Being God's True Children

It is a dreadful thing when one knows God, yet acts as a rebellious child. Throughout my journey of faith, I have held a singular conviction: if Jehovah is God, we should trust in Him wholeheartedly, and He will become the answer to all our problems. I no longer rely on the world, on worldly powers, nor on my own abilities. When brothers and sisters come among us and hear the testimonies of Brother DC, or sisters like XJ, what phenomenon do you observe? We must build the church into a holy, united, and glorious body, a church that is after God's own heart.

To be a child of God and yet act rebelliously is to add sin upon sin, leading to a miserable life. We, as brothers and sisters, must strive to be God's true children, not rebellious ones. Observe Christians carefully: some aspire to be above, not beneath, to lead, not to follow. Such Christians are to be emulated. Others are content to be beneath, not above, to follow, not to lead. Such Christians must be avoided, for they are rebellious children.

While listening to testimonies, I was clearing out a meeting group and removed a particularly rebellious individual. After joining the group, I arranged for a pastor to minister to him, but he would not respond. Only when removed from the pastoral group did he begin to show his temper. In the days ahead, we will again cleanse our groups. What good does it do to merely linger without participating in gatherings? Only by being God's true children can we resolve our problems. Pastoral leaders, examine your flocks. Those who consistently fail to respond to messages should be removed. Deleting them may be a blessing, potentially leading them to return, at which point, continue ministering to them.

Woe to the rebellious children, declares the Lord, who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, so that they add sin to sin; (Isaiah 30:1)

Adding sin to sin implies a depth of sin greater than that of ordinary people. For someone who does not know God, relying on the world is not a problem, for they are ignorant of God. But for us, who have become Christians, experienced God, and know His omnipotence, to then rebel against God is to add sin upon sin.

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.(Hebrews 6:4-8)

God Keeps His Covenant of Love with Those Who Love Him, and Prepares Curses for Those Who Hate Him

We must read the entire Bible holistically. You will see that God keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him, and prepares destruction for those who hate Him. This is true not only in the Old Testament but also in the New Testament. The entire Bible instructs us on how to be children of God. If you are a child of God, you will surely be blessed in His sight. I have ministered to many who, because they loved the world, returned to it. It is not to say they completely return; they still attend services on Sundays, but their minds are entirely consumed by worldly affairs. Such people add sin to sin.

I wish to encourage everyone to be obedient children of God, to recognize that the God we believe in is a God of great power. Do not trifle with God. If you are to be a child of God, be a noteworthy one. In my own beliefs, if I am an engineer, I will be a noteworthy engineer; if a doctor, a noteworthy doctor; if a Christian, a noteworthy Christian.

Two weeks ago, I spoke of a concept: that of the engineer. A careless engineer will build bridges that collapse; a careless engineer will build buildings that crumble. If they do, the engineer will be imprisoned. We must understand that we cannot be careless in anything, especially in being Christians. My upbringing, including my education at Beihang University, instilled in me a rigorous academic attitude. If you are a rebellious child of God, woe to you, for you add sin to sin.

Now go, write it on a tablet before them and inscribe it on a scroll, that it may be as a witness for the time to come. For they are a rebellious people, faithless children, children who do not want to listen to the instruction of the Lord; (Isaiah 30:8-9)

Who set out to go down to Egypt without consulting Me, To take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the protection of Pharaoh will be your shame, And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation. For their princes are at Zoan, And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes. Everyone will be ashamed Because of a people who cannot profit them, Who are not a help or a benefit, But rather a shame and also a reproach.(Isaiah 30:2-5)

There are several things in the world: money, relationships, power, and talent. If you rely on these, belonging to Egypt will surely bring shame. Let me give you an example: who is more talented? The most talented people in Chinese history are those who wrote Tang and Song poems. If you read these poems, eighty percent of them are complaints about being unappreciated. Relying on your own talent will bring shame. If one serves God, does one rely on one's own talent, or on God's grace and power?

Why do we build a praying church? Because a praying church relies on God's power. If we rely on God's power, we will never be ashamed. Because we are God's children, we must have the image of God's children, which comes from trusting in God. If you trust in your own talents and abilities, you will surely be ashamed. If you are promoted one day and rely on your own abilities, you will work very hard and ultimately be humiliated. If you realize that your promotion is not because of your talent, but because of God's grace, you will not only get through it quickly, but also be blessed.

Relying on Worldly Things Will Bring Shame

Being a rebellious child is truly deadly. A few days ago, I saw online the trial of Zhou Yongkang. The first photo of him was fine, but the later ones showed all white hair. He once climbed to the pinnacle of power, but now he is a prisoner. There are countless people like this. These Chinese politicians strive to climb, and when they reach that point, they fall. If you rely on power, you will be humiliated. If we have Jehovah as our Father, do we need to rely on anything else? Those who trust in Jehovah will never be ashamed. If you can hear this, from now on, do not rely on worldly things. If it is so for those who do not believe, it is even more so for those who believe, adding sin to sin and receiving double the shame.

If you believe but do not know that you have a noble image and rely on worldly things, such as money, power, or people, if you want to build your connections in this world, you will surely be ashamed, because people are unreliable. If you think you can manage your connections in this world well, you can never manage them better than those who are in prison. Some time ago, I saw documentaries about the lives of those tigers in prison, and they had much repentance. If worldly people rely on managing relationships like this, how much more shame will a child of God receive if they do the same? Be clear about who you and I are. We cannot trust in people, money, or talent. We can only trust in Jehovah God, the Creator of all things. Those who trust in Jehovah will never be ashamed. Practice according to these words.

