Introduction

Good day to you all. Let us turn to 2 Samuel, chapter 10. Recently, I have observed some growth in myself. Firstly, I am more accurate in identifying the key points when studying the Scriptures. Secondly, I believe my linguistic style has improved somewhat. 2 Samuel, chapter 10—the theme of this chapter is worth contemplating. I have designated the theme as Victory in Battle is God's Will. In my ministry, I often encounter a very peculiar phenomenon: when a minor demon is cast out, a larger one appears after some time; when this larger demon is expelled, an even greater one arrives; however, after expelling the greatest demon, one might expect an even more formidable one to appear, but no, the demons cease their attacks.

Victory in battle is God's will. This is very miraculous. I am inherently a person with a victorious mindset, not one that has been cultivated later in life. Since childhood, I have enjoyed figuring things out. Although my knowledge was limited when I was young, I possessed a victorious character in my bones! Brothers and sisters, if you have children in your family, you must begin to cultivate a victorious character in them. As for whether it can be successfully cultivated, training will certainly be better than no training! If it is yourself, you must begin to cultivate a victorious character, because this character is God's will.

Nothing can spontaneously bring tranquility to your surroundings. Some people say, I feel very peaceful; I feel that everything is fine! I say, That is not the case. If it is not acquired through victory, then it is all false. Chinese Mingding Destiny is a theology of spiritual victory; it is about triumphing in the spiritual realm. This applies to demons as it does to people; battles between people are, in essence, battles in the spiritual realm, battles between spirits. I wish to emphasize that victory in battle is a very important character trait in a person.

In the past, I ministered to a person with pain in his arm. Later, he was able to lift it, but I found that I was unable to lift my arm. What should be done in such a situation? Are there similar situations among us? There are many possible explanations. Some might explain it this way: See, as soon as you cast out a demon, it jumps onto you. Others might have a different explanation: See if you dare to play games with me again! I will destroy you! These are two different mentalities. Some people say, Oh no! I cannot continue; if I do, I will be ruined!

When I encounter cancer patients, I encourage them to serve others. Why? Because serving is the beginning of victory. Some people experience many discomforts after serving. How do you interpret this? Serving worsens the illness, and then one is unable to serve. This is called a character of failure! A character that does not triumph in battle is extremely attractive to demons! However, my inherent character is: You dare to play games with me! Can you afford to play? You cannot! I also have a good character trait: I like to figure things out, to contemplate whether something is the word of God. If it is not the word of God, then forget it!

When I was in the local church, the pastor told me, Be careful when you lay hands to pray, because as soon as you lay hands, the demons will jump onto you. How can this be explained? I do not believe such things. Others say, You cannot cast out demons, because you are not perfect enough; you have many gaps in your armor. Have you heard this said? I think this is nonsense. When I first believed in the Lord, did I have many gaps in my armor? I had many—so many that they were like sieve holes. Demons entered and exited as if walking on level ground. It sounds sinister! However, many people explain it this way.

Victory in battle is an important truth in Chinese Mingding Destiny! God has predestined us to be victorious! There was a sister who had a very serious problem with discerning good and evil. Did she want to discern good and evil? Not really. Who has the leisure to discern good and evil? But she could not change! How many among us cannot change? I have good news for you: I choose to trust you! Someone said, Who does not want to be victorious? Surely everyone wants to be victorious!

I attended a prayer meeting in a pastoral district. One sister was in a terrible state. She discerned good and evil, and then she felt miserable. When she felt miserable, she discerned good and evil again, never achieving victory. I asked her to reflect on what had happened. She wrote three words: No victory! I want to tell everyone: God's will is for you to be victorious! Do you believe it? Sometimes we really need faith. As pastors, we must, on the one hand, severely discipline them; on the other hand, we must give them faith, so that their faith is no longer built on themselves, but on God. Building faith in their pastors—this is something I do very well! Therefore, in my ministry, although the spiritual world is filled with countless demons, I enter the demons' camp as if it were unoccupied territory. That is called victory!

