Introduction
Good morning, everyone. We continue with the fifth lecture on "The Gospel of Apostle Paul," titled "For it is the power of God." This topic is a familiar refrain, but the question is, can I play this old tune in a new way? After careful consideration, I realized that explaining this topic clearly is not an easy task. So, I was quite troubled last night, writing and deleting, deleting and rewriting. We must play this old tune well.
When we mention that the gospel is the power of God, we have many testimonies. The testimonies I share have influenced many people. To what extent? Our family's puppy had a swollen face, or rather, something growing on it. I covered the puppy's head with my clothes, held it, and prayed. After praying for over an hour, I lifted the clothes, and lo and behold! The puppy's head was back to normal.
Someone heard my testimony, and when their dog got sick, they also covered it with clothes and prayed. As a result, the dog recovered. Another person raised over a hundred cows, and all of them fell ill. How much is a cow worth? The illness of over a hundred cows was a matter of life and death, truly heartbreaking. After hearing my testimony, since the cows couldn't be covered with clothes, they hugged the cows' necks and prayed. My goodness! As a result, all the cows recovered.
So, you ask, is it effective for pigs? Yes, it is; is it effective for donkeys? Yes, it is. Then I ask you, is it effective for people? It is even more effective. Originally, this gospel is the power of God! How many people have I influenced? This influence is like a stone thrown into water, spreading outward in continuous waves, impacting this era. This power is first the power to subdue the desires of the flesh, and then the power to overcome. The power of this gospel will be manifested again in this generation. With power manifested, this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. With power manifested, this is the gospel preached by Apostle Paul.
I tell you, the journey has been filled with tears. Why? In the beginning, it was very difficult to fight against demons. That was over a decade ago. There was a girl from Shanghai who became a Christian because she suffered from depression in China. After coming to Singapore, her depression relapsed, causing insomnia, fear, and a racing heartbeat, her entire heart trembling. It was very difficult for her. If she went to a mental hospital, she was a new worker in Singapore. What would happen to her?
Singapore has a directory of churches. This sister called each church one by one, but no one received her. Finally, she called me. At that time, I was the church's customer service, the church's pastor, the church's cleaner, and the church's chair arranger. I was a one-man show for the church. After receiving the call, oh, my heart, I almost cried. I said, "Come over." I ministered to her in this way for three months.
While she sought my ministry here, she also sought her pastor in Shanghai. What concept did her pastor in Shanghai convey to her? It was, "We would rather die of illness than believe in any charismatic gifts." Was it a question of whether charismatic gifts were effective or not? It was a question of whether the power of God was still the power of God.
That pastor was quite wicked, filling her with a lot of things to fear, talking about what charismatic churches were like. But why didn't he care about her depression? Why didn't he care about whether she could be delivered from this problem? Too abominable. Later, one day, she came to me, completely broken down. Just then, her parents came to Singapore to see her. I took her to pray, but the power of the devil didn't budge. Alas! What to do?
At that time, my lips were chapped. I said, "Let's go down and get some water." As we walked out of the church door, I turned around and said, "Sister, if you are not delivered today, we will pray until tomorrow; if you are not delivered tomorrow, we will pray until the day after tomorrow. You must be delivered, and this demon must be trampled." I ordered a glass of water, but couldn't drink it. When we returned to the room and prayed for her again, the power of the demon was shaken, and it began to manifest with "wails." I drove out the demons one by one, including a stubborn demon that wailed hideously. Thank God, she finally returned to normal.
Until now, her parents still thank me, saying that if it weren't for me, this child would have been ruined. But it's not because of me, it's because of the God I serve. If it weren't for Jesus Christ, whom I serve in spirit, if it weren't for the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ, whom I trust, this child would have been ruined. God, through my hands, delivered her from depression, insomnia, and fear.
In her original church, there was a sister who preached a powerless gospel, feeling that even if she was sick, she would still go to heaven, and that she didn't believe in healing even when sick. What kind of mind is that? They still had contact with this sister through the girl, and learned that the sister in that church was in a terrible state, full of illnesses and deeply in debt. Is that the glorious image of God? No.
