Foreword
In this world, there are many phenomena that, if humans cannot explain, we say: we have not grasped the essence of the matter. The phenomenon of a thing must reveal its essence. Let me give you a few examples: if a fortune teller is very accurate, you cannot say, Oh, this is not the case. When our understanding of the essence of things is not clear enough, we become very confused. Not grasping the essence of things is the root of confusion.
In the Christian faith, there are often a large number of phenomena that are very difficult for us to understand. A person loves God, but gets hemorrhoids, blood dripping down his trouser legs, and is still preaching and serving God. We often see these kinds of confusing phenomena. If our theological system cannot explain them, it means we have not figured it out yet.
We bring these confusions, these thoughts, to reading the Bible, and we should be able to find the roots of these problems in the Bible. Later, I discovered that when people build churches, they often focus on a certain concept. For example, the church is the house of God, and then they act according to the idea of “I love you, you love me” like in a family. This is a state of unclear concepts. After doing it, it seems to have an effect, but also seems to have no effect. In the Bible, Jesus Christ heals with a prayer, and the Bible says that all who come to Jesus Christ are healed, yet people dare not believe it.
The Kingdom of God is Closely Related to the Army
We are easily confused when we do not understand the essence in this world. I sought with these confusions, and later I discovered that the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil are two opposing kingdoms, and there must be a battle between them. If you push the border forward, the other side will have to shrink back. When we mention the concept of the kingdom, we must be clear that the army is an important part of the state.
You have never heard of a country without an army. Even if there is no army, there are guards, garrisons, etc. It is because of this that we see in Exodus 6:26 that God sent Moses to lead His army out of Egypt. Then Exodus 12:41 says that all the armies of the Lord came out of Egypt. The concept of the Kingdom of God is closely related to the army. The army is an important state machine, an important component. Without an army, there is no kingdom.
Let us look again at the promised land that Abraham left to Israel. All the land that his foot treads on, everything he sees from east, west, north, and south, God will give to him and his descendants. But the question is, why did the Israelites still have to take that land with real swords and guns under the leadership of Moses and Joshua? Was that land taken by them, or was it given to them by God? In other words, we can easily get confused, thinking that God has given it to us, and we can stroll around and enter the promised land comfortably and leisurely. What will happen after entering? We will die. When we piece these things together, we will see a spiritual fact: the church is God's army, and only by winning the battle can the church obtain the promise.
Those Who Win the Battle Will Obtain the Promise
Many of us are talking about promises, and many are talking about grace, thinking that grace is like a pie in the sky falling on our heads, but it is not. In the process of building the church, I found this concept very exciting, and then began to build the church like an army. When we examined Numbers chapters 1 and 2, the scripture says that for those over 20 years old who can take a knife and fight, each tribe has so many people. By chapter 26, many people had died, and very few were left. Those who died were unwilling to fight. Those who are unwilling to fight die at the hand of God.
Every part of the Bible is the word of God. Don't think that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are not the same. However, there are indeed pastors who separate the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, as if the God of the Old Testament is less loving, and the God of the New Testament is more loving. It is not like that. The Old and New Testaments are the same God. We must know this for sure. There is a shadow of the New Testament in the Old Testament. From this we can abstract a spiritual principle: only those who win the battle can obtain the promised land.
The Victorious Church View
Revelation is written to the seven churches and the seven messengers. Why not to seven people or seven families? Because God's intention is to build a church. Then, after writing about each church, there are words of to him who overcomes, and He who has an ear, let him hear. Everyone should be a person with ears, and must understand that the victorious church is an important concept in the New Testament. When many people hear the word church, they will say strange things. They think that the current church is the standard, but in fact the church in the Bible is the standard. If you use today's church as a template, it is actually far from the word of God.
Later, I discovered that the church should be built like God's army. Every Christian must grow up and be able to fight spiritual battles. Those who cannot fight do not count. As Numbers chapters 1 and 2 say, only those who can fight count. Those who cannot fight are nothing. Those who can fight but do not fight will die at the hand of God and die in the wilderness. In the past many years, I have heard many confusing concepts, such as manna in the wilderness. Know that the wilderness is not God's original plan at all. The wilderness is God's Plan B. Plan A is for God to lead the Israelites into the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and extremely rich. But because the Israelites did not dare to fight, ten of the twelve spies reported bad news and destroyed the faith of the Israelites, and they died on the spot before God. So we can see that those who can fight but do not fight will stay in the wilderness and live slowly.
Everyone must know, as a Christian, what are we facing? We are facing the most powerful enemy in history: the devil. When you face this powerful enemy, you cannot cope with it if you fight as an individual rather than as an army. Especially in Singapore, many Christians like to fight alone and are basically useless. And they like to organize large-scale events.
In fact, the Christian church really needs to be organized like an army. A large group of disunified churches together can only be disunified churches. In the next lecture, I will discuss that the church needs to be holy and unified. Holy unity is the key to victory. The church should be built according to God's army and attack the devil and enemies. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. These concepts discuss the ideas of Chinese Mingding Destiny from different perspectives. I hope everyone can grasp those intersections that appear repeatedly in different discussions. Today I will first talk about the church as God's army.
