Introduction
Good day to everyone! We begin the fifth lecture of New Era Christian Transformation. In the blink of an eye, we have already covered four lectures. The title of the fifth lecture is For this Gospel is the Power of God. Let me briefly review the previous four lectures: The first lecture was Hypocrisy in the New Era. Hypocrisy runs through the entire generation; they are all spiritually blind, lacking any spiritual insight. Therefore, the blind lead the blind, walking a path of death and destruction.
The second lecture was The Confusion of Christians in This Era. There are plenty of confused Christians in this generation. After listening, you will realize that the Chinese Mingding Doctrine is not a hypocritical theology but one that pays the price and gets real. We have also resolved the confusion of many Christians in this era. The third lecture was The Curse Brought by the Wrong Gospel. If these confusions have found their root, how can you not be confused if you believe in the wrong gospel? The fourth lecture was Returning to the Gospel of the Apostle Paul. The most obvious characteristic of the gospel preached by the Apostle Paul is: This Gospel is the Power of God.
I have a little cleverness, and this little cleverness is particularly good. Since I was young, I wanted to find a God who is very powerful. My requirement is simple: this God must love me and have the ability to love me. Does that sound good? My parents loved me very much, but when I was desperate, they couldn't help me; they didn't have the ability to help me with what I was doing. The gang leader has the ability, but he doesn't love me, so it's useless! I want to find a God who is powerful and loves me, and has the ability to love me. How good is this idea! Because He loves me, not for something I give Him; that's a transaction. He loves me and has the ability to love me. How good is this God! This is exactly what I was looking for, and I really found it.
In those years, when I was just starting out, life was very hard. I was invited to attend their gatherings. People there never introduced Jesus when they got sick, only doctors. I said: This Jesus is not very useful, He is not what I want. They looked to one doctor on the left and another doctor on the right, spending a lot of money without any use. I'll go find it myself! God is great! Because I have this little cleverness, this little idea, God led me to a church that was particularly good at casting out demons at that time.
In many years past, churches that cast out demons have been slandered as charismatic, and what派...It was said very offensively. Those gospels of Jesus Christ that only introduce doctors all think they are great, both orthodox and great, but they are useless. So God led me into a church, where I saw the power of God. There were many casting out of demons, it was wonderful! Seeing the power of God healing people, it was so good! Aches all over the body are minor illnesses, and they are cured after five minutes of prayer. But aches all over the body can be deadly when they hurt. Not to mention aches all over the body, a toothache is not a disease, but it can be fatal when it hurts.
Later, I found that my little cleverness was really clever, and this is why I can serve God. This Gospel is the Power of God; this sentence is simply great in me! Do you want to go to a church and receive a gospel where healing is not possible, casting out demons is not possible, blessing is not possible, solving problems is not possible, but collecting offerings is quite possible? Do you want to go to such a church? And they still want to put a cross on your back for you to carry. Do you still want to believe in such a gospel? This is not the gospel at all. If the problems of the living cannot be solved, only one problem can be solved: that after you die, you are promised to go to heaven. I said: I still prefer to be like I am in heaven when I am alive.
Do you all think my idea is very practical? I can enjoy blessings after I die? What kind of gospel is that? You must know that people can die when they have no job and no income. It is useless when alive, but useful when dead? Isn't that like seeing a ghost? My logic is very simple: if you haven't experienced God when you are alive, can you experience Him when you die? I think forget it! At that time, I desperately needed a job, and a miracle happened! God blessed me with a job, and everyone knows my testimony.
The former boss who witnessed my miracle firsthand is already in his 70s. At that time, he was in his 30s, and I was in my 20s. I came to him looking for a job. After praying according to my resume, he heard my name. What a miraculous thing. My boss said: At the time, just before hiring me, he also faced great challenges at work and was stabbed in the back in an internal political struggle. He said: That day, he was very angry and uncomfortable. When he got to the church and sat there, he couldn't hear anything, and then he prayed. God gave him a word: forgive. At that time, he told me: If he had not forgiven and had handed in a resignation letter, there would be no story of me later.
Our God is so powerful! This Jesus Christ whom I know is so powerful, so divine! He can solve everything, He can do everything! He can solve these little things in life. If we can't solve these little things in life, can that still be called God? So all along, I have believed in a powerful God. If you ask me why I have experienced so much? Because I believe. From then on, I always had faith, and I told everyone about Jesus.