Even now, there are many absurd things in the church. They only know about going to heaven, but they don't know that they can live out the image of God while alive, still thinking they are orthodox. Where does such faith come from? They don't have the likeness of Jesus Christ, and they don't preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. What else could it be but a curse? They still confidently declare that they are orthodox and traditional. I am truly moved.
In my belief, this gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes. There are so many testimonies of this. To believe in a powerful gospel as powerless and still think it is orthodox is very unreasonable. Especially to regard the diseases brought by curses as the glory of suffering for God. I say it again, especially to regard the diseases brought by curses as the glory of suffering for God, that is an even more unreasonable logic.
They think that being sick is Paul's thorn, but the problem is that besides that thorn, they are nothing like Paul. Paul preached a powerful gospel, while they preach a powerless gospel. Besides seeing that thorn, I don't see the likeness of Paul. Later, I discovered that Paul only had one thorn, but they are covered in thorns, like a hedgehog. An absurd gospel.
Remember, preaching the wrong gospel is cursed; believing the wrong gospel is also cursed. Chinese Mingding Doctrine is not a theology we invented ourselves, but a theology inherited from Jesus Christ, the theology of Apostle Paul. The gospel they preach has no power and is not a gospel at all. The suffering and sins they endure are actually curses, the wrath of God, with no glory to be found. I am truly moved. How many people has Chinese Mingding Doctrine influenced? Even now, I don't know how many people it has influenced.
Some time ago, I heard about someone, not among us, whose entire church listens to our recordings every day. There was a believing brother who was quite old and practiced Iron Palm, resulting in a body full of illnesses, with demons running all over him. Then he received the gospel we preached, and as a result, his years of pain were healed. Later, he continuously received from our website.
A few days ago, the website was blocked, and he was extremely anxious. I am moved that this era desperately needs to spread this powerful gospel. How many people have been pastored through our work and our ministry? I truly thank God that we have truly become channels of blessing.
My mother has Alzheimer's disease. Can Alzheimer's be cured? Some say it's cerebellar atrophy, some say it's cerebral atrophy, no one can figure it out. Originally, there was a demon behind it. I thank God that once I identified it as a demon, it couldn't hide, and I drove it out. After the demon was driven out, my mother's Alzheimer's was healed. Those who were demon-possessed were all healed. This is the logic of the Bible.
Over a decade ago, I preached that "all were healed." Many people said, "You are being too absolute." Isn't the Bible absolute? If you want to refute, don't refute me, refute the Bible. The Bible says all were healed. Are you more powerful than the Bible? You might as well write a Bible yourself. If some are healed and some are not, then there's a problem. Like a switch, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, that's a bad one, that's a wrong one.
Speaking of the power of this gospel, what did Paul say? Paul said, "Declared to be the Son of God with power." What did Paul do? Paul healed people. Was it just healing? No, absolutely not. That's not the whole gospel. Living out the image of God is. Initially, we were very excited about people being healed. Seeing people being healed was truly a wonderful thing. Testimonies abounded, we were very happy and had a lot of feeling. Then our prayers were very fervent, with a lot of feeling, and very loud.
Later, fearing that we would disturb the neighbors, we bought motorcycle helmets to wear while praying, muffling the sound inside the helmet, resulting in a head full of sweat. At that time, we thought that "wailing" would release people, and we also liked people to wail. The demons also liked to wail, and everyone was happy, a lively scene. Later, we had to soundproof the house. However, intellectuals like to return to the Bible when doing things. You may not have read many books, and you may be clumsy using your phone, but I tell you, you must be a learner.
Later, I realized that it's not that "wailing" has the power of God. You may feel a lot when "wailing," but that feeling is definitely not the power of God. Thank the Lord, we woke up quickly and soon stopped pursuing this "wailing" method of deliverance. This method, besides disturbing the neighbors and bringing the property management, is of no benefit. Loudness is not power! The powerful gospel is not a loud gospel of "wailing." If people are not vigilant, they can easily be deceived. We were almost deceived and took a detour.
Later, someone came among us. He was a member of another church. He said that his pastor was a pastor who did healing, deliverance, and exorcism. Don't think that doing healing, deliverance, and exorcism is the powerful gospel of God. This pastor encouraged members to pray and release, holding a microphone at home and turning the speaker volume to the maximum. The sound of prayer shook the entire building, and the property management knocked on the door, almost breaking it down. Finally, even the police came.
