Item Twelve: Promptly and Accurately Identify the Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb God’s Work and the Normal Order of the Church; Stop and Restrict Them, and Turn Things Around; Additionally, Fellowship the Truth So That God’s Chosen People Develop Discernment Through Such Things and Learn From Them (Part Eight)

We finished fellowshipping on the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers at the last gathering. Have you compared yourselves to the content of this fellowship? Have you been pondering this fellowship? Once they have heard My fellowship, those who love the truth and those who have a sense of justice and some humanity can practice some truths after they understand them. Firstly, they can match the truths they understand with their situation, examine themselves against the truth, identify their problems, and then use some matters and environments in real life and in doing duties to resolve these problems. Gradually, with regard to the truths they understand, they grasp the principles people should practice and adhere to. For one thing, they gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of themselves, and for another, they understand more practically and accurately what the truth really says and contains. However, those who do not love the truth and are averse to it, regardless of how much truth they hear, have no awareness or change. Their state, attitude when doing their duty, the goals they pursue, lifestyle, and principles of being a person do not change at all. They continue to act as they wish and live as they please; these truths have no effect on them, nor are they able to make them reflect on and know themselves to the point of hating themselves. If they cannot reach the point of hating themselves, they certainly cannot achieve true repentance. Without true repentance, there is no real entry; without real entry, there is certainly no dispositional change. Therefore, many people who have believed in God for many years, although they also gather, do duties, have listened to sermons for many years, and often interact with the brothers and sisters, do not have any understanding of themselves, show no change, and their faith in God does not increase at all. They follow God with their initial notions and imaginings and with the intention and desire to gain blessings. No matter how many years they have believed in God, their viewpoints on believing in God, their views on things, their pursuit methods and the goals they pursue, and their attitudes when doing their duties have not changed at all. Their current revelations and the manifestations they live out are the result of not pursuing the truth. We fellowshipped twelve of the responsibilities of leaders and workers, yet the behavior of some leaders and workers has not changed at all. Their attitudes when doing their duties and toward God’s requirements have not changed at all. The fellowshipped content served to remind, supervise, and spur on those who relatively pursue the truth, and those who have some humanity and whose conscience has a bit of awareness. However, it has had no effect on some who are more intransigent, sly, and do not accept the truth at all. Why is this? Because these people’s attitude toward the truth is one of resistance and loathing. No matter how much truth is fellowshipped, their attitude remains the same: “At any rate, I am doing my duty and following God; I am genuinely expending myself for God. No matter how I behave, as long as I persist until the end, I can gain blessings!” Does this kind of thinking have any reason? They are completely incorrigible and dead to shame, aren’t they? Is this not stiff-necked and refusing to repent no matter what? (Yes.)

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers is: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” Previously, we divided our fellowship of this responsibility into twelve issues. The content of these twelve issues mainly addresses how leaders and workers should deal with and handle these problems when various types of people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances appear in the church so as to achieve the effect of safeguarding the work of God’s house and the normal order of the church, thereby fulfilling the roles that leaders and workers should play and the responsibilities they should perform. We have fellowshipped on each of the issues within the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers in detail, fellowshipping some specific manifestations of each one, and cited some specific examples. In terms of principles, the content that has been fellowshipped is quite practical. Although the examples given may not cover everything, the essential issues of various people, events, and things have been clearly fellowshipped. In particular, you as leaders and workers should understand this aspect of the truth in order to resolve the various problems that arise in the church. First, you need to find the words that dissect the essence of the problems from the fellowshipped content and correlate them with the problems. Understanding the essence of the problems makes it easier to find corresponding solutions and resolve problems according to the truth principles. Understanding the essence of a problem is crucial before resolving it. Once you understand the essence of the problem, you should also understand and grasp the principles for handling this problem. Both aspects are indispensable: One is the essence of the problem, and the other is the principles for resolving such problems. These are things that leaders and workers should be clear on. Only by grasping these two principles can you accurately resolve all problems and properly handle the people, events, and things involved in various issues, rather than applying regulations and blowing the issues out of proportion. Currently, when some leaders and workers handle certain issues, in part, they just follow regulations, and in part they fail to grasp the essence of the issues, easily wronging people and making deviations. This requires a clear understanding of the details, specifics, and context of the issues. Additionally, it is important to look at a person’s consistent behavior to determine just what category they belong to. Only by mastering these aspects can issues be handled according to principles. Some leaders and workers, when doing their work, only apply regulations to problems and blow them out of proportion, while they cannot see through to the actual essence of the people who are involved, whether they are good or bad people, whether their behavior is habitual or just an occasional transgression. They cannot discern these aspects, so they are very liable to make mistakes. In such cases, if the church can take a vote, it can effectively avoid some errors. The presence of these deviations and errors in the work of leaders and workers can most clearly reveal whether they have discernment and handle matters according to principles. It also reveals whether leaders and workers possess the truth reality. If a leader or worker who has believed in God for many years cannot handle these real problems, it is enough to prove that this leader or worker is not someone who pursues the truth.

After understanding the responsibilities that leaders and workers should perform, the principles they should follow, and the scope of their work, we should return to the theme of this stage of fellowshipping: exposing false leaders. This is the main topic. With regard to the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers, the topic we will fellowship today is the areas in which false leaders are derelict in their duty, and their manifestations of not doing real work. First, let’s read the content of the twelfth responsibility. (Number twelve: Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.) The twelfth responsibility clearly mentions three aspects of work that leaders and workers should understand. How is this related to exposing false leaders? (First, we must understand the several responsibilities of leaders and workers in this work. Then, we compare to see whether the false leaders have fulfilled these responsibilities, and what the manifestations of the false leaders are; measuring them according to this standard is relatively accurate.) That’s right. Discerning whether or not a person is a false leader is not done by using your eyes to look at their face and see whether their facial features are good or evil, nor is it done by looking at how much they outwardly appear to have suffered, or how much they have run around. Rather, you must look at whether they fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers and whether they can use the truth to resolve real problems. This is the only accurate standard by which to evaluate them. This is the principle of dissecting, discerning, and determining whether a person is a false leader. Only in this way can the evaluation be just, in line with principles, in accordance with the truth, and fair to everyone. The characterization of someone as a false leader or false worker must be based on sufficient facts. It must not be based on one or two incidents or transgressions, much less can temporary revelation of corruption be used as a basis for it. The only accurate standards by which to characterize someone are whether they can do real work and use the truth to resolve problems, as well as whether they are a right person, whether they are someone who loves the truth and can submit to God, and whether they possess the work and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Someone can only be correctly characterized as a false leader or false worker based on these factors. These factors are the standards and principles for evaluating and determining whether someone is a false leader or false worker.

The Three Tasks That Leaders and Workers Ought to Perform Within the Twelfth Responsibility

I. Promptly and Accurately Identifying the Various People, Events, and Things That Cause Disruptions and Disturbances

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers includes three tasks, or three steps. By following these three steps to complete this work, the principles of this work are upheld, and the responsibilities of this work are fulfilled. What are these three tasks? (First, promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church. Second, stop and restrict them, and turn things around. Third, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.) These three tasks are the requirements for leaders and workers in the twelfth responsibility. For starters, the first requirement for leaders and workers is to promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and church life. It is to identify promptly and accurately, not to respond sluggishly and insensitively, nor to make blind and reckless judgments—imprudent judgments are not acceptable. Some leaders and workers, due to their poor caliber and muddledness, prune and lecture people recklessly over trivial matters, arbitrarily labeling them, and blindly judging them without adhering to principles. Working in this way violates the truth principles. Therefore, leaders and workers in God’s house must at least be able to discern various people, events, and things. Only with discernment can they promptly and accurately identify various problems that arise in the church. To achieve the ability to discern various people, events, and things, what is the first requirement? Firstly, it is necessary to understand God’s requirements for different types of people, as well as how God defines various people and the different states they develop. Additionally, it is important to dissect how various negative states arise and what their roots are. Furthermore, one must understand the impact of various people, events, and things on God’s work and the normal order of the church. What is the basis for meeting these conditions? What work should leaders and workers first of all undertake? If leaders and workers are always loftily aloof, acting like bureaucrats and not interacting with the brothers and sisters, not grasping the various states of the brothers and sisters, not having close contact with different types of people, and lacking detailed observation and in-depth understanding of them, is this acceptable? This is certainly not acceptable. Some leaders and workers often hide in their rooms, using spiritual devotion and writing experiential testimony articles as excuses to ignore and not grasp the church’s work. On the surface, it seems like they are working on church matters while hiding in their rooms, but in fact, they have already isolated themselves from the church’s work and from God’s chosen people. Can this way of working resolve the problems that exist in the various items of church work? Can it help God’s chosen people do their duties well? When they hide in their rooms to write testimonial articles, are they experiencing God’s work? Therefore, this approach is inappropriate. According to the twelfth responsibility, the first task of leaders and workers is to promptly identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work based on God’s words and the truth principles. Some people ask, “Is having leaders and workers be deeply involved in church life only so they can promptly and accurately identify the people, events, and things that cause disturbances and disruptions?” Is this comprehension correct? (No.) This is a distorted comprehension. Leaders and workers must have the correct attitude and approach to their work and must also go deep into the grassroots. Only in this way can they promptly and accurately identify and resolve problems. If they do not immerse themselves in the grassroots and live with God’s chosen people, it will be very difficult to identify all the problems in the church’s work. If they can only resolve a few problems after people have made reports and sought solutions, the effect of this work will be very limited. The most erroneous way for leaders and workers to work is to shut themselves away and work behind closed doors, like the ancient scholars who devoted themselves entirely to studying books of sages and paid no attention to outside matters. This attitude and lifestyle are unacceptable for leaders and workers. You stay alone in your room, listening to sermons, reading God’s words, writing notes of spiritual devotion, and writing sermons, but does acquiring some doctrines and words mean that you understand the truth? Does it mean you understand the actual situations and true states of people exposed by the truth? (No.) So, although a life of spiritual devotion is essential in the work of leaders and workers, the most important thing is to have the correct working methods and lifestyle.

