Let’s first review the main content of our fellowship at the last gathering. (Last time, You listed the fifteen responsibilities of leaders and workers, and mainly fellowshipped on the first two: The first is leading people to eat and drink of God’s words and understand them, and to enter the reality of God’s words; the second 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. Based on these two items, You dissected the relevant manifestations of false leaders.) Have you ever pondered which of these two responsibilities you could perform if you were a leader? Many people always feel that they have some caliber, intelligence, and a sense of burden, and consequently wish to vie to become leaders, and do not want to be ordinary followers. So, first look at whether you can perform these two responsibilities, and which one you are more capable of performing, and are able to take on. Let’s not talk for now about whether you have the caliber to become a leader, or whether you possess the ability or sense of burden for the task, and first look at if you can perform these two responsibilities well. Have you ever pondered this question? Some may say, “I don’t plan to be a leader, so why should I ponder it? I just need to do my own job well—this question has nothing to do with me. In this lifetime, I never want to be a leader, and I never want to take on the responsibilities of a leader or worker, so I never need to ponder such questions.” Is this statement correct? (No.) Even if you don’t want to be a leader, don’t you still need to know how well the person leading you is carrying out these two responsibilities, whether they have fulfilled their responsibilities, whether they have the required caliber, abilities, and sense of burden, and whether they meet these two requirements? If you don’t understand or can’t see through these things, and they lead you into a pit, will you be aware of it? If you just follow them in a confused way and are just a dimwit, if you don’t know that they are a false leader, or that they’re leading you astray or where they’re leading you, then you will be in danger. Because you don’t understand the scope of leaders’ and workers’ responsibilities, and you lack discernment of false leaders, you will follow them in a confused way, and do whatever they ask you to do, not knowing whether what they fellowship to you is in line with the truth in God’s words, or whether it is the reality. You will think that because they are enthusiastic, because they rush about and work hard from dawn to dusk and are capable of paying the price, and because, when someone is in difficulty, they extend a helping hand to assist them, and do not ignore them, that they are an up-to-standard leader. You don’t know that false leaders lack the ability to comprehend God’s words, that no matter how long they lead people, those people won’t understand God’s intentions or know what God’s requirements are, that they won’t even be able to discern what doctrines and the truth realities are, and that false leaders won’t know which of God’s words people have a distorted comprehension of, and that people won’t know how they should eat and drink God’s words. False leaders will fellowship with you and go through the motions, but they will be unclear about what state you are in, what difficulties you are facing, and whether they have actually been resolved, and you yourself will not know these things either. Outwardly, they will have read God’s words and fellowshipped about the truth with you, but you will still be living in an erroneous state without any reversal. No matter what difficulties you encounter, they will appear to carry out their responsibilities, but none of your difficulties will be resolved through their fellowship or assistance, and the issues will persist. Is this kind of leader up to standard? (No.) So, what truths do you need to understand in order to discern these matters? You need to understand whether leaders and workers perform every task and address every problem in accordance with the requirements of God’s words, whether every word they speak is practical and corresponds with the truth in God’s words. Additionally, you need to understand whether, when you face various difficulties, their approach to resolving issues leads you to understand God’s words and gain a path of practice, or they only speak some words and doctrines, shout slogans, or admonish you. Some leaders and workers like to help people through exhortation, some through motivation, and others through exposing, accusation, and pruning. Regardless of the method they use, if it can truly lead you to enter the truth reality, resolve your real difficulties, making you understand what God’s intentions are and thereby enabling you to know yourself and find a path of practice, then when you are faced with similar situations in the future, you will have a path to follow. Therefore, the most basic standard for measuring whether a leader or worker is up to standard is whether they can use the truth to resolve people’s problems and difficulties, enabling them to understand the truth and gain a path of practice.

Last time, we fellowshipped more or less on the first and second responsibilities of leaders and workers, and we dissected certain manifestations of false leaders in relation to these two responsibilities. Their primary manifestations are a shallow and superficial comprehension of God’s words and failing to understand the truth. It is evident that they consequently cannot lead others to understand God’s words and grasp His intentions. When people face difficulties, false leaders cannot draw on their own experiences and knowledge to lead those people to understand the truth and enter into reality, so that they have a path to follow, nor can they get them to reflect on and know themselves in the midst of various difficulties, and resolve these difficulties at the same time. So today, let’s first fellowship on what the difficulties of life entry are, and what various common difficulties related to life entry there are that people often encounter in their daily lives. Let’s make a specific summary of these things. Does this need to be fellowshipped on? (Yes.) You are somewhat interested in these topics related to life entry now, aren’t you? When I first interacted with you and talked to you, regardless of what was said, you were numb and dull, sluggish, and slow to react. It seemed like you didn’t understand anything, and didn’t possess any stature, let alone life entry. Now, when we talk about matters involving changing one’s life disposition, most of you are relatively interested in this topic, and have some reactions to it. This is a positive phenomenon. If you weren’t doing your duties, could you attain these things? (No, we couldn’t.) This is God’s grace; it’s all due to His favor.

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 Two)

Eight Types of Life Entry Difficulties

I. Difficulties Related to Doing One’s Duty

Regarding the difficulties of life entry, let’s first look more broadly at the difficulties related to performing one’s duties. When you face problems in performing your duties that involve practicing the truth, and you cannot handle things according to the principles, is this not a difficulty in life entry? (Yes, it is.) In plain terms, it is the various states, ideas, viewpoints, and certain incorrect ways of thinking that arise when performing one’s duties. So, what specific difficulties exist in this regard? For example, there’s always trying to be perfunctory, slippery, and slack off when performing one’s duties—is this not a state that is commonly manifested and revealed during the performance of duties? There’s also not attending to one’s proper work, and constantly comparing oneself to others while performing one’s duty, treating the place where one performs their duty as a playground or battleground, and thinking about finding a “benchmark” whenever one is performing their duty, saying inwardly: “I’ll see who is better than me and who can provoke my fighting spirit, then I’ll compete with them, vie with them and compare myself to them, in order to see who achieves better results and higher efficiency in the performance of their duty, and who is better at winning over people’s hearts.” Then there’s understanding the principles for performing one’s duty but not wishing to adhere to them, or to act in accordance with the truth in God’s words or the requirements of God’s house, and always preferring to adulterate the performance of one’s duty with personal preferences, saying, “I like to do it this way, I like to do it that way; I am willing to do it this way, I want to do it that way.” This is willfulness, always wanting to follow one’s own will, and acting however one wants according to one’s own preferences, turning a deaf ear to all of the requirements of God’s house, and preferring to stray from the right path. Are these not the real manifestations most people display when performing their duties? Clearly, all of these issues involve difficulties in performing one’s duty. Please add to these. (Failing to cooperate harmoniously with others when performing one’s duty, and always being a law unto oneself.) This also counts as a difficulty. Failing to cooperate harmoniously with others when performing one’s duty, and always wanting to be a law unto oneself and have the final say; wanting to humble oneself to seek advice and listen to others’ opinions when faced with issues, but being unable to practice this, and feeling uncomfortable when one does try to practice this—this is a problem. (Always safeguarding one’s own interests when performing a duty, being selfish and vile, and actually knowing how to resolve a problem when it arises, but feeling that it has nothing to do with oneself, fearing taking responsibility if it goes wrong, and consequently not daring to step forward.) Not resolving a problem when one sees it, considering it unrelated to oneself, and ignoring it—this also counts as performing one’s duty without loyalty. Regardless of whether or not you are responsible for a task, if you can see through to and resolve a problem, you should perform this responsibility. This is your duty and work that falls to you. If the supervisor can resolve it, you can leave it alone, but if they can’t, you should step forward and resolve it. Don’t divide issues up based on whose scope of responsibility they fall under—this is disloyalty to God. Anything else? (Relying on one’s intelligence and gifts to do work while performing one’s duty, and not seeking the truth.) There are many people who are like this. They always think they possess intelligence and caliber, and they are indifferent to everything that befalls them; they do not seek the truth at all, and act solely according to their own will, and as a result, they cannot perform any duty properly. These are all difficulties people face when performing their duties.

II. Issues Related to How One Treats Their Prospects and Destiny

How one treats their prospects and destiny is also a significant issue related to life entry. Some people are willing to pay the price if they believe they have hope of being saved, and they become negative if they think there is no hope. If God’s house doesn’t promote and cultivate them, they are unwilling to pay the price, and they do their duties by just going through the motions without taking responsibility. Regardless of what they do, they always consider their prospects and destiny, asking themselves, “Will I actually have a good destination? Have God’s promises mentioned what the prospects and destination of someone like me will be?” If they don’t find an accurate answer, they lack the enthusiasm to do anything. If they are promoted and cultivated by God’s house, they become full of energy, and in everything they do they are particularly proactive. However, if they fail to do their duty well and are dismissed, they immediately become negative and they give up their duty, abandoning all hope. When faced with pruning, they think, “Does God not like me anymore? If so, He should have said so earlier, instead of hindering my pursuit of the world!” If they are dismissed, they think, “Aren’t they looking down on me? Who reported me? Am I being eliminated? If that’s the case, they should have said so earlier!” Moreover, their hearts are filled with transactions, demands, and unreasonable requests of God. No matter what the church arranges for them to do, they consider them having good prospects and a good destiny, along with God’s blessings, as prerequisites for doing it. At the very least, being treated with a nice expression and attitude, and being approved of, are their prerequisites for accepting and submitting. Are these not manifestations of how they treat their prospects and destiny? Add to these. (If deviations or issues arise while doing one’s duties and they are pruned, they complain about God and guard against Him; they feel afraid of being revealed and eliminated, and always leave themselves a way out.) Feeling afraid of being revealed and eliminated, and always leaving a way out for themselves—these are also manifestations of how they treat their prospects and destiny. (When one sees that God’s words of exposure and determination match up with them, or when they face pruning and feel ashamed, they conclude that they are muddle-headed, a devil and a Satan, and that they are unable to accept the truth. They determine that they have no hope of being saved and become negative.) When it comes to their prospects and destiny, people cannot entirely let go of their own intents and desires. They consistently treat them as the most important things and pursue them accordingly, considering them the driving force and prerequisite for everything they pursue. When they face judgment, chastisement, trials, refining, or being revealed, or they encounter dangerous circumstances, they immediately think, “Does God not want me anymore? Is He spurning me? The tone He speaks to me with is so severe; does He not want to save me? Does He want to eliminate me? If He wants to eliminate me, He should say that as soon as possible, while I am still young, so as not to hinder my pursuit of the world.” This gives rise to negativity, resistance, opposition, and slackness in them. These are some states and manifestations involving how people treat their prospects and destiny. This is a significant difficulty that relates to life entry.