I thank God because we are people who seek God's word. We don't need to buy motorcycle helmets anymore, we don't need to do soundproofing at home anymore, and we don't need to do those things anymore. We know that the power of God is not for doing that. Thank God.
There are many strange things in the church. For example, the pastor blows on the microphone, and then a group of people fall down. I can't imitate it very well, please forgive me, I haven't done this before. In the church I was in before, there was a group of people who would fall every Sunday. Then they encouraged me to go up and fall too. I went up and found that everyone around me had fallen, but I was still standing there. They even comforted me. What's the problem? After falling, they were still the same. I felt, what is this for? They fall as soon as they pray, they hiccup as soon as they pray, they "wail" as soon as they pray. This is not Paul's theology, this is not the gospel preached by Paul. People are so easily deceived.
Some people asked me, "Does Chinese Mingding Doctrine cause people to hiccup when they pray?" After hearing this, I wondered what kind of logic this was. Can hiccuping be included in theology? Chinese Mingding Doctrine is about living out the glorious image of God. Are there hiccups? Some have them, some don't. It's not important. Later, I discovered that people easily mistake phenomena for spiritual laws, but they are not. So how can we know? Read the Bible carefully. We have read Romans many times. The Bible study of Romans on the website has already been done several times.
Later, I discovered that with healing and deliverance, many times the demons are driven out and then return, driven out and then return, endlessly. Then a pastor said, "Exorcism is useless. We are tired of playing with this. They are driven out and then return, driven out and then return. It's useless." But I still have some theoretical understanding. Did Jesus cast out demons incorrectly? If Jesus casting out demons was useless, why did he do it? It's completely not the truth. What they say, "Exorcism is useless," is not the truth.
I returned to the Bible and discovered that healing is God's great grace. This grace leads us to repentance. The real power lies in removing the worldly system within us, guiding us to know the truth, filling our understanding with the knowledge of God, having sufficient faith in our understanding, mortifying the deeds of the body, living by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, and living out the image of God throughout our lives. This is the power of God, this is the power of the gospel, it is the gospel of Apostle Paul, and it is also the gospel of Chinese Mingding Doctrine.
Our Chinese Mingding Doctrine originates from the theological system of Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ. This gospel is the power of God, not only in the ways mentioned earlier, but also manifested in God's wrath and curses. Don't think that God is only a God of grace and love. For those who love Him, God has abundant grace and love, but for those who hate Him, God will punish their sins, to the father and to the son, to the third and fourth generations.
God's wrath is also clearly manifested in this generation! God sends both disaster and blessing; God both curses and blesses. Don't provoke anyone but God. Fear God and don't provoke God's wrath. Talking about God's wrath, there are more stories of curses than stories of healing and grace. The entire Bible is full of them, and it is still the same now.
Many years ago, there was a sister among us who was getting married. We couldn't oppose her getting married, we couldn't oppose her finding a boyfriend. I encouraged her, saying, "There are too few options to choose from here. Go to that large church with 40,000 members. If half are men, there are 20,000 options. After removing those who are married, there are still tens of thousands of single options." She went and was very happy in that church.
Then, ten years passed, and she came to me again. I said, "Why are you coming to me?" She said, "Teacher, I can see things in hell." She saw things in the spiritual realm every day, her yin-yang eyes were opened. Alas, she got depression, couldn't work, couldn't sleep, and saw those things all day long. Imagine seeing things in hell all day long, like watching a movie, twisting dough sticks and frying them in a pot of oil, frying two large twisted dough sticks together in a pot of oil, and seeing piles of fire and little demons running around, scared to death.
Do you know why she came to me? Her church pastor and leaders told her: "Don't come to church anymore." Why? They were afraid she would cause trouble and disrupt their worship. Then they told her to go to a mental hospital, and that's when she came to me. Don't underestimate our church just because it's not as big as theirs. Our exorcisms are not small matters. I can certainly handle these minor demons. The gospel we believe in is a gospel of great power. Then, "slap, slap, slap," I drove the demons out.