II. Promptly Stopping and Restricting Evil People

The second requirement for leaders and workers outlined in the twelfth responsibility is that when they identify various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work, they must be able to promptly and accurately make judgments. They need to clearly discern the nature of various people and events, and understand how they impact church life, whether they threaten, disturb, or sabotage the states, life entry, and performance of duty of God’s chosen people, and whether they affect the results of people’s performance of duty—leaders and workers must promptly and accurately judge and evaluate these matters. This is the responsibility of leaders and workers. If they lack the brains for this and they don’t have the right caliber, they will be unable to do the church’s work. Additionally, leaders and workers need to have a sharp response and discernment toward various people, events, and things. For example, when disputes arise in the church and various disruptions and disturbances occur, you cannot identify the problem and think it is insignificant, which results in many people being affected and not doing their duties well. Isn’t such a leader or worker numb and blind? (Yes.) This is a problem with leaders and workers. What should you do when you discover that someone is disrupting and disturbing the church’s work? First, you need to ascertain the seriousness of the issue and evaluate and judge the essence of such people and the impact and consequences of such things on the church’s work and church life. What should the basis for such judgment be? It should be based on God’s words and the truth. Some people say, “How do you base it on God’s words? I find this to be empty talk.” Actually, it’s not empty talk. Why do I say this? When you encounter such things or see or hear about them, you simply have to compare them with the issues exposed by God’s words. Look at how God’s words expose and dissect such people and matters, and at how He characterizes these issues, such as how He exposes false leaders and antichrists, or how He exposes various people’s corrupt dispositions, and so on. Then, you compare and dissect these matters according to those words, and through fellowship with the brothers and sisters and your own observations, you can finally make an accurate assessment and characterization of the people, events, and things you see, and formulate corresponding solutions. How should those who are determined to be among the various people who disrupt and disturb be handled? Not only should they be exposed and dissected to help people discern them, but they must also be stopped and restricted, and those who remain incorrigible despite repeated admonishments should be cleared out. What are the methods and specific approaches for stopping and restricting them? (Prune and warn them.) Is pruning a good method? (Yes.) Exposing their actions, pointing out their most egregious problems, dissecting their essence, and giving warnings—aren’t these all feasible methods? Of course, the most important thing is to read God’s words to them and use God’s words as a basis to persuade and dissect them. If they do not accept the truth and adamantly refuse to admit their mistakes, then more severe measures are needed. First, give them a warning, then use the church’s administrative decrees to restrict them, not allowing them to recklessly commit misdeeds and disturb the brothers and sisters. They should also be pruned and then supervised. These methods are necessary, all to ensure the church’s work is done well and to save people, guiding them onto the right path. Using these methods will certainly achieve good results. For one thing, use the truth that people understand to persuade and expose them, dissecting their disposition and essence, exposing the nature of their actions and the serious consequences caused by them—this is the minimum that people can do. The next step is to dissect and discern them based on God’s words, and to characterize them accordingly. If they heed the advice, accept it, and repent, that of course would be the best. However, if they do not accept it and continue to disturb the church’s work, what should be done then? In that case, there is no need to be polite. God’s house has administrative decrees, and at this point, the person should be stopped and restricted according to the administrative decrees of God’s house. If the person is a new believer with a small stature who does not understand the truth, they can be aided with love; you can fellowship the truth to help them know themselves. For those who can accept the truth and repent, there is no need to stop, restrict, or prune them. If they do not accept the truth, it is not a matter of having a shallow foundation or a small stature and not understanding the truth; it is a problem with their humanity. For such people, administrative management and administrative punishment should be used to stop and restrict them. The ultimate effect achieved is upholding the church’s work and the normal order of church life, allowing church life to proceed in an orderly manner. This is called turning things around, and this is the effect that leaders and workers should achieve in their work. Only by achieving this effect are they fulfilling their responsibility. If leaders and workers ignore any problems that arise, merely responding perfunctorily with some words and doctrines, or rebuking and pruning those who disrupt and disturb the church’s work in a simple manner with only a few words, can this resolve the problem? Not only does this fail to resolve the problem, but it also leads to greater chaos in the church—most people lose the will to do their duties and are disturbed to varying degrees, impacting their performance of duty. Have such leaders and workers fulfilled their responsibility? (No.) This shows that these leaders and workers are not competent in their work.

III. Exposing the Evil Deeds of Evil People, So That God’s Chosen People Develop Discernment and Learn Lessons

The third requirement in the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers is that when dealing with disruptions and disturbances caused by evil people, leaders and workers should eat and drink God’s word together with God’s chosen people to reflect on and know themselves, and have a genuine turnaround. They should be able to lead God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality, cast off their corrupt dispositions, and achieve following God, submitting to God, and bearing witness to God. Only this kind of work aligns with God’s intentions. For one thing, leaders and workers who work in this way are able to solve problems and equip themselves with the truth while working. Additionally, through fellowshipping the truth to solve problems, they help the brothers and sisters understand the truth, know how to reflect on and know themselves, cast off their corrupt dispositions, do their duties well, know how to discern and treat people, achieve following God and submitting to God, not be constrained by others, and be able to stand firm in their testimony. This is fulfilling the duties of leaders and workers; this is the principle that leaders and workers should practice for solving problems while carrying out the church’s work. No matter what problems arise in the church, first and foremost, leaders and workers should seek the truth, grasp God’s intentions, and seek God’s guidance together. They should then look for relevant words of God to resolve the various existing problems. In the process of resolving problems, leaders and workers should fellowship more about the relevant words of God with the brothers and sisters, and understand the essence of the problems based on God’s words. They should also have God’s chosen people fellowship their own understanding to discern these issues. Once the majority are able to have the same understanding and arrive at a consensus, the problems become easier to resolve. In resolving problems, do not always repeatedly recount the events or pursue minor details or blame individuals involved in the problems. At first, do not focus on minor issues; instead, clearly fellowship the truth, as this will reveal the nature of the problems. Only this approach helps God’s chosen people learn to discern issues based on God’s words, gain discernment from the people, events, and things that arise, and learn practical lessons from them. It also allows them to compare the words and doctrines they usually understand to real life, enabling them to truly understand the truth. Isn’t this what the leaders and workers should do? Leading God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality primarily involves using the truth to resolve the notions and imaginings of God’s chosen people and their corrupt dispositions. This approach yields the best results. The more leaders and workers are able to use the truth to solve problems, the more easily God’s chosen people can understand the truth. In this way, they will know how to practice and apply God’s word in real life. If leaders and workers often lead God’s chosen people to solve actual problems, they will be able to bring God’s chosen people into the truth reality and also integrate God’s word into their own daily lives. Some people say, “Isn’t this requirement for the leaders and workers too demanding? How can we have so much understanding?” You may not have had it before, but can’t you learn and practice to achieve this result? This is the way in which God’s work trains leaders and workers and God’s chosen people to enter into the truth reality. If you do not know how, you can learn and practice. No matter what problems arise, you must learn to reflect on yourself and know yourself based on God’s words; this is the process of practicing. After practicing a few times and achieving results, you will have a path and know how to practice the truth. When God comes to work, this is the way in which He leads people to learn to enter into the truth reality. Leaders and workers should often communicate with the brothers and sisters, face problems together, solve problems together, and do the church’s work well. How should church leaders lead God’s chosen people? The main way is to lead God’s chosen people to identify and solve problems in real life, to practice and experience God’s word in real life, so that God’s chosen people are not only able to practice the truth, but also able to discern negative things and negative people—false leaders, false workers, evil people, disbelievers, and antichrists. The purpose of discerning various people is to solve problems. Only by thoroughly resolving the disturbances caused by evil people and antichrists can the church’s work progress smoothly, and God’s will be carried out in the church. At the same time, addressing evil people also serves as a warning to avoid making mistakes or doing evil, enabling oneself to achieve fearing God and shunning evil. This way, not only do you fulfill your duty and gain life entry, but you also understand the truth and enter into the truth reality. Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone? When you understand the truth and can solve problems, this proves that you possess the caliber to be a leader or worker and meet the requirements for being cultivated in God’s house; thus, you should take the lead and guide the brothers and sisters in learning to discern various people, events, and things in real life; achieve understanding of the truth; know how to treat all kinds of people who disrupt and disturb the church’s work; know how to practice the truth, treat various people according to principles, and fellowship the truth to solve problems. This is your responsibility. By practicing in this way, you enter into the reality of God’s words. You will learn lessons, gain discernment, and understand God’s intentions in every matter that comes your way in real life, having principles of practice in how you handle matters, treat people, and do your duties. This way, you will be able to practice the truth. God’s requirement for people is to achieve such results. Therefore, no matter what matters arise, you must always learn your lesson and develop discernment; you can’t let them slip away, nor can you miss any opportunity to learn your lesson and develop discernment. Since it is the case that something has happened, we must not approach it with a negative, blaming attitude; instead, we should face it with a positive attitude. How is that done? By seeking the truth to resolve the problem. All people have corrupt dispositions, and their humanity can be either good or evil, so how could problems not arise when people gather? What should your attitude be, given that God has laid out this environment for you, that He has shown you such people, events, and things as occur around you? Thank God for laying these various problems out before you. He is giving you a chance to practice and learn lessons, and to enter the truth reality. As leaders and workers, you should also thank God for giving you such an opportunity. No matter what problems you encounter, you must lead the brothers and sisters to learn to discern, draw lessons, and derive insights along with you. Additionally, you must lead them along with you to reflect on and understand what notions and imaginings people have regarding the problem, what distorted views exist, what lessons have been learned from encountering this matter, what erroneous notions and views have been resolved, and what truths have ultimately been understood. This is how one should experience God’s work, not missing a single matter. If you have experienced God’s work for several years and have resolved many problems, you will see that God’s words are all the truth and absolutely can cleanse people and save them from Satan’s influence. When people understand and gain the truth, they will see that God’s words are completely fulfilled and accomplished. When God’s chosen people are able to practice and experience God’s words, they will then be able to integrate God’s words into their real lives, use God’s word correctly to view people and matters, and measure people and everything they do by God’s word, rather than relying on what they see or their feelings, and certainly not on notions and imaginings. Once they have learned these lessons, it becomes easier for them to live by God’s words, and they can often live in God’s presence. In this way, leaders and workers are completely up to standard in their work, and their responsibilities are fulfilled. Only when leaders and workers do their work thoroughly can God’s chosen people achieve these gains. If, in many of the situations you encounter, you do not know how to lead the brothers and sisters to learn lessons and you cannot discern various people, events, and things, then you are someone who is blind, a numb and dull-witted muddler. Faced with such situations, not only will you be overwhelmed, unaware of how to handle them, and incompetent for this work, but it will also affect the brothers’ and sisters’ experience of these people, events, and things. If you handle things improperly, do not do any work, do not say a single thing to fellowship the truth that you should, and cannot say anything beneficial or edifying to others, then when many people face these people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances, they will not only fail to accept these matters from God, treat them positively and actively, and learn lessons from them, but their notions and guardedness toward God will grow increasingly severe, as will their mistrust and suspicion of Him. Isn’t this the consequence of leaders and workers lacking the truth reality and being unable to use the truth to solve problems? Isn’t this a sign that leaders and workers cannot do actual work? You have not done the church’s work properly, have not completed the commission God gave you, have not fulfilled the responsibilities of leaders and workers, and have not led the brothers and sisters out from under Satan’s power. They still live within corrupt dispositions and Satan’s temptations. Are you not delaying the life entry of God’s chosen people? You are harming people deeply! As a leader or worker, you should accept God’s commission, to lead the brothers and sisters before God, to let God’s chosen people eat and drink God’s words to achieve understanding of the truth and to do their duties with principles, thereby increasing their faith in God. Not only have you failed to practice in this way, but you also did not restrict or resolve the disturbances caused by evil people, causing harm to the life entry of God’s chosen people. After believing in God for many years, not only have they not made progress and not understood the truth or gained knowledge of God, but they have even developed many notions and misunderstandings about God, with no real submission whatsoever. Isn’t everything you have done actually disrupting and disturbing God’s work, then? You have not only not led God’s chosen people into the truth reality or protected them, but instead allowed them to be disturbed by evil people and misled and controlled by antichrists. Have you not done things that hurt your own people and pleased your enemies? Are you not aiding and abetting evil? You have worked for so long; however, not only have you failed to achieve positive results, but you have even made the distance between the brothers and sisters and God increasingly greater, and made it so God’s chosen people have believed in God for years without understanding the truth or knowing how to discern the disruptions and disturbances of evil people, severely affecting their life entry. What is the issue here? Isn’t this doing much evil? No matter what work leaders and workers do, if they cannot act according to God’s requirements and handle matters and solve problems according to the truth principles, their impact will extend beyond themselves or merely a few people; it will impact the church’s work, the life entry of all God’s chosen people in the church, the results of God’s chosen people doing their duties, the results of the spreading of the kingdom gospel, and even whether God’s chosen people can be saved and brought into God’s kingdom—these are all areas it could possibly impact. Some people believe in God but follow false leaders and antichrists, resulting in their ruin. It’s just like people in religious circles who become misled and controlled by pastors and elders, with the result being that they fail to welcome God upon His return and instead fall into disaster. This is all demonstrably true. Therefore, being able to discern false leaders and antichrists is extremely beneficial for the life entry of God’s chosen people!

