Questions for Reflection
If you have been a Christian for many years and your prayers are mostly about confessing sins rather than declaring God's promises in faith, does God find such prayers pleasing? Do you truly know what kind of God He is?
What does it mean to live in freedom? How should we view human anxieties?
Why is it said that Jesus is greater than Abraham? What is your understanding of the Incarnation?
The Incarnate Jesus Does Not Condemn
Everyone must understand one thing: the Apostle John was a very spiritual person. His Gospel of John is the most difficult to read, and Revelation is even more so. When we read John chapter 8, we can see that John is trying to argue one thing: what are the characteristics of this incarnate Jesus Christ? He compares Jesus with the Pharisees. And who are those he is comparing Him with? Religious people.
But the Christian faith must be restored to be like Jesus. Today, Jesus Christ's incarnation seeks to accomplish a salvation. What does it do? It makes us, these Christians, all like Jesus. You must know that this aligns with biblical logic. Why did Jesus say, Follow my example? It is to make us like Jesus, so that the characteristics He has can manifest in us.
So Paul said it well. He said that if it is an incarnate Jesus, then the gospel He accomplishes comes from heaven. The gospel preached by the incarnate Jesus comes from heaven, it is a revelation from heaven. Later, Paul even said, It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). This is a very high level of spiritual experience.
In Rick Joyner's book, he said this: Anyone who cultivates their spiritual life to this level will influence a generation, or have a profound impact on future generations. You must gradually become like Jesus. This is the purpose of the Apostle John writing the Gospel of John. He not only discusses that Jesus is the incarnate Jesus, but he also argues what kind of gospel we believe in.
The incarnate Jesus has several characteristics, which are introduced from a story. The incarnate Jesus does not condemn. Today, in the process of believing in the Lord, our way of believing, which often involves confessing sins, is actually problematic.
In the incarnate Jesus, you can see that an adulterous woman was brought before Jesus, and they wanted to stone her to death in front of Jesus. Jesus knelt on the ground and wrote with His finger. Then they asked Jesus, if Jesus said to stone her, then this matter would not be done by the people throwing stones, but under Jesus' instruction; if she was not stoned to death, then Jesus would be shielding a sinner.
In fact, they did not need to bring an adulterous woman before Jesus. Jesus was neither a judge nor a high priest, so what were they doing by bringing her before Jesus? They were just testing Jesus. Why did these people come to test Jesus? It was because they did not believe that Jesus was God incarnate coming into the world to be the sacrificial lamb.
We find it difficult to understand why He didn't condemn her. She really committed a crime, adultery, yet Jesus didn't condemn her. This is a characteristic of the incarnate Jesus. Why didn't Jesus condemn this woman? Because Jesus took the blame for her; her sin was placed on Jesus.
Jesus simply said: Go and sin no more. That's all. We must understand what our understanding of sin really is. If we remain at the level of legalism, then we will take sin very, very seriously, valuing this matter far more than believing that Jesus took our sins.
Today, we must know that Jesus has come, has been crucified, and has been resurrected, and has bestowed the Holy Spirit after resurrection. If we confess our sins all day long, as if that sin has not been forgiven, then where do these thoughts come from? Aren't these thoughts from evil spirits?
If today we still do not know that Jesus has borne all our sins, that is very dangerous. Some people, although they confess their sins, also know that Jesus has borne their sins, but that is only on the surface. Deep down, they still do not know that Jesus has borne our transgressions and iniquities.
So, the view of sin is a very important sign to distinguish whether you are faith-based or legalistic, works-based, depends on your attitude towards sin. I rarely talk about the principles of confessing sins. Some people will feel that we do not confess sins, but we do confess sins, and we believe more that Jesus has borne our sins.
We keep praying: Lord, forgive my sins! Lord, forgive my sins! The Lord says, I have already forgiven your sins. Do you believe it or not? If we really believe it, you say: Lord Jesus, may your precious blood cover our transgressions. That's it.
I have confessed my guilt, I acknowledge my transgressions, and I ask the Lord Jesus to fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me the strength to overcome these sins. The concept of sin marks the faith of an incarnate Jesus. Today, we are all little incarnate Jesuses, because we must have the appearance of Jesus.
Jesus is from Heaven
Where did Jesus come from? He came from Heaven. Where He came from determines the characteristics of the Gospel and the characteristics of the Incarnate Jesus Christ. Jesus is from Heaven, not from Earth. We are from Earth, but after being filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the likeness of Jesus. The Holy Spirit that the Incarnate Jesus Christ gave us is from Heaven.