III. Difficulties Related to Interpersonal Relationships

Let’s take a look at another aspect—interpersonal relationships. This is also a significant difficulty related to life entry. How you treat people you dislike, people whose opinions differ from yours, people who are familiar to you, people who have a familial relationship with you or who have helped you, and people who always give you prompt warnings, and speak true words to you, and help you, and whether you can treat each person fairly, plus how you practice when disputes arise with other people, as well as jealousy and conflicts arising among you, and you not being able to interact harmoniously, or even cooperate harmoniously in the process of doing your duties—these are some states and manifestations related to interpersonal relationships. Are there any others? (Being a people pleaser and not daring to speak up upon discovering another person’s problems, for fear of offending them.) This is a state that arises when one is afraid to offend others. (Also, how one treats leaders and workers, and those with power and status.) How you treat leaders and workers, or people with power and status—whether with flattery and sycophancy, or by treating them correctly—this is a specific manifestation of how you deal with those who hold power and influence. These are more or less the difficulties of interpersonal relationships.

IV. Issues Related to Human Feelings

Let’s talk a bit about human feelings. What issues relate to feelings? First is how you evaluate your own family members, and how you approach the things they do. “The things they do” here naturally include when they disrupt and disturb the church’s work, when they pass judgment on people behind their backs, when they engage in some of the practices of disbelievers, and so on. Can you approach these things impartially? When it is necessary for you to write an evaluation of your family members, can you do so objectively and impartially, putting your own feelings aside? This relates to how you approach your family members. Furthermore, do you harbor feelings toward those who you get along with or who previously helped you? Are you able to view their actions and comportment in an objective, impartial, and accurate way? If they disrupt and disturb the work of the church, will you be able to promptly report or expose them after you find out about it? Also, do you harbor feelings toward those who are relatively close to you, or who share similar interests with you? Do you possess an impartial and objective evaluation, definition, and way of dealing with their actions and behavior? Suppose that these people, who you have a sentimental connection with, are handled by the church according to the principles, and the outcome of this isn’t in line with your own notions—how would you approach this? Would you be able to obey? Would you secretly continue to be entangled with them, and would you be misled by them and even incited by them to make excuses for them, justify them, and defend them? Would you come to the aid of and take a bullet for those who have helped you, while disregarding the truth principles and ignoring the interests of God’s house? Aren’t these various issues to do with feelings? Some people say, “Don’t feelings only relate to relatives and family members? Isn’t the scope of feelings just your parents, brothers and sisters, and other family members?” No, feelings include a wide scope of people. Forget about impartially evaluating their own family members—some people aren’t even capable of evaluating their good friends and buddies impartially, and they twist the facts when they speak about these people. For example, if their buddy doesn’t attend to his proper work and always engages in crooked and wicked practices in his duty, they will describe him as quite playful, and say that his humanity is immature and not yet stable. Aren’t there feelings within these words? This is speaking words that are laden with feelings. If someone who has no connection to them doesn’t attend to their proper work and engages in crooked and wicked practices, they will have harsher things to say about them, and may even condemn them. Is this not a manifestation of speaking and acting based on feelings? Are people who live by their feelings impartial? Are they upstanding? (No.) What is wrong with people who speak according to their feelings? Why can’t they treat others fairly? Why can’t they speak based on the truth principles? People who are double-tongued and never base their words on facts are wicked. Not being impartial when one speaks, always speaking according to one’s feelings and for one’s own sake, and not according to the truth principles, not thinking of the work of God’s house, and just protecting one’s personal feelings, fame, gain, and status—this is the character of antichrists. This is how antichrists speak; everything they say is wicked, disturbing, and disruptive. People who live among the preferences and interests of the flesh live among their feelings. People who live by their feelings are those who do not accept or practice the truth at all. Those who speak and act based on their feelings have no truth reality at all. If such people become leaders, they will undoubtedly be false leaders or antichrists. Not only are they incapable of doing real work, they may also engage in various evil deeds. They will definitely be eliminated and punished.

V. Issues Related to Coveting the Comforts of the Flesh

Coveting the comforts of the flesh is also a serious issue. What do you think are some manifestations of coveting the comforts of the flesh? What examples can you provide from what you’ve seen in your own experiences? Does enjoying the benefits of status count? (Yes.) Anything else? (Preferring easy tasks to difficult ones when doing one’s duties, and always wanting to pick light work.) When doing a duty, people always pick light work, work that isn’t tiring, and that does not involve braving the elements outdoors. This is picking easy jobs and shirking hard ones, and it is a manifestation of coveting the comforts of the flesh. What else? (Always complaining when their duty is a little hard, a little tiring, when it involves paying a price.) (Being preoccupied with food and clothing, and the pleasures of the flesh.) These are all manifestations of coveting the comforts of the flesh. When such a person sees that a task is too laborious or risky, they foist it off on someone else; they themselves only do leisurely work, and they make excuses, saying that they are of poor caliber, that they lack work ability, and cannot take on this task—when in fact, it is because they covet the comforts of the flesh. They do not wish to suffer, regardless of what work they do or what duty they perform. If they are told that once they finish the job there will be braised pork to eat, they do it very quickly and efficiently, and you don’t have to hurry them along, push them, or keep watch over them; but if there is no braised pork for them to eat, and they have to do their duty overtime, they procrastinate, and find all sorts of reasons and excuses to put it off, and after doing it for a while, they say, “I feel lightheaded, my leg is numb, I’m exhausted! Every part of my body hurts, can I rest for a while?” What is the problem here? They covet the comforts of the flesh. There’s also when people always complain about difficulties while doing their duty, when they don’t want to put any effort in, when, as soon as they have a little downtime, they take a rest, chatter idly, or partake in leisure and entertainment. And when work picks up and it breaks the rhythm and routine of their lives, they are unhappy and dissatisfied with it. They grumble and complain, and they become perfunctory in doing their duty. This is coveting the comforts of the flesh, is it not? For example, in order to maintain their figure, some women do workouts and get their beauty sleep every day at fixed times. However, as soon as work becomes busy and these routines are compromised, they become unhappy, saying, “This is no good; doing this job delays things too much. I can’t let it affect my personal affairs. I won’t pay attention to anyone who tries rushing me; I’ll stick to my own pace. When it’s time for yoga, I’ll do yoga. When it’s time for my beauty sleep, I’ll get my beauty sleep. I’ll keep doing these things as I did before. I’m not as foolish and hardworking as you all. In a few years, you’ll all turn into old, plain-looking women, your bodies will go, and you won’t be slim anymore. No one will want to look at you, and you won’t have any confidence in life.” For the sake of satisfying their fleshly enjoyment, for the sake of beauty, being liked by others, and to live with more confidence, they refuse to give up the pleasures and preferences of their flesh, no matter how busy they are with doing duties. This is indulging in the comforts of the flesh. Some say, “God is anxious, and we should be considerate of God’s intentions.” But these women say, “I haven’t seen that God is anxious; I’m good as long as I’m not anxious. If I show consideration for God’s intentions, who will show consideration for mine?” Do such women have any humanity? Are they not devils? There are also certain people who, no matter how busy and pressing their work is, won’t let it affect how they dress and what they wear. They spend hours every day on makeup, and they remember as clearly as their own address what clothes to wear each day to match certain pairs of shoes, and when to do beauty treatments and massages, without getting confused about these things at all. However, when it comes to how much of the truth they understand, what truths they still don’t understand or haven’t entered into, what things they still handle in a perfunctory manner and without loyalty, what corrupt dispositions they have revealed, and such other issues relating to the truth that involve life entry, they don’t know anything about these things at all. When asked about them, they are completely ignorant. Yet, when it comes to topics related to the pleasures of the flesh—eating, drinking, and entertainment—they can prattle on endlessly, it’s impossible to stop them. No matter how busy the work of the church is or how busy their duties are, the routine and normal condition of their lives is never disrupted. They are never careless about any small details of the life of the flesh and control them perfectly, being very strict and serious. But, when dealing with the work of God’s house, no matter how great the matter and even if it might involve the safety of the brothers and sisters, they deal with it carelessly. They do not even care about those things that involve God’s commission or the duty they should do. They take no responsibility. This is indulging in the comforts of the flesh, is it not? Are people who indulge in the comforts of the flesh suitable for doing a duty? As soon as someone brings up the subject of doing their duty, or talks about paying a price and suffering hardship, they keep shaking their heads. They have too many problems, they are full of complaints, and they are filled with negativity. Such people are useless, they are not qualified to do their duty, and should be eliminated. As far as coveting the comforts of the flesh goes, we will leave it here.

VI. Difficulties Related to Knowing Oneself

Knowing oneself is the most crucial aspect of life entry. But for most people, because they do not love the truth or pursue it, knowing themselves becomes their greatest difficulty. Therefore, it is certain that those who do not love the truth cannot genuinely know themselves. What aspects are there to self-knowledge? The first is knowing what corrupt dispositions are revealed in one’s speech and actions. Sometimes, it is arrogance, other times it is deceitfulness, or perhaps wickedness, intransigence, or betrayal, and so on. Beyond that, when something befalls a person, they should examine themselves to see if they have any intentions or motives that are not in accordance with the truth. They should also examine whether there is anything in their speech or actions that resists or rebels against God. In particular, they should examine if they have a sense of burden and are loyal when it comes to their duty, if they are sincerely expending themselves for God, and if they are being transactional or perfunctory. Self-knowledge also means knowing whether one has notions and imaginings, extravagant demands, or misunderstandings and grievances regarding God, and if one has a mind to submit. It means knowing whether one can seek the truth, accept from God and have a heart of submission to God when approaching the situations, people, events, and things that He orchestrates. It means knowing if one has conscience and reason and whether one is a lover of the truth. It means knowing whether one submits or tries to argue when things befall them, and if one relies on notions and imaginings or on seeking the truth in their approach to these matters. All of this is the scope of self-knowledge. One should reflect on whether they love the truth and have true faith in God in light of their attitude toward various situations and people, events, and things. If one can come to know their corrupt disposition and see how great their rebellion is against God, then they will have grown. Furthermore, when it comes to affairs that involve their treatment of God, one should reflect on whether they have notions, fear, or submission in their treatment of God’s name and incarnation, and especially what their attitude is in regard to the truth. A person should also know their deficiencies, their stature, and whether they have the truth reality, as well as whether their pursuit and the path they walk are correct and in accordance with God’s intentions. These are all things that people should know. In summary, the various aspects of self-knowledge essentially consist of the following: knowledge of whether one’s caliber is high or low, knowledge of one’s character, knowledge of the intents and motives one has in their actions, knowledge of the corrupt disposition and nature essence that one reveals, knowledge of one’s preferences and pursuit, knowledge of the path one walks, knowledge of one’s views on things, knowledge of one’s outlook on life and values, and knowledge of one’s attitude toward God and the truth. Self-knowledge is mainly comprised of these aspects.

