Introduction

Good day, everyone. This week, we come to the fourth sermon in our series, Grace and Truth. Time moves very quickly. In the blink of an eye, here we are at session four. This series is exceedingly difficult to preach. You will have to bear with me, but there is some hard, solid substance here that you must grasp. The title for this week is: "To the One Who Works, Wages Are Not Counted as Grace." In the entire history of Christianity, this statement is of paramount importance.

Once the devil deceives you, he makes you believe that you must do something to earn grace. But the moment you do that, it becomes wages, not grace. That is why Christians, as they live on and practice their faith over time, lose grace altogether. Then they invent another lie: "When I first came to Christ, that was just the honeymoon phase." In the beginning, you used faith; after a while, you switched to works, always feeling compelled to do something for God.

"Lord, what would you like to eat?" God gives you a slap across the face: "What would I like to eat? Do you take me for an invalid in a hospital ward?" "Lord, eat whatever you need, drink whatever you like." Slap! That is a slap. If God were to use His foot, you would be kicked into the stratosphere.

Grace is a concept that is very easily muddled. The tension between faith and works, between grace and wages, has troubled Christianity right from the very beginning. There was a man named James, the biological brother of Jesus, who strongly advocated works, insisting that faith and works must go hand in hand. Consequently, he wrote the Epistle of James.

If that is how it works, we are in deep trouble. One day my mother developed dementia. How was she supposed to produce good works? If she was not smearing feces all over the bathroom walls, that was already an achievement. So if you think you must do something for God, you are finished. If not for grace, what could a dementia patient possibly do for God? But the God I believe in is full of grace. Every time I drove out the demons, it worked.

It was not because my name possessed any power; it was the name of Jesus Christ. If not for the grace of Jesus Christ, how could those demons have been cast out? Later, my mother recovered. Every time a demon returned, I cast it out again. It was sheer grace throughout. Even today, whenever I look back on those moments, I am deeply grateful.

I knew another man who had been a Christian for many years. His father also had dementia. Not only did he smear feces in the toilet, but he smeared it across the living room as well. It was a complete disaster—feces all over the walls and floor. After listening to my sermon, this man came to see me because nothing was working. I engaged him in conversation, and his view was still that one must perform some kind of works. I told him: "Things have degraded to this point, what works are you talking about? Why is it so difficult for you simply to believe?"

The evidence was right there before him, yet he refused to believe. It was utterly tragic. If that is his choice, let him keep smearing, all the way to destruction. The distinction between grace and wages, between faith and works, confuses people endlessly. If you read Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians alongside the Epistle of James, you will see that James was clearly displeased after reading Galatians and wrote his epistle in response.

That response was a direct counter-argument. Paul was targeting the works-based system that James promoted. Paul insisted on faith—faith alone is the foundation, nothing else. But James disagreed; he insisted that you must add works to faith.

Fortunately, I understand my Bible clearly. Take my mother’s dementia: ask her to produce good works, try to find a single good deed. If she is not talking nonsense, that is already a relief. If you have cancer, what good works can you present? You cannot do anything except undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy. That is the reality. When we first came to know God, what did we give Him? Nothing at all!

When you first believed and walked into the church, what did you offer to God? You were barely holding it together, practically smearing walls yourself. Many Christians, as they journey on, regress into a works-based mentality, mistaking wages for grace. They assume they are walking in grace, but if what they are pursuing is wages, grace cannot be bought with that currency!

You must burn this truth into your mind: Grace is free, but it is priceless! It is free, yet of infinite value; it cannot be obtained by any means other than by faith. Many do not understand the Scriptures. Some have been poisoned by the Epistle of James. I state this plainly, whether you take offense or not. The hard fact is that they swallowed that poison and destroyed God’s grace in their lives. What they receive are mere wages. People have even coined the term "Grace Gospel."

Let me mention a name you may know, and you might criticize me for it: Pastor Joseph Prince. I have listened to him. His preaching on grace is correct in its core logic; it is indeed grace. However, while correct, it lacks something critical. We receive grace, and our entire life is sustained by grace, is it not?