Have you heard many stories from me? I have baskets and baskets of stories to tell because I have experienced so much. This is all God's work on me, and as a result, I was given a nickname: Christianity. From afar, some people see me coming and say: Christianity is coming, hurry up and leave. I said: I am honored, I have become Christianity. But these people come to me when they encounter problems. People are so strange; they usually avoid me, but when they really need this powerful gospel, they quickly call me, and then I am called, and the result is interesting.
There was a little Chinese girl who had a crush at the time. Who did she like? I also knew the boy she liked. She sat in the school cafeteria, crying her eyes out. Unrequited love is very uncomfortable and painful. As a result, this student went to a mental hospital. The things in the spiritual world are too bad. She went to a master and got a curse and started to recite it. As she recited it, a demon possessed her, and she went crazy. After she went crazy, the police sent her to a mental hospital, and then I needed to cast out the demon from her body. At that time, many people saw me cast out the demon. Then she came out of the mental hospital and had no illness. In fact, mental illness is being possessed by a demon.
Is the gospel that I believe in powerful? In fact, this gospel is the power of God, it is so wonderful! In my life, I am willing to live for the God who loves me. If you want to choose a god, you have to choose like me, what a smart choice, and persist like me. As a result, this little girl went back to recite that curse again. I told her to believe in the Lord with me, but she didn't believe. People are just foolish. The second time, she went to a mental hospital again and invited the demon in again.
Later, I cast out the demon from her body again, and she came out again. I said: Don't do it again. She said: No, I have to do it. If I don't do it, how will I solve the major issues of my life? She just likes it, she likes it so much. I sighed: Why do people live their whole lives like this? Isn't this Cheng Da Lian? Later, I developed a habit. When I encounter Da Lian again, I don't care. I can't fix it! Just like that cat in heat downstairs, I can't control it!
Some people are very foolish, so foolish that no matter how much they experience the power of God, they forget it in a turn of the head. They continue to walk their own path, walking the path of being cursed. I have so many stories of being possessed by demons. Don't just listen to the stories. I want to emphasize that the gospel I believe in is the power of God to save all who believe. I have experienced these things. How can I not offer myself up? We people live in a world full of all kinds of evil spirits.
Recently, some people have suddenly died after testing positive for COVID and then testing negative. Do you know what happened? They were suddenly taken away by demons. But people do not have this spiritual insight, which is too confusing. How can they suddenly die when they have already tested negative? It is because of taking a shower, playing ball, running, eating too much... They are looking for reasons everywhere. You can't die randomly recently, you can't afford to die. Because after you die, you can't line up at the crematorium, so you have to wait to rot. The Northeast is okay; you can put it outside and it becomes frozen meat, but in the South, won't it rot?
Once, I ministered to a sister. This sister's family matters were all very spiritual. This sister has believed in the gospel since she was a child, but the gospel she believes in is far different from the gospel preached by the Chinese Mingding Doctrine; it has no power. She went for a checkup, and the cancer cells in her blood exceeded the standard! Then someone introduced her to health products. Can health products solve this? It would be good if health products could solve it. When I saw her, she opened one bag on the left and one bag on the right, brewed them with boiling water, and ate them every morning.
I wanted to cast out the demons from her body. Over the past few years, the cancer cells have been eliminated, but the demons have not been completely cast out. Why? She often invites demons herself. People's thoughts and intentions must be transformed; they must know one thing. What thing? The truth can set people free. If she has Lao Ma's system in her, she will definitely invite demons. We have also ministered to her mother. The things that happened in their family were particularly miraculous, to what extent? When his father was young, his father's sister had a crush on him, insisting on marrying him, and jumped into the well, but she did not die and became mentally ill.
His father brought his sister up. From then on, she lost her ability to work. His father felt uncomfortable all over, but when he went to the hospital for examination, there was nothing wrong with his body, but he was uncomfortable. Isn't this a demon? How old was he when his father had the accident? Thirty-three years old. We Chinese say that thirty-three years old is a hurdle. Why do we say that? Jesus was crucified at the age of thirty-three. When it came to her generation, her brother was not well at the age of thirty-three, and she herself had cancer cells exceeding the standard at the age of thirty-three.
