Introduction

Good day to everyone! The topic I will be speaking on is called The Spirit of the Golden Calf. This marks the beginning of our new series titled The Spiritual Realm. By delving into the spiritual realm, we aim to understand God's actions more deeply, as well as recognize the schemes of the devil. In this first installment on the spiritual realm, we will explore the spirit of the golden calf.

Since ancient times, the stories of evil spirits corrupting people have been constantly replaying, much like the scams we see today. There are so many fraudsters! Just a few days ago, one sister was scammed out of over ten thousand, and then a few months later, she was defrauded of more than sixty thousand. I couldn't help but wonder, what was she thinking? She was cleaned out of all her money and couldn't even repay it. The number of scammers is probably close to the number of evil spirits in the heavens. From Adam and Eve until today, as long as you are one of God's people, you will face the seduction of numerous evil spirits.

Evil spirits never pry open your mouth, nor do they tie up your hands. They trick you into picking the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then you corrupt yourself. Among these evil spirits, there is a very important character: the spirit of the golden calf. We still do not fully understand it, but I will share my limited understanding of it as best as I can.

We've talked about Old Ma before; now we're talking about the golden calf. Which is bigger? Which is more powerful? The other day, I discussed it with some colleagues for a long time, but we couldn't come to a conclusion. We're still researching whether the ox or the horse is bigger, but the most important task of evil spirits is to corrupt God's people. You should know that once, while I was ministering, the demon started speaking. It said, Oh, our boss sent me to corrupt your church. I said, You've been defeated. How will you report back? It said, Alas, I'd rather die in your hands than go back. Going back is death, staying here is death. Might as well die here. Even the demons know, might as well die here.

Later I found out that this evil spirit was very interesting; it especially liked to challenge. Actually, it was also very helpless. It was sent here, and we rubbed it into the ground. Even though it was rubbed into the ground by us, it still felt like a glory to have taken a stroll through Chinese Mingding Destiny. Overcoming these evil spirits is key, so victory is a crucial element of Chinese Mingding Destiny.

Some brothers and sisters say, Teacher, I still haven't overcome. I'm thinking, not overcoming is not an excuse. Remember, the people who died in the wilderness were all those who did not overcome. If you don't overcome, you can't enter the Promised Land. The word overcome is very important, so some brothers and sisters, when giving their testimonies, say, I am in a victorious church. The name of the church is gradually becoming the Church of Victory.

As one of God's people, you must overcome the hurdle of the golden calf. If you can't pass this stage, you will die in the wilderness and not enter the Promised Land. But what about those who enter the Promised Land? Even after entering the Promised Land, you still have to face the golden calf. So, whether on the road to the Promised Land or in the Promised Land itself, there are corpses everywhere; the fallen are in heaps. Why? Because the logic of the world is too heavy, and the system of God has not been established. You get scammed so easily. Losing some money is not a big deal; some are scammed out of their looks, their lives, even their kidneys are taken.

If we carefully examine the stories of this generation, just look at the stories around you, before, after, left, and right. The worldly logical system leads to being scammed in the world and in the spiritual realm. Do you think that belonging to the world will make you live well? If you can live well, I congratulate you; you will be scammed severely! Why are so many people being scammed? It's because they belong to the world. If you saw through the things of the world, how could you be scammed?

Our brothers and sisters must understand that overcoming is not an option. Some people say, Oh, I can't overcome. Then you won't overcome! Teacher: How do I overcome? Actually, it's just trusting in God! If you don't trust in God, you can't overcome. If you don't establish a system of godly logic, you can't overcome. If the system you build is all worldly logic, don't even think about it; you'll definitely be scammed: scammed of wealth, beauty, life, and kidneys. So if we look closely, there are too many tragic stories.

A pastor's church had some members come in with permed, teased-out hair, very beautiful. They were doing marketing and came to the church to get marketing deals. Is that God's church? That is not God's church. As a result, this pastor listened to these two people say that they would turn him into a world-famous preacher. What's the point of being a world-famous preacher? I really don't know what the point is. Later, some brothers and sisters from their church came to our place because we have spiritual food here. We are a pastoral church, so they received very good pastoring. He was busy creating a world-famous pastor; where would he have time to pastor? These stories were all told to me by them.

