Introduction

Today, I want to share a very important topic with everyone, as the recent sermons have all been about building faith. In real life, we often encounter setbacks; no one is immune to them. For example, studying hard may not lead to progress. We expect to receive something good, but we receive something bad instead. We experience quite a lot of frustration, and our reaction to these setbacks determines our life. Facing things that go smoothly and make us happy cannot change our destiny. I often convey the idea that a person does not need too many disasters in life; just one can determine their fate. For example, a person might die in a car accident, or wake up one morning with difficulty breathing and never get up again. A sister told me a few days ago that a 25-year-old girl in her workplace died of chest tightness one morning before the New Year.

It turns out that a person doesn't need many fatal disasters; one is enough. That's why our mindset when facing setbacks today is crucial. A few days ago, Brother XF called me, saying he had been looking for a job for months without much progress. I felt that I needed to support him and boost his confidence. The feeling at that time was very bad; at this point, you either push through or give up. So, frustration is like a sieve, filtering some people up and some people down. The ability to face setbacks is a person's core competitiveness. Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. These are words from the Bible, though not spoken by God, but a summary of objective facts by people. When you encounter difficulties, how you choose to respond to frustration is key and determines the course of your destiny. Your reaction when facing problems is almost crucial.

When doing business, you don't need to manage much during normal times, but how you react when you encounter setbacks determines your future path. You might retreat or push forward. For example, if you become an internet celebrity, how you manage the haters becomes your crucial skill. You don't need to manage the fans; they support you anyway. So, how we react to hardships, suffering, and difficulties in our lives determines our life's trajectory. Therefore, a person's character is crucial. What is character? Character is your attitude when facing setbacks. If suffering, hardship, and difficulty are a sieve, then those with character are filtered out. Whether a person believes in the Lord or not is not the most important thing; the most important thing is that the person must have a character that can be filtered through this sieve.

Goujian of ancient China, through the idiom sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, highlights the character of King Goujian of Yue, which later enabled him to defeat King Fuchai of Wu. King Goujian of Yue had a character that allowed him to persevere even when his country was destroyed. This is very impressive. When I read the story of King Goujian of Yue, I thought he was a sage. Goujian could even taste King Fuchai of Wu's excrement. What kind of character is this? This character is the key to whether he could get through that situation. Therefore, in the church today, I really hope that our brothers and sisters in the church will cultivate a tenacious character, continuing to move forward in the face of setbacks, with nothing able to stop our motivation to move forward. No matter what kind of environment you face, hardships, difficulties, and suffering are like a sieve trying to filter you down.

The Power to Cultivate a Tenacious Character

Do you want to be someone who is always at the top and never at the bottom, always the head and never the tail? If you want to be such a person, you must have this kind of character, a character that can filter out your life. Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must reshape your character. Abraham's life was full of legendary color because every time he encountered hardships, suffering, and difficulties, Abraham was filtered out. What determines your destiny is whether these things can filter you out, which depends on your response to these problems. I thank God for giving me a very tenacious character. No matter what the environment, I am determined to push through. Therefore, on the path I have walked in my life, I have seen God's faithfulness. God has made me always at the top and never at the bottom, always the head and never the tail. Therefore, what determines your destiny is the inner choice you make when facing the lows in life.

Deng Xiaoping, a leading figure in China, was a remarkable person who was knocked down and stood up again and again. Later, when he became the leader of China, he began to promote reform and opening up, which led to the China we have today. A person's character does not come from always having things go smoothly, but from how you choose when facing suffering and tribulations. Today, brothers and sisters, we must cultivate character in our lives. If you are doing business, especially when your business fails, you can choose to sink or choose to stand up stubbornly again. Some time ago, I counseled a brother who partnered with someone in business. This partner embezzled a lot of the company's money, and when they had to split the debts, each of them had to bear 2.5 million. This was life-threatening! But a person with character will see the opportunity in this situation.