Recently, we have been ministering to her mother. Her mother's navel is draining pus and is swollen in a large area. This navel has been operated on before, and later the incision turned red. Why? This is all demons! But people live in a world with demons but do not know that they need God. Isn't this a tragedy? Can doctors cast out demons? No. In this generation, if you want to bless people, it is difficult without the power of God! I am grateful that I know the gospel of Jesus Christ, this gospel is the power of God.
People need a God who performs miracles in this life. My work needs God, and my body needs God. Everything is a miracle, my whole life is filled with miracles, and my whole life is filled with the power of God. It is so good! There are many stories. Everyone must think carefully, the things in the spiritual world are powerful. Don't you need a God? Can you live well without this God? You say, who doesn't want to live well? But can you live well? What you need most is not to cross thirty-three, what you need most is the powerful gospel, and you need to have God's power filling your whole life.
This matter is very powerful in the Old Testament 《Bible》. Abraham in the Old Testament 《Bible》 lived by miracles all his life. This Abraham is powerful. He walked from Haran to Canaan. Were there many robbers in this place? Yes! There were no police in that era; the underworld was similar to the police, and the police were similar to the underworld. He brought his servants and a lot of property. At that time, he had many cattle, sheep, camels, and so on. How many people did he raise? Nearly two thousand people. What if they encountered a robbery? It's okay. They camped wherever they went and spent the night there, but someone wanted to rob them.
The robbers looked and saw that there were many soldiers protecting him. Where did they come from? They came from God. They didn't succeed in robbing him. It seemed that nothing happened all the way to Canaan. In fact, many things didn't happen. It was all because God was protecting him. What I am saying is an anecdote because this matter is not written in the 《Bible》. I made it up. But it is true that he was able to reach Canaan safely.
Abraham took his wife and servants all the way to Canaan and encountered a famine. They went down to Egypt. The Pharaoh of Egypt took his wife. A miracle happened. Without Abraham taking action, God took action and gave Pharaoh a lesson. Is Pharaoh such an honest person? Pharaoh gave Abraham cattle, sheep, and money. That was given by God. It was full of miracles because Abraham believed in God, so God protected him.
Brothers and sisters, it is useless for you to try to protect yourselves; you cannot protect yourselves. You say: My husband has COVID, I have to be careful. You can't be careful! It is better not to be careful. If you are careful, you will be infected. You must know that Abraham returned to Canaan from Egypt, and Pharaoh took his wife again. He did nothing, and God began to perform miracles again. It was all miracles! Then he defeated the four kings of Chedorlaomer. Did he defeat the four kings with just the soldiers at home? No, he relied on miracles.
Our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This sentence is interesting. The God of Abraham is a God who performs miracles, the God of Isaac is a God who performs miracles, and the God of Jacob is a God who performs miracles. Our God is a powerful God, and the gospel we believe in is a powerful gospel. All the needs in life are supplied by God. How good, how frank! Sleep well! If you sleep well, the house will not collapse, and nothing will happen. You say, the shells are coming! When the shells come, God pushes the shells away in the middle and blows them up in other places. You go to sleep first; it's okay. So it is so good to be under God's protection! The Chinese Mingding Doctrine recognizes this.
There is a very interesting story. There was a young man who went to a fortune teller. The fortune teller said that he would definitely die in a plane crash. He thought that he had to avoid this plane crash, so he didn't take planes. It's not okay not to take planes because the plane will fall from the sky and crash into me. I stay far away from the airport. I stay hundreds of kilometers away. The plane doesn't pass by here. Later, he bought a dilapidated house in a remote place far from the city and lived there.
It's interesting. The story I'm telling may have been made up by someone. Isn't it depressing to live like this? Just because he was told by a fortune teller. The result is that fate cannot be avoided. It is a tragedy for people to be without God. It is so much effort to buy things in a remote place hundreds of kilometers away! As a result, a fighter jet had a problem with the rear half of its fuselage, and the pilot parachuted out. But the plane did not fall down. It navigated by itself and flew over to his dilapidated house. It plunged down on top of their dilapidated house and killed him. What is all this about? It was a demon who drove the plane.