Did he become a world-famous pastor? He created a golden calf. He had a traditional theory in the church; he said: We cannot have many teachers. Only he can be the pastor, and he takes the authority of the pastor very seriously. He gets the final say; no one else does. Actually, it's not about not having many teachers; it's about not having many people collecting offerings. Isn't that a golden calf? After talking for so long, he ended up with a golden calf. I ask you, what do you think will happen when God's wrath is revealed?

Some pastors build churches according to the wishes of the members, pleasing the members, being forced by the members to create a golden calf. As a result, the church puts family first. When did this family first thing come about? I've never seen it. Living small lives, the church becomes a marriage agency, a place to reconcile marital relationships. Is that building a church? That is not building a church. I really haven't seen this in the Bible; if it is there, I don't know where it came from. As a result, the church becomes full of people selling insurance, health products, and running pyramid schemes.

A sister from another church came among us, and I said, Why don't you go to your small group leader for service? She said, I did! I said, How did he serve you? She said, He introduced me to supplements. Oh, what nonsense! If Jesus Christ can't even handle this small matter, then is He even Jesus Christ? Pastors, in order to preserve their position, deceive the members with a very reasonable set of things. They even point to this golden calf and say, This is the god who led you out of Egypt! Is it? That's just abominable! Ignorant people, come out of this lie of the golden calf now. Stop believing in the golden calf; believe only in Jesus Christ, believe only in God!

So we must all carefully examine the Bible. If what I say is wrong, that's okay; God will surely correct it. I don't want to be famous, and I don't want to collect offerings. If you come here to give offerings, I won't even accept them. Why? This is not a place to collect offerings; this is a place to build God's glorious church, a place to manifest God's presence, a place to let everyone enter into the grace of being blessed. This is not a business.

A prophet said: Europeans have built the church into a tradition. Can tradition work? Americans have built the church into a business. But we must remove the absurd things in contemporary Christian faith, including golden calves, little by little! Let everyone come before God, build God's glorious church, so that in this generation, we can manifest God's presence and see God's abundant grace and glory!

Members controlling the pastor, pastors controlling the members, messing around for a long time. Members control the pastor to maintain their position as deacons; some members control the pastor to maintain their prophetic role. We don't do any of that here. After doing that, everyone pursues fame and fortune. Chinese Mingding Destiny believes in one thing: If we try to please people, we cannot be servants of Jesus Christ. Not pleasing people, we only please God, doing the work of Jesus Christ's servants, slowly groping forward, slowly recognizing the truth of God, slowly figuring out the rules of how the spiritual realm operates.

Aaron, who came out of Egypt, built a golden calf to accommodate the members. Have you all read about Aaron building the golden calf? The people said, We don't know what happened to Moses. You must make us an idol. So Aaron made a golden calf. Why make a golden calf of all things? Moses came down with the Levites and killed three thousand golden calf members on the spot; they were all henchmen of the golden calf.

God gave Jeroboam a kingdom, and to preserve his kingdom, he made a golden calf for the people. The problem is, if you just said it was a golden calf, I think the problem wouldn't be so serious. No, he made a golden calf and then pointed to this golden calf and said, This is the Jehovah God who brought you out of Egypt. How abominable! Just think, how many churches hang up a church sign but do the deeds of a golden calf! That's the problem; that's where God's wrath is revealed.

The root of the problem is, what are people living for? If you are living for these things of the world, you can put up many signs; you can make your stall very beautiful. What a person lives for is what they will pay the price for. Everyone can accept this sentence. You ask me, why do I pay such a heavy price for God? Because I live for this; this is my life, this is my Mingding Destiny!

If you are God's people and you live for your family, your family will become your golden calf. If you live for your business, your business will become your golden calf, and you can even package a Jehovah God on the outside; it's useless. If you live for your children, your children will become your golden calf. If you live for love, love will become your golden calf. You can always drag God into it, because you are a Christian. You can always use the words of God to package yourself and then say, This is the God who led us out of Egypt. Is it? Forcibly packaging your own will and preferences under the name of God.

