Recording:

Joash initially did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but why was he later killed by his own servants? Such examples are common in Israel's history. Past reverence for God does not guarantee lifelong faithfulness. Joash, another lesson in failing to finish strong, what thoughts should warn us against the tragedy of turning away from God!

Questions for Reflection:

Do you think that execution ability can be a standard for measuring a person's spiritual state? Why?

Are you a person with execution ability? How do you think you can improve your execution ability?

How do you think you can keep yourself focused on following God throughout your life? How can you put this into practice in your life?

Execution Ability as a Standard for Spiritual Life

When you have the heart to do something, God is already pleased; but if you have the heart to do something, you must complete it. If you have the heart to do it but fail to do it, then God will no longer be pleased with you. After Joash became king, he began to build the temple of God, which was pleasing to God, but the execution was not so straightforward. Brothers and sisters, if we have the vision to build the temple, then we must persevere to the end, not stopping until the temple of God is built. This is called execution ability. Without execution ability, any idea is useless; you must be grounded and do it.

The standard for measuring a person's spiritual state is execution ability. If your execution ability at work is excellent, then your spiritual state will likely not be bad. Why is it that some people have poor execution ability? It's because there is a lack of something real in this person's life, which is reflected in daily life by whether or not they have execution ability. Joash was a king with very poor execution ability: he wanted to build a temple for God, but he only thought about it, and after twenty-three years, he still hadn't done it.

Spiritual prosperity in life will certainly bring prosperity to the whole person. If the spirit is not prosperous, then there will certainly be problems in work and life. Perhaps some people say: spiritual prosperity has nothing to do with work; work is worldly and does not need to be taken seriously. In fact, everything that concerns our lives is spiritual. Life is life, and you cannot cut life in half. Nor can you say that reading the Bible, praying, and attending meetings are spiritual, while work, life, and marriage are worldly. This division is incorrect.

Having the heart to do something but not doing it is the same as not having the heart to do it, so we must all be practical people. If we read the words in the Bible, then we must act on them; this is what it means to be a wise person.

Putting God First in Life

I have now learned a lesson in pastoring: there are some people I really cannot pastor. Some people start out saying very nice things to me, but when it comes time to pay the price, they cannot do it, and they have their own reasons. Why do I say that? For example, let's talk about attending Sunday service. Isn't this a simple little thing? Some people say, Now it's the New Testament era, it's no problem if I don't attend Sunday service. Many people have this kind of thinking, how can they be blessed?

Recently, some new people have come to us, facing many problems, such as being financially insolvent, or getting sexually transmitted diseases because of engaging in homosexuality. As a result, they don't come to the meeting on Sunday, and they ignore me. Later, I found out that it was because friends came to their house on Sunday and they needed to entertain them, or they went to do errands. Then I have to ask, where have you put God? You have stood God up, how can this be allowed? I cannot pastor such people. If there are such people among us, I don't mind giving up one or two. What kind of people do I want to pastor? Those who are of one mind, determined to follow the Lord, such people will certainly be blessed, because God's promise is faithful.

Why are so many Christians so unlucky? Because they put God aside in their lives. Like this Joash, the Bible doesn't say what he did for twenty-three years, because it can't be written. This is like writing a resume when we look for a job. If you spend every day indulging in pleasure, would you write that in your resume? If all your experiences are eating, drinking, and having fun, who would hire you? Such a resume should be thrown in the trash!

This King Joash, after wasting twenty-three years, suddenly remembered: Oh, I haven't built the temple of God yet! How did he remember? I think maybe God gave him a warning. So brothers and sisters, be careful, don't be such people, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, and then dying miserably. That really doesn't make any sense.

Procrastination is a Lack of Love for God

When you want to do something, although you don't end up not doing it, but you procrastinate for a long time, that is also a sin! Although this sin is a little bit better than wanting to do it but not doing it, it is still very bad. Although it is reluctantly done later, what is this behavior of procrastination? Procrastination is a lack of love for God. For example, if you love someone to the point of dying for them, you will not procrastinate. There is a brother among us who pursued a girl when he was in school, and finally caught up with her when he graduated. They were truly inseparable when they were together. Imagine, if the girl had said, Can you accompany me for a while? and this brother had said, No time! that would be a problem! All these years of effort would have been wasted. It's the same with love for God. If you truly love God, God knows it. And this true love will inevitably bring forth action.

So I encourage brothers and sisters, both near and far, do not delay. The most common type of delay in our lives is that so many things are crammed into your life that you can't make time for God, isn't that a delay? When the time comes for us to worship God, draw near to God, and serve God, we think of other things to do and go to do them. It's like you're standing in line to buy something, and it's finally your turn, but the clerk says to you, Go to the back and line up again! But is it right for us to treat God, the Lord of all things in the universe, like this? Isn't this very foolish?

Think about it, God is holding a full blessing, and it's finally your turn to receive the blessing, but you say no, you're busy, so how can God bless you? The Bible says: One man said to Jesus, Let me first go and bury my father, Jesus said to him, Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. (See Matthew 8:21-22)! You must put God, put Jesus at the forefront of your life. If you truly put Jesus at the forefront of your life, I guarantee you will be blessed.

