By Zhilin, China

Back in 2022, I was hosting waterers in the church and also helping water newcomers part-time. On September 1, many brothers and sisters in our church were arrested, and the waterers I was hosting were also arrested. Because the waterers were arrested, many newcomers had no one to water them, so the leader told me to quickly go support them, to keep them from becoming timid and withdrawing. I thought to myself, “Some newcomers live right where all this occurred, and the arrested waterers had often been in contact with those newcomers. If the newcomers are under police surveillance, I could be followed and arrested if I go to water them. The police are so cruel in torturing people; what if I’m arrested, can’t take the torture, and become a Judas? Being a Judas means going to hell to suffer eternal punishment—then I’d have no outcome.” Thinking about all this, I just didn’t feel like watering the newcomers anymore. There was a newcomer, Sister Xiaohe, who was able to comprehend things rather well. But when she learned the waterers had been arrested, she was too afraid to attend gatherings. Seeing that, I knew I should go support and help her, but then I thought about how Xiaohe was at risk. If I went to water her and then got followed and arrested, what would happen then? Thinking of that, I didn’t dare to go. Because her issue wasn’t resolved for a long time, her state kept getting worse. She remained in timidity and fear, and eventually didn’t even want to believe in God anymore. When I heard this, I felt a bit guilty, “The fact that Xiaohe no longer wants to gather is directly related to me. If I’d fellowshipped with her in time, things might not have come to this.”

During my devotionals, I read God’s words. “Antichrists are extremely selfish and despicable. They do not have true faith in God, much less loyalty to God; when they encounter an issue, they only protect and safeguard themselves. For them, nothing is more important than their own safety. As long as they can live and won’t get arrested, they don’t care how much harm is done to the work of the church. These people are extremely selfish, they don’t think of the brothers and sisters at all, or of the work of the church, they only think of their own safety. They are antichrists. So when such things befall those who are loyal to God and have true faith in God, how do they handle them? How does what they do differ from what antichrists do? (When such things befall those who are loyal to God, they will think of any way to safeguard the interests of the house of God, to protect against losses to the offerings of God, and they will make the necessary arrangements for the leaders and workers, and the brothers and sisters, to minimize losses. Antichrists, meanwhile, make sure they are protected first. They are not concerned about the work of the church or the safety of God’s chosen people, and when the church is faced with arrests, it results in a loss to church work.) Antichrists abandon the work of the church and God’s offerings, and they do not arrange for people to handle the aftermath. This is the same as permitting the great red dragon to seize God’s offerings and His chosen people. Is this not a covert betrayal of God’s offerings and His chosen people? When those who are loyal to God know clearly that an environment is dangerous, they still brave the risk of doing the work of handling the aftermath, and they keep the losses to God’s house to a minimum before they themselves withdraw. They do not give priority to their own safety. Tell Me, in this wicked country of the great red dragon, who could ensure that there is no danger at all in believing in God and doing a duty? Whatever duty one takes on, it entails some risk—yet the performance of duty is commissioned by God, and while following God, one must take on the risk of doing their duty. One should exercise wisdom, and one has need of taking measures to ensure their safety, but one should not put their personal safety first. They should consider God’s intentions, putting the work of His house first and putting the spread of the gospel first. Completing God’s commission of them is what matters most, and it comes first. Antichrists give top priority to their personal safety; they believe that nothing else has anything to do with them. They do not care when something happens to someone else, regardless of who it might be. As long as nothing bad happens to the antichrists themselves, they feel at ease. They are devoid of any loyalty, which is determined by the antichrists’ nature essence” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Two)). “When a loyal person performs their duty they can think a bit more comprehensively and thoroughly. They want to arrange these things as well as they can so that if something goes wrong, the losses are minimized. They feel that they must achieve this result. Someone who lacks loyalty doesn’t consider these things. They think that these things don’t matter, and they don’t treat them as their responsibility or duty. When something goes wrong, they don’t feel any sense of blame. This is a manifestation of a lack of loyalty. Antichrists show no loyalty to God. When they are assigned work, they accept it quite happily, and make some nice declarations, but when danger comes, they run away the fastest; they are the first to run, the first to escape. This shows that their selfishness and despicableness are particularly severe. They have no sense of responsibility or loyalty at all. When faced with a problem, they only know how to flee and how to hide, and think only of protecting themselves, never considering their responsibilities or duties. For the sake of their own personal safety, antichrists consistently display their selfish and despicable nature. They do not prioritize the work of God’s house or their own duties. Even less do they prioritize the interests of God’s house. Instead, they prioritize their own safety” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Two)). “In order to protect themselves, to avoid danger and physical suffering, antichrists adopt a perfunctory attitude toward the work of God’s house and their own duties. They occupy positions without doing actual work. Is this not betraying the interests of God’s house? Is it not disregarding the interests of God’s house, the work of God, and their own responsibilities, in exchange for personal safety? (Yes.) The manifestations we have dissected in this subsection fully expose the selfish and despicable essence of antichrists. What have we primarily fellowshipped about here? Antichrists, out of fear of getting into trouble and in order to preserve themselves, do not fulfill their duties, and show no loyalty to God whatsoever. Is there any truth reality in this manifestation? Is it not a loss of conscience and reason? This is a complete lack of humanity!” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Two)). God says that antichrists are really selfish and despicable, and irresponsible in their duties, and when things happen, they only consider their own safety, not the interests of God’s house. When I compared myself to this, I saw I had the same state. Many waterers were arrested, and the newcomers couldn’t receive watering or support. As a waterer, I should have at least fulfilled my responsibility and helped the newcomers establish a foundation in the true way. But because I was afraid of being arrested and of not being able to withstand torture and becoming a Judas, thereby losing my outcome, I was unwilling to go and water the newcomers. I clearly knew that Sister Xiaohe was in a bad state and I should go water her quickly, but I was afraid I’d be followed and arrested if I contacted her, so I didn’t dare to go. I often said that we should have love and patience for newcomers, but when Xiaohe was timid and afraid to gather, and in urgent need of support and watering, I only thought about my own flesh and future, and continually made excuses and shirked my duty. My behavior was just like that of an antichrist—only caring about my own safety, greedy for life and afraid of death. I truly was so selfish and despicable! Xiaohe was now living in negativity and weakness, and even wanted to retreat—this was caused by a dereliction of duty on my part. I felt guilty and that I’d let God down. I hadn’t fulfilled my responsibility at the critical moment and delayed a newcomer’s life entry. In God’s eyes, this was a transgression. Realizing how serious my problem was, I came before God in prayer, “God, because I feared being arrested, I only considered my own safety and failed to water the newcomers. God, I have failed You and am unworthy to live before You. I am willing to repent. Please enlighten and guide me to understand the corrupt essence within me, so that when I face such situations again, I can rebel against the flesh, fulfill my duty, and have no regrets.”

