about mankind’s corrupt disposition, or about all kinds of human states? Can they know precisely what the truth is here? Of course not.

False leaders do not possess the ability to comprehend God’s words; they merely know from the literal meaning of God’s words what God has said but do not understand what truths God’s words express, what God requires of people, or what truth principles people should understand. Therefore, when they fellowship about God’s words, they just make some literal interpretations of them and give people some regulations, some rules to follow, using these to prove that they also understand God’s words and have done work. Some false leaders even think that God’s words are already clear, it’s just that people always fail to eat and drink them or put in the effort. Seeing that everyone has books of God’s words in their hands, they deem leading people to eat and drink God’s words as redundant. Therefore, when they find problems during gatherings or while doing their duties, they only send people some selected passages of God’s words, telling them things like, “Read this passage of God’s words”; “Read that passage of God’s words”; or “God’s words say this about this aspect, and that about that aspect.” They only send people selected passages of God’s words, using a persuasive manner to encourage people to read God’s words, believing that this is how to lead people to eat and drink God’s words and that they are fulfilling a leader’s responsibility. After seeing these words, people say, “I have also read these words of God; isn’t it redundant for you to gather these words for me?” However, the false leader thinks, “If I don’t send them to you, you won’t be able to find in which chapter or on which page these words are. You don’t even know under what context God spoke these words. As a leader, I should take up this responsibility, to send you God’s words anytime, anywhere.” Some false leaders, in an outpouring of love, even send someone ten to twenty passages of God’s words in a day, to demonstrate their loyalty to their work and their determination to lead people into the reality of God’s words. These words of God are sent to people, but are their problems solved? Do they fulfill the role that a leader should play? Often, they do not fulfill this role, because if people could understand these words on their own, they would not need a leader. The passages of God’s words sent by the false leaders are actually well known to those who often read God’s words, but what are people lacking? What are their difficulties and problems? It is that, when it comes to actual issues involving these truths, when faced with difficulties, people cannot see through to the essence of these problems, do not know where to start to solve them, and do not know how to enter into these truths—and false leaders do not know either. Then, have they fulfilled their responsibility in this matter? Are they competent in the work of leadership? Clearly, they have not fulfilled this responsibility. For example, when people read about being an honest person in God’s words, false leaders, because they do not know how to eat and drink God’s words and lack the caliber to comprehend and understand the truth, would say: “God’s requirements are not high. God asks us to be honest people, and being honest means speaking truthfully. Hasn’t God’s words said it all: ‘Let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no’ (Matthew 5:37)? How clear God’s words are! Just say whatever you think in your heart; how simple is that! Why can’t you do it? God’s word is the truth, we must practice it. Not practicing is rebelling, and does God save those who rebel against Him? He does not.” Upon hearing this, people respond, “Everything you say is correct, but we still don’t know how to be honest people. Because many times, lying is involuntary, or it is something one does when they have no other choice, and there’s a reason behind it. How should this be resolved?” What would the false leader say? “Isn’t this easy to take care of? Hasn’t God’s words made it clear? Being an honest person is just like being a child; how simple is that! No matter how old you are, can’t you just be like a child? Just look at how children behave.” The listener then muses: “The main behaviors of a child are being naive and lively, jumping around, being immature, and not understanding many things. Since the leader has said so, then I shall do it this way.” The next day, this person in their thirties or forties has tied their hair into two small braids, wore a pink headband and hair clips, donned a pink shirt, shoes, and socks, dressing up entirely in pink. Upon seeing this, the leader says, “That’s right! Walk more like a child, bouncing around. Speak more innocently like a child, with eyes free of wickedness, and a smile on your face—isn’t this returning to a child’s manner? This is the demeanor of an honest person!” The leader is quite pleased, while others see this as foolish, abnormal behavior. This false leader not only failed to solve the problem but also did not know how to seek the truth principles at all, leading people down the path of absurdity. Even for the simplest truth of being an honest person, the false leader does not know how to comprehend it correctly and purely, resorting to blindly applying regulations, comprehending it so distortedly that it disgusts those who hear it. This is what false leaders do.

