Introduction
Good day to all! I am very happy to meet everyone online again today. A few months ago, we held the first Global Bible Study Meeting, and tens of thousands of people among us received grace. Half a year has passed since then, and if you want to listen to the previous recordings, they are still available on the website. This is our second time holding the Global Bible Study Meeting, and I hope to explore with you the ancient yet serious topic of How to Read the Bible. I further hope that through this seminar, everyone can deepen their understanding of God's Word.
As the founder of Chinese Mingding Destiny, I have written 55 Bible study books to date. I very much hope to study all 66 books of the Bible, compiling a set of Bible study materials for each book, to become a very useful spiritual asset for our Chinese Mingding Destiny. A few days ago, our co-workers converted these 55 books into e-books and placed them in the Amazon e-book store, called Kindle Unlimited in English. Some are priced at 9.9, some at 1.99, some at 2.99, priced in US dollars, and I hope everyone can freely purchase them.
This Christmas, we will have a free book giveaway event. In the past few years, we have given away approximately 300,000 RMB worth of books, just wanting to be a blessing to many people. Although I wrote the books, I did not write the Bible. The most important thing is to read the Bible well. You can only treat my books as reference materials. Perhaps what I share with you today is merely a reference; perhaps you can gain more light and revelation when reading the Bible today. Many of my books contain fresh revelation from God. I rarely copy other people's Bible study materials, although I have read some pastors' Bible study materials, but I am not very satisfied. Why? Because when I read the Bible, I care about hearing God's Word and then putting it into practice. If I cannot put it into practice, I want to seek how to put God's Word into practice.
Let us open Genesis Chapter 1:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
I cannot put this word into practice. If you buy my Genesis Bible study materials, you will find that I have some unique insights. Today, I am mainly sharing with you How to Study the Bible. In fact, the materials we have written are merely a drop in the ocean, merely our current understanding of God. We must strive to pursue completeness, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Striving to pursue is one of the core concepts of our Chinese Mingding Destiny. I have a good habit: I do not think that everything I say is correct. If someone objects, I have no interest in arguing at all, and I do not want to defend my views. If someone does not agree, there is no problem at all, and they can even oppose my views. I still have to study the Bible well to see if what you say is true or not. Today, you should listen to my sharing with the same attitude.
I was recognized as a top student from a young age, and I am very serious about learning. Later, I entered the University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, receiving rigorous academic training. This subject must be rigorous. If you build an airplane without rigor, who would dare to sit in the airplane you built? If the airplane can go up, whether it can fly back is unknown. In fact, engineers need rigorous good habits. The gospel we believe in is the power of God, a gospel that can enable us to mount up with wings like eagles, a gospel containing the power of God to resurrect from the dead; it needs to be even more rigorous, does it not? If the study of atomic bombs is not rigorous, wouldn’t you blow yourself to pieces?
Rigour is a very important habit. When reading the Bible, you will find that the Bible often says: to keep and observe diligently, which is to observe rigorously. If you are not rigorous, it will be like the popular saying on the Internet today: even a pig can fly when standing at the vent. But after the wind passes, wouldn't it be smashed into meat patties? We cannot be not rigorous when reading God's Word. We must emulate the Apostle Paul. He received rigorous academic training and was greatly used by God. Many of the epistles in the Bible are collected in the Bible, becoming our precious spiritual assets. In fact, we need a rigorous spirit in all disciplines.
The Chinese divide books into two types: one is scripture, which highly summarizes the laws of development of things and classic theories. The other is treatises, which teach us how to apply these classic theories to practice. For example, the Huangdi Neijing is the scripture of traditional Chinese medicine, and the Shanghan Lun is the treatise of traditional Chinese medicine, writing about how to apply the theories of the Huangdi Neijing. The books I write are basically treatises, and the sermons I preach are also treatises, exploring with everyone how to hear God's Word and then put it into practice. Why are my books positioned as treatises? Because my books record the results of putting God's Word into practice, which is very important.
