Today we are studying 1 Kings, Chapter 19. The theme is: Lies Make Us Weak, but God Makes Us Strong.

Lies Are Powerful

Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me severely if, by this time tomorrow, I have not made your life like the life of one of them.” (1 Kings 19:1–2)

Lies are powerful. Once a lie enters a person’s heart, it sounds reasonable whichever way he looks at it. To Jezebel, killing a person was no different from crushing an ant. She had killed many people, and she always used others to do the killing. She sent someone to see Elijah. Why not simply send someone to kill him and be done with it? No. She said, “By this time tomorrow.”

Why did Jezebel do that? It is strange. To this day, I have not worked it out. However clever people may be, their hearts are in God’s hands. Jezebel, too, was under God’s control. By acting this way, was she not plainly saying, “By this time tomorrow”? Why not kill Elijah at this time today and finish the matter?

Yet this lie really did enter Elijah’s heart. Elijah began to think, “By this time tomorrow?” If he had thought it through, as I have just explained, he would have asked, “Why not kill me at this time today? You even sent someone to tell me. Here I am, waiting for you. By this time tomorrow, I could have run off anywhere. Where would you find me?” That is how powerful this lie was. It entered Elijah’s heart.

Jezebel could kill someone as easily as crushing an ant. But was she not rather too confident about crushing Elijah? First, she sent him notice: “By this time tomorrow, I will have you killed.” Is it so easy to make someone die? Do you think Jezebel really had the final say? In human eyes, of course, Jezebel appeared formidable. In the kingdom of Israel, she wielded unchecked power, much like Empress Dowager Cixi in her day, crushing someone as easily as an ant. Do you see how powerful this lie was? Whichever way you heard it, it sounded convincing. But was it reasonable?

Today, we often believe lies. These lies appear entirely real. But let me tell you: one part of that picture is not true. A person’s life is in God’s hands. If God does not permit you to die, dying is difficult.

A few days ago, while I was leading prayer, the husband of one of our sisters was still stubbornly holding on. He was skin and bones and had great difficulty breathing, yet he could not draw his final breath. There is a time to be born and a time to die. That cannot be changed. Never assume that a person’s life is in the hands of his boss, the police, a queen, or a king. That is not how it works.

I once told a very interesting story. A preacher’s son came to Singapore to study theology, and he told me what had happened in his family. His father had been arrested for being a preacher. The local official was about to sign his death sentence when someone outside shouted, “Disaster! There is a flood!” The floodwaters had breached the embankment, and the whole village was about to be submerged. The official had to put down his pen and attend to the disaster. The sentence was not signed.

After dealing with the flood, the official took out the file again to sign it. Then something else happened. His family sent word: “Your mother is critically ill!” He went home to care for her, and she later died. After settling her funeral arrangements, some time passed. Once again, he picked up his pen, ready to sign. This time, the police arrived and arrested him on the spot. You may hold office today; who will hold it tomorrow, nobody knows. You may appear to command everything, as though the whole world revolves around you. There is no such thing!

Later, this man was put in prison, in the very same cell as our brother’s father. In that cell, he recalled those three incidents. As the two men spoke, they realised, “You are that man!” God truly exists! You cannot decide another person’s life. You do not even know whose hands your own life is in. Without God’s permission, Pilate could not have had Jesus nailed to the cross.

No lie can stand before God. People often believe lies and imagine that their boss controls their destiny. But however powerful the boss may be, he is not more powerful than God. Who controls his destiny? God! Never believe lies. It looked as though Jezebel controlled Elijah’s life, but she could not kill him at all. Ahab had searched for Elijah for two or three years without finding him. Even when they met, nothing happened to Elijah. Yet Elijah believed the lie and thought his life could no longer be preserved. Not only did Elijah believe this lie; he believed another one as well.

He himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came to a broom tree—a small tree of the pine family—and sat down under it. He asked that he might die, saying, “Enough, LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” (1 Kings 19:4)

The lies came one after another. When had Elijah ever been better than his ancestors? If God had wanted to take your life, He would have taken it long ago! Do you think God would endorse your claim? “I am no better than my ancestors.” So he had thought he was quite something! Once a person thinks he is quite something, trouble follows. Try it and see. Suddenly, you think you are extraordinary, and then you cannot sleep, cannot move your bowels, cannot urinate, cannot breathe, and cannot eat.

