By Wenjing, China

A few years ago, I returned to my local church from out of town to do my duty. When I heard the leader, Zhang Xin, say the watering deacon was Xiao Liu, I was stunned. I knew Xiao Liu used to sow discord, as well as suppress and punish people, and to gain power in the church, she and a few evildoers attacked the leaders and workers as false, causing chaos in the church. At that time, the brothers and sisters identified her as an evildoer based on her behavior and were preparing the materials to expel her. Why was she now the watering deacon? I asked Zhang Xin, who said Xiao Liu had changed now and bore a burden in her duty, and that I should view her lovingly from a perspective of growth. Although I had my doubts, I had just come back, so I didn’t know what happened, and I thought that as a leader, Zhang Xin wouldn’t go against principles in choosing people, so I didn’t ask anymore. Zhang Xin also mentioned that Sister Fang, who had been her partner as leader before, hadn’t done a duty or attended gatherings since being dismissed, so she was to be cleared out, and Zhang Xin asked me to provide examples of Sister Fang’s wicked behavior. This made me suspicious. Sister Fang simply didn’t bear a burden in her duty. She was a false leader who didn’t do practical work. But after being dismissed, she still preached the gospel, attended to general affairs, and did no evil. Why was she to be cleared out? The more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt. I recalled that when I had contact with Zhang Xin in the past, her desire for revenge was very strong. Sister Fang once reported to upper-level leaders that Zhang Xin did her duty without bearing a burden. Could it be that she held a grudge over this incident and wanted revenge on Sister Fang? If that was the case, Zhang Xin was punishing Sister Fang, and that was doing evil! But I also realized I didn’t know about Sister Fang’s recent behavior yet, so I couldn’t be certain Zhang Xin had a problem. I decided to wait until I knew for sure.

Later, I heard that Zhang Xin had distorted the facts and judged Sister Fang during a gathering, and when a sister refuted her, she condemned that sister and Sister Fang for ganging up to attack leadership and arranged for that sister to be isolated. Another sister said Sister Fang treated others lovingly. Zhang Xin then lied, saying that sister’s safety was at risk, and had her isolated at home for three months. There was also a sister in charge of general affairs, who Zhang Xin stopped from doing her duty merely because she gave Zhang Xin advice. I was shocked too. How could Zhang Xin not have the slightest fear of God? She did so many evil things to suppress people. And those she suppressed were the people who pursued the truth in the church. There was certainly a problem with Zhang Xin. I went to Sister Li, who watered newcomers, to fellowship and discern the issue. Sister Li told me, “Xiao Liu shows no repentance at all. She still argues for herself and defends herself at every gathering she attends, causing disruption to church life. When Sister Fang was the leader, she looked into Xiao Liu’s evil behavior, so Xiao Liu says she wants revenge on Sister Fang.” I was outraged. Zhang Xin actually said Xiao Liu had repented. She was clearly condoning an evildoer disturbing the church. Wasn’t this a manifestation of false leadership? But I also thought, Zhang Xin hadn’t been a leader for long, and I hadn’t helped her with any fellowship. I decided to point out these issues to her first. After meeting Zhang Xin, I told her that she violated principles in stopping those sisters from doing their duties. Unexpectedly, she actually yelled at me, “Some people refuse to obey me, and speak ill of me behind my back! I know exactly who has opinions about me. If they won’t obey me, go report it to upper-level leaders! Everything I do is just and upright. I’m not afraid of anyone saying things about me.” But her vicious response frightened me. Now, she alone had the final say in the church, and she suppressed and punished whoever didn’t listen to her. She was nothing but a tyrant. I pointed out one problem, and she was so vicious that I feared if I continued to point things out and expose her, she would forbid me from doing my duty. Wouldn’t my life suffer if that happened? Once I thought of that, I stopped pointing out her problems. After I got home, I felt very guilty. An evildoer was disturbing the church, and the brothers and sisters were being suppressed. Instead of handling the matter, Zhang Xin was suppressing people, and when I pointed out her problem, she didn’t accept it. I knew I should report this situation to the upper-level leaders. After that, I went to see Sister Li. We discussed the principles of writing a report letter and prepared to report Zhang Xin. But when we finished writing out Zhang Xin’s evil behaviors and prepared to hand it in, I hesitated again. If Zhang Xin found out about our report letter, what should we do if she made up a charge, framed us, and had us expelled? How could I be saved if I was expelled? Thinking of this, I didn’t hand in the letter for a long time. But as I watched the chaos in the church, I felt bad about not reporting it.