Do not listen to people who only talk but do not act. If a person only talks but does not act, he is probably a liar. If you believe such a person, you are very dangerous; you will be deceived. For example, someone tells you that you should manage your business in this way or that way. I ask him: Have you ever managed a business? He says: No. Then what is he talking about? Reading books? I can read them myself. Or someone tells you that you can write programs in this way or that way. When I ask him, have you ever written them? No. Then what are you talking about? If you really can write programs, you know whether what you are saying is right or wrong.
Before, there was a young man who was terrible at studying. He attended a private school and could not get into university. In order to study for a postgraduate degree, he did not get enough marks on the IELTS exam, so he wandered around on the street. At that time, I was also very afraid that he would try to commit suicide. Later, I called him, but he got accepted. If I were running that university, I would also accept him, and would not not earn those tens of thousands of Singapore dollars just because a student was a few marks short. Later, he studied for a postgraduate degree, but he did not change his bad habit of not being rigorous. One day, he walked into my office and said that I should be a pastor in this way or that way. I know how to deal with this kind of person. I asked him, have you tried it? He said no! Then how do you know that what you are saying is right? I also don't know! Then are you trying to fool me? He looked a bit black and a bit white. Of course, some people just like to talk nonsense, but it is just an idea or view. If you take an idea or view to a venture capital company, the concept of fooling them is not very high. So, I encourage everyone a little: do not be fooled by people who only talk but do not act.
What does God's Word say in the Bible?
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24-27)
We must put God's Word into practice after reading it, which is the most core concept of Chinese Mingding Destiny. The Global Online Bible Study Meeting that we are holding today is to explore how to put God's Word into practice. Why do I myself think that I have the qualifications to say this? Because in the past, I have been researching how to put it into practice, constantly thirsting to read God's Word, and also putting it into practice in a down-to-earth manner. Not only put it into practice, but I also want to produce the results recorded in the Bible. If the results we produce are different, then we are doing it wrong. The principle is very simple. If the airplane others build can fly, but the airplane we build cannot fly, then we have not done it right!
Thirsting to Be Like Jesus
In fact, this road is not easy; it is full of sweat and tears. Saying it is all tears. What do I call this road? I call it the Road to Be Like Jesus. If you have a notebook with you, you can write down this sentence: I thirst to be like Jesus!
Today, we desire more people to walk on the road to be like Jesus. As I have walked this road to today, not only have I written 55 Bible study books, but what should be boasted about even more is God's faithfulness. Why? When we constantly put into practice the pursuit of being like Jesus, so many people among us have received liberation, seeing unprecedented wonderful works that God is doing among us. Miracles, signs, and God's power follow us, also confirming the word we witness.
Originally, the promises in the Bible are true, just as the Apostle Paul said:
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
This is what I want to tell everyone today: This is a treasure. Because I thirst to be like Jesus, have I not obtained a treasure? The denominations of Christianity are diverse, but no matter which denomination, no one opposes thirsting to be like Jesus. There is no problem with thirsting to be like Jesus. If we can live out the likeness of Jesus, live out the likeness of the Apostle Paul, then have we not obtained a treasure? Are not the problems we face today all solved readily? What is difficult to understand today is reading God's Word and not putting it into practice.
Some time ago, we ministered to a brother from Canada. In fact, he speaks Cantonese, but he listened to all the Mandarin talks on our website. He deeply desires to see God's power, desiring to see the captives released and the oppressed set free. After he found us, he was very excited. He said, I am just looking for something like this.
Imitate Jesus, Do What Jesus Did
Today, within Christian circles, the most confusing thing is not being like Jesus Christ, but still calling oneself a Christian. Do you know what Christian means? Christian means being like Jesus, being a little Jesus, a little Christ. Why read God's Word and not put it into practice? Is this not very foolish? If you do not do it, do not put it into practice, how can you know God's Word? It is like what I said before: if you have not built an airplane, how can you explain the matter of building an airplane clearly? Even if we build an airplane, we may not be able to explain it clearly. If you have not built an airplane, it is impossible to explain this matter clearly at all. If you have not built a car, how can you explain building a car clearly? If you have not lived out God's Word, how can you explain God's Word clearly?