Yet many think: "Free grace? That cannot be; you must do something for God." That is simply not true. Everything is grace. Let me put it in perspective for you. Chinese Mingding Doctrine incorporates spiritual warfare into this equation. Our Course 101 explains this with utmost clarity.

The matter is straightforward: it is all grace. The means to access grace is faith, and the highest expression of faith is warfare. The best demonstration of faith is when you engage in battle. When you cast out demons, do you believe or not? Because I believed, the demon of dementia on my mother was driven out. Because I believed, our dog’s swollen face was healed through prayer. Because I believed, the brothers and sisters have received so much.

Did we do anything for God? We did not. Our victorious warfare is simply faith put into practice. If the devil were truly all-powerful, he would have destroyed me many times over. Therefore, brothers and sisters, treat grace as grace once again. Stop treating it as wages. You cannot earn it; it is priceless. When you contend with the devil, you had better understand the reality of "grace." If you do not, you are done for.

What we believe is the gospel of receiving grace. Whether in waging warfare or building the church, it is God working alongside us. Whether in defeating the devil, ascending spiritual peaks, or increasing our warfare strength, it is all God's grace. God's grace fills our entire lives; our whole existence is one of grace.

Just last night, the devil attacked a sister who suffers from insomnia. I had trained her repeatedly, and last night she began to show signs of victory. Whenever she had insomnia, she would be gripped by terror, shaking violently. Around three o'clock in the morning, the demon came again. This time, she understood the logic of grace and did not rely on wages. For to the one who works, wages are not grace; only what is freely received is grace.

The devil said to her: "You are not good enough." She replied: "Precisely because I am not good enough, I need grace." The devil said: "Your faith is terrible." She replied: "Even if my faith is terrible, I still trust in God’s grace." This infuriated the devil. In frustration, speaking through her mouth, the demon said: "You are worthless." "Even so, I need grace." "You are not good enough." "I need grace." "You are finished." "Even if I am finished, I still need grace."

Relying on the grace of Jesus Christ, standing firm in God's grace with that tiny speck of faith—faith the size of a mustard seed. Sometimes demons are malicious: "Where is your God? There is no God. Prove Him to me." Let me tell you: crushing you is the best proof. You were defeated before, and you are defeated now. What do you expect to gain? You will get nothing but a beating.

In confronting such demons, if not for God’s grace—if it depended on your performance and self-effort—you would be finished. You would inevitably fall before the devil, unable to secure victory. Faith is what claims grace. If you wait until your behavior is flawless, the devil will have destroyed you long before then. To the one who works, wages are paid, not grace. What is freely received—that alone is grace.

People begin their walk of faith, but along the way, they fall from grace because they start treating it as wages. There are countless examples. You serve in the church and think you are making a great contribution—that is looking for wages. You work in a company and think you are doing them a favor; for a Christian, that mindset is lethal. Gradually, you turn into a hired laborer expecting wages.

I once met a pastor who developed brain cancer. His close friend insisted that I minister to him, so I agreed to try. We are a small church with an unknown pastor; he was a prominent pastor of a megachurch. From the start, communication was an uphill task. I asked him how he got sick. He said it was because he worked too hard in ministry, taking only one day off a week. When I heard that, I almost laughed.

I have hardly taken a rest my entire life. I work almost every single day; I do not have the habit of idleness. Yet I have not worked myself into brain cancer. Why? Because my labor is out of grace, whereas his labor was an attempt to earn wages. If your work is not rooted in grace, your heart will be burdened; carry that burden long enough, and it manifests as illness. What a tragic story! I learned a sobering lesson from him: everything is grace.

Had I operated the way he did, I would have died many times over. The moment you believe salvation hinges on your performance, you forfeit grace, because you think you must perform for God. Along the Christian path, you will inevitably hear this voice: life improves, grace abounds, everything is going well, so now "I must do something for God."