One night, when I went to Sister Li’s house, Zhang Xin suddenly came, and aggressively accused Sister Li of exposing her at the church. Seeing her vicious attitude, I was very angry. She really was too tyrannical. She was running amok in the church, yet forbidding others from exposing her. People didn’t even have the right to speak, and the whole church was under her control. I had to stand up for justice and expose Zhang Xin to protect the work of the church. But considering how arrogant she was, how she didn’t listen to anyone and had such a strong desire for revenge, I thought that if I provoked her, I might be the next one she punished. She might invent some charge to have me expelled. I felt very conflicted, so I silently called on God to give me courage and confidence. I thought of God’s word, “Every church has people who cause trouble for the church or meddle in the work of God. They are all Satans who have infiltrated the house of God in disguise. … These people rampage through the church, spreading their negativity, venting death, doing as they please, saying what they please, and no one dares to stop them. They brim with the disposition of Satan. No sooner do they cause a disturbance than an air of death enters the church. Those within the church who practice the truth are spurned, unable to give their all, while those who disturb the church and spread death run rampage within—and, what’s more, most people follow them. Such churches are ruled by Satan, plain and simple; the devil is their king. If the congregants do not rise up and reject the head demons, then they, too, will sooner or later come to ruin. From now on, measures must be taken against such churches. If those who are capable of practicing a little of the truth do not seek to, then that church will be expunged. If a church contains no one who is willing to practice the truth and no one who can stand witness for God, then that church should be completely isolated, and its connections with other churches must be severed. This is called ‘burying death’; this is what it means to spurn Satan” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth). God’s word gave me courage and strength, and I was no longer afraid. God’s righteous disposition doesn’t tolerate offense, and for those extreme evildoers and antichrists, God has only hatred and disgust! Even if they hold power and run rampant in the church for a while, in the end they are revealed and cast out. God’s words are very clear. When the wicked and antichrists hold power in the church, if no one practices the truth, then these people are condoning the evil forces running rampant in the church. Such a church is ruled by Satan, and if the members don’t repent, they will be forsaken and cast out by God. I was shaken. Zhang Xin was a tyrant in the church, attacking and punishing the brothers and sisters, yet to protect myself, I didn’t stand up to expose and stop it, and I let her and Xiao Liu do evil and disturb church work. I was also standing on Satan’s side and resisting God. I had a share in their evil. Realizing this, I found the courage to expose Zhang Xin for protecting the evildoer, using her position to punish others, and taking the path of the antichrist. After she heard this, Zhang Xin was speechless. She changed the subject immediately, agreed to let Sister Fang back into the church, and then she left.

After that, a couple passages of God’s words gave me some discernment, and I could see Zhang Xin’s essence more clearly. God’s word says, “One of the most obvious characteristics of the essence of an antichrist is that they are like despots running their own dictatorship: They do not listen to anyone, they look down on everyone, and regardless of people’s strengths, or what they say and do, or what insights and opinions they have, they pay no heed; it is as if no one is qualified to work with them, or to take part in anything they do. That is the kind of disposition of an antichrist. Some people say this is being of poor humanity—how could it just be commonplace poor humanity? This is entirely a satanic disposition; this kind of disposition is supremely fierce. Why do I say that their disposition is supremely fierce? Antichrists think of the interests of the house of God and the church as entirely their own, as personal property that should be entirely managed by them, without anyone else interfering. The only things they think about when doing the work of the church are their own interests, their own status, and their own image. They do not allow anyone to harm their interests, much less do they allow anyone who has caliber and is able to speak of their experiences and testimony to threaten their status and prestige. And so, they try to undermine and exclude as competitors those who are able to talk of experiences and testimony, as well as who can fellowship the truth and provide for God’s chosen ones, and they desperately try to isolate them from everyone else, to drag their name through the mud, and to bring them