Later, I watched the movie On a Mission, and one passage of God’s word in it really touched me. Almighty God says: “Has it ever occurred to you how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How can He bear to see innocent mankind, whom He created with His own hands, suffering such torment? Human beings, after all, are the victims who have been poisoned. And although man has survived to this day, who would have known that mankind has long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you are one of the victims? Are you not willing to strive, out of your love for God, to save all these survivors? Are you not willing to devote all of your energy to repaying God, who loves mankind like His own flesh and blood? When all is said and done, how would you interpret being used by God to live your extraordinary life? Do you really have the resolve and confidence to live the meaningful life of a pious, God-serving person?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. How Should You Attend to Your Future Mission?). Seeing God’s questions one after another, I felt how anxious God’s heart is. The great red dragon is madly persecuting the church and arresting its members. With nobody watering the newcomers, some will become timid and want to retreat. God hopes we can be considerate of His intentions, and actually pay a price to support and water these newcomers well. I also saw that after the main character in the movie was arrested, she was still concerned about the newcomers’ states. She feared the newcomers would be disturbed by the police and retreat, and so after escaping the police station, she did all she could to support and water them. Through fellowshipping with them, they came to understand the truth, gained knowledge of God’s work, developed discernment toward the wickedness of the great red dragon, and gained faith to follow God. She truly had a sense of burden in her duty. She only thought about the church’s work, not her own safety. Comparing myself to her, I felt deeply ashamed. I hadn’t even been arrested yet, and I clearly knew Xiaohe was afraid of being arrested and dared not gather, and that I should promptly fellowship with her and support her, but I was afraid that contacting her would bring danger upon myself, so I kept making excuses to shirk it. As a result, her problems weren’t resolved, and she even wanted to retreat. I truly lacked conscience and was unworthy to live before God. So I silently made a resolution: “From now on, I mustn’t only care about my own fleshly interests. I must find ways to water the newcomers well and comfort God’s heart.”