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers requires them to perform three most crucial tasks: First, they must identify various people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances in the church’s work. Second, after discerning and characterizing them, they must promptly stop and restrict the evil people; this is the second step. Third, while stopping and restricting the evil people and turning things around, they must frequently fellowship God’s words with the brothers and sisters to expose the evil deeds of the evil people, and closely monitor the reactions and understandings of the brothers and sisters regarding this matter, promptly correcting any incorrect views they have. Of course, if some brothers and sisters who pursue the truth have insights, they should be encouraged to fellowship more. Additionally, leaders and workers should also help those who are weak or of small stature, and encourage them to speak more. The intended result is to help the brothers and sisters gain discernment and learn lessons from the events that occur, learning to discern people and matters. The purpose of discerning people and matters is to enable them to accurately understand various types of people and, according to the truth principles, treat them using the correct methods, while also learning lessons themselves. What lessons should they learn? They should observe what God’s attitude toward these people is when He dissects and exposes their states—knowing God’s attitude toward these people makes it clearer what kind of person one should be and what kind of path to take, doesn’t it? (Yes.) In short, the ultimate result to be achieved is for God’s chosen people to understand the truth and enter into reality in real-life environments, to be able to do their duties normally, and submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. In this way, the leaders’ and workers’ performance of the church’s work will align with God’s intentions. Judging from the three steps of performing this work, is it difficult for leaders and workers to do this job well? (No.) If relying on human kindness and caliber, it can be somewhat strenuous to do this job well, because you will not achieve the result required by God and will not fulfill the true responsibilities of leaders and workers. Can you do this job well if relying on corrupt human dispositions? (No.) Speaking precisely, relying on corrupt dispositions to do this job means acting according to your own ideas. What will this result in? (It will cause chaos in the church.) This is one consequence: The more you work, the more chaotic things become. What is chaos? What are the specific states of chaos? It is when, during gatherings, people cannot normally eat and drink God’s words or fellowship the truth. There are always evil people and disbelievers causing disturbances, or there are constant disputes, with everyone sticking to their own views and forming factions and cliques; the brothers and sisters lack discernment and are at a loss, those with spiritual understanding and who love the truth are also disturbed, and their life does not grow. In such a church, evil people and disbelievers completely hold power, and the Holy Spirit does not work. In such a church, no matter what happens, people are all talking at once, expressing all kinds of views, with hardly any correct viewpoints being said. The church quickly splits into several factions, there is no unity among people, and there is no sign of the Holy Spirit’s work or guidance. People guard against one another and regard each other suspiciously; two or three groups vie for power and profit; everyone seeks their own backers, and attacks and excludes dissenters; and all manner of evil deeds may be committed. This is the scene of chaos. How is this situation caused? Is it not because leaders and workers are unable to do their work? (Yes.) Leaders and workers working according to their own ideas brings about these consequences. What does working according to one’s own ideas mean? It means not understanding the truth, lacking principles, and acting blindly based on corrupt dispositions and human notions and imaginings, leading to an even more chaotic state in the church. Some people might say, “How can there be evil people causing disturbances in the church? I don’t know who is right and who is wrong, or which side to take.” Others might say, “The church is divided into several factions. How are we supposed to live church life? Every gathering is unfruitful and a waste of time. Continuing to believe like this won’t yield any results.” When a church becomes so chaotic that God’s chosen people are unable to live church life, it is completely spurned by God. This clearly shows that as long as evil people and disbelievers hold power, they will ruin the church. The church cannot function without good people and those who practice the truth as leaders and workers—without them, it will be impossible to keep things under control! If evil people and disbelievers are not restricted, there will be no church life, and the normal order of the church will be completely botched, turning into a mess. This is the result when leaders and workers do not do their jobs well. If leaders and workers cannot accept the truth, be considerate of God’s intentions, or rely on God, then they will not be able to do church work well. They will be unable to resolve any problems that arise in the church or resolve any difficulties faced by God’s chosen people. Can such leaders and workers produce good results if they hold power? They can only bring chaos to the church—ultimately, this is the sort of situation that arises. This church then becomes desolate, a place where Satan holds power; it deteriorates into something else. God will not acknowledge this church, and the Holy Spirit will not work in it. Such a church is merely in name and should be shut down.

Dissecting the Manifestations of False Leaders With Respect to the Twelfth Responsibility

I. False Leaders Have Poor Caliber and Are Not Able to Identity the Problems of Disruptions and Disturbances

These are the tasks leaders and workers must do as outlined in the twelfth responsibility; we shall not fellowship on any more specific examples now. The theme of today’s fellowship is to expose the specific manifestations of false leaders while they perform these tasks, and to identify which behaviors reflect the essence of false leaders and can be classified as such. This is the main topic of today’s fellowship. First, the requirement for leaders and workers in this work is to promptly identify various people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances to God’s work and the normal order of the church. Prompt identification is a required standard for leaders and workers. Whenever something arises, as soon as there is the slightest hint of something amiss, such as signs of evil people starting to maneuver, or someone showing indications of causing trouble, leaders and workers should sense it and be alert. If they are numb and dull-witted, it will be troublesome. Especially in situations where there are evil people causing disturbances, as soon as this issue starts to emerge and it is unclear exactly what these people intend to do or how the situation will develop—that is, when leaders and workers cannot yet see through this matter—they should not act blindly or alarm these people prematurely so as to avoid misjudgment. However, this does not mean not noticing and being unaware of the situation. Instead, it means waiting and observing to see how things develop and what these people’s intentions, goals, and motives are. This is the work leaders and workers need to do. When the situation develops to a certain extent, and these people start venting negativity and spreading fallacies, causing disturbances to God’s chosen people, the leaders and workers should act promptly. They should stand up without hesitation to expose, dissect, and restrict the evil deeds of these individuals, helping others learn lessons and discern and see through the evil people. This is the process of promptly and accurately identifying the various people, events, and things causing disruptions and disturbances—this is what it means for leaders and workers to be doing this work. The main goal of this work is to identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work, and then resolve them promptly. This is what leaders and workers can achieve. So, what are the manifestations of false leaders in this work? How can we dissect and discern false leaders? Clearly, false leaders cannot promptly and accurately identify the disturbances caused by evil people to the church’s work. This is the most evident issue with false leaders’ performance of church work—they have no discernment regarding the disturbances caused by evil people to the church’s work. Why say that false leaders cannot identify problems or see through to the essence of problems? Some people’s actions are clearly disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work, but false leaders cannot discern or perceive the problems; they are blind. Some people vent negativity, mislead, and disturb others in the church. Others form cliques, secretly engaging in shady dealings, often judging certain individuals behind their backs. Still others recklessly seduce and flirt with one another. False leaders pretend not to see these things; they are completely unaware of the seriousness of these issues and just how many people’s pursuit of the truth and performance of duty will be impacted if these issues go unresolved, as well as what consequences they will bring, so they ignore them. When some people notice issues and report them to a false leader, the false leader may say, “They’re all brothers and sisters—who doesn’t reveal some corruption? Who doesn’t have emotions and desires? Don’t judge or condemn others lightly!” No matter how absurd, wicked, or contrary to the truth something is in the church, a false leader simply does not see it. Some people, during gatherings, always speak negatively, saying things like, “They keep saying God’s day is near—when is it actually coming?” Some brothers and sisters are unknowingly affected by this, but what is the false leader’s response? They consider it normal weakness and fail to see that it is venting negativity, misleading, and disturbing others. Some brothers and sisters are clearly affected in doing their duties. They don’t want to preach the gospel anymore and no longer positively or proactively join gatherings. Every time there is a gathering, they have to be called upon to attend. Yet, the false leader does not see this as a problem. They do not notice what changes occur among everyone in the church when this problem arises. They simply mechanically hold gatherings as a matter of convention, unaware of what is happening behind the scenes, the changes in people’s states, what problems people have, who caused them, who the main culprits are, from whom the problems originated, and just what issues need to be resolved—they cannot perceive any of these. Is it because they lack eyesight that they cannot perceive these things? (No.) Since they do not lack eyesight, why is it that when such serious disruptions, disturbances, and obvious fallacies appear within the church, they fail to see or identify them? Clearly, this leader is blind and lacks spiritual understanding. Some people say, “Although they cannot identify these problems, they can read God’s words to people during gatherings. Regardless of people’s understanding of their reading or whether it yields any results, they persistently read God’s words. For this reason alone, they can be considered a good leader.” They focus only on reading God’s words—if this doesn’t lead to any results, isn’t this just going through the motions? If they cannot solve problems, what benefit can people gain from gatherings? So is this leader a false leader? (Yes.) One manifestation of a false leader when performing this work is blindness. They are blind—no matter how obvious the problem is right in front of them or happening around them, they cannot see or identify it. Outwardly, they may seem to cherish God’s words more than the average person, but they do not understand what God’s words are about, which people they refer to, or which situations they address—they cannot relate God’s words to real life. So, what is the understanding they fellowship? Do they align with the truth? Can they resolve real problems? (No.) When they preach, they just spout empty rhetoric, as if they have a great understanding of the truth, but they cannot identify obvious disturbances caused by evil people in the church, acting instead as if nothing has occurred. Does this show they understand the truth and have discernment? Do they have genuine understanding of God’s words? (No.) If they can read God’s words normally, why can’t they use them to view and resolve problems? Why is it that their minds never open when they read God’s words? Why don’t they have a keen heart when reading God’s words? What is the root of this issue? Why are they blind? What is the cause of their blindness? (It is because they lack the ability to comprehend God’s word and have extremely poor caliber.) Correct. It is not that their eyes are blind, but their heart is blind. What does having a blind heart mean? It means having extremely poor caliber and lacking the ability to comprehend God’s words. No matter how many of God’s words they read, they only understand it on a superficial level. They cannot relate it to the various people, events, things, and situations that appear in the church, nor can they treat, handle, and resolve various problems according to the truth principles. This is the root of their blindness—they have poor caliber and are not capable of this work. Therefore, no matter how much they diligently study and rigorously train, and no matter how hard they work to compensate for their lack of ability, can they fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers? They cannot. These people are quite pitiable. No matter how much they equip themselves with words and doctrines, they cannot fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers or carry out this work.

Just now, we fellowshipped about a manifestation of these false leaders, which is that they cannot see that the actions of evil people and antichrists cause disturbances to the church, nor can they see through to the essence of evil people and antichrists. When encountering matters where evil people cause disruptions and disturbances, sometimes they might notice a bit of a clue, or, whether it be through their experience, feeling, or intuition, they may merely sense that something is not quite right, that this person’s expression, the look in their eyes, and their words are somewhat abnormal. They may have a bit of a feeling, but they cannot see through many things, and they fail to identify most problems. What is the reason for them not seeing through to the essence of problems? This involves yet another issue. They are so diligent, staying in their rooms all day writing sermons, making notes about their spiritual devotions, writing down their understandings and experiences of God’s words, learning hymns, setting goals for the number of times to pray, the amount of God’s words to read, and the number of sermons to listen to each day, and the amount of time in which to write an experiential testimony article—they complete all these tasks, so why is it that they still cannot see through things when they happen? They do not understand the truth. They can only spout words and doctrines and they cannot solve actual problems. Some people always speak words and doctrines to mislead others, and false leaders cannot see through this. Though they sometimes sense that something is wrong, that there might be a problem, seeing that those people do not seem evil, they nevertheless just let the issue pass in a muddleheaded way. They are not able to seek the truth principles to discern such problems, and even if they have read God’s words exposing the states and essence of such people, they do not know how to link them to these situations. Their minds are fuzzy and they cannot see through these things. When they want to seek, they do not know how to articulate it. They talk for a long time without explaining the essence of the problem, and without clearly describing what the overall manifestations of such people are like, what their humanity, pursuit, performance of their duties, and aspirations to expend themselves for God are like, or what their attitude toward the truth is like, and whether they are people who accept the truth. These false leaders cannot see through to or clearly explain these matters. Even if they sense there is a problem, they babble on, saying a bunch of things, without making their point clear. Their listeners need to be able to discern, extract the key points, and analyze their words in order to know the questions they are asking, the overall state of the person they are describing, and ultimately determine the essence of that person—whether they are evil or good, whether they are someone who pursues the truth or merely a laborer. When you ask a false leader to describe an issue or raise a question, they can never describe the root and essence of the issue or its crux clearly. In short, false leaders do not have any particular attitude toward problems they cannot see through, and for matters where they can notice some clues, they still cannot see through to the essence of these problems. Even when some people vent negativity and spread notions, causing an adverse impact on the church life, they cannot see through to this. They cannot see through to or determine the essence of a problem from its surface or from its budding stage. Of course, seeing through to the essence of a problem is not a simple matter. The most important thing in church work is to see through to the essence of various people based on God’s words. Those who understand the truth can achieve this, but false leaders and false workers cannot. When they see antichrists disturbing the church’s work, they cannot see through to the essence of the problem and even defend the antichrists, saying, “They are just revealing some corrupt dispositions, and being a bit arrogant, willful, and arbitrary. They can still endure hardship while doing their duties. So we should not judge and condemn them; we should not make a big deal out of it.” Others ask, “If they can endure hardship while doing their duties, are they people who pursue the truth? Have they incited, misled, or drawn others in behind the scenes? Have they exalted and testified for themselves?” False leaders cannot see through these matters. There are even some people who, under the banner of testifying for God, intentionally smear and blaspheme God and deliberately spread rumors while dissecting and talking about knowing their own notions about Him. After hearing them do this, false leaders may feel that what they said sounds a little off, but they cannot see through to the seriousness of the issue, much less can they see the negative impact and severe consequences these words bring. Therefore, various disruptions and disturbances that occur right under the noses of false leaders either go completely unnoticed by them, or if they do notice them, they do not know how to characterize them or how to draw links between God’s words and these situations. These very clear matters become a confused mess for them. False leaders are dimwits. In the church, they cannot discern which people are pursuing the truth, and which people are true believers who can accept the truth. They cannot discern which people do not pursue the truth but are still able to labor, and are mostly willing to pay a price and act according to principles, and are relatively obedient and submissive, despite occasionally speaking some negative words. They also cannot discern which people exclusively play negative roles, vent negativity and judge others, and always have notions about all of the work arrangements of God’s house and about the rules and requirements regarding all items of work in God’s house, harboring an attitude of resistance rather than acceptance, and being particularly irreverent toward these things, even to the point of judging them. In short, false leaders cannot see through any type of people. Worse still, in the church, there are some people who frequently spread notions, vent negativity, and do not even read God’s words during gatherings. They always form cliques, engaging in jealousy and strife. Some people always want to be leaders, always want to profit off the church, and always want to seize the property of God’s house. There are also some people who appear to have some good behavior outwardly but do not play any positive role in their duties. False leaders cannot see through these negative characters and cannot categorize them. They cannot see through to just what path these people are taking, what their essence is, and whether they are people who accept the truth. Isn’t this a problem with false leaders’ caliber? These false leaders have extremely poor caliber. Whatever they do is a complete mess, and any work they undertake ends up in complete disarray.