Therefore I have called her Rahab who has been seated still.(Isaiah 30:7)

Why are people still like this? Because people's vision is too short-sighted. Your vision determines your future. If you do not have this vision, you need to rely on God's Word to adjust, observing the myriad aspects of life in this world and the people and events around us. God says that only by living this way can you live well. What will happen if you rely on worldly things? God will write these words in a book and pass them down to future generations forever. You must know that those who relied on worldly things four thousand years ago perished; so did those two thousand years ago, one thousand years ago, and even just last year. Relying on worldly things will bring shame. It is God's law, an eternal truth. We must learn to listen to Jehovah's instruction. This tells those who read the Bible that we cannot rely on these things, because they cannot solve our problems.

To Be a Warning to Later Generations

For these are a rebellious people, lying children, Children who are unwilling to hear The instruction of the Lord; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions;” And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and guile, And have relied on them, Therefore this perversity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,(Isaiah 30:9-13)

If those things happen first, they will cause a broken result. Take a close look, they live very miserably. Our brothers and sisters should pay attention, this is a warning. I am leading everyone to build God's glorious church, just as DC said, we ask him to write homework and reports, it's his own edification, he must have thought it was so hard at the beginning, if he really wanted to leave, I wouldn't keep him either. Our church does not keep rebellious children, our church only speaks honest words. Because this can better make people know God's grace and be able to experience God's grace.

We should jointly cultivate an idea: to be God's obedient children. Therefore, God will greatly work among us, and we will greatly experience God Jehovah's grace. So, building a church means building such a church, and being a Christian means being such a Christian. If you learn such lessons, you will become children blessed by God. Be sure not to be rebellious children, for being rebellious children is of no benefit.

God's Original Intention

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill. Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30:15-18)

God's original intention is for us to receive blessings, to receive grace, and to become God's noble and glorious children. Peace and rest are precisely what we need, yet we disregard them and instead act rebelliously against God, resulting in punishment. However, this is not God's intention. God's intention is to wait for us, to have compassion on us, to bestow grace upon us, and to make us blessed children.

Obedient Children are Invincible

We must understand a critical question: when we face problems, do we trust in running fast or in God's protection? Even if you run fast, you cannot outrun the enemy. In this era, no matter how fast you run, you cannot outpace a fighter jet. With high-tech weapons and equipment, can our legs compare? In other words, we should not think that riding swift horses will help us escape; swift horses are of no avail because the enemy's horses are even faster. In this era, if you have an aircraft carrier, the enemy will have a submarine, which is the nemesis of an aircraft carrier.

One thing subdues another; nothing is universally invincible. The only invincible ones are obedient children; being God's obedient children is the key to invincibility. God's original intention is to have compassion on us and to bestow grace upon us. God patiently waits for us to turn back to Him. The LORD waits for those who know to cry out to God in times of trouble, seeking His grace. Therefore, we must cultivate such a habit.

People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. (Isaiah 30:19)

If you were previously a rebellious child but now repent and become an obedient child, you will find that God is waiting for you. God earnestly desires all His children to turn from rebellion. God will bestow grace upon these people because they are inherently God's children. They simply do not know it and prefer to rely on worldly things. When they rely on the world, God uses humiliation to turn them back; God uses striking to make them observe and understand; God enables them to observe later generations through His word, forever and ever. From what God does in the lives of these originally God's children, we find that God has abundant grace and mercy.

Walking in the Right Path

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it. (Isaiah 30:20-21)

During Bible study, I have repeatedly told you that this is the right path. However, many hear, but many do not. Brothers and sisters must know that this is the right path. If you have had enough of hardship, humiliation, and affliction, if you have eaten the bread of adversity and drunk the water of affliction, if you have had enough of such days, God will become your teacher. The Spirit of God will guide you, and you will soften your heart. You will know that worldly things are of no use.

In the past, when corrupt officials and tigers were caught, some of them had a ton of cash at home. How much is a ton of cash? I estimate I could not spend it all in my lifetime. But is that reliable? What can that ton of cash do for them? That ton of cash is like ghost money. Therefore, brothers and sisters, know that this is the right path; walk in it. Do you know where this path is? It is in being God's obedient children and having faith in God. Perhaps you have walked a crooked path, but after experiencing hardship, you begin to turn back to Him, and you will see your teacher. Your teacher is in the hardship and affliction, teaching you how to hear the voice of God leading you.

He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted. (Isaiah 30:23-26)

What grace this is! If we have had enough of hardship and begin to turn back to God, you will see that this is the right path, the path of trusting in God. Those of us who are in business, do not think that doing business is your security; those of us who are employed, do not think that your job is your security; those of us who are studying, do not think that your degree is your security, your exam is your security. The LORD God will be your security; those who trust in God will not be put to shame.

Conclusion

Trust is a wondrous thing, and I am still learning what it means to trust. When I encounter unfairness, when I encounter oppression, when I encounter things that I cannot accept, I begin to learn a lesson: I know that God is my reliance. When I begin to turn back to God and rely solely on Him, even though some problems have not yet passed, I still believe that God will surely lead me through.

Even so, I do not rely on worldly things. I do not rely on worldly wealth. Even if my wealth is taken away, what does it matter? It is not my reliance. I am not moved by money because I take joy in serving God. Our God is absolutely reliable. Those who rely on Him will not lack in life, those who trust in Him will not be put to shame, those who trust in Him will receive peace and joy throughout their lives. What grace this is!

When Isaiah wrote Isaiah chapter 30, he was repeating one thing: Let us learn to trust in God, because nothing in this world is reliable. I know money is important, but money is unreliable. I know work is important, but work is also unreliable. I know power is pretty good; a person with power can use his resources, but power is also unreliable. The only thing we can rely on in life is the LORD God. If you are God's children and no longer rely on worldly things, but rely solely on Him, you will not be put to shame.