God is Our Salvation

The prophet Isaiah has set before us two paths: the path of punishment and the path of salvation. If you encounter hardships or bad luck, do not fret, for know that it is God's deliverance. All of us will experience spiritual matters. If you wish to resolve your problems, you must know that God is our salvation. When I first came to Singapore, I endured such hellish days for about a year and a half. Some people encounter hell for three years and still do not turn to God; some encounter hell their whole lives, living under its dominion without seeking God. A person's intelligence lies in this: whether or not you are a seeker of God. If you are not a seeker of God, you will continue to suffer misfortune.

Some time ago, a Singaporean had an idol in his home and lived a miserable life, with his daughter even suffering from mental illness. He came to me, and I told him to discard it. When he left the church, he vowed that he could throw away the idol, but the next day he said he could not, for he had a deep emotional attachment to it. He will only continue to live in misfortune. Curses and blessings are themes that run throughout the entire Bible. It is tragic when a person lives under a curse without realizing it. In this era, we must understand that God both saves and punishes. Our God is certainly not Santa Claus, with pockets full of gifts to hand out as He goes.

Our God is a consuming fire, both saving and punishing; both loving and wrathful. What you obtain depends entirely on your own fortune, and fortune is your faith. When the prophet Isaiah wrote chapters 25 and 26, he made a stark contrast. In these chapters, he alternates between judgment and salvation, writing about God's salvation and then about God's judgment, intertwining the two themes throughout the Book of Isaiah.

In this era, there is an interesting phenomenon where many people believe that our God does not speak curses, but in fact, our God often speaks curses. If you have the likeness of God, would you proclaim curses? You certainly would. The teaching in the Bible is that the same mouth should not utter both praise and curses. Yet, our God is a God who proclaims curses. Because the proclamation of curses awakens people.

The prophet Isaiah was a prophet who proclaimed curses, so we must not think that our God is Santa Claus. If I try to speak both blessings and curses, then I am a Christian. If I only speak blessings and do not proclaim God's judgment, then I am probably not a Christian, because I do not have the image of God. When I study the Bible, I often mention the concept that our God both blesses and curses, and a Christian said, Pastor, you cannot say that; our God does not curse people. But if you read the entire Bible carefully, you will find that it is written this way, depicting God's wrath.

If you carefully examine the history of mankind, you will know that it is full of judgment. What is a curse? It is when people sin, commit violence, and live self-centered lives. If anyone opposes me while I am alive, I will use force against you. So they treat their enemies like sweeping away fallen leaves with the autumn wind. Now we are troubled by the judgment of who is good and who is bad. Do you know to what extent we are troubled? One day, a man saw a child fall into the river in the dead of winter, and he selflessly rescued the child. The reporter was also filming, and the whole person made the headlines. But a few days later, this person was arrested, because it was discovered that he had also committed a crime. People are confused; he is both a criminal and a good person, so is he a good person or a bad person?

There is another more interesting drama where a person is a decent doctor during the day, but puts on a mask at night and goes out to kill people. As a result, people in that city often disappear, one missing and never found, and then another missing and never found. Later, they searched for who was causing people to disappear, and finally discovered that it was this gentle and well-educated person. Originally, the people of the whole city regarded him as a good person, but unexpectedly, he did such a thing. If we carefully dig into Lei Feng's bad habits, we will be shocked. In this era, you can be a good person or a bad person, so where is the problem? The problem is that this generation is a violent era.

An Era Full of Sin

The Cultural Revolution was an era full of criticism and struggle, with class struggle as the key. When I was a child, I often saw a large truck drive by, with a person sitting on the truck wearing a cardboard sign that read: Down with the counter-revolutionary so-and-so, with a very long paper hat on that person's head. When I was a child, I thought that was normal; he was a counter-revolutionary, that's how I lived as a child. But the problem is that this world is full of violence, and God does not like violence, does not like fighting.

So in the days of Noah, the world was full of violence, an era of strongmen, just like today. In the culture of strongmen, whoever is more powerful can bully the weak. After that era was filled with violence, we felt that it was an era of wolf-like culture. So God used a flood to wash away all the people of that era, leaving only Noah's family of eight. Later, people multiplied generation after generation, and in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom and Gomorrah were burned by God with fire from the heavens, and only Lot's family was saved.

When I was leading a Bible study and reached Sodom and Gomorrah, I was quite confused, confused as to why God destroyed all the people. Later, I thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. The whole city was full of rapists. Anyone who passed through the city of Sodom, upon entering the city, would be used as a tool of catharsis by the entire city. After the two angels came in from the outside, the entire city surrounded Lot's doorstep, demanding that the two men be handed over to them for their amusement. That era was truly chaotic; many people died in that city without knowing what had happened. There are many such stories in the Bible.