There was a Christian with many diseases. Later, he found us. He told us that his pastor could not do healing and deliverance. I was very strange. If he cannot do healing and deliverance, then what is he doing? Because the Jesus Christ we believe in is the Jesus Christ who heals and delivers. He said that their pastor only baptizes people. If we put God's Word into practice, how can we not be like Jesus? Does the Bible not clearly record to imitate Jesus? Did Jesus not say that what He does, we should also do? But what He did, have we done it? I have found that too many things that Jesus did not do, a pile of people have ended up doing. Today, we must all ask ourselves whether we should imitate Jesus Christ, imitate the Apostle Paul?
Today, let us start a movement to thirst to be like Jesus. There is nothing wrong with this movement. Is there a problem with thirsting to be like Jesus? There is no problem at all. In fact, not being like Jesus is the problem. Starting today, imitate Jesus, imitate the Apostle Paul. Let us all have the likeness of Jesus Christ on our bodies. I believe that this movement will bring unprecedented change, allowing these Christians to see God's promises and God's glory with their own eyes. In fact, being like Jesus is putting God's Word into practice. Some people also believe in God's Word, but they do not put it into practice, or they choose to put it into practice. I think if a person does not heal the sick and cast out demons, how can he be like Jesus?
In fact, Jesus spent half of his life preaching and the other half casting out demons. Moreover, you will slowly discover that Jesus trained twelve disciples to go out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. He also trained seventy disciples, also to go out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. Today, let us begin by imitating Jesus Christ, thirsting to be like Jesus.
What did I first thirst to be like Jesus, thirst to be like? When I was with these sick people, seeing these sick people, I felt very painful and uncomfortable. I said to God, Lord, if you touch this patient, he will be healed. I also hope that if I touch him, he will be healed. If touching him once does not heal him, then I will touch him ten times, or even ten thousand times, until he is healed. Because I know that God heals me is God's will. By his stripes we are healed, and Jesus Christ bore the stripes for us. If you cannot accept what I say, you can study the Bible well to see if it says so.
Today, many Christians, especially those from traditional churches, seem to be touching a sensitive topic when they mention healing the sick and casting out demons. However, is that not what the Bible says? Today, in Christian circles, many basic concepts are confused. The Global Online Bible Study Meeting that we are holding today is to lead everyone to see what the Bible actually says. For example, we need to find the answers to truths such as faith, the gospel, salvation, prayer, sanctification, and being saved from the Bible again. This is very important.
Our God is the God of the living. To this day, there are still many Christians who treat our God as the God of the dead, only caring about going to heaven after death. However, living out the glorious image of God while alive is more important than dying.
Once, when I went to buy property, a real estate boss asked me. He said that a pastor came to their church to preach, and that pastor said, Only one out of a thousand people goes to heaven, and nine hundred and ninety-nine go to hell. He asked me, Of those thousand people, how many go to heaven and how many go to hell? I said, Your question is quite difficult. I don't even know how to answer you. I think this is nonsense, because I have never been to heaven, and I don't know. He really wanted to get an answer from me. It is not that I do not have an answer. I said, Whoever you are like when you are alive, you will go to whoever's place when you die. If you have God's presence and walk with God when you are alive, you will be taken.
I said that whoever you are like when you are alive, you will go to whoever's place when you die. This is not difficult to understand, right? Walking with God when you are alive means you will walk with God. Genesis says that Enoch walked with God, and God took him away. The others lived and lived and then died. Ask yourself who you are like. We do not do what Jesus did, and we do a pile of what Jesus did not do. How can we go to heaven? As for us, what Jesus did, we must also do. We want to live out the likeness of Jesus Christ. In fact, this answer is a very good answer. As for heaven and hell, I have not been there, but there is one thing I can know, which is that I want to be like Jesus when I am alive is a very definite thing.