Later, I summed up this matter and found it interesting. People must understand the two things of blessing and curse when they live in this world. If people do not understand blessing and do not understand curse, then this life will be a tragedy. Let's look at those tragic days in the past. They were not interesting. We must live in blessing. I asked some Christians, what is blessing? They could not explain it clearly. I also asked: what is a curse? They also could not explain it clearly. Our brothers and sisters, you who have taken the 101 course should be able to explain these things clearly.
In this life, one must understand this: what is a blessing? It is when what you do is protected by God, and the devil cannot touch it. That is called a blessing. But if what you do is not only touched by the devil but also has God sending some devils to mess with you, that is a curse. The Chinese Mingding Doctrine has developed a series of explanations, defining many things clearly and unambiguously. Others cannot explain it, not knowing what is happening. Don't live your life becoming foolish, knowing nothing, just focused on the immediate. Curses and blessings are all forgotten. Past experiences with God are all unknown. Even when strange things happen at home, they are not recognized, and when sick, they still seek doctors! Asking him to come listen to the sermon is like slaughtering a pig, as if I need him to listen. If he doesn't come, how will he know how to live? In my opinion, he doesn't even have a license to live, just living blindly, ending in tragedy!
I can lead you in prayer, but praying with you cannot solve the problem of your curse. People repeatedly become those who are displeasing to God. You cannot deal with the curse on yourself. Can you deal with devils on your own? What have you ever managed to deal with on your own? The best advice I can give to brothers and sisters is to cherish our Lord Jesus, who is the most precious treasure. Why is He the most precious treasure? Because in the spiritual world, those devils, upon hearing that you belong to Jesus, tremble at the name of Jesus and run far away.
This gospel is the power of God. If not for the power of God, what else would we believe in? After experiencing God time and again, you must glean something from it! Did God come for your job? No. Did God come for your sickness? No. If you found a job, it is because of God. If your life is settled, it is because of God. If you are healed, it is because of God. Must you continue to live in the old ways? You must not live in the old ways of life. We must reflect that it is just the beginning, allowing us to know God and experience God's grace.
**If people live forever in a wrong logical system and are ultimately rejected by God, that becomes a tragedy, which is from faith to faith.** I tell you: the spiritual world is so real. What should we do? The spiritual realm is real, and eternal life is real. It is the spirit that gives life, and the flesh profits nothing. From now on, I will live for God, for the crown that God has prepared for us in eternity. That is the wisest choice.
## Scripture
**For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)**
## Prayer
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. God, open our hearts, let us open our spiritual eyes, let us know what hope there is in living on this earth by the power of your gospel. What hope is there for us in what you have prepared for us in eternity, what glorious hope is there through the gospel accomplished by Jesus Christ. God, let us deeply learn a lesson in our hearts, to live for you from now on, to be a person with Mingding. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
## Scripture Background
The background of this passage is very interesting. Rome was known as the place where all roads lead to Rome, and later I discovered that all roads lead to Lao Ma (老马, slang for trouble). All roads lead to Rome, but only one road leads to Jesus. Many people in Rome believed in the Lord, and people knew that there were many Christians in Rome. But how did these people believe in the Lord in Rome? How was the gospel spread? It was the apostles Peter and James from Jerusalem. They were persecuted in Jerusalem. Why were they persecuted? Probably because what they were doing was not right. What they did, God struck them down because they only knew that people should gather together.
So, until today people have defined two types of churches. One is called the Church of Jerusalem, and the other is called the Church of Antioch. The Christians in the Church of Jerusalem spent their days eating, drinking, and having fun together, didn't that become Lao Ma? The Church of Antioch did not spend their days eating and drinking there, but went out to spread the gospel and build churches everywhere. This is the difference between the Church of Antioch and the Church of Jerusalem. God's persecution of the Church of Jerusalem was God's will. If it wasn't done this way, wouldn't the people of Jerusalem have died of frustration there?
As a result of this persecution, many Christians left Jerusalem. Some immigrated to Rome for business. When they arrived in Rome, they did not forget their mission to establish churches. After the churches were established, the message was passed to the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul then calmed down and wrote a letter to the Christians in Rome. Why? Because the church in Rome had many confusions, the biggest of which was that the gospel seemed not to work very well, that the gospel had no power. Some people said: Apostle Paul, wasn't the gospel you used to preach very powerful? Why does it seem not to be here? Aren't you confused?