When a person does not know where you come from and does not know where to go, only living for a short time in this life, it is impossible for you to live well. Therefore, I always emphasize one thing, we must know where we come from and where we are going. John said earlier: those born of God are those who are reborn in the Holy Spirit. Aren’t we all new creations?
Aren’t we all born of God people? If we are all born of God people, then aren't we from Heaven? If we are all from Heaven, we are all born of the Spirit of God, so we will return to Heaven.
The place we are going to, those people cannot go to, but those people think we will commit suicide, but that's not true, we are going back to God. This incarnate Jesus Christ is to restore our relationship with God. As a Christian, we must know for sure that we are from Heaven. If we are not from Heaven, then where are we from? That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.
What kind of thing is God doing today? God is doing something to make the descendants of Adam, whose spirits are dead, reconciled to God again through Jesus Christ, and be re-alive in the spirit, that is, to become a living person with a spirit.
It is very important to become a living person with a spirit, because the first and second chapters of Genesis are about people becoming living people with spirits. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. So do not make plans for the flesh, but make plans for your spirit.
Today, we must get this order right. Many people are living for their bodies, and they think that as long as their bodies are alive, they are alive, and if their bodies die, they die. If Christians cannot change this concept, they must be Christians who are afraid of death. If you say: I can't die, I have to live. In fact, you don't know where you come from or where you are going. For me, death is an incomparably good thing, so I live with particular ease.
If you feel that leaving this world and returning to God is an incomparably good thing, then you are a true Christian. If you feel that I must live, and worry all day long about what to eat and drink, you are still a carnal person. So, a carnal person cares about carnal things, and a spiritual person cares about spiritual things.
If you are born of the Spirit of God, you will care about the things of the Holy Spirit. Our brothers and sisters must know that whether a person knows where he comes from is a very important thing. If today brothers and sisters still do not know that they are working for the food of this life, working all day long, being busy, and do not know that we need to work for the food of eternal life, there is a problem.
When a person knows where he comes from, God will testify for him. After listening to those testimonies just now, I was also very shocked. God is really among us, personally testifying for us. If God personally testifies for us, then the testimony is true.
Today we must know that God is really among us, why is God really among us? Because the gospel we preach does not come from Earth, but from Heaven. We also know that we come from Heaven, and we must return to Heaven, but during this time on Earth, we must live out the glory of God, because God is with you.
So some people ask me, pastor, where do I go after I die? That depends on who is with you. If the devil is with you, then you will go to the devil. If God is with you, then you will go to God! If the demon is with you when you are alive, do you think you will go to God after you die? If God is with you when you are alive, then you will not go to the demon.
Our inner concepts must be adjusted. If our inner concepts are all adjusted well, then living is a very simple thing. If you realize this, you will no longer be afraid, then you will definitely live very well on Earth, because we take living this matter too seriously. If you take it too seriously, then you will be very tired when you live, and you will collapse when you encounter a little thing, because you take the things of this world too seriously.
We just have to think like this, when I do something, I will do it with my heart. Everything else worried about is entrusted to God, and God will definitely be with me. Then you will definitely not worry. If you do not believe in God, and you cannot do your own things well, then you will definitely worry. So, people who worry are people who do not believe. People who believe will not worry. If you are not afraid of death, then what are you afraid of?
We are going back to Heaven, which is an incomparably good thing. We even have to thank you for seeing me off, thank you for completing me. I believe that those Christians throughout the ages, including John, the author of the Gospel of John, and before that Peter and Paul, all left the world with this faith. So I believe that when we leave this world, we will definitely see Peter, we will definitely see John and Paul. You will be shocked when you see them, because what they said is all true.
Today God is testifying for us, because I know where we come from and where we are going. Therefore, we can live with ease and fearlessness. In those years when we did not believe in the Lord, we had many experiences, especially when I met my middle school classmates and elementary school classmates. After many years of not seeing each other, when we met again, they had become old men and old ladies.
In 1976, we were only 12 years old. My teachers have become old people in the blink of an eye. Now he also classifies me as an old man and old lady, but I feel a little wronged. I am not an old man, nor am I an old lady, because I know where I come from and where I am going, so we must live with the hope of eternal life, not waiting there to die.
We must all have this mentality today. When we look back at the days of the past, I discover a mystery, that is, those past things are not important to me at all. The most important thing is to know that I come from Heaven, and then return to Heaven. This is true.