down. Only then will the antichrists feel at peace. … Are they considering the interests of the house of God? No. What are they thinking about? They think only of how to hold on to their own status. Though they know themselves to be incapable of doing real work, they do not cultivate or promote people of good caliber who pursue the truth; the only ones they promote are the people who flatter them, people who are apt to worship others, who praise and admire them in their hearts, people who are smooth operators, who have no understanding of the truth and are incapable of differentiation. The antichrists promote these people to their side to serve them, and they accompany them everywhere they go, and spend each day doing their bidding, which gives the antichrists power in the church, and means many people draw close to them, and follow them, and no one dares to condemn them. All these people whom antichrists cultivate are people who do not pursue the truth. Most of them do not understand spiritual matters and know nothing but rule-following. They like to follow trends and the powers that be. They are of the sort that is emboldened by having a powerful master—a gang of dolts. Antichrists set themselves up as these people’s godfathers, grooming them specifically to do their bidding. Whenever an antichrist is in power in a church, they will always recruit dolts and needlers as their helpers, while excluding and suppressing those people of caliber who can understand and practice the truth, who can take on work—and especially those leaders and workers who are capable of practical work” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Eight (Part One)). “Who are the people an antichrist views as dissenters? At a minimum, they are those who do not take the antichrist seriously as a leader; they are those who do not look up to them or worship them, who treat them as an ordinary person. That is one sort. Then there are those who love the truth, pursue the truth, pursue a change in their disposition, and pursue the love for God; they take a different road from that of an antichrist, and they are dissenters in the antichrist’s eyes. Beyond that, any who dare offer the antichrist their suggestions and expose them, or whose views are different from theirs, are seen by them as dissenters. And there is another sort: those who equal the antichrist in caliber and ability, whose capacity for speech and action is similar to theirs, or whom they see as above them and able to identify them. To an antichrist, this is beyond the pale, a threat to their status. Such people are the antichrist’s greatest dissenters. The antichrist does not dare neglect such people or slacken in the least. They consider them as thorns in their side, and they are vigilant and guarded against them at all times. They avoid them in everything they do. When the antichrist sees that a dissenter is going to identify and expose them, a special panic grips them; they are desperate to exclude and attack such a dissenter, such that they will not be satisfied until they have removed that dissenter from the church. With such a mindset and a heart filled with these things, what sort of things are they capable of? Would they treat these brothers and sisters as enemies, and think of ways to bring them down and get rid of them? They certainly would. Is it not the most evil of deeds that they could do such a thing? Is it not an offense against God’s disposition?” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Two). The nature of antichrists is especially sinister and vicious. To monopolize power and create an independent kingdom, they promote the people they like to be their right-hand men, and if anyone points out their deficiencies, exposes them, or threatens their status, they regard such people as a thorn in their side, attack and exclude them by any means they can, and even expel them from the church. The essence of antichrists is that of evildoers. They are weary of the truth and have no conscience or reason, and no matter how much they punish others, they feel no rebuke. Looking at Zhang Xin’s behavior, as a leader, she didn’t uphold the work of the church at all, and she used her power to cultivate cronies to control the church and attack and exclude dissenters. Xiao Liu was an evildoer and needed to be expelled, but because she defended Zhang Xin, Zhang Xin promoted her and found various reasons to absolve her of her guilt. Yet when Sister Fang pointed out her problems, she held a grudge. When Sister Fang was dismissed, Zhang Xin saw a chance to take revenge, so she did everything possible to clear out Sister Fang from the church. When several other sisters didn’t follow her in condemning Sister Fang, she suppressed and punished them. Zhang Xin was sinister and vicious, she punished anyone who threatened her status or didn’t obey her, and she was a tyrant running rampant in the church who felt no remorse at all. She was an authentic antichrist. After we discerned Zhang Xin, we handed in the report letter.