Some people spend offerings without principles when they purchase items for God’s house, buying things arbitrarily without getting permission. False leaders, upon seeing this, even say, “Although they spent a bit more money, their intentions were good. When buying things for God’s house, we should buy the best; this is not a waste of money. Isn’t this how offerings should be used?” Are there principles to their words? (No.) So, what kind of words are these? Aren’t they muddled? Unprincipled words are muddled words, and baseless words are also muddled words. Some people frequently speak words and doctrines during church life; they are particularly eloquent, and talk in a structured manner that sounds quite organized, and they possess excellent speaking skills. What do false leaders say about such people? “Our church life relies entirely on So-and-so. They are the most articulate and they have the greatest understanding of God’s words. Without them, our church life would be incredibly dry and uninteresting.” Little do they know that these people are only speaking words and doctrines. No matter how much a person listens to them, they will not gain any edification, they won’t understand the truth, or know how to link the truth to themselves to understand their own state and solve their problems. Under the flattery and incitement of false leaders, people who speak words and doctrines, people who love to be in the limelight, and even people who often veer off-topic in their speeches, rambling on at each gathering about extravagant, nonsensical and wide-ranging topics, are all given room to perform. False leaders are unable to discern them and even consider them talented people, flattering them by saying, “You speak so well; why don’t you write experiential testimony articles? What a shame!” In the church, those university students, professors, and intellectuals are regarded as treasures by false leaders. They say, “These intellectuals and professors are talented individuals. They have vast experience and renown in society. If they become leaders and workers in the church, more work can get done, and God’s chosen people can benefit more and gain more. In the future, the church’s work will rely entirely on them. With these intellectuals leading us, our faith in God will surely bring blessings.” Therefore, in churches where false leaders are present, those who possess status in society, those who are knowledgeable, those who are eloquent, those who talk in an empty way about words and doctrines, those who possess some prestige, and so on—all these people who have no truth reality whatsoever—hold dominant positions in the church and are treated by false leaders as the main forces and even the so-called pillars of the church. When something happens in the church, false leaders say, “Go ask So-and-so; he was the CEO of a company,” or “Go ask So-and-so; she was a professor at Such-and-such university,” or “Go ask So-and-so; he was the top lawyer at a law firm.” False leaders treat these people as the pillars and main forces of the church. Can the church life be good under such circumstances? (No.) So, what is the result? These so-called main forces and pillars secretly or even openly vie for status and form cliques, and frequently spread notions and disseminate rumors. The brothers and sisters in the church who are true believers, love the truth, can accept the truth, and have a pure comprehension of the truth are often excluded and suppressed by them. These so-called distinguished social figures, whether in doing their duties or undertaking any work, have no loyalty and never act according to the truth principles—they entirely follow the ways of secular society. Therefore, in such a church, those who truly pursue the truth, those who have a pure comprehension, and those who possess some humanity and have a sense of justice, have no space to speak, no right to speak, and certainly no right to make decisions. Regardless of what happens in the church, the final decision-makers are always this group of so-called key members. False leaders idolize and blindly believe in these people, so they ultimately rely on them for solutions whenever something happens. If these people pursued the truth and acted according to the truth principles, this would be a good thing. However, most of these people do not pursue the truth. They possess some knowledge and education, they have social status, and on top of that, they have deceitful and insidious humanity, and are silver-tongued and adept at misleading others. This is precisely the nature essence of antichrists. What is the result of false leaders relying on these people? They totally mess up the work of the church and the order of the church life, and they ruin the life entry of God’s chosen people, causing the church to completely lose its testimony. Some false leaders hope to have a big shot in the church who understands politics and current events, thinking, “If there were such a person to expand the church’s scale, bolster its influence, and enhance its reputation, the work of spreading the gospel would have hope. That would truly be a cause for celebration!” In churches controlled by false leaders, during church life some people talk extensively about politics, current events, the international situation, and domestic affairs; they discuss the private lives of high-level political figures and even analyze the conspiracies and overt plots of these political figures in a clear and logical way. False leaders, drooling with envy, say, “Finally, our church has a big shot to help us keep up appearances! I always used to feel discouraged, frustrated, and that I could not hold my head high, because our church lacked this kind of big shot. But now we have such a person in our church. So, we should let this person do whatever they want and say whatever they want, and give them freedom. Doesn’t God’s house practice freedom and human rights? Doesn’t the Age of Kingdom emphasize human rights?” False leaders treat those who like to talk about politics and comment on famous people, who often drone on and on about lofty, hollow ideas among people, as rare treasures and want to cultivate them into the pillars and mainstays of the church. Thus, they frequently encourage and praise them, afraid that it will impact the church’s work if they become negative. In short, these false leaders are numb and blind. They cannot promptly identify the various people who disrupt and disturb the church’s work. Even if they do identify them, they cannot see through to the essence of evil people. They cannot even see through obvious evil people who fall under the category of antichrists, such as those who form cliques and establish independent kingdoms. When they see antichrists forming cliques, strutting their stuff, and doing as they please with the immense power they command, how do false leaders evaluate them? “This person is extraordinary, they’re truly remarkable! I hadn’t noticed this talent before; they are much better than me, they really put me to shame. Look at their abilities—they are able to take things on and let things go, speak with class, and they keep to their word. I, on the other hand, am no good; I am like a timid little girl.” They admire the antichrists greatly, bow down to them, and willingly become their followers. One characteristic of this manifestation of false leaders is blindness, and another is numbness. Overall, the essence of this problem with false leaders is poor caliber.

People have eyes so that they can see things. After a person sees something, their mind will react and make judgments, and after they form a judgment, they will develop a viewpoint and gain a path of practice. This proves that they are not blind—no matter what they see, they have a normal reaction and know how to face and handle it. This is a person with normal thinking. People have a process of reacting to what they see; they will ponder and think it over to a greater or lesser extent. As their thoughts unfold, a picture of that thing gradually forms in their minds, and they develop their own viewpoints, attitudes, and approaches. So, what is the precondition for producing these things? A person’s eyes must be able to see things, then transfer the collected information to their brain and mind for contemplation. If a person can see things with their eyes, then they are not blind, and they can then think and ponder, have awareness, attitudes, and viewpoints, and ultimately draw correct conclusions. Of course, arriving at these conclusions requires some time. What does having awareness, viewpoints, and attitudes before these conclusions are reached mean? It means that a person’s mind is active, not numb, proving that this person is alive, not dead. False leaders have poor caliber. In what ways is it poor? False leaders lack both of these qualities. Their eyes are open but they cannot see things happening or unfolding, which is blindness. Additionally, when they see things, their minds have no reaction, they do not form any viewpoints or thoughts, and they do not have the means or correct ways to judge and thereby draw conclusions. This is numbness in spirit. People numb in spirit cannot discern anything, they possess no correct evaluations or accurate judgments, and ultimately, they cannot draw correct conclusions, and do not know how to approach, handle, or resolve the matters at hand. This is being numb and dull-witted. When a person is numb and dull-witted in their spirit to the point where they do not react at all when something happens, this is being dead—this is describing the matter to a tee. Let’s put aside for now whether false leaders are indeed dead, and just say that they have poor caliber. Just how poor is it? No matter how significant an event occurs, they cannot see it, and even if they do see it, they cannot see through it. For example, no matter how long false leaders work for, they cannot draw conclusions on what the essence of a matter is, how to categorize it, how to define it, or what the basis for the definition is; they do not know how to evaluate these things, and have no standards or principles for evaluating them. They are muddled people who lack spiritual understanding. This is the primary manifestation of false leaders in the first task. They are blind, stupid, foolish, and numb, yet they still want to be leaders. Is this not delaying things? Is this not very troublesome? If someone has never served as a leader before, and if they are just encountering something for the first time, and this matter is not mentioned in God’s words and is unheard of among people—that is, if they have no experience or knowledge of this matter—under such circumstances it will take time for that person to develop correct insights, attitudes, and viewpoints. But why are false leaders said to be numb and blind? It is because I have spoken so many words, but no matter how much I expose and dissect things, or how many examples I give, false leaders merely know about the matters themselves after hearing My words, but do not understand the truth principles from them. In addition, the more I speak, the more confused they become. They say, “With so many matters, so many words, so many stories, who can remember them all and make connections to real life? Don’t say so much, I’m having a bit of trouble taking it all in and understanding it. Just tell me how to handle this person: Should they be expelled or kept?” Is this not numbness? It is extreme numbness! In fact, saying that they are numb is giving them some leeway, as this person might be young, or perhaps uneducated, or maybe they are very old and a bit muddled—saying it this way spares their pride. But in fact, it is poor caliber and a lack of the ability to comprehend the truth. This explanation makes it clear.