Then he began to reorganize the decoration company. I gave him an idea: all the creditors became his promoters. I will explain the specific details later. What kind of thing determines a person's destiny? It is whether you choose to walk firmly forward in this situation. The Bible records many figures who can basically be divided into two categories: one is people with faith who choose to overcome and claim God's promises, and the other is people without faith who eventually collapsed in the wilderness. They began to complain when they encountered no water or food and were always negative. Therefore, today's society is in great need of a group of people who can transmit positive energy. If you are someone who transmits positive energy, you will become a remarkable person.

In fact, your education and knowledge cannot determine your destiny, but the choices you make when facing suffering, hardship, and difficult situations can determine your destiny. Life is like thirty years east of the river and thirty years west of the river. People with faith are always east of the river, while the west of the river is always prepared for those without faith. Therefore, today we must begin to stop dwelling on whether we are east or west of the river. We are always east of the river. Even if we are west of the river, we are still east of the river because we have God, and recognizing the essence of things is being east of the river. Being east or west of the river is all about a person's mentality; it is all about a person's mentality. There was a person named Hagar who personally experienced God. Because she was Abraham's concubine, she was persecuted by her mistress Sarah when she became pregnant and left home with her child.

Faith and God's Promise

A girl leaving home with a pregnancy and entering the wilderness, surrounded by the howls of wolves, could lose her life at any time. In that situation, she began to call out to God. As a result, God appeared to her. After experiencing God for the first time, she said, Have I also seen the God who sees me? She knew that God was the God who sees people, but later, when she was driven away again because her son Ishmael had grown up, Sarah had given birth to a son named Isaac. Then Sarah said that Isaac could not share the inheritance with Ishmael and drove Ishmael away. When Hagar left with Ishmael, she forgot after the water was used up that God was the God who sees people! So she let the child sit at a distance, and she sat in another place watching the child, and they were both waiting to die.

Why do people forget? Why forget God? It is because of a lack of faith. A person without faith has no future and cannot claim God's promises. So at that time, God said, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned, and those born of Ishmael cannot inherit the inheritance. Why are some able to inherit the inheritance and others not? It is because one has faith and the other does not. Therefore, those with faith can claim God's promises, and those with faith can have a future. So, without faith in God, when problems arise, the nature of a slave breaks out because one does not know that God is his God. A person does not know that God is his God, seeming to care for oneself and yet not caring. You cannot walk the path of life. Today, let's look at how people react when they encounter setbacks through the Book of Joshua.

Scripture

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there until evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and they sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people living in the country will hear about this and will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your great name?” The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. (Joshua 7:6-12)

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank you that we can still thank you even when we are frustrated. Although we are often negative in our hearts, we can respond to our cries when we are like you. God, you want to be the Lord and King in us again, you want to lead us, bless us with the ability to overcome difficulties and overcome frustration, and let us be victorious. Lord, you have predestined us to be victorious. Lord, you will lead us to victory. Lord, you will lead me into the promised land. Lord, your beautiful promises are our beautiful inheritance. Lord, all your promises will be fulfilled in us. Even when facing setbacks, we must still stand strong because you are the faithful God. Speak to us today, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Learning Faith from Frustration

When people face frustration, the natural reaction is negativity, and Joshua is no exception. Joshua was the marshal of the Israelites, the greatest general leading them. Moses died, and the responsibility of management was handed over to Joshua. Then God said, Be strong and courageous! Be strong and courageous! Be strong and courageous! As a result, he was strong for a while, and after being strong for a while, what happened? He crossed the Jordan River, then performed circumcision, and then led the Israelites to besiege the city of Jericho. When they besieged it for the seventh time, the walls collapsed completely in their cries, and they won a victory in the city of Jericho. After winning the victory, Joshua was full of confidence, but the next battle was to fight a small city.

Jericho was a big city, and they won a victory in the big city. But when they went to fight the small city called Ai, they sent 3,000 people to fight, but they were defeated by the city of Ai. The city of Ai was a small city of more than 10,000 people. They sent 3,000 soldiers, thinking they could easily destroy the small city, but the people of Ai came out to attack, and the Israelites were completely defeated. I don't know why the Israelites turned around and ran away. This is too strange. What happened inside the people? As a result, when Joshua saw this situation, he tore his clothes, sat in the assembly, and prostrated himself on the ground, saying, God, why did you bring us across the Jordan River? Did you bring us across the Jordan River to hand us over to the Amorites and Canaanites? What benefit do you get if we are destroyed? Will your name not be blasphemed?