Later on, I read more of God’s words: “When people are ready to sacrifice their lives, everything becomes trifling, and no one can get the better of them. What could be more important than life? Thus, Satan becomes incapable of doing any more in people, there is nothing it can do with man. Although, in the definition of the ‘flesh’ it is said that the flesh is corrupted by Satan, if people truly give themselves over, and are not driven by Satan, then no one can get the better of them—and at this moment, the flesh will perform its another function, and begin to formally receive the direction of the Spirit of God. This is a necessary process, it must happen step-by-step; if not, God would have no means of working in the stubborn flesh. Such is the wisdom of God” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Interpretations of the Mysteries of “God’s Words to the Entire Universe,” Chapter 36). I also thought of what the Lord Jesus said: “Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:33). We believe in God—this is walking the right path in life. The great red dragon is wicked and savage. It arrests and persecutes us, not letting us believe in or follow God. If I can risk my own life, even if I really do get arrested, I’d rather die than betray God. If I can achieve this, Satan will be humiliated and retreat. If you can bear witness for God, then even if your flesh really is tortured to death, your soul will still be saved. If I don’t do my duty because I am clinging to life and fearing death in the hope of protecting myself, even if I’m not arrested, then I’ll be standing on the side of Satan and will have lost my testimony, and in the end, my spirit, soul, and body will still be destroyed. I silently prayed to God, “God, please give me faith and strength, so that no matter what situation I face, even if I face death, I will still uphold my duty.”

After that, I began to have a sense of burden for watering newcomers. Each time I went to water a newcomer, I’d earnestly pray to God, asking Him to lead and guide me

and give me faith and strength so that I wouldn’t be constrained by my situation. Because some newcomers seemed to be under surveillance, some were timid and too scared to attend gatherings, and others didn’t have a suitable host home to gather in, I was really anxious. In such a dangerous situation, how was I to water the newcomers well? How could I arrange for them to gather in groups? I thought of what the Lord Jesus said: “Be you therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). “When they persecute you in this city, flee you into another” (Matthew 10:23). I realized that in dire situations, we must do our duties on a foundation of safety. It was best not to go to risky places under surveillance for the time being. I could invite newcomers to safer host homes for watering. After that, I started inviting the newcomers out to gather. I realized that one reason for their timidity and fear was that they didn’t understand why God permits the great red dragon to persecute us, and because they didn’t know what God wants to perfect in us through this situation. So I fellowshipped with them on this aspect of the truth. We read several passages of God’s words. “The manifestations of the great red dragon are resistance to Me, lack of understanding and comprehension of the meanings of My words, frequent persecution of Me, and seeking to use schemes to disrupt My management. Satan is manifested as follows: struggling with Me for power, wanting to possess My chosen people, and releasing negative words to mislead My people. … The great red dragon I speak of is not a big red dragon; rather it is the evil spirit in opposition to Me, for which the ‘great red dragon’ is a synonym. So, all the spirits other than the Holy Spirit are evil spirits, and can also be said to be the offspring of the great red dragon. This should all be crystal clear to everyone” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 96). “God intends to use a portion of the work of evil spirits to perfect a portion of humanity, enabling these people to see completely through the devils’ iniquities, that all humanity may truly know their ‘ancestors.’ Only in this way can humans break completely free, not only forsaking the posterity of the devils, but even the devils’ ancestors. This is God’s true purpose in utterly defeating the great red dragon, to make it so that all humanity knows the great red dragon’s true form, to tear its mask off fully and to look upon its true form. This is what God wants to achieve, it is the final goal of all the work He has done on earth, and it is what He aims to accomplish in all humanity. This is known as mobilizing all things to serve God’s purpose” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Interpretations of the Mysteries of “God’s Words to the Entire Universe,” Chapter 41). “In the nation of the great red dragon, I have carried out a stage of work unfathomable to human beings, causing them to sway in the wind, after which many quietly drift away with the blowing of the wind. Truly, this is the ‘threshing floor’ I am about to clear; it is what I yearn for and it is also My plan. For many evil ones have crept in while I am at work, but I am in no hurry to drive them away. Rather, I shall disperse them when the time is right. Only after that shall I be the fountain of life, allowing those who truly love Me to receive from Me the fruit of the fig tree and the fragrance of the lily. In the land where Satan sojourns, the land of dust, there remains no pure gold, only sand, and so, meeting with these circumstances, I do such a stage of work. You should know that what I gain is pure, refined gold, not sand. How can the evil remain in My house? How can I allow foxes to live as parasites in My paradise? I employ every method to drive them away. Before My intentions are revealed, no one is aware of what I am about to do. Taking this opportunity, I drive away those evil ones, and they are forced to leave My presence” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Seven Thunders Peal—Prophesying That the Gospel of the Kingdom Shall Spread Throughout the Universe). I fellowshipped with the newcomers in light of God’s words, “The great red dragon is the evil spirit that’s hostile to God. It is bent on opposing God, and on disturbing and disrupting His work. Why does the great red dragon persecute us for believing in God? It’s because its essence is one of hating God. God wants to work to save us, while it hates that we follow God, so it arrests, persecutes, and hinders us from believing in God. Its goal is to make us turn away from God and lose God’s salvation. If we are too afraid to believe in God or read His words, we will have fallen for the great red dragon’s trick. God uses the great red dragon in His work as a foil and as a service object, and through its mad persecution and arrests, we are able to gain discernment. At the same time, this reveals all kinds of people, and separates the true believers from the false, and the wheat from tares. Those who truly believe in God can rely on Him and seek the truth in dangerous circumstances, and by experiencing the great red dragon’s persecution, they see how wicked and malicious it is. They thereby come to hate it from the heart and rebel against it, and they are able to pursue the truth and stand firm in their testimony. But those who seek to eat their fill of loaves only want peace and safety in the flesh, and for there to be no disasters or misfortune in their faith. When they see the great red dragon arresting believers, they become timid and afraid, and they don’t dare to eat or drink God’s words or continue believing. These people are revealed and eliminated. Therefore, those who truly believe and those who falsely believe are revealed through the great red dragon’s arrests and persecution. The more the great red dragon persecutes and arrests us, the more we should pray to God, asking Him to give us the faith and wisdom to experience His work. We must also equip ourselves with the truth, discern the great red dragon, and persevere in our faith and in our duties. In this way, Satan is humiliated, and we stand firm in our testimony. Through this kind of real experience, we understand and gain some truths and learn to discern good from evil, we see that everything God does is for our salvation, and we gain even more faith to experience God’s work.” One of them said, “It’s so good that God works this way. He uses the great red dragon’s arrests and persecution to perfect people, using these arrests as a way to ‘winnow’ and reveal people, eliminating the evil ones who don’t truly believe in Him, and preserving those who truly believe and can stand firm in their testimony amid trials. If we’re too scared to gather or read God’s words when arrests come, that’s not sincere faith. We’d just be revealed and eliminated, wouldn’t we? Now I understand: The more rampant the great red dragon is, the more we should gather and pursue the truth to understand God’s intentions. That’s how we humiliate Satan.” The other two newcomers also shared their understanding. Seeing that they understood God’s intention and were willing to gather, I felt very joyful, and from my heart, I thanked God for His guidance. I also came to understand that the more rampant the great red dragon is, the more we must seize the time to water the newcomers well. By cooperating in such a real way, we can gain the work of the Holy Spirit, and come to see God’s deeds in our experiences and gain greater faith to do our duties. Later, I fellowshipped with other newcomers, and most were willing to come out and attend gatherings. Some even began doing duties. As for Xiaohe, the leader went and fellowship with her, and through fellowship and support, she too became willing to come out and attend gatherings.