So today, our brothers and sisters begin to understand what we are doing. Are we treating our God as a private God, or as the God of the living? You know I paid a heavy price on the road to thirsting to be like Jesus. Many years ago, I prayed for a patient with a cold. One hour passed, two hours passed, three hours passed, and I was so tired that I broke out in a sweat, but I did not give up. My character is that if it doesn't work, it must be killed. I was thinking, how good it would be if I could just touch him like Jesus. Today, when I lead in prayer, I pray for a patient, and he is quickly healed. What back pain, severe pain when urinating, is healed after prayer, and the process is becoming faster and faster, more and more like Jesus. In this person's life, it often seems like a magic trick: yesterday he was like a ghost, today he is like Jesus. But we should not expect an infant to turn into a twenty-something young man in three days. So, we grow a little bit every day. When we constantly climb on this spiritual peak, we will become more and more like Jesus Christ, and then our prayers will become more and more powerful. What does the Bible say? And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. (Mark 16:17-18)
Today, we need to understand why we are getting faster and faster at healing and deliverance. It is because in knowing God's Word and putting it into practice, I am becoming more and more like God. As we continue to know and deepen our understanding of spiritual truth, the strength of striking the devil is also becoming stronger and stronger. You can listen carefully to the sermons I have been preaching recently. I am basically talking about the matter of casting out demons. We must never think that pursuing miracles can obtain miracles. If pursuing miracles can obtain miracles, then you can try it. I tell you, it probably won't work. If you feel that you want to criticize me, seeing that he is pursuing miracles, then I will challenge you to pursue a miracle and do it for me to see. In fact, what am I pursuing? I am pursuing the practice of God's Word. We do what the Bible says, and then constantly put it into practice and adjust it. Ah, so that's what the Bible means. What I am pursuing is being like Jesus. Next, there will be a movement around the world that will raise up a large group of people who pursue being like Jesus. In fact, if in this generation there are a thousand or ten thousand people like Jesus to serve those in need, it would not be enough to serve them all. So, in the past period of time, we have served a large number of all kinds of people in need. We share God's grace out, eagerly hoping that all brothers and sisters will hear my sharing, thirst to imitate Jesus Christ, be able to believe in Jesus Christ, believe in God's Word, and that God's Word will never return void.
If a person does not thirst to be like Jesus, what is the point of believing in Jesus? I really do not understand. So today, we begin to change a concept. It is no longer a theoretical discussion, but putting God's Word into practice after reading it. In the process of practice, we constantly improve. Only when we have practiced it and done it does it count. Is it not God's will to make our lives not only more and more like Jesus, but also more and more able to do what Jesus did? I eagerly hope that all brothers and sisters can rise up to serve this generation and become a blessing to many people. Some people are still asking: Who are you anyway? What qualifications do you have to say this? In fact, who I am is not important, but there is one name you can remember: Chinese Mingding Destiny. We constantly pray, reveal the Word of God in the Bible, and constantly practice God's Word. Then I created the Chinese Mingding Destiny system. Today, I want to share it with you through many years of practice. We hope that everyone will only see Jesus and not see a single person. Everyone can see the Chinese Mingding Destiny team, but they cannot see the name of a single person. The team will also become stronger and stronger, and many pastors will inherit the theology that our Chinese Mingding Destiny teaches. This era is actually the era of our Chinese Mingding Destiny preaching the gospel. We owe many people a gospel debt. Throughout the ages, many Westerners have laid down their lives for us Chinese to be blessed. Today, we Chinese must bear this destiny and become a blessing to the whole world in this generation.
More than 100 years ago, we were the sick men of East Asia. More than 100 years later, we are greatly used by God. May God remember us, remember our being with Him, and may what we do be favored and blessed in His presence. Everyone must not think that I put a Chinese in front and call it Chinese Mingding Destiny system and then be surprised. If you are Korean, then you can call it Korean Mingding Destiny. If you are British, you can call it British Mingding Destiny. If you are American, you can call it American Mingding Destiny. Big and Old are very good words.