People must know their limits. Elijah had just called down fire from heaven, and the Israelites were stirred up by everything they had seen him do. Elijah himself became puffed up. The moment he became puffed up, he became weak! When we are strong, we become weak; when we are weak, we become strong. When were you ever better than your ancestors? Never!

Elijah was an ordinary man, a very ordinary man whom God used. “I am far better than my ancestors.” Yet one sentence from Jezebel, and he went limp. God was directing events to teach Elijah his limits. Elijah was only an ordinary man. When an ordinary man needs to be weak, he must be weak. Once he becomes strong and his pride rises sky-high, God sends Jezebel to frighten him. Would you not say God was directing this?

Which brother or sister among us today has a life that is not in God’s hands? Even when a demon comes to trouble you, God is still directing matters. Lies are powerful. You must know that your life is in God’s hands, and God is more powerful than lies.

Even the Great Prophet Elijah Was Weakened by Lies

He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts, because the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:10)

Lies form one snare after another. “They are seeking to take my life.” But can they take it? “I alone am left.” Is that really so? Enough, enough. Forget it. I have served God until I am utterly discouraged. In this age, there are many lies about serving God.

Once, a senior pastor from a traditional church said to me, “Why did I get brain cancer? Look, as a pastor, I take only one day off a week. This illness came from exhaustion. I exhausted myself serving God.” Good heavens! My eyes opened wide. Do you see how powerful this lie is? “I got brain cancer because serving God exhausted me.” Is that what happened? No.

I asked, “Why are you so tired?” He said, “Look, I am responsible for dozens of small groups. We have dozens of small-group leaders, and every three years we replace the whole batch.” I asked, “Why replace them every three years?” He said, “Because they all burn out.” That means they are burnt to a crisp. I was astonished. What sort of thinking produces such words? I often hear the same language in local churches: “burnout”, being worn down by serving. Rarely do I hear, “The way I am doing this is wrong.”

A few days ago, I caught a cold and had a runny nose. Many brothers and sisters said, “Look, Teacher, you have worn yourself out with work.” Had I worn myself out? Actually, my temper was bad. I really must change this temper. Please bear with me. I am working hard to change, but I have not done it well. During those days with the cold, I could not get out of bed all day. I said, “God, You are so good! I can see very clearly the weaknesses and faults in me. Come, deal with them thoroughly! I repent. I will change!”

Even a great prophet believed lies. “You are the only one left in the world.” How did you know? Elijah did not know either. His conclusion was this: he had killed the 450 prophets of Baal, yet those seven thousand who had not bowed their knees to Baal had not clicked “Like”. Why had nobody clicked “Like”? Such a good video—the killing of Baal’s 450 prophets—and not a single “Like”! It must be only me! How could something so great get no traffic? The lie entered. Were the things he said facts? Yes. Did Jezebel want to kill him? Yes. Had he failed to see those seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal giving him a “Like”? Yes. But could those facts support his conclusion? Nonsense!

Such a great prophet, and suddenly he could not cope. He complained. His emotions took over. He walked a day’s journey, came to a broom tree, sat down under it, and asked to die. Surely dying was easy enough. Why run away? Why not wait there for Jezebel to come? Send someone to say, “Jezebel, I am here. I want to die. Come. I want to be a martyr for the Lord!” “God, take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” When were you ever better? You never were. That was a lie. He became weak and tired. “I am the only one left serving God, and people are trying to take my life. Forget it. What power of God? Enough of that!”

An angel came and tapped Elijah. “Get up and eat some bread.” Elijah looked, and there really was some water and bread baked over hot coals. The prophet was weak. Lies had entered. But God did not expose all these things to him. God did not say, “Why have you no faith?” He did not say that. First, get up and eat some bread. That was good.

After eating, he lay down and slept again. He stayed flat on his back. Then another angel came. “Get up and eat.” Elijah ate again. God serves people well. “You are emotional. How about I bake you some bread? Eat. After eating, sleep. When you wake up the next morning, we will have a different kind of bread—large Shandong pancakes.” God has humour in the way He works. He does not immediately set you straight. He does not say, “Elijah, why do you not believe?” That was not how He spoke.