Take a close look at the church. They sell health products and say, This is also made by God. They recommend a doctor and say, This is also made by God. Does this happen?? You ask me to minister and tell me about your children, your family, your business, your money, but there is no mention of our God. You can't let go of anything, but you can let go of God. Isn't that abominable? I don't know where all these things come from; there's always something. If you worship the golden calf, nothing is a problem anymore.

How can you live well when you worship the golden calf? How can you not offend God? When will the accumulation of wrath for offending God end? You have fallen for the devil's schemes and are walking on the road to ruin. When will you realize the end of your core interests? I think this road of ruin must be stopped now. We must turn to God and from now on stop being Jeroboam and stop making golden calves.

What are your core interests anyway? If your core interest is not God, your core interest must be a golden calf; your core interest will be packaged with God. After packaging, you even think that God sent you to manage it. There are many excuses, but these excuses can't stop it. Paper can't contain fire. You can't stop God from seeing through your little tricks. What exactly is your core interest? Why are we talking about Mingding Destiny? Because building God's glorious church is our life. We don't want to be famous, we don't want to make money, and we don't want to live small lives. We are only for God, only pleasing God. This is the theological system of the Apostle Paul.

Yesterday, a colleague shared with me that the small business owners in their pastoral area were asking the same questions. He said, Teacher, I gave my offering, so why hasn't God blessed me yet? Why hasn't my business improved yet? It just sounds so awkward. If it sounds good to you, it's because you have the same thoughts as them. It sounds awkward to me because I have different thoughts than them. Why? Because their core interest is their small business. If they lived by relying on God, I tell you, God's provision is much richer than that small business. But their eyes are only on their business. Golden calf! Business is their core interest, so they have a transactional mindset.

I have a special view of business people, maybe it's a prejudice. I just find that business people are about making money. How do they make money? By making trades. Everything is a trade; everything is a consideration of interests. So is this consideration of interests right or wrong? If you look at it from a human perspective, there's nothing wrong with it. But if you wrap it with God, aren't you inviting God's wrath?

Some people say, According to your standards, how can we live? This is a very good question. According to my standards, why can't we live? Because God is my provider, God is my banner of victory, God is my refuge, God is my healer! Why can't we live? So our brothers and sisters must know that we can't do business in the church. Don't get involved in doing business together. If you are doing business in the church, it's better not to do it.

People are very good at creating many gods. What do they do after creating gods? Use Jehovah God to package it. That's the golden calf. Cows are hardworking, kind, smart, and capable. They also have emotions. If you kill them, they will cry. Cows are very impressive; they can cultivate the land and create value. Their morality is also very noble, but they are definitely not God. They are just the will of people, the core interests of people packaged with God.

Cows have a very strong deceptiveness. Can people bear the final corruption? Why not use sheep? Sheep can't cultivate the land or do work. So you see how hard and diligently people on Wall Street work. Do you all admire these people? But it's a golden calf. So we will start learning a lesson from the inside out of the golden calf. In the past, we often talked about Peter, but now we are starting to talk about Jeroboam.

Scripture

Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built Peniel. Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went even as far as Dan to worship the other. Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. (1 Kings 12:25-31)

Prayer

God, give us wisdom, give us intelligence. God, also enable us to see through the schemes of the devil and to know Your actions. God, open the eyes of our hearts, that we may know that all things come from You! God, give us wisdom and intelligence, so that we can better know Your truth and know what abundant grace there is in You. God, we look to You. We come out of this scheme of the golden calf. We come out of this worldly logical system, so that we can live by You and live for You! God, help us, lead us to victory, and make us Your victorious people. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Scripture Background

Jeroboam was a very smart man. He could be compared to many people. He was one of Solomon's key figures. This young man was very smart, and Solomon, seeing how young he was, made him a minister in charge of labor and those who served in hard labor. As a result, Jeroboam was highly valued under Solomon. Later, Solomon sinned, and the prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam and explained to him that ten tribes would go to Jeroboam, and two tribes would go to David, Solomon, and Rehoboam.

As a result, after hearing what the prophet Ahijah said, Jeroboam began to attack Solomon by repairing the breaches in the City of David. He felt that he was already a king. Jeroboam had a completely different personality from David. As soon as he heard that he was going to be king, he hurried off to do it. As a result, Solomon wanted to kill him, so he fled to Egypt.

