Introduction

This chapter speaks of a most important concept: an uncompromising character, that is, the uncompromising extermination of enemies. Some may wonder, Doesn't God teach love? Let us see what the Bible says: visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:9-10)

We must know that those who hate God are actually God's enemies. There is a force in this world that hinders the coming of God's kingdom. Then you say, Oh, I love my enemies. Try loving the enemies of Jehovah! If you love your enemies, it is because of your personal grudges. But if you love the enemies of Jehovah, you have pity on them, you cherish them, and God’s wrath will be upon you. Why do so many people not receive God's promises? It is actually because they do not have this uncompromising character of exterminating enemies.

An Uncompromising Character

The theme of Deuteronomy 7 is the uncompromising extermination of enemies. Do not think that exterminating enemies is our private grudge. Rather, all that hinders the coming of God's kingdom are God's enemies. Brothers and sisters, our understanding of this concept must be very clear and should not be confused. Because we read many contradictory concepts in the Bible, it is because we have not understood them. Thinking that in the New Testament we can only bless and not curse, do you want to serve the enemies of God? Do you want to bless idols?

We must be clear about one thing: what is our mission? Our mission in this world is to build a glorious church. The church of Christ Jesus is the body of Jesus Christ, and the body of Jesus Christ should be holy and without blemish. Think about it, the church is the body of Jesus Christ, and there are many enemies of God in the church, and then the enemies of God create many troubles in the church of God, and the pastor still has to love them very much. Whose wrath are you inviting if not God's? Brothers and sisters, we must all have a character of uncompromisingly dealing with the devil and the enemy.

You shall devour all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. (Deuteronomy 7:16)

Uncompromising is the Most Important Character Trait for Receiving Promises

I thank God that when God created me, He put an uncompromising character in me. In the New Testament, you will find that the Apostle Paul had an uncompromising character. If you ask me who I like the most in the New Testament, I like the Apostle Paul the most; if you ask me who I would most like to chat with in heaven, I would actually most like to chat with the Apostle Paul. I really admire the Apostle Paul's character. What is the Apostle Paul's character like? That is, no matter how many promises there are in God, they are yes in Jesus Christ. These words are very absolute, that is to say, in the matter of believing in the Lord, why can the Apostle Paul see that no matter how many promises there are in God, they are yes in Jesus Christ? It is because he has an uncompromising character, and this uncompromising character can constantly build a glorious church. If you constantly build a glorious church, then you will certainly receive God's promises.

In the Old Testament, receiving promises actually meant receiving the promised land of Canaan, which God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was by the Israelites having an uncompromising character that they went in and drove out the seven nations.

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. (Deuteronomy 7:1-2)

When Moses wrote Deuteronomy, one very clear thing he wanted to convey was to completely exterminate these people. Can you say, Such a large promised land, you live well here, we also live well here, and then it would be great if we all lived well? That's what you said, not what God said. In fact, there is no way to coexist well. For example, the Japanese devils occupied our Chinese Northeast and later invaded China, occupying most of China. Can you say, It's okay, Japanese devils, you are doing great here? For example, Taiwan was under the control of the Japanese devils for fifty years, and many Taiwanese people identify with Japan and have Japanese blood. This is the character of a traitor. Today you need to know that either you be a traitor or you be a citizen of this country. If you adopt a compromising character with the Japanese devils, then you are a traitor. Let's not be traitors in the kingdom of God!

This is true in the Old Testament, and it is also true in the New Testament. In the New Testament, if you build God's glorious church, and then you say, It doesn't matter, it's a church, anyone can come in, anyone can be here, let's just be like this. Can you say that? No. Why do many churches not see God's promises? It is because of a compromising character. If a person carries a compromising character throughout their life, they cannot obtain anything. They feel that about everything, That's okay, this is also okay, that is also okay. Then forget it, there is no such thing. If you want to receive promises, the most important character trait is to be uncompromising.

Exterminate Enemies Thoroughly

You cannot say, They are so pitiful, it's so bad for them like this. If you read Deuteronomy 7, you say, God is too cruel, how can God so ruthlessly exterminate these people! Can you say that? No. If you have confusion in this regard, I do not want to do your ideological work. Who are these people! These people worship idols to an outrageous extent, they are full of evil, so God wants to eliminate them. We must not have this wrong concept today. Our God is a God full of grace and full of mercy. But if this place is completely corrupted, God will completely eliminate it and give the land to others. Brothers and sisters, we must all know that we may not be doing it right, but what God says, God can definitely do it.

Do not use womanly kindness to look at God's teaching of completely exterminating enemies.