VII. People’s Various Manifestations in Their Treatment of God

The next bit of content about life entry concerns the various manifestations with which people treat God. For example, there’s having notions about God, developing misunderstandings about Him and becoming guarded toward Him, making unreasonable demands of Him, always wanting to avoid Him, disliking the words that He speaks, and constantly seeking to scrutinize Him. There’s also being unable to see through to or recognize God’s almightiness, as well as always harboring an attitude of doubt toward God’s sovereignty, arrangements, and authority, and completely lacking knowledge of these things. Furthermore, there’s not only failing to avoid or deny the slander and blasphemy that nonbelievers and the world bring against God, but on the contrary, wanting to ask whether it is true or factual. Is this not doubting God? Apart from these manifestations, what others are there? (Being suspicious of God and testing God.) (Trying to ingratiate oneself with God.) (Not wanting to accept God’s scrutiny.) There’s not wanting to accept God’s scrutiny while simultaneously doubting that God can scrutinize people’s innermost hearts. (There is also opposing God.) This is also a manifestation—opposing God and clamoring against Him. There’s using a disdainful and contemptuous attitude to approach God, to talk to Him and associate with Him. Anything else? (Being perfunctory with God and tricking Him.) (Complaining about God.) There’s never submitting or seeking the truth when faced with matters, and always arguing on one’s own behalf and complaining. (There’s also passing judgment on and blaspheming God.) (Vying with God for status.) (Bargaining with and exploiting God.) (Denying God, rejecting God, and betraying God.) These are all essential issues; they are the various states and corrupt dispositions that arise in people’s treatment of God. These are basically the various manifestations of how people treat God.

VIII. The Attitudes and Various Manifestations of People in Their Treatment of the Truth

Another aspect of the content on life entry is how people treat the truth. What manifestations are there in this aspect? There’s treating the truth as a theory or a slogan, as a regulation, or as capital for living off the church and enjoying the benefits of status. Please add to this. (Treating the truth as a spiritual sustenance.) There’s treating the truth as a spiritual sustenance to satisfy one’s spiritual needs. (Not accepting the truth and being averse to it.) This is an attitude toward the truth. (Thinking that God’s words are meant to expose others, that they are unrelated to oneself, and considering oneself as the master of the truth.) You have described this manifestation quite fittingly. People with this manifestation believe that they understand all of the truths spoken by God, and that the corrupt dispositions and essences of man which He exposes refer to others, and not to them. They see themselves as masters of the truth, often using God’s words to lecture others, as if they themselves lack corrupt dispositions, are already the embodiment of the truth and spokespersons of the truth. What kind of rubbish are they? They want to be the embodiment of the truth—aren’t they just like Paul? Paul denied that the Lord Jesus was Christ and God; he himself wanted to be Christ and the Son of God. These people are like Paul, they are of the same kind as him, they are antichrists. Anything else? (Treating God’s words as those of an ordinary person, not as the truth to be practiced, and having a dismissive and cursory attitude toward God’s words.) Not treating God’s words as the truth to be accepted and practiced, but treating them as human words—this is one. (Connecting God’s words to the philosophies and theories of nonbelievers.) There’s connecting God’s words to philosophies, treating God’s words as decorations or empty words while considering the well-known sayings of famous and great people as the truth, and treating knowledge, traditional culture, and customs as the truth and supplanting God’s words with them. People who display this manifestation talk incessantly about wanting to practice the truth and bear witness to and spread God’s words when faced with situations, but in their hearts, they admire those famous and great people from the secular world, and even adulate Bao Gong of the ancient Song Dynasty, saying, “He really was a strict and impartial judge. He never made an unjust ruling, there were never any miscarriages of justice by his hand, or any souls wronged by his executioner’s blade!” Isn’t this adulating and admiring a famous person and a sage? Trying to pass off the words and deeds of famous people as the truth is slandering and blaspheming the truth! In the church, people like this talk a lot about wanting to practice the truth and spread God’s words, but what they think in their minds and usually say are just folk sayings and proverbs, which they express in a very practiced and fluent manner. These things are always on their lips and roll easily off their tongues. They have never spoken a word of their experience and understanding of God’s words, and less still have they ever said which of God’s words are the criterion or basis for their actions and conduct. All they utter are fallacies, like, “A man leaves his name behind wherever he stays, just as a goose utters its cry wherever it flies,” “Execution does nothing but make heads roll,” “There is always something despicable about pitiful people,” “Always leave yourself some wiggle room,” “I might not have earned any credit, but I’ve tried and toiled nonetheless,” “Don’t burn the bridge after crossing the river; don’t kill the donkey after unloading the grindstone,” “Punish one severely to set an example to others, make of them a warning to others,” and “New officials are eager to impress,” among others—none of what they say is the truth. Some people will memorize the words of contemporary poets and even post them in the comments section of the videos of God’s house. Is this not a manifestation of a lack of spiritual understanding? Are those words the truth? Are they related to the truth? Some people often say things like “There is a god three feet above you,” and “Good and evil will be repaid in the end; it’s just a matter of time.” Are these statements the truth? (No.) Where do they come from? Are they found in God’s words? They come from Buddhist culture and have nothing to do with believing in God. Despite this, people often try to drag them to the level of the truth; this is a manifestation of a lack of spiritual understanding. Some people have a bit of resolve to expend themselves for God, and they say, “God’s house has promoted me, God has lifted me up, so I must live up to the saying, ‘A gentleman will sacrifice his life for those who understand him.’” You are not a gentleman, and God has not asked you to sacrifice your life. Is it necessary to have such a high sense of valor when doing duties? You can’t even fulfill your duties now that you’re alive, is there any hope of you doing so in death? How will you do your duties then? Others say, “I am naturally loyal, I’m a brave and passionate person. I like to put everything on the line for my friends. It’s the same with God: Since God has chosen, promoted, and lifted me up, I must repay God’s grace. I will definitely put everything on the line for God, even to my death!” Is this the truth? (No.) God has spoken so many words, why haven’t they remembered a single one of them? At all times, what they fellowship is just: “There’s no need to say anything else. A gentleman will sacrifice his life for those who understand him, and one must put everything on the line for one’s friends and be loyal.” They can’t even utter the phrase “repay God’s love.” After listening to sermons and reading God’s words for so many years, they don’t know a single truth, and they can’t even say a couple of spiritual terms—this is their inner understanding and definition of the truth. Tell Me, isn’t this pitiful? Isn’t it laughable? Isn’t this a manifestation of lacking spiritual understanding? After listening to so many sermons, they don’t understand the truth and don’t know what the truth is, yet they brazenly use those devilish, ridiculous, absurd, and extremely laughable words to replace the truth. Not only is their inner thinking and comprehension like this, they also constantly spread and teach this to others, making others have the same comprehension as them. Doesn’t this somewhat carry with it a nature of causing a disruption and disturbance? It seems that these people who don’t understand the truth and lack spiritual understanding are dangerous, they are capable of causing disruptions and disturbances and of doing ridiculous and absurd things at any time and in any place. What are some other manifestations of how people treat the truth? (Despising the truth, accepting only what aligns with one’s own notions, and rejecting and refusing to practice what doesn’t.) Accepting and practicing only what aligns with one’s own notions and uniformly resisting and condemning that which doesn’t—this is an attitude. (Not believing that the truth can resolve one’s corrupt dispositions or change oneself.) Not acknowledging or believing in the truth is also an attitude. Another manifestation is that one’s attitude and viewpoint toward the truth change according to one’s mood, environment, and emotions. For these people, when they feel good and in high spirits one day, they think, “The truth is excellent! The truth is the reality of all positive things, the worthiest thing for humans to practice and spread.” When their mood is bad, they think, “What is the truth? What benefits are there to practicing truth? Can it make you money? What can the truth change? What can happen if you practice the truth? I won’t practice it—what difference does it make?” Their demonic nature emerges. These manifestations are the dispositions and various states that people reveal in how they treat the truth. What are some other specific manifestations? (Not treating God’s words as the truth or life but analyzing and scrutinizing them.) There’s approaching God’s words with an academic attitude, always analyzing and scrutinizing the truth based on one’s knowledge, without any attitude of acceptance and submission. These are more or less the difficulties in people’s treatment of the truth that can be defined and made into summary headings.

There are eight aspects in total to our content on the difficulties of life entry, and they are the main difficulties associated with life entry and achieving salvation. The states and dispositions revealed by people within these eight aspects are all exposed in God’s words; God has set requirements for people and pointed out the path of practice to them. If people can put effort into God’s words, adopt a serious attitude, an attitude of yearning, and bear a burden for their own life entry, then in God’s words, they can find relevant truths to resolve these eight kinds of problems, and there are paths of practice for each of them. None of them are unsolvable challenges or any kind of mystery. However, if you bear no burden at all for your own life entry, and are not at all interested in the truth or in changing your disposition, then no matter how clear and accurate God’s words are, they will remain mere texts and doctrines to you. If you do not pursue or practice the truth, then no matter what issues you have, you will not be able to find a solution, which will make it very difficult for you to attain salvation. Perhaps you will remain forever at the stage of being a laborer; maybe you will remain forever at the stage of being unable to attain salvation and being spurned and eliminated by God.