If serious disruptions and disturbances occur in the church and false leaders cannot see through to the essence of these problems, are they competent for the work of a leader? Can the brothers and sisters be protected under their leadership? Can the church’s work, the environment in which the brothers and sisters do their duties, and the normal order of the church life be protected and maintained? These are the most basic things that leaders and workers should achieve. Can false leaders achieve these things? No, they cannot. They cannot even identify or see through the people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances, so how could they proceed with the next steps of their work? They cannot even discern the most basic things, such as what a good person is, what a bad person is, what a deceitful person is, or what a hypocrite is—how can they handle the church work? They are incapable of this. It is not that they deliberately do not do real work, or that they are lazy and indulging in the benefits of status; it is just that they have poor caliber and are incapable of doing their work. This is the essence of the problem. People with very poor caliber can only spout words and doctrines, and adhere to regulations; during gatherings, they can only coax and exhort others, saying things like, “Believe in God properly! How can you indulge in fleshly comfort at a time like this? How can you still covet money and worldly things? God must be so heartbroken!” They can only deliver sermons of this type. When various evil deeds like disruptions, disturbances, and the venting of negativity occur, they cannot see or identify them. The brothers and sisters want to live a normal church life but are unable to do so, and they want to have an appropriate environment to do their duties but they are not able to. False leaders cannot solve these problems, so what use are they? The brothers and sisters want to live the church life, to understand the truth and resolve their difficulties and negative states. They eagerly hope that leaders and workers can fellowship the truth clearly and thoroughly to solve these real issues. If a church is one where false leaders hold power, can these real issues be resolved? False leaders do not understand the hearts of God’s chosen people, nor can they see their difficulties. Instead, they continue to speak words and doctrines and drone on and on about lofty, hollow ideas, which causes God’s chosen people great disappointment. Who would still want to attend gatherings regularly? Can false leaders be considerate of God’s intentions, and take those evil people, disbelievers, opportunists, and promiscuous people who are wicked and love worldly things, and cleanse them away from the church according to God’s words and requirements, preventing them from interfering with and disturbing God’s chosen people, and enabling God’s chosen people to live a normal church life? Can false leaders achieve this? They cannot. When someone makes such a request, what do false leaders say? “You are so fussy! Do you think you are the only one who loves God and wants to be loyal in doing a duty? Who doesn’t want that? They also believe in God and are chosen by God. Although they have some problems, we should treat them correctly. Don’t always find fault with others. Take the opportunity to reflect on and know yourself more; you must learn to be tolerant and patient.” False leaders are muddled and blind, and they have no principles in how they treat different types of people. They cannot see through those who should be restricted or cleared out, instead they condone these people doing whatever they want and acting like tyrants in the church, giving them plenty of room to operate, which makes a mess of the church, to the point that the level of diverseness in some churches can be described with one phrase: They become a real mixed bag. Evil people, disbelievers, the promiscuous, local tyrants, and even some who would sell out the church and the brothers and sisters when encountering the slightest bit of danger, are all mixed together in these churches. False leaders cannot see through these people, and they do not handle or address them. Therefore, under the leadership of such blind and numb false leaders, God’s chosen people cannot be protected, and the church work and the normal order of church life certainly cannot be maintained. How can those who love the truth and are willing to accept the truth understand and gain the truth in such a mixed church life? Will those people not feel pain in their hearts? If a church leader cannot properly maintain the church’s work, the normal order of the church life, or environments for the brothers and sisters to do their duties, or ensure the security of these things, then this leader is undoubtedly a false leader. Why are they given the title of false leader? It is because they are blind and numb, which leads to repeated occurrences of evil people disrupting and disturbing the church’s work; furthermore, even when this has already had consequences, they still cannot handle and resolve the issues promptly and accurately, nor can they properly maintain the church’s work and the church life of the brothers and sisters. To put it gently, such leaders are not competent in their work; to put it accurately, they are seriously failing in their duties. Though they serve as leaders, they protect the interests of evil people and the interests of Satan’s lackeys, while disregarding the church’s work and the life entry of God’s chosen people. They defend and condone those evil people disrupting and disturbing the church life at the expense of harming the brothers and sisters. Although, judging from their caliber and manifestations, they merely have poor caliber and are incompetent in their work, and cannot be defined as antichrists, the consequences of their actions on the church’s work are severe. The nature of their actions is the same as that of antichrists establishing independent kingdoms and suppressing the brothers and sisters. Both safeguard and condone evil people, and condone Satan’s lackeys acting however they want in the church. It’s just that false leaders do not openly and brazenly do evil and disturb the church’s work like antichrists do. They do not intentionally draw people to themselves and get them to obey them, but the end result is the same as that of antichrists establishing independent kingdoms. Both result in brothers and sisters who love the truth and sincerely do their duties being harmed and ruined, and left with no way to live. In such an environment and church life, it is very difficult for brothers and sisters who sincerely do their duties to make progress in life, and it is very difficult for them to do their duties normally. Naturally, the work of spreading the gospel and various items of church work are also greatly hindered and cannot develop normally. This is the first manifestation of false leaders that we are dissecting with regard to the twelfth responsibility—not noticing and not being able to see through the people, events, and things that arise around them. This manifestation is enough to define such people as false leaders.

II. False Leaders Do Not Handle People Who Disrupt and Disturb the Church’s Work According to the Principles

Regarding the second task outlined in the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers, we will expose and dissect the manifestations of false leaders. The second task is that leaders and workers should use the truth principles to resolve issues promptly once they are identified. However, false leaders are also incompetent in this task. Therefore, the second manifestation of false leaders we shall dissect is that they do not know the principles for handling various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of church life. When false leaders participate in church life, they eat and drink God’s words and pray-read God’s words, yet they never understand what God’s words mean, never grasp the principles of all that God says, and do not know the principles and standards God requires for various matters. This further proves that false leaders lack the ability to comprehend the truth and have extremely poor caliber. Some people say, “How can you say their caliber is poor? They cook very well, dress stylishly, and speak pleasantly when interacting with others; everyone likes to listen to them.” Can a person’s appearance represent their essence? Does being able to do some external things well mean they have good caliber? To evaluate, measure, and define anything, there must always be an accurate standard. To measure a person’s caliber, the standard is whether their comprehension of God’s words is pure. Saying that these people have poor caliber mainly refers to their lack of ability to comprehend the truth. We measure a person’s caliber based on their ability to comprehend God’s words. Isn’t this very objective and fair? (Yes.) As a created being, if you cannot understand the words of the Creator, what caliber do you have? Do you have a functioning mind? Such a person lacks human caliber; their caliber is so poor to the extent that they cannot even understand God’s words—can such a person gain the truth as a believer in God?

Now we shall fellowship and dissect the second manifestation of false leaders. False leaders do not know how to deal with those who disrupt and disturb the church’s work and cannot discern various people, events, and things. This is enough to show that false leaders have poor caliber, lack the ability to comprehend the truth, and do not possess the caliber to comprehend God’s words. For example, someone is always defiant toward whoever is in leadership. False leaders can also notice that this person has problems and sense that they seem like an evil person and an antichrist. They can detect some clues about things, which is not too bad. But if you ask them, “What makes you say that they seem like an antichrist and an evil person? Are there specific manifestations as evidence? Can you determine they are an antichrist and an evil person just because they are always defiant toward whoever is leader? That alone is not enough to define them; it’s just a matter of disposition, a problem of arrogance and self-righteousness. Do they have the nature of an antichrist? Are they someone who is averse to the truth and hates the truth? Have they disturbed the church’s work? Have they condemned all the leaders and workers as false leaders and antichrists? Have they done any of this?” they respond, “It seems like they have.” If you then ask, “How should we define and deal with them then?” they say they don’t know. If you ask, “For this type of person, should we give them warnings, and expose them to help brothers and sisters gain discernment?” they still don’t know. This is a case of being clueless and unable to see through anything. They can notice some clues but do not know how to define or handle such people according to principles. Can they solve real problems? Can they help God’s chosen people learn lessons? Since such individuals are evil people and antichrists, they will sooner or later be expelled. However, if you clear them out or isolate them before they actually commit some evil deeds, they will express defiance, and the brothers and sisters will not be able to understand why you did that. Therefore, it is necessary to let them perform for a period of time. When their evil acts become increasingly apparent, and they start spreading rumors and fallacies, misleading and trying to win over the brothers and sisters, vying for power and influence, establishing an independent kingdom, and attempting to dismantle the church’s work, most people will be able to clearly identify their nature essence, and naturally they will be able to stand up to expose, discern, and reject them. Then, you can clear them out and deal with them according to the truth principles. Only working like this will help the brothers and sisters develop discernment. Can false leaders handle and resolve problems in this way? False leaders lack this caliber and wisdom. Do you see any false leader who can promptly deal with evil people and antichrists? Not a single one. Therefore, false leaders will absolutely not protect the brothers and sisters from the disturbances of evil people and the misleading of antichrists. Most false leaders not only fail to know themselves after being dismissed, but they also complain a lot, grumbling that God’s house is unfair to them, saying it’s like “killing the donkey after unloading the grindstone,” claiming they put in effort but received no appreciation and were wronged. If you expose them as false leaders, they remain defiant, thinking: “I served as a leader for several years; even if I had no achievements, I at least endured hardship. Why was I dismissed? This is like killing the donkey after unloading the grindstone!” No matter how you expose them, they remain defiant. They even say, “When I discovered an antichrist, I would become so anxious that I often got mouth blisters and couldn’t sleep well. How could I have such a burden if I were a false leader?” They did not do any of the necessary work, were incapable of doing any of it, and did not even know what to do, yet they still manage to admire themselves. Isn’t this troublesome? How disgusting is that!

Regarding the various problems that arise in the church, false leaders clearly know they are of the nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work, yet they ignore them. When they see obvious problems, they just go through the motions and do not dare to expose the critical essence of the issues. They only make some insinuations and offer some exhortations by preaching doctrine without addressing the issues substantially, and that’s it. When encountering evil people and antichrists, they are at a loss, adopting an attitude of indifference as if it has nothing to do with them. They do not know the most appropriate way to treat these issues, do not know what to say to solve the problems, do not know how to protect the brothers and sisters, and do not have any burden. All they have is a bit of goodwill: “I know you are an evil person. I will not let you disturb and harm the brothers and sisters. As long as I am in this position, I must protect the brothers and sisters and fulfill my responsibility till the end.” What is the use of this? Have you solved the problem? While you’re busy being anxious, will the antichrists remain idle? Will they stop disturbing the church’s work? When they see that you are a useless and cowardly leader, a waste of air with no wisdom and certainly no work capability, they will not take you seriously at all. Most antichrists and evil people are particularly cunning and insidious. They mislead and disturb the brothers and sisters, and you have no way to stop or restrict them. Nor do you know whom to seek help from to resolve the issues; you are just anxious and agitated, crying while you pray. You look so pitiful; it seems like you’re so considerate of God’s intentions and care for the brothers and sisters so much. Even with such obvious evil people like antichrists, you cannot address them. You are unable to dissect the actions and behaviors of antichrists according to the truth, nor are you able to publicly expose the intentions, motives, and behaviors of antichrists to help the brothers and sisters develop discernment. You cannot do any of these things. Some false leaders even say, “No one should expose antichrists. If the brothers and sisters know they are antichrists and avoid them, antichrists will seek revenge.” Isn’t this being a useless coward? Can such people handle church work? Can they protect the brothers and sisters so that they can live a normal church life? What kind of problem-solving method is this? When nothing is happening, they can preach doctrines endlessly, but when something occurs, they are confused and muddled, only being able to cry. Are they not useless cowards? Watching the brothers and sisters being misled by antichrists and disturbed by evil people, they are at a loss, with no way to respond. They do not even know how to do the most basic thing of uniting with the brothers and sisters in the church who relatively have a sense of justice, possess humanity, and can accept the truth to fellowship together, use God’s words to solve these problems, and expose and discern the antichrists. Isn’t such a person a waste? (Yes.) Some false leaders are overly cautious, cowardly, and useless. To what extent are they cowardly and useless? When evil people come out to disrupt and disturb the church’s work, speaking especially harshly and presumptuously, they are so scared that they tremble, thinking, “I dare not deal with them. They are dangerous; they’re an evil person in the world. If I expose them to protect the brothers and sisters, they will surely find something against me and retaliate. How can I continue to be a leader then? They know where I live. Will they harm my family? Will they report me for believing in God?” Such false leaders cannot undertake church work. Their excessive fright keeps them mired in inaction; naturally, they cannot possibly understand the principles for handling such issues and such people. Anyone who is defined as disrupting and disturbing the church’s work is not someone who occasionally makes a mistake. Rather, their humanity is so evil that they are always committing reckless misdeeds and committing numerous acts of evil. Such individuals undoubtedly have the essence of evil people. Handling evil people also requires some wise methods. You need to consider the background and environment and what actions the evil people might take after being dealt with, and whether this might bring trouble to the church. Only by carefully considering these aspects can you handle the matter appropriately, in a way that aligns with the truth principles and employs wisdom. Those who understand the truth will unconsciously grasp the principles while handling such issues. As they do this work, they will gradually understand how to treat various people, develop ways and methods, and have wisdom in their hearts. But false leaders completely lack these ways, methods, and wisdom. This is because they are not considerate of God’s intentions; they do not consider whether the work of God’s house will be affected, or whether the leaders and workers will face danger. Since they do not consider these things, they handle matters without principles and even more so without wisdom. False leaders cannot handle these problems and do not learn lessons from them, proving that they are unwilling to learn, incompetent, neglect proper tasks, and are unable to do any work. When they see evil people and antichrists doing evil and causing disturbances, they neither expose these people nor resolve the issues. They only consider protecting their own interests, without any regard for the church’s work or the life entry of God’s chosen people. Some false leaders bully the weak while also fearing those more powerful than themselves; they relentlessly bully and flaunt their might to those who are relatively meek, but when they encounter evil people and antichrists they are all smiles and flattery. Can God like such false leaders and false workers who have no principles? Absolutely not. Can God’s house cultivate people who bully the weak and fear the strong, and have no sense of justice, to be leaders and workers? Absolutely not! These people are all disbelievers and nonbelievers who have no conscience or reason and do not accept the truth at all, and God’s house does not want them.