False leaders comprehend God’s words in all sorts of ways, coming up with various bizarre and eccentric viewpoints. They also wave the banner of practicing and following God’s words, demanding others to accept and adhere to their comprehension. In short, people like these false leaders often have a shallow and distorted comprehension of God’s words. Using a spiritual term to define it, we would say they “lack spiritual understanding.” Not only is their comprehension of God’s words distorted, but they also often demand others to follow these distorted doctrines and regulations just like them. Meanwhile, they use their distorted comprehension to condemn those who have a pure comprehension of the truth. These false leaders, lacking spiritual understanding, do not scrutinize and analyze God’s words like antichrists do. From the outside, it seems as though they approach God’s words with a subservient attitude of eating and drinking and accepting. However, due to their poor caliber and inability to comprehend God’s words, they treat God’s words as if they were a textbook, believing God’s words to follow the logic of “one plus one equals two, two plus two equals four.” They do not know that God’s words are the truth, and to enter into the reality of God’s words, one must understand what the truths spoken in God’s words refer to, and what the various states and content these truths involve are. When others comprehend God’s words in a very concrete and practical manner, they consider it superficial and not worth listening to, saying, “I understand all of it, I know everything. What you are talking about is already clearly explained in God’s words, why do you need to say it?” In fact, they are unaware that what others are discussing involves specific content related to the truths in God’s words. Because these false leaders lack spiritual understanding and do not possess the ability to comprehend God’s words, they think all truths are more or less the same, with no specific differences among the issues touched upon by the truths; they believe that despite talking endlessly about these things, they’re all essentially the same issue. This belief indicates a serious problem, and it dooms such individuals to never understanding the truth.