When I was a child, a fortune teller told my fortune. At that time, I had not yet believed in the Lord. My mother liked to take me to have my fortune told. As soon as those people saw me, they said, This child is blessed. I don't know why they said this, I probably know that I am from Heaven. We are all little incarnate Jesus Christs. Don't think that I am heresy just because I said this. Those who are separated from Jesus become heretics.
I often hear people say that Jesus is Jesus, and I am me. It will be troublesome to think so. People who believe in God are all born of the Spirit of God. If we are not from Heaven, then where are we from? Those born of God are children of God. How can we not be from Heaven?
God is restoring a wonderful thing. Originally, we were born of God, and now God has reborn us in the spirit, and then God testifies for us. Why are you able to perform miracles? Why was it that when JX prayed for PP, it was so dangerous for giving birth but was able to turn danger into safety? Because this is from Heaven.
Never underestimate our Mingding Destiny. If we are all from Heaven and want to return to God, the momentary and light affliction on Earth will accomplish an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Therefore, I hope that the brothers and sisters among us who are baptized will all become shining stars in the Kingdom of God and be a blessing to many people.
Living in this world, eating, drinking, and having fun are not our hope. These are just small things in life. Our greatest thing is to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and let the kingdom of God come among us and be a blessing to all nations and peoples on this Earth. This is the vision of our church.
John wrote this way because he knew where he came from. He was a person who had been reborn by the Spirit of God. If the place we are going to, Jesus is not telling you that you cannot go, we will return to Jesus. John wrote this way because Jesus was speaking to those who tested Him and did not believe in Him.
We would never do this, use an adulterous woman to test Jesus, but we pastors often encounter such things: Is it okay for me to have an abortion? If you want to have an abortion, do you want me to give you a guarantee? I don't do this. You choose according to your faith. I don't condemn you either. Don't put guilt on people.
Today, many people are practicing legalism, not grace at all. She has already decided what to do, and she just wants to use you as a handle. So of course I won’t tell you what to do. You can just watch what you do, but I tell her that God loves you, and the precious blood of Jesus can still cover your transgressions. From now on, sin no more.
We must come out of legalism. Condemning and not condemning, where to come from and where to go, these are all closely related things. We live with great hope, so what are we afraid of death for? Death is an incomparably good thing for me. I have long wanted to leave this place, but God does not allow me to leave.
If it weren’t for the faith of Jesus Christ, I would have left the world long ago. I really have no hope for this world. It’s so tiring to live. Everyone is very tired, but today, because we are from Heaven, we want to be a blessing to all nations and peoples on Earth, so even if It’s very tiring, I’m willing, because this momentary and light affliction will accomplish an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Every time I see those people who don’t know where they come from and where they are going, I feel very pitiful. Our responsibility is to let them know. What did Jesus Christ say to these Pharisees? He was saying, “Can’t you see what I’m doing? Can’t what I’m doing prove that I’m from Heaven?” The Bible records it this way, “When the Messiah comes, will the things he does exceed what this man does?” Of course not, but these Pharisees just don’t believe it. What did Jesus use to prove that he was God? He used miracles and wonders to prove that he was God.
This is what Paul said, he used great power to prove that he was God incarnate. The most important thing about believing in the Lord is to preach a gospel of great power. Even if I haven’t done it yet, I still have to preach a gospel of great power, and one day I will do it.
What Do We Do?
What did the incarnate Jesus Christ do? He did what the Father taught Him to do. He did nothing on His own but did as the Father taught Him, for He always did what pleased Him.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5) It is to please God alone. If we please God alone, would you sin? Even if you were tempted to sin, you would think, This does not please God, so forget it.
We often live in temptation. We are also people of flesh and blood, incarnate, and therefore tempted. Jesus was tempted at all times and faced great challenges at all times. Therefore, He was always vigilant in His heart, lest He sin. For I live in the flesh, but God lives in me in the spirit. I live not for the carnal things of this world but for God.
So constantly tell yourself to do things that please God as much as possible. Is it so difficult to do things that please God? What God asks of us is but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. When we do this, we will not sin.
If we hate people or hate God, we will certainly sin. Some people always complain, and they certainly do not live well. So we need to know what we are doing. An incarnate Jesus Christ did these things, and the Apostle John recorded them for us to read. After reading them, we must also do them, doing what pleases the Father.
The Incarnate Jesus Christ Naturally Became a Servant of Righteousness
People in the world are either servants of righteousness or servants of sin. You know where you come from and where you are going, and you do not condemn people. Later, you do what pleases the Father, and then you become a servant of righteousness. No one in this world is completely free. You are either a servant of righteousness or a servant of sin.