As a result, the Apostle Paul opened with a letter to the church of Jesus Christ in Rome, with the theme, “This gospel is the power of God.” After writing Romans extensively, we still benefit from reading it today! Today, I will say it again. Don’t follow Martin Luther. He did not understand Romans, only reading it to justification by faith. The theme of Romans is not justification by faith, but that this gospel is the power of God, which is truly understood. Don't challenge me. What I'm saying is the truth. The one who really understands Romans is the Chinese Mingding Doctrine. I really explain it to you clearly.
Romans speaks of “This gospel is the power of God.” Why? The church in Rome lost the power of the gospel, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The reason is also simple. The Christians in Rome were moved from Jerusalem. The Church of Jerusalem had a very deep influence on the Church of Rome, including the trouble of circumcision. It was hard!
Paul wrote to Rome, but the church in Rome was not personally built by him, so he wrote very politely. Unlike writing to the Church of Corinth, those were his own children, he grabbed them and trained them, roared at them. The church in Rome could not be treated that way. So, he wrote Romans extensively, explaining a series of confusions of the Roman Christians. Why this gospel did not have power and did not work well, and why there were many things that manifested God's wrath.
Everyone must know that there are many things that manifest God's wrath. For example, in the church, a good-looking pastor or a good church member died, and not a good death. They struggled and were sent to the ICU, prayers did not work, no matter what was done, they still died. So, when Romans is explained, it suddenly divides people into two groups, one group is vessels for displaying God's glory, and the other group is vessels for displaying God's wrath. When people see such things, they feel that God loves the world, why would such things happen? The things I experienced in the previous church were amazing. I think God wonderfully made them lessons on me, they were learning materials.
At that time, there was a drummer in our church. He played the drums very well and sang very well. He seemed to love God very much, but he also loved cars very much. As a result, he died in a car accident, all three members of his family died. It happened that my pastor presided over the funeral, and I went to join in to make up the numbers. And I became addicted to attending funerals after attending that funeral. After he died, his face was frighteningly stitched up. Their coffins are not like our Chinese coffins where you can't see people's faces, they are covered. Their coffins have glass in front, so you can see the face. Oh my! It was just like a car accident scene, it was scary to look at.
I told myself: God, let me love you alone all my life. There are some things that confuse Christians, but I am not confused, because I know God. Not long after, I attended another funeral, oh my! It was another car accident scene. It was our church pastor, who was in his thirties, leaving behind a child who was only a few months old. Some people said: God, why did you let this happen? Because I knew him, he loved cars. Loving cars is loving Lao Ma, and the result of loving Lao Ma is like this. I stood outside the coffin and said: God, I cannot love cars all my life, I did not know it was Lao Ma at that time. What a pity!
What confuses people in this era is these various phenomena. **What Paul said: This gospel is the power of God, but we have believed it to be without power. Why? The reason is simple. Are you living by God's blessing or by earning money with your own hands?** It is obvious that we are living by earning money with our own hands. Even if you are a capitalist, if you set up a stage in China and shout on it, “Every dollar I earned was earned through my hard work,” I tell you something will definitely happen. Without Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up, where would you be?
So, no matter when we, even when we do not know God, cannot say that I live by my own abilities. Then, if we know God, can we not live by our own hands even more? **When people live day by day by their own hands, that is called a curse. When people live by God's blessing, that is called a blessing.** So, the Romans had many confusions. This is the background of Romans, but why write these things? Because the easiest thing for the Romans and the Roman church to lose is the power of God. If you believe in the wrong gospel, you will be cursed. If you believe in the wrong gospel, you will lose the power of the gospel. When you fix it, you distort it. Isn't that fatal? **Today, the Chinese Mingding Doctrine must play a role in this generation, which is to play what the Apostle Paul did in the past. We are the Apostle Paul of this generation to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ back to this gospel, which is the power of God.**
## Declared to be the Son of God in Power
What we do is based on the 《Bible》. This is not a joke. My seriousness towards the 《Bible》 is about the same as the Apostle Paul's. The 《Bible》 that the Apostle Paul read only had the Old Testament , not the New Testament. It was Paul who wrote the New Testament. The Apostle Paul can use the Old Testament to prove a New Testament , don't you think it's amazing? Don't separate the Old Testament and the New Testament.. We talk about point five: Declared to be the Son of God in Power. It starts here:
**Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures— regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 1:1-4)**
In Jesus Christ's more than three years of ministry on earth, the most obvious thing was the miracles that Jesus Christ performed. One person was confused, who was confused? John the Baptist was confused, how was he confused? It's also simple, because he was sitting in prison, and Jesus didn't care about him. John's disciples came to see Jesus, and Jesus' answer was amazing. Did John the Baptist think that Jesus was the Messiah we were hoping for? Was he the Lamb of God? Was he the Son of God? It didn't seem like it. If he was, wouldn't he come to save me? Wouldn't I come out if he breathed? But nothing happened.