What can you possibly do? Look at yourself. Even I have little use for what you can offer; what could God possibly need from you? The moment you fall into that trap, you want to work, you want wages. And when the wages do not come, the interest comes—and that means disaster.

Faith is a remarkable thing. Works cannot be compared to faith; works are inherently distant from faith. When we engage the devil in spiritual combat, faith is all we have. The moment you look at works, you fall short—that is a plain fact. The devil will tell you: "You are deficient here, you failed there, you lost your temper just yesterday."

Do not fall for it. I do not stand on my works; I stand on faith, and I will lay hold of God’s grace. I am God's workmanship; He is pruning me. I will repent gradually and change step by step. But when it comes to receiving grace, that is non-negotiable. I simply believe: even if I am broken, I still receive grace.

Though I am weak, God will surely cause me to triumph over the devil, because it is not by my power, but by God’s. When I make a mistake, I correct it, but I remain confident that God is a God who gives grace. Many people cannot make this mental shift. Do not assume you have understood it just because I explained it. If you are still trapped in misery—battling insomnia, paralyzed by fear, trembling the moment you return home without even knowing why—the problem remains.

You might escape for a few days, but you must eventually return. What will you do then? Like a sister whose husband passed away, who lived in constant terror just as she did before. How do you deal with that? If you fight the devil with works, you will lose. You must rely on faith and grace. I am breaking down this faith, grinding it into fine flour, so that you can digest it.

Some among us have created immense trouble for themselves. They have been believers for years, yet remain stuck in a works-based mindset, completely cut off from grace. Is that not a tragedy? We must no longer confuse wages with grace, nor faith with works. Let us align ourselves strictly with Paul’s teaching.

Let me give you another example. A sister among us suffered from severe depression and was completely healed—at a time when she had done nothing. Another person suffered from severe psychiatric illness and was hospitalized; the demon was cast out through me, and she had done nothing for Jesus Christ either. There are many such cases. It is not about what we have done for God; it is about what God has done for us.

If God has done this for us and granted us such overwhelming grace, what more is there to say? Stand firm in that grace through faith. We had a PhD student who became pregnant, and the doctor diagnosed the baby with Down syndrome. She was torn over whether to keep the child. She prayed with tremendous fervency—previously she had prayed for her PhD completion and graduated smoothly.

Facing this diagnosis, she prayed desperately again. In the end, she gave birth to a perfectly healthy child. How do you explain that? What did she do for God? She simply received. Such occurrences are countless: the blind see, the lame walk—which of these is not grace? But after receiving grace, have we repented?

If we do not repent, it will become a problem; yet God will still allow you to experience His grace. Whenever trouble strikes, drop the arrogance; do not dare to be proud again. We have experienced immense grace! Repent quickly of past errors. You must understand: grace leads us to repentance, and knowing the truth is what sets us free. Therefore, enter by grace, and live your entire life by grace. Continually say to God: "Lead us, and discipline us as You see fit."

To put it bluntly: Lord, when we go drastically off course, punish us. Even divine chastisement is far better than losing God entirely. Once you are abandoned, you are left to your own devices, ending up like Cain and Lamech. What the contemporary church needs above all else is grace; it must return, decisively, to grace.

Do not merely take my word for it; we must return to the Scriptures. You might ask, "What about the Epistle of James?" I have studied it thoroughly, and James comes out looking utterly compromised. We must read Paul. Paul built robust, thriving churches; James ran his into the ground. If we want to learn, we do not learn from the man whose church failed. How can a man who presided over a collapse get things right? Look at the churches established by the Apostle Paul—the tangible presence of God was undeniable.

Scripture

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:1-5)

Prayer

Lord, pull us back onto the path of grace. Enable us once again to draw upon Your grace through faith before You. God, purge the religious rubbish within us. Clear out our internal filth—this works-based mentality of trying to earn wages from You.