After the exorcism, she studied with us and found the requirements a bit high. I must say, the Chinese Mingding Doctrine does have high standards, but it's good to have high standards because the grace is also abundant. Then, this sister went back. You see, in a church like that, they can't solve your problems when you need them, but everyone is fine when you don't. What do you think? I tell you, God will surely manifest His wrath, and such churches will be torn down by God. Don't think I'm cursing them. Isn't this God's will? God must manifest His wrath upon the ungodly and unrighteous.
Brothers and sisters, when they are sick, they cannot draw on God's promises, nor do they believe in God's promises. Then, they give a bunch of explanations to help them accept reality and reconcile with themselves. Have you heard of this? They treat themselves this way and treat others the same way. Is this the gospel? This is not the gospel. Brothers and sisters must know that preaching the wrong gospel brings a curse, and believing the wrong gospel also brings a curse. This is the view of the Chinese Mingding Doctrine, and it is also the view of the Bible. Read Romans carefully.
A sister came to me with many illnesses. I prayed for her, and she started showing off, saying she could recite the entire Book of Romans. Never mind the entire Book of Romans, what's the use of memorizing the entire Bible? Her mouth was full of terrible sores, and her joints couldn't straighten, yet she thought she was great and wanted to teach me how to recite Romans. Although she had memorized it, she didn't know what Romans was about. I dare say that in this generation, many people read Romans, traditional churches read Romans, and we also read Romans, but do they understand it? This gospel is the power of God!
Later, her mouth sores and joint problems were healed among us. Thank God, she went back to reciting Romans. In this generation, God's wrath is everywhere. As I said, God's hand is all over the earth. Through these things in the world, you slowly understand how much this generation needs God's powerful gospel.
There was a wealthy man who contracted ALS and started a company to research how to solve it. In the end, he ran out of money and didn't figure it out. Actually, I tell you, people always think they are very capable. Self-righteousness provokes God's wrath. I don't know if this person is still alive. Remember, this gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes. We owe this generation a gospel debt so that everyone can receive the benefits of this gospel.
There was a famous talented woman who contracted a terminal illness. I believe she had not just one thorn, but many of Paul's thorns, like a hedgehog. She had lumps all over her body, as big as fish balls. You know, many people with lumps all over their bodies have been healed among us. We once healed a sister whose lumps were as big as fists, running all over her body, sometimes even to her private parts, making her very uncomfortable. Later, she was also healed among us.
This talented woman actually knew many Christians, but these Christians did not preach the powerful gospel, and they themselves did not believe in the powerful gospel. Isn't this a tragedy? Later, she proclaimed, "I accept myself." Many Christians praised her, thinking she was great, even in death.
Couldn't they have preached this powerful gospel to her so that she could also receive the benefits of this gospel? Yes. In fact, even now, many Christians are accepting themselves in pain, reconciling with themselves, and praising themselves, ultimately leaving this world miserably in God's wrath.
God is tearing down these churches that do not conform to His heart. God is tearing down those temples of the Old Testament. God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, but in temples made by God's hands. God wants to raise up a church in this era that conforms to His heart, proclaiming His powerful gospel. This gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes. God wants to perform salvation, allowing us to enter into God's heart, understand God's will, and not become vessels of God's wrath, but rather vessels of God's glory.
Even now, people are still quoting a very strange scripture in this curse. Do you know what strange scripture they are quoting?
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:31-37)
Is this how this passage is quoted? A person cannot distinguish the sorrow brought by the curse, and still feels that these things cannot separate them from the love of God, and that they have overcome all these things through Jesus who loved us? No, I don't see victory, I only see defeat.
The Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a theology of victory, not a theology of defeat. We are in all these things! I tell you, the Apostle Paul experienced many things, but he was victorious in every one of them. To not see victory, yet declare such words, what is the benefit? Brothers and sisters, we receive the gospel of the Apostle Paul, this gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes. What is the benefit to all who do not believe? What is the benefit of declaring such words? Now read Romans 1:16-17.
