Set Apart to God

What is Numbers chapter 8 about? It is about being set apart to God. If you want to serve God, you must be a person who is set apart. If you are not set apart, and casually give yourself to God, He does not want it. I often encounter people who treat serving God as a chore.

Once, I was on a plane and happened to sit next to a pastor. I said, What have you been doing lately? I'm not a pastor anymore. I'm doing business. I've finally put down that chore. When I heard that, I felt awkward. Why? Because serving God is such an honorable service! If you treat serving God as a chore, God will treat blessing you as a chore.

So, we must understand today that serving God is definitely not a chore, but a sacred destiny. In fact, when the Levites were chosen to serve God, the other Israelites were watching. They probably thought, It's bad luck that the Levites were chosen by God! I believe some Israelites thought that way. Today, brothers and sisters, we must completely change this concept among us. What kind of concept should we develop? Serving God is a very sacred thing, and dedicating glory to God is an extremely glorious destiny.

In the past few years, I have seen many poor preachers. His son, seeing his father serving God so hard, was determined never to become a preacher in his life. To be honest, when I was a senior executive at the university, seeing those preachers, frankly speaking, I did not want to serve God. I just wanted to be a layperson, a small leader in the church, a small soldier. If you asked me to clean the toilet, I would clean the toilet; if you asked me to clean, I would clean; if you asked me to pick people up and drop them off, I could do anything. But asking me to serve God full-time, no, I wouldn't do it. Why? Because I felt that the image of preachers was too bad.

They were very poor and had to carry their own crosses. Seeing that situation, I felt it was too miserable. I think I was a bit worldly at that time, I needed to repent! Later, a pastor preached in the auditorium. He said, I am poor, but I want to eat sausage, God. But I am so poor that I have nothing, I can't afford sausage. He said this while preaching on the stage. He wanted to give a testimony. What was the testimony? The next day, when he opened the door, he saw a string of sausages hanging at the door. Someone was moved to give him a string of sausages.

I think such a testimony is good, but also not so good. What's good is that he wanted to eat sausage, and God gave him sausage to eat. What's not so good is that I wondered, Why does this preacher have to be like this?

Being Set Apart Is an Incomparably Good Thing

The Bible says that the Levites should be given to Jehovah, to be set apart. Is being set apart to God a good thing? Today, I believe it is a great thing. It's not that I'm boasting, but being set apart to God is the meaning of our lives! Think about it, what else in this world is more meaningful than serving God? It doesn't matter whether I'm boasting or not, but I feel it gets better and better!

The spiritual world is so wonderful. You know, I used to think it was impossible, that I had to make money. Is having God not better than having money? Now I completely understand that serving God, being set apart to God, there is nothing in this world more worthwhile. But you have to be set apart! If you are not set apart to God, you are the same as those worldly people, the same as the other Israelites. Then, when you enter God's sanctuary, disaster will come upon you.

So, all of us, no matter who you are, once you become a Christian, we must know that we have been set apart to God. Our destiny is to serve God, and the meaning of our lives is to serve God. Serving God is the meaning of our entire life!

Then some people feel like they are suffering losses. They think, The Levites are so unlucky, how did God choose them? It's not like that, brothers and sisters, because what do those who serve God do? Those who serve God bring blessings down from heaven and distribute them to this world. Those who serve God bring the problems of the earth to God. Originally, the answers to all our problems in life are with God.

Today I tell you, don't disbelieve, all our disasters are closely related to the spiritual realm. If it is closely related to the spiritual realm, we must know for sure that car accidents are a kind of operation of evil spirits, disasters are also a kind of operation of evil spirits, and diseases are also a kind of operation of evil spirits! If people are ignorant in the spiritual realm, God says: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If God's people are ignorant, they will perish. Do you think the worldly people will not perish?

Being Set Apart to Be a Victorious Christian

So today, brothers and sisters, know that we are passing on a Chinese Mingding Destiny theological concept today, which is the concept of a victorious Christian. If you are set apart to God, today I will calculate for you, you will definitely not be poor! Preachers will not be poor.

There are twelve tribes of Israel, right? One of the twelve tribes is called Levi. Where does the income of the Levite tribe come from? It comes from each of the eleven tribes taking out one-tenth, in fact, more than one-tenth, there are other offerings, about 15 to 17 percent. Let's take 15 percent, what is 15 percent multiplied by eleven? It is 165.

If each Israelite gives one share or one and a half shares of offering, how much will the Levite tribe get? They will get eleven shares or sixteen and a half shares. What is the average? If it is 15 percent, it is sixteen and a half shares. Is sixteen and a half shares more or less than the nine or eight and a half shares left in the hands of the Israelites? It is basically double, twice the income of ordinary Israelites. It's just that later the Israelites didn't implement these things. So because they didn't implement this matter, they cheated on weights and measures, and then the Israelites perished.

If everyone knows, if the Israelites do according to God's words, God will bless them. Why? Because they offer according to what the Bible says. So brothers and sisters, you say, Serving God is better than being an ordinary person, then you have to serve God correctly. If being a Christian does not result in victory, it is the result of being attacked and trampled by the devil. Then you say they believe in God, but you have to believe in God to the point of victory, right? This is our Chinese Mingding Destiny concept.