As a servant of sin, you do not know where you come from or where you are going. If he had known that he was going to hell, he certainly would not have gone. Why does he become a servant of sin? Very simply, because I want to live. People live to live but do not live well. Living for God allows you to live well, which is a very wonderful thing.
Today, I want to tell you a very interesting story. There was a man from Henan who was originally a wealthy man, but after believing in the Lord, he no longer cared for his family business. The property in his family was taken over by the tenants. One tenant, who had been poor all his life, suddenly became rich after seizing his property, but two years later, China was liberated.
People said that this man was a rich man. Someone argued for him, saying that he only had a dilapidated house left, and how could he be a rich man? He escaped this disaster. Then who was the rich man? The tenant who seized his property was the rich man, and he was killed. He worked hard as a tenant all his life, seized other people's property, and then was killed. How miserable this person lived. People just do not know what they are doing.
You say God is so wonderful. He deliberately let him become a spendthrift. He did not care that others seized his family business, but no one thought that later, after liberation, how could the new China under socialism tolerate your landlord? As a result, he escaped this disaster. God is so wonderful.
If a person knows where he comes from and where he is going, he will never become a victim of man dies for wealth, bird dies for food. Then you will do what pleases the Father, become a servant of righteousness, and then you will become a free person.
If you have abundant truth within you, then the truth will set you free. Freedom is the truth within you. The incarnate Jesus Christ would never live to live because He is truly free. We can see this from many places.
He lived freely and died freely. We Christians must also become like this, living freely. When the Son of Man leaves this world, He will draw all people to Himself. Today, we want to preach this pure gospel. We preach this incarnate Jesus Christ. Then how many people will you attract?
Why has the gospel preached today changed? Because they have preached an incarnate Jesus Christ who came from heaven as one who came from earth. Originally, it was based on faith, but it has become based on law and based on works. This cannot set people free.
It must be 100% faith. If we say that 99% of the people who pray are healed, then that person will say that I am the 1% who is not healed because he is not based on faith but on works.
Confession of sins is a gospel based on works. It is not that we do not confess our sins. When the Holy Spirit shines on us, we must confess the sins we should confess, and then we must not continue to condemn ourselves because Jesus has blotted out our sins.
I rarely talk about constantly confessing our sins, but there are many online who talk about sins that can never be confessed. If someone preaches this kind of message of sins that can never be confessed, it is certainly not incarnation because Jesus did not come to condemn our sins but to take our place.
The sins of the adulterous woman were all placed on Jesus, and our sins were also placed on Jesus. We are born of the Holy Spirit, and those born of the Holy Spirit do not sin. Therefore, we can do these things, be servants of righteousness, and then do what is right in God's eyes.
Who Should We Emulate?
John said, See who this person is to be emulated? I often say to emulate Abraham. Do you know what Abraham longed for most? Abraham felt that living was really meaningless. What is the meaning of living? Abraham's hometown was a place where idols were made.
Later, Abraham took a wife for Isaac and returned to his hometown. Rebekah's hometown was also a place where idols were made. Then Abraham reflected, How can this work? We must see through life and death.
My father has been dead for six years. Six years is just a blink of an eye. It passes quickly. Every time I attend a funeral, I stand next to the coffin and can see the dead person inside through the glass. When I look at them, I think, Is life meaningful? If you could live again, how would you live?
Living should have been a very simple thing. Why make it so complicated? So when Abraham saw through life and death, he thought, I must pursue the kingdom of God and pursue the righteousness of God. Then God said, I will make your name great. Many things are really wonderful. When you start to pursue your own name and build a Tower of Babel, God destroys it. But if you pursue God's name, then God says, I will make your name great. The incarnate Jesus Christ has enough attraction.
When building the church from 2008 to 2011, God struck me. The reason was very simple: because I was proclaiming my own name. On the surface, I was proclaiming Jesus Christ, but in reality, I was proclaiming myself because I had power, social connections, and contacts. I spent money and energy, but this was not what pleased God.
Later, in 2011, I knelt down and established a praying church, which proclaimed God's name. Later, some brothers and sisters who were looking for jobs, I introduced them to jobs, but they gossiped about me behind my back, Who asked you to introduce them? What method did I use? I introduced you to a job, so you have to come to the meetings. I relied on this to get them to come to the meetings. How could this be?
So today, the brothers and sisters in the church still encounter many difficulties: having children, finding jobs... But I rarely use carnal methods to help them. Of course, if they cannot afford to eat, I will give them some money, but ultimately, it is to break the curse and let them walk the spiritual path. The church began to proclaim God's name. When you proclaim God's name, God will make your name great.