Scripture
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)
Prayer
God! Today, let us be believers before You. We believe that through the precious blood of Jesus, we are redeemed. We believe that through the wounds of Jesus, we are healed. We believe that through the poverty of Jesus, we become rich. We believe that You are a God full of grace and mercy. God, we come before You, coming forward in faith to receive Your grace.
God, do this wonderful work in us, born of the Holy Spirit, walking by the Holy Spirit, saved by the Holy Spirit, and able to live out the glorious image of God by the Holy Spirit. God, let Your glory be manifested among us. Manifest Your righteousness among us, so that everyone may know that Your gospel is a gospel of great power. Because of this power, reveal that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and reveal that we are Your children. In the name of Jesus Christ! Amen!
Scripture Background
The Apostle Paul was called by God to be an apostle, specially appointed to preach the gospel of God. He discovered that he owed the church in Rome a gospel debt. In fact, this established church had nothing to do with Paul. I guess the church in Rome was established because some people immigrated to Rome due to the persecution of the church in Jerusalem. After all, big cities are good for business. They made a living there and then gathered together to establish a church, which was the church in Rome.
Paul was zealous. He did not want the church in this place to believe this powerful gospel as powerless. There are many signs that the church in Rome had already believed this gospel as powerless. In fact, this is a common phenomenon, believing a powerful gospel as powerless, from ancient times to the present, from the time of the Apostle Paul until now. This is people's greatest achievement. This "great" is ironic.
There are many such examples. There was a person who had frequent urination, having to go to the bathroom every short period of time. If she was on the highway, with service areas forty or fifty kilometers apart, she had to wear diapers. That day, she came to me, and I prayed for her, and the illness was healed.
She shared with me that she had had this illness for more than ten years. Her pastor took her to Korea, and after all the tossing and turning, the frequent urination was not resolved. At least solve the problem of wearing diapers, right? No. What were they conveying? "If God doesn't heal you, will you still believe?" Hearing this, you feel that there is something wrong, you feel that there is something wrong. Brothers and sisters, our church is not big, but God's power is great.
The church in Rome was also like this. As for whether there was frequent urination or urinary tract infections, I'm not too sure. But Paul's motivation for writing Romans must have been: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God. You must quickly return to this power. This gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes, because the righteousness of God is revealed in this gospel, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.
If you read the first chapter of Romans, or if you read the entire Book of Romans, can you understand it? I tell you, the theme of the entire Book of Romans is "This gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes." Many people think that Romans is about "justification by faith," it is not! It is about "this gospel is the power of God." If you cannot live out the appearance of this gospel being the power of God, and cannot manifest the power of this gospel for people to see, then Romans is read in vain, even if you memorize it, it is memorized in vain.
Paul hoped that the church in Rome could also receive a correct gospel, that they could know God in their understanding, have sufficient faith in their understanding, and be able to know that this gospel is the power of God. In fact, later, when Martin Luther read Romans, I think Martin Luther also had many confusions. Why couldn't he see the power of God? Because he couldn't see the power of God, he came up with "justification by faith." After being justified, what do you do? I don't know.
I tell you, this faith is very important. Romans makes it very clear what kind of faith is the faith that manifests God's power. The fruit of faith is miracles! So I really hope that in this generation, we can once again take out Romans so that people can receive the benefits of this gospel, just as the Apostle Paul wrote Romans to the church in Rome, hoping that they could also let God's power be manifested. This is the theme of Romans.
But there is a very miraculous thing in the Bible. You rarely see the Apostle Paul talking about Jesus' miracles, like Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John, they talk about them very little. Paul doesn't talk about those miracles, don't you find it strange? Why? He doesn't need to talk about them much. Why doesn't he need to talk about them much? Because he inherited Jesus Christ and moved forward another step, building God's glorious church and releasing God's power.
The Apostle Paul paid great attention to one thing, which is to put to death the deeds of the body. In the last lecture, we talked about "The Gospel of the Apostle Paul," the theme was "Christ has set us free, so that we may be free." To be released from the bondage of the flesh and be free. The "Gospel of the Apostle Paul" that we are talking about this time has actually moved forward another step. The next lecture is the gospel of building the church.