The Adverse Effects and Consequences of the Work of False Leaders

When it comes to all the difficulties people encounter in their life entry, what do false leaders do? When people face any kind of state that falls within one of these eight types of difficulties, can false leaders identify this, and use God’s words and their own experiences and knowledge to resolve these people’s problems? Unfortunately, when people encounter difficulties, these false leaders only engage in superficial efforts, just offering some shallow, wide-of-the-mark, and irrelevant remarks that have nothing to do with their dispositions and real difficulties to address their issues. For example, false leaders often say, “You just don’t love the truth!” This is how they attempt to resolve people’s real difficulties and classify their essences. They cannot help people find answers in God’s words for even a minor issue or state, nor can they resolve it by fellowshipping on the truth. Instead, they make some doctrinal and unrelated remarks, or they seize on the problem and make a mountain out of a molehill to completely write people off without providing them an opportunity to repent. In reality, if someone has the ability to comprehend God’s words and possesses spiritual understanding, they will be able to find God’s exposure of these eight aspects of states in His words, it isn’t difficult. However, because false leaders lack spiritual understanding, have poor caliber, and lack comprehension ability, coupled with the fact that some of them are simply enthusiastic, eager to act, hypocritical, and posing as spiritual people, they cannot resolve other people’s issues at all. When it comes to the various issues that people encounter, false leaders will advise them, saying, “God’s work has progressed this far; why are you still getting jealous and disputing with others? Do you have the time for that? What’s the use of fighting over that? Can’t you get by without fighting over it?” “God’s work has come this far, but you are still so sentimental, and you can’t let go. Sooner or later, these feelings will be the death of you!” “God’s work has come this far, so why are you still so concerned about food and clothing? Can’t you do without wearing one dress? Can’t you get by without buying a pair of leather shoes? You should put more thought into God’s words and your duty!” “When something befalls you, pray more to God. Regardless of what befalls you, there is one lesson: learn to submit to God and understand His sovereignty and arrangement.” Can this advice resolve real problems? It can’t at all. Otherwise they say, “People have been deeply corrupted by Satan. By being sentimental, aren’t you rebelling against God? By not knowing yourself, aren’t you rebelling against God?” Regardless of the problem at hand, false leaders do not know how to fellowship the truth in order to dissect a person’s essence or state, they cannot see through to how people’s states arise, and then, based on their states, fellowship the truth to resolve their issues, offering appropriate assistance and provision. Instead, they always say the same things: “Love God! Work hard to do your duties, you must be loyal to God, and pray more when you encounter problems!” “Everything is within God’s sovereignty and arrangement. Everything is in God’s hands!” “If you don’t seek the truth, that won’t do. You must read more of God’s words. God’s words make everything clear, but people just don’t love the truth!” “The disasters are imminent, the outcome of all things is near, and God’s work is coming to an end, but you’re not anxious. How many days does man have left? The kingdom of God has arrived!” False leaders just utter these wide-of-the-mark sayings, never specifically analyzing and dissecting various problems, or offering real provision or assistance to people. Either they find people a couple of passages from God’s words to read, or they offer irrelevant advice to deal with them. What happens in the end? Under the harm of the false leaders, people not only do not know their own corrupt dispositions, they also don’t know what their own character is like, what kind of person they are, and what nature essence they possess; they aren’t clear about what their own caliber is like, whether or not they have comprehension ability, or what path they are on. They still hold onto the worldly and trendy things they love and value in their hearts, and nobody helps them understand, dissect, and analyze these things. These are the consequences of the work of false leaders. When problems arise, they either tear into people, arbitrarily condemning and wrongly accusing them, or they give people wide-of-the-mark advice and lessons, or they use God’s words to make forced, inaccurate comparisons. Those who hear them think, “I feel like I understand, but also like I don’t—it’s like I might have grasped what they said, but I also might have not. Why is that? Everything the leader says is correct, but why can’t I get rid of this issue in my heart? Why can’t I find a resolution to this difficulty? Why do I still think this way and want to do these things? Why can’t I understand where the essence and root of the issue lie? The leader says I don’t love the truth, and I admit that I don’t, but why can’t I get out of this state?” Have these leaders had any effect? Although they have spoken and worked, it’s all a great big muddle, and it hasn’t had the effect that it’s supposed to. They haven’t enabled people to understand God’s intentions, compare themselves to God’s words, accurately understand their states, or resolve their own difficulties. As for those incorrigible, shameless people who do not accept the truth at all, when they hear these leaders earnestly and patiently admonishing them, they feel extremely turned off. At the same time, they parrot the words that these leaders say—after the leaders finish the first part, these people can follow up with the next one, and they quickly grow impatient, saying, “Don’t keep going. I’ve already got a grasp on everything you’re saying. If you continue, I’ll feel nauseous and want to vomit!” The leaders continue saying, “You just don’t love the truth. If you loved the truth, you would understand everything I’m saying.” They retort, “Regardless of whether I love the truth or not, you’ve repeated these words so many times, there’s nothing new in them, and I’m tired of hearing them!” False leaders work in this way, rigidly sticking to regulations and fixating on certain phrases, totally failing to resolve people’s real difficulties. If someone has notions about God, false leaders say that person does not know themselves. If someone has a poor humanity, isn’t able to get along with people, and lacks normal interpersonal relationships, false leaders say that both they and the other person involved are at fault, lecture both of them, putting the blame on both of them, saying, “Alright, you two are even now. We need to be fair and reasonable in our actions, treating everyone equally without any biases. Whoever speaks with reason loves the truth, while those who speak without it should shut their mouths, speak less and do more in the future. Whoever says something correct should be listened to more.” Is this resolving the problem? Is this doing work? Isn’t this just like appeasing children and fooling people? False leaders may look like they’re keeping busy, but they can’t resolve anyone’s problems. How effective is their work? It’s worthless and absurd! These are the actions of nonbelievers.

Throughout people’s experience of believing in God, they often encounter some difficulties, and false leaders cannot resolve any of them. False leaders can’t even resolve certain obvious difficulties that could be fixed with just a few words, and they also make a big fuss over them and turn every small issue into a big deal. Some people are not evil, it’s just that in terms of their humanity, they slightly lack manners, don’t understand basic etiquette, and are a bit scummy. False leaders take these minor issues and make a big fuss over them, getting the brothers and sisters to discuss them, criticize them, and condemn them, all with the aim of leaving a lasting impression on those people, so that they won’t dare to keep acting that way. Is this necessary? Is this a way to resolve problems? Is it using the truth to resolve issues? (No.) As long as there are no major issues in someone’s humanity, and that person is not evil and can sincerely expend themselves, then, under circumstances where they are accepting, it is sufficient to continue to work on them, offering them reminders, assistance, fellowship, and support. If people consistently behave in this way, then they have a problem with their character or a vicious disposition, and stern pruning and discipline are then necessary. If they refuse to accept this, either their duty should be suspended, or they should be cleared out. False leaders cannot see through to this, nor will they act in this way; when they encounter such evil people, they treat them as brothers and sisters, offering them help and support. Is this doing work? Is it using the truth to resolve issues? (No.) The work of false leaders is absurd, childish, and laughable, and nothing about it aligns with God’s intentions. In everything they do, you can see that they are laymen, they lack spiritual understanding, and act recklessly without principles. Similarly, they cannot see through to or accurately grasp the various difficulties that people encounter in their life entry. Consequently, their attempts at resolution seem incredibly clumsy, foolish, and like those of a layman. Those who accept their help also feel awkward and repressed. Over time, some even lose faith, saying, “The leader has fellowshipped with me so many times, so why haven’t I changed? Why do I keep relapsing? Is it the case that my humanity is especially poor, and I’m incapable of being saved?” Some even harbor doubts, saying, “Is there something wrong with my spirit? Are evil spirits at work in me? Is God not going to save me? Doesn’t that mean I’m without hope?” These are the consequences of the work of false leaders. In their work, they confuse one thing for another, and they act in a ridiculous, absurd, foolish, and clumsy way, which ultimately leads the various difficulties faced by some people who genuinely pursue the truth to not be resolved in a prompt manner. This, in turn, causes negativity and weakness to arise in those people, as well as some notions and misunderstandings about God and His work. They say, “I’ve read so many of God’s words, so why can’t my problem be resolved? Can God’s words really save and transform people?” Their hearts give rise to doubt, and they get trapped in confusion. Therefore, when false leaders do work, they do not produce many positive results, but they do give rise to quite a lot of negative and adverse things. Their work not only fails to dispel people’s notions, doubts, and judgments about God, on the contrary, it increases their misunderstandings and guardedness regarding God. Even after many years of faith, these people’s issues remain unresolved. While they are being misled and misguided by false leaders, their misunderstandings and guardedness regarding God deepen. This being the case, can they attain life entry?

False leaders’ understanding of positive things such as the truth and man’s dispositional change can influence many people’s viewpoints and attitudes toward positive things. It’s one thing when false leaders don’t do any work—as soon as they start working, deviations emerge and adverse consequences arise. An improper atmosphere comes about in these churches, that is, some erroneous and absurd sayings are often produced, and people there do not understand spiritual terms that are frequently mentioned in God’s words or know how to apply them, while the so-called spiritual terms and sayings often spoken by these false leaders are spread widely throughout these churches. The impact these things have on people isn’t small: They not only cannot help people gain a more practical and accurate knowledge of God’s words and the truth, or enable them to find an accurate path of practice in His words, on the contrary, they actually make people have a more distorted, theoretical, and doctrinal knowledge of the truth, and at the same time, they make people more hazy about the path of practice. In doing so, false leaders interfere with people’s line of sight and affect their pure comprehension of the truth. What effect do false leaders have in doing these things? What role do they play? While characterizing them as disturbing and disruptive might be somewhat excessive, calling them buffoons rushing all over the place is not an overstatement at all. When I had just begun this stage of the work, I met some individuals, and while I was listening to them talking, one of them asked about a person’s situation, and someone suddenly blurted out the words, “They’ve burned to ashes.” When I asked, “Burned to ashes? What does that mean?” they responded, “Being burned to ashes means that someone has been dismissed and perhaps stopped believing.” I said, “This is a pretty cruel term—it doesn’t give the person any leeway. Did I ever say such a thing? How did I not know about this term? I have never defined anyone this way, or stated that if someone stops doing their duty or departs from God, they are ‘burned to ashes.’ How did this term come about?” Later, I found out that this phrase originated from an elderly believer, an old pedant. He was very learned, had believed in God for a long time, and he had seniority. When he spoke this phrase, that group of muddled people did not exercise discernment and learned it from him, and it became a popular phrase. Do you think this phrase is correct? Does it have a basis? Is it accurate? (No, it’s not accurate.) How should we treat it? Should it be allowed to persist in the church? (No, it shouldn’t.) It should be exposed and criticized, and resolved from its root. Afterward, through criticism and dissection, these muddled people didn’t dare to keep saying it, but a few uninformed individuals may still be secretly using it in private. Those people may think it is a very spiritual phrase originating from a “well-known figure” and believe it should continue to be used. Have your leaders engaged in similar practices? Have they negatively affected your life entry, dispositional change, or the path that you walk? (In the past, when spreading the gospel, a false leader once said, “God conquers us through judgment and chastisement, so when we spread the gospel to religious people, we need to speak to them in a harsh tone, and lecture them; only then can they be conquered.”) This statement may sound reasonable, but does it align with the truth principles? Did God instruct people to do this? Does God’s word say, “When widely spreading the gospel, you must rise up and govern people with an iron rod, using judgment and chastisement to spread the gospel widely”? (No.) So, where did this statement come from? Clearly, it’s a theory imagined out of the head of a false leader who lacks spiritual understanding. On the surface, this statement may seem like it is unproblematic: “All of mankind must undergo God’s judgment and chastisement. If they can’t directly receive it from God’s words, can’t they receive it indirectly? In any case, that is the effect that God’s words are meant to achieve—conquering all mankind. Wouldn’t it be better for them to receive this sooner rather than later? Before God acts, we’ll take this preventative measure, so that people can develop a kind of immunity. Then when God truly judges and chastises them, those people won’t rebel against, oppose, or betray God. This will prevent God’s feelings from being hurt. Isn’t that a good thing?” On the surface, every sentence appears correct, and doctrinally speaking, it seems logical. However, is this a truth principle? What stipulations does God’s house have for the spreading of the gospel? Does it require people to do this? (No.) Therefore, this theory is not valid, and the person who proposed it is a false leader.