Later, he was confused and asked Jesus, are you the one we are waiting for? Confused, right? Jesus' answer was amazing: You go back and tell John what is confusing, what is it to stay in prison for a few days? I will be crucified in the future too, what are you confused about? Tell John what I have done, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed.
**When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matthew 11:2-5)**
What does this mean? It is to use power to declare that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Let me ask you, did Jesus Christ say to people: Look how good my life is, that would be troublesome. My life is very good, I have done many good things, I have distributed a lot of money. He didn't do this, what Jesus did was to declare that he was the Son of God with God's power. **Everyone must know that Jesus used power to declare that he was the Son of God.** This is simple.
If you and I are sons of God, what will happen? It is also like this. The Son of God should be like Jesus Christ. The Son of God will not be like Sakyamuni, nor will he be like Lao Tzu, nor will he be like Confucius. What do you think? Is what I said reasonable? Because Jesus Christ set an example of a son for us: this is what the Son of God is like. Oh, if I want to be the Son of God, I have to do this too. Then you say that the gospel we preach today is different from the gospel that Jesus preached, wouldn't that be troublesome?
Especially now, this generation is more chaotic. When a couple get together, they get entangled. Is this child mine? Why does he look like your classmate? Oh no, what do we do? So, what is fashionable now? Now there are genes, so we go for paternity tests. Oh no, why does this son look like Satan, isn't that troublesome? Is this my son? No. So to say that he was declared to be the Son of God with power, what Jesus Christ did in his life was great.
For example, when a person's child died, Jesus pulled him back to life. As soon as Jesus Christ touched a woman with a discharge of blood, she was healed. As soon as he touched a blind man, he could see. As soon as he fixed a lame man, he got up and walked. For a while, I imagined Jesus every day, but that feeling is not so strong now. You know, when I see brothers and sisters suffering not from COVID-19, but from painful depression. Oh, I especially imagine Jesus, touching them and they would be healed, how good would that be! At that time, I dreamed of being like Jesus.
So today, the Chinese Mingding Doctrine all starts with being like Jesus. If I say we must be like Jesus, which denomination would say: if you are like Jesus, isn't that heresy? Does the Bible say that? No, it does not. Being like Jesus will not make you a heretic; not being like Jesus, one does not know what sort of end that is. So, brothers and sisters, Jesus is the miracle-working Jesus; the Son of God declared with power to be the Son of God. If Jesus came like Santa Claus, that would not quite do.
Therefore, many Christians and many churches bring deep confusion: Oh, look, this brother's life is so good. I say: How is it good? In what way is he like the Son of God, Jesus Christ? Not at all, but looking at him, he seems like a great monk. Is that Jesus Christ? That's a monk, a good person. Like that Maitreya Buddha, how nice, with a fat belly and a smiling face, big head and big ears. That certainly indicates a lot of corruption. Eating until one has a fat head and big ears, looking so prosperous. That won't do. Also, if relying on DNA testing, he certainly did not come from Jesus.
Declared with power to be the Son of God—would the Romans still be confused after reading this sentence? Who do you believe in? Believe in Jesus. Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God. What is power? Causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, lepers cleansed, raising people from the dead. Our Jesus is so powerful. Therefore, imitating Jesus is to be declared the Son of God. Those who believe in Jesus Christ, signs will accompany those who believe: in My name, they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. This is the faith of Jesus Christ.
**And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will handle snakes; if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will lay their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17-18)**
## Declared with Power: God's Chosen Servants
You say it's because He is Jesus, but the Bible, from Abraham to Noah and before, is full of miracles. Why? Because in the Old Testament, God similarly uses power to manifest those He has chosen. The Israelites quarrelled with Moses and Aaron: Did God only choose you? Did God not choose us? Our influence in this assembly is greater than yours. If we vote, we could certainly vote out you Moses and Aaron. So, you think my influence is small? I should be sitting in this position.
