Alright, let's delve into Zechariah Chapter 8, with the theme "You Need to Know God's Heart." This chapter transitions from a rather somber note to one that sounds a bit more hopeful. Why is that? Because in the previous chapter, I said I called to you, and you did not listen; so when you call to me, I will not listen. That is, God does not listen to people's prayers.

But now? You need to know God's heart; God's heart is not that He doesn't want to hear your prayers. God's heart is not to curse you, but to bless you. So we must understand that one's understanding of God determines what one receives within.

You Need to Know God's Heart

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “If this seems marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, should it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them.” (Zechariah 8:4-8)

You must know that God is extremely zealous for this Zion, for Jerusalem. I tell you all, if suddenly someone emerges, and God sees this person, chooses them, and then begins to build Zion, to build Jerusalem, to build the temple—don't get these terms confused. That Zion does not refer to the Zion in Israel, that Jerusalem is not the Jerusalem in that land; it refers to God's church. God's church is called Zion, Jerusalem is called Israel.

Do you all know? God is extremely zealous for Jerusalem, God is extremely zealous in His heart for Zion, God wants to return to Zion, to dwell in Jerusalem; this is God's heart. God's heart longs for someone to build God's temple, according to His righteousness and faithfulness, to build His temple. After it is built, God will dwell among them.

I can attest to this. We built the church in the past with such a heart. If in the church, your prayers are answered, it is because a group of people built the church and obtained God's heart. Being able to know God's heart, God is extremely zealous for us. I tell you all, this is absolutely true. Then this Jerusalem will become a city of truth.

If the church is not truthful, filled with falsehoods and emptiness, not entering into God's heart, merely bearing the name of a church, it is like what was said in the previous chapter: God calls to them, they do not listen; in the future, they call to God, and God will not listen.

To build a church, it must be a church where God hears prayers. When choosing a church, you must choose one where you can see God's heart in that church, a church that must be according to truth and righteousness. Let me give you an example: a sister who has seen all kinds of churches over the past thirty years suddenly came to our church. Actually, she has been among us for some years.

After coming, she discovered, "Hey? The people here are different from what I've seen in other churches." The churches she had seen before were full of actors; the pastor had a pastor's face, the pastor's wife had a pastor's wife's face, the members had members' faces. They would say, "Hello, I'm fine. Jesus loves you, and I love you too," all of it empty.

This time, she came to see these people. Because she hadn't seen them before, she wanted to see. She had many problems, and after seeing them, she received a scolding, being scolded every day. But this time, it was relying on God's truth, relying on truth and righteousness. If there are problems, can we not speak of them? To coax her would be to play false. Saying things like, "Oh, sister, Jesus loves you, and I love you too." When I see this, I would say, "Cut it out." Instantly eliminating all these superficialities.

So you must know that what the church hates most is a religious flavor; what the church hates most is dishonesty; what the church hates most is untruthfulness. The church must be according to God's heart; you must do more real things, less playing false. If the whole church is playing false, in the end, there may be many people, but no problems are solved.

There was a sister, I don't know if what she said was true or false. She had an illness and came among us for healing and deliverance. I said, "Which church are you from?" She said, "I'm from that church." I said, "Didn't that church just have a healing and deliverance conference recently? Isn't your pastor quite good? Doesn't he do healing and deliverance conferences?" She said, "Our pastor said that healing and deliverance conferences are only for outsiders."

I was very surprised, my goodness! I was thinking, doesn't he fear God doing this? It turns out it was a lure; what is a lure? It's a marketing tactic. I said, "What kind of mind is this? To deceive people into the church, and then not care about them anymore." I am exactly the opposite of them. Those who are sick should be properly delivered; if they can't be delivered, we treat it as a research project.

Recently, I have discovered that many people are being delivered from the issue of not understanding with their minds. Because people don't understand with their minds, they often believe lies. Because they don't understand with their minds, they don't even know what honesty is; because they don't understand with their minds, they don't know that they are God's people, that God is our God. Because they don't understand with their minds, they think the church shouldn't be like this, that the church should be superficial.

So I think today we must readjust, to know God's heart, that God is extremely zealous in His heart for His church, that God longs to dwell in His church. God longs for the church to be a place where God is present, God longs to answer our prayers.

So where is the problem? When God calls to us, do we respond or not? When God calls to us, people's response is, "I want to take a vacation." When God calls to us, people's response is, "If I come to the meeting, my husband will get angry." When God calls to us, people's response is, "God, I'm on vacation." It's all these things, so when you call to God, what happens? With all these things we have inside, how can we expect God to hear our prayers?