False leaders often feign being spiritual, uttering some specious fallacies to mislead and misguide people. While these fallacies may sound unproblematic on the surface, they have a detrimental influence on people’s life entry, disturbing, misleading, and obstructing people from walking the path of pursuing the truth. Because of these pseudo-spiritual words, some people develop doubts and resistance toward God’s words, they produce notions, and even misunderstandings about God and guardedness against God, and then drift away from Him. This is the impact that the pseudo-spiritual sayings of false leaders have on people. While members of a church are being misled and influenced by a false leader, that church becomes a religion, just like Christianity or Catholicism, in which people merely observe the sayings and teachings of man. They all worship the teachings of Paul, going so far as to use his words in the place of those of the Lord Jesus, rather than following the way of God. As a result, they all become hypocritical Pharisees and antichrists. Thus, they are cursed and condemned by God. Just like Paul, false leaders exalt and testify for themselves, they mislead and disturb people. They lead them astray and into religious rituals, and the way that these people believe in God becomes just the same as religious people, which delays their entry onto the right track in their faith in God. False leaders constantly mislead and disturb people, and those people then produce a host of pseudo-spiritual theories and sayings. These theories, sayings, and practices are diametrically opposed to the truth, and have nothing to do with it whatsoever. Yet while false leaders are misleading and misguiding people, they take these things as positive things, as the truth. They mistakenly believe these things to be the truth, and think that as long as they believe in these things in their hearts and can say them eloquently, and as long as those things are endorsed by everyone, then they have gained the truth. Misguided by these thoughts and views, people are not only unable to understand the truth, but they are also unable to practice or experience God’s words, let alone enter the truth reality. On the contrary, they grow ever further from God’s words and further still from entry into the truth reality. On paper, there is nothing wrong with the words false leaders say and the slogans they shout, they are all correct. Why, then, do they achieve nothing at all? This is because what false leaders understand and comprehend is simply too shallow. It is all the stuff of doctrine, which is irrelevant to the truth reality in God’s words, God’s requirements or His intentions. The fact is that all the doctrines false leaders preach are far short of the truth reality—to be precise, they have nothing to do with the truth nor anything to do with God’s words. So, when false leaders often spout these words and doctrines, what is it connected to? Why are they always unable to enter the truth reality? This is directly connected to the caliber of false leaders. It is absolutely certain that false leaders are of poor caliber and lack the ability to comprehend the truth. No matter how many years they believe in God, they will not understand the truth or have life entry, and it can also be said that no matter how many years they believe in God, it will not be easy for them to enter the truth reality. If a false leader is not dismissed, and is allowed to keep their position, what sort of consequences will ensue? Their leadership will draw ever more people into religious rituals and regulations, into words and doctrines, and into vague notions and imaginings. In contrast to antichrists, false leaders do not lead people to come before them or before Satan, but if they cannot lead God’s chosen people into the truth reality of His words, will God’s chosen people be able to attain His salvation? Will they be able to be perfected by God? Absolutely not. If God’s chosen people cannot enter the truth reality, are they not still living under Satan’s power? Are they not still degenerates being held under Satan’s power? Does this not mean that they will come to ruin in the hands of a false leader? That is why the consequences of the work of false leaders and antichrists are basically the same. Neither can make God’s chosen people understand the truth, enter reality, and achieve salvation. They both harm God’s chosen people and bring them to ruin. The consequences are exactly the same.

What are some of the heresies and fallacies of false leaders? Summarize them yourselves later. I leave this assignment to you to see whether you are able to discern them. Have the leaders around you ever spoken some words that are spiritual or accord with human sentiments and, on the surface, appear correct and in line with the truth but fail to provide for your life entry and resolve your actual problems? If you don’t have discernment of these words and even hold them dear and take them to heart, allowing them to dominate you and lead you all the time, and sway your thoughts and behavior all the time, aren’t the consequences of this quite serious? (Yes.) Then it’s essential for you to dig into the root of these issues, to find what things are heresies and fallacies that can make people degrade to the point where their faith in God turns into religious belief, resulting in them resisting God and being rejected by God. For instance, suppose that a person says, “Don’t strive to become a leader. If you’re dismissed or eliminated after becoming a leader, you won’t even have a chance to be an ordinary believer.” Is this kind of talk a heresy and fallacy of false leaders? (Yes.) Is it? The heresies and fallacies of false leaders must be distinguished from those of antichrists; don’t jumble them together. What does that person mean by saying such things? What motivations are hidden in these words? Is there something shady within them? Clearly, they contain a trick intended to mislead people, they mean that other people should avoid striving to be leaders, that doing so won’t turn out well. Their aim in saying this is to make people abandon the idea of becoming a leader so that no one will compete with them for reputation and status, thereby allowing them to feel at ease being a leader forever. At the same time, they are telling people, “This is how God’s house treats leaders and workers, it promotes you when it needs you and when it doesn’t, it kicks you to the very bottom rung, leaving you no chance to even be an ordinary believer.” What is the nature of these words? (Blasphemy against God.) What kind of person speaks blasphemous words against God? (An antichrist.) Within these words, there are two evil intentions that can lead to two consequences: One is telling others to absolutely not vie for status, which ensures their own status remains secure; the other is making you misunderstand God, stop believing in God and start believing in them instead. This is the most blatant kind of antichrist. It seems you lack comprehension ability; I have spoken about examples of this before. You are not only careless and possessed of poor memory, your comprehension ability is also lacking. You can’t even discern such an obvious antichrist. Would false leaders say such things? Would they consciously and openly mislead people and resist God? (No.) Although the things that false leaders say and do may appear unproblematic on the surface, their work lacks principles and cannot achieve results. False leaders cannot resolve any of people’s problems, bring them onto the right track of faith in God, or lead them before God. Everything they say is correct, they haven’t skimped on their work at all, they have zeal and passion, and on the surface they appear to have faith, to have resolve, and to be willing to endure hardship and pay the price. Moreover, they appear to have incredible endurance and to be able to persevere through all manner of fatigue and difficulty. It’s just that their caliber and comprehension ability are poor, and they lack an accurate comprehension of the truth. What do they do about this lack of comprehension ability? They use regulations and doctrines, as well as the spiritual theories they frequently talk about, to resolve this problem. After a few years under their leadership, all kinds of doctrines, regulations, and external practices arise among people. People adhere to these doctrines, regulations, and practices, and believe they are practicing the truth and entering into the truth reality, but in fact, they are still very far from the truth reality! Once people’s hearts are filled, dominated, and led by these things, resolution becomes troublesome. Each one must be dissected and analyzed individually so that people understand them. Then, people must be told what the truth, doctrines, slogans, and regulations are, and what correct comprehension of the truth, accurate sayings, and the truth principles are. All of these need to be resolved individually; otherwise, those who are relatively well-behaved, rule-abiding, and who pursue spirituality will get misled and ruined by the false leaders. These people may appear devout, capable of enduring hardship and paying the price, and able to pray when things befall them. However, just like with religious people, when God comes back, none of them recognize Him, none of them acknowledge that God is doing new work again, and they all resist Him. Why is this? It is because false leaders and antichrists have misled them—they have harmed and ruined many sincere believers in God.

False leaders only speak words and doctrines—what they get people to understand is just doctrine and not the truth, and what they make people see is just false spirituality. What are the consequences of speaking words and doctrines? False spirituality, false understanding, false knowledge, false practice, and false compliance—all of it is false. How does this “falseness” come about? It is caused by false leaders having a distorted, one-sided, and superficial comprehension of the truth, and totally failing to comprehend the essence of the truth. False leaders bring people a lot of rules, words and doctrines, along with some slogans and theories. Those people don’t understand God’s true intentions at all, and when they encounter various complex situations, they don’t know how to handle and approach them, or how to grasp God’s intentions. Can such individuals come before God? Can they accept God and come to stop resisting Him? No, they cannot. Therefore, it is crucial and necessary for you to summarize the heresies and fallacies of false leaders and attain discernment of them. When summarizing, it is essential to differentiate them from the fallacies used by antichrists to mislead people. Regarding the second responsibility of leaders and workers—being familiar with the states of each sort of person, and resolving various difficulties relating to life entry they encounter in their real lives—we will conclude our fellowship dissecting the various practices of false leaders and the essence of the issues with false leaders here.