We don't know what Jeroboam did in Egypt. Egypt was a place that worshiped cows. Why? Because the cow had a very beautiful image; the cow design was very good. Does everyone know what 'cow design' means? It refers to the design of the cow, which is very good. So in Egypt, he discovered that the Egyptians worshiped the golden calf.

After Solomon died, Jeroboam returned. At this time, Solomon's son Rehoboam succeeded him. This Rehoboam was very bad. Solomon forced these Israelites to do hard labor, building palaces for him. The work of constant infrastructure maintenance was never-ending. Solomon had mistreated the people for a long time. Then Rehoboam was even worse than his father, and he further forced these people to do hard labor.

I ask you, if you force the people to do hard labor, what if someone leads a revolt? Later, Jeroboam was brought back from Egypt, and Jeroboam became the leader of an opposition party, bringing the elders of Israel before Rehoboam to negotiate. As a result, the negotiations broke down. This Rehoboam was a bit foolish; God had arranged it this way.

As a result, Jeroboam and these Israelites said, What do I have to do with you? Why should I have to do hard labor for you? He and these Israelites ignored Rehoboam, the king of Judah. As a result, Jeroboam was invited back by the chiefs and elders of the other ten tribes of Israel and made king of Israel. But was he made king of Israel because these elders of Israel invited him back? Or was it given to him by God? This is confusing.

Jeroboam thought to himself: I am so capable; I am very able. Did the prophet Ahijah tell me that God would give me these ten tribes? It seems so; it seems not. But the fact is that these chiefs and elders of Israel invited me back to be king. They liked my resume. My resume is very rich. I worked well under Solomon. I am very smart and talented. After putting everything together, he forgot about Ahijah's matter and made everything his own.

As a result, problems arose after he became king. He was very capable and had studied political economics well, although he hadn't read Das Kapital at that time. But that era had its own kind of political economics. Politics, economics, how to manage a country, he had learned a lot. I think that in Egypt, the Egyptian pharaoh would have treated him well and discussed with him some ideas about governing the country, etc.

Now that he had returned, the logic he was carrying in his head became a problem. What he was carrying was the political economics of governing the country well. We must say that he also wanted to govern the country well, because the country was his. If one day you are appointed to govern a county, that county is your home; if someone lets you govern a province, that province is your home. That's roughly the meaning.

He had learned a large pile of knowledge. At this time, he began to worry. What was he worried about? Was he worried about whether he could protect the country? Those in positions of authority seek to govern, and then he began to think: Alas, if this kingdom still belongs to Rehoboam, then won't my throne be gone? If these people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the temple of Jehovah, their hearts will surely return to their lord Rehoboam, and he will kill me!

You see how important ideological work is. The ideological work was done by the priests on Rehoboam's side, so the hearts of the people turned to Jerusalem. So what can you do with this country? Let me tell you, the things that Jeroboam thought about are not much different from what we all think about. How do I do this scientific research? If the thoughts of the team I lead all turn to a competing competitor, what can you do? I don't think you can do it either; it's very troublesome.

Then he pondered it and decided, you know, when this person thinks according to the logic of the world, it doesn't matter, the spirit of the golden calf comes. He may have dreamed. After thinking hard, he dreamed of two golden calves talking to him: You should do this. Of course, that's a story I made up myself. Jeroboam was thinking about this, and as a result, he decided to cast two golden calves.

Why not make two piglets? Why not make two rabbits, or two tigers or wolves? Make two golden calves. Because this is a revelation in the spiritual realm. Whatever kind of logical system a person has inside, they will attract that kind of spirit, and as a result, this spirit is the spirit of the golden calf. This spirit of the golden calf said to him: You must make a golden image for me again. So why do I call it the spirit of the golden calf? There must be something to learn here, but we don't know enough about this thing yet.

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:28)

These people really went to worship. Why did the people go to worship? Think about it. Being a commoner means living life. What else do commoners do if they don't live life? I don't care who's in power. I don't care where you go to worship Jehovah God.Whether you worship Jehovah God or not, just put something up for worship. Anyway, if the king says it's that, then it's that. This is more or less the same as the story of calling a stag a horse. People say this is a stag, this is a stag. People say this is a horse, you have to say this is a horse. Whatever they say it is, it is that. No one dares to squeak.