God, by faith, let us come before You once again as Abraham did. Guide us, so that we may live all our days under Your grace, and never fall back into the lie of transactional, works-based merit. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Scriptural Background

Paul spent his entire life fighting for the pure Gospel. Where did the problem lie? The devil is malicious, constantly seeking to entice God's people away from the path of grace and the pure Gospel. Initially, Paul was an obscure figure, much like my own standing—largely unknown. Yet there he was, fiercely promoting grace and faith.

In truth, faith is not difficult to grasp. In the era of Jesus Christ, everything was rooted in faith. You will observe that Jesus rarely criticized other matters; He consistently rebuked people for their lack of faith. In other words, only faith pleases God. However, by Paul's day—indeed, even before Paul stepped into ministry—a distorted narrative had already begun spreading within the church. As it spread, the church became increasingly aberrant.

Why did God raise up the Apostle Paul? God took one look and saw that James, His brother in the flesh, and Peter, His chosen chief apostle, simply could not hold the line. So God looked elsewhere and raised up Paul. Paul was prepared by God. He was no uneducated brute; he was highly educated, with an exceptionally rigorous understanding of the Scriptures.

Once raised up, Paul served in Antioch, not far from Jerusalem. He was not the leader there either; he was an associate, accompanying Barnabas. Eventually, tensions arose because the Jerusalem church held greater authority than Antioch. Paul said, "I must go to Jerusalem to see James, lest I run my race in vain."

Consider the underlying dynamics here. If you did not submit to their authority, James could dismiss you—the entire establishment belonged to James, Peter, and their faction. Left with no choice, Paul went up to Jerusalem carrying a revelation. He wanted to secure one fundamental truth: God possesses abundant grace.

When he met James, James said, "Agreed: we will go to the Jews, and you go to the Gentiles." Paul had waited a long time for those words. That was precisely the mandate he wanted. Once the division was established, Paul went full steam ahead, traversing Asia Minor and the European provinces of the Roman Empire.

Within a few short years, the Jerusalem church fell into desolation, while the Apostle Paul’s churches flourished. Consequently, Paul frequently collected offerings from the Gentiles and brought them to Jerusalem, managing the political relationship astutely. Not long after, Paul wrote Galatians—which was practically a gauntlet thrown down before James. When this challenge reached James, he was not one to sit idle; in response to Galatians, he penned the Epistle of James.

After James wrote it—and I thank God for giving me the resolve to scrutinize it relentlessly—do you know that the Epistle of James is the book I have read the most? Initially, I did not have the audacity to claim James was flawed, since all Scripture is God-breathed. Yet, when you place Paul’s Galatians side by side with James, it becomes obvious that James was simply an attempt to rebut Galatians.

One writes a challenge, the other responds—just like modern theological debates. But the pure Gospel was ultimately preserved. Today we have Romans and Galatians, records of a decisive victory over a false gospel. Even so, the devil has not ceased his subversion. Since Paul departed this world, that battle has raged incessantly down to the present day.

When you align Galatians against James, the contrast is absolute. Which one represents the true Gospel? It is Galatians, because it shares an unbroken logical framework with Jesus Christ. Paul prevailed. We must rely on the pure Gospel proclaimed by the Apostle Paul, rooted in faith, drawing upon God's grace by faith once more. This time, even more demons will be cast out.

Many brothers and sisters are going to be delivered again. Demons cannot remain hidden. Recently, pastors have reported numerous manifestations in their districts—demons concealed for years were driven out. I am speaking not of the people themselves, but of the spirits possessing them. Later, when Paul wrote 1 and 2 Corinthians, the Corinthians had been misled, and Paul pulled them firmly back onto the tracks of the Gospel.

Paul had never actually visited the church in Rome. It was founded by believers fleeing persecution in Jerusalem, who scattered to Corinth, Rome, Cyprus, Spain, and Asia. Once these refugees planted the church, the Roman believers became utterly confused about whether they needed to observe circumcision. Paul then composed the monumental Epistle to the Romans, once again rescuing the Roman believers from a works-based theological error.