So today, we can see that Joshua's natural reaction when facing this frustration is negative. He does not understand that this failure actually has a reason. It is not that God's promise has gone wrong, but that there is a problem with the people. People have to learn a lesson in the midst of this frustration. What lesson to learn? When facing this kind of frustration, what is your reaction to the frustration? I thank God that Joshua is very negative. You can't read any faith from this at all, but when God responds to his negativity, Joshua changes very much, and he does what God says. When facing frustration, is there a problem with Joshua's team? There is a problem with Joshua's team, but Joshua is not negative or accusing, and then he does what God reveals, and as a result, he wins.

So when people face frustration, the natural reaction may be negative, but you cannot not change. When God's revelation comes to you, you must turn around immediately. Do what God says, without accusing or being embarrassed, be real. After people are negative, they feel that they are negative and that they are doomed, but this is not a way to solve the problem. Even if you have been negative, it doesn't matter, you can stand up again because God's faithfulness can still come to us. Start to walk out of weakness, and not being negative for a long time is faith. Thank God, in the past few years of building the church, I have experienced one frustration after another, and today I can see the church in the tide of revival. Thank God for giving me such a character, even when I am negative, I imitate people like Joshua and Moses and have been walking until today. When something happens, God will always tell you the reason, which is key!

The Foundation of Faith and God's Revelation

People have a wrong understanding of God, as if we must do something, or not do something, to be able to be like that. Actually, it is not! From the beginning, God is the God who reveals to us. When we have problems, God will definitely reveal them. There was a brother who grew up in a traditional church and often asked a lot of questions, so I always wanted to teach him the lesson of faith. When we were still sinners, God died for us and died on the cross so that we would not perish but have eternal life. When you have done nothing, God will save you. Now that you have turned around and know God, will you lose faith? God once led the Israelites through the Red Sea and the Jordan River as if walking on dry ground. Will you lose faith when you encounter a small setback? No! Even if you have been negative, God will still speak to you. You must know that when God gives you revelation, you must obey God's word.

The gospel preached by Paul is a gospel of revelation. Everyone must receive revelation from God. If you receive revelation directly from God, you are a child of God. The Israelites are truly children of God. As long as they are children of God, they will definitely receive God's revelation. After receiving God's revelation, act according to God's revelation. Although you have been negative in the past and said some negative things, it doesn't matter, God will still accomplish you. This is our God, who saves us when we are still sinners. No matter what kind of situation we encounter, we must know that God is in control and God will definitely be in control. Saving us is God's work, not because of what we have done or not done, but because we trust God. No matter what the situation, God is still in control. Even in the face of frustration in life, you must know that God is still in control of us.

We must not lose faith in God in our inner being. All we do is believe. The salvation we believe in is based on faith, not on works. Even 00000.1% of works cannot be mixed into this foundation. Faith is the foundation. Anything based on works will lose God's power. Why are there so many miracles and wonders in our church? Because we pray and all experience God's wonderful work, because we have entered into salvation based on faith, which is originally the pure faith. Simply choose to believe that it is God's will to heal us. Brothers and sisters, you must know for sure that saving us is God's work. We choose to believe, and then the actions we take because of faith can inherit God's inheritance. It is not because we pursue miracles that we have miracles, but because we pursue faith that we have miracles. Those who believe will have signs and wonders following them.

A sister asked me if not being healed is because of sin? I thought for a long time and still didn't know how to answer, so I asked God how to answer this person. I really thank God, God's revelation came immediately. Do not ask whether not being healed is because of sin, it may be because of sin or it may not be, the reason is not important! What is important is that we still hold on to faith, and holding on to faith will surely be healed! Because of this faith, many brothers and sisters have walked out of bondage and suffering and begun to see God triumph in our midst. Do not debate when you have not been healed, asking why you have not been healed yet, and why these problems still exist. Start choosing to believe, believing that you will surely be healed.