What does God say? Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing. Tell me, is this a church? How is this a church? No, this is reality. People should be real; if people are not real, they create a bunch of false images. Do you know why? In the church, the elderly, and those with body odor, I tell you, the church doesn't really welcome them. But God's heart is in these things, those who are old and take up their canes.

I tell you, even the people of the world know to respect the old and love the young, so the church should not become a place for collecting money. The church especially welcomes those who are rich, who work, professionals, small business owners, the self-employed, those who earn a lot of money. But the elderly, what are they doing here? They might get depression; what are they doing here? They should go to a mental hospital. Isn't it terrible for the church to be like this?

So I tell you, don't be surprised. Many people see it as strange. "Hey, how can God be present in this place? How can God answer their prayers? Is God such a God?" People see it as strange. Do you think this is strange in God's eyes? It's not strange, because what God wants is truth and righteousness, God's heart is in these things.

God wants to be gracious to His people. God wants to be their God. God wants to hear their prayers. This is our God. Do you really know God's heart? Do you know what God wants? If you don't know, then it truly is a tragedy for people to be Christians.

So we build the church to build a real church. Some people come to see me, and some stumble, and some don't. Why? Those who stumble say, "He's just like this." I'm already grateful that they didn't say "He's just like that." They think the pastor should be tall and lofty, high above, and we should look up to him. But when they see, "Hey! He also goes to the hawker center to eat, he also eats at roadside stalls, he also sleeps when he should sleep, he does what he should do."

But there is one thing, if someone comes with problems, then their problems, their pain, is our pain. This is how I have trained my co-workers. Your pain is our pain, because this is God's heart, God wants to bring salvation. God says among us, "These are my people, and I will be their God." God wants to dwell among us, there will be a clear presence of God here, there will be God's abundant grace here.

You say some churches are terrible. I never do this. During worship in the church, during singing, if someone has a mental breakdown, they are caught and taken to a small room. Is singing more important or is serving this mentally ill person more important? They say, "Don't make trouble." Make what trouble? "Oh, he is releasing and manifesting, don't affect our worship."

But the most important worship is to let the captives be released, to let the oppressed go free. The most important worship is for the blind to see, for the lame to walk. This is worship. After you all listen, maybe one day I will test the pastor to see how he is. Then you can come at me. Remember, the church is not a place to play false. I have hated falsehood since I was a child.

In the church, greet the person on your left, the person on your right, the person next to you, "Lord Jesus loves you, and I love you too." They turn around and say, "Lord Jesus loves you, and I love you too." I think, how do you love me? Staring eyes, I don't even know him, a church of ten thousand people, he loves me? I feel like this is lying with staring eyes. I just keep quiet, because I can't say these words, I feel disgusted after saying them. What is this doing? When I am sick, will you come to see me? When I have needs, can you truly extend a hand? These things are known when something happens. But when nothing happens, people just go on like that.

A sister I once served came to me. Why? Because she was hurt in that church. Because her mother was sick, and no one in that church cared. Her whole family went to that big church. When nothing happened, they went to give offerings, no one stopped them, but when you are sick, no one cares. Every day it's grace, grace. Is there grace?

So Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a theology of doing real things. You must know that in Chinese Mingding Doctrine, if you are an elderly person, we will not treat you as a burden. If you are a child, growing up happily in the church, you are also valued by God in the church, not served according to how much you donate.

Curses and Blessings Are in God's Hands

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Let your hands be strong, now that you have heard, in these days, the words the prophets spoke when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty, for the temple to be rebuilt. Before that time, there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor.” (Zechariah 8:9-10)

Can you all understand? Don't ever think that God is not a God of curses. God both curses and blesses.

“But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the Lord Almighty. “The seed will be plentiful, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all this as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. As you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.” (Zechariah 8:11-13)

You must know the meaning of the three words "God Reigns." The other day I met a sister. If this sister attends our meetings at home, her husband gets angry and curses. Then she is afraid and cannot attend the meetings. What do you think? Does her husband reign? Or does God reign? If I had to live such a life of being controlled, I would rather not live it.

Some time ago, there was a brother, oh, so hard, so miserable. Later, he took his wife to the civil affairs bureau to get a divorce, went inside, didn't want to divorce, and came back. Weren't you shouting for a divorce? Why don't you want to when you really have to? It turns out it was just shouting to scare people.