No One Willingly Submits

When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maakah and Zobah. They hired thirty-two thousand chariots and all their fighting men. They came and camped in front of Medeba, while the Ammonites were gathering their forces from their towns and preparing for battle. On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. The Ammonites marched out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance to their city, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country. (2 Samuel 10:6-8)

No one willingly submits, nor do demons willingly submit. Do you think many people are willing to submit? In truth, no one is willing to submit. For example, the Arameans offered tribute to David in the form of real gold and silver, paying David according to their means each year. Otherwise, where would David get his money? Even if his own money was insufficient, they would not subsidize him. David was not the central government. If you did not pay, he would come and beat you! Therefore, that is where David's money came from. He collected protection money. David was the law.

No one wants to willingly submit. This year's payment is followed by another one next year, and the year after that. Each time they pay, they curse in their hearts, Why is no one paying tribute to me? Why do I have to pay tribute to others! No one likes this. I certainly do not. I like submitting to God. If Ammon and Aram were both from old Ya's family, and then all the surrounding countries had to pay tribute to David, each tribute payment would surely be accompanied by curses against David: You rascal, why can't I beat you? Why can't I make David pay tribute to me? But if you cannot beat him, you have to pay him tribute, do you not? Are these people not thinking of rebellion every day? Once they rebel, David will go and quell their rebellion.

Let us not speak of the king of Ammon or the king of Aram. Even in the Chinese borderlands, An Lushan of the Tang Dynasty, guarding the frontier, was also a self-important warlord who did not listen to the emperor. That was rebellion! The victor is king, the defeated are bandits. That is how it is. Do you think this is not the truth of God? This is the truth of God. God's will is for us to be victorious, but you must know that to be victorious, you must have a victorious character; to have a victorious character, you must have the capital to be victorious, and that is God. If you trust in God, God will surely help you and make you victorious.

How has David managed to survive all these years? He has relied on God to walk all the way. David's survival has been hard-earned! David relied on God to subdue the surrounding countries, and as a result, the borders were very peaceful. However, even if the surrounding countries had all submitted and were paying tribute, David must clearly understand in his heart that no one is willing to submit. In fact, it is the same in the church. Brothers and sisters, those who have not fought each other do not count. One brother among us told me, If you want to minister to this person, you must be able to hold this person down. This is very interesting! Pastoring cannot be built on an equal relationship; it must be a hierarchical relationship.

War Can Break Out At Any Time

In the situation David was in, could war break out at any time? Yes! Some of the countries that had submitted to David had long wanted to rebel. It was not a matter of a day or two; they had long disliked this arrangement. Then something happened. The king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. The king changed, and a new ruler brings new policies. After the person changes, should the son continue to pay tribute? That is another matter. David sent envoys, saying:

David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent his envoys to express sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s envoys arrived in the land of the Ammonites, (2 Samuel 10:2)

David wanted to treat Hanun kindly, but they did not want to treat David kindly. They had already submitted to you; why should they treat you kindly? Therefore, war can break out at any time. Our battles in the spiritual world are the same; we must all be prepared. Hanun had long harbored great dissatisfaction in his heart: Why should I pay you tribute? My father paid you tribute; must I also pay you tribute? David sent several envoys to the Ammonites to express sympathy and condolences.

But the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you? Isn’t he sending them to explore the city and spy it out so he can overthrow it?” (2 Samuel 10:3)

The latter part of this statement is doubtful, because if he wanted to overthrow it, he would have done so long ago. This king of the Ammonites was also quite foolish. He had the beards of David's envoys shaved off halfway, and their trousers cut off halfway. Nowadays, young people cut their jeans in half, turning them into shorts. In David's time, cutting them off halfway would leave them without a crotch. Would they not be exposed? David's servants, because their trousers had been cut off halfway, were all wearing miniskirts, which was very eye-catching and offensive! Like the young people of the 1990s and 2000s today, they do not wear their trousers properly and insist on tearing holes in them: it is unacceptable for others to expose us, but it is all right for us to expose ourselves.