Prayer of Faith and God's Revelation

This morning, when I was preparing the sermon, I encountered a challenge. A young brother was playing near their family's cemetery and developed a fever. Cemeteries often have spirits of death there, and the child came back with a high fever that was very serious. As I was saying this, he had already returned to normal. In the morning, I called and led him in prayer, and at that time, I was very anxious because I had to give a sermon in the afternoon and my sermon hadn't been prepared yet, because I was still not satisfied with what I had written, and I was still revising it until the last minute. But thank God, it doesn't matter what I do or don't do. At that time, I chose to pray with the child's parents, and later YX also came to help me. It was simply too amazing, and the spiritual darkness and power within that child began to manifest. The child wasn't healed yet, but said he was healed and refused to pray with us. After a while, he pretended to be asleep, hoping that his parents would give up praying.

I knew this was the devil's trick, but I didn't give up and continued to pray until the child was healed. I didn't ask for any reason, I just believed that he was healed by the scourgings of Jesus Christ, because this is God's promise. Those who are based on faith can inherit the inheritance and claim God's promises. We should not argue. A child with epilepsy was not healed, and Jesus' disciples debated why he was not healed. Was it because of the curse of their ancestors? That is not important, what is important is that our God is a God of revelation. You can continue to pray and choose to obtain God's revelation through prayer. God will definitely tell us those reasons. The question is, are you and I people of faith? If so, all our problems will be solved easily.

We brothers and sisters must know for sure that the salvation you and I have received is that God will save us when we are still sinners. Saving us is God's work. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to us, so that we would not perish but have eternal life. We are not destined to perish, but we choose to walk the path of faith, because it is the path of no faith that determines whether we perish. We should not take a methodological approach, reading a book on healing and deliverance. This kind of healing and deliverance is not effective. The Christian faith is a faith of revelation. God is a God who is still speaking, and He will never tape His mouth shut after writing the Bible. God has never stopped speaking and still reveals Himself to this day. I thank God for giving me such faith and knowing that God is still the God of revelation.

Revelation of Devoted Things

The Israelites were defeated in battle, and God did not hold it against Joshua whether he was negative, positive, or complaining. What Joshua said was actually quite outrageous: Wasn't it good enough for us in the east of the Jordan River? Wasn't that land enough to live in? Why did we have to cross the Jordan River and enter the promised land? Look what happened, we lost a battle here, what are we going to do? Our people are being destroyed by them, and God's name is being blasphemed, so what are you going to do? Actually, these words sound completely without faith. But it is not because of what people have done. No matter what people have done, God's revelation comes to Joshua, telling him that there are devoted things here, so the Israelites will run away, and God will leave Israel. After God leaves the Israelites, the Israelites cannot win the battle simply by relying on their physical strength.

Spiritual Warfare and the Presence of God

In reality, we must understand a spiritual principle: victory in spiritual warfare leads to victory in earthly battles. Defeat in spiritual warfare means God departs from us, and we are certain to be defeated on the battlefield. We must cherish the matter of whether God is with us. In Genesis, as well as later in the Bible, God was with Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Whoever God is with becomes a man of God. Praise God, He has made me a man of God, and the things I do are extraordinary. After acting on my faith, I feel that God is truly faithful, and His promises are always steadfast. At this time two years ago, we prayed for a cancer patient, paying a heavy price. The cancer was the size of cauliflower, and wherever the blood flowed, it caused ulceration. It was like a chemical substance with a strong corrosive ability. It looked terrifying, like a large cauliflower.