We must all be prepared because God will make our names great. Now the name of the church is spreading quickly online. I will confirm a few things. For example, when searching on Baidu, before I even type my name, the full name already appears. When I searched myself, I found that I am very famous. Next is even more amazing. This is an explosive growth. Anything on the Internet is an explosive growth.
We must emulate Abraham. There is no need to redevelop something else. We just need to know that we have no hope in this world. The only hope is in God. Start seeking God's name, and God will make your name great on earth. Then you will become a blessing to all nations and peoples on earth. This is the mission of our church.
Who Is Your Father?
Is your relationship with God a relationship between a son and a father, or a relationship of mutual exploitation? If our relationship with God is that of a heavenly Father and children, then we will certainly have the image of God's children on us, and then we will love God's children and love God's church.
Later, I discovered that many people are very devout on the surface, but in reality, they are sabotaging. Their father is not the heavenly Father but the devil Satan. So they are a brood of vipers, a brood of vipers. Where is Satan? Satan is in the temple, the temple during Jesus' time. Do you find it strange?
Today, when I cast out the spirit of the dragon, I discovered that the spirit of the dragon lives in the church. So why do many churches have so many problems? It is because the spirit of the dragon lives in the church. Other places are not fun, but there is certainly no place for the dragon among us because we have the ability to kill it.
Today, we must emulate Abraham. Then we directly confront the devil Satan. Our Father is the heavenly Father, but our opponent is the most powerful devil Satan. When the church develops to this stage, when it attacks the spirit of the dragon, then the church will enter a very prosperous stage because you can directly attack this highest-level opponent.
Many churches today cannot overcome the spirit of the dragon at all. They have not even overcome many of the spirits below. Rick Joyner described this very well. Anyone who has built a church, like GX, XJ, knows this process. Building God's church is actually ascending the mountain of the Lord, entering the temple of the God of Jacob. How high you ascend, how strong your attack on the devil is.
So it is very hard at the lower levels. You are always hit by arrows. Many times you will be hit by the devil. The arrows in your back are like a hedgehog. When you climb to a place, it becomes easier and easier. Where is it easiest to reach?
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)
This is Rick Joyner's argument. If our Father is the heavenly Father, not the devil Satan, we will certainly listen to God's words. If we do not listen to God's words and do what the devil Satan does, but turn around and say that we belong to God, is that not strange?
They do evil things themselves, but behind their backs, they say, The pastor's words cannot be believed. He is a hypocritical hypocrite. I do not need you to believe me, but you must investigate, you must look, and see which of the things I have done is not taught in the Bible. If anything is not done according to what Jesus did, then I must change it. I do not want to one day come before Jesus and have Jesus say to me, I do not know you.
Understand What Incarnation Is About
Those Jews were all descendants of Abraham in the flesh, but they did not understand the incarnate Jesus Christ. Jesus said, Before Abraham was, I am. They did not understand at all. A young man in his thirties, Abraham was two thousand years ago, but you say, Before Abraham was, I am. They could not understand.
In fact, incarnation is a spiritual term. Today, our church uses many spiritual terms, using terms related to the spiritual realm to describe these things. God becoming flesh is itself a very spiritual thing. Therefore, the church must walk a very spiritual path, including healing and deliverance, and casting out demons. These all operate in the spiritual realm.
But if we only talk about morality and ethics and do not walk a spiritual path, how can we build a church that belongs to God? As a result, Jesus said, Before Abraham was, I am. You must know that Abraham only opened the path that people must walk by faith, enabling people to live in faith, but it is God who enables people to live.
Abraham is the son of God, and we are also the sons of God. Therefore, incarnation is important because these people do not know how the spiritual realm operates, so they cannot understand how Jesus could be greater than Abraham because Abraham is really not as great as God.
But God became flesh and came into the world, becoming our sacrificial lamb, becoming the Passover lamb, bearing our sins, but they do not know, they cannot recognize. In fact, they can recognize it through what Jesus did. Do not think that only preaching doctrines is incarnation. It is not like that. It is God who proves that He is the Son of God through the powerful Jesus Christ.
Today, we believe in the incarnate Word and will certainly become powerful children of God. This is what John wants to tell us. I want to make a summary. The points I mentioned earlier are all about the incarnate Jesus Christ. This is not for others but for our generation. Today, Jesus Christ is still alive. He is eternal and never changes. Therefore, as He did in the Bible, we must do. Our faith is a faith that emulates Christ, a faith that emulates Abraham. Therefore, we must do as they did, and then we will live abundantly.