False Leaders Cannot Lead People Into the Truth Reality

Now, there are individuals of good caliber and with comprehension ability who have already gained some experience of and entry into the basic words of God and possess some truth reality, but they need more specific guidance and leadership so that their entry can be finer and more detailed. Only false leaders fail to understand what the specific details of the truth refer to or why they are spoken of in such a way, thinking it is making things unnecessarily complicated or playing with words. They do not understand or know how to comprehend or experience the various aspects involved in the truth. Therefore, what they can do after becoming leaders is merely to lead people in eating and drinking the commonly fellowshipped words of God, then talk about some doctrines, and summarize some practice methods of observing regulations, and what people gain from them is merely some superficial spiritual terms and commonly spoken words and doctrines, regulations, and slogans. For those who are new believers, the preachings of false leaders might barely suffice for a year or two, but after a year or two, those who have come to understand some truths will start to discern the false leaders’ set of statements and approaches. As for those who fundamentally lack comprehension ability, no matter how false leaders preach, they feel nothing, have no awareness, and fail to realize that what these leaders are preaching is merely words and doctrines, and that what they understand are just some hollow theories, slogans, and regulations, which are not the truth at all. Based on these manifestations, can false leaders fulfill the responsibility of “leading people to eat and drink of God’s words and understand them, and to enter the reality of God’s words”? Can they fulfill this role? Can they fulfill their responsibilities? (No.) Why can’t they? What’s the key issue? (Such people lack spiritual understanding and cannot comprehend the truth.) They lack spiritual understanding and cannot comprehend the truth, yet they still want to lead others—this is utterly impossible! Expecting false leaders to guide people to understand God’s words and enter into the reality of God’s words is like trying to herd cats—it won’t happen! Take being an honest person, for example: God’s words are quite simple on this point, they’re just a few sentences, not complicated. Anyone with a bit of education knows what these words mean. But false leaders, to prove they are capable of the work and can lead people, elaborate on the basis of God’s words: “What is the significance of God’s requirement for people to be honest? It is that being an honest person is what God loves. Nonbelievers are not honest, they do not tell the truth, and what they say are all lies and deceiving words; the entire world is a great nation of falsehood. Therefore, the first thing God demands when He comes today is for people to be honest. If you are not an honest person, God will not love you; if you are not an honest person, you cannot be saved, nor can you enter the kingdom; if you are not an honest person, you cannot practice the truth, and you are certainly a deceitful person; if you are not an honest person, you are not a qualified created being.” Do you understand how to be an honest person now? (No.) After all that, it’s still not clear. New believers, upon hearing this, feel that these words are excellent, something they haven’t heard in their twenty or thirty years in religion. Some even say, “These words are powerful, every sentence deserves an ‘Amen.’ This sermon is really good, it’s truly a sermon of the Age of Kingdom!” The false leader then continues: “God asks us to be honest people, so are we honest people?” Some ponder over this: “Since God is asking us to be honest people, it means we are not yet honest people.” Some remain silent, thinking, “I consider myself quite guileless. I never fight with others, and when doing business, I dare not cheat anyone. Sometimes, if I take a small advantage, I can’t even sleep at night. Am I an honest person? I think I’m a guileless person, and doesn’t that mean the same as being an honest person?” Others say, “I naturally can’t tell lies. My face turns red whenever I say something untrue, so I must be an honest person, right?” The false leader then adds, “Regardless of whether you are an honest person, since God’s word asks us to be honest, then it is imperative for you to be an honest person. If you act according to God’s words, you are an honest person. You then break free from deceitfulness, from the bonds of Satan’s dark influence. Once you become an honest person, you enter into the truth reality, can fulfill your duties, and can submit to God.” Do you understand how to be an honest person now? (No.) Yet, some are delighted: “These words are powerful. Amen! Every sentence is correct. None of it is directly from God’s words, but all are comprehended from God’s words. This comprehension is fantastic! Why can’t I comprehend it like this? It seems this leader is truly worthy of the title, they’re really made for leadership!” People with caliber and astuteness ponder after hearing this: “You haven’t explained what an honest person is. How exactly does one be an honest person?” The false leader continues: “Being an honest person means not lying. For example, if you have committed fornication before, then you pray to God and confess how many times you’ve done it, and with whom. If you feel that you cannot see or touch God, then you must confess to the leader, clarifying everything. Frank confession is the most basic requirement of being an honest person. Additionally, it’s about speaking your heart out, not mixing falsehoods in anything. How you think about anything, what intentions you have, what corruption you reveal, whom you hate or have cursed in your heart, whom you want to harm or plot against—all should be confessed to those individuals. By doing so, you become open and candid, living in the light. This is what it means to be an honest person. An honest person must let go of their ego; they must be able to display and dissect the evilest and darkest parts of their heart.” Hearing this, do you understand now how to be an honest person? (Still no.) Even after listening, it’s only doctrines that one understands, not specific practices. With such comprehension of God’s words, false leaders lead people to eat and drink God’s words in this way, and they also fellowship in this way, thinking they understand God’s words the most, have the ability to comprehend God’s words, and can lead people into the reality of God’s words. In actuality, what they apprehend and fellowship are all just doctrines and slogans, offering no help whatsoever to those who wish to seek the truth reality and understand the truth principles. Yet, the false leaders still believe they possess great comprehension ability, have unique insights into God’s words, and are superior to ordinary people. They go around preaching these doctrines and slogans, even engaging in comparisons with others, often using these doctrines and slogans to engage in verbal spats, and even frequently using them to lecture, prune, judge, and condemn people. They think that by doing so, they are doing work, bringing God’s words into real life, and applying God’s words. Isn’t this a troublesome matter? False leaders cannot understand God’s words, they cannot lead people into the reality of God’s words. After reading God’s words, they can only fellowship some words and doctrines, and yet they go around preaching and flaunting them. In actuality, however, they do not understand any truth in God’s words. For example, they do not understand some similar spiritual terms or similar expressions, nor do they know the differences between them or how to adapt them to real situations. Aside from adhering to regulations and spouting words and doctrines, they lack a true appreciation of God’s words and do not truly practice them. Therefore, it’s clear that false leaders themselves do not understand the truth, nor are they capable of leading people to understand God’s words and enter into the truth reality. We’ve illustrated this with the example of being an honest person. False leaders, not knowing how to perceive the truth of being an honest person, resort to spouting words and doctrines and preaching slogans, misleading those fools and muddlers who lack spiritual understanding, leaving them disoriented. After listening to these words and doctrines, they especially idolize the false leaders and, after following them for several years, end up not understanding even the most basic truths, having no entry into them whatsoever. We shall conclude our fellowship on this item here.