The common folk, well, it's quite convenient for me to worship here, close by, not so far, and no need for an overseas visa. Think about it, if you want to offer a sacrifice, carrying a whole bunch of sheep and doves, and having to go abroad, how would you do it? Customs would be a real hassle. Imagine saying, I'm going to the temple to worship Jehovah God, and I want to offer two doves. That would be a problem! On the one hand, it was Jeroboam's tool for ruling, creating a golden calf and unifying thought; on the other hand, the common folk liked it, they didn't really care.

So this spiritual ignorance was pervasive, from top to bottom. As a result, the people of Israel vanished. Some people tell me that modern-day Denmark is where the tribe of Dan went. I find that a bit far-fetched. This whole thing was Jeroboam's tool for ruling, fooling the people. The people were ignorant and satisfied their desires, finding some comfort for their souls.

You can't say I haven't worshipped, you can't say I haven't prayed, you can't say I haven't offered sacrifices, but it was to the golden calf. Isn't that deadly? It is! Then Jeroboam chose priests and set dates, why? Because if they have it over there, we have to have it here too, a counterfeit god. If they have it, we have it; if they don't, I'll add more. Isn't that detestable? So the Bible told us in the Old Testament not to add or subtract from the prophets' prophecies. Hence, Chinese Mingding Destiny places great emphasis on this matter.

Later, two things happened. First, when Jeroboam went up to the altar to offer a sacrifice, he encountered a man of God. As soon as he stretched out his hand, the man of God told him it was a sin. Could he tolerate that? He thought, I finally came up with an idea to govern the country, and this prophet ruins it with one sentence. If my people all go to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah my God, how can I manage my country?

As a result, when he stretched out his hand, it withered. This was a strong signal from God that this thing would come to a bad end, that it was deadly! In fact, none of us brothers and sisters haven't received signals from God. You've all experienced it, time and again. Have you awakened? Then reflect on it. His hand withered, and he asked the man of God to pray for him, and his hand was restored. Did you become spiritual just because it was restored? No, he still worshipped the golden calf because that hurdle hadn't been overcome, the worldly logic system hadn't been torn down, so he continued with the golden calf.

Second, his son fell ill, and God gave him another signal. Jeroboam was quite clever; he had his wife disguise herself as a woman to find the prophet Ahijah. The prophet Ahijah said, Jeroboam's wife, come in. Can you escape God's eyes? You can't. As a result, the prophet told her that her son would surely die. When Jeroboam's wife returned home, her son died as soon as she crossed the threshold. That is to say, a person who worships the golden calf cannot avoid experiencing disaster; but after worshipping the golden calf and experiencing disaster, they continue to worship. Why? Because the person has been firmly ensnared by the spirit of the golden calf.

The spirit of the golden calf is a worldly logic system. The golden calf is just a lie. To worship a golden calf, the evil spirit behind it must be very big and powerful! As for whether that evil spirit is Old Ma or Satan, we don't know. For now, we'll call it the spirit of the golden calf. So we begin to understand that if we experience some disasters, we must examine ourselves carefully to see if we have a golden calf, because that thing is extremely corrupt. So we learn a lesson from the matter of the golden calf: the golden calf is a man-made god.

Understanding the Spirit of the Golden Calf

How does the spirit of the golden calf operate? It's through a person's core interests; whatever they care about most attracts this thing. Because they care about something and want to put a divine label on it, that's what we call the golden calf. The biggest characteristic of the golden calf is your core interests, such as your family, your throne. When every Christian values their family, they can involve a whole bunch of God's will. Adam and Eve were the first family, and the first family was corrupted. Your family won't be any better. In fact, God's will isn't these things; God's will is to build God's glorious church.

Think carefully. Without knowing that all things come from God, people begin to rely on their own abilities, which ultimately leads to spiritual ignorance. Whether Jeroboam fooled his people or the people fooled Jeroboam; whether Aaron fooled the people or the people fooled Aaron, it's all a beautiful lie.

Why is it a kind and beautiful lie? Because the ox is kind, hardworking, and productive; it can create wealth, and it's wealth itself. So these things become the operating methods of the spirit of the golden calf. See if you're replacing Jehovah God with something else. If you replace Jehovah God with something else, your sorrows will deepen. If you come to me to pray and your sorrows are many, then I must tell you that you're not doing it right.