When problems occur in the work of a false leader, their response is always to shirk responsibility. Their most common saying is “I have fellowshipped with them.” The implication here is “I have said everything I needed to, so it is their responsibility when something goes wrong. I have nothing to do with it.” This is why the sentence “I have fellowshipped with them” is a talisman and motto for false leaders. If a false leader sees an antichrist being a law unto themselves, acting wantonly, and causing a disturbance in the church, they also use the method of fellowship and assistance. After saying a few words of exhortation and warning, they assume the antichrist will be obedient and submissive, and no longer mislead people or disturb church life. Isn’t this a foolish assumption? Using such a foolish approach to restrict the disturbances of antichrists is how a false leader works, and it is truly utterly foolish! A false leader does nothing but blindly engages in busy work. They just occupy themselves with general affairs while being unable to perform fundamental work. They do not water those who are capable of accepting the truth, they do not restrict those who disrupt and disturb, and they do not clear out those who recklessly commit misdeeds and refuse to change despite repeated admonitions. They especially do not pay attention to how antichrists do evil and cause disturbances. They neither expose nor discern them, nor do they clear them out or expel them, allowing antichrists to do evil and disturb the church’s work. They couldn’t care less and think that the evil deeds of antichrists have nothing to do with them. False leaders, in their work, are only able to go through the motions; they do a bit of general affairs work and then think that they’ve done actual work and that they are up to standard as leaders. Regardless of who disrupts and disturbs the church’s work, they only rattle off some doctrines to them, give a few exhortations and reminders, and think the problem is solved. They busy themselves all day, attending to both big and small matters, and consider themselves to be doing a good job. They even boast, saying, “Look at our church. Everyone is put to good use: Those who can preach the gospel are preaching the gospel, those who can make videos are making videos, those who can sing are recording hymns—our church life is flourishing!” However, they do not see the many hidden problems in the church at all. They do not dare to handle those evil people and disbelievers who consistently disrupt and disturb church life, so they ignore them. They turn a blind eye to the antichrists who act according to their own ways, each trying to draw people in and form their own little groups. They are unable to address the many questions raised by new believers who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Instead of finding ways to resolve these actual problems, false leaders always try to avoid them, while still claiming that “church life is flourishing.” Isn’t this engaging in pretense and fraud? False leaders leave these disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists in the church without clearing them out or dealing with them, allowing them to recklessly commit misdeeds and turn church life into a complete mess, all the while pretending not to see it. Such false leaders are extremely blind! They act as a protective umbrella for disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists, and even derive a sense of pride from this, thinking that not clearing out these degenerates is being loving and protecting God’s chosen people. Isn’t this disrupting and disturbing the church’s work? Isn’t this intentionally resisting God and going against Him? But false leaders are completely unaware of this. If you ask them whether these actual problems have been resolved, they say, “I have pruned them; I have fellowshipped with them,” implying that the problems are resolved and no longer have anything to do with them. Isn’t this shirking responsibility? To a false leader, whenever anyone commits any misconduct, as long as they perfunctorily prune the perpetrator and offer them some reminders and exhortation, their work is done, and it’s as if they have solved the problem. Isn’t this engaging in deceit? False leaders obviously fail to promptly clear out disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists, and then they throw out specious excuses, saying, “I fellowshipped on God’s word with them, they all recognized what they did and felt remorse, and they all cried and said they would definitely repent and no longer attempt to establish their own independent kingdom.” Aren’t these false leaders just deceiving themselves, like children playing house? These disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists are all people who are averse to the truth. None of them accept the truth at all, and they are not the targets of God’s salvation; rather, they are the targets of God’s detestation and hatred. But false leaders treat these disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists as brothers and sisters, and lovingly help them. What is the nature of the problem here? Is it foolishness and ignorance that stop them from seeing these people clearly, or are they trying to please them out of fear of offending them? No matter what the reason, what matters most is that false leaders do not do actual work, and they do not accept the truth or admit their mistakes when they are pruned. This is enough to show that false leaders possess no truth reality at all. They do not work according to the work arrangements of God’s house, and especially where the work of cleansing the church is concerned, they act in a perfunctory manner. They only go through the motions by clearing out a few obvious evil people. When exposed and pruned, they even find various reasons and excuses to shirk responsibility and argue for themselves. Therefore, a false leader who does no actual work is a stumbling block that hinders God’s will from being carried out. False leaders only handle a bit of superficial, general affairs work, which is of no value whatsoever. They never solve the various problems that arise in the church; they simply avoid them. This not only delays the normal progress of the church’s work, but also affects the life entry of God’s chosen people. In no uncertain terms, false leaders disrupt and disturb the work of the church and act as protective umbrellas for disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists. At the critical moment of spiritual warfare, they stand on the side of evil people and antichrists to resist and deceive God. Is this not a manifestation of betrayal of God? Judging from the views and behaviors of false leaders, it is clear that they are simply not people who pursue the truth, they do not understand the truth at all, and they are completely unable to do the work of leadership.

False leaders do not treat people based on God’s words but according to their own preferences. They act without any principles, doing whatever they want. When they see antichrists disturbing the church, false leaders do not hate them. They believe that reading some of God’s words to the antichrists can restrict their disruptions and disturbances. What kind of people are antichrists? They are devils, they are Satans! No matter how many years they have believed in God, antichrists do not accept the truth at all and can disrupt and disturb the church’s work and disturb the life entry of God’s chosen people. They are the real-life devils and Satans. False leaders hope to make antichrists feel remorse and change their minds by reading a couple passages of God’s words to them. Isn’t this extremely foolish? People like antichrists do not accept the truth at all. No matter how many evil deeds they commit, they will not reflect on or know themselves, and no matter how many mistakes they make, they will not admit their errors. They are wretches destined for hell, yet false leaders think that reading a couple passages of God’s words and offering some words of exhortation can change them—isn’t this wishful thinking? If corrupt humankind could so easily accept the truth, God wouldn’t need to perform the work of judgment and chastisement. Why does God say so many words and express so many truths in His work? It is because saving people is not easy, because people’s difficulties are too many and their rebellion too great! Only those who can accept the truth can be saved. Those who are averse to and hate the truth cannot be saved. However, false leaders believe that if they say some harsh words to disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists, these individuals will feel remorse and come to know themselves, and that if they then say some exhorting and comforting words to them, they will repent, making it so they can keep their mind on doing their duties, become loyal, and undergo a change in disposition, turning antichrists into compliant sheep. Isn’t this a foolish idea? This idea is extremely foolish! This is like the ravings of a lunatic—how could things be so simple! God has been performing the work of judgment for over thirty years, and how much self-knowledge and transformation have people achieved? Only a minority of people have achieved some results. Those who do not love the truth, no matter how many sermons they listen to, at most understand some doctrines. Their life disposition has not changed at all, and even good behaviors and good deeds are rarely seen from them. What kind of people are these? They are people who eat their fill of loaves—they do not accept the truth at all. They focus only on enjoying God’s grace and only pursue blessings; they are nothing but dressed-up beasts! People have been deeply corrupted by Satan; they are full of corrupt dispositions, and their bones and blood are filled with Satan’s poisons. If they cannot accept the truth, or God’s judgment and chastisement, how can they truly submit to God? How can they do their duties loyally? How can they fear God and shun evil? Can attaining salvation be as simple as people imagine it to be? Satan has corrupted people for several thousand years, to the point that they have become devils. Now God has come to save them, and no matter how many words He speaks, turning people who have become devils into true human beings is an incredibly difficult task. Not only does God need to express many truths, but people also must do their utmost to cooperate by pursuing, accepting, and practicing the truth—only then can they break free from Satan’s influence and attain God’s salvation. God once said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Though many people believe in God, only those who truly experience God’s judgment and chastisement, and fully submit to His work, can be cleansed and made perfect. Those disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists who do not accept the slightest bit of the truth, are averse to the truth in their hearts; they will never attain God’s salvation, and they can only be revealed and eliminated by God’s work. False leaders have no understanding of God’s work. They think of God’s work of saving people in such simple terms, believing that by reading some of God’s words to evil people and antichrists and saying some harsh words of pruning, they will repent and change, and become loyal in doing their duties. What is the problem here? Besides not pursuing the truth and not understanding the truth, it is also because false leaders have extremely poor caliber; therefore, they have no understanding at all when it comes to God’s work and how God saves people. To see what a person’s essence is, whether they have the truth reality, and how they should be treated, it is necessary to consider their caliber and their attitude toward the truth—you must observe what their comprehension of the truth is like and whether they can accept the truth. So, what is the basis for measuring whether a person can comprehend the truth? It primarily depends on the quality of their caliber and whether their comprehension of God’s words is pure. Some people live to be fifty or sixty years old and still cannot see through to the essence and actuality of humankind’s corruption. They still imagine human society to be beautiful and want to live in peace and harmony with others. Isn’t this extremely foolish and naive? If believing in God could turn everyone into good people, would there be a need for God’s work of judgment and chastisement to save people? False leaders do not make determinations about what various people are really like based on God’s words but rather only on their outward behavior and on personal impressions. The work they do is also very superficial, like children playing house. They think that they can sometimes find the right words of God to apply to a certain situation, and that just reading some of God’s words to people will change them: “Look, under my leadership and exhortation, with my loving help, God’s words have taken effect on people. They no longer want to be antichrists, and they are willing to change their views on believing in God. They will no longer vie for power and gain, nor will they establish independent kingdoms; they will no longer disrupt and disturb the church’s work, and they will no longer mislead or draw in the brothers and sisters!” Can you restrict them? You can never restrict those who are truly evil people that cause disruptions and disturbances. Because they have the essence of evil people, they commit evil deeds at any time of day or night; whenever they get the chance, they do evil. Is it okay for you to not clear them out of the church? Will they voluntarily stop their evil deeds? They are not humans; they are devils and Satans! How many years has the devil Satan resisted God? It still resists God to this day. Antichrists and all kinds of evil people who disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church are the real-life devils and Satans; they are the enemies in real life. Can they change their essence because of a few words from you or because of your loving heart? You are so foolish! You think you can save people from sin just because you understand a bit of doctrine? Can you save them? They are destined for hell, and you think a few nice words can change them. Is it that easy? If people were so easy to save, God wouldn’t need to say so many words or perform the work of judgment and chastisement. Would He need to spend so much time and painstaking effort to save people?