Item Two: Be Familiar With the States of Each Sort of Person, and Resolve Various Difficulties Relating to Life Entry They Encounter in Their Real Lives (Part One)

False Leaders Cannot See Through to the States of Each Sort of Person

The second responsibility of leaders and workers is to be familiar with the states of each sort of person, and resolve various difficulties relating to life entry they encounter in their real lives. How do false leaders carry out this work? Are they qualified for this task? Let us dissect this point. Being familiar with the states of each sort of person—on what basis is this accomplished? It is accomplished on the basis of understanding the words of God that expose the corrupt dispositions and essences of various people. To grasp the states of various people, one must first understand the words of God that expose the various states, corrupt dispositions, and corrupt essences of people, and be able to match them with themselves. The type of dispositions exposed by God refers to which kind of people, what their humanity is like, what kind of manifestations and revelations they have, and what their attitude toward God, God’s words, and their duty is; these states must be matched with God’s words, and by doing so, one is able to grasp the states of various individuals. Therefore, being familiar with the states of various people is firstly achieved on the basis of understanding God’s words and having the ability to comprehend God’s words. False leaders do not have the ability to comprehend God’s words, so can they understand the complex truths about various types of people exposed by God’s words, as well as the various states and corrupt essences that are exposed? (No.) They do not understand, do not know the relationships involved here, and do not know the truths involved. Because they do not possess the ability to comprehend God’s words, grasping the states of various people—this very crucial and important matter—is a very troublesome and difficult task for false leaders.