I am very surprised to find that the brothers and sisters among us are all blessed. Why? Because I am strict, and my wife is even stricter! So when people are doing these things, they really have to learn to fear God and love God. If you love God, God knows it. Today, this sister is on the stage giving testimony of her family's faith in the Lord. When I spoke to her family before, as soon as I opened the video, I saw her mother waiting there. I think this family is truly blessed! In the temple of God's blessing, as soon as you open the door, you see them, so God will certainly give you the best, don't you think so? If the line is all finished and the blessings are all given out, and you come sauntering in, swaggering, and say, Huh? What's this? Where's my blessing? that's a problem. Procrastination is actually a very serious sin. I am not using the law to control you, because behind these phenomena is the mindset of the person. If you finally pursue a girlfriend, and then you stand her up on a date, try it and see what happens. So we try not to stand God up.

As You Are to God, So You Are to Others

If you forsake God, you will slide down step by step. What did Joash do later? After Jehoiada died, he forsook God and worshiped idols. When Jehoiada's son rebuked him, he killed Jehoiada's son. You must know that Jehoiada once saved his life and also put him on the throne! (See 2 Chronicles 24:17-22)! As a person is to God, so he is to others. So, if a person procrastinates with God and does not honor God, do not befriend him; if there is a boy who is obedient to you, but he is not good to God, then cool him off and let him learn some lessons.

It is also the same for boys looking for girlfriends. I am talking about Christians, we don't care about those who don't believe in the Lord. But, what needs to be clarified? What are the criteria for choosing a spouse for the single brothers and sisters among us? Is it based on the person's appearance or temperament? We are easily deceived by these external things, but in fact, these things are not very useful. You must remember that if you are choosing a spouse, then this person must have execution ability - if they say they will serve God, then they must serve well. If they say they will do something, they must do it, without procrastinating, implementing it step by step.

Clarify Priorities

Some people say, I want to serve God, but I don't have time. I'll serve God when I have time! This is just an excuse. What does it mean to have no time? It means you have other things that are more important than this, so you have no time, right? If this matter is very important, then he will have time. I have found something very interesting in the workplace, which is that employees think they cannot do a task, but after giving them some pressure, they can do it. Why? Because they put the task aside and never seriously thought about how to do it.

When doing things, you must first figure out what is important and what is not important, that is, the priority of things. How should this be understood? I'll use a workplace example again. The boss often has a stack of documents on his desk, and the boss will read the document on top first. The employee who works as a secretary, although the position is relatively low, is very important because he is in charge of the order of the documents. So the secretary puts the files of the people he likes and those who go through the back door on top. This is terrible because the boss comes in and does this first. After doing one-third of it, the boss goes to a meeting, leaving two-thirds. Then some more documents come in, and they have to line up again, and the secretary puts so-and-so's document in front and so-and-so's document in the back.

This is why some people's PR applications take more than a year to be approved, but some people's PR applications only take six months or three months. Why is this? It's because his file was put on top. Who put it there? How was it put there? How would we know? There must be God's hands at work. Thank God!

So no matter what, even when looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend, you must understand the priorities. So if I am someone like Jehoiada, and I meet someone like Joash, I must be careful! Smart people will see the essence of people. As a result, Jehoiada was not careful. He died before his son, and his son Zechariah also died at the hands of this King Joash.

So, in the church, when we pastor and serve, we are most willing to serve smart people. It is easy to serve smart people because they understand as soon as you say it; but it is difficult to serve foolish people. So sometimes I struggle, because I know he is a foolish person, and he will definitely not change after I serve him, but he comes to me, and I really don't know how to refuse, so I still serve him!

So, I encourage everyone not to be this kind of person in front of me, that is, someone who has no execution ability, procrastinates, and puts God last. Such a person, even if I serve him to the end, is an ungrateful fellow. Do not be an ungrateful person, like Joash, whose ingratitude paved the way for his eventual murder. A person's ending cannot be blamed on others or the environment, but is actually where he walked to himself, isn't it? Step by step, farther and farther away from God, weaker and weaker, and in the end, the end is destruction.

Spiritual Prosperity Leads to Holistic Prosperity

Joash later weakened, and his actions were indeed peculiar: he was quite capable of killing Jehoiada's son, but he was powerless against King Hazael of Aram. When Hazael came, Joash did not fight; instead, he gave Hazael all the sacred objects, gold, and treasures from the temple of the Lord and the royal treasury, and only then did Hazael refrain from attacking Jerusalem. In reality, these treasures did not belong to him; they were not the king's property but belonged to God. This king was already muddled, and then God prepared a path of being killed for him. God's wrath was manifested upon him.

Everyone must understand that the God we believe in brings both calamity and blessings, depending on the kind of person you are. If you are someone blessed by God, He will bestow blessings upon you; if you are someone who provokes God's anger, He will bring disaster. This is written in the Bible, not fabricated by me. Many people think, God is a loving God who only gives blessings and does not bring disaster. But this is a lie! God brings disaster not only to punish those who sin but also to awaken and cause people to repent. If there are many sins in a place, wouldn't everyone die in sin together if God did not bring disaster? Moreover, even if disaster strikes, people's hearts may not necessarily soften!