To a significant degree, this corrected the erroneous influence left behind by James, the biological brother of Jesus. If you are a minister, study this deeply. Compare these texts, scrutinize what James wrote, and you will understand the underlying reality.

James did not even understand the Old Testament properly. He had the title, but lacked the substance. People must recognize that he lacked depth. He merely cobbled together various disjointed ideas. Frankly, James might have been better suited to be a monk, as his framework resembles Buddhism far more than Christianity. The fundamental difference between Christianity and Buddhism is that Christianity offers abundant grace and mercy, not ascetic self-cultivation. James spent his days practicing asceticism, and in doing so, he ruined the Jerusalem church.

Consider this: if I were Wang Chuanfu and I decided to manufacture automobiles, how would I proceed? Would I seek out someone who knows nothing about building cars? Would I learn from someone whose vehicles fall apart the moment they hit the road? Absolutely not. Wang Chuanfu was pragmatic—he looked to Toyota. When his first car rolled out, it was an exact, one-to-one replica of a Toyota.

Why not copy Nissan? Because at the time, Toyota was the gold standard. If you copy, you benchmark against the best. The principle is identical. If you want to plant a church—a victorious church—model yourself after Paul, inheriting the legacy of Jesus and Paul. Do not waste your life obsessing over James. Over the years, I read James extensively and could never make sense of it; every time I read it, his central thesis was obscure.

My mind works by grasping core principles. James writes diffusely, with no clear focus; you cannot discern what he is trying to prove. He wrote volumes of text that do not even support his own premise. It sounds pleasant enough on the surface, but it is ultimately superficial.

Everything returns to one foundational figure: Abraham. Paul’s theological system originates from Genesis. The framework of our Chinese Mingding Doctrine is constructed in the same manner: running from Genesis straight through to the Pauline Epistles. In Genesis, there is one man you cannot bypass: Abraham.

Who wrote about Abraham? Moses, the lawgiver. What did he record? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." This phrase—"accounted to him for righteousness"—is of paramount importance. It was not because Abraham’s performance was impeccable.

In fact, many people love to put Abraham under a microscope, listing every flaw and misdeed in his conduct, yet they completely miss Abraham’s faith.

Human critics can spot Abraham’s faults, and the devil can spot them too. But if you fail to recognize Abraham’s faith, your analysis is utterly useless. Brothers and sisters, what are we here for? We are here to lay hold of the promise Abraham received.

We must lay hold of that righteousness Abraham obtained; we must lay hold of Abraham’s faith. Abraham believed the Lord, and it was accounted to him as righteousness—back when his name was still Abram. Names do not matter—call yourself Abram, Abe-Green, or Abe-Yellow. Regardless of the name, if you believe in the Lord, the Lord accounts it to you as righteousness. That is what we must master.

Who has the time to stand around nitpicking Abraham's conduct? You can analyze his actions all day and still come away with the wrong conclusion, because his works were not the point. As everyone knows, Abraham’s record of conduct was hardly stellar. Some of his actions were frankly embarrassing. When his wife was taken by another man, he sat there helplessly, losing face entirely.

I tell you, Abraham had countless flaws, but he possessed one supreme strength—faith. If you apply that same fleshly critique to me—seeing an obscure, ordinary-looking man—your faith will evaporate. You see merely a piece of flesh, and you fail to discern that the faith within me matches the faith of Abraham.

If you look for faults, there are plenty: "This fellow sits on his balcony drinking coffee—how indulgent of the flesh!" But my faith is immense. Am I forbidden from drinking a cup of coffee? A cup of coffee changes nothing; there is no issue here. When you evaluate Abraham’s faith, the issue is not how well he performed, but how firmly he believed.

When he was accounted righteous, he had not even been circumcised. Why did James and Peter later push circumcision so aggressively? Circumcision is merely a minor surgical procedure on the male anatomy, removing a piece of foreskin. What practical purpose does that serve? To this day, I fail to see its utility. I thank the Lord: if we had followed James today, we would be ruined.