Why is our church so prosperous today? Because we are building the church in such an uncompromising way. Why would you leave those who hate God in the church? Those who love God stay with us and build God's glorious church together. If someone who doesn't love God but hates God will cause trouble in the church. If we compromise with them, they will become a snare to us. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you quickly. (Deuteronomy 7:4)

Building a Glorious Church Requires an Uncompromising Character

Once I attended a special conference, and a pastor was on the stage with tears in his eyes, telling how his church members had sued him. After two years of lawsuits, he developed depression. At that time, I sat offstage and wondered, how could it come to this? It turned out that he was building the church with a compromising character.

Our church does not allow a compromising character. If you are willing to build God's glorious church, then let us run the road of the glorious church together. If you are not with this attitude, just wanting to be healed, receive grace, and solve the matter of finding a job, then you can leave after you find a job. Because you have received what you wanted. If your illness is healed, you can also leave. We never keep people. Because those who stay in the church must have a common vision and dream, which is to become a blessing to all nations. If you have pity on and cherish God's enemies, you will receive God's wrath. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must know for sure that the important reason why God is clearly with us is that we exterminate enemies very thoroughly. We do not want people who do not have the attitude of building God's glorious church. We are not just gathering numbers; if we often gather numbers, God's wrath will be upon us. Although we are not many in number, we are all elite soldiers. We want to build God's glorious elite church.

Do Not Be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers

We believe in Jesus Christ, who initiated and perfects our faith, who wants to build a glorious church, and who brings the kingdom of God to earth. We absolutely do not believe in a gospel of simply receiving grace, we believe in a gospel of fighting, exterminating enemies, and receiving promises.

I once served a girl, and later I learned that her background was quite tragic. Because her mother was a believing sister who dated an unbelieving boyfriend, and after they got married, she gave birth to her. This sister wanted to lead him to believe in the Lord after they got married. The Bible says: You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger would burn against you and he would quickly destroy you. When this child was 18 years old, her mother committed suicide by jumping off a building, which had a profound impact on the child. Later, we contacted this girl, and her life was quite miserable. She believed in the Lord confusedly and also married an unbeliever. Her husband often plays video games, and her life is still a bit tragic. Because she violated the command of Jehovah God.

Do not think that just because someone often goes to church means they are a Christian. Just because they go to church means I can marry them. It is not that kind of belief! Do not think about pulling them into the church. It would be great if you are not influenced by unbelievers. Once people intermarry with them, they will be unequally yoked and serve other gods. I would rather not marry than marry an unbeliever. Believers and unbelievers cannot be equally yoked. I would rather not marry than do this. Why exterminate? If you do not want to be exterminated, then do not do such things, otherwise it will be very hard. People often think that marriage is a necessary path in life. Why should someone who is doing well marry? After marriage, there will be constant quarrels, crying and laughing, and bickering. I do not think it is a good thing.

If you were married before you believed, then that is another matter. If you have believed and want to build a beautiful marriage, you must have this uncompromising attitude. Some people ask me, Pastor, you see there are so many sisters in the church and so few brothers, are you going to let these sisters be single? Being single is actually no problem. Whether a person lives well in their life has little to do with whether they are married or not. I have read Paul's letters, and Paul does not agree that people have to get married. If you have to marry, then go ahead and marry.

Do Not Fear the Enemy

The Bible says that they are stronger than you, and their numbers are greater than you. In fact, we often face difficulties that are greater than us. For example, you work in a company, and your boss is bigger than us. Do you have to be afraid of him? We really do not have to be afraid. There was a sister who was always very conflicted. Later, I found out that she was always afraid of her supervisor. When the supervisor came to check her work, she would be beside herself. I taught her not to be afraid. Later, she tried it, and when she was not afraid of her boss, her boss was afraid of her instead. It was really strange, because we have God, and God has the final say, not the boss. Our God is the greatest. If you are afraid of him, our God cannot help you. God wants us to know that our God is the God who rules over all things and all the earth. Do not be afraid of your supervisor, and do not be afraid of your boss.

I teach the brothers and sisters in our church not to be afraid. Because it is not you who need your boss, it is your boss who needs you. If you need your boss, you will not be able to keep your job; if your boss needs you, he will definitely give you a promotion and a raise. Do not be afraid of your husband, be afraid of your family, and do not be afraid of your children, do not be afraid of anything. If you are afraid of anything, you will lose your freedom. Receiving grace is to let us be free.

If you are afraid of your boss, your boss will not value you at all; now that you are not afraid of your boss, your boss will treat you as talented instead. Why is this? Because we have God, do you think your boss is great? Our God's words count! But if you are afraid of them, God will not be able to help you. God wants us to understand that He is the great Sovereign who controls the whole earth. If you are afraid of him, our God cannot help you. God wants us to understand that He is the great Sovereign who controls the whole earth. I often teach our brothers and sisters not to be afraid, because it is not you who need your boss, but it is your boss who needs you. The position is right, the mentality is good, and your boss will give you a raise and promotion.