I think today we are setting aside time alone to share How to Study the Bible. My introduction is a bit long, and the main theme is Putting God's Word into Practice after Reading It. Today, the brothers and sisters among us must all be wise men, building their houses on our rock. Putting God's Word into practice after reading it is building the house on the rock. In the past, I gave a series of lectures called Chinese Mingding Theology. You can listen to it to understand it. In fact, this is not a very new topic, or a different gospel, but it is just summarizing and organizing the truths of the Bible, and then adding the word Destiny. Why add this destiny? Because from the Bible, Isaac, Jacob, and even Noah before them, all had something called destiny. They obtained the destiny from God and constantly sought it, living out God's glory on earth by trusting in God
The theme mentioned earlier is to put God's Word into practice after reading it. To what extent should we put it into practice? We should put it into practice to the point that we are more and more like Jesus Christ. If we are not like Him, then we constantly adjust our understanding of God's Word within us. Just like when we write a program, it should be able to run, but if it cannot run, then we start adjusting the program. Don't just say that there is something wrong with the computer. That is because we have not written the program correctly. We constantly pray and seek to know the truth. I tell you that the results that come out must be in accordance with the truth that the Bible reveals. Then you have truly understood the truth that the Bible reveals.
In the past few years, we have summarized the methods of reading the Bible a little and will share more with you today. How does our Chinese Mingding Destiny read the Bible?
We constantly pray and seek, constantly know the truth, and the results that come out are in accordance with the truth of the Bible. In the past, we organized the methods of the Bible a little and will share it with everyone today.
- Imitate, imitate Jesus Christ.
It is very easy to imitate this thing. We just do what people do. For example, plastering a wall. The master takes a spatula and brushes, brushes, brushes, and smoothes it. We should not make any tricks, but do what people do. If we use a small spatula to shovel there, it will not be like the master, and in the end it will become a pockmarked wall. Because it is not like the master, because the master has been exploring for so many years, he knows how to flatten the wall. So what we learn at the beginning is imitation.
2. Start grasping God's will.
3. Grasp the intrinsic laws of things.
4. Grasp the most important truth, then grasp the second most important truth, then grasp the third most important truth, and then grasp the less important truths to build a system. It is very important to divide truth into primary and secondary, and this is to establish a theological system.
5. Establish a logical system of God.
How to Read the Bible - First Point: Imitate Jesus Christ
It is not difficult to imitate Jesus. In the past, we cast out demons, healed the sick, and did deliverance, but we have not formed a theological system for casting out demons. Over the past period of time, I have been reading the Bible in more depth and digging more deeply into the teachings of the Bible about casting out demons and healing the sick. One of my church members is a medical expert, and he always feels that casting out demons is a very superstitious thing. He feels that in today's highly developed medicine, it seems that casting out demons and healing the sick is not high-end, but in fact, there are many problems that medicine cannot solve. If we can solve the problems that medicine cannot solve through casting out demons and healing the sick, then what the Bible writes is the essence. The disease cannot be cured because you have not grasped the essence of the disease. Today, we do not need to care about how far science has developed. Since we are Christians, we look at what the Bible says. If problems are solved with God's Word, is it not more scientific? Today, let us open the Bible and read these passages in Matthew, in Chapters 4, 9, and 10 respectively:
Jesus went
## How to Read the Bible - Point 2: Grasping God's Intent
When reading the Bible, it is crucial to discern God's intent. Many readers focus on individual trees, missing the forest, dissecting the Bible without seeing the complete system, and getting bogged down in literal interpretations. We must grasp God's intent and establish a comprehensive system of belief, which is of utmost importance.
Jesus said that man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. What exactly is every word that comes from the mouth of God? If God speaks every day, how do we live on every word that comes from the mouth of God? I searched for the word every in the electronic version of the Bible, and this word every is extremely important! For example, Deuteronomy speaks of obeying all His statutes and ordinances, and diligently keeping all His words. Every appears with great frequency.
How do we receive this? **We need to form a system of belief; Chinese Mingding Destiny is such as system.** This system includes how to read the Bible, how to grasp God's intent, instead of getting stuck on literal interpretations, which cannot solve any problems. The Bible has a characteristic: from Genesis to Revelation, there is a statement that God's word cannot be added to nor subtracted from.