Imagine telling people: "You're almost there, but you need surgery first." Churches already have few men; if they must undergo surgery upon entering, good heavens! Forget it. If someone had told me on my first day at church, "Lie down on that dirty bed in the backyard for a procedure," it would have been unthinkable.

This is where they completely missed the point. They insisted on doing something, when nothing needed to be done. Simply believe properly! Instead of emulating Abraham’s faith, they emulated Abraham’s surgical procedure. Is that not a monumental miscalculation?

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25)

Jesus was crucified for us. He alone bore our griefs, carried our curses, and offered Himself as an atonement for our sins. His resurrection was for our justification.

His resurrection from the dead anchors our faith, enabling us to possess a faith like Abraham's—a faith that believes God raises the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist. When you have this faith, do you not have the very faith of Abraham?

Drawing Grace Through Faith

When you confront the devil and he tells you, "You are unworthy!" what do you do? You know you have flaws; you make mistakes, and you make them with practiced ease. What can you do? Nothing in yourself. But God does not deal with me according to my performance; performance yields mere wages, but what I receive now is grace. Grace is given freely. Devil, get behind me! We are not going to debate my worthiness. Grace is what God has determined to give me, and I will lay hold of God's grace decisively.

Brothers and sisters, why are the sick healed? Because what you receive is grace—given freely, at no cost. Consider those sick who came seeking Jesus: what destiny did they boast of? They had no grand destiny at all. They were simply in misery, crying out: "Son of David, heal me!" And in the end, Jesus healed them all. Jesus said your faith has saved you; therefore, it is not your works that saved you.

We must understand that what we draw upon is grace. It is not a matter of whether you are worthy or unworthy. What the devil fears most is when you declare the Word of God. We must say precisely what God’s Word says. The devil says, "Your faith is pathetic!" Jesus says, "Faith the size of a mustard seed is enough." What James said and what his elder brother Jesus said are two entirely different matters.

If you think you must have zero doubt and your entire heart must be packed with mustard seeds, what if you do not have that many? If you have only one seed, that single seed is sufficient. My heart may be filled with the perplexities of this world, yet I possess that one mustard seed: I believe that God is mighty, awesome, and full of grace.

Once you receive healing, a job, and grace, come back and let that mustard seed grow into two, adding just a little more. Having received such magnificent grace, why shouldn’t I double it? If I receive one measure of grace today, tomorrow I want two; in time, I want four, eight, sixteen measures of grace. Only faith can draw upon grace. The moment you introduce human performance into the equation, trouble begins, and you will have no power to overcome the devil.

Wages Are Not Grace

Drawing upon grace through faith is that simple. If you work for wages, it ceases to be grace. If you want to give God something in order to receive grace, that is not grace; that is called wages. Our brothers and sisters must recognize this: the moment you try to trade for grace, you are in serious trouble. You must know that this grace is priceless—it is the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

You cannot purchase the blood of Jesus Christ with money. Though it is free to us, it is beyond price. We cannot buy grace with our works. If you receive such abundant grace and God then enables you to produce good deeds, remember that it is not your doing; it is God’s doing. You have nothing to boast about.

Let me remind you again: why do people become foolish? Because whenever they achieve something, they assume it was entirely their own doing. Be careful. Whatever country you operate your business in, if you make money, you had better not claim that every single dollar was earned purely by your own hard sweat. You had better acknowledge that because the state instituted the right policy, you were able to make that money. Without that policy, you would have made nothing.

I often observe people strutting about with arrogance, when in reality they are nothing special. Their wealth had little to do with their intrinsic capability; an old leader drew a designated development zone on the map, and they happened to be inside that circle. Had the circle been drawn elsewhere, they would still be ordinary peasants. Yet people inflate themselves with unwarranted pride, and for the life of me, I do not know what they are boasting about. When a man considers himself formidable, the devil enters; and when the devil enters, the man becomes a fool. This is unacceptable for ordinary human conduct, and it is entirely unacceptable for a Christian.