Whether you are afraid is your choice. You must remember that our God is a God who is in control. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and God even brought them out with great power, so the Bible says:

Do not be terrified by them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. (Deuteronomy 7:18-19)

You must know for sure that they are at enmity with you, that is, they are at enmity with God, and to be at enmity with God is to be at enmity with you, so what are you still afraid of? Your enemy is God's enemy. God wants to exterminate the enemy and give you the promised land. God will send hornets first to completely exterminate these enemies in front of you, and then you just follow God in the back. God wants to give you the promised land. If God is fighting with you, what are you afraid of! Although your enemy is stronger than you and their numbers are greater than yours, you do not have to be afraid.

Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. (Deuteronomy 7:20-21)

The process of building our church is a process of continuous purification. At the beginning, there were all kinds of people in our church, but later God moved them out one by one. In this process, I would also worry about the numbers. But if a pastor cares about the numbers, it will be very uncomfortable. Later, I developed an uncompromising character. So when people leave our church, we never advise them to come back. If people leave a church and are still advised to come back, then it is impossible to build a holy and glorious church, and it is impossible to receive God's promises.

Do not be afraid of people. For example, Saul led the Israelite officers and soldiers to fight, but people left one by one, and he was afraid. This is a compromising character. But I do not care. Even if I am the only one left in the church, I will build God's glorious church. Building the church with this mentality, the church becomes healthier and healthier. We should not be afraid of the enemy, do not be afraid of people leaving, be afraid that there is a compromising character in us. Working, living, and building a church all require an uncompromising character.

Gradually Drive Them Out, Lest They Be Destroyed Too Quickly

Although we are to build the glorious church of God, do not expect to eliminate the enemy all at once, because fighting the enemy, the devil, and engaging in constant warfare is a lifelong endeavor. We cannot eradicate them all at once because that is not how God works. God leads the Israelites step by step, reclaiming lost territory piece by piece. Some brothers and sisters expect to receive complete deliverance immediately, thinking that once they are delivered, they will be fine and can relax, but this is an unrealistic illusion. We have many things within us that need to be transformed little by little, and lost ground needs to be reclaimed little by little. In this way, we will experience God's promises little by little. Experiencing promises, fighting, and striking at the devil, our enemy, is a lifelong lesson for us.

Things Devoted to Destruction

An uncompromising attitude is also reflected in things devoted to destruction. What are things devoted to destruction? They are things related to idolatry, things that provoke God's wrath.

The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction. (Deuteronomy 7:25-26)

I once ministered to some brothers and sisters whose problems kept recurring after prayer. Later, I discovered that this situation was closely related to things devoted to destruction. Last night, I was very ill, suffering from food poisoning and feeling very uncomfortable. However, a sister asked me to pray for her, and I agreed. Later, she remembered that she had a stamp album at home, which actually contained many idols, which were detestable things. If you have detestable things, you become detestable. You must regard it as vile and utterly detest it. Therefore, we must be uncompromising in eliminating things devoted to destruction.

Initially, I did not pay much attention to these things devoted to destruction. I remember that before my father passed away, he gave the house to my younger brother, the other house to my younger sister, and gave me a batch of things devoted to destruction, which were idols and the like, with some value. I didn't care at the time and brought them home. Later, after several moves, they ended up on a bookshelf in the church office. As a result, I noticed that many brothers and sisters caught colds during that time. Colds that would normally be healed quickly with prayer were not improving no matter how much we prayed. Later, I prayed and asked God, and God revealed to me that there were things devoted to destruction. I remembered them, threw those things in the trash, and the brothers' and sisters' colds quickly cleared up.

Let us always remember that it is not that the devil is powerful, but that God is powerful! The colds were because we had taken things devoted to destruction. Our God hates this situation and causes these things to happen to us. Do you think the devil causes these things to happen? Actually, no, it is God who causes these things to happen to us. Brothers and sisters must understand that our God both blesses and curses. It is not that the devil is in control; God is definitely in control. If we have these problems, we must know for sure that we have made a mistake, and we must have an uncompromising attitude.

For quite some time, I prayed for a sister whose leg was very painful. I told her that she had things devoted to destruction in her home, but she was reluctant to throw them away. Later, when the pain became unbearable, she didn't care anymore and threw away those valuable things devoted to destruction, and her leg got better. Therefore, removing things devoted to destruction is a very important lesson. There is also something else, which is removing the idols in our hearts. The idols in our hearts may be even more powerful than the things devoted to destruction outside. Today, let us brothers and sisters continuously cleanse our hearts so that our thoughts and intentions increasingly align with God's heart. If we have idolatrous habits in our hearts, it is difficult for you to be in accordance with God's will, so today, let us brothers and sisters learn to be a holy nation.