In November of the year before last, she went to the hospital for a check-up, and the cancer had grown to the size of a fist. By January, the tumor had grown to the size of a cauliflower, attached near her lower abdomen, constantly oozing pus, which was frightening. She sent me a photo, and I was deeply moved. I didn't care about what this girl had done in the past or if there were idols in her home. I knew God's promise: by the stripes of Jesus Christ, we are healed. Every night, we arranged for someone to pray with her. Our church was still quite desolate then. In a church of dozens of people, each person would pray with her for 3-5 hours every night. If we didn't pray, she would scream in pain; as soon as we prayed, the pain would subside. While I was leading her in prayer, God's revelation came to me that there were things devoted to destruction in her home.

When I asked, it turned out that her family was worshiping ancestral tablets dating back eight generations. I asked her if she could remove them. Coincidentally, that day, while her family was struggling in prayer with her, they removed the tablets. The pain immediately disappeared; it was truly miraculous! However, during the Lunar New Year the year before last, her family put the tablets back up. The moment they were put back up, excruciating pain returned to the child. This child contacted me, and we led her in prayer, but no matter how we prayed, it didn't work. Later, we discovered they had put the tablets back. We urged her family to remove the tablets again, and the pain immediately disappeared. Later, I summarized some experiences: things devoted to destruction are truly abominable. The tragedy continued; every day, someone prayed with her, and we saw in the photos she sent that the cauliflower-sized cancer was reduced by about half. The times of pain became less frequent, and the times of relief became more frequent. It was miraculous.

Initially, it was the size of a fist, turning into a cauliflower within two months. Without prayer, the cauliflower would have grown into a large cluster, leading to death. In the process of our prayer warfare, we thoroughly struck the dark forces behind it, and the large cauliflower became a small cauliflower. One of my Weibo followers gave her about eight thousand RMB because she was a very poor child. I told her, Your illness is getting better, but you need to break free from this bondage. With this eight thousand, tithe one-tenth to God and keep the rest for your use. She told me, Pastor, I want to leave the church. That night, we couldn't contact her no matter how hard we tried; she refused to let us pray with her. On the third day, a Sunday, I got up early to prepare my sermon, but my heart was troubled. I couldn't stop worrying about this nineteen-year-old girl, so I called her mother to find out what was happening.

Things Devoted to Destruction and Victory in Spiritual Warfare

The result shocked me. I sat there in a daze for a long time, not knowing what to say, because the child had died at five o'clock that morning. Things devoted to destruction cannot be kept. That is why I asked her to give the tithe, because the tithe cannot be kept in hand; if it is kept, it becomes a thing devoted to destruction. The Israelites were defeated at Ai because someone had taken the silver, gold, and clothing collected after the victory at Jericho. The wealth and clothing belonged to God. God had said that the first fruits and the firstborn belong to Him; they do not belong to you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must begin to understand that if you want to fight a spiritual battle, you must first sort this out, and that is the tithe. So, when I see many poor people trapped in poverty, the first thing I promote is the tithe.

Some people say that charismatic churches demand offerings; this is probably it. I do indeed require offerings, not because the church lacks money, but because if you keep it in your hand, it becomes a thing devoted to destruction, and you cannot win the battle. God's rule is that the firstborn and the first fruits belong to God. Jericho was the first victory, the first victory entering Canaan, and it belongs to God. It's not that the subsequent cities acquired do not belong to the Israelites, but the first victory was not fought by the Israelites; it was fought by God for them. Later battles were also fought by God for them, but the spoils of war from subsequent cities belonged to the Israelites. The first city belongs to God, so it is called the first fruits. What does the first fruits mean? The first fruits are the first offspring of the sheep; how many subsequent offspring the sheep can produce is unknown. The first offspring belongs to God; whether the sheep can bear more offspring later is unknown.

Do not tell me that the first offspring is cut off and one-tenth is given to God; no! The first offspring is given to God, meaning the first fruits belong to God. Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must develop a habit of learning to give the first fruits and the firstborn to God. Jericho belonged to God; it was the first battle God led the Israelites in. If someone who belongs to God takes it into their hands, it becomes a thing devoted to destruction. A thing devoted to destruction is something that originally belonged to God, but when you take it into your hands, it becomes a thing devoted to destruction. If it doesn't belong to God and you take it into your hands, it doesn't matter.