In November 2023, the leader assigned me to go to a church that had just experienced arrests to water the newcomers. At first, I had some concerns, thinking, “Why are they sending me? I go past surveillance cameras every day; what if I get arrested?” But I quickly realized that this situation had been allowed by God, and that it was a test from God. I thought of God’s words. “Without God’s permission, without God determining for it to happen, would misfortune or evil demons dare approach you? (No.) Both the material world and the spiritual realm are under God’s control, sovereignty, and arrangement. No matter what a little demon wants to do, without God’s permission, would it dare harm even a single hair on you? It wouldn’t dare, would it? (No, it wouldn’t.) It wants to touch you and harm you, but if God doesn’t allow it, it won’t dare. If God allows it, saying, ‘Stir up a few circumstances around them and bring them ill fortune and problems,’ then the little demon will be happy and start acting against you. If you have faith in God and you overcome it, standing firm in your testimony, not denying or betraying God, not letting it succeed, then when the little demon comes before God, it won’t be able to accuse you anymore, God will gain glory from you, and He’ll lock up the little demon. It won’t dare to harm you again, and you will be safe. This is the genuine faith you should have, believing that everything is in God’s hands. Without God’s permission, no unlucky or bad thing will come to you” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (15)). I realized that God is sovereign over everything. Whether it’s the material world, the spiritual realm, or the great red dragon, all are under God’s control. If God didn’t allow it, the great red dragon couldn’t capture me, but if God allowed me to be arrested, I was willing to submit. Even if I was arrested, I would rely on God and pray for God to grant me the faith to experience His work and to stand firm in my testimony in this situation. Once I understood these things, I gladly agreed.

When I arrived at the church, I learned that there was a newcomer with good caliber who could be cultivated, but because she’d been in contact with people who had been arrested, she hadn’t gathered for a long time. Thinking about my past failure, I knew that this time, I couldn’t be selfish and despicable, only concerned about my own safety like I was before, that I had to have a sense of burden and support the newcomer, and that I couldn’t have any regrets again. Afterward, the waterers and I figured out a way to arrange gatherings for the newcomer. Through fellowship and support, she became willing to attend gatherings and do her duties. I thanked God for His guidance from my heart!