It didn’t take long for Zhang Xin to take revenge on us. Zhang Xin isolated me at home, saying I was in danger, and because Sister Li and Sister Yuan had discernment of Zhang Xin, she had both of them isolated at home as well. After some time, Zhang Xin framed me and Sister Li for contending for leadership, causing chaos in the church, and being evildoers, and then asked the brothers and sisters to reject us. Some brothers and sisters listened to Zhang Xin’s words without discernment and coldly ignored me when they saw me on the road. When this happened, I felt hurt and wronged. Why, after practicing the truth, were we being suppressed, punished, and framed by the forces of evil, and why could Zhang Xin prosper in the church despite doing evil? Why did the brothers and sisters misunderstand and reject us? I was in pain, I didn’t know how I would walk my path in the future, and I was trapped in negativity. At the gatherings over those days, when the sisters discerned Zhang Xin’s behavior, I didn’t want to speak. I thought, “I stood up to expose Zhang Xin, but never mind that I’ve been suppressed, I’ve been misunderstood by my brothers and sisters as wanting to be a leader. Now I’ve been isolated and suppressed. Who will speak for me? Forget it, I don’t want to worry about church affairs.” I was feeling especially weak, and I was in deep spiritual darkness. In my torment, I knelt before God many times with tears in my eyes and told God, “God! In this environment, I am in pain. Why am I being suppressed and rejected for practicing the truth to protect the interests of the church? God, please guide me, so that I can understand Your will.”

Later, I read in God’s word, “When confronting real-life problems, how should you know and understand God’s authority and His sovereignty? When you are faced with these problems and do not know how to understand, handle, and experience them, what attitude should you adopt to demonstrate your intention to submit, your desire to submit, and the reality of your submission to God’s sovereignty and arrangements? First you must learn to wait; then you must learn to seek; then you must learn to submit. ‘Waiting’ means waiting for the time of God, awaiting the people, events, and things that He has arranged for you, waiting for His will to reveal itself gradually to you. ‘Seeking’ means observing and understanding God’s thoughtful intentions for you through the people, events, and things that He has laid out, understanding the truth through them, understanding what humans must accomplish and the ways they must adhere to, understanding what results God means to achieve in humans and what accomplishments He means to attain in them. ‘Submitting,’ of course, refers to accepting the people, events, and things that God has orchestrated, accepting His sovereignty and, through it, coming to know how the Creator dictates man’s fate, how He supplies man with His life, how He works the truth within man” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III). After contemplating God’s word, I suddenly understood, when things happen that I can’t see clearly, I should have an attitude of submission, learn to seek God’s will, and wait for things to proceed on God’s time. I realized that after we submitted the report letter, there was a process for the upper-level leaders to handle it. Before they could handle it, Zhang Xin would definitely continue to do evil, and attack and exclude dissenters, which was her revealing her evildoer nature. During this period, we had to be patient and wait. This was a necessary part of the process. But I didn’t have the heart to obey and wait, and I didn’t seek to learn lessons in this environment. When I saw that Zhang Xin hadn’t been handled, and I was instead suppressed and condemned, I misunderstood and complained against God, thought God was unjust, and was even disappointed with God. I was so unreasonable!

After that, I prayed to God about my state, and asked God to guide me in knowing His righteous disposition. Then, I read this passage of God’s word. “How do people know and grasp God’s righteous disposition? When the righteous receive His blessings and when the wicked are cursed by Him—they understand these are examples of God’s righteousness. God rewards good and punishes evil, and He recompenses every man according to their deeds. This is correct, but there are at present some events that do not accord with man’s notions, namely, that those who believe in God and worship Him are killed or meet with His curses, or have never been blessed or acknowledged by Him; no matter how much they worship Him, He ignores them. God neither blesses the wicked, nor punishes them, yet they are rich and have many offspring, and all goes well for them; they are successful in everything. Is this God’s righteousness? Some people say, ‘We worship God, yet haven’t gotten blessings from Him, while wicked people who don’t worship God and even resist Him are living better and more prosperously than we do. God isn’t righteous!’ What does this show you? I just gave you two examples. Which one speaks to God’s righteousness? Some people say, ‘They are both manifestations of God’s righteousness!’ Why do they say this? There are principles to God’s actions—it is just that people cannot see them clearly, and being unable to see them clearly, they cannot say that God is not righteous. Man can only see what is on the surface; they cannot see through to things as they are. Therefore, what God does is righteous, however little it accords with man’s notions and imaginings. There are many people who constantly moan that God is not righteous. This is because they do not understand the situation for what it is. It is easy for someone to make mistakes when they are always looking at things in light of their notions and imaginings. People’s knowledge exists among their own thoughts and viewpoints, or within their perspectives on good and evil, on right and wrong, or on logic. When someone sees things from such perspectives, it is easy for them to misunderstand God and to give rise to notions, and that person will resist Him and complain about Him” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). “What would you say—is God’s destruction of Satan an expression of His righteousness? (Yes.) What if He allowed Satan to remain? You dare not say, yes? God’s essence is righteousness. Though it is not easy to comprehend what He does, all that He does is righteous; it is simply that people do not understand. When God gave Peter to Satan, how did Peter respond? ‘Mankind is unable to fathom what You do, but all of what You do contains Your good will; there is righteousness in all of it. How can I not utter praise for Your wisdom and deeds?’ You should now see that the reason God does not destroy Satan in the time of His salvation of man is that humans may see clearly how Satan has corrupted them and the extent to which it has corrupted them, and how God purifies and saves them. Ultimately, when people have understood the truth and clearly seen Satan’s odious countenance, and beheld the monstrous sin of Satan’s corruption of them, God will destroy Satan, showing them His righteousness. Whenever it is that God destroys Satan, God’s disposition and wisdom will be in it. Everything that God does is righteous. Though it might be unfathomable to humans, they should not make judgments at will. If something He does appears to humans as unreasonable, or if they have any notions about it, and that leads them to say that He is not righteous, then they are being most unreasonable. You see that Peter found some things to be incomprehensible, but he was sure that God’s wisdom was present and that His good will was in those things. Humans cannot fathom everything; there are so many things that they cannot grasp” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). As I contemplated God’s word, I realized that in my notions, I believed righteousness means fairness and reasonableness. An evildoer and an antichrist disrupted the work of the church, and since we safeguarded church interests by standing up to expose and report it, God should have watched over us, protected us, and not let us be oppressed, and the evildoer and antichrist should have been expelled immediately. I thought this was God’s righteousness. When I saw that after we wrote the report letter the evildoer and antichrist hadn’t been handled, still held high positions in the church, and isolated and condemned us, I began to have doubts about God’s righteousness, and even unreasonably asked where God’s righteousness was. I was so arrogant! I thought of how, when Peter was tested, he underwent painful refinement. Although he couldn’t fathom what God was doing, he believed that God was righteous no matter what He did, and that there was God’s wisdom in it. This is why he could obey God, and in the end, he had the utmost love for God, obeyed unto death, and produced beautiful testimony. I didn’t understand the truth, but merely based on what little I could see in front of me, I evaluated God’s righteousness from a transactional point of view. When God did things as I wanted, that benefited me, I thought God was righteous, and I could praise God. When I was suppressed by an antichrist, and my future and destiny were involved, I lost faith in God, and even doubted God’s righteousness and denied that the truth and righteousness rule in God’s house. I evaluated God’s righteousness entirely based on whether I could benefit. It was utterly absurd. God is the Creator, God’s essence is righteousness, and God hates evil, which is determined by His essence. Although the church hadn’t expelled the evildoer and antichrist for the time being, that certainly didn’t mean God didn’t despise their actions, it didn’t mean God didn’t despise evil, and it didn’t mean the truth didn’t rule in the church. There was God’s wisdom and good intentions in what was happening. I just didn’t understand it. I had to be reasonable, stand in the place of a created being, submit to God’s sovereign arrangements, pray to God to seek, and wait for His enlightenment and guidance. Once I realized this, my heart brightened, and my misunderstandings of God vanished. I also realized that some brothers and sisters in the church still didn’t discern Zhang Xin. Through these circumstances, little by little, they would all come to see Zhang Xin’s essence clearly. They had to discern her before they could reject her. This environment was very beneficial for developing discernment. After understanding this, I prayed to God to say I wanted to submit to God’s arrangements, and learn lessons in this environment.