Originally, God did not want to destroy Sodom, but upon careful examination, it was found to be so. As a result, God sent fire from heaven to burn this place. Can you imagine it? Two angels came in, transformed into human form and entered this city, and they were going to rape these two angels in the street. Men, women, and children all came. This matter developed to an unimaginable degree. God hates violence. What exists in this world is the culture of the survival of the fittest. Living with a strongman's culture is being an enemy of God. Therefore, you either choose to rely on God or choose to do violent things. Whoever provokes you, you fight against them. The more you want to protect yourself, the more you become a violent person. This is such an era, where evolution is called survival of the fittest.

In fact, when we step into this culture of strongmen, you find that these people do not live well; the happiness index in this world is almost zero. If your happiness index is okay, you will often encounter some very upsetting things, such as constant pain in some parts of your body or some unlucky things. You will find that you cannot protect yourself in this world. Although I am quite qualified to protect myself, I actually cannot protect myself.

In that era of ours, I felt that my studies in various aspects were quite good, but I could not protect myself. What controlled me was a demon, which was in a four-dimensional space, while I was in a three-dimensional space. I could not hit it, but it could hit me at will. Later, I decided that I wanted to seek God. Jehovah God is my salvation. I wanted to find the greatest God, and I wanted to be friends with the greatest God. At that time, my logic was very simple: in Singapore, if you are friends with Lee Kuan Yew, you can live quite well. I thought that in this land of China, if you are friends with Xi Jinping, you should live well too.

When I first walked into the church, the hymn they sang was: Though He was a King, the King of heaven, He came down to earth to be friends with people. When I sang this hymn, tears fell from my eyes. This was exactly what I was looking for; He was willing to accept me as His friend. Later, I came to know this God, and He became my salvation. He is the greatest God. Therefore, the Bible tells us again and again that God is our salvation.

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. (Isaiah 25:1)

For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; (Isaiah 25:4)

After I believed in the Lord, I realized that there are such good things in this world. Later, when I read the Bible, I found that God especially hates strongmen. When I was leading a Bible study on Genesis, I told everyone not to be a strongman. Hitler, who started World War II, was a first-class strongman; Yamamoto Isoroku and Tojo Hideki were strongmen of that era. They once bombed Pearl Harbor in the United States, which was simply a series of victories, but what was the use? It was useless at all. Opposing the eternal God will never prevail. So, never use the culture of a strongman to survive in this world. If you use the culture of a strongman to survive in this world, what God has prepared for you is punishment.

What God Prepares for Those Who Oppose Him is Punishment

For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the foreigners' palace a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. (Isaiah 25:2)

For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place as straw is trampled down in a dung heap. And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust. (Isaiah 25:10-12)

So never oppose God. If you are living in misfortune, the reason is that you are opposing God.

For he has humbled the dwellers of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. (Isaiah 26:5-6)

O LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. (Isaiah 26:11)

They are dead, they will not live; departed spirits, they will not rise; therefore you have visited and destroyed them and wiped out all memory of them... For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, (Isaiah 26:11, 14, 21)

So if you live in a culture of strongmen, what you see is the punishment of Jehovah God. The Bible shows us again and again that God punishes people, so sometimes we do not know God, do not know that God both blesses and curses, shows mercy and kindness, punishes and chastises people, and we do not know what is called reverence. If you do not know what is called reverence, people will live under a curse. Why were the Moabites so trampled by God? Because the representative term for the Moabites is those who curse Israel. So when I lead meetings, I often share with everyone: do not curse me, those who bless me will be blessed, and those who curse me will be cursed, because in the spirit, I am an Israelite.

Who are the Moabites? The Moabites are those who curse Israel. If a person is afraid of curses, he will be cursed. If you become an Israelite who pleases God, an Israelite in the spirit, no one can curse you, because God is pleased with you, and they cannot curse you. The fate of the Moabites is written very badly, having to swim in a cesspool. Can you imagine what it is like to swim in a cesspool? If a person is unlucky to the point of swimming in a cesspool, that is a very disgusting state. Like straw being trampled in the water of a dung heap, he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim. (See Isaiah 25:10-12.) Being an enemy of Jehovah God is really no joke.

God Prepares Peace for the Righteous

In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:1-4).

This speaks of a righteous nation that keeps the truth, righteousness being those who have faith. What does it mean to keep the truth? It means that through God's promises to us, we enter into those promises through faith. God will be his city walls, his bulwarks, and he will have perfect peace. A person trusts in God forever, for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. How well this is said. Later he says: The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just (see Isaiah 26:7). We must be people of faith, and people of faith are not so because of their deeds, but because of their faith.

When you have faith, you can immediately become a righteous person. It is absolutely not because you have perfected your actions. We will be cursed if we nitpick and say that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all flawed people. Because they were all people of absolute faith in God, God became their protection, and they were secure in the Lord God, and God made their paths smooth so that they walked on a smooth road all their lives.

Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name (Isaiah 26:12-13).

Even if others rule over you in this world, you must still trust in the Lord God. So brothers and sisters, do not think that your boss does not believe in the Lord. What does it matter if he does not believe? Is he not under God's control? You can still trust in God; this is a righteous person. Brothers and sisters, begin to learn to be people of faith. Justification by faith was the beginning of Martin Luther's reformation. Because of faith, we become righteous. Faith without works is dead, but know that those works are absolutely not building bridges and temples, for building bridges and temples brings more curses. Absolutely do not try to please God with your works, but with faith.