David's servants were humiliated. Would there be trouble? Certainly! That was a clear declaration of war, implying, See what you can do! Was this not stirring up trouble for no reason? Things often go wrong when they should not. It is the same in life. After the servants returned, David was embarrassed, so he had them stay in Jericho until their beards grew back and were properly groomed before returning. He told them not to forget that they could no longer wear those half-cut trousers and had to find long trousers.

Why did Hanun do that? People all have aspirations, and this is called international relations, international politics. International relations are like children playing house. Children can turn against each other quickly, but not as quickly as countries turn against each other. When I was young, China and Vietnam were like brothers. Was that really the case? It doesn't seem like it! In 1975, they were still resisting America and aiding Vietnam. By 1979, it had become a self-defense counterattack. That's how quickly things can change.

So, battles can break out at any time. What should we do? We must be prepared! Our brothers and sisters must usually prepare well for the ability, character, and faith to win battles. How do we prepare? Am I not teaching you? After listening, you must prepare well, have faith in the word of God, because winning battles is absolutely God's will. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of evidence of victory. I'm most afraid of people asking me: Isaac's well was seized, why didn't he fight? I can't answer such questions. I can only say: different times, different circumstances. At this time, David had already established the nation of Israel, which was centered on God, and God made David victorious. Winning battles is God's will and God's predestination for us, so don't be afraid!

In the spiritual realm, fighting with demons, do you think Old Ma and I are good friends and will always be good friends? That won't work! The devil sends money today and sends money tomorrow, but after a while, he will rebel, and there will be another round of battles. We have to fight the demons round after round! So, battles can break out at any time, and we must prepare ourselves. This time, the preparation must have a breakthrough in understanding. We must clearly know in our understanding how to win battles.

Battles can break out at any time, and economic crises can break out at any time. We must be prepared at all times. Don't just kick the bucket, that would be troublesome. Our brothers and sisters must begin to prepare, be healthy financially, not overspend, and not use excessive leverage. Otherwise, when problems arise, you're dead meat. Because battles can break out at any time, we must practice at all times. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were practicing with their household servants at all times.

When the battle broke out, Hanun, the new king of the Ammonites, recruited those who paid tribute to David and said to them: Why are you paying tribute to him? The Arameans of Zobah, let's form an eight-nation alliance or even a three-nation alliance, fight David, and then we won't have to pay tribute to him anymore, but David will have to pay tribute to us. This pie is drawn well, and the vision is good, which is called idealistic and impractical. Can you win? Fortunately, David was prepared! Hanun began to deploy troops to destroy David's dynasty.

Brothers and sisters, you must know how much the devil wants to destroy us, wanting to destroy us today, wanting to destroy us tomorrow, never stopping. Many years ago, once when I was casting out demons, the demon spoke to me: I'll reveal a piece of information, our bosses, the bigger demons, are having a meeting. I said: What kind of meeting? The demon said: A meeting to discuss destroying you! I quickly organized people, you deployed troops and held meetings, and we also gathered for 72-hour prayer meetings, covering everything, and then the demon spoke again: Ah, you came too fast!

Battles can break out at any time, so we must be prepared at all times. Brothers and sisters should begin to prepare a kind of ambition. If at three o'clock in the morning, you get a call asking you to get up and fight, will you? Yes! Because after winning, the devil will pay tribute to you! Battles can break out at any time, today's victory is exchanged for yesterday's battle; tomorrow's victory is exchanged for today's battle, start preparing yourself to fight the devil in the spiritual realm! For this battle, David summoned his two marshals: Joab and Abishai, who were two of David's most powerful generals.

Be strong and be men

Our brothers and sisters, never develop the habit of losing battles, be strong and be men.