The Faith of Abraham

This point is vital. Abraham’s faith crystallized when he was in his seventies. At that time, he witnessed the death of his brother—the father of Lot. (Much of this comes from external historical accounts rather than direct Scripture; Scripture simply records that his brother died in Haran).

Abraham loved this brother dearly. He wept, mourned bitterly, and sought everyone possible to heal him, but his brother died nonetheless. Attending a stranger's funeral leaves little impression, but attending his own brother’s funeral cut Abraham to the quick. Gone. How could he simply be gone? Alive and vigorous just a short while ago, and now gone. Have you ever experienced this reality?

We have a sister among us whose mother passed away six months ago, and two months ago her husband died as well. Gone. How could they simply vanish? It leaves an utter void in the heart. Have you felt this? Years pass in the blink of an eye. You remember an elderly mother in her eighties living here; the memories remain vivid, and there are even videos of her, yet she is gone.

Is this not the reality right before our eyes? Life ends abruptly. It was at this critical moment that Abraham thought: one day, I too will be gone. And once gone, what is the meaning of all this? One day a neighbor is buried; soon after, another funeral takes place in the adjacent village. Funeral processions of dozens of people in line, clad in mourning garb, beating gongs and drums—it is deeply sobering.

As a result, Abram began to seek—just as our generation in the 1980s searched for the meaning of life. Do you recall that wave of existential searching in the 1980s? We searched for life's meaning, yet ultimately found no worldly answers. After all that searching, I felt that human existence without higher purpose was utterly futile.

At that time, life seemed meaningless, and I suspect Abram felt the exact same way. A man lives only to die. Look at all the wealth I possess, yet I could not save my brother. What grief! It was precisely in this search that God spoke to him:

"I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2)

Abram heard this and felt bewildered. He could hardly comprehend what it meant to "be a blessing." Looking at himself, "all peoples on earth blessed through me" hardly seemed plausible. I relate to this deeply. Years ago, when I was praying, our church was in a lean transitional period—lacking people, lacking resources, lacking everything.

One day, having nothing else to do, I simply prayed. I felt heavy-hearted and deeply frustrated. Then, in a vision, I saw many people coming to learn from me how to build churches. I thought, "Surely I must be seeing things wrong?" Later, the Word of the Lord came to me, saying that this would indeed happen in the future. It was difficult to believe at the time, but I declared it: anyone who comes here will receive spiritual nourishment.

Abraham’s faith was a faith that saw through the illusions of human existence. If a person's heart remains bound by worldly pursuits, it is exceedingly difficult to possess Abraham's faith. If you live your life clinging strictly to mundane realism, it is very hard to trust God. All you trust in is your family: having a child, seeing that child marry, having grandchildren, hoping the grandchildren marry, and finally succumbing to various diseases. That is the mundane cycle. How can one exercise faith in that?

Recently, a sister among us sent me an interesting message. It concerned a person under their pastoral care who reached out for help. She wrote: "Teacher, I need your help. I have a daughter who suffered from cerebral hypoxia."

She married in 2020 and divorced in 2025. Because the husband developed kidney disease, the daughter was unable to return home, and over time they divorced. After the divorce, the mother wanted her daughter to find a good partner and arranged six matchmaking dates, but the daughter could not even converse with them; none worked out. The daughter stays in her bedroom all day staring at her phone, to the point where her eyes have become strained and deformed.

She refuses to listen to her mother. Others claim the mother has gone astray into heresy, and the daughter echoes that the mother is astray and refuses to listen. The mother is at her wit's end. Now someone introduced another prospect, who also suffered cerebral hypoxia and is not very bright, though he holds a job; his entire family—grandparents and parents—are idol worshippers...

Why is it so difficult for people to see through life's illusions? How much knowledge does one need to see through them? The reality is that people are simply unwilling to see through them. Yet whether willing or not, reality will force them to observe. Why is a person's life plagued by tragedy, unable to receive blessing? Because their minds are consumed by the petty, trivial matters of this world. They do not live well; they live miserably.