You led the Israelites out of Egypt; I will lead them back to Egypt. Since you led the Israelites out of Egypt, you should lead them into the Promised Land. If you cannot lead them into the Promised Land, I should vote you out. I should be the head. Therefore, in the Old Testament, God uses power to demonstrate the servants He has chosen. This is the sixth point. Then what did Moses and Aaron do? They asked God. God said: That's easy to handle. Let each of them take a staff and put it in that place. The next day, look! Aaron's staff has sprouted, blossomed, and borne fruit. Is there such a thing?
**The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant complaining from the Israelites.” So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law. The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. (Numbers 17:5-8)**
Why? Using power to manifest whom God has chosen, is there a problem with that? No problem. If today a person serves God and yet there are no signs and wonders following, I wonder what he is doing. That is a tragedy. Therefore, Moses and Aaron were declared with power to be those chosen by God. It is the same in the Old Testament Bible. Moses lifted his staff, and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Others can't do it. For example, Achan is not effective, nor is Korah. If Korah were in charge, he would lead the Israelites back to Egypt.
So, in the days of Elijah and Elisha, you see that those chosen by God are full of signs and wonders. Some people say that John the Baptist came without performing miracles. How do you know that? John the Baptist came, and the Israelites listened to him just because he wore wool and ate locusts and wild honey? How could that be? It was all through the power of God manifesting that he was a servant chosen by God. Do not ever think that John the Baptist did not perform miracles. The Bible just did not bother to record them.
The Bible says that Elijah must come to prepare the way for the Son of God, so Elijah has already come. We cannot truly understand whether the spirit of Elijah came upon John the Baptist. We have no idea. If we don't know, don't talk nonsense. But we know that Elijah in the Old Testament placed a bull, poured water on it, and with one prayer fire came down from heaven, not only burning the bull but also burning the wood and drying up the water in the ditch. All were miracle workers, with great power, with the presence of God, with God's wondrous works, with the manifestation of God's great power.
Therefore, today, serving God, like me, be a miracle worker, blessing people through miracles. Not by just giving people money, that is useless. Can money bless people? If money can bless people, it would be so good if everyone made a lot of money and then did things to bless people. But that is nonsense. I feel that many people have not read the Bible well. I do not agree, but if he cannot survive, give him some money to survive, okay.
Therefore, I think that in the Old Testament, God uses power to manifest the servants He has chosen: Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, David, Solomon. These people clearly have God's presence. Some people may disagree, and that's okay. I don't want to argue with you, but you must know that Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God.
## The New Testament Also Uses Power to Manifest God's Chosen Servants
How do I know? We read the Bible clearly. How do people know that he is the Apostle Paul? The Apostle Paul has spiritual authority in his hands. Let me read a passage from the Bible for you:
**Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (1 Corinthians 4:15-20)**
See that? The Apostle Paul is imitating Jesus Christ. Therefore, those of you who learn from Christ should imitate the Apostle Paul. I also imitate Jesus Christ, and I also imitate the Apostle Paul, performing miracles, declared with power to be chosen by God. There was such a group of people who went to the Corinthian church and said many things, but if you asked them to solve people's problems, they struggled mightily and could do nothing. Manifesting God's power, they could do nothing. It would be better not to pray; once they prayed, the illness became more severe. They could not solve any problems, only talk nonsense.
Has everyone seen pastors like this? Many. If you let me serve people, this is repentance. After repenting, come and pray, and you will be healed. Why can it be done? Because carrying the power of God, the Apostle Paul carried the power of god, not relying on flowery words. There are some people who preach the gospel without power, only relying on flowery words, and then after collecting offerings, they leave. Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must know that in the Old Testament, God used power to manifest His servants; in the New Testament, He still uses the power of God to manifest the servants He has chosen. Jesus Christ used power to manifest that He is the son of God. It is the same in both the Old and New Testaments.