What Belongs to God

Two things belong to God: the tithe, the firstborn, the first fruits, and one-tenth of a person's income. These belong to God, and do not keep them in your hands, or you cannot be victorious. Nor will you become wealthy by withholding God's tithe. In the Old Testament, there are regulations for the gold and silver used to worship idols to be melted and placed in the treasury of the Lord. This means that things devoted to destruction include two things: one is what belongs to God, and the other is what is used to worship idols or false gods. These belong to God, so do not keep those things in your own hands. Once, in my entire healing and deliverance ministry, I thoroughly summarized the harm of things devoted to destruction, and each time, I could find the key to the problem. So today, knowing how important the revelation of things devoted to destruction is!

Once, I was ministering to someone who was healed after prayer, but relapsed after returning home, going back and forth. I asked if there were things devoted to destruction in his home, but he didn't believe it. Later, after searching everywhere, there were indeed things devoted to destruction. After removing them, he was completely healed. Therefore, brothers and sisters, today you must know for sure about things devoted to destruction; it is a miraculous revelation from God. Many people think it doesn't matter, that God is the greatest God. It's not because God is small, but because removing things devoted to destruction is the rule set by our God. So, we must listen to the rules set by our God, and we will benefit. There is no need to fight one losing battle after another. This is the revelation of things devoted to destruction.

The Overall Holiness of the Church and Victory in Spiritual Warfare

If everyone took things devoted to destruction, it would be understandable, but only one person took things devoted to destruction, causing all of Israel to suffer. Is this a bit unfair? You may feel it's unfair, but this is God's law. God's law never divides the church into independent individuals but treats the church as a whole. Why are there so many miracles and wonders in our church? Why are those who come among us healed? It is because the church is a whole; one person will affect the team. Therefore, we are very careful about the brothers and sisters incorporated into the church. In other words, our church is a church that kicks people out. You ask why we kick people out; it is for overall holiness. All those who are not disciples or cannot be transformed into disciples, we hand over to God if we cannot transform them. We cannot keep them among us because one person will affect the entire team. This is called a partnership system.

If you are doing business with partners, you must know that partners have unlimited liability. If one person incurs debt, everyone is liable. That is called a partnership. So, the church is a partnership system; our God is the God of the entire church. If we do not care about the overall holiness of the church, we cannot win the battle. So, early on, we established a holy, united, and glorious church, and God truly accomplished it. It is not my ability but God's ability, but it is because of my faith and pursuit that there is a God for the entire church. In this generation, a solitary practice of church view is popular, or getting close to God, being intimate with God there, and having nothing to do with the church. What they say is also in the Bible, and they also emphasize the relationship with God, but in this place, God made a revelation that the church is a whole.

So, the entire Book of Revelation is not written to a particular person but to the church. Today, brothers and sisters, you must establish a correct view of the church. The body of Jesus Christ is indivisible, and the body of Jesus Christ must be holy. So today, our church has very high requirements. Our church does indeed require tithing. If you don't tithe, what do you believe in? If you are still the same under various requirements, you may be kicked out. Kicking people out is not irresponsible; I think I cannot bear the responsibilities that God will bear. God will surely bring that person into a church that suits him, but that is not the church view of our church. Our church view comes from God's revelation; it must be a united whole. Each of our leaders must learn to demand that to win a spiritual battle, you must build a holy, united, and glorious church.

Victory in the world comes because we are victorious in the spirit. The key to victory is holiness and unity. This is the core value of our church. Why has God already given the promised land to Abraham and Abraham's descendants, but still required Joshua and Moses to fight it down with real swords and guns? What is this theological concept called? Victory in battle is needed to gain the promise. Today, there are not many churches that fight battles; at most, they sing songs and preach a sermon. But our church is a fighting church, organized according to God's army, to fight spiritual battles, and then you will see that God's promises are faithful. A pastor was on stage, with tears streaming down his face, talking about the tragic experiences of building his church. Someone said that building a church and being a pastor is a very painful profession. I have found that being a pastor is a very enjoyable profession; I very much enjoy being a pastor.