There are several ways in which the spiritual realm operates. First, God deliberately arranges it. I suspect that this golden calf thing is that God sent a spirit of the golden calf to deceive Jeroboam. Later in the Old Testament, God sent a lying spirit. In fact, all things were created by God and for God, including Old Ma. The thing behind the golden calf was created by God to filter out the garbage to be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, and to identify the treasures.

So in my Chinese Mingding Destiny system, we only want treasures; we don't bring garbage into the church. So sometimes, some of our brothers and sisters, you have your own core interests. It's your prerogative to come and be blessed. But if you come to be blessed with a golden calf, that's not quite right.

So do these things have those attributes of kindness, diligence, and capability? Of course! The golden calf definitely has them; it's not lazy, it's quite hardworking, and then it becomes a trick to fool people. I ask you, if the common folk go to worship the golden calf, is it effective? Absolutely! If you love money, don't come here.

After I say this, some people may leave, and it's best if they do. Why do I say this? What am I going to do with a bunch of golden calf worshippers? They have no destiny, and they don't know why they came. If you come with a golden calf in your heart, God will give you grace at first, but in the end, God will corrupt your god. Of course, it might be more effective to worship the golden calf elsewhere.

Did the Israelites benefit from worshipping the golden calf? The things they asked for were wealth, economic improvement, rising house prices—all for their own core interests. Including taking the kids to Wenshu Bodhisattva to worship before college entrance exams—after worshipping, they get a bunch of evil spirits. Do you think that's a good thing? It's not!

Even now, many people are still controlled by the spirit of the golden calf. The most important aspect of recognizing this evil spirit of the golden calf is not knowing that all things come from God—whether it's a throne or a business. And taking these things as your core interests—you want to protect your core interests and also want to believe in the Lord, so you create a golden calf.

Resisting the Spirit of the Golden Calf (1): Letting Go of Your Core Interests

Chinese Mingding Destiny speaks a bit extremely. It's not quite heresy, but it is the word of God. Let go of your core interests. What are you looking to in faith? If you rely on your own abilities and want to protect your core interests, you create a god and make up many beautiful excuses, but none of that works.

Do you know what Jesus Christ wants? Jesus Christ wants disciples. The minimum standard for a disciple is to let go, to forsake parents, wife, children, brothers, sisters, houses, and fields for God's sake. Do you understand? Only if you forsake these things can you be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, you'll just be a believer. But Jesus Christ doesn't want believers; He wants disciples.

If a person's core interests are not relinquished, they will definitely be controlled by the spirit of the golden calf. What are they afraid of? They're afraid of losing their core interests. If God is your core interest, that's called destiny! Everyone is running for their own core interests, and we are also running for our own core interests, except our core interest is God, it is to build God's glorious church.

Everyone must know: church, business, family, trade, work, and study, including thrones and positions, are all easy to become our core interests. Because what? Because we are watching ourselves living by relying on these things. If we live by relying on these things, then these things cannot be absent; if we don't live by relying on these things, then we don't need to care about these things so much.

So we begin to know: letting go of your core interests is the first step in resisting the spirit of the golden calf. If my core interest is God, then do you have any questions? No questions at all. If your core interest is offerings, you will create a whole bunch of reasons, create a whole bunch of gods to deceive brothers and sisters, and everyone will think they're following you to build God's glorious church, and then you'll even morally coerce many people's thoughts. But our brothers and sisters need to know: there's none of that in our midst, no moral binding. In our midst, we only have people relying on God's truth to be free!

Resisting the Spirit of the Golden Calf (2): Knowing That All Things Come From God

Knowing that all things come from God—if you don't know, then it's a tragedy, and you'll say that you created this thing. Know that many entrepreneurs work very hard in their startups. Yesterday I saw a video that said: In the previous life, you committed sins; this life, you're starting a business. That's pretty good to say. You committed sins, why? It's too painful—starting a business is like walking through the Gobi Desert. You can control too little, it's too hard, and you completely forget that joy.