So the Apostle Paul originally inherited Jesus Christ and moved forward another step. When I think about it according to this logic, shouldn't we take the theology preached by the Apostle Paul and push it forward another step? One very important thing about our Chinese theology is pastoring. I have found that the Apostle Paul does not describe much about pastoring in the Bible. Now we want to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of God to push this matter of pastoring forward another step.
The Chinese Mingding Doctrine summarizes a logic: God created all things in the universe, is the work finished? Not finished, leaving a part for Adam to do. Later, Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected from the dead, is the work finished? Not finished, leaving a piece for the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul received the revelation of building the church and laid the foundation, allowing us to build on it, is the work finished? Not finished.
What are we going to do now that we have taken it over? Let's continue to preach that this gospel is the power of God, and start building God's glorious church, so that brothers and sisters can live out the glorious image of God. Now, look in the mirror to see what your image is. What do you see? I hope you don't see the Black and White Impermanence, I hope you can see a very glorious image, the image of Jesus Christ.
This sentence has actually been around for a long time among us. We have been saying this for many years, how you live when you are alive, where you will go when you die. If you live out the Black and White Impermanence when you are alive, you will go to the Black and White Impermanence when you die. You say: How can you still believe in the Black and White Impermanence? I'm just joking with everyone. If you live out the image of God when you are alive, then you will go to Jesus. So you must live out the image of Jesus when you are alive.
The Apostle Paul wrote Romans, giving us a very clear direction. We must inherit the foundation of the Apostle Paul in one continuous line. Jesus Christ cast out demons, and we also cast out demons; the Apostle Paul built the church, and we also build the church; the Apostle Paul said: This gospel is the power of God, and we also say that this gospel is the power of God. Then push forward again, which is for brothers and sisters to live out the glorious image of God. Let me reorganize what the Apostle Paul said in Romans. I can't finish reorganizing it. If you want to see it, there is a complete exegesis of Romans written by the Apostle Paul on the website.
On the exegesis of the entire Book of Romans, a pastor who used to serve with me in the church once approached me. He asked, "Did you preach on the Book of Romans?" I replied, "Yes, I did." What was the matter? He was pastoring a church in Australia and was invited to preach on the Book of Romans at another church. He searched online and found my sermons. After listening, he found them quite good and used my interpretation of Romans to share with others. Actually, I wouldn't mind if people copied me; I have no copyright concerns.
Jesus Christ Declared to Be the Son of God with Power
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:3-4).
Jesus Christ set an example for us. In God's family, Jesus Christ is the firstborn, and we all become children of God together with Jesus Christ. This logic is important to understand. Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power. I ask you, do we need to be declared as sons and daughters of God? Yes, we do.
I thank God that the power of God is manifested through my hands, with countless miracles. But after I share this, many who worship gurus like to come to me. I must sincerely apologize, I really can't handle it all. My most important task is to enable all the pastors and co-workers among us to be declared as sons and daughters of God with power. We are all children of God. Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power. What about you and me?
Some ask, "How can we be declared as sons and daughters of God?" I tell you, receiving the title of son or daughter is extraordinary. Even demons know you are a child of God, God knows you are a child of God, and you yourself know you are a child of God. Then the demons will be put to shame before you. Many years ago, I discovered a mystery: even when I was not yet prominent, when I cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ, they obeyed.
What does the Bible say? Jesus trained twelve disciples and then seventy disciples, sending them out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. Then those disciples returned and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." Then Jesus said another thing: "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
If the demons do not obey you, are you still a child of God? Can't even handle urinary frequency? It's worse after prayer, with even more frequent urination. Isn't that troublesome? And yet you feel like you are a child of God. I tell you, in the spiritual realm, demons truly know who are the children of God and who are not. Whether demons obey you is a good proof.
Brothers and sisters, knowing that Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power, we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit and become children of God, not by our own efforts, but through faith. By faith, we fight against demons, cast them out, and set the captives free, and those who are oppressed gain freedom. This is the powerful gospel.
The Apostle Paul Preached the Gospel of Power
The Apostle Paul preached the gospel of great power, so he diligently emphasized in Romans: This gospel is the power of God! Thank God, the Romans must have listened. Later, I also thank God that Romans, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians are included in the Bible, becoming the Apostle Paul's gospel system, inheriting Jesus Christ, establishing God's glorious church, and proclaiming God's powerful gospel.