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy three thousand five hundred years ago that God's word cannot be added to nor subtracted from. From Joshua, Daniel, to Matthew, Revelation thereafter, has there been any addition? Many people are very puzzled, isn't this an addition? Moses clearly said not to add! In fact, these are all within a system; what is within a system is not called addition, what is not within a system is called addition.
For example, the gospel we preach today either adds to it or subtracts from it. Many people do this: preaching the gospel of the kingdom, everyone comes together for meals, street dancing, worship, and holding happiness groups. Is this what Jesus said? Preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing all kinds of diseases, this is what God said. This is a system within the Bible, every word that comes from the mouth of God; God never speaks nonsense.
If we grasp God's intent, God's intent is for us to be saved through the Lord Jesus. The word salvation is also very confusing. Many people think that salvation means going to heaven after death. But is this really God's meaning? In fact, this is not God's intent. **Salvation is to release people from the dominion of the devil.** Today, if we become more and more like Jesus, we can trample on the enemy of the devil; this is called salvation, living out the likeness of Jesus Christ while alive.
I wrote a book called Striving Earnestly, which is a Bible study book on Hebrews; you can read it and strive earnestly. If these are all within a system, I want to tell you that Genesis is really very important. The entire logical system of the Bible begins from the first chapter of Genesis. The first chapter of Genesis begins to speak of God's intent, to let us be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and govern it.
Originally, God's intent began in the first chapter of Genesis. God's intent is for us to represent God and manage all this on earth. In Revelation, Jesus Christ brings us to the earth once again to reign for a thousand years, and the holy city of the new Jerusalem descends from heaven; this is still on earth. God restores our glorious image on earth; we are on earth as it is in heaven. God created us in His image.
The first, second, and third chapters of Genesis each have their own themes. Go to our website to listen, or buy a Bible study resource book on Genesis to read, and you will more deeply understand our Chinese Mingding Destiny system. In the twelfth chapter of Genesis, there is an old man named Abraham who heard God speaking to him; God wanted to bless him. Why did God speak to Abraham and not to others? Because Abraham was seeking. He saw people living and dying, and felt that it was meaningless, so he began to seek the meaning of life; this is destiny.
### Recognizing the Vanity of Life, Obtaining Destiny
Why did God speak to Abraham and not to others? Because Abraham was seeking; Abraham saw people being born and living, living and dying, and then he began to seek the meaning of living, which is destiny. Of course, these are not written in the Bible; this is what I am saying, you don't have to accept it.
Why did God speak to Abraham? Because Abraham was seeking God. A person seeks God because he finds that living has no great meaning, so he seeks God. God speaks to a person because God sees that person seeking Him, and God will speak to him. So what did Abraham seek from God? We cannot see the words that Abraham asked God, but we see the words that Abraham received from God:
> Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
**Abraham was seeking the meaning of living; this is the destiny God gave to Abraham!** Why do we call it Mingding Destiny? It started from Abraham. We need to know why we are living. We think about this matter. If you cannot see through what living is all about, then just live slowly! We need to deeply think about what living is all about!
I once wrote a book called Recognizing the Vanity of Life. This book is a Bible study book on Ecclesiastes. If you don't think that living is vanity of vanities, and live for work, family, children, and a lot of other things in life, and then live and get old, and get old and die, and people just spend their lives like this, if you think that these things are all very meaningful, then you can work hard for these things! **If you are not satisfied with these things, then you should seek diligently, and the seeker will find; this is God's promise. In fact, God has been waiting there for a long time!**
Why did I get to where I am today? Because I felt that there was no great meaning in my life. Although I was a top student and got into a famous university, I still couldn't find the meaning of living. I felt that people live and die, which is too unacceptable! Until one day I met Jesus Christ, I began to desperately read the Bible. At that time, I went to an English church and read the English Bible. There were twenty or thirty new words on each page, and I looked them up in the dictionary with great difficulty. Later, I began to discover that what Jesus Christ revealed was the meaning of living!