Item Three: Fellowship the Truth Principles That Should Be Understood in Order to Perform Each Duty Properly (Part One)

False Leaders Can Only Speak Words and Doctrines to Admonish People

Next, we will fellowship on the third responsibility of leaders and workers—fellowshipping the truth principles that should be understood in order to perform each duty properly. This is important and fundamental work of leaders and workers, and we will fellowship and dissect the manifestations of false leaders based on this responsibility. The ability of a leader or worker to clearly fellowship on the truth principles which people should understand to do their duties well is the best indicator of whether they possess the truth reality, and it is the key to determining whether they can do real work well. Now, let’s take a look at how false leaders handle this work. One characteristic of false leaders is their inability to thoroughly explain or clarify any issues involving truth principles. If someone seeks from them, they can only tell them some empty words and doctrines. When faced with problems that need resolution, they frequently respond with a statement like, “You are all experts in doing this duty. If you have problems, you should figure them out yourselves. Don’t ask me; I am not an expert, and I don’t understand. Address it on your own.” Some people might retort, “We are asking you because we can’t resolve the problem; we wouldn’t ask you if we could. We don’t understand this problem involving truth principles.” The false leaders reply, “Haven’t I already told you the principles? Do your own duties well, and don’t create disturbances or disruptions. What are you still asking about? Handle it as you see fit! God’s words have already been spoken: Prioritize the interests of God’s house.” Those people are left totally confused, thinking, “This is not a solution to the problem!” This is how false leaders treat work; they merely inspect it, go through the motions, and never address problems. Regardless of the issues people raise, false leaders tell them to seek the truth on their own. They often ask people, “Do you have any problems? How is your life entry? Are you doing your duties in a perfunctory manner?” Those people respond, saying, “Occasionally, I find myself in a perfunctory state, and through prayer, I resolve it and turn myself around, but I still don’t understand the truth principles of doing my duty.” The false leaders say, “Didn’t I fellowship the specific principles with you at the last gathering? I even provided you with several passages of God’s words. Shouldn’t you understand by now?” In fact, they understand all of the doctrine, but they are still unable to resolve their problems. The false leaders continue to spout high-sounding words, “Why can’t you resolve it? You just haven’t read God’s words thoroughly enough. If you pray more and read God’s words more, then all your problems will be resolved. You need to learn to discuss and find a way together, then your problems will eventually be resolved. As for professional issues, don’t ask me; my responsibility is to inspect the work. I’ve completed my task, and the rest involves professional matters, which I don’t understand.” False leaders often use reasons and excuses like “I don’t understand, I never learned it, I am not an expert” to fob people off and dodge questions. They may look quite humble; however, this exposes a serious issue with false leaders—they lack any understanding of problems involving professional knowledge in certain tasks, they feel powerless and appear extremely awkward and embarrassed. What do they do then? They can only gather several passages of God’s words to fellowship with everyone during gatherings, talking about some doctrines to exhort people. Leaders with a bit of kindness might show concern for people and ask them from time to time, “Have you faced any difficulties in your life recently? Do you have enough clothes to wear? Have there been any among you who are misbehaving?” If everyone says that they don’t have those issues, they reply, “Then there’s no problem. Carry on with your work; I have other matters to attend to,” and hastily leave, fearing that someone might bring up questions and ask them to address them, putting them in an embarrassing situation. This is how false leaders work—they can’t resolve any real problems. How can they effectively carry out the work of the church? As a result, the accumulation of unresolved issues eventually hinders the work of the church. This is a prominent characteristic and manifestation of how false leaders work.

In their work, false leaders are only enthusiastic about preaching, and they like most to speak words and doctrines, and say words to exhort and comfort people, thinking that as long as they get people to be energized and busy in the performance of their duties, it’s the same as them having done a good job. Additionally, false leaders are passionate about caring for the state of every person’s daily life. They frequently ask people if they’re encountering any difficulties in that regard, and if anyone really is, they are willing to help resolve these difficulties. They really busy themselves with these general affairs, sometimes even putting off meals, and often staying up late and waking up early. Given their busyness and hard work, why do the problems in the work of the church and the difficulties faced by God’s chosen people in doing their duties remain unresolved? This is because false leaders can never clearly explain the truth principles related to doing duties. The words and doctrines, and exhortations they speak are completely ineffective and cannot resolve real issues at all. Regardless of how much they say or how busy or exhausted they are, the church’s work never progresses. Although everyone seems to be doing their duties on the outside, they don’t achieve many actual results, because false leaders aren’t able to fellowship the truth principles associated with doing duties, or to use the truth to resolve real issues—therefore they are unable to resolve many issues that exist in the performance of duties. For instance, God’s house once needed to print books of God’s words, and a leader had to select two individuals to be in charge of this task. What are the standards for selecting people? Their humanity should be relatively good, they should be reliable, and able to take on risks. After the individuals were selected, this leader told them, “Today, I have called you two over to entrust a matter to you: God’s house has a book that needs to be printed, and I need you to find a printing factory, and after the copies are all printed, you must distribute them promptly into the hands of God’s chosen people, so that they can eat and drink God’s words without delay. Are you determined to carry out this task? Are you willing to take on this burden and this risk?” The two individuals believed that this was God lifting them up, so they said yes. The leader then asked them, “Do you resolve to fulfill God’s commission? Are you willing to swear an oath?” The two individuals then swore an oath, saying, “If we cannot fulfill God’s commission and make a mess of this task, causing the work of God’s house to suffer losses, then may we be struck by lightning and thunder from heaven. Amen!” The leader said, “Also, we need to fellowship on the truth. In doing this work now are you conducting business? Are you being asked to work as an employee?” The two individuals replied, “No, this is our duty.” The leader said, “Since it is your duty, you must repay God’s love. You can’t upset God or make Him worried. Being willing to take risks is not enough; you need to do your duty with loyalty. When you encounter issues, you should pray more and consult with each other. Don’t be willful or act of your own accord. Why did I pair you two up? It’s so you can discuss things when matters arise, making it easy for you to take action. If you cannot reach an agreement, then pray. Each person should let go of their own opinions, and only act when you have reached a consensus. I hope you two can complete this work successfully!” Finally, this leader found a passage of God’s words about how to do one’s duty well, and the three of them pray-read it several times. With that, the matter was considered entrusted to them, and the leader’s responsibility was considered fulfilled. How was the leader’s performance of this work? The leader felt quite satisfied, as did those two individuals. Onlookers commented, “This leader really knows a few things about getting work done; their speech is well-organized and well-founded, and they do things step by step. First, they assigned the task to those two, then they resolved their issues involving thoughts and viewpoints, and finally, they spoke some stern words, getting them to swear an oath and make a pledge. They truly did this work in a methodical manner, and they really deserve the title of leader—they are experienced and bear a burden.” In the end, the leader told them, “Remember this: Printing books is not an easy task, it is not something an ordinary person can take on. This work wasn’t entrusted to you by me or God’s house; it’s a commission from God. You mustn’t let Him down. As long as you complete this work well, your life will progress, and you will have reality.” In theory, there weren’t any issues of principle with these words; they could more or less be considered correct. So, let’s analyze this matter and see where the “false” manifested in this false leader. Did the leader provide any instructions on various detailed issues, such as the professional and technical aspects related to this task? Did they fellowship any specific truth principles or required standards? (No.) They merely uttered some empty and meaningless words—words that most people say often, words that lack any weight. Because the leader was personally speaking and giving instructions, people perceived these words as having more weight than normal, but in reality, they were some irrelevant talk and had no effect at all on resolving any real issues related to printing books. So, what are some specific issues involved in book printing? We should discuss them and see if the work that this leader did was that of a false leader.

First, printing books involves typesetting, and then there’s proofreading the text, formatting the table of contents and main text, as well as paper weight, color, and quality. There’s also the cover material, whether it should be soft or hard, and the design, color, pattern, and font for the cover. Finally, there’s the binding, whether to use adhesive or stitching. These are all issues that fall in the scope of book printing. Did the leader discuss any of these? (No.) Another issue is looking for a printing factory: whether the printing and binding machines are cutting-edge, what the quality of printing and binding is like, and the pricing—shouldn’t they have given instructions for all these things, as well as principles and scopes? If the leader had said, “I don’t understand these things; just look for whatever,” would they be a useful leader? Can the irrelevant words they spoke stand in for the various detailed issues involved in book printing? (No.) And yet, this false leader believed they could. They thought, “I’ve already fellowshipped so many truths, and I’ve told them all the principles. They should understand these things!” This “should” is the logic and problem-solving method of false leaders. In the end, when the books were printed, because the paper was of such poor quality and too thin, the text was visible on both sides, which made it very strenuous and difficult for older individuals and those with poor eyesight to read the books. There was also the issue of the final step, the binding process—whether or not the binding is up to standard affects the overall quality and lifespan of a book. Because the leader didn’t provide instructions, and those who carried out this work lacked principles and experience, and engaged in irresponsible haggling, the printing factory did shoddy work and used inferior materials to break even, and finally when the books were distributed to the brothers and sisters they started falling apart within two months. The covers and pages fell out, and the whole print job was done in vain. Whose responsibility was this? If someone were to be held accountable, the direct responsibility would lie with the two individuals in charge of printing the books, and the indirect responsibility would go to the false leader. The false leader even had an excuse, saying: “You can’t blame me for this job going badly; I don’t understand it either! I’ve never printed books, and I don’t own a printing factory. How am I supposed to know about these things?” Does this excuse hold up? As a leader, this work fell within their scope of responsibilities. Regardless of whether it was work that related to a profession, skill, a kind of knowledge, or the truth, they didn’t need to understand every part of it, but did they make an effort to learn about what they didn’t know? Did they fulfill their responsibilities in a serious and conscientious manner? Some people might say, “I want to fulfill my responsibilities, but I don’t understand this either. No matter how hard I try to learn, I just can’t get it!” This means that, as a leader, they are not up to standard; they are an out-and-out false leader. The brothers and sisters felt somewhat resentful because of the poor quality of the books, saying, “Although these books don’t cost us money, the quality is too poor! How did this leader do their job? How did they carry out this work?” When the leader heard this, they responded, “Can you blame me for that? I don’t own the printing factory, and I don’t have the final say. Moreover, isn’t this saving money for the house of God? Is it wrong to save money for the house of God?” The leader’s words were correct, they were not wrong; the leader did not need to take legal responsibility. However, there was one problem, which is that the money spent on printing the books went to waste. The books distributed to the brothers and sisters started falling apart and losing pages within two months. Who should bear the consequences? Wasn’t this the responsibility of the leader? This happened within the scope of their work, during the time that they served as a leader, so shouldn’t they take responsibility? They have to bear the blame; they can’t deny their responsibility! Some people might even speak in an unreasonable way, saying, “I’ve never done this job before. Am I not allowed to make mistakes at a job I’ve never done?” Just based on this statement, they are not qualified for their job, and they should be dismissed. They are not cut out to be a leader; they are a veritable false leader. Speaking a ton of pleasant-sounding words, but not doing any real work—this is the most obvious manifestation of a false leader.