Now, in the church, various people have already been revealed and grouped according to kind. Everyone should be classified according to their type, and there are principles and administrative decrees in God’s house regulating how to treat and handle different types of people. God has patience and tolerance, mercy and loving-kindness, and a righteous disposition—but don’t forget that God also has wrath and majesty. Some people say, “God wants every person to be saved and does not want anyone to suffer perdition.” This is true, but God desires “every person” to be saved, not every thing or every devil. When people suffer perdition, God feels sorrow and grief. When devils suffer perdition, it is their rightful end and deserved punishment; God does not grieve for them. This is God’s disposition and His principle in dealing with people. People always want to contradict God, thinking that those disbelievers, evil people, and antichrists are also humans. They believe that those who consistently disrupt and disturb the church’s work are also humans, those who vie for status and establish independent kingdoms are also humans, and those who consistently engage in promiscuity are also humans. They list all these devilish types among God’s chosen people. Isn’t this absurd? Doesn’t this go against what God desires? Because their viewpoints on matters completely contradict God’s words and the truth, their opinions on various negative figures, devils, and Satans are entirely opposite to God’s words, differing greatly. God has never treated the devils following Satan as humans. How does God define these people? They are lackeys of the devil Satan; they are beasts. False leaders, out of their good intentions and muddled love, and compelled by their own wishful thinking, treat these disbelievers, devils, and lackeys of Satan as brothers and sisters. Therefore, they show them great love and kindness, constantly helping and supporting them. As a result, because false leaders extend their support, help, and leadership to those people, the true brothers and sisters, the ones God wants to save, are severely perturbed; church life can never enter onto the right track, and the brothers and sisters can never normally eat and drink God’s words and fellowship the truth without any disturbance from evil people. Isn’t this the “accomplishment” of false leaders? Their “accomplishment” is quite significant: Not only do they fail to protect the brothers and sisters, but they also afford unwarranted respect and protection to those evil people and antichrists. Isn’t this disrupting the church’s work? The nature of false leaders doing this is disruption, yet they think they are maintaining the church’s work and helping and supporting God’s chosen people. How does God view these actions of false leaders? God detests them, He especially detests them! False leaders do not do actual work but focus on safeguarding evil people, acting as lackeys of Satan. This leads to God’s chosen people—those who love the truth—being unable to receive the support and sustenance of the church despite living church life, and wanting to do their duties yet being unable to have their safety guaranteed. False leaders are completely oblivious to these matters and think, “I treat everyone equally, so why are you complaining? Just what do I have to do to satisfy you? This is what it means to treat people fairly. You are just being picky and hard to please! Anyway, I am accountable to God; I am doing everything before God!” Aren’t they impervious to reason for being able to spout such rhetoric? Are they not foolish to the extreme? They are indeed impervious to reason and foolish to the extreme. God’s house talks every day about how God saves humankind, but false leaders never understand God’s words. They think that no matter who the person is, no matter what their essence is, no matter how evil the things they have done were, and no matter how malicious their humanity is, under the guidance of God’s words and with the help of people’s loving support, they will eventually repent and turn back. Isn’t this viewpoint completely wrong? (Yes.) Aside from having a severely fallacious comprehension of God’s words, false leaders also pretend to understand God’s intentions and, thinking in a unilateral way and operating upon their own selfish desires, they show kindness and love to evil people and antichrists. And what is the result? They end up shielding evil people and antichrists, becoming their accomplices, providing opportunities and a breeding ground for them to disrupt and disturb the church’s work and church life. Meanwhile, the brothers and sisters who truly need protection are ignored by the false leaders, who never ask them, “How do you feel about having these evil people and antichrists in the church, and those venting negativity and spreading notions? Do you agree with keeping them in the church? Are you willing to do your duties and live church life together with them?” They never ask how the brothers and sisters feel about any of this. What do you think—aren’t such leaders and workers quite disgusting? They operate under the banner of being leaders and workers, wearing such titles, but they are actually doing the work of safeguarding Satan and Satan’s lackeys. It’s truly sad! If you say that such leaders and workers have poor caliber and do not do actual work, they might be unconvinced. They will feel wronged, thinking they are busy every day and not idle, so how can it be that they do not do actual work? But based on their manifestations—feeling both groups of people are important, thinking both must be treated equally, using fair treatment as an excuse to allow evil people and those who disrupt and disturb to domineer in the church, and letting various evil deeds persist in the church—what are these leaders and workers? Based on their manifestations, their way and principles of working, and their motives for doing work, they are unmistakably false leaders and muddleheaded fools. Is it accurate to say this? (Yes.)

In society, regardless of which group or class of people it is, they do not distinguish between evil people and good people, much less do they discuss how Satan corrupts people or what the essence of corrupt humankind is; they do not even differentiate between good and evil. But in God’s house, everything is based on God’s words; the truth never changes, and God’s words accomplish everything. In the church, all kinds of people are revealed by God’s words, and they are naturally grouped each according to their kind. All kinds of people should be put to the best use based on their humanity, pursuits, and essence. Is this classifying people by rank? It is not classifying people by rank, but categorizing them. Each person should be grouped according to their kind—they should be placed where they belong. Mixing together is not acceptable; mixing is temporary and has a fixed period. For example, when tares and wheat are mixed together, if pulling the tares affects the wheat and may cause the wheat to die, then the tares are not to be pulled yet. But not pulling them doesn’t mean they’re not categorized—so when should they be pulled? At the right time; God will prepare the time. Now is the time for each to be grouped according to their kind; all kinds of people must be categorized. This is necessary. Why must this work be done? From a theoretical perspective, there is the basis of God’s words; from the perspective of the actual situation, it is necessary to do this—it has practical value, and it is essential to do so. When pulling the tares does not affect the wheat, the tares must be pulled out and separated from the wheat. If disbelievers and evil people—those who correspond to tares—are treated as brothers and sisters, it is too unfair to all the brothers and sisters who sincerely expend themselves for God. For one thing, these people will often be disturbed, influenced, and harmed by evil people who disrupt and disturb the church’s work. For another, some people with small stature do not understand the truth and will be constrained, become negative and weak, or even stumble when they come into contact with evil people who disrupt and disturb. Moreover, everything that those who disrupt and disturb do and every word they say bring about chaos, mess, and disorderly situations. The most realistic situation is that when they do a duty or do some work, they recklessly commit misdeeds and do not follow principles, leading to copious waste of manpower, material resources, and financial resources without achieving any results. In the end, what happens? When they are dismissed, everyone has to pay for their evil deeds. The work needs to be redone, and the manpower, material resources, time, and the most precious energy of everyone expended before those individuals were dismissed are wasted due to their reckless misdeeds and cannot be compensated. The negative impact they brought to this work is too great! No one can bear this responsibility. Even if the work is done well later, the previous losses cannot be compensated by anyone. Some people say to make them pay money; this ought to be done too, but can money buy time? Can money buy the time and energy of the brothers and sisters, or the sincere price they paid? No, it cannot—those are priceless! No matter how many people cause disruptions and disturbances in the church, the consequences are immeasurable. Numerous brothers’ and sisters’ life entry will be impacted. The loss is significant and cannot be compensated. Can the loss to the brothers’ and sisters’ life be compensated? Who will pay for this loss? So, these evil people must be cleared out. They are not of the same kind as the brothers and sisters who pursue the truth. They belong to the cohort of devils and Satan, coming to God’s house to disturb and destroy. If these evil people are not cleared out of the church, the work of the church and the order of church life can never be guaranteed. Regardless of how many people make up a certain group, as long as there is one person among them disrupting and disturbing—someone who recklessly commits misdeeds, never handles matters according to principles, never accepts positive things or the truth, listens to no one, acts with willful arbitrariness regardless of whether they have any status or power, and is essentially a living Satan—such a person, as long as they stay in the church, will sooner or later bring great disturbance and destruction to the church’s work. When the day comes to clear them out and handle them, how many people will have to clean up the evil consequences and the disorderly situations they have caused! Therefore, clearing out or expelling these evil people and antichrists is an important task that leaders and workers should undertake and must not be careless about. However, false leaders show kindness and love to those who should be cleared out or expelled, turn a blind eye to their evil deeds, tolerate and accommodate them as brothers and sisters, and even regard those who are useful to them as talented people and cultivate and use them. No matter what bad things they do, false leaders find excuses to exonerate them, and even give loving help and support to them. On some level, isn’t this deliberate disruption? (Yes.) False leaders act according to their own ideas and their own kindness and enthusiasm, ultimately causing great trouble for the church and God’s chosen people! If these evil people hold power, the disasters and consequences they bring to the church are incalculable.

There is currently a regulation in God’s house that no matter who commits misdeeds, so long as it causes a loss to God’s house, they must compensate for it. If the loss is too great and the consequences are severe, can the problem be solved just by compensating with money? Some losses cannot be made up for by any amount of monetary compensation; they are irreparable and irretrievable. Each day is now very precious and crucial. Once a day has passed, can that time be regained? That is also irretrievable. Why do we say that missing out on certain things is a lifelong regret? Precisely because time cannot be regained. What do I mean by saying this? It is best to prevent problems before they occur, rather than spending money to solve them after they happen; this is the best way to solve problems. “Locking the stable door after the horse has bolted” is a last resort. It is best to do preventive work before things happen. This means that before any disruptions or disturbances occur, leaders and workers must have clear discernment and a thorough understanding of the various types of people in the church, and carefully observe and promptly grasp the states, dispositions, and pursuits of various kinds of people, as well as their attitudes and viewpoints while doing duty, to ensure that all the brothers and sisters have a normal church life and environment for doing their duties. This way, the church’s work can progress in an orderly manner. These are the responsibilities of leaders and workers. Of course, false leaders are not up to this work; they are muddleheaded fools and useless people. Now they have a clever idea: “Anyone who does not follow the principles and bungles the work will be fined! If an antichrist does something wrong, they will be fined!” They think that issuing fines is the best solution and the best principle of practice. If all problems could be solved by issuing fines, what would be the use of pursuing the truth? Why is a false leader called false? It is because they do not understand the truth, and they treat following regulations as practicing the truth and regard the words and doctrines they understand as the truth, and when things happen, they absolutely cannot find the correct principles or direction and cannot resolve problems from the root. They do not understand God’s words and cannot grasp what God means at all but still want to work and be a leader or worker—how foolish! In this regard, what is the main manifestation of a false leader? They cannot see through to the essence of the various kinds of people who disrupt and disturb the work of the church, cannot categorize them, and certainly cannot treat and handle them according to principles. In the mind of a false leader, all these are a confused mess. They speculate about God’s words and what He means based on their enthusiasm and their own notions and imaginings. At the same time, they impose their kindness, enthusiasm, and personal imaginings and notions onto God, believing that these things align with the truth, align with God’s intentions, and can represent what God desires. Thus, they rely on these things to work and lead God’s chosen people. This is the main manifestation of a false leader. We will conclude our fellowship on the second manifestation of false leaders here.