From Martin Luther's Reformation until today, in fact, the victory I have seen doesn't seem very victorious. Why? The victory I see is victory in suffering and hardship. But everyone must not be confused about suffering and hardship. Because some suffering is brought about by not being victorious, and the reason for not being victorious is not carefully observing and following the words of Jehovah God. If you carefully observe and follow the words of Jehovah your God, you will be victorious.

So today, our Chinese Mingding Destiny is a rigorous theological concept that implements God's words. It is definitely not like the Apostles' Creed or the Nicean Creed. I have seen many people who can recite the Apostles' Creed and the Nicean Creed fluently, but they are still not victorious!

Why are they not victorious? Because they are not building the church according to God's army. God's army fights spiritual battles, and fighting spiritual battles means attacking the devil and the enemy, and plundering the devil and the enemy. If you can attack the devil and the enemy, and plunder the devil and the enemy, relying on our God, you can completely be victorious in the spiritual world. I tell you, the rewards are extremely rich! How do you know? I have tested it, so I know! I did it, don't I know?

Many of us don't even have a junior high school diploma, but earn ten thousand a month. Why? It's not that they are capable, but that they are victorious in the spirit. Don't look down on their poor education, they still believe in the Lord quite well. Why? They inherit our Chinese Mingding Destiny quite well, praying and fighting.

A doctor from the National University of Singapore, also a Christian, often can't sleep and has many symptoms, those symptoms are a kind of spiritual defeat. One day, he saw one of our brothers who was very victorious, and he said, Can you pray for me? That brother prayed for him. After praying, the insomnia and other symptoms disappeared.

After it was better, the conversation between the two was like this. The brother asked, How long do you pray a day? ------ I pray for a maximum of ten minutes a day. When do you pray? ------ I pray when I eat. Then the doctor asked in return, How long do you pray a day? ------ I pray for two hours a day! How is it possible to pray for two hours a day? I said, This is the difference.

Is it the same? Can praying for two hours be the same as ten minutes? So you see, we who serve God must light the lamps in the temple of Jehovah so that the lamps shine forward, illuminating this dark world. We must manage these lamps before God, so that these lamps are lit at all times and cannot be without oil. So we must know today that the gospel we believe is the power of God to save everyone who believes. That is to say, the answers to all your problems in life are in God.

Today, there is a sister who is not so victorious, and she likes to listen to my sermons. Can you grow just by listening to my sermons? You have to implement what I say to grow! I like the small tools in my hand. There are so many small tools, to what extent? I try one at any time and any place. I see that you have been among us for so long. I see if you can endure it or not. I poke you with an awl to see what it is. Once I try it, I can discern good and evil.

My heart aches. Among us, if you don't change yourself, if you don't set yourself apart, and continue to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if you are injured, if you fall, then implement it according to the words of the Bible! The Bible says: Woe to those who cause people to stumble! If you read further, If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It's not my hand that causes you to stumble, it's your own hand! If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out; if your head causes you to stumble, cut it off; if your leg causes you to stumble, cut it off. You say, Isn't everyone in the kingdom of heaven disabled? No, this means that we must have this determination to cut off our arm!

Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. (Matthew 18:7-9)

In any case, do not let the knowledge of good and evil take root in our hearts. If you are not corrupted by the devil in your life, it is too difficult. You are just practicing and practicing in the church. In fact, we all hope that brothers and sisters become strong. What is the problem? The first thing for us who serve God is to cleanse ourselves, to offer a bull as a sin offering, and another as a burnt offering. Then we must lay hands on the Levites, and make the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and present them as a wave offering to Jehovah.

You know, all of us, don't think that it is natural for us to be alive and breathing. We are able to live before God today because God has mercy on us. It is because of the Passover lamb that these Israelites and these Levites are still alive, because the Levites replaced the firstborn of all the tribes of Israel. Don't think that they should be alive, in fact, they should have died.

Because God killed a Passover lamb to replace the firstborn, the firstborn of the Egyptians and all the firstborn have been struck down by God. If the Israelites did not keep the Passover that day, did not smear the doorframes with the blood of the Passover lamb, and did not eat the Passover lamb, they would also have been destroyed. These Levites were completely set apart to God, and Jesus Christ symbolizes the Lamb of God. God died for us so that we could survive.

So today, brothers and sisters, we Christians must know that serving God is a glorious destiny, and this glorious destiny must be set apart to God. What do we do when this glorious destiny is set apart to God? It is that we must completely dedicate ourselves to God. Christians who do not completely dedicate themselves to God are not called set apart. Are those who are not set apart Christians? Don't be confused, Christians should have the image of Jesus Christ.

Many people know as soon as they are tested whether this person likes to discern good and evil, and whether they are someone who loves God and dedicates themselves to God. If you don't dedicate yourself to God, don't want to set yourself apart, and only want to be for yourself; or you only like to listen to my sermons and don't like to implement them, I tell you this is not called victory, and the grace and reward of victory will not fall on you.