Some false leaders are unable to do each item of real work properly and concretely with their feet planted firmly on the ground. They can only handle some general affairs, and then they believe that they are up-to-standard leaders, that they’re amazing, and they often boast, saying, “I have to worry about everything in the church, and I have to handle every problem. Can the church do without me? If I didn’t hold gatherings for you, wouldn’t you become like a pile of loose sand? If I didn’t keep an eye on and help maintain the film production work, wouldn’t there constantly be people disturbing it? Could the film production work proceed smoothly? Even though I’m a layman at hymn work, if I didn’t frequently come to inspect your work, hold the line for you, and organize gatherings for you, could you produce those hymns? How long would it take you to figure things out?” These statements may seem reasonable and correct, but if you look closely, how are the various items of professional work supervised by these false leaders progressing? Can they clearly fellowship the truth principles? (No.) One time, a film production team sought on the issue of costume colors. They took several still shots, and the backgrounds and people in the shots were different, but the costume colors were basically in one color scheme—they were all earthy grays and yellows. I asked, “What’s going on? Why are they wearing these colors?” They said that these colors were intentionally chosen, that they fished them out of a market through great toil and effort. I said, “Why did you choose these colors? Did the Above give you instructions about that? Didn’t the Above instruct you to use a variety of colors, and that the colors be dignified and decent? How did this result come about?” Finally, after inquiries, some people said, “Other colors don’t appear dignified and decent enough, or like those worn by believers in God or saints. Only this color scheme looks more like what believers should wear. So, everyone shared the view that wearing clothes in these kinds of colors is the most glorifying to God and best represents the image of the house of God.” I said, “I never told all of you to wear clothes in these colors. There are plenty of dignified and decent colors. Think about how beautiful the rainbow is that God established as a sign of His covenant with mankind. There’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—every color is represented, except the ones you’re wearing. Why did you choose those colors?” Did their leader do the concrete work of carrying out checks regarding these matters? I dare say that they absolutely did not. If the leader possessed pure comprehension and truly understood the truth and God’s requirements, the members of the film production team wouldn’t have chosen such costumes and consulted the Above about them. The issue of costumes could have been resolved at a lower level, but the false leader was incapable of addressing it. Instead, they shamelessly asked the Above about it. Shouldn’t a person like this be pruned? This false leader couldn’t even resolve this simplest problem—of what use are they? They are simply a piece of trash! They were asked to glorify God and bear witness to Him, but they ended up disgracing God. Don’t they understand quite a lot? Can’t they articulate a wealth of knowledge and doctrines? Then why were all those doctrines and all of that knowledge ineffective in this situation? How could they even fail to resolve and carry out checks regarding the issue of costumes? Have they had the effect they ought to as a leader? Have they fulfilled the responsibilities they ought to as a leader? This is a manifestation of a false leader. In any specific task, false leaders lack an understanding of the principles. They are incapable of providing timely correction and resolution to any issues of distorted comprehension of the truth, and of enabling people to find direction and a path through this. False leaders just utter words and doctrines and shout slogans; they are incapable of doing any concrete work.

False Leaders Do Not Do Real Work or Tend to Their Proper Work

Some false leaders are incapable of doing any concrete work, but they handle some insignificant general affairs, and think that this is doing concrete work, that it falls within the scope of their responsibilities. Furthermore, they handle these affairs in a very serious manner and really put in a lot of effort, carrying them out in a very decent fashion. For instance, there was an individual in the church who had previously worked as a pastry chef. One day, he decided out of the goodness of his heart that he just had to bake pastries for Me, and prepared to do so without informing Me about it. He asked his leaders if it was allowed, and they said, “Go ahead. If they taste good, we’ll offer them to God. If not, we can all eat them.” He had gotten the leaders’ authorization, which made this work legitimate and proper, so he quickly gathered the ingredients and baked a batch, saying, “I don’t know if they’ll taste good, or if they’ll be able to satisfy God, or if they’ll suit His tastes.” The leaders replied, “That’s alright. We’ll sacrifice some of our time and health, and take a little risk for God. We’ll taste them first and check them out for God. If they really don’t taste good and we ask God to eat them, He’ll feel annoyed and very disappointed in us. Therefore, as leaders, we have the responsibility and obligation to carry out checks regarding this matter. This is doing concrete work.” Subsequently, every head of a group who had a bit of “a sense of responsibility” tasted the pastries. After tasting them, they gave a review, saying, “The oven was too hot for this batch, the temperature was too high, and they’re likely to cause inner heat—they’re also a bit bitter. That’s no good! We need to have a responsible attitude and bake another batch and taste them again!” After tasting this batch, they said, “This one is about right. It has a buttery flavor, a taste of egg, and sesame too. It’s truly worthy of a pastry chef! Since there are so many, and God can’t finish all of these alone, let’s put 10 or 20 in a small jar, and offer to God to taste as a sample. If God finds them tasty, we can keep on baking them in larger batches.” They handed Me a jar, and I tried two of them. I thought them passable as a novelty, but not suitable as a main meal, so I stopped eating them. Some people even thought they were homemade by a member of God’s house, that they were full of love, loyalty, and fear, and carried a lot of meaning although they only tasted okay. Later, I returned the jar of pastries. I’m not interested in such things and I don’t have the appetite for them. Furthermore, if I’m craving pastries, I can buy them in various flavors and from different countries at the market without spending much money. Afterward, I told them, “I appreciate the gesture, but please don’t make any more for Me. I won’t eat them, and if I want some, I’ll just buy them Myself. If the need does arise, then just make them when I ask you to; if I don’t tell you to make them, then you don’t need to bake them again.” Wasn’t this easy enough to understand? If they were well-behaved and obedient, they would remember My words and refrain from making them again. When God speaks, yes means yes, no means no, and “don’t make any” means “don’t make any.” However, after some time had passed, they sent Me two more jars of pastries. I said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to make them anymore?” They replied, “These are different from last time.” I responded, “Even if they’re different, they’re still pastries. There’s no need to make any pastries at all. I’m not being polite—if I want some, I’ll let you know. Can’t you understand human language? Don’t make them anymore.” Are these words comprehensible? (Yes.) Yet why did the person making them always seem to forget? If his leaders could keep check on him, not actively cooperate with him or encourage him to do this, and could promptly restrict him, would the person making pastries still dare to do it? At the very least, he wouldn’t do it so boldly and unscrupulously. So, what effect did those leaders have in this situation? They micromanaged every detail, stuck their noses in everything, and took charge of making checks on My behalf. They were so “loving” that words can’t describe it. Is this the work they were supposed to be doing? There were no instructions to do this within the principles of the work of God’s house, and I didn’t entrust them with this task; it was initiated by people, I did not request it. So why did these leaders carry out this task so proactively? This is a manifestation of false leaders: not tending to their proper work. There were so many tasks in the church that needed to be followed up on, inspected, and urged on by them, and so many real problems that needed to be resolved by them fellowshipping the truth, but they didn’t do any of that work. Instead, they were idle enough to taste pastries for Me in the kitchen. In this matter, they were quite serious and put in a lot of effort. Isn’t this what false leaders do? Isn’t it already very disgusting? I never expected that, after some time had passed, this matter would resurface. The person who made the pastries wanted to start making them for Me again. I specifically told one leader, “You go and resolve this. You need to explain this to him clearly. If he does it again, I’ll hold you accountable!” With so much work to do in the church, any task would keep them busy for a while. Why were they so idle? Were they here to fatten themselves up or engage in idle chit-chat? This isn’t the place for those things. Afterward, there was no further news about this matter. Once I had given that instruction, the leader didn’t provide any reports. In any case, no one sent Me those small pastries again, which was quite a relief. Judging by this incident, can we say these leaders weren’t tending to their proper work? (Yes.) This matter isn’t even that serious; there are more severe ones.

I often visit some churches to take a look around, meet the leaders, give instructions for some work, and resolve some issues. Sometimes, I have to eat lunch at these churches, which raises the question of who will prepare the meal. The leaders were so responsible that they chose someone who claimed to be a chef. I said, “Whether he is a chef is not important; what matters is that I prefer simple food. I like to taste the original flavor of the ingredients. The food shouldn’t be too salty, oily, or stimulating. In winter, I need to eat something warm. Also, the food must be cooked thoroughly, not undercooked, and easy to digest.” Didn’t I communicate these principles clearly? Were they easy to achieve? They were both easy to remember and easy to do. A housewife who had cooked for three to five years could grasp these principles and achieve them. So, there was no need to insist on finding a chef to make My meal; someone who could make home-cooked meals would be sufficient. However, these leaders were so “loving” that they insisted on finding a “chef” to prepare a meal when they hosted Me. Before the chef officially cooked for Me, the leaders had to make checks. How did they do this? They had the chef make a batch of dumplings and a gravy noodle dish, and got him to stir-fry some dishes. All the leaders and heads of various groups tasted them, and they found all the dishes to be quite good. Finally, they asked the chef to take on the job of cooking for Me. Leaving aside the results of the leaders’ taste test and the nature of the issues involved, let’s first talk about the food prepared by this chef. The first time I went, the chef stir-fried a few dishes, and everyone was quite satisfied. The second time, the chef made a batch of dumplings. After eating the first one, I sensed something was wrong—it was a bit spicy. Others around Me also said that the dumplings were a bit spicy, and felt that their tongues were beginning to swell. However, since dumplings were the only main course, I had to finish them even though they were spicy. No chili was visible in the filling, so I just ignored whatever had caused the spiciness and finished the meal. As a result, My body started having an allergic reaction that evening. Many areas all over My body started itching non-stop, and I had to keep scratching; I scratched Myself until I bled before I felt better. I was itchy for three days before the feeling gradually subsided. After this allergic reaction, I realized that pepper had definitely been added to the dumplings; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so spicy. I had informed them not to include spicy ingredients like pepper since I couldn’t tolerate them. However, they added a considerable amount of it to satisfy their own tastes, which exceeded the normal amount; there was a spicy sensation to eating those dumplings. The chef couldn’t even get the proportions right in his cooking, he added enough pepper to give someone an allergic reaction. Later, I told him, “Don’t ever add those spicy ingredients again. I can’t tolerate them. If you truly have any humanity, don’t do that again. If you cook for yourself, I won’t intervene in what you eat. However, if you’re cooking for Me, then don’t add any. Follow My required standards.” Could he do that? Shouldn’t the leaders have handled this work? Unfortunately, no one paid it any mind, and they didn’t do any of the work they should have. On one occasion, when the chef was about to cook again, he picked up some pepper to add it to the dish, and someone nearby saw it and stopped him. Under their strict supervision, he didn’t get the opportunity to add it. The leaders couldn’t resolve a problem this small—what could they do, then? When the chef was cooking, they were quite proactive about tasting it. Several people went to have a taste. It was just a regular home-cooked meal; what was worth tasting about it? Are they all culinary experts? Did they come to understand everything after becoming leaders? Did they understand the principles of health? Did God’s house arrange for them to do this? When did I entrust or commission them with tasting food on My behalf? They are too lacking in reason, they have no shame at all! Anyone with a bit of shame wouldn’t do something so blatant, so disgusting, so lacking in reason. It shows that these individuals have no shame at all—they tasted food for Me! They didn’t follow or fulfill any of the principles that I told them. Whatever tasted good to them and suited their palates, they asked the chef to cook. Is that cooking for Me? Isn’t that cooking for themselves? Is this how they acted as leaders? They seized every opportunity to take advantage and exploit loopholes, and yet they also tried to ingratiate themselves with Me—if they wanted to do that, then they shouldn’t have done Me harm! Isn’t this lacking in virtues? Isn’t it harboring improper intentions? They’re shameless and harbor improper intentions, yet they still thought they were very loyal! Were any of these things that they did what leaders are truly supposed to do? (No.) Nothing they did had any standards. They didn’t even know what food is healthy or unhealthy, yet they thought they could come here and play the role of health and food experts for Me! Who stipulated that they must carry out checks when it comes to cooking for Me? Does the church have this stipulation? Did God’s house make this arrangement? So many loopholes appeared in various items of church work, so many people had misunderstandings about God and didn’t understand the truth at all, yet these leaders didn’t address those things. Instead, they put their effort into such a small area as the kitchen, fulfilling their “responsibility.” These are out-and-out false leaders, they’re hypocrites! These people were right in front of Me checking on things—what did they understand? Did they consult Me? Were they voicing their own idea or Mine? If they were voicing My idea, and I’d asked them to convey it, then what they were doing would be correct. It would be their responsibility. If they were voicing their own idea and not Mine, and they insisted on forcing others to listen and accept it, what is the nature of this? Do you think that I was disgusted by this? I was right there, and they didn’t spare a single word asking Me what things I eat or what My requirements are—they just made decisions without My approval, and arbitrarily gave orders behind My back. Were they trying to represent Me? This is false leaders running amok doing bad things, pretending to be spiritual, pretending to consider God’s burden, and pretending to understand the truth, and just doing hypocritical things. Isn’t this excessive enough? Isn’t it already very disgusting and loathsome? (Yes.) Have you gained any insight? Have you learned any lessons from this? Each of these matters is more disgusting than the last, and there’s another that’s even more disgusting.