Train Disciples Like an Army
When Israel came out of Egypt, they did not resemble an army at all. God trained them in the wilderness according to military principles. The training was truly arduous. At three o'clock in the morning, the Spirit of God swiftly moved, signaling an immediate departure! They had to dismantle the tabernacle, pack up their belongings, and carry them along. As long as God's cloud did not descend, the people followed behind. This was God's training, transforming the Israelites into an army. Training an army is inherently difficult; no military training is without hardship. Chiang Kai-shek, when he retreated to Taiwan, concluded that the Communist army was capable of fighting tough battles. The troops of privileged sons were not fit for combat. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek's training of soldiers in Taiwan was extremely rigorous.
Later, in the Vietnam and Korean Wars, the American army, equipped with world-class weaponry, was defeated by the Chinese army. This is not just because I am Chinese and want to speak favorably of China; history bears witness to this. It was because the Chinese army of that era was formidably trained. To illustrate, the church should train every brother and sister like training soldiers. I have always held this view. Some say our church is like the Whampoa Military Academy; I say we are like the Eighth Route Army. Yet, I still feel our training is somewhat lax. Do not think we are doing well enough; many of our brothers and sisters are still undisciplined. The church needs constant renewal. The Book of Hebrews in the Bible mentions that some seem to be falling behind. It is not that we are running too fast for you to keep up but that you need to accelerate your pace and catch up. This is a matter of attitude.
When a person is trained, his life grows. He becomes a mighty warrior, casting out demons, healing, delivering, trampling on the enemy, and obtaining God's promises. You can choose not to fight, but then you will die in the wilderness like the Israelites, wandering for thirty-eight years. Life does not offer many thirty-eight-year periods. Eating manna every day – consider whether you still want to fight. This is hard. When I was young, I ate so much of one thing that I still dislike it to this day. Some people go to fancy restaurants and order steamed corn bread. I would not eat that; I cannot even stand the thought of it. And I only ate it for a few years. If that's how I feel after only a few years, imagine manna, which was much worse than steamed corn bread, wheat cakes, radishes, cabbage, or stewed potatoes. The Israelites had none of that; they ate manna every day.
Why did the Israelites eat manna every day in the wilderness for so many years? The reason is that they were afraid to fight. God did not originally intend for them to eat it for so long, but their fear of fighting directly led to their eating manna for nearly 40 years. Therefore, if you do not want to live a wilderness life, you must rise up and fight, because the consequence of not fighting is wandering in the wilderness until death. Do not excuse yourself by saying you lack the strength to fight, fear fighting, or are unwilling to be trained. These are all bad habits. Because if you do not endure hardship on the training ground, you will forfeit your life on the battlefield.
There are three stages for Christians: first, being slaves in Egypt, never escaping. No matter what God says, they refuse to leave, preferring slavery; second, escaping but remaining in the wilderness, or returning to Egypt to continue as slaves, with food and shelter but no freedom; third, escaping but staying in the wilderness, unwilling to fight, and ultimately dying there.
We must become Christians like Joshua and Caleb, willing to accept challenges, fighting victoriously, and entering the Promised Land. The key is our choice. Some Christians say they are timid and dare not fight, but Joshua and Caleb were also timid; however, they had faith in God. We do not fight with swords or numbers but by the Spirit of God. God has placed all things under our feet. We only need to boldly fight, and we will surely win. This is a concept that must be established. Therefore, in training brothers and sisters to be leaders in the church, we sometimes wrong them to test if they can withstand the test. If they fail the test, if they discern good and evil, they are unlikely to become leaders.
Christians need regular training. Untrained Christians cannot fight. We must have a concept of pursuing excellence. Building the church means building according to God's word, building a mighty army of God. We are fighting a spiritual battle, aiming to kill the devil, because all problems come from the spiritual world. The devil corrupts people to the best of its ability. We must overcome the devil, because after overcoming, we will surely obtain God's promise.
Building God's Mighty Army
The Church is built according to God's army, which has the following attributes: 1. The army has a clear hierarchy, so the church must also have a clear hierarchy. The church is not a place to practice full democracy, it must be built according to God's army. 2. The army is not a club, not a place for feasting and entertainment. By no means should God's army be built up as if it is a club. What we teach as Chinese Mingding Destiny is a theological concept that resolves people's problems. Many problems arise because the Church has not been built according to God's army and finds itself in a state of passive defense.
On the other hand, we must be aware that truths cannot replace one another. The truth of the army cannot replace the truth of the family, and the truth of the family cannot replace the truth of the army. Therefore, the church is both God's family and God's army. When fighting, we fight according to God's army; when living, we live according to God's family. The church as God's army is crucial to God's Kingdom. Those churches that do not take up the fight often suffer greatly.
In God's army, we must have absolute obedience. Leaders or pastors may make mistakes, and God will discipline them in due course. However, as soldiers in the army, we need to do is exercise absolute obedience. At the same time, Christians should not be church hoppers, just as the different branches of the military, should not be moving around between units. Therefore, we must deeply imprint the concept that the church is God's army in our hearts, start growing up, and become Christians who are fully conformed to the stature of Jesus Christ.