An Angel Strengthened the Prophet, and the Prophet Walked for Forty Days and Nights

The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him, saying, “Get up and eat, for the journey ahead of you is long.” He got up, ate and drank, and, strengthened by that food, travelled forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19:7–8)

He had hardly digested his first meal when the second angel came: “For the journey ahead of you is long.” In other words, you cannot die yet. There is still a long road ahead. You want to die? Do you think you can get off so easily? Let me tell you, brothers and sisters: even if you want to die today, you do not have the final say. Do you? I think staying alive is a very, very simple matter for us today. But people react differently when they hear this. People often prefer to look at their circumstances. “Look at the situation. How am I to survive?”

I used to think that way too. There were so many mortgage payments. With no income, and this debt and that debt still to repay, what was I to do? Nobody brought me bread either. But a miracle happened. A friend I knew—I had never given him my bank account number, nor had I ever given him my Chinese name—did something extraordinary. He transferred a large sum of money into my account and helped me through a difficult period. Was that not God? At the time, I did not quite understand either. I said, “God, there was no bread, but money in the account is better than bread!” For no apparent reason, I suddenly had quite a lot more money. It was a real help. It strengthened me. Whether it is bread or money, everyone’s eyes light up when they hear about it. How good! Actually, I do not particularly like talking about this, because I fear people will develop that expectation. Let us leave money aside for now. Let us first talk about staying alive. With God, it is simple.

Before long, I looked back and found there was no problem at all. My faith in God became very strong. How strong? At forty, I had symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer, but I did not get examined. And I did not die! During COVID, I had cold sweats, a high fever, extreme physical weakness, difficulty breathing, and coughing. Whenever I ate, I choked. Yet I did not die! My time had not come. God strengthened me.

Later, I discovered a key point: if lies are not broken, they do great damage to people. Is your life in the hands of money? Is your life in the hands of your house? Is your life in the hands of your boss? None of these. Your life is in God’s hands.

Today, listen to this word of advice. If a person knows God’s power, understands His mighty strength, knows how great God is, knows the abundance of His grace and mercy, and knows how God governs our lives, would living not become simple? Life belongs to the Lord, and resurrection belongs to the Lord. Whatever you do becomes easier.

Let me tell you a secret. After becoming a pastor, I discovered how good it was. I give this work everything I have. It is certainly not a burdensome task. It is walking with God. If I had not become a pastor, I would have taken up work requiring no investment. I would have put together a small toolbox and gone to repair things in people’s homes. I would not repair everything, but I would repair a particular category that pays well. We often hire such workers for our own home. My point is that living is simple. Receive strength from God.

The prophet Elijah thought he was great, so God strengthened him with bread. You say that man does not live by food alone. Well, this bread came from God. You did not earn it yourself. Then, on the strength of those two large pieces of bread, he kept going for forty days and nights, day and night. We do not know whether he slept. He had slept for two days and got all his sleep for those forty days and nights out of the way. Then he reached Mount Horeb.

How good it is to have God! We do not understand it, and the Bible does not explain how he travelled for forty days and nights. It reminds me of the train journeys we used to take. Sometimes, the journey from Beijing to Urumqi took seventy-two hours on an old green train. You had to prepare three days’ food: a big bag of twenty tea eggs, several large pieces of sausage, a few packets of instant noodles, and a roast chicken.

Elijah carried a bag of bread and travelled for forty days and nights. Was that because his muscles were well developed? Had he trained for marathons? He was nothing special. Previously, the Spirit of God had come upon him, and he ran faster than horses. This time, the prophet Elijah knew no fatigue. He ran as though mechanical legs had been fitted to his body. His lungs seemed to have a Ferrari engine—or perhaps a BYD battery. Whatever it was, he kept running with remarkable endurance. He travelled for forty days and nights. At fifty kilometres a day, that would be two thousand kilometres. At thirty kilometres a day, twelve hundred kilometres. He reached Mount Sinai. Mount Horeb is Mount Sinai.