So today, brothers and sisters, if you cannot see through the vanity of life, it is difficult for you to seek destiny, but without destiny, where does the blessing come from? Brothers and sisters, you must begin to know that **obtaining destiny is the beginning of blessing.** If you say, God, bless me so that I can have fun and play happily, how could God bless you? If you let God bless you so that you can live well, this is not God's intent. **If we enter into God's intent, when we open our eyes and look around, we see the desolation of this generation, see the needs in people's hearts, see people struggling in this disease and suffering, see people being so miserably tormented by the devil, do we begin to seek something called destiny, to become a blessing to these people? If we long to become a blessing to these people, we long to be like Jesus, doing what Jesus did, releasing people from the hands of the devil!**
So no matter what, you must grasp the most crucial thing. You need to grasp the essence of things, grasp the inner laws of things. If we go to cast out demons and heal all kinds of diseases and find that it doesn't work, it is because we have not grasped the spiritual essence behind this thing. **If you don't grasp the essence, how can you solve the problem? If we don't grasp the essence of living, how can we live well?** I believe that those of you who have come among us today are not living very well; the problem lies in not grasping the essence! The essence is not grasping God's intent.
If we are like Abraham, God said to him, I will bless you! **Why did God bless Abraham? Because he longed to be a blessing to many people! God made Abraham's name great, made him a great nation, God wanted to bless him, and more importantly, Abraham was to be a blessing to others! God blesses you so that you can be a blessing to others, isn't that God's intent!** When we study the Bible, we see God's intent in every chapter! You will find that our Bible study materials have a theme in each chapter, and then we constantly explore and implement around this theme.
## How to Read the Bible - Point 3: Grasping the Internal Laws of Things
The Bible is a spiritual book. The Bible uses spiritual words to explain spiritual things. If we see through all things, and a spiritual person sees through all things, even seeing through the vanity of life, and grasps the essence of things, that is remarkable! **Today I have grasped the essence of the entire New Testament Bible: that God wants us to build a victorious church. When the church is victorious, healing, deliverance, healing the sick, casting out demons, and trampling on the enemy of the devil will all be manifested. Today, a key truth revealed in the Bible is how to build God's glorious church. If you want to be a blessing to many people, you must build God's glorious church. Building God's glorious church must be done according to God's word. If you build according to God's word, God will dwell in God's temple. The church is God's temple. If God dwells in the church, the church is a glorious church, and the church will be full of signs and wonders!**
Our God is truly all-powerful. The series of things that God does among us exceeds all that we ask or think! One day I went to a software company for a meeting. During the meeting, a sister's child twisted his foot and it became bruised. The school asked the parents to take the child home.
Our sister took the child home and looked for someone to pray for the child. When I saw that no one was available, I said, you continue with the meeting, I'll go out and pray for a moment. Then the CEO of the company also came out, to see what I was doing. I prayed for the child, cast out the demon, and then the child was jumping and lively. The CEO said, you are the person I'm looking for! He had never seen such a pastor, who could write software and heal diseases. He bought a plane ticket on the spot and took me to serve his friend.
**Why does my prayer work? Because I am building God's glorious church, building a victorious church! We need to grasp the essence. Many people don't grasp the essence; they think that healing and casting out demons is a gift. It's not. We must know throughout our lives that in the New Testament, God's will is to build the body of Jesus Christ, and the body of Jesus Christ is the church. If a victorious church is built, healing and deliverance can be easily solved.**
If there is no victorious church, what can you do? I don't know. We must learn to grasp God's intent, grasp the essence of things! Whether it is believing in the Lord, or writing a program, in one's life, one must learn to implement and practice. What is practiced is the spiritual laws and spiritual essence revealed in the Bible. Not only imitate, but also grasp God's intent. These are some basic methods and concepts for reading the Bible.
Why am I telling you this? Because there is such a passage in the Bible:
> And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:18-19)
**God will build our church on the rock of truth.** So we must read the Bible and grasp the essence of God's truth. Then the gates of Hades cannot overcome it. The problem of disease is a problem of the gates of Hades. Today we must begin to know that God will give us the keys of the kingdom of heaven, what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven; what we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. What does this mean? Binding and loosing are the most basic work of the church. If you grasp these essences and build up the entire system in the Bible, I think, you will be powerful!