The brothers and sisters who are with me are really serving God wholeheartedly. Serving God is really hard. It's not that I don't know the problems of some brothers and sisters. My memory is not particularly bad. As long as I pay attention, I basically won't forget. Either I arrange someone to serve you, or I contact you myself. I have told you what you should do about your problems. Then, whether you can set yourself apart to God, whether you can deal with what I have told you, the discernment of good and evil, the indulgence of the flesh, the love of the world in you. If you don't deal with these problems, how can you be victorious?

In fact, most Chinese people have inextricable connections with idols. Whether you like it or not, you have some connection with the spiritual realm. Why are we connecting with the spiritual realm today? Because the problems on us are closely related to these spiritual realms. If you cannot change your mind and choose victory, there is almost no effect even if I lead you to pray.

You say you believe, but you are no longer a small Christian. We have to grow step by step, we can't always be babies. Those who have believed in the Lord for many years must rise up, and their spiritual lives must grow up. They must have the stature of Jesus Christ, and they cannot crawl slowly. God has been waiting there for you to grow for a long time.

##  Set Apart, Striving for Perfection

The issue is actually quite simple. The solution lies in one sentence: be set apart and归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicated to God). You cannot love the world and believe in the Lord at the same time. God's requirements for people change over time. We must begin to love God wholeheartedly. Teenagers cannot keep drinking milk; they must start to grow.

**Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)**

We cannot always do things according to very low standards; we must strive for perfection. We should not have been alive in the first place. We are alive because God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, died for us. What could be more motivating to our love for God than this? Today, we should cleanse ourselves, offer a sin offering, and then offer a burnt offering. The burnt offering represents our complete burning, but God used a bull to replace us. God only regards us as a wave offering, symbolically归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicating to God). The price was paid by God for us.

Today, brothers and sisters, we must cleanse ourselves, confess our sins, repent, and start to offer ourselves completely. There is something in this world that yields great profit with little investment: completely dedicating yourself and then living a victorious life. Begin to serve God, taking serving God as our mission. Our mindset must be completely归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicated to God), and all other things are for the sake of serving God. We have already been set apart, so brothers and sisters, only in this way can you be before the Lord, like a lamp illuminating the dark world.

If you have the determination to completely dedicate yourself to God, the issue of unity among brothers and sisters will no longer be difficult, and the arrows of the devil will not hit you. You are set apart and归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicated to God), and now it is no longer I who live, but Jesus Christ who lives in me. You will not choose to hate people; you will have the likeness of Jesus Christ, grow to adulthood with the fullness of Jesus Christ, and you can thoroughly strike the devil, the enemy. You must be a victorious Christian, set apart and归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicated to God), so that the devil cannot touch you. Do not straddle two boats; be one hundred percent set apart and归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicated to God), and serve Him alone. Now, let us no longer live for food, no longer for work, no longer for everything else, but let us live by the word of God:

**Jesus answered, It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' (Luke 4:4)**

When the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus said: Serve God alone. This is not just the choice of the Lord Jesus alone, but the choice that all Christians should have. We should have been killed in the first place. We are alive today because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ gave His life for us, so that we can live. Because of Jesus Christ, completely dedicate ourselves to serving God. We should have done so in the first place, and such service is our bounden duty. I have suffered betrayal and hurt no less than you, but I choose not to be hurt. I choose to stand strong and trust in my Lord, my God, because I have died in this world.

**I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)**

Now it is no longer I who live, but Jesus Christ who lives in me. I must reveal the likeness of Jesus Christ. The world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world. That is, completely set apart and 归给神 (Gui Gei Shen, dedicated to God), so that you can serve God in the tabernacle of God. Then the Levites went in to minister before Aaron and his sons in the tent of meeting. The Israelites did to them exactly as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites.

Brothers and sisters, know that being a Levite, being a descendant of Aaron and Aaron, being a priest of the Lord God, being a Christian, being someone who serves Him before God, is the most glorious service, and this is the best job.

##  Summary

God, today I completely归给祢 (Gui Gei Ni, dedicate to You). I will serve You until I see Your glorious face again. In this world, I will manifest Your glory and proclaim Your victorious words. I will strictly build according to what You have commanded, according to the pattern indicated by the Lord God. I will be completely united with my brothers and sisters, like a lampstand of pure gold, cast from a single piece of gold, not welded or joined, but completely united, so that it can illuminate this generation.

Let us fear the glorious and awesome name of God, so that the great power of God can be manifested through us, and see the glory of God filling the whole earth. The glory of God manifested among us, what we see is only a drop of the ocean. What we are about to see far exceeds what we ask or imagine. In North America, in Canada, many brothers and sisters who love God are looking for a victorious theological perspective. I thank God that they have a great sense of dissatisfaction. They are very moved when they see us serving God in this way, being set apart, and they give glory to the glorious name of the Lord. This is the theological concept most needed in this generation, and this is the group of people most needed in this era.

The people God is looking for are those who, like Jesus Christ, are willing to completely dedicate themselves to God. Such people cannot but live out the glory of God. The great power of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead will be manifested in you, so that all things may be placed under the feet of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ has already made the head of the church. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the head of the church. All things are under the feet of Jesus Christ, and the word of God will be fulfilled among us.