How powerful the Spirit of God is! The Spirit of God could kill those 450 prophets of Baal. The Spirit of God could enable the Israelites to see fire come down from heaven at that time. The Spirit of God could enable Elijah, through His strength, to run faster than horses. The Spirit of God could enable Elijah to travel for forty days and nights and reach God’s holy mountain.

If our faith rests on God’s mighty power, things become straightforward. The danger is that we do not know His power. We are insignificant people. How much can we use in a lifetime? Not very much, really. You need not worry about food and drink. You really need not. Food and drink are simple matters. Brothers and sisters, believe God with me! How great His power is. All our lives are in His hands. Elijah’s life was in God’s hands. Ahab’s life was in God’s hands. The lives of Jehu and Hazael were all in God’s hands! Do you believe that? You must! Let me tell you: once a person believes, strength rises within him. Is that not so?

On the Mountain of God, God Appeared to the Prophet

Elijah reached God’s holy mountain, Horeb, also called Sinai, and entered a cave. He too was wondering, “What am I doing here? How did I end up here? What have I come here for?” Then God asked, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Elijah said, “I have been wondering that myself. What am I doing here? How did I end up here?” This was God’s holy mountain. The arm of the LORD has never been shortened. On God’s holy mountain, the Law was given. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were all written here.

He entered a cave there and stayed in it. The word of the LORD came to him: “Elijah, what are you doing here?” He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts, because the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:9–10)

Was that not the talk of someone who did not understand? You have reached God’s holy mountain, and you still do not know His power? Brothers and sisters, never leave God. Never leave His power, because there is not much that we human beings can control.

Was Elijah wandering aimlessly? In fact, God knew why He had brought him there. Elijah walked and took a circuitous route. A journey of three or four hundred kilometres became twelve hundred kilometres, and he arrived utterly disoriented. But while you are disoriented, God is not. Brothers and sisters, understand this: you may lose your bearings, but God does not lose His. God led him to this cave. “Elijah, what are you doing here?” You may not know what you are doing, but God knows. God knows the emotions inside you. God knows the complaints inside you. God knows there are still lies inside you. Even after eating that bread, he remained confused and made a few extra circuits along the way.

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before Me.” Then the LORD passed by. A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire came a still, small voice. (1 Kings 19:11–12)

Elijah stood on the mountain and watched the LORD God sweep past. A fierce wind arose, tearing mountains apart and shattering rocks. Stones came crashing down. Some weighed several tonnes, others tens of tonnes, and they simply fell. If you had seen that, how would you have felt? You would have thought, “My goodness, my God is so powerful!”

My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4–5)

Today, without miracles and without God’s power, life would be very hard. But if God’s power were manifested, tearing mountains apart and shattering rocks, what would you think? God also determines when Jezebel dies. Jezebel does not have the final say. God does. And do you know what? The LORD was not in the wind.

The wind should have involved a messenger of God. God need only send one messenger to tear mountains apart and shatter rocks. God need only send one messenger to cause an earthquake. After the wind came an earthquake. How powerful are earthquakes? In recent years, there have been many tsunamis and earthquakes. An earthquake can be equivalent to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of Hiroshima atomic bombs. Tearing mountains apart and shattering rocks is a small matter. An earthquake is more powerful still. After the earthquake came fire, but the LORD was not in the fire either. God had sent an angel for the earthquake, an angel to tear mountains apart and shatter rocks, and an angel for the fire.

Had Elijah not performed many miracles? You have performed many miracles, so how could one lie make you go limp? Do you not know God’s power? Brothers and sisters, do you not know God’s power today? Has God not performed many miracles through your hands? Why have you gone limp today? One lie comes, and you are ruined? One lie comes, and you start following your feelings?

You say, “Even the prophet Elijah was like this. I am not as good as he was.” That is true enough. But what you are like is not the important thing. What God is like is what matters. You may be a mess, but our God is not. Is that not so? From everlasting to everlasting, He is God. He never changes. He once tore mountains apart and shattered rocks. He once brought earthquakes and tsunamis. He once sent great fires. He remains the same today. Do not forget God’s power! Let our faith rest on the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead!