These are the words of the Bible. In fact, the power of Hades is very evil. Cancer is a typical power of Hades. All kinds of diseases are the power of Hades. I have a good friend, also a Christian, who has cancer. He prays every day: God, should I do chemotherapy? Let's think carefully, is it appropriate to pray like this to the God in heaven? Think about it, our God, incarnated for us, and by His stripes we are healed. Our God is the best doctor, but we turn around and ask this best doctor: God, should we do chemotherapy? What should our God think when He hears this! Our God is really very moved! That is grief and suffering!
How is it that they don't know that Jesus Christ is the greatest doctor? Is it not a tragedy to believe in Jesus like this? So today, know that this gospel is the power of God. Romans and 1 Corinthians both say this. The power of the grave cannot overcome us, because we are building this church on the rock of truth! We work together with God to build this rock, and disease and the power of the grave cannot overcome us. When have we seen Jesus taking a large group of doctors to heal diseases? Never seen it. When Paul preached the gospel, he also brought Luke, who was a doctor, but when have you seen Paul taking Luke, seeing a sick person, and letting Luke heal him? We have not seen such a practice. So today, we, not only long to be like Jesus, not only imitate Jesus Christ, but also grasp God's intent, and grasp the essence of these spiritual things, grasp these most crucial things.
## How to Read the Bible - Point 4: Spiritual Truths Have Different Sizes, Distinguish Between Important and Secondary
These spiritual truths of ours have large and small, important and secondary. Truth has size. Are we not living on every word that comes from the mouth of God? This forms a whole set of logic, some truths are the foundation, some as pillars, load-bearing walls, and some as beams. These are unchangeable. But others are decorative. If we move into a beautiful house, this house is not a rough house, but a beautifully decorated one. What is this beautiful house actually due to? It is because there are foundations, pillars, and these key, structural things supporting it; otherwise, how can this house be lived in?
So we must distinguish these things clearly, which are important and which are secondary. If we do not grasp the important ones, but only grasp the secondary ones, then there will be trouble. Jesus says this in Matthew 23:23:
> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (Matthew 23:23)
If a person clings tightly to trivial matters and lays aside the great things of God, has he not become a Pharisee? Everyone must know one thing, that truth has size, and never abandon the fundamentals for the trivial. So today, brothers and sisters, begin to grasp the important truths, important truths are the key! If we do not have important truths as the foundation, and the secondary ones become important, then there will be trouble! One becomes a Pharisee!
## How to Read the Bible - Point 5: Establish a Godly Logical System
Finally, what do I want to tell you? It is that **after reading the Bible, you must establish a godly logical system.** When we read all of God's words, we assemble them into a logical system that is well-defined, rigorous, and orderly, with each level and aspect explained very clearly. In our minds, this matter of believing in Jesus has become very clear. I tell you, you have formed a godly logical system.
Why do many people have doubts about what I say: if it's like you say, how can we live? I have children, you don't, so how can I live? In fact, no matter how many children you have, you need to rely on God's word! I say that you should present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. You say: How can that be done? If I dedicate it to God, what about my family? It's all messed up. This is not forming a logical system. Although believing in the Lord for many years, it is still just a mess in the head. Today we will remove these confused concepts one by one, until we establish a godly logical system, knowing how wonderful it is to live for God!
In fact, many people lay down their lives for God. What does Jesus say? Jesus says: We must forsake parents, brothers, sisters, wife, children, fields, and houses for the sake of Jesus Christ. Someone asks how can we live then? In fact, only those who do not know God will say this. God says to forsake, doesn't that actually mean we will receive a hundredfold? Don't misunderstand.
So I think that establishing a godly logical system is the important purpose of our Bible study conference today. In the days that follow, we will clarify many confused concepts one by one. These include healing, deliverance, healing the sick, and casting out demons. So I think, the concept of salvation must be clarified, and the concept of redemption must be clarified. The concept of faith must be clarified. And many of these concepts of prayer, sanctification, etc.
I will stop here today, see you next week! Thank you everyone!