How do false leaders grasp the states of various people? They think, “This person is enthusiastic, that one is petty, this one loves to dress up, that one has little faith....” They only look at these superficial phenomena, but what someone’s attitude toward God’s words and the truth really is, and what their nature essence really is, they do not know. For example, someone has genuine faith and is energetic in doing their duty, but their family difficulties and entanglements affect the results of their duties; false leaders, upon seeing this, will wrongly label them, saying, “This person is a disbeliever. They cannot break away from their family. They’re always thinking about their children. They have savings at home but do not offer them. So this person is very troublesome, and cannot be used for important tasks in the future.” In fact, this person’s issue is not serious; it’s simply because they’ve only believed in God for a short while and have a shallow understanding of the truth that they cannot see through many things. They do not know how to approach their family and children, or how to handle their assets. They are still in the period of praying and seeking, and have not yet found the accurate principles and methods of practice. They have the will to practice the truth, but when faced with family entanglements and difficulties, they are temporarily a bit weak and not very active in doing their duty. However, they can complete the work assigned to them by the church earnestly, which is something most people cannot do. Judging from their caliber, humanity, and their attitude toward the truth, they are a good person. But false leaders do not see it this way because they do not understand God’s words and do not know how to use God’s words as a standard to measure what someone’s nature essence is, or whether the state someone is in is because of their nature essence or temporary weakness, or is an issue of stature; they cannot measure these things. The difficulties that this type of person encounters are those that occur in real life and relate to life entry—can false leaders handle these kinds of issues? Can they solve the difficulties of these people? (No.) Because false leaders cannot accurately grasp the states of various people and cannot accurately discern the good and bad of various people’s nature essence, they also cannot accurately solve the difficulties and problems of various people. Conversely, they regard those who, relying solely on enthusiasm, can run about expending themselves, endure hardship, and pay a price, but have poor caliber and lack comprehension ability, as key targets for cultivation, and they fellowship to solve their difficulties when these people encounter them. But for those who truly have caliber and good humanity, when they encounter difficulties and are a bit weak, how do false leaders solve and address them? When these people face difficulties and they’re actually just a bit weak, according to the situation, they should be supported and helped; one should fellowship God’s intentions to them—they should not be completely written off, much less labeled. But how do false leaders solve such people’s difficulties? They say, “God’s work has already reached such a stage, yet you still cling to your husband, to your children; you even have your children attend university and pursue their prospects. As disasters grow increasingly severe, are there still any prospects in this world? You can’t even take care of your own life, how can you care about those things? God’s work is nearly finished, how pressing is the time! If you don’t devote yourself entirely, can you still be called a created being? Are you still human?” Is this really what these people’s difficulties are about? (No.) The reason these people are a bit weak when they face difficulties is merely because of their small stature, not because they don’t love the truth or are unwilling to do their duty. Therefore, what the false leaders say does not match their state; it is obviously a case of wrongful labeling, not grasping the crux or key aspect of their state, not grasping what they are truly thinking, what kind of person they are, and how they should be guided and helped to solve their difficulties. False leaders do not know how to solve these problems. So, how should one resolve such matters when they arise? You can say, “The issue you are facing is a problem many people encounter. Those who can truly leave their families behind and expend themselves wholeheartedly for God are not acting on impulse, but have prepared for a long time. For one thing, they have understood enough truth and genuinely have the will to break free from their family, to expend themselves wholeheartedly in God’s house, and they can guarantee that they will not regret it later—they have thought it all through. Moreover, during this period, they also pray to God for preparation and to open a way forward, while continuing to equip themselves with the truth, allowing themselves to understand more truths, and to have more faith in putting aside everything to expend themselves wholeheartedly for God. This requires time, prayer, and of course, God’s leading and arrangements. If you have this will, don’t be anxious. Pray to God and quietly wait, and God will make arrangements for you. If your prayers and your will align with God’s intentions and receive God’s approval, if you are ready and you will submit no matter what God does and feel no regret, then God will surely open a way for you. During this period, what people should do is prepare and wait; the only thing they can do is to equip themselves with truth, understand God’s intentions, and allow their stature to grow gradually. When God arranges various environments, if you can choose to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements without any complaints, this is to have stature—no matter what God does or how He arranges, you will be able to submit.” What do you think of this kind of guidance? (It’s good.) On one hand, you’re fulfilling your responsibility, helping people understand God’s intentions; at the same time, you’re not forcing them beyond their ability, but treating them according to their actual situation. Is this not solving problems with God’s words? Is it not solving the difficulties people face in real life based on their state? (Yes.)