So I tell you all, what is it that we care about inside? What we care about inside is God, or our interests. I see why you are afraid, because if interests are in people's hands, of course you are afraid. Then I must tell you, when does God reign? God reigns at all times! As long as you are strong, do not be afraid, let your hands be strong, God will surely reign. These three words are engraved in my bones, so we can get to where we are today.

When building the temple of the Lord God. Why? Because building the temple of the Lord God is the dividing line between blessing and curse. Are there obstacles? Are there people taking action? Are there people threatening? Yes. The local people, the demons came to make them cause trouble and threaten. "If you continue like this, I will submit a memorial to the court, and you will die without a burial place." What then? You are afraid. Why? If the emperor receives the memorial and dismisses me, my head will surely be moved. That is the crime of rebellion. Building the temple of the Lord God is outrageous. Can't God reign? Yes!

So I tell you, nothing can stop our heart to build God's glorious church, because that is the dividing line between curse and blessing. Choosing to build the temple of the Lord Almighty, that is, His glorious church, will surely be blessed, and God will surely dwell among us. Of course, building a temple is not playing false, but with truth and righteousness. What is righteousness? Righteousness is faith.

So we must know that curses come from God. The harvested grain, God will blow it away. God doesn't need to do anything else, just send some mice into the granary, and it's over. You work in vain. Blessings also come from God, so build God's temple according to God's truth and righteousness, do not be afraid. I tell you, what we are doing today is shaping people into valuable people. Those who cannot make a living can be trained among us to make a living. But there are still many obstacles.

Aren't these all trials? Because there are obstacles, because there are threats, do we want to overcome? If you believe that God reigns, you can surely overcome. Of course, you must understand with your mind, don't fight with people. Some people dare not offend anyone, but dare to offend God. Don't you think there is something wrong with their brains? They don't miss anything, but they miss building God's temple. Oh, I sigh!

Look, this is what the Lord Almighty says, "Let your hands be strong, now that you have heard, in these days, the words the prophets spoke when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty." I tell you, God doesn't really care about the temple, God cares about your heart. If you are a temple builder, from the day you start building the temple, you cannot but be blessed. So the heavens will drop their dew, I will give all this as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. In the past, how you have been a curse among the nations, so God will save you. Where does it start? From building the temple of the Lord Almighty, this is the dividing line.

If you are not blessed, see what you are busy with all day, see what your core interests are all day. I tell you, when you become rich, when God blesses you to become rich, that is even more critical. Whether you are willing to serve the Lord your God when you are rich will determine the future. If you are blessed, it is best to be blessed forever.

Israel is a history of being blessed, delivered, and then becoming wealthy, only to start serving Mammon again. Why? Because making money is so important, networking is also important, doing everything is important, except building God's temple. Consequently, God controls both curses and blessings.

I am not trying to scare you; I am merely telling you the truth. One must be careful, very careful. If you ask me, I am very clear about this matter; I do not want to live under a curse. If God gives you a small curse, it will be enough to cause you much grief. I do not have the courage for that, nor do I pursue it. I only pursue entering into God's will.

Therefore, the Chinese Mingding Doctrine must align with God's will. What is God's will? The entire Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, speaks of the Body of Jesus Christ. All things are to be united in Jesus Christ. And God wants Jesus Christ to be the head over all things for the church, to put all things under His feet. But not everyone has such faith.

In fact, if you observe carefully, learn more, and then your understanding dawns, you will realize that God is in control! Oh my, be careful not to get it wrong. If you get it wrong, you will be utterly ruined! Do not be afraid; I tell you that there will certainly be obstacles to building God's glorious church. Every obstacle you overcome will bring you the joy of victory because God is in control.

You Must Know What God Hates

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to inflict punishment on you when your ancestors angered me and I did not relent, says the Lord Almighty, so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid.” (Zechariah 8:14-15)

These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord. (Zechariah 8:16-17)

I tell you, it is very dangerous for a person not to know what God hates. What does God hate the most? God hates it when people plot against their neighbors for their own benefit, and God hates false oaths. Because these things are what God hates.

I encourage everyone, when speaking to others, never say, "You must believe me because I believe in God," or "You must believe me because I am a Christian," or "You must believe me, I am your brother." Brothers and sisters, do not believe this, it is no different from taking a false oath. Why does he say this? He wants to deceive you. He says this so that you will buy insurance from him, saying, "Don't worry, I am a Christian, I won't cheat you."

Therefore, I tell you, in the church, you must build God's church with honesty and righteousness, because everything else is what God hates. If a person's core interest is not God, if a person's core interest is money, if a person's core interest is his business, then there is trouble. If a person's core interest is her husband, or a person's core interest is his wife, then when the wife glares, it's over.