## This Gospel Is the Power of God
**For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Today, we truly need to bring about a transformation, which is to change a powerless gospel into a gospel with the power of God, so that the people in despair can see the light of God, see hope from God. This gospel is the power of God. Today, we need this power.** For those who cannot find a job, God can give him a job. Even if that place is in an economic crisis, it does not matter; God can still create a job opportunity. If they cannot manage financially, our God can bless you. If there is a physical disability or illness, God can bless you; God can solve your problems.
**the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matthew 11:5)**
So, brothers and sisters, you know that in Paul's time the devil wanted to do one thing: to eliminate this powerful gospel. He tried in the Corinthian church, in the Galatian church, in the Ephesian church, and also in the Roman church, but Paul defeated him one by one. In Galatia, the devil was defeated by Paul; in Ephesus, the devil was defeated by Paul; in Corinth, the devil was defeated by Paul. No matter whom the devil uses, even those with fame, it is useless. This gospel is still the power of God to save everyone who believes.
The devil did not succeed in Paul's time, but when Paul sent a letter to Rome, he still knocked the devil down. Does everyone know that what the devil did not achieve in Paul's time, he later achieved? The devil achieved it in our generation. The devil finally succeeded in changing this powerful gospel into a powerless gospel. Therefore, what I say often stings some people, but I do not care much. I do not need to please anyone.
I am filled with emotion about the confusing things in this generation. There was a person with a strange illness: frequent urination, or something like urethritis. He had to go to the toilet every little while. He came a long way to find me, and his urethritis was cured that day. When he came to see me, I asked him where he came from. He said he had just finished Sunday service and came to me. Having just finished Sunday service, I asked what he had heard on Sunday. He had heard a message that was so discouraging: If God does not heal you, will you still believe?
This sounds reasonable. Even if God does not heal me, I will still persist in believing. You say how corrupt that is, that even urethritis cannot be solved by God. You say is this still a powerful gospel? But today many Christians like this. Even so, I ask you, will he come to our church? He will not! Because he is too used to that kind of gospel. Because they rationalize this powerless gospel and still actively preach a powerless gospel.
Therefore, today this transformation is not easy, and I do not expect anything, only to please God. To restore this powerful gospel. But I always thank God, because there is a group of brothers and sisters like you. I thank God. Truly there is fu (blessing). If there is no fu, it does not matter. Some are vessels made by God to display His wrath.
## Let Our Faith Not Depend on Human Wisdom, but Only on the Power of God
I thank God. The Bible speaks clearly. The Bibles you and I read are written like this: **My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.(1 Corinthians 2:4-5)**
Do you understand? Today, let our hearts not depend on human wisdom, but only on the power of God. The power of God is like a mirror, like a touchstone, which reveals whether this is the gospel, or is not the gospel; Whether this is chosen by God, or is not chosen by God. Do not say he has gifts. then why do you not have gifts? Is this not a straightforward thing? What kind of gospel are you preaching? We must know for sure:
**This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, (1 Corinthians 2:13-15)**
Let us once again strengthen our faith, so that our faith no longer relies on wise and persuasive words. Do not think that after I say so much here, you will believe. We must look at what people do, whether God is walking with him. Whether God is with him. I also long for our brothers and sisters to desire God's presence, desire God's companionship, desire signs and wonders to accompany you. Desire that God will surely raise up his powerful people in this generation, build God's glorious church, and fill God's glorious church with God's presence, no longer making excuses for these powerless gospels, using big lies to cover up small lies. No! The gospel of this generation is still full of God's power. This is our work.
Whether it is true or false, it comes out with one look, **From now on, no longer put our hope in human wisdom, but only in the power of God. No matter what the situation, relying on the mighty God, we can joyfully run this heavenly road.** Although there are such things and such things in this world, **Nothing can separate us from the power of God, separate us from the love of God, and separate us from the presence of God. We are born to be vessels to display God's glory.** Every time the blind see and the lame walk, it is the glory of God manifested, because what we believe in is not the teachings of Sakyamuni, but we believe in Jesus Christ.
## Summary
This gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes. Believe in what? Just believe in Jesus Christ, just believe that we are chosen to be sons of God, just believe that we have the keys of the kingdom of heaven in our hands, and no longer be deceived by this generation. Accept the Apostle Paul's gospel. This generation will, through the work of the Chinese Mingding Doctrine, be able to see the Apostle Paul's gospel again. The Apostle Paul's gospel will once again manifest the glory of God. May God bless everyone!