Abraham’s faith was in "the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." That is what he believed. Look at what many believe today: "I believe God will make me a millionaire—no, a multi-millionaire, a billionaire, the wealthiest man in the region." That is what people put their faith in, because it sounds tangible.

Abraham, however, had a hope anchored in eternity. Though he may not have fully understood the theological mechanics of "resurrection from the dead," he believed that man can live forever, and that God can call into existence that which does not exist. Where there is nothing, God can create it. If your liver is failing, God can give you a sound liver; if your kidneys are failing, God can give you healthy kidneys; if your mind is impaired, God can grant you a sound mind.

The question is: does believing this cost money? It does not cost a single cent. Seeking medical treatment costs money; going to the hospital costs money; but receiving grace before God costs nothing. Wages are for labor; this is not labor, this is faith! Believing is how you draw upon God's grace.

Believing that God calls into existence that which does not exist, that God can raise the dead, and that God is full of grace and mercy—this is the foundation of our victory! If you possess this faith, I tell you, you are more than a conqueror! Believe that the Lord Jesus, who loves us, has already prepared everything for us. Believe that it costs not a single cent. What a simple choice! Just make this choice; try it for yourself. Whether you suffer from insomnia or any other illness, choose to believe.

It costs you nothing; in fact, it saves you money. If this is truly good, I tell you, believing settles the matter. Regardless of the lies the devil releases, my God loves me; regardless of the lies the enemy spreads, my God delivers me! He will lead me and preserve me all the days of my life.

Abraham had this simple, resolute faith from the very beginning through to the offering of Isaac. That entire journey was marked by the fullness of grace and truth. He did not say, "Alas, I am old, my wife is old, how can we possibly have a child?" That was not his calculus.

Brothers and sisters, never anchor your faith in self-confidence. Do not say, "Look how flawed I am, or how capable I am, or what assets I possess." Faith is not built on that; it is built on faith in God. You may be incapable, but God is fully capable. You cannot, but God can. Do you understand this?

Take up this weapon of faith right now and strike down the devil, the enemy. The enemy must retreat. Brothers and sisters, first choose to see through life's illusions. Tell yourself this simple, hard logic: one day I will die; one day my earthly life ends; one day we, like everyone else, will enter the crematorium. I am not cursing you; this is an inescapable fact.

When that day comes, your loves, your hates, your money, and your possessions will all become utterly meaningless. You might say, "No, there is still meaning; I will leave them to my son." One day, your son too will be gone and it will be meaningless for him. What then is the answer? Abraham’s faith: God can grant me eternal life. Life here is merely a test.

We Are the Workmanship of God's Hands

Though I am flawed, God can refine and sculpt me; though I am foolish, God can make me wise. You must not walk the path of the knowledge of good and evil. If you walk that path, where do you anchor your faith? Anchor your faith in God’s grace and let God shape you—how much better that is! Stop looking at yourself and fretting: "Alas, I am like this, I am like that." The devil's greatest deceit is to whisper: "Can someone like you ever be saved in the end?"

Humanly speaking, someone like me might indeed find it difficult. But God is the God who saves me. I am the work of His hands, and I trust in Him. When you take this stand, the devil runs out of moves. We are God's workmanship; He will fashion us into the likeness of the children of God, dismantling worldly systems of logic.

He continually tears down, and He continually reconstructs divine logic. Continually tearing down, continually rebuilding—this is not your doing; it is God’s work within you. You ask, how does God work within me? Look at the circumstances right before your eyes: your discomfort, your sleepless nights. Why does God permit these things to happen? So that you become willing to be dismantled.

God is dismantling your worldly ambitions and reshaping the eternal vision within you. Look at how the death of Abraham's brother became the catalyst for Abraham to receive grace. Seeing people die one after another awakened Abraham: "I must seek God." Begin that rebuilding right now. Let us live our entire lives under the grace of God!

This concludes our sermon. May God bless you all.