If you truly believe in God, your actions will flow naturally. If you truly believe in God, you will fear Him. The righteous are those who have faith, believe in God, and are saved. I have seen many people who have problems, live in curses, and live in a state of bad luck. Actually, every single one of you who comes to church, did you not come to church because you were living in a state of bad luck? I was the same way; I entered the church in this state. Why? Because we were really having a hard time, and then we began to learn to trust in God.

When I first came to church, I was probably like you, seeming to believe and yet not believing, because I did not know God at that time. A miraculous thing happened: after I first walked into the church, my life began to turn around. I had not yet done anything for God. Thank God, God, because of my faith, placed me among the righteous and began to bless me.

One brother came among us, and he smoked. Someone took a picture of him, and he was very conflicted. Actually, just smoke if you smoke, because the Bible does not say that you cannot smoke, but I do not encourage everyone to smoke. He is a smoker, his actions have not changed yet, but he has faith to come before God. I believe that he will definitely change in the future. My mother smoked for sixty years and played mahjong for forty years, and she has gradually changed.

When she first believed, it was no use forcing her to change. Later, she gradually began to change, becoming more and more joyful, because she had faith. So everyone, do not try to please God with your actions. Maybe your actions have not changed yet, but what does it matter? Continue to learn to be people of faith, because the Holy Spirit will become your power and will become a help for you to get rid of these bad habits. So to be a righteous person is to be a person of faith, absolutely not a person justified by works.

In God's Chastisement, You Can Still Seek Him

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord (Isaiah 26:9-10).

When God's judgment comes upon this world, some people on earth will learn righteousness, and he begins to learn to be a person of faith.

Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them (Isaiah 26:16).

God still prepares salvation in the midst of punishment; it is not that God punishes you because He wants you to die.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

God prepared salvation when we were still sinners, and when God prepared salvation for us, He tried every means to get us to enter into it. We live in curses and are punished, but in the midst of punishment, you must know God. Because God uses this method to save us, I probably would not have known God if it were not for this reason. If I had not encountered bad luck in the world, I probably would have had a hard time knowing God, because I did not feel that I needed Him. But when God shattered all my worldly dreams, I felt that I needed God. You also need God, we all need God, this is a wise person.

Some people are punished, but still do not pay attention to the majesty of the Lord. These people will be punished to the end and live miserably all their lives. If we look closely at the figures in Chinese history, if you examine them carefully, not many of the figures in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms lived well. Although Cao Cao commanded the world and held the emperor hostage to command the princes, what was the result? The result was that he got a headache. When he sought the famous doctor Hua Tuo to treat his headache, Hua Tuo wanted to perform a craniotomy on him. He thought Hua Tuo wanted to harm him, so he killed him.

In fact, this Cao Cao lived in headache all his life, very miserable. I believe that some of us will have a headache. I pray and minister to some people with headaches, because their headaches are really hard. Brothers and sisters, you must begin to see that God still has salvation in the midst of punishment. God does not want us to perish, God wants us to seek Him in the midst of punishment, to pour out our hearts and pray to this God.

I feel that these things have happened to me. In fact, after I believed in the Lord, I often thanked God for treating me in this way, and I did not resent my God. Because I have experienced this grace of discipline since I was a child. Once when I was a child, I skipped class and did not go to class for a day. Because our place was having military exercises, children especially liked to watch, so we climbed up the mountain to watch. After watching, we did not dare to go home at night. How could we explain to our parents when we got home? My dad happened to pass by my school when he got off work. The teacher at my school said, Why didn't your son come to school? When I got home, I was whipped hard with a belt. I felt it was good to be whipped. One whipping sent me to Beihang University.

Today, many of our young people, the reason why they cannot overcome the problems on their bodies is because they lack a belt. At that time, I began to have a sense of awe. I knew that my dad was not easy to mess with, so I studied hard with a sense of awe. But some people, even if they are whipped many times, they still do not change. Not changing means they have no awe.

When You Trust in God, You Will Surely Live a Prosperous Life

Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth (Isaiah 26:15).

You must know that there is all goodness in the kingdom of God. Every time we pray, we say: Lord, may your kingdom come. Why? Because there is all goodness in His kingdom. If you do not know that there is all goodness in the kingdom of God, you will not find good things in this world. If you think that eight or nine out of ten things in life are unsatisfactory, then you should seek well in the world. If you want to live well in this world, then let the kingdom of God come among you, because those who seek the Lord God lack no good thing.

O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing (Psalm 34:9-10).

How well this is said. So brothers and sisters, if you want to live well, there is only one way: learn to fear Him. If God's discipline comes upon you, or the discipline of your district pastor, your small group leader, or your small group parents comes upon you, I think that is when you should rejoice. A person who does not understand discipline and does not understand reverence is a very serious problem. When you trust in God, you will prosper.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).