Later, in God’s word, I read, “If you wish to be saved, not only must you surpass the hurdle of the great red dragon, and not only must you be able to discern the great red dragon, to see through to its hideous countenance and forsake it utterly—there is also the hurdle of the antichrists for you to surpass. In the church, an antichrist is not only the enemy of God, but also the enemy of God’s chosen people. If you cannot identify an antichrist, you are liable to be deceived and won over, walk the antichrist’s path, and be cursed and punished by God. If that happens, your faith in God has completely failed. What must people possess to be granted salvation? First, they must understand many truths, and be able to identify the essence, disposition, and path of an antichrist. This is the only way to ensure not worshiping or following people while believing in God, and the only way to follow God to the very end. Only people who are able to identify an antichrist can truly believe in, follow, and bear witness for God. Identifying an antichrist is no simple matter, and requires the ability to clearly see their essence, and see through the plots, tricks, and intended goals behind everything they do. That way you will not be deceived or controlled by them, and you can stand firm, safely and securely pursue the truth, and be steadfast on the path of pursuing the truth and attaining salvation. If you cannot identify an antichrist, then it can be said that you are in great danger, and you are liable to be deceived and captured by an antichrist and come to live under Satan’s influence. … So, if you want to get to where you can be granted salvation, the first test you must pass is one of being able to see through Satan, and you must also have the courage to stand up and expose and forsake Satan. Where, then, is Satan? Satan is at your side and all around you; it might even be living inside your heart. If you are living within Satan’s disposition, it can be said that you belong to Satan. You cannot see or touch the Satan and evil spirits of the spiritual realm, but the Satan and living devils that exist in real life are everywhere. Any person who is sick of the truth is evil, and any leader or worker who does not accept the truth is an antichrist or false leader. Are such people not Satans and living devils? These people might be the very ones you worship and look up to; they could be the people who lead you or the people you have long admired, trusted, relied upon, and hoped for in your heart. In fact, however, they are roadblocks standing in your way and hindering you from pursuing the truth and obtaining salvation; they are false leaders and antichrists. They can take control of your life and the path you walk, and they can ruin your chance to be granted salvation. If you fail to identify them and see through them, then at any moment, you could be deceived, captured and taken away by them. Thus, you are in great danger. If you cannot extricate yourself from this danger, you are Satan’s sacrificial victim. Anyway, people who are deceived and controlled, and become the followers of an antichrist can never, ever attain salvation. Because they do not love and pursue the truth, they can be deceived and follow an antichrist. That is the inevitable result” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Three). After contemplating God’s words, I understood God’s will. God allows evildoers and antichrists to appear in the church, and His wisdom is behind this. God is using their disruption and deception to give people discernment so that people can free themselves from Satan’s dark influence and achieve salvation. Zhang Xin suppressed and punished me, and the brothers and sisters misunderstood and rejected me. Although it caused me some suffering, during this process, I practically saw how antichrists deceive and harm people, I gained knowledge and discernment, and I clearly saw that Zhang Xin was an antichrist who hates the truth and is hostile to God. So I no longer felt constrained and controlled by her, and I learned from her failures and was able to avoid taking the wrong path. Wasn’t this all God’s love and salvation? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that God is righteous and wise, and the more I regretted that I didn’t know God’s righteousness. I was oppressed by an antichrist, so I pinned the blame for all the injustice on God, and I misunderstood and complained about God. I was so rebellious. Once I realized this, I felt deeply indebted to God, and I wanted to repent. Exposing false leaders and antichrists is a good and righteous act, and it was my responsibility and obligation. If the evildoers could be exposed and expelled, and the brothers and sisters could have a good church life, even if my brothers and sisters misunderstood me, or I was expelled by the antichrist, there was nothing to regret. I thought of another passage of God’s word, “Wicked men will always be wicked, and will never escape the day of punishment. Good men will always be good, and will be revealed when God’s work comes to an end. Not one of the wicked shall be deemed righteous, nor any one of the righteous deemed wicked. Would I let any man stand wrongfully accused?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Obey God With a True Heart Shall Surely Be Gained by God). God’s words are all too clear. God is righteous, He has mercy and salvation for those who genuinely love Him, and He curses and punishes evildoers and antichrists, which is determined by God’s righteous disposition. Whether or not I am saved is up to God, not the antichrists. Although the church was controlled by the antichrist, and we were suppressed, this was only temporary. God sees everything, the Holy Spirit reveals everything, and sooner or later, the antichrist would be revealed and cast out. Over those days, I often pondered God’s word, and slowly, I felt release in my heart, and I gained confidence in God’s work.