A Holy and United Church and Victory in Spiritual Warfare

Today, I will tell you such a story. When a pastor built his church, he incorporated all kinds of people into the church, and as a result, he was sued by the church members. He suffered from depression for three years and fought lawsuits for two years. When he came out of it, he spoke on stage about his tragic history. When I was listening from the audience, I was not sympathetic to that person. I was thinking about what kind of road he had walked, a road of encountering setbacks. But I was thinking underneath, I said, God, I will never be a compromising pastor, I will never build such a church. If I want to build a church, I will build a holy, united, and glorious church; I will never compromise. Even if I am wrong about the holiness and unity of the church, God will get it right. I am full of faith in God.

So today, brothers and sisters, you must know for sure that why do many pastors have depression and be possessed by demons? It is because they did not do according to God's words and lost the battle. Why do they lose the battle? It is because the church cannot be holy and united and is full of problems and infighting. Our church does not have this thing; our church is very united and is full of God's glorious works. To build a church, build a holy, united, and glorious church. This is my view, and it is also the most important revelation of God. Is getting close to God important? Getting close to God is important, but it will absolutely not surpass the revelation that God has made in this place, that the church is a whole and must be a holy whole.

Building the Church According to Very High Requirements

Some people said to me, today we are the New Covenant, and the New Covenant is grace. I thought, it doesn't seem right. I carefully examined the Bible to see what the Old Covenant required. The Old Covenant required keeping the Sabbath day, but does the New Covenant require keeping the Lord's Day? No. The New Covenant requires offering your whole being as a living sacrifice; one is the standard of heaven, and the other is the standard of earth. The Old Covenant is the earthly standard, and the New Covenant is the heavenly standard. You cannot build a glorious church according to earthly standards; you must build God's glorious church according to heavenly standards. I am very sure of one thing, that if you build God's glorious church, you will live out prosperity and strength in the world. Therefore, if you like my sharing today, you can listen to last week's sermon, Serving This Generation. That sermon talks about abundance, strength, and prosperity.

Today, brothers and sisters, God wants us to do these things and gives us such high demands to gain abundant life. The Lord Jesus came not to let us perish and be condemned but to let us have abundant life. The question is, do you believe it? If you believe it, demand yourself according to the heavenly standard. If you can't do it, it doesn't matter, as long as you believe, God will enable you to do it. If you can do it, it's not because you can do it by your flesh, but because God's Spirit works through your flesh to enable you to do it. If you feel short of money today, your answer is with God; if you are sick today, your answer is with God; if your interpersonal relationships are bad, your answer is with God. Victory garners the promise, holiness and unity, be strong and courageous, and garner the promise. Today, we are not just monetary offerings but also time offerings. Today, we are not offering a little but a full offering.

Living Out God's Glory and the Essence of Life

Brothers and sisters, learn to see clearly the essence of human life. If you see clearly the essence of human life, being busy with work is not a problem. Yesterday, I invited LM to dinner and shared while eating. She said, I have a confusion, how should I arrange my time? Just after she said that, she said that she was no longer confused. I asked her why she was no longer confused. She said, Because I found the essence of living. We thought we lived to work, you live to work, but I do not live to work, I live to glorify my God, I live to live out prosperity, strength, and abundance. Our God is the highest and greatest God, who controls all things in the universe. Will He make me poor? No, I live according to His words, will I live out a poor and wretched life? No. I can work hard, but cannot make us strong. Only this Creator of all things in the universe, our God, can make us strong.

Because the essence of our living on earth is to serve this generation according to God's words, so that this generation may manifest God's glory, and then God's glory will be manifested in our lives, what a wonderful life that is. If we grasp the essence of living, what confusion do we still have? There is no confusion, how does it matter if I put my whole body, whole person, and whole life on the altar? What I gain is me. For a while, I led everyone to study the Bible, which found that Abraham offered Isaac. Isaac was a young man in his thirties, and Abraham was an old man in his hundred and thirties. So how could he put a young man in his thirties on the altar? In fact, Isaac went up himself. If Abraham lifted him up, why would Isaac put himself on the altar? Because he knew that living was to serve God.