An Uncompromising Character is Key to Being Blessed

Whether a person is blessed or not is closely related to whether they compromise or not. If you say that a person is not blessed, there must be a reason. To be a blessed person, to be a people blessed by God, you must be an uncompromising person. Keep and observe the commandments, statutes, and ordinances of God without compromise.

If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but will inflict them on all who hate you. (Deuteronomy 7:12-15)

You say, Pastor, you had food poisoning yesterday! You still dare to talk about this? Yes, I also compromise sometimes. But I react quickly, I repent quickly, and God will not inflict these disasters on me. Brothers and sisters must know for sure that if we get sick, we must completely reject those things within us that do not conform to God's will. If we get sick, we must thoroughly examine ourselves, become holy before God, and begin to deal with those bad habits within us.

If someone has a serious illness, know for sure that the sin you suffer is what you deserve, and you cannot blame others. How much of what you think in your heart is in accordance with God's will! You must begin to change your perspective and be a people blessed by God. With an uncompromising character, completely destroy the enemy, remove the idols in your heart, and remove the things devoted to destruction outside of us. If we remove these things, we will surely see that the fruit of our womb, the crops of our land, the grain, new wine, calves, and lambs will all be blessed. We will be blessed more than any other people, and the Lord will keep you free from every disease.

Brothers and sisters, do not think that I have already become holy. Although I am a pastor, I must constantly overcome my own carnal desires and lusts. Who doesn't want to be rich? But money cannot solve many problems. Occasionally, I also fall into some kind of confusion, such as when I see certain things and the reactions that arise within me may be displeasing to God. Therefore, I am not the standard; God's word is the standard. Whatever God's word says, we will do. We do not act according to what people say, but according to what God says. I think what God blesses must be this way.

Conclusion

An uncompromising attitude is key to building God's glorious church. Today, we strike at the devil and the enemy with all our might, that is, we strike at the devil and the enemy without compromise, and we keep and observe God's word without compromise. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. If the church still accommodates many things that do not conform to God's will, things devoted to destruction, etc., then the church will fall short of God's glory.

If we walk this path of building God's glorious church, we must have this uncompromising character. This uncompromising character will become the key to our being blessed throughout our lives. I long for God's promises to be manifested among us and fulfilled among us. I have this desire, and I also desire that brothers and sisters have this desire with me. You entered our church and began to be blessed because those who came before you were willing to offer themselves, willing to commit, and willing to pay the price, so you came in and were blessed. If you come among us and are also willing to commit, obey, and pay the price, then those who come later will also be blessed.

I don't want you to come among us and the church starts not being blessed, and those who come later are not blessed either. So don't think that the church is full of love. The church loves what God loves and hates what God hates. What God hates, you should not take it as a treasure to store up. What God hates, we should hate; what God abhors, we should also abhor; what God detests, we should also detest. The church is not Santa Claus's house; the church is the holy God, the jealous God, and is the body of our Jesus Christ. If we build the church with compromise, then we cannot obtain God's grace. I think I might offend some people by saying this. I know that some church pastors themselves have become depressed. What is the problem? It lies in compromise. There are also some churches that do not see God's promises, and many diseases occur among them. What is the reason? It is very simple, it is because of compromise.

Today, can we brothers and sisters run this road together with me, build God's glorious church, and have an uncompromising character like the Apostle Paul? The Apostle Paul had an uncompromising character and once quarreled with an apostle, Barnabas. Why? Because Barnabas took Mark, but Paul argued with Barnabas. We are surprised to hear this. How does the Bible even record that the Apostle Paul was like this? But brothers and sisters, do you know? Later, Mark became a very good friend of Paul. So we should not think that Paul was wrong to do so. There are many people who have this compromising character, which is not good.

I have a friend who named himself Barnabas. He thinks Barnabas is very good, but I think Paul is better. Why does he think Barnabas is better? Because there was Barnabas before there was Paul, as recorded in the New Testament. But Barnabas's character lacked Paul's uncompromising spirit. Actually, don't be mistaken. Do you see Barnabas leaving any epistles in the Bible? No, they were all left by Paul.

Do you know? When we first started the ministry of writing and wrote more than thirty books, where did it begin? It started with our uncompromising spirit. Many people once opposed it, but we kept striving to push it forward, and as a result, we have come to this day. Before 2014 and 2015, every word on our church's website was typed by me. Every audio and video was edited by me.

It is with this kind of character that we began to build God's glorious church. Pay the price. What is the point of living if you don't pay the price? Isn't that so? Our purpose in living is to build God's glorious church. With an uncompromising character, this is our church's clear presence of God.

Do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. (Deuteronomy 7:18-19)