Do not forget God’s power. If you forget it, you lose out. How many times in a person’s life does he need God? How many times do we look to God, and how many times do we look to money? Brothers and sisters, regard the business of staying alive as a small matter, but never regard God lightly. Fear God, and regard the small business of staying alive as insignificant. God still brings deliverance. Even when we are as weak as Elijah, even when we have experienced God’s power and still believe lies, God wants to rebuild our faith on His power.

At this point, God used a very small voice. Do not assume that because it was very small, it was insignificant. A very small voice is still more powerful than a person roaring at the top of his lungs. In that small voice, God said, “Elijah, what are you doing?” Elijah said, “Why are You asking me again?” Is God not interesting? First, He said, “Elijah, what are you doing?” Then came the shattering of mountains and rocks, the earthquake, and the fierce fire. After all that, there was again a very small voice: “Elijah, what are you doing?” Remember this: when God asks us a question like that, it carries considerable weight.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire came a still, small voice. When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts, because the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:12–14)

There was still emotion in Elijah’s answer, but this time he sounded subdued. Those words were not quite right, were they? They were lies, were they not? Elijah, this is a serious matter. God asked twice. Sometimes God asks three times: “Peter, do you love Me?” Peter said, “Lord, I love You. You know that.” Listen to those words. If you love the Lord Jesus, would God need to ask you? If you really knew what you were doing, would God need to ask you twice? You were complaining. You had fallen for lies. You had become very weak. You were thinking, “God, please take my life.” God said, “It is not that I do not want to take it, but taking your life like this would be disgraceful, foolish child. You are very zealous for the LORD. Does God really need that so badly? Are the Israelites not in God’s hands?”

Of course, God does not make the Israelites’ choices for them. So, brothers and sisters, we must understand today that God appears to us precisely because we have weaknesses. When God speaks to us, can we stop clinging so firmly to our own views? Our own views are rather foolish, are they not? In fact, the more foolish people are, the more they insist on their own views. Have you noticed that? Soften your heart and say to God, “What am I doing here? I am complaining here. What am I doing here? God, I am so weak. Will You give me strength?”

God’s strength is made perfect in human weakness. So never let pride get the better of you. Never be too strong. Do not be like me. I am still repenting. Sometimes I become so strong that I become hard-hearted. I read this passage more than ten years ago, when I was leading everyone through a Bible study of 1 Kings. When I reached this chapter, I thought, “God, if You asked me what I was doing, I could only say that I am very weak here. Please make me strong. God, make me strong!”

For so many days and nights, I was deceived by lies and became extremely weak. But God did not hold it against me. Whenever I trust God, I become strong. That remains true today. When I look at circumstances, I feel despair. When I look at lies, I feel despair. But when I see God and believe in His power, faith rises again, courage rises again, and by His power I run forward once more.

This morning, an English-speaking fellowship invited me to share with them. I chose one of my favourite chapters: Genesis, Chapter 1. God created us in His image. We should work as God works. As God is, so we should be.

I showed them several brothers and sisters from Indonesia who were at the gathering, along with several from Singapore. There were more than ten people altogether. I shared with them in English and told them, “We are made in God’s image. If we allow God’s Spirit to move and declare, ‘Let there be light here,’ there will be light here. There was darkness over the deep, emptiness and chaos. Then God’s Spirit moved there. When He said, ‘Let there be light,’ there was light. When strength is called for, strength comes.” Later, I realised that the challenges before us were not three great mountains, but three hundred. Yet I thank God. God has begun to work again. Three hundred mountains, even three thousand, will be moved. The great mountains will be levelled, and the hills will be moved.

The road of serving God is a road filled with His glory. Our website must be translated into every language: Korean, Japanese, Russian, German, French, Dutch, Indonesian—every language we can work on. They asked me, “What do you want?” I want Indonesian-speaking brothers and sisters to be raised up. I have content here. You can use it, free of charge. There happened to be some brothers and sisters from Indonesia present. I think they did not yet know that Chinese theology is a treasure, but today’s sharing shook them once again. Our God is the God of the living, not the dead. It is not about dying and going to heaven. It is about living out God’s image while we are alive, being created anew by His Spirit, bearing His image and His mighty power, and spreading His glory throughout the world.