What are we thankful for? The Apostle Paul spoke more about understanding. You must know in your understanding that this gospel is the power of God. If you don't know in your understanding, you can't move forward. If you seem to know and seem not to know in your understanding, what do you do? Therefore, only faith is the foundation of this gospel. When you believe, miracles will follow, and these miracles prove what? Declaring that you are a child of God, preaching the gospel of power.
The Apostle Paul rarely recorded the miracles he performed, with only some records in the Book of Acts. The Apostle Paul did not like to talk about these miracles, but that does not mean he did not preach the gospel of power. Therefore, in Romans, he did not mention the miracles he performed, but he clearly explained the gospel. In Romans and Galatians, speaking of faith released the power of God and pushed the power of the gospel to a new height.
As I mentioned earlier, to put to death the deeds of the body, the Holy Spirit does not fight against evil spirits, but the Holy Spirit fights against the evil desires of our flesh. Originally, this powerful gospel accomplished one thing: not only raising the dead, but also putting to death the evil desires of our flesh, and guiding us into truth. This is wonderful! The Apostle Paul preached the gospel of great power.
To Save Everyone Who Believes
In this generation, when we talk about the "salvation" of this salvation, people are immediately confused. I want to try hard to explain this "salvation" clearly. What does salvation mean? Let me give you an example. When a person is healed, Jesus says, "Your faith has saved you." Can everyone understand? That is to say, his healing saved him. What about now? "If God doesn't heal you, do you still believe?" What kind of faith is that? Such words undermine people's faith.
Brothers and sisters, inherit this: in my faith, those with diabetes, high blood sugar, and low blood sugar have all been healed. Fractures have been healed, pain has been healed, all have been healed in Jesus Christ. Do you believe? Those who believe will surely receive, to save everyone who believes! Originally, we believe, and we receive. We are healed because of our faith, not because we are good enough. What do we believe? We believe that God is a God full of grace and mercy.
Don't think that the Apostle Paul did not perform miracles; he performed many. But he didn't have time to talk about those miracles, otherwise, the Book of Romans would be unreadable, too long. Paul made the matter of faith clear. If you practice according to this faith, miracles will surely be manifested. So this "salvation" includes healing; this "salvation" includes putting to death the deeds of the body; this "salvation" includes leading you into the truth of God. The power of God can save people from the power of darkness and lead us to know that we cannot do it on our own, but rely on the power of God, rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Have you received it? Received it.
Among us, some who are sick say, "Why am I not healed yet?" Don't say such things. Say, "I will surely be healed." I tell you, where is the root of many diseases? The root is in the evil desires of the flesh. It's not that casting out demons is useless, but that the evil desires of our flesh have not been put to death. The evil desires of the flesh and demons complement each other, becoming the root of our diseases. We need to repent well inside, and God will give you this grace.
In our past healing and deliverance, we often saw people healed of eighty percent of their illness. What about the remaining twenty percent? Why not heal completely? The reason is simple: we need to repent well. This grace leads you to repentance, not to prove that you are doing well. To save everyone who believes, how to believe? It is the faith of Abraham. Do you see the closed loop? Closed loop. If you connect the twelve lectures of "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" and the five lectures of "The Gospel of the Apostle Paul," the whole picture is extremely clear.
The Righteousness of God Is Revealed in the Gospel
The Bible says: Seek the righteousness of God, not your own righteousness. What exactly is the righteousness of God? The righteousness of God is faith, because the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, a righteousness that is from faith to faith. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.
Later, we discovered that unbelief provokes God's wrath; belief receives God's grace. Faith is very important! If you have this faith inside, God sees you as a treasure; if you don't have this faith inside, you become garbage in God's eyes. Do you know what God is doing? Chinese Mingding Doctrine says: God is choosing treasures. What kind of person is a treasure? A person with faith is a treasure. Miracles follow a person with faith; the love of a person with faith has roots and foundations.
The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, revealing what? Originally, God is a righteous God. Actually, we only have the part of believing and the part of receiving. In this generation, many people describe themselves too well, so they don't feel they are bad, they feel they possess the truth, they feel they are very good, and sometimes they even feel that God should apologize to them.