One day, the upper-level leaders arranged two sisters to resolve the chaos in our church. We were very excited, and we thanked God over and over. Unexpectedly, after we truthfully reported Zhang Xin’s evil behavior, she was only dismissed for being a false leader. Although we all resumed church life, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Zhang Xin’s humanity was evil. For status, she habitually punished and suppressed people, and drew in and defended the wicked. She also didn’t accept the truth at all, and she refused to repent. She wasn’t a false leader, she was an authentic antichrist. But then I thought, “If I bring it up, will the brothers and sisters say I am stubbornly refusing to let go of her issues? Forget it, I don’t care. Anyway, she can’t do anything to me now.” With this in mind, I decided not to mention these things anymore. During my devotionals, I read in God’s word that antichrists never repent. I knew Zhang Xin was an antichrist, and if she wasn’t expelled, she would certainly disturb church life and create chaos if she got another chance, and at that time, the brothers and sisters would suffer again. I had to stand up and expose Zhang Xin. I could no longer protect myself. In God’s word, I read, “Once the truth has become life in you, when you observe someone who is blasphemous toward God, unfearful of God, and careless and perfunctory while performing their duty, or who interrupts and interferes with church work, you will respond according to the principles of the truth, and will be able to identify and expose them as necessary. If the truth has not become your life, and you still live within your satanic disposition, then when you discover wicked people and devils who cause interruptions and disturbances to the work of the church, you will turn a blind eye and a deaf ear; you will brush them aside, without reproach from your conscience. You will even think that anyone causing disturbances to the work of the church has nothing to do with you. No matter how much the work of the church and the interests of the house of God suffer, you don’t care, intervene, or feel guilty—which makes you someone who has no conscience or sense, a nonbeliever, a service-doer. You eat what is God’s, drink what is God’s, and enjoy all that comes from God, yet feel that any harm to the interests of the house of God is not related to you—which makes you a traitor who bites the hand that feeds you. If you do not protect the interests of the house of God, are you even human? This is a demon that has insinuated itself into the church. You feign belief in God, pretend to be a chosen one, and you want to freeload in God’s house. You are not living the life of a human being, and are clearly one of the nonbelievers. If you are someone who truly believes in God, then even if you have yet to gain the truth and life, at the very least you will speak and act from the side of God; at the very least, you will not stand idly by when you see the interests of the house of God being compromised. When you have the urge to turn a blind eye, you will feel guilty, and ill at ease, and will say to yourself, ‘I can’t sit here and do nothing, I must stand up and say something, I must take responsibility, I must reveal this evil behavior, I must stop it, so that the interests of the house of God are not harmed, and the church life is not disturbed.’ If the truth has become your life, then not only will you have this courage and resolve, and will you be capable of understanding the matter completely, but you will also fulfill the responsibility you should bear for God’s work and for the interests of His house, and your duty will thereby be fulfilled” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only Those Who Truly Submit to God Have Hearts of Fear for Him). After reading God’s words, I realized it was through God’s guidance that I had some discernment of the evil deeds of Zhang Xin and Xiao Liu. If I didn’t stand up and expose them, I would have no conscience and I would fail to safeguard church work. I could no longer be selfish and despicable by failing to expose Zhang Xin. I thought of an administrative decree, “Do everything that is beneficial to God’s work and nothing that is detrimental to the interests of God’s work. Defend God’s name, God’s testimony, and God’s work” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom). I understood God’s requirements better. As a member of the church, where the work of the church was concerned, I had a responsibility to stand up and protect it. Afterward, the upper-level leaders came to look into the situation. I reported about the evil behaviors of Zhang Xin and Xiao Liu, and the upper-level leaders investigated again to verify things. Through fellowship at a gathering on the truth regarding discerning antichrists, the brothers and sisters all developed discernment. One by one, they exposed and reported the evil deeds of Zhang Xin and Xiao Liu. It was determined that Zhang Xin was an authentic antichrist, and she was expelled from the church. Xiao Liu, after refusing to repent for her excessive evil, was expelled for being an antichrist’s accomplice. Some brothers and sisters deceived by Zhang Xin came to their senses, and they all rejected Zhang Xin and no longer followed her. After that, church life returned to normal. Although there were twists and turns in my reporting of this antichrist, through this antichrist’s suppression, I gained some discernment of antichrists, I gained some insight, I gained some practical experience and knowledge of God’s righteous disposition, and my faith in God grew even more.