III. False Leaders Do Not Expose and Stop Evil People

Next, we shall fellowship on the third manifestation of false leaders, which is ignoring and not inquiring about people who disrupt and disturb the church’s work—even when they discover that evil people and antichrists are disturbing the church’s work, they do not pay attention to it. This is more serious in nature than the first two manifestations. Why is it said to be more serious? The first two manifestations involve the caliber of false leaders, but this manifestation involves the humanity of false leaders. Some false leaders have such poor caliber that they cannot see through the nature of disrupting and disturbing the church’s work. Some false leaders, although they can discover the problems of disrupting and disturbing the church’s work, unfortunately do not understand the truth and cannot handle and resolve these problems. They always act according to their own ideas and enthusiasm, doing what they like to do, thinking in their hearts, “As long as I am doing the church’s work, it’s fine; as for who disrupts and disturbs, that is their personal matter and has nothing to do with me.” There are also some false leaders who have a bit of caliber and can do a bit of work, and who know a bit about the principles for handling each sort of person. However, they are afraid of offending people, so when they discover evil people and antichrists causing disruptions and disturbances, they do not dare to expose, stop, or restrict them. They live by satanic philosophies, and they turn a blind eye to matters that they feel have nothing to do with them. They don’t care at all about what the results of the church’s work are like, or how much the life entry of God’s chosen people is impacted; they think such things have nothing to do with them. So, during such a false leader’s tenure, the normal order of church life is not maintained, and the duties and life entry of God’s chosen people are not protected. What is the nature of this problem? It is not the case that these false leaders cannot do work because their caliber is poor; it is because their humanity is poor, and they lack conscience and reason, that they do not do real work. In what way are false leaders false? They lack the conscience and reason of humanity; therefore, during their time working as leaders, the issue of evil people and antichrists disrupting and disturbing the church’s work is not resolved at all. Some brothers and sisters are greatly harmed, and the work of the church also suffers tremendous losses. When this sort of false leader notices a problem, when they see an evil person or an antichrist causing a disruption or a disturbance, they know what their responsibility is, what they should do and how they should do it, yet they do nothing at all, and they even play dumb, completely ignore it, and do not report the matter to their superiors. They pretend that they know nothing and see nothing, allowing evil people and antichrists to disrupt and disturb the work of the church. Is there not a problem with their humanity? Are they not of the same camp as evil people and antichrists? What is the principle of their leadership? “I cause no disruptions or disturbances, but I won’t do anything that gives offense, or anything that hurts the dignity of others. Characterize me as a false leader, and I still won’t do anything that gives offense. I need to leave myself a way out.” What sort of logic is this? It is the logic of Satan. And what sort of disposition is this? Is it not very sly and deceitful? Such a person is not the least bit sincere in their treatment of God’s commission; they are always wily and slippery in the performance of their duty, with so many nasty calculations, thinking of themselves in all things. They give not the least thought to the work of the church and have no conscience or reason at all. They are fundamentally unworthy of serving as church leader. Such people do not have the slightest burden for the church’s work or the life entry of God’s chosen people. They only care about their own interests and enjoyment; they focus solely on indulging in the benefits of status, without any concern for what condition God’s chosen people are in. Isn’t this the most selfish and despicable person? Even when they discover evil people and antichrists disturbing the church’s work, they do not pay attention to it, as if these matters have nothing to do with them. It’s like a shepherd who sees a wolf eating the sheep but does nothing, only caring about preserving their own life. Such a person is not qualified to be a shepherd. Everything this type of false leader does is to maximize the protection of their own reputation, status, power, and the various benefits they currently enjoy. They have no burden in their hearts for God’s commission, the church’s work, or the life entry of God’s chosen people, which are their duties and responsibilities; they never consider these. They think, “Why must a leader do these tasks? Why does not doing these tasks result in being pruned and condemned, and rejected by the brothers and sisters?” They do not understand and are completely indifferent. In My heart, no matter how well-behaved this sort of person appears, or how rule-abiding, or taciturn, or hardworking and competent, the fact that they act without principles and take no responsibility for the work of the church obliges Me to see them in a new light. Finally, I defined this sort of person like so: They may not make any big mistakes, but they are very sly and deceitful; they do not take on any responsibility at all, nor do they uphold the work of the church at all—they have no humanity. I feel that they are like a sort of animal—in their cunning, they are a bit like the fox. People say that foxes are cunning, but in fact, these people are even more cunning than foxes. On the surface, it seems like they haven’t done any evil, but in fact, everything they say and do is for their own fame, gain, and status. Everything they do is for the purpose of enjoying the benefits of their status, and they do not consider God’s intentions at all. They do not resolve the problems that arise in the church’s work one bit, nor do they address actual issues concerning the life entry of God’s chosen people. These false leaders do not do any work to lead God’s chosen people into the truth reality. Just what is the purpose of everything they do? Isn’t it just to please people and make others regard them highly? They try to make everyone think well of them without offending anyone, thus enjoying their reputation and the benefits of their status. What most inspires hatred about them is that all their actions bring no benefit to the life entry of God’s chosen people; instead, they mislead people, making others admire and idolize them. Are these people not even more sly and deceitful than foxes? They are textbook, genuine false leaders. They have the status of leader and hold this title but do not do any actual work, only taking care of some visible, superficial general affairs, or they reluctantly do a bit of the work specially assigned by the Above. If there is no special assignment from the Above, they do not do any essential work of the church. Regarding matters that involve maintaining the church’s work and the order of church life, they are afraid of offending people and dare not uphold principles. They do not solve any of the accumulated problems in the church’s work, and even when they see the assets of God’s house being squandered by antichrists and evil people, they do nothing to stop or restrict it. In their hearts, they clearly know these people are doing evil and harming the interests of God’s house, yet they play dumb, not saying a word. These are the sly and deceitful people. Are these people not more cunning than foxes? They are outwardly amiable to everyone and do not do things to harm anyone, but they delay the major matter of the life entry of God’s chosen people, the church’s work, and the work of spreading the gospel. Are such people worthy of being leaders and workers? Are they not Satan’s lackeys? Are they not the ones disrupting and disturbing the church’s work? Although on the surface they have not committed any obvious evil, the consequences of their working like this are even more severe than committing evil. They hinder the carrying out of God’s will, resist God, and disrupt and disturb the church’s work. They harm God’s chosen people and can even destroy the hope of God’s chosen people being saved. Tell Me, is this not committing evil? This is exactly what a people pleaser who does not uphold principles at all does. People who do not understand the truth cannot thoroughly perceive the terrible consequences of false leaders working this way, nor can they grasp what their intentions, motives, and purposes are. You will never fathom what they really want to do in their hearts—such people are too sly! Figuratively speaking, they are sly foxes; accurately speaking, they are living devils, living devils among people!

When it comes to how these false leaders should be characterized, based on their disposition essence, they cannot be arbitrarily placed within the categories of evil people, antichrists, hypocrites, and so on. However, judging from what they manifest, like the manifestations of their humanity and their attitude toward the church’s work, as well as them not addressing problems they discover, they are the most depraved sort of false leaders. Judging by their various manifestations, although they do not proactively form cliques or establish their own independent kingdoms, and rarely testify to themselves, and although they can get along well with the brothers and sisters, endure hardship, pay a price, refrain from stealing offerings, and even strictly restrain themselves from seeking special privileges, nevertheless, when they face the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work, or the various people who squander offerings and damage the property of God’s house, they do not stop or handle them, they do not say anything or do any work. Such people are terrifying! They are the most despicable type of false leaders; they are irredeemable! Why do I say that they are irredeemable? It is not the case that they have poor caliber or that they cannot comprehend God’s words—they do have a certain comprehension ability and work capability, but when they discover someone disrupting and disturbing the church’s work, they do not handle or resolve it. They only reluctantly do a bit of this work when they meet with the strict supervision and frequent inquiries of their superior leaders, or when they have been pruned. No matter whether they do this work or not, or how they do it, protecting themselves is their top priority. They do not fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers at all. Aside from protecting themselves and maintaining their own interests, they do no essential work, and they only perform a bit of superficial work that they have no choice but to do. Other than protecting themselves, they don’t care about anything else. Aren’t they slyer and craftier than a fox? Some people say, “It is a fox’s instinct to eat small animals, so isn’t it also the instinct of false leaders to protect themselves?” Is this an instinct? This is their nature! These false leaders protect their own status, reputation, and face, maintain relationships with people, and avoid offending anyone, at the cost of harming the interests of God’s house and damaging the church’s work. They don’t even personally handle the dismissal or adjustment of personnel, instead assigning others to do it for them. They think, “If that person seeks revenge, they won’t come after me. I need to protect myself first in any situation I encounter.” These people are far too sly! As leaders and workers, they can’t even take on this responsibility, so are they worthy of being leaders? They are just useless cowards! Without this bit of courage, are they still believers in God? Are people who resort to trickery to shirk their responsibilities in doing their duties followers of God? God does not want such people. These false leaders are as sly and crafty as foxes. When they see someone causing a disruption or a disturbance, they neither handle nor resolve it—they simply don’t do actual work. No matter how they are exposed and pruned, they don’t act. Since they don’t fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers, why are they occupying that position? Is it so they can be part of the decor? Is it so they can indulge in the benefits of status? They are not qualified for that! Not doing actual work yet wanting the brothers and sisters to revere and idolize them—isn’t this the mindset of a devil? It is so shameless! Some people say they do not want to be a leader at all. Then why do they maintain their reputation and status? What is their purpose in misleading people? If they do not want to be a leader, they can proactively resign. Why don’t they resign? Why do they occupy that position and not step down? If they don’t want to resign, then they must dutifully do some actual work. There is no other choice—this is their responsibility. If they can’t do actual work, it’d be best for them to take accountability and resign; they should not delay the church’s work, or harm God’s chosen people. If they lack even this bit of conscience and reason, do they still have any humanity? They are unworthy of being called human! Regardless of whether they can be a leader or worker, people who believe in God only deserve to be called human if they have at least a bit of conscience and reason.

To be a leader or worker, one needs to possess a certain level of caliber. A person’s caliber determines their work capability and the extent to which they grasp the truth principles. If your caliber is somewhat lacking and you do not have a deep enough comprehension of the truth, but you are able to practice as much as you can understand, and you can put into practice what you understand, and in your heart you are pure and honest, and do not scheme for anything on your own behalf or pursue fame, gain, and status, and you can accept God’s scrutiny, then you are a right person. However, false leaders do not possess these qualities. They do not concern themselves with the various problems of disruptions and disturbances that arise in the church; even if they notice these problems, they pay them no mind. If you ask them whether they are aware of the situation, they say, “I think I know a bit about it, but not everything.” This happened right under their noses—why do they say they don’t know about it? Aren’t they trying to trick people? Since they do know about it, have they thought about how to handle it? Have they done any work? Have they tried to come up with any solutions? They reply, “That person’s caliber is better than mine, and they’re articulate and well-spoken; I don’t dare interfere with them. What if I address something that’s not actually an issue and offend them? That would make my work difficult afterward!” Since they don’t dare, they are useless cowards and derelict in their duty, and they are unworthy of being leaders! When they encounter this kind of situation, do they know how to handle it? They say, “Even though I know how to handle it, I don’t dare. Isn’t that what the Above is for? And there’s the decision-making group too. How could I be the one that this task falls to?” Since they saw it and know about it, they should handle this situation. If their stature is too small and they can’t deal with this issue, have they told their superiors about the problem? Have they reported it? Have they done that which comes under the scope of their responsibilities and the work that falls to them? Have they fulfilled any of their responsibilities at all? Not at all! In their hearts, they know full well: “I knew about this issue, but I didn’t act. I feel guilty! I should have reported that matter but didn’t. But other people didn’t do it either—what does it have to do with me?” Are other people also leaders? Whether other people do it or not is those people’s business—why haven’t these leaders done it? If other people don’t do it, does that mean these leaders don’t have to do it? Is this the truth? Even if other people had done it, could that be a substitute for these leaders doing it? What these leaders do is their own business. Have they fulfilled their responsibilities and obligations? If they have not, then they are derelict in their duty, unqualified to be leaders, and they should take accountability and resign. They have no appreciation for how they have been lifted up, they are unworthy of the trust of the brothers and sisters, they are unworthy of the trust of God’s house, and they are even more unworthy of God’s exaltation. They are heartless wretches. The third type of false leader has a problem with their character. Regardless of how their personal pursuits and life entry are, just judging from the fact that during their tenure they do no actual work, do not recover any losses for the church, and certainly aren’t able to promptly stop or handle the evil deeds of evil people, this type of person not only has a problem with poor caliber and a problem with not doing actual work but, most importantly, they have no humanity. Their conscience is utterly rotten, and they have no reason whatsoever. In common parlance, they are morally bankrupt; they are selfish and despicable to the extreme, and they are not trustworthy. Among the three types of people we have dissected, the humanity of this type is the worst. The first two types of people have poor caliber, they cannot do work, and they do not meet the principles and standards of God’s house for cultivating and promoting people, so they cannot be cultivated or used. Their caliber is extremely poor, they are blind and numb, and they are practically dead people—they are not worth exposing and dissecting. The third type of person is the most vile. They are extremely despicable in terms of their humanity, and we characterize this type as sly and crafty. These people are even slyer than foxes. They do no actual work yet have plenty of excuses and feel completely at ease. Regardless of how evil people and antichrists disturb the church’s work, they do not get anxious or worried about it and still want to continue being leaders. Why are they so addicted to power? These leaders say, “Man struggles upward; water flows downward. Everyone loves power!” They do not want to do any actual work but they still wish to cling to their position and enjoy the benefits of their status. What sort of wretch is this? They are purely the ilk of Satan, they are absolutely not anything good.

Today we fellowshipped three points about the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers. The false leaders we dissected in the twelfth responsibility are basically the same as the false leaders we exposed before. Although we dissected three points, they mainly cover two problems: One is that they have poor caliber and cannot do actual work; the other is that their humanity is vile, despicable, sly, and crafty, and they do not do actual work. These are the fundamental, essential problems of false leaders. As long as someone has one of these two problems, they are a false leader. This is beyond all doubt.

September 4, 2021