So we brothers and sisters must know that God hates falsehood. If you want to build a church, but God is not present, who is present? Demons are present. Building a church with demons present, and not even knowing it. In fact, the most tragic thing in this world is to be like Saul, not knowing what happened until death. "I clearly obeyed God's word." There are many Christians like this. Why is it like this? Why do these things happen to me? Why doesn't God listen to my prayers? God, why? It is because they do not know where they went wrong. Why? The reason lies in this core interest.

I encourage everyone, I must tell everyone, what God hates is playing false. Feeling that you love God very much, but your core interest is not God. For example, networking, building relationships. What relationship is better than God's relationship, what relationship is stronger than God's relationship? None. So we often cannot distinguish clearly; how good it is to network in God's circle. But God is merely a fig leaf for him. God is merely a shield, God is merely an excuse; these are all deadly logical systems.

You Must Know What God Delights In

Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months are to become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.’ (Zechariah 8:18-19)

I tell you, God really hopes that we can set aside time to be holy. But some people say, "Oh, there are fasts in the fourth and fifth months, and fasts in the seventh and tenth months, why are there so many fasts?" "See, it's affecting my business; with this time, I could get so many deals!" "With this time, I could do so many things!" Everyone slowly ponder this.

Now, it becomes, "Wow, this is so good," becoming joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Does it affect making money? It does. But we know this is what God wants. Therefore, we must love truth and peace. When a person sees through the matter of living, I tell you, joy and happiness are the most important. Many people have made money, but they have also made a lot of sorrow.

I must say again, you must know what God delights in, you must know God's will, you must know that God controls everything. If you have a relationship with God, many relationships will be settled. I tell everyone, try it. I tell everyone, what affects your mood is your son. What affects you is your family. But God cannot be affected.

In a person's life, one disaster can put an end to it. A few small curses piled together are enough to cause much grief. It is a great tragedy for a person not to know what God delights in. In fact, God wants us to be joyful and happy. Money is not what you earn; it is what God gives. Anyway, if you ask me, what do you live by? I live by God providing for me. God will surely provide for me. Slowly, you will discover, "Oh, God provides so well." Some people say, "My business is doing very well." Is that what you earned? No, that is what God gave. When a person understands this set of logic, he will love truth and peace.

Never tell God, "God, you understand me, they want to harm me, I really have no strength to build your temple." Never say this to God. Don't you know that God is in control? What are you afraid of those who harm you?

Here is God's Presence

When you begin to understand God's will, and you know that what God cares about is His temple, His church, you know that building the temple of the Lord Almighty is the dividing line between blessing and curse. Let us come before God with spirit and truth, building a church with God's presence.

My heart is very clear that it is God who provides for us. My co-workers, listen carefully. Our church is not poor at all today. Why? Because God provides for us, and whatever we do prospers. God provides for us, and the brothers and sisters we lead also prosper in whatever they do. If you are not prospering, then take a good look at what you have inside.

When we build a church, we must build a church with God's presence, we must build a church with God's presence, full of God's grace. We must build a church with God's presence, where God hears prayers. Why? Because we are building according to God's will. With God's truth and righteousness, and then with God's presence, I tell you, God's blessing is simply poured down from heaven!

Later, I discovered that among us, many brothers and sisters, oh my goodness, the blessings that God pours out are even overflowing. Why? The reason is very simple. You and I have the same heart and mind, building God's glorious church, here is God's presence, here is filled with God's grace. Maybe you don't look at yourself, "I'm still very bad, I'm still terrible," etc. It's not like that. It is God's grace.

Let me tell you a small testimony. This time last year, we were all very worried. Why? We saw a sister. This sister's life from childhood was really a very dramatic soap opera. Then at the age of thirty-five or thirty-six, she lost her job. Then looking at her, it seemed like she had no skills at all. Then what did she want to do? She wanted to do "big health." Does everyone know what "big health" is? "Big health" is not necessarily healthy; it is definitely a big scam. She had no practical skills, just scamming skills.

Then when I heard it, this was not "big health," this was scamming money. Can that be blessed? I said, "Sister, let's not do this, listen to my advice. Come and learn some engineering, something that can provide a livelihood." That was this time last year. What happened? This year, after three leaps, God gave her a very good opportunity. She became the chief designer. The chief designer has several subordinates. She became a manager.