It's similar to what Ma Yun said: People are most happy when they have a few million; when they have tens of millions or a hundred million, they're all in pain. Anyway, if you ask me, if you suddenly gave me a hundred million, I really wouldn't know how to manage it, because I've never managed that. And if you don't invest it, it'll shrink; if you do invest it, it might all end. Ugh! I'd be busy with this all day.

All things come from God. I ask you, where did Jeroboam's throne come from? Jeroboam's throne came from God. Didn't the elders of Israel invite him back to be the king of Israel? Yes. But that still came from God. If God hadn't given him this opportunity, he wouldn't have gotten this throne. If he gets this throne, why does he still want to protect this throne? Can't God protect your throne?

How did this throne become your core interest? If it becomes your core interest, the spirit of the golden calf will emerge. This golden calf trick seems to be fooling the people, seems to be fooling God, but it's actually fooling yourself, and you'll die without a burial place! And you'll even kill your own child—all for the sake of the throne. The throne can't protect your life, and business can't protect your life. It's not because you became king that you're alive; it's because you're alive that you can be a king.

Living is a very simple thing because all things come from God, and God will surely provide for us. Can this concept be established? If you can't establish it, you'll live very hard. You can't see God, but God still provides, it wasn't earned by your abilities. You may be as hardworking as an ox, but you're still an ox. When you get old, you'll be slaughtered and eaten for meat—that's probably your fate.

We must know that God supplies us with everything. If our God can't even supply us, is that even a god? That's not a god. So things that are based on ability are believing that everything was earned by the person themselves. A businessman once said: Every penny was earned by my hard work. The government doesn't like that: Without policy, could you have earned it? Even if the old man was underground, when would it be your turn without my reform and opening up? Everyone, don't be confused—many things really weren't earned by your abilities. If you think they were earned by your abilities, your abilities will also send you to prison.

Resisting the Spirit of the Golden Calf (3): Seeing Through Everything in This Life

Doesn't Jeroboam know that he will one day die? Yes. Then why do you take this life so seriously? Is there a need for that? Actually, there's no need for that. But once a person's thoughts are fixed on all these things in this life, like money, property, houses, children, cars, love, family, positions, thrones, etc., it's over! If you can't see through these things, these core interests will come, and then you'll rely on your own abilities, rely on your own hands to live, and you'll live under a curse.

So our brothers and sisters must know that eternal life is the most real; this life is called illusion, fleeting clouds. Even non-believers know it's fleeting clouds, but they forget it in the blink of an eye because the system inside them is a logic system of this life. If you want to understand this logic system of this life and eternal life, you better listen to my study of Matthew, which is about two kingdoms, two sets of logic systems.

If you establish a godly logic system, your core interest will be God. If you establish a godly logic system, you will let go of your core interests. If you establish a godly logic system, you will be victorious. If you establish a godly logic system, you will know that all things come from God. If you establish a godly logic system, you will know that this life is vanity of vanities. But if you don't know that this life is vanity of vanities, we have no way to walk the path of destiny. Although I've said this many times, everyone may put this matter down as soon as something happens, and as soon as they wake up, they see through this life again.

Look at those who argue with me and discern good and evil from me; they all have the logic system of this life. Why are they controlled by demons? Because the logic system of this life is too heavy. If you recognize that this life is vanity of vanities, is being sold to Egypt that important? Not important. Is being imprisoned that important? Not important, because God will protect you! Some people's words reveal the logic system of this life between the lines. They say, Oh, this life is ruined! Ruined what? This life was originally ruined. What can you do in this life? So living by God's blessing is establishing a godly logic system, not treating the golden calf as God. Those who treat the golden calf as God are doing it for their own core interests.

So today's troubles are enough for today. Some people owe hundreds of thousands and can't pay it back. They say, Teacher, why don't you sympathize with me? Sympathize with you about what? I don't even care about my own debts. Should I care about your debt? Of course, I don't owe that much. We make holes for the sake of these things in this life, climbing out of one pit only to fall into another. Sometimes, before we climb out, the pit gets deeper again. We're digging pits for ourselves every day. Who can stand that? It's because people don't know that living is a very simple thing.