Joash, unable to defeat the enemy, had no choice but to give all the gold and silver treasures to Hazael. The most obvious sign of spiritual weakness is defeat. If you are constantly defeated, you know what's happening: you are too far from God! If you are close to God and put Him first in your life, how is it possible to be defeated? Warfare is a spiritual matter. The wars between nations actually depend on who is spiritually stronger. Therefore, David, being spiritually strong, had all the surrounding nations paying tribute to him. You don't even need to fight; the surrounding nations will come to pay tribute to you and make peace with you. How wonderful! Thus, Solomon never fought a war in his life, yet he was extremely wealthy. The temple he built was covered with gold on the walls and floors, using hundreds of tons of gold and silver, all of which David had prepared for him. That is spiritual prosperity, which brings about the prosperity of the whole person.

If you are constantly being beaten and have to give gifts as tribute, the reason is simple: your spirit is in decline. Without God's protection, people will bully you, and demons will bully you. How can you live like that? How can you live well?

As a result, Joash, over a period of forty years, gradually walked into this tragic end, killed by his servants. So, today I want to ask everyone, do you truly believe that our God is the one who protects us? If you truly believe and trust that He is the God who can protect you, then these disasters will certainly stay far away from you. If these disasters are indeed far away from you, and you live in His protection throughout your life, then isn't it a worthwhile thing to put God first in our lives? If you say, I don't have time to serve God, but you have time to do other things, and then your spirit becomes weaker and weaker, think about it, is it worth it?

I often say this: people may not encounter many disasters in their lifetime, but as soon as they encounter one disaster, it's over. You work hard and earn a lot of money, but if disaster strikes, can you stop it? Today, let's take a close look at these people in the world, whether they are successful businessmen, popular stars, or even corrupt officials. They indeed have money, fame, and fortune, but what is their end? This is what they just said: The end of a matter is better than its beginning.

If you want a good ending, I encourage you not to save time on things related to God. Those who do not save time on things related to God, I have not seen them lose anything. On the contrary, I have seen them truly receive God's grace and blessings. Don't learn from Joash; there's no benefit. Indeed, being king for forty years is long and good, but the ending was not good! Killed by his servants at the age of forty-seven, younger than me! Forty-seven years old is prime time, isn't it? Even if you live to seventy-seven and reign for seventy years, it's useless if the final ending is not good.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we really need to change our perspective. If we wholeheartedly follow God, the Bible says this: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) How wonderful is that! If we are all people guided by God, that is truly a great grace.

Anyway, I say this: I will never let go, I will hold on to God tightly and put Him in the most important position in my life. If I serve, I will serve with all my heart, soul, and strength; if I love God, I will love God with all my heart, soul, and strength. If I want to do something, especially something for God, I will not stop until I accomplish it. With such determination, even if I am a little weak sometimes, as my wife says, I still have to get it done.

So, today everyone sees these remote systems and websites, aren't they all starting from one person's determination? If you are determined to do something for God, you will surely accomplish it. Therefore, today we have remote ministry, written ministry, Weibo ministry, WeChat ministry, and tissue pack ministry. We do everything, and we do it well. I thank the Lord that our brothers and sisters are people with such a mindset, and we truly see God doing these wonderful things among us, Amen!

Scripture

2Ki 12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
2Ki 12:2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
2Ki 12:3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
2Ki 12:4 Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money that is brought as sacred gifts to the temple of the Lord—the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple.
2Ki 12:5 Let the priests take it, each from his acquaintance, and let them repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”
2Ki 12:6 But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple.
2Ki 12:7 Therefore King Joash summoned Jehoiada the high priest and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the damage to the temple? From now on do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but hand it over for repairing the temple.”
2Ki 12:8 The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.
2Ki 12:9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the temple of the Lord. The priests who guarded the entrance put into the chest all the money that was brought to the temple.
2Ki 12:10 Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal secretary and the high priest would come, count the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord and put it into bags.
2Ki 12:11 When the amount had been determined, they would give the money to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. These men paid the workers who repaired the temple of the Lord—the carpenters and builders,
2Ki 12:12 the masons and stonecutters, and those who purchased timber and dressed stone for the repair of the temple.
2Ki 12:13 The money brought into the temple was not used to make silver cups, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls or trumpets, or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the Lord;
2Ki 12:14 it was used only to pay the workers and repair the temple.
2Ki 12:15 The supervisors did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty.
2Ki 12:16 The money from guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.
2Ki 12:17 About this time Hazael king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem.
2Ki 12:18 But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—and the gifts he himself had dedicated, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.
2Ki 12:19 As for the other events of the reign of Joash, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 12:20 His officials conspired against him and assassinated him at Beth Millo on the road down to Silla.
2Ki 12:21 The officials who murdered him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. He was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.