They asked me, “How do you preach the gospel?” I said, “Wherever there is an internet connection, we can do it. Wherever there is an internet connection, that is our harvest field.” You can try our “Xiaomu”. Those who know English can ask Xiaomu in English. Those who know Korean can ask in Korean. Xiaomu seems to be a language expert and can answer anything. Today, we must expand our dreams once again. Sometimes we feel great despair. We want to become a blessing to all nations and peoples on earth, but when we look at our circumstances, it does not look anything like that. Today, let us raise our faith once more. What is impossible with man is possible with God.

God Broke the Lies Within Elijah

God did not bother with whether Elijah would die or not. Nor did God bother with whether he was saying, “Take my life” or “Do not take my life.” Let us not discuss that. Let us discuss your next assignment instead!

The LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, through the wilderness to Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also anoint Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi, king over Israel, and anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you.” (1 Kings 19:15–16)

Kings were to be appointed by Elijah. Your work is not finished yet. What great work you have to do! Sometimes, when I read this, I think, “How good!” God, our work is not finished. Give us Your commission once again today. Let us travel throughout this land, in every direction, until the whole land is filled with Your glory. Here, the prophet received his commission: go and anoint Hazael king over Aram and Jehu king over Israel. What authority the prophet had! Today, our God wants to make us kings. He wants to make us prophets who appoint kings! Then God said, “I also want you to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you.”

God’s meaning was this: do not think that you, Elijah, are so extraordinary. Next, I will give you a disciple to succeed you as prophet and continue proclaiming God’s works in the land of Israel. One person? Now there would be two! “I also have seven thousand who have not bowed their knees to Baal and have not kissed him.” Remarkable! Yet when I read those words, there is a twinge of sadness in my heart. Only seven thousand left! Do you not find that desolate? It is desolate.

In fact, I have a deep burden for Singapore. I came to faith in Singapore, but in this place it seems I have run into an iron wall. When I read about these seven thousand, I feel the desolation, but I am also deeply moved. We are these seven thousand, so precious. People are busy making money. People are busy buying properties and loving the world. But where are those who love God? Even seven thousand is not bad. Every time brothers and sisters join me to study the Bible, my heart is especially grateful. I know I am not alone. Throughout the world, God will raise up many people with a divine destiny. Is it a lie? Let me tell you: believe God, and lies collapse by themselves. God is selecting His treasures. Seven thousand treasures are already something remarkable.

So Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat ploughing. There were twelve pairs of oxen ahead of him, and he was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him, “Go back. What have I done to you?” (1 Kings 19:19–20)

Elijah did not say, “Come and follow me.” It was the Spirit of God. God was at work. So, brothers and sisters, when you came among us, it was God who brought you here.

Today, I told them that our church is an extraordinary church. From Sunday to Saturday, we have gatherings every day. The extraordinary thing is that nothing else has been held up. God provides for us, and God will bring people among us. I believe that in the days ahead, through AI, Chinese-speaking people will be able to serve Indonesian-speaking and English-speaking people, and even those who speak Japanese and Korean. Simultaneous translation will present no problem. This is the era of the Chinese people. This is the era in which Chinese people are being raised up! What glory, and how fortunate we are! We live in this era, and what we see today is something people in any previous era would not even have dared to imagine. As China grows stronger, the divine destiny of the Chinese people is beginning to emerge: to carry this gospel to every corner of the world, to the ends of the earth.

Suddenly, it seems that today we have grown wings and are ready to soar with God in the spiritual world. No longer weak, but strong through God. Let all those weaknesses become God’s strength. We no longer rely on ourselves for strength. We rely on God. If we boast, let us boast in our weaknesses, because whenever we are weak, God’s strength is manifested among us.

May God raise us up! We are Elijah. We are Elisha. We are those mighty warriors who can call on God’s name and bring fire down from heaven! Although we have weaknesses, and although at times we are badly deceived by lies, God can untie those knots for us. How good it is to have God! Lies make us weak, but God makes us strong! Do not fear weakness. No longer be afraid of weakness. Rely on God alone and become strong! When it seems we are about to fall, let us raise our faith again! We will not give up until we see God’s glory in our lifetime! Amen!

May God bless you all!