Introduction

Good day to all! Let's turn to the Book of Acts, chapter 14. I've titled Acts 14 as “Through Many Tribulations, We Must Enter the Kingdom of God.” Didn't the last chapter establish Paul as a light to the Gentiles? Sometimes we feel the presence of God, experiencing peace and joy! But after some hardships, it feels off, as if something went wrong. Brothers and sisters, I've seen a peculiar mindset in Christians: they start doubting if something is hindering them whenever they encounter unfavorable situations. As a result, they give up midway.

Think about it: If you're walking along and get arrested, then an angel leads you out, you start doubting, Did I encounter something unclean, or did I not do a cleansing prayer after leading someone through deliverance? People think cleansing prayers are important! I think this is a consistent practice among Christians; this reaction is strange. But I want to tell you: this is ignorance. Don't you have to pay a price for everything you do? If money comes easily, food is served readily, and you're mostly idle, even pigs live that way. To put it bluntly, even pigs are more valuable than you! If that's the outcome, wouldn't that be a problem?

Last week, I spoke on Being a Disciple of Jesus. Discipleship comes at a price! This is where you observe whether a person's understanding is good or not. Once, I sent someone to do something, and they messed it up entirely. They told me, Teacher, the Spirit of God is hindering it. I said, What is the Spirit of God hindering? Just do what needs to be done! Why do I say this? You need to know what we're here to do in this world. No matter what you do, figure out how to make it happen. Isn't it normal to encounter difficulties in the process?

Many Christians now have a superstitious mentality, saying that God is hindering them at the slightest setback. If it's a hindrance from the devil, then you're on the right track. God chose you as a light to the Gentiles; did you think you could just be a light to the Gentiles? There's a lot of misguided thinking among Christians, all stemming from a carnal perspective. Look how clearly Paul explains it: Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God! Even death can't stop us. Stones, threats, insults – nothing can stop us from walking this path. This is what we call character.

I'm telling you, to cultivate this kind of character in Chinese Mingding Destiny is remarkable; you’ll certainly live a better life than others, because you are strong inside and also have a clever mind. If your mind is not clever, what can you do? So brothers and sisters, don't be foolish; don't just spout nonsense at the slightest setback. Be clear in your understanding. Know what we're here to do in this world. Anyway, we're all going to die sooner or later. Why not live out God's glory and His will? God's glorious image is clearly manifested in us. Why think of giving up at the slightest setback?

If you have this kind of character in your bones, you will definitely become intelligent here, because we focus on the key points every day! What's the key to living? Blessing and cursing. So what this generation lacks is character. We not only have character but also intelligence. How can someone with this kind of character not live well? They live gloriously, indeed, as a light to the Gentiles. Encountering difficulties, enduring hardships, even bearing scars and shedding blood – these are all normal.

The Apostle Paul was stoned; does he have scars? Of course! But it doesn't matter; it can't stop my path to build a glorious church, nor can it take away my determination to build the church. This is Paul. God finds such a person and is with him! So, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. There were many hardships before Paul. This is what we're talking about in chapter 14. This is just the Apostle Paul's first church-planting journey.

First Church-Planting Journey

Traditional theology calls Paul's journey an evangelistic tour. But I think evangelistic tours are far different from planting churches. I believe this is Paul's first church-planting journey. You need to know that in this chapter, Paul is called an Apostle. Why is he called an Apostle? Many people think it’s the twelve Apostles or the twelve tribes, and they feel that the twelve Apostles are remarkable. Actually, it’s not just the twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus who are called Apostles, but those who establish churches are called Apostles.

When they learned of it, they fled to the Lycaonian cities Lystra and Derbe, and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel. (Acts 14:6-7)

A pastor gave himself the title of Apostle and shook the entire church world. I was thinking: what kind of brain is that? He doesn’t even know the meaning of Apostle. What’s there to be shaken about? Paul is truly an Apostle. Building a church is no joke! That was Paul's first church-planting journey. Everywhere Paul went, many people believed, and then he appointed leaders and elders among them to lead these believers to build God's glorious church.

When people start to constantly build churches, some start to wonder: why build churches? Look, Peter doesn’t build churches; he just performs miracles in a place and it’s over. Why do we have to build God's glorious church? Because that is God’s will! Preaching the Gospel without shepherding, what is that? Later, someone told me a phrase: to flirt without getting married, isn’t that being a hooligan? There are many internet slangs now; I just used an example casually that might not be appropriate.