This winter, a kind-hearted person bought Me a “beautiful” goose down coat. The beauty of it wasn’t in the color or the style of the coat but in its high price and upscale quality; it was a valuable item. There’s a saying among nonbelievers, “A goose feather sent from a thousand miles away: the gift may be small, but the sentiment is deep.” Not only did this coat carry sentiment with it, but it was indeed very expensive. Before seeing the coat, I had already heard that it was good-looking and red, with a nice design, and a substantial feel to it. I’d heard about it, so inevitably some people had already seen the actual item—that is, quite a few people had already seen it, roughly measured it, and closely examined it, saying things like, “I know this brand,” “The color is nice, it’s quite beautiful!” “After you’ve looked at it, bring it over for me to have a look,” and just like that the news had spread. I don’t know how long it took for this news to reach My ears, and for Me to learn a little bit about it. Can you see the problem here? Without Me having seen the coat, it had already been seen, passed around, and displayed by many other people. Isn’t this a problem? Can people casually look at, touch, and display My belongings? (No.) Whose belongings can people casually touch and look at? (No one would want this to happen, and no one should do this.) Then, shouldn’t Mine be even more off limits? Some people say, “Why should they be off limits? You’re a public figure. Don’t the private lives of celebrities and stars always get exposed? Where they play sports, where they get beauty treatments, who they associate with, what brands they wear—don’t these things all get exposed? Why shouldn’t Yours be exposed?” Am I a celebrity? I am not a celebrity, and those people are not My fans. Who are they? They are ordinary people, created beings, and corrupt humans. Who am I? (God.) I am not a public figure; I am not obligated to expose everything to people, to report everything to them, or to inform them about everything. So, why were they touching something that belonged to Me? Isn’t doing that disgusting? Did I commission people to look at and carry out checks on this belonging of Mine? No. Yet some people dared to take it and casually look at it in this brazen manner, and even pass it around. Who gave those people the right to pass it around? Was this their obligation? If they didn’t believe in God, then we would be strangers to each other. It is because they believe in God that I know who they are, but I don’t know what their family, daily life, or financial situations are like, and I don’t care to know. Are we close? I am not their close friend, buddy, or comrade. We are not familiar, and we haven’t reached the point where everything of Mine should be open for them to look through. Would those people let Me browse through all of their belongings, and display them for everyone to see and touch? Even when people bring something home from the market, it needs to be washed several times to be disinfected! Aren’t things which other people have casually touched disgusting? Haven’t those people failed to treat themselves like outsiders? Who commissioned them to inspect My coat? Did I trust them? Did they wash their hands clean before recklessly touching My coat? Won’t I be disgusted by them? Are they clear on this? Why are they so shameless? They’re so lacking in reason! They’ve believed in God for several years and heard so many sermons; how come they lack even a bit of reason? Casually opening offerings belonging to God, casually touching His clothes, things that belonged to Him—what kind of problem is this? When I see that the packaging of these items has been opened and discarded, how can I not feel angry? I am disgusted by these things, and I detest these people. I don’t want to see them again, and I certainly don’t want to associate with these people who are worse than pigs and dogs! Remember, every person has their dignity, and I have even more. Don’t get involved with things that belong to Me; otherwise, I will detest and abhor you!

On the surface, false leaders may not commit major evils or be outright treacherous villains. However, the most detestable thing about them is that they can see there’s real work to be done but don’t do it, they know very well that they can’t resolve issues but they don’t seek the truth, they see evil people causing disturbances but they don’t handle them, and instead they just take care of the external general affairs. They keep a close eye and tight handle on side issues and trivial matters, but they don’t do any of the work related to the life entry of God’s chosen people, or care about various matters that go against the truth principles. Instead, they just do work that’s unrelated to the truth. These are out-and-out false leaders. False leaders are completely ignorant of the truth principles that are involved in the various items of church work. If measured against the principles and standards of leaders and workers, false leaders are fools and idiots. No matter how serious the problems that arise in the work of the church are, false leaders can’t see or resolve them even if they happen right under their noses, and the Above has to come and solve those problems themselves. Aren’t these people false leaders? (Yes.) They are indeed false leaders. For example, in the church’s text-based work, which books ought to be proofread and which ones should be translated—these are crucial tasks for the church. Are there any principles regarding how to proofread and translate books? This work absolutely does have principles, it is so principle-based, and it really needs to be specifically fellowshipped and guided; but false leaders can’t do this work. When they see the brothers and sisters busy with their duties, they say phonily, “Text-based work and translation work are particularly important. You should put your hearts into doing this work well, and I will resolve any issues you have.” When someone actually raises an issue, these false leaders say, “I don’t understand this matter. I’m a layman at translating foreign languages. Pray to God and seek from Him.” When someone raises another issue, asking, “We can’t find suitable people to translate certain languages, what should we do about it?” false leaders respond, “I’m a layman in this matter. You handle it yourselves.” Can saying this solve the problem? They find an excuse and cover up the fact that they aren’t doing their work, saying, “I’m a layman; I don’t understand this profession,” and thus shirk the problem they’re supposed to solve. This is how false leaders work. When someone raises a question, false leaders say, “Pray to God and seek from Him; I don’t understand this profession, but you do.” This may seem humble, as they’re admitting that they are incapable and don’t understand the profession, but in reality, they cannot perform the work of a leader at all. Of course, being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean they need to understand every kind of profession, but they should clearly fellowship the truth principles necessary to solve problems, regardless of what kind of profession those problems relate to. As long as people understand the truth principles, problems can be resolved accordingly. False leaders use “I’m a layman at this; I don’t understand this profession” as a reason to avoid fellowshipping the truth principles for solving problems. This is not doing real work. If false leaders consistently use “I’m a layman at this; I don’t understand this profession” as a reason to avoid solving problems, then they are not fit for the work of leadership. The best thing they should do is to resign and let someone else take their place. But do false leaders possess this kind of reason? Will they be able to resign? They won’t. They even think, “Why do they say I’m not doing any work? I hold gatherings every day, and I’m so busy that I can’t even have meals on time, and I’m getting less sleep. Who says problems aren’t being solved? I hold gatherings and fellowship with them, and I find passages of God’s words for them.” Suppose that you ask them, “Someone said they can’t find suitable translators for some languages. How did you resolve this specific problem?” They will say, “I told them that I don’t understand the profession, and got them to discuss it and handle it themselves.” You then ask them, “This problem involves the expenditure of offerings and the progress of church work. They cannot make decisions on their own, they need you to call the shots and find the truth principles to resolve it. Did you do this?” They will respond: “How did I not? I haven’t delayed any work. If there’s no one to translate that language, then they should just translate another language!” You see, false leaders can’t do real work and yet they still provide a bunch of excuses. They’re truly shameless and disgusting! Their caliber is so poor, they don’t understand any professions, and they lack comprehension of the truth principles involved in every item of professional work—what’s the use of having them as leaders? They’re simply fools and good-for-nothings! Since they can’t do any real work, why are they still serving as church leaders? They’re simply devoid of reason. Since they lack self-awareness, they should listen to the feedback from God’s chosen people and assess whether they meet the standards for being a leader. And yet, false leaders never consider these things. Regardless of how much of the church’s work has been delayed, and how much loss has been inflicted on the life entry of God’s chosen people during their many years of serving as leaders, they don’t care. This is the ugly countenance of out-and-out false leaders.

Think about how leaders and workers handle their work—does it match up with what I’ve just told you? Are there any who don’t do real work, and can you discern them as being false leaders? If you discern them as being false leaders, from today on you should no longer treat them as leaders; you should treat them like any other person. This is the accurate principle of practice. Some might wonder, “Does this mean discriminating against, belittling, or excluding them because they are false leaders?” No, it doesn’t. They can’t do real work, and they can only speak some words and doctrines and some empty words to prevaricate and fob you off. This tells you one fact, which is that they are not your leaders. You don’t need to ask for their instructions for whatever problem or difficulty you encounter in your work. If necessary, you can leapfrog them by reporting it to the Above and consulting the Above on how to handle and resolve it. I’ve taught you all the path of practice, but how you act is up to you. I never said that all leaders are preordained by God, that you must listen and obey them, and that you must listen to them even if you discern them to be false leaders. I never told you that. What I’m fellowshipping now is how to discern false leaders. When you discern someone to be a false leader, you can accept and obey what they say if it is right and aligns with the truth. However, if they can’t resolve a problem, and they prevaricate and fob you off, affecting the progress of the work, then you don’t have to accept their leadership. If you can get a grasp on the principles yourselves, then you should act according to them. If you can’t grasp, are uncertain, or aren’t sure of the principles, then you should seek the truth and discuss with each other to handle the problem. If you still can’t make a decision after discussing it, report the problem to the Above and consult them about it. These are all good ways to address problems—there are no difficulties that cannot be resolved.

Let’s end our fellowship here today. Goodbye!

January 16, 2021