The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, God manifests His power through your hands. Healing is God working with you. Why? Because you believe. Is it because you are good enough? Not because you are good enough, but because you are faithful enough. You believe, and then you will find that God is constantly doing the work of sculpting on you. Not you sculpting yourself, you can't do anything by your own flesh.
If you have faith inside, the righteousness of God is manifested, this gospel is such a gospel. It's not that you do well enough, it's that you are faithful enough, and God does the work of sculpting on you, including putting to death the evil desires of the flesh by the Holy Spirit, so that you increasingly live out the glorious image of God. So we should seek the righteousness of God, not our own righteousness.
I have found that there are many self-righteous Christians, and the most difficult thing for Christians to change is self-righteousness. The most fatal thing for Christians is to establish their own righteousness. Once people establish their own righteousness, they do not seek the righteousness of God, they provoke God's wrath, and they suffer many sins, which is their own fault. Thank God, everyone no longer establishes their own righteousness, but seeks only the righteousness of God. Don't think that you are great just because you did one thing right, you still have many things you do wrong. So now enter into the righteousness of God, this gospel is the power of God, and then the power of God is manifested, this righteousness is from faith to faith.
This Righteousness Is from Faith to Faith
When we first believe in the Lord, we don't seem to seek much about what eternal life is. I come to church just to find a job, our faith is probably such a small faith. "Why did you come?" "Teacher, I fail every interview." "Teacher, I can't find a job." I thank God, God has prepared a job for you in Jesus Christ, now receive it by faith. How much faith? As small as a mustard seed.
When I entered the church, God gave me a job, God was gracious to me. How much faith? The faith of a mustard seed. Some brothers and sisters among us have received greater grace than this, including depression, yin and yang eyes, these have been healed, and they have returned to that church; cancer has been healed, and they have returned to that church. What are they after? I don't know. It is from faith to unbelief, what kind of brain is this?
Brothers and sisters, know that at first, a small faith receives grace; quickly have more faith, and receive more grace; have even more faith, and receive even more grace. From faith to faith, this is called the positive cycle of faith, and we are constantly growing on the path of faith. What does the Bible say? Let me read it to you.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:18-22).
What a great reminder! We profess ourselves to be wise, but we become fools. We chose to believe, but we became wise. So brothers and sisters, begin from faith to faith, from a small faith to a great faith. Believe what? Believe that we have not done many things right, begin to seek, begin to learn, do not stop at healing and deliverance. Pray and cast out one demon after another, do not think that this can solve the problem.
Later, Jesus said a very heavy word, "I never knew you." How heavy is this word? "Lord, I came." Lord Jesus said: I never knew you. Isn't this fatal? Believing in the Lord for a lifetime, Lord Jesus does not know us, what is the reason? The reason is that casting out demons and healing and deliverance are not everything of the gospel, that is just the beginning, that is from faith. To faith, what to believe? Believe in the whole Jesus Christ, believe in living out the glorious image of God.
Do not stop, do not learn from Peter, learning from Peter will eventually become "de de," "de xing" becomes "der der." In Northeastern dialect, this person is very "der," meaning very foolish, which is not a good description. We must be fully aware of God in our understanding! If you want to do pastoral care, do pastoral care well, pastoral care into the image of God. We are far from the image of God now, but God has abundant grace and mercy, from faith to faith.
We Chinese Mingding Doctrine owe this era a gospel debt, we know God's intention, and we have also received God's grace. This gospel is the power of God, can we spread this powerful gospel? Not spreading a religion, but spreading a benefit, so that everyone can receive the benefits of this gospel. Let our brothers and sisters have a common aspiration, knowing that we owe this generation a gospel debt.
Let those people in Canada, in the United States, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Europe, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, in the whole of Europe, even in Russia, in the whole of Asia, be able to hear this powerful gospel and receive the benefits of the gospel.
Then let our faith be constantly practiced, practice the word of God, practice faith, and see the glory of God manifested through you. So that little by little, we constantly live out the glorious image of God, this is what we want to do. This is our destiny, we were born for this, and we came into this world for this.
May God bless everyone! Amen!