But if Christians only preach the Gospel without shepherding, what difference is there between a mother giving birth to a child but not raising them? Is that moral? Some people say, God only gave me the gift of preaching the Gospel; once I've preached, it's over! I only give birth but don't raise, because I'm a free evangelist. I think that's a bit strange. Actually, I don't have the right to criticize others, but I have the right to choose my own path. Building churches, shepherding God's flock, I preach the Gospel, give birth, and raise on my own.

I must thank an old pastor who taught me how to build a church for the concept of self-generation and self-support. At the time, I asked him: how should I build a church? This old pastor didn’t say much. He told me: first, be self-generating and self-supporting! Preach the Gospel yourself, shepherd well, and also establish leaders. Don’t do anything crooked. Some people, after finishing theology studies outside, think of coming here to find a job. That's impossible. I find people within my own church. Walking this path is the right way. Until now, I still thank him! At the time, I felt that it was so slow, but now it seems so good! I never poach people from other churches. if I poach people, they were not born from me, nor raised by me, then that will be a problem.

Second, pray more and read the Bible more! This old pastor also told me that among those he covered, I implemented these things the best. Therefore, building a church deeply influenced me. Why? Because I see that people need to be shepherded, so you have to deal with many carnal issues in them so that they can restore God’s glorious image. In our church, you are blessed. Why are you blessed? Because you are definitely better than in other churches. There is no comparison between you now and your past self. Because our church is a place of shepherding; it is so good to have a place of shepherding. Those who used to be penniless have now had their finances turned around because you have become more valuable. The more valuable you are, the more accountable I can be before God.

What exactly should we do when we build a church? It is to shepherd God's flock so that God's flock can be shepherded into the likeness of disciples, and also the likeness of Jesus Christ. Not only the likeness of Jesus Christ, but also the character of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, the wisdom of Jesus Christ, and the mentality of giving. That is definitely good. Ordinary people can't outlive you, because you are both smart and strong, and your understanding is clear. How is this achieved? It is all nurtured by the church. You have all been raised up. Go and shepherd others. How good is that!

Apostles are those who build churches, and only those who build churches are called Apostles. This sentence is in the sixth verse of this chapter. After building the church, they begin to appoint elders and begin shepherding. The Apostle Paul wrote so many epistles. Why are they all included in the Bible? Because in that era, they were shepherded through letters.

Paul wrote Ephesians, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians, because it was not easy to make a trip! If it were now, Paul would also shepherd through WeChat and would also put the recordings on the website. So the Apostle Paul is amazing because once God entrusts him with the responsibility of being a light to the Gentiles, he will definitely not fail: God! I have been a cold chair for so long, I will definitely not let you down, you have chosen the right person. I must do according to your will, even if there are many difficulties ahead, I will never give up.

I have never forgotten the first time I entered a church. At that time, I had not yet believed in the Lord. I heard a hymn called: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, No Turning Back! I like this kind of character. No turning back is deeply etched in my mind. Later, God had mercy on me and chose me to serve Him. At that time, I sat in the audience and thought: how good it would be if I could stand there and preach! The person on the stage was preaching nonsense, just talking nonsense.

God thought: this kid is okay! Then you try it. As a result, I established Chinese Mingding Destiny. What I mean is that it is nothing for a person to believe in the Lord, and it is nothing to be chosen by God to serve. Building God's glorious church is walking in God's will. If you ask me what the entire New Testament is talking about, from Matthew to Revelation, it is all about building the body of Jesus Christ and establishing God's glorious church.

If from Genesis to Revelation it is all about building the body of Jesus Christ and building God's glorious church, you will ask me if I am so absolute? I will never run off-topic! For example, during the college entrance examination, people rush up and write tens of thousands of words in a flurry, but if they are off-topic, they will get zero points. If Christians run off-topic after believing in the Lord, they will still get zero points and suffer losses. Therefore, Paul's first missionary journey was to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

That old pastor also told me: spend the first ten years doing pastoral ministry in the church. Don't go anywhere, don't go no matter who invites you, just focus on building the church! This had a profound impact on me. I focused on leading everyone to study the Bible and focus on building God's glorious church. People invited me to preach, but I just didn’t go. They kept inviting me and finally no one invited me or looked for me, and I saved worry. I began to focus on shepherding God's flock and didn't go anywhere. Our church has a system of belief. We must never forget this path: to walk in God's will for a lifetime, and you will be full of God's glory and become a light to the Gentiles. How good is that!