In their performance of their duties, some people are always perfunctory and show no responsibility, they always carry themselves with an official air, and are arrogant, self-righteous, and incapable of cooperating with others, and they bring losses to the work of the church without feeling a hint of guilt. A false leader, upon seeing such a situation, sets out to address and resolve the issue, saying, “This person plays a very important role in this work. It seems there’s no one quite suitable to replace them, so we need to fellowship with them to resolve their difficulties.” During the fellowship, the false leader discovers that this person doesn’t want to do their duty at all. They want to pursue worldly things, to make money from their career and live a good life, and they consider being made to do their duty as asking too much of them. They feel that doing their duty in God’s house means being busy every day, not only destroying their personal family life but also making it impossible to maintain relationships with family members, and that if they violate principles while doing their duty they have to endure being pruned. They find such a life too bitter and they don’t want to live like that. The issue is clear: Their behavior indicates that they are a disbeliever. But how does the false leader handle it? The false leader thinks, “This person is talented among nonbelievers; it’s not easy to find someone like them. Their state has become problematic; I need to quickly put aside the busiest work in my hands to fellowship with them, to help them solve this. How to solve it? God’s words are the most powerful; first, I’ll read them a few passages of God’s words to resolve their unwillingness to do their duty.” The false leader tells them, “Now that disasters have come, people can no longer live good lives. You still want to earn money through a career and live a simple family life, but soon the whole world will be in chaos, and there will be no simple families anymore. Can’t you see through these things? You need to pray to God more. Praying to God will give you faith. You also need to eat and drink more of God’s words. After eating and drinking God’s words a few times, your problem will be solved.” Then, they find five or ten passages of God’s words to read and fellowship with them. The person responds, “Enough with the fellowship. I understand all these words of God; I am more educated than you. Don’t show off.” A whole day of fellowship and nothing is resolved. The false leader thinks to themselves, “I have been doing church work for so many years; I don’t believe I can’t solve your problem.” In the evening, they quickly continue the fellowship, “You need to love and worship God! You have the hope to become a qualified created being. This duty is not easy to come by; you must cherish this opportunity, for if you miss it, there will never be another. With your caliber and conditions being so good, wouldn’t it be a pity for you not to do your duty? Someone with your talents should be promoted and utilized in God’s house; you have great prospects here!” The person says, “Stop talking. If you have me do my duty, my attitude will remain the same. If I’m not allowed to do it, I’ll leave immediately. It’s not like I’m begging to stay here!” The false leader exhausts all their words but can’t persuade this person or resolve their issue. Why is that? It’s because they can’t see through to what this person’s essential problem is. This person, when doing their duty, is perfunctory whenever they feel like it, cheats whenever they feel like it, and just goes through the motions if that’s what they feel like doing; no matter what work they do, they are irresponsible. They are unwilling to put in a little extra effort or say a few more words to resolve some issues, finding it troublesome and bothersome. They clearly know how to do their duty adequately and how to act appropriately but are unwilling to practice in this way. Yet, they continue to do their duty in God’s house. What is the nature of this situation? What is the problem here? (They came with the intention of gaining blessings and making deals.) They came with such hope; such people are known as opportunists. They say, “I heard the world is going to end soon, the apocalypse is upon us, so I don’t need to go to work anymore; I’ve pretty much earned enough money anyway. I might as well come to God’s house for a free meal ticket and to secure a spot for myself, so that I can have hope of receiving blessings later on.” Judging by their attitude and intention in doing their duty, their belief in God is opportunistic; they’ve come to God’s house to freeload, not out of true faith. Their attitude when doing their duty is especially dismissive. To use them, the church has to coax and negotiate with them, and still, they do not perform well. Can a person who lacks even a conscience truly do their duty? They are merely engaging in opportunism and freeloading, they are a disbeliever. Looking at the nature of the two aspects of this issue, in trying to resolve it, did the false leader grasp its essence? (No.) Failing to see through to the essence of the issue, they still regarded this person as a true believer, just someone lacking understanding of the truth, of small stature, momentarily weak and in need of support. From these perspectives, they attempted to fellowship and help, only to be told, “Stop talking. Those doctrines you speak of are useless. I know all that, I understand more than you. How many doctrines do you really understand? How educated are you? I’ve read more books than you’ve eaten meals!” Their nature has revealed itself, hasn’t it? The false leader still believes they are doing the work of a leader, not realizing that this person is in fact a disbeliever. When disbelievers do their duty in God’s house, even their labor is inadequate. Should such people be kept around? (No.) Therefore, this is the principle for handling this kind of person in God’s house: If they can and are willing to labor, keep them; if they are unwilling, quickly cleanse them away, without urging them to stay or admonishing them. Does the false leader know this principle? They do not. They treat the dead as if they were alive, feeding them and giving them water; isn’t that foolish? False leaders do just such foolish things.

False Leaders Are Not Able to Resolve Difficulties and Problems That People Encounter in Their Life Entry