This time last year, I tell you, she really had no money. She was almost out of food. Thank God! We arranged a place for her to live. What happened? This year, she became a store manager. In one year. Her income went from unemployed to now. She should be able to earn two or three hundred thousand a year. If you think about it, isn't it good to earn two or three hundred thousand a year? Some time ago, I said, "Buy a car, trade in your old car, there are trade-in subsidies. Buying a new car is very cheap." Here is God's presence!

Come among us, and even cancer will be healed. Come among us, no matter what illness they have, even if their joints are deformed and twisted together, they are loosened. Come among us, and back pain is healed, skin diseases are healed. Come among us, it's simply great! So brothers and sisters, if you come to a church and see that demons are in control, it's not demons, it's God sending a demon, because that place from top to bottom is all playing false, playing虚的, "Oh, Lord Jesus loves you, and I love you too." Cut it out, if there is an icon, I would quickly send it to him, "Cut it out!"

Brothers and sisters, in this place, can we adjust our thoughts and intentions to God's will? Specialize in being a person who pleases God. How good is that? Then people will come when they see it. So brothers and sisters, we are not preaching a religion. Don't preach a religion and pull people into the religion, and after pulling them in, continue to play false with you, there is not much meaning. Counting all day long, "Oh, today I preached the gospel to several people." "Oh, today I pulled several people into the religion." "Today I led several people to make a decision prayer." I just like to say, "Cut it out!"

There was a sister whose father, the symptoms of Alzheimer's had already started, and it was getting more and more serious. I said, "You just watch me carefully, how to attack the evil spirit behind Alzheimer's." Then this sister said to me, "My dad is fine, my dad has already made a decision to believe in the Lord." Oh my goodness, the poison that her former pastor put in her brain is really powerful, deeply rooted. It immediately drained me of energy. As a result, she went back to take care of her dad, and Alzheimer's really tormented people, maybe it was acting up, acting up. I said, "You still have to listen to me." She really couldn't bear it anymore. So what if she made a decision? What do you think about Alzheimer's after making a decision? It's quite interesting to have Alzheimer's after making a decision.

Later, she did as I taught her. That was a demon. You little thing, if I don't fix you, is that still your dad? After fixing it, oh, the Alzheimer's was healed. Not completely healed, they act up as soon as they are not there, they can suppress it as soon as they are there, because there is a demon behind it. What am I saying? Here is God's grace! Here is God's presence!

People from All Nations Will Come Here to Seek the Lord's Favor

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord’s favor and to seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat the Lord’s favor.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ (Zechariah 8:20-23)

God is with us, building a church must build a church with God's presence. Then people see this grace, I tell you, they must come to receive this grace. How do we become a blessing to all nations on earth? Because here is God's grace. We pass on God's grace, that is infinitely good.

There was a sister who had a small conflict with her mother. She couldn't stand what her mother did, she couldn't get used to it. Then I said, "How happy is your mother among us? I used to see her mother, her mother had a very serious problem with her lumbar spine, and she was healed among us, she is well." As for how much she loves God or doesn't love God, let's not discuss that for now. But I tell you, she is happy and joyful. Because why? Because she received the grace of the Lord God here.

So many people say, "I'm going too," three or one group, ten or eight people come together. I tell you, in the days to come, you will see amazing things happen. This has been the case in the past few years.

In the days to come, oh, there is a person in a certain church, who heard our sermons online, heard us talk about God's presence, talked about the Lord's favor. Then they come to listen, after listening, they come, after coming, they begin to be blessed, they begin to receive the grace of the Lord. "Oh, it's so good." Then one tells two, two tell three. Then they all come to listen. More and more and more.

So brothers and sisters, we must pass on God's grace. Then you say, "Is this grace, called the gospel of grace?" No. This is the gospel of God's presence, this is the gospel of building God's glorious church. Then since God delights in us, He dwells among us, and is with us. Then I tell you, if this is a church with God's presence, this place will surely see God's abundant grace.

If this place does not have God's presence, and has the presence of demons, you will surely see disasters one after another. It's better not to go to church, going to church gets cancer. It's better not to go to church, going to church breaks a leg. It's better not to go to church, going to church has a lot of accidents. You say this is not an obvious thing.

We brothers and sisters readjust. Of course, among us, God also disciplines you in the same way. If you play false with God, God will definitely not not discipline you because you are among us. I think people need to know God's will. Then know that God controls blessings and curses; know what God hates; and also know what God delights in, and then building a church must build a church with God's presence.

I especially thank God. I don't know if God gave me this heart and mind, or if I have this heart and mind, but in any case, I believe God delights in this heart and mind, building God's glorious church. False things must retreat. Amen!

May God bless everyone!

null