I know a pastor who got married late in life. He was almost fifty years old when he had a child. When I knew him, he was almost sixty years old, and his child was only ten years old. As a result, he stopped pastoring and went to open restaurants and tea houses, working himself into a dizzy. Then he borrowed money from church members to raise funds. In the end, the business didn't go well, and the church members sued him. A bunch of these things are all for living a life of vanity of vanities. People need to know that this is vanity; we are seeking a better homeland, we are seeking a meaning to live for—that's called destiny. If the meaning of living is finally found, that is our God building His glorious church.

Everyone must know that even building the church is not me building it; it's God building it. Some people say, Teacher, what will happen after you die? After I die, God will take care of it. In this life, I don't want to protect myself, and I don't want to control everything I've built. Control it for what? God will take care of it Himself. I don't want to create a golden calf to deceive brothers and sisters because I see through the triviality in this life. I only hope that our brothers and sisters can continue to grow in spiritual wisdom and knowledge, hope that our brothers and sisters can continue to grow in recognizing the spirit of the golden calf, continue to grow in recognizing the spirit of discerning good and evil, and have a deeper understanding of God's word and become wise people.

China has had a set of logics for managing the country since ancient times, and there are logics for building a church. Many times, you need to know that if you make people ignorant, it's easier to fool them and manage them. If you make them smart, it's hard to manage them. But our Chinese Mingding Destiny is a place to make people smart. I think smart people are easy to manage, and stupid people are not easy to manage. Why? Because if you're good to them, they think you're hurting them; if you take advantage of them, they think you're helping them—that's stupid people.

But we don't want to take advantage of people. Why would we want to make people stupid? We want to turn people into smart people and to become people who build God's glorious church, and then to continue to grow in spiritual wisdom and knowledge. So if we are good to them, they know it. If I'm good to them and they think I'm hurting them, then don't come here; this place isn't suitable for you.

Resisting the Spirit of the Golden Calf (4): Obtaining Spiritual Wisdom and Knowledge

You say, I can't see through it. Because you don't have spiritual knowledge. You say, I don't know that all things come from God. Because you don't have spiritual knowledge; you're using worldly eyes. You can't let go of core interests because you don't have spiritual knowledge and wisdom, and you don't recognize how the golden calf corrupts you. Where does that knowledge come from? It wasn't invented by me; it was written in the Bible long ago. Whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament, it has been revealing an eternal truth; this truth is to let us know that this world is governed by God, to let us know that this world and the things of this world will pass away, only God's word will last forever!

So we are pursuing a destiny in eternity, a more beautiful homeland in eternity, and we want to return to God. Then we know how evil spirits operate, how to see through the wiles of the devil, and how to be victorious through God. How can people be victorious without spiritual knowledge and wisdom? They can't be victorious. Why are people controlled and unable to control themselves? I often hear people say, Teacher, I can't control myself. And I think, If you can't control yourself, why don't you go learn spiritual wisdom and knowledge? You say, Then what do I do? There's nothing you can do—no wisdom, no knowledge. With wisdom and knowledge, you will know what other people's core interests are, what your core interests are, and by analyzing their inner logic system, you'll know what's really going on.

We are establishing a heavenly logic system. We can let go of work, we can let go of business, but we cannot let go of God. We can let go of everything, but we just can't let go of God—that's our logic. Until now, this has proven to be effective, but if you say, Is that really the case? It doesn't seem like it, then what's going on? We start to relearn, observe, and study. You'll always be able to draw a conclusion, and you'll gain spiritual wisdom and intelligence.

Summary

The spirit of the golden calf is a concentrated embodiment of a worldly logic system. By relying on the golden calf, people will surely walk into disaster. There are endless stories in this world: a company with trillions of dollars collapses, then another company with trillions of dollars collapses, then another company with trillions of dollars collapses. Still can't understand? An old boss died. Why? Because he worked hard to walk that path.

So the golden calf doesn't make people live; it makes people die. How can those who worship the golden calf be good? We must begin to be careful, begin to know what's really inside us. If our destiny is just these things before our eyes, these things will pass away. So I encourage everyone to rethink. Until now, I really don't understand the Israelites, don't understand what kind of brains they have—a group of ignorant pig brains! A group of pig brains go to worship the golden calf, and in the end, they worship themselves into pigs.

May God bless everyone!