In this chapter, the Apostle Paul traveled around establishing churches, staying in this place for a period of time to establish a church, staying in that place for a period of time to establish a church, and then going to another place to establish another church. He encountered many things on his journey. Once, Paul went to a place and some people regarded him as a god. When the Apostle Paul arrived at a place, he saw a man who was lame from birth and had never walked before, listening attentively to his preaching. I speculate that Paul should have been very good at building people’s faith when he preached. The most critical quality of shepherding is to build people’s faith.

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. (Acts 14:8-12)

This man, born lame, listened with growing excitement. Paul, seeing that he had faith, commanded him to stand up, and the man leaped to his feet. Seeing this miracle, the man shouted, God has come down to us in the likeness of men!” They called Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes. The crowd cheered, saying, “These are gods!” They wanted to keep them there and worship them.

Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “Fellow citizens, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you! We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. (Acts 14:13-15)

If this happened to an ordinary person, or some money-loving pastor, it would have been a golden opportunity to make money. A bag would be placed in front of them, hands clasped, eyes squinting, and as each person made their offering, their eyes would flick to see a stack of red notes, then a stack of green ones. I once met a brother and sister who said their pastor only came once a year, to fleece them. When the people there thought Paul and Barnabas were gods, the offerings would have been plentiful -- red notes, green notes, and even yellow joss paper, burned in huge quantities. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and rebuked them, telling them not to do such a thing, because they were only men.

Human Honour Cannot Stop the Road to Building the Church

When Tang Sanzang went to the Western Paradise, he arrived in the Land of Women. The women there were very beautiful. Pigsy could not resist them and wanted to stay. But for Tang Sanzang, even beautiful women could not stop him from his journey. On the road we must take, do not be swayed by human honour, because human honour is not as good as God’s glory. After enjoying human honour and returning to God, if God says you have had enough honour among men, then you are in trouble.

The honour that men can give is limited. Even if they give you money, make you a world-famous pastor, and get you into celebrity circles, all this is meaningless. Only building God’s glorious church is meaningful, because this is a ministry from God. Since you are an apostle, a church builder, not even death can stop you, nor can human honour. We must understand in our hearts that a person only lives once, and human honour is useless. Today men may honour me, but tomorrow they will throw stones at me. They did this to Jesus, so what about me?

Paul was powerful because he had knowledge, culture, and, most importantly, a vision and a mission in his heart, knowing what he was there to do. Unlike some people, who lose the ministry of an apostle to the Gentiles as they go along, we must not be seduced by these things. Some of our brothers and sisters are particularly envious of those who get rich quick. Someone won tens of millions in the lottery, and some people wish they were the winner. I think that's foolish. Everyone must remember: windfalls bring disaster, and those who love money are easily deceived. People like me are relatively smart. I don't like windfalls; I like to work. I enjoy myself in labour, and I do not lack money because I can do any job.

If ordinary people had that honour, they would have settled down there and stopped moving forward, and that would have been the end. If you accept people treating you as a god, then building the church, preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth, and shepherding God’s people around the world will all be forgotten. It doesn’t matter! Because God has many backups, perhaps already prepared, but we just don’t know it yet. Because the Apostle Paul did not stay there, we have the epistles written by the Apostle Paul.

Insults and Stones Cannot Deprive the Ministry of Building the Church

Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel. (Acts 14:3-7)

When the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.(Acts 14:20-22)

Is this road impassable because we are unclean and should not preach the gospel to the Gentiles? The Apostle Paul did not think so. Paul believed that to enter the kingdom of God, one must endure many hardships. The ghosts in the spiritual realm definitely know who you are. If you come to this place to seize the devil’s territory, the devil will definitely not allow it, so he uses the Jews and their officials to insult Paul and stone him. Someone tipped him off, and Paul fled.

Some people think that running away shows a lack of faith? You must know that smart people and stupid people do not use the same logic. It is not that running away means a lack of faith, but that even if you run away, you still have to build God’s glorious church. Paul did not say that he would wait there to be beaten. He believed that there were many more places where he could build God’s glorious church. When the work here is done, he will change places and continue to work.