There was a couple, I asked them to put themselves on the altar, but they refused. That couple lived a poor and wretched life, and still thought they were living well, and still thought they were living right. I was very surprised. The second week they came back and told me that they had opinions about Abraham. Abraham has been dead for four thousand years, do you still want to stand up for someone from four thousand years ago? I was shocked, super shocked, Isaac didn't stand up for himself, what are you doing? She said, Isaac has the right to know, why not tell Isaac in advance that he is the lamb? Isaac did not ask for the right to know, what are you asking for? Today, it is not that we believe after we know, but that we will know after we believe.

Isaac knew what he was doing, Isaac was not stupid at all, he knew that giving himself completely to God was grace. People will die sooner or later, you and I have one day less to live, do we have any hope in the world? If one day God says, I want your life, then I can't wait to go back. Why does our church dare to do such things? According to human logic, it is really a bit too much, but I don't think it is too much, because I am a person willing to offer myself completely. If God says, Come back early. I hurry back, I don't miss this world at all, what is there to miss in this world? It is just because my Mingding Destiny has not been completed, so God has not called me back. If He calls me back, it is the same to me how many years old I die, because inside me I know that I have already attained eternal life. It is the spirit that gives life, is it not grace for the spirit of man to return to God.

Faith in Frustration and Obedience to God's Revelation

Joshua removed the things devoted to destruction, he did not take into account the previous negatives, and began to act according to God's words, and as a result, he greatly won, and captured Ai. That was truly a great victory, God's promises are still faithful, frustration is not a problem, fall down and stand up again and continue to win. From 2008 to 2010, the church I built was completely serving according to the flesh, but what does it matter? It was not a service that was in accordance with God's heart at all, and the problems encountered were also extremely frustrated. But the extreme frustration cannot thwart my faith in God. God is a God who loves me, and God will surely reveal it to me. Who can accuse God's beloved? What can separate us from the love of God? No one, nothing, and no frustration can separate us from the love of God, I believe!

Later, in a situation of being besieged on all sides, I also encountered a midlife crisis. During the midlife crisis, I began to kneel down and pray for a long time every day, and as a result, God let me see how faithful He is. I do not regret at all that I have suffered a lot and suffered a lot of frustrations for the sake of obtaining the gospel, but after each frustration, I have seen God's faithfulness, saying too much is tears. Today, seeing God's glory is tears of joy. Some people leave and then come back, come back and then leave, every time they come back, God heals that person because of us. What does it matter? It doesn't matter, don't think that God's grace is infinite, so you often forsake God. We will suffer sin if we forsake God, and we will stand up and continue to follow God if we are frustrated. If we are frustrated and fall down, and are sifted out by the sieve, how can we enter the promised land?

You can suffer for God in this world, and you can also suffer for yourself. If you suffer for yourself, there is no glory to be said, it doesn't matter if you suffer a little for God, God's glory will be manifested, and finally Joshua will greatly win. The process is not important, only the result is important. There may be frustration in the process, but the result is victory. We today really need to know that our answer is not in your hands or in my hands, but in God's hands. We trust in God, and building God's glorious church is our Mingding Destiny. Do not think that you can live out a glorious life by relying on your two talents, and do not think that you can do anything by relying on your little ability. If you think that you are much more capable than the people in the world, then you are wrong. I do not dare to rely on my own ability, but only rely on God, because today God is the God who makes us victorious.

Conclusion

When facing frustration, still choose to believe that God is a good God, and still choose to believe that God is the God who makes us victorious. You can argue with God, but you must quickly obey God's revelation. Learn to offer, give what belongs to God to God, and remove all things devoted to destruction. No matter what, do not be stubborn, being stubborn is not a solution to the problem. If we suffer more frustration because of our stubbornness, we will die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land. Change yourself, renew yourself, constantly improve yourself, and constantly obey God's revelation. You may be negative at times, it doesn't matter, but you will obtain the promise, Amen!