In various situations, when different people reveal various states and manifestations, false leaders always fail to grasp the essence of these revelations and cannot resolve the problems that arise from them. Because they do not understand the truth, they apply labels mistakenly and engage in reckless misconduct, mistaking those who are temporarily weak or occasionally negative for disbelievers and people who betray God. Meanwhile, those disbelievers who superficially possess some gifts, who can do simple work and exert some effort, are considered key targets to be supported. These people feel embarrassed to directly state their unwillingness to do their duty, yet false leaders fail to see through this and persist in persuading them to stay. False leaders do nothing but commit foolish acts; evil people disturb the church, yet they remain blind to this and do not address the issue. Isn’t this engaging in reckless misconduct? How does the reckless misconduct of false leaders come about? They lack the ability to comprehend God’s words and do not understand the truth, so when faced with various situations, they resort to the most superficial doctrines they understand, repeatedly applying them in a way that only serves to cause disruptions and disturbances. Often, not only do they fail to resolve the difficulties people encounter in life entry and not only do they fail to support people from weakness to strength, but they also cause people to harbor notions and misunderstandings about God, making them think the church is trying to recruit them to take advantage of their service, as if God’s house lacks talented individuals and cannot find suitable people. This is the negative impact generated by the work of false leaders. How does this come about? (False leaders cannot comprehend the truth, do not understand the truth, and when they encounter situations, they just apply regulations.) They cannot comprehend the truth, they are only able to memorize some inflexible words and sayings. They lack a real experiential understanding and appreciation of the truth. Thus, when problems eventually arise, they can only say a few dry phrases: “Love God”; “Be honest”; “Be obedient and submissive when faced with situations”; “Do your duty well”; “You need to be loyal”; “You must rebel against the flesh”; “You need to expend yourself for God.” They use these empty doctrines, slogans, and sayings to adorn themselves, and also teach them to others, hoping to influence and have a positive impact on them—but it achieves no effect, and changes nothing. Therefore, false leaders are incapable of accomplishing any work. As they are not even able to resolve the difficulties God’s chosen people encounter in life entry, how then can they do a good job leading the church?

When people encounter various difficulties in real life and do not know how to face them, nor how to practice the truth, they need to seek the truth in God’s words to resolve these issues. If someone of small stature doesn’t know how to seek the truth in God’s words, nor how to find the relevant words of God, then they should seek out those who understand the truth for fellowship to resolve the issue, while also training how to find the relevant words of God and how to comprehend the truth. This means finding in God’s words what the principles and God’s required standards are, how God defines this matter and what He demands in regard to it, and whether there are any specific details explained. If God’s words about this topic are somewhat simple, merely outlining the principles without providing detailed examples, then you should learn to ponder. If you cannot figure it out through pondering, seek more people to fellowship with, fellowship in gatherings, and grope about and seek in the process of doing your duty, gaining enlightenment and illumination, and thus gradually coming to understand what the essence of the issue at hand is. Finally, enter according to the principles of God’s words to arrive at a resolution to these difficulties. For instance, some people are lazy and can never muster the strength to do their duty; but mention eating, drinking, and merrymaking, and they brighten up and become full of vigor, as if suddenly enlivened. How do false leaders resolve such issues? They too have a method: assigning more tasks to these people, leaving them no time to idle. Can this approach solve the problem? Some people are reluctant to do even a small amount of work assigned to them; they just want to freeload, thinking it best not to do any work at all! What is the issue with extremely lazy people? It relates to their nature essence, to whether they love positive things, and also to their preferences and pursuits. There are some people who have a bit of caliber; if they are just ordinary followers without any burden placed upon them, they lack the energy to do their work and don’t find any interest in it. However, if, according to their caliber and the duty they can do, they are given the burden of being a supervisor, allowed to hold some title and undertake some obligations, their interest in the work is piqued. Sometimes, when they become irresponsible in their work or become lazy, they can be pruned; at other times, they can be given some encouragement and praise. Thus, these people, who care about face, are fond of status, and enjoy being flattered, gain the energy to do their duty. When they think of slacking, they ponder, “For the sake of status, for the burden I carry, I must do well.” In this way, the laziness of such people can be partially resolved. When false leaders encounter these kinds of issues related to humanity or states involving life entry that arise in the process of doing duty, they find them very difficult and challenging to resolve. They do not know how to solve these states and problems, or which words of God to use for a targeted resolution. Most of the time, their approach is to persuade or coax people to do well; if persuasion and coaxing don’t work, they resort to getting angry and pruning them. If pruning them doesn’t work, they read a couple of passages of God’s harsh words as a warning, letting people know they should shape up. If that still doesn’t have an effect, their last resort is to arrange for someone to watch over and manage them. They have only these few techniques at their disposal, and if these don’t work, they are out of options.