When Joab saw that the battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. The rest of the men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, that he might array them against the Ammonites. (2 Samuel 10:9-10)

Then Joab told them:

Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the city of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him. (2 Samuel 10:12)

Joab was able to say such words, quite a remarkable man! Victory is God's will, but we must have the character to be strong and be men! The operation of the spiritual realm is similar to what we see in our lives. For example, some people are afraid of dogs. You will find that dogs can sense people's aura. If I walk towards a vicious dog, the dog will avoid me, but if other people walk towards it, the vicious dog sees: Ah, this person is afraid of me, I will rush up and kill him! So, the more you are afraid of dogs, the more they will chase you.

Some time ago, when we were passing by a place, a dog rushed out. One of our sisters was wearing high heels and ran away, scaring me. Fortunately, she ran faster than me. Because the dog would stop when it got to me. So, we must all be strong, why be afraid of dogs? If it really doesn't work, you can train with the dog at home: I can't deal with you! If it really doesn't work, wear protective gear on your legs and feet every day, and be prepared to fight it; anyway, that dog is so small, put on steel-toed shoes, and when it comes over, kick it unconscious, and it will never dare to come forward again!

Some brothers and sisters are quite interesting. When it's time to stay in a hotel, I say: Let's stay there. A sister said: I'm not going. I thought for a long time and didn't know why she wasn't going. I found out that someone had died in that room. As I see it, I didn't take it seriously when it was alive, would I take it seriously when it's dead? We must develop a victorious character, be strong and be men!.

There are many examples of this kind of character. One day I went to cast out demons for a cancer patient. After I finished casting out the demons, he asked me to send the idols from his home to the temple. Even if I sent them to the temple, I wouldn't be afraid. After completing the formalities, I sent them over. I thought for the sake of the person being served, I'll just do it! Originally, I thought of a way: I could throw them in the trash on the way! Then he came back to ask me: Did you send them? I said: I sent them! Later, I thought about it and decided not to do that, because after doing that, he would still be thinking about it in his heart.

Brothers and sisters, we must be strong and be men, victory is God's will, what do you really care about? People like me, dogs avoid, and demons will also avoid. When they see me, they say: This kid is here, run away! Brothers and sisters, be like me, be strong and be men, because victory is God's will. Did you win in the end? You won.

And Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Arameans; and they fled before him. And when the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, then they also fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. But when the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. (2 Samuel 10:13-15)

The Arameans and Ammonites mobilized more troops to fight David. David personally led the troops up and defeated them.

And the Arameans fled before Israel; and David killed of the Arameans seven hundred charioteers, and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shophach the commander of their army. (2 Samuel 10:18)

After they were defeated, there was a word that was well said：

And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore. (2 Samuel 10:19)

Only victory can make people submit, and only victory can make demons submit. If you don't hold down the demons, they will take advantage of you. Our brothers and sisters know that victory is God's will, what else is there to be afraid of? What we should fear is not walking in God's will! If you don't walk in God's will, Old Ma will come and mess with you. Once in a chat, Old Ma said to me: I haven't lost a battle in the past two thousand years, but I actually lost to you! After being defeated, Old Ma started helping me collect garbage, and I outsourced the garbage collection to Old Ma.

Brothers and sisters, when we have this victorious character, demons will submit, people will also submit, and many problems will disappear! The way I see many things is with spiritual eyes. A few days ago, when a sister was working, her thumb bent back and couldn't return, becoming a trigger finger. It was very painful to get it back. In fact, this situation is related to the fear inside the person. Later, I prayed with her and it was fine. I took a video and sent it out: Look, this thumb is fine, but it will come back again.

Although the Ammonites were defeated, they will regroup, and we must keep them down; this is the same in pastoring! If you have never held him down, it is difficult to pastor him. People think: With your ability, you can't beat me, why should I listen to you? You must have the capital to pastor, victory is the most critical character, only victory can make people submit! Victory is very important, if you list the problems on your body, and overcome them one by one, it will be extremely good!

May God bless everyone!