If Paul thought he had faith and shouted for people to come and beat him, he would have become a fool. This kind of personality is a bit rigid. But Paul’s personality is flexible, meaning anything is possible, but deprivation of the ministry of building God’s glorious church is absolutely not allowed. People must be smart, and keep working even after being stoned. God has predestined us to enjoy His glory in eternity. Our choices must be wise, clever, and flexible.

Death Cannot Stop the Road to Building a Glorious Church

Paul and Barnabas came to Lystra, Antioch, and Iconium. As a result, those who wanted to stone them came again. This time they really stoned Paul to death. When those people saw that Paul was dead, they dragged him out of the city. As a result, Paul came back to life. People say cats have nine lives. If you have a heart to build God’s glorious church, then you have more lives than a cat, you won’t die! Paul was beaten to death, then woke up, tidied himself up, and went back into the city to continue building God’s glorious church with Barnabas in Derbe. Paul did not take death seriously. If it is not your appointed time to die, you will not die. When I was a child, I heard my mother say: if you are destined to die in a well, you will not die in a river; if you are destined to die in a river, you will not die in a well.

A person jumped into a well more than ten meters deep. It stands to reason that he should have died, but he lived, he didn’t die. But once there was a light rain, and a small ditch that was about knee-deep drowned this person. My mother said that if you are supposed to die in a ditch, you will not die in a well. If we can all despise life and death, we will definitely live longer than those who are afraid of death, and we will definitely live more gloriously than them! If you want joy, you have joy, if you want strength, you have strength, if you want wisdom, you have wisdom, how can you not live well? You will definitely live vigorously.

When I was a child, I heard a crosstalk about a person who was arranging his funeral for his family, but he died with a hiccup. The family thought he was dead, and when they were preparing to divide the family property, he came alive and could walk on the ground. He died again a few years later, and the family arranged everything for him again, but he came alive again. He never choked on that breath. This person should have the faith that death is death, so he couldn’t die anyway. Paul was beaten to death and came back to life. Paul had not completed the Mingding Destiny God had given him. Could God take him back? Once I almost choked to death, which scared everyone. Someone said I couldn’t die because I hadn’t completed the Mingding Destiny God had given me. Later I came back to life.

The Apostle Paul did not interpret this as an obstacle. He clearly saw in the spiritual world that Satan, who killed Jesus Christ and nailed him to the cross, now also wanted to kill us, but Satan did not have the final say. Satan is always hoping that we will die, he does not want us to build God’s glorious church. We encounter some difficulties, which is normal, and it just confirms that we have a firm faith in our hearts. With this faith, neither family, children, nor anything in the world can deprive us of the ministry of building God’s glorious church.

Strengthening the Disciples’ Faith

When Paul encountered these things, his disciples said, is God hindering us? Have we touched something unclean? Did we become unclean after the paralyzed man got up and walked? Actually, none of that is true! Because we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God, this is completely normal! These disciples had not believed in the Lord for long, and there were still many dirty things in their bones, so Paul strengthened their faith and encouraged them to remain true to the faith.

It is a tragedy if we believe in the word of God and become a failure halfway through. It is normal to encounter some difficulties in the process. Don't think that believing in the Lord means peace, as if nothing will happen. How can that be? As long as demons dare to fight with us, we will surely trample them under our feet. Our Lord Jesus has already won for us, so there is no fear, worry, anxiety, or any nonsense explanations. Only by running on this road full of God’s glory will we surely have signs and wonders following us to prove the word of God.

Paul Did Not Let Down Everyone’s Entrustment

When many people in the church in Antioch were praying together, the Holy Spirit revealed to them and told them to send Paul and Barnabas out together to build God’s glorious church and preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. As a result, they traveled through several cities in their first trip, and Paul gained a wealth of experience.

From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. (Acts 14:26-28)

God entrusted Paul through the brothers and sisters, and the travel expenses for this journey were supplied by the church in Antioch. Paul accomplished his mission and did not let down everyone’s entrustment. In that place, he told of all that God had done through them and how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. What they are doing now is what they were entrusted with at that time, it is God’s calling to them. Thank God! There is no misguided interpretation, only one interpretation: this is the Mingding Destiny God has given me.

I led everyone to finish studying this chapter. I hope that the brothers and sisters can inherit the character of the Apostle Paul. Do not be fooled. Paul’s approach is correct. If you are often drawn by money, becoming a money-loving person who likes fame and fortune, then you must be careful. You may become someone’s idol and collect money there without realizing it. Money cannot solve the problem of glory. May God bless everyone!