In summary, regardless of the problem, false leaders are unable to see through to the essence of the problem, struggle to grasp the true states and backgrounds of various people, and even less can they see through to where the root of the problem lies or where to start in order to resolve it most appropriately. They lack these principles and methods for handling problems, so the work of false leaders cannot solve various real issues. They are only able to preach some doctrines, shout some slogans, follow some regulations, and go through the motions. How can such people be fit for the work of leading the church? No matter how much they train or how many more years they believe, they will not be fit for the work of leading the church. Have you encountered any examples of this? (In our church, there was someone doing hosting duty who always made judgmental and attacking remarks, affecting our performance of duty and causing disruptions and disturbances. After we reported this to the leader, he merely insisted that we know ourselves and submit to the environment arranged by God, without solving the actual problem, which affected the work of the church. It was only after a change in leadership that the problem was resolved.) This is a typical manifestation of false leadership. This is a common sort of false leader: those who cannot identify an evil person or antichrist when they encounter one, and tell others to be patient and tolerant, to learn from the experience, and to obey the evil person or antichrist. They do not discern antichrists or evil people, nor do they do anything about them. After so much fellowship about the ways in which antichrists manifest, everyone who understands the truth must now be able to identify a few of them. But are such people as false leaders able to look for how that fellowship corresponds to an antichrist’s behavior? Can they discern antichrists? (No.) And what comes of their inability to discern antichrists? It is possible that an antichrist will wrest power from them, that they will allow the antichrist to control the church and, in the end, do nothing as the antichrist establishes an independent kingdom. If they cannot discern an antichrist, they have no way to treat an antichrist as their enemy and to expose, discern, and reject them; if they cannot discern an antichrist, they are quite likely to treat an antichrist as a brother or sister, with patience and tolerance, which results in the antichrist’s coming to power in the church and controlling it. So, the consequences of not being able to discern antichrists are serious ones, dire beyond reckoning. False leaders do not understand the truth; they cannot discern the essences of different sorts of people. All they do is preach words and doctrines and apply regulations, with love for all, letting everyone repent, and giving everyone a chance, whoever they may be. Is this not the manner of religious clergy? Is it not the manner of the Pharisees? False leaders, when encountering antichrists, usually choose to compromise and give way, even finding an excuse or reason to claim this is treating others with love. Knowing that someone is problematic and is an antichrist, they neither dare to confront nor have the courage to discern and expose them; this is exactly what false leaders do. Even when some brothers and sisters have already discerned that the person is evil or an antichrist, the false leader will still say, “We can’t just judge people or condemn them lightly. That person is so enthusiastic to expend themselves and so willing to pay a price—they’re not an antichrist or an evil person. Just because someone says a few harsh words doesn’t make them evil, right?” False leaders cannot see the essence of people, nor can they see the consequences of the actions of antichrists, still showing love, tolerance, and patience toward antichrists, even encouraging antichrists to reflect, know themselves, and truly repent. No matter how an antichrist tries to know themselves, can their nature change? Can they truly know themselves? Absolutely not. Although antichrists may appear to forsake some things and expend themselves a little on the surface, inside they harbor ambitions and grand schemes. The reason false leaders cannot see through such people as antichrists is that false leaders do not understand the truth, nor can they discern different types of people. They cannot see through to the nature essence of various people, nor do they know how to treat or handle different types of people. When they see others exposing antichrists, they don’t dare join in, and they are even more afraid to take action against the antichrists, fearing retaliation if they offend the antichrists. Their approach to antichrists is limited to preaching doctrines and exhortations. Besides being unable to discern evil people and antichrists, false leaders also cannot resolve the various issues that exist among God’s chosen people. This proves that false leaders have no understanding of the truth at all; they are incapable of resolving actual problems and cannot possibly lead God’s chosen people into the truth reality. No matter what false leaders say or do, you won’t hear any words of light prompted by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, much less will you see that they possess any truth reality. Therefore, false leaders offer no benefit or help in terms of people’s life entry; the little work they do involves preaching words and doctrines, shouting slogans, and going through the motions. They utterly fail at fulfilling the role a leader should play.

That’s all for our fellowship today. Goodbye!

January 9, 2021