【Original Audio Bible Study Recording - Mandarin Version - Theme: Those Who Are Enemies of God Will Perish - Sharing on August 14, 2019】

Introduction

I want to share with everyone the principles of the Kingdom of God through the Book of Joshua: those who are enemies of God will perish. I want our brothers and sisters to begin to have a very clear understanding of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is such that as long as you are willing to enter, no one can stop you. Our Kingdom of God is open. As long as you are willing to submit before God and obey Him, even if you use deceptive means to trick the Israelites into signing a treaty, God will not kill you.

However, there are some people who are stubborn in their hearts, and those who are stubborn in their hearts will be exterminated. People insist on resisting the Kingdom of God and being enemies with God, and they will be exterminated. The theme of this chapter is: Those who are enemies of God will perish. What do we see in this place? The King of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and utterly destroyed it, and then he heard another matter: that the Gibeonites had made a treaty with the Israelites. He heard two pieces of news: one was that all the people of Ai had been killed, and the other was that the Gibeonites had all survived.

At this time, the King of Jerusalem made a very foolish decision. Why do people often make foolish decisions? What is making foolish decisions related to? Making foolish decisions is related to money. But let's come back to this chapter. The King of Jerusalem felt that they had a chance to win, so he contacted several other kings. These five kings were the Amorite King, the King of Jerusalem, the King of Hebron, the King of Jarmuth, the King of Lachish, and the King of Eglon.

Then what did they do? They led their armies to camp against Gibeon and attack the Gibeonites. They wanted to destroy the Gibeonites. Why were these people so eager to fight against the Israelites? These Gibeonites surrendered, seeking God's grace and mercy, and God allowed them to obtain it. In fact, the Israelites did not seek God. If the Israelites had sought God and asked Him how to deal with the Gibeonites, I tell you, God would have told the Israelites to keep them.

Must Begin With a Genuine Understanding of God

I think we all must know God, must know that our God is full of grace and full of mercy. The Israelites were deceived, and they did not seek Jehovah, but they just did what was in God's heart. In fact, God will not destroy anyone who does not resist Him. If you are determined to resist God, God will be determined to destroy you. Not only were the Gibeonites not killed, but God also recognized those who came to attack the Gibeonites as enemies of the Kingdom of God.

What is God's solution to these people? God's solution is very interesting.

The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! All the Amorite kings who live in the mountains have joined forces against us.” So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” (Joshua 10:6-8)

God is resolving two confusions. The first confusion is whether Joshua will be afraid of them, and the second confusion is whether it is appropriate for me to help the Gibeonites in this way. As a result, Jehovah said to Joshua: Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hands; not one of them will be able to stand before you. This is incredible. Our God clearly allows us to see that God wants to save even people like the Gibeonites. If you come to attack the Gibeonites, God will also destroy those who attack the Gibeonites. Our God is really good. At this time, what will we see? We see another very wonderful thing.

The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them with great slaughter at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. (Joshua 10:10-11)

This is so strange. How could God hate these people so much? How could God have so little compassion to strike these people? Brothers and sisters, let me tell you something you may not like to hear. Many of us Christians especially like to regard our God as Santa Claus, but in fact, our God is not Santa Claus at all. You must know one thing: our God has never changed from ancient times to the present. To those who love Jehovah God, He will show grace and mercy, blessing you to a thousand generations, but to those who hate God, God will by no means leave you unpunished; God will punish your sins to the third and fourth generations. Do you understand?

Rejecting Womanly Kindness

Our brothers and sisters often have a problem called womanly kindness. For example, let’s talk about building a church. There are many people in the church who resist God, but some brothers and sisters are womanly kind. They are full of grace and mercy towards those who are enemies with God. Will God regard you as an enemy? God will also regard you as his enemy.

Brothers and sisters must gradually understand why we have such high demands on our brothers and sisters. It is not because of anything else, but because we do not allow God's enemies to be mixed in the church. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. Those who are in the church must be disciples of Jesus Christ.

In other words, we are working hard to transform those believers into disciples. Some people are not here to build up the church with you, but to destroy the church. But how do many people who build churches do it? They keep these people in the church. They think that is called God's grace and mercy, but I call this kind of thing womanly kindness.

I often tell our pastors never to have womanly kindness. We will take those who are willing to follow us to build God's glorious church. But if people come to make trouble, if people come to challenge us, why should you keep them there? You must know one thing: God has no mercy on those who hate him. Some people are full of grace and mercy to those who hate God, but what about those who love God? That's not necessarily the case.

We must begin to know that our God is by no means a Santa Claus. The way He deals with those who love Him and those who hate Him is absolutely different. If some people come to resist the Kingdom of God, then they are enemies of the Kingdom of God. Take the matter of casting out demons, for example. It is very interesting in the church. One pastor said that these people have no ability to cast out demons, but casting out pastors is worth two of the other. If they are not enemies of the Kingdom of God, then what are they?

Furthermore, there are too many people in the church who confuse the gospel of God. If they are not enemies of God, then what are they? God wants to strike them. Do you want to have a heart of grace and mercy towards them? This is a bit difficult to answer. Whenever I touch on this topic, my own mouth stutters a bit. Why? Because it will offend many people to speak up. I say this in front of our brothers and sisters, give any that you cannot shepherd to your pastors, and those your pastors cannot shepherd, give to your pastors' pastors, and those your pastors' pastors cannot shepherd, give to me, and if I cannot fix it, then God can fix it, and we will hand it over to God.

As for the church that we want to build, it is a holy and unified church, and we must be holy and unified. For example, some people do not give tithes in the church. What are they doing in the church? You think the church is demanding too much, but that's not the case. It's not about whether or not to give offerings. Do you think I care about this money? I don't care about this money. If a person keeps the tithe that should be given in his own hands, then isn't he becoming an enemy of God? Then he is becoming a thief of the Kingdom of God. That's what the 《Bible》 says. They themselves have become things devoted to destruction.

In the seventh chapter, it is said that Achan stole things that belonged to God. God originally said that those things belonged to God, but he stole them himself, and he himself became a thing devoted to destruction. As a result, the entire Israel was defeated. So, I ask you, are these Gibeonites considered things devoted to destruction? The Gibeonites surrendered to the Israelites as a whole and signed a treaty with the Israelites, and then God had mercy on the Gibeonites. Don't you think it's very interesting? Someone came to attack the Gibeonites, and God destroyed all those who attacked the Gibeonites.

Our God is really interesting. You have to ponder carefully. If the Gibeonites came among us, we would bring them under shepherding, but if the King of Jerusalem, the King of Hebron, the King of Jarmuth, the King of Lachish, and the King of Eglon came to challenge us, then these are enemies of the Kingdom of God.

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. (Joshua 10:12-13)

What great faith this is! What is this faith used for? This faith is to kill the enemies of the Kingdom of God. Why does Jehovah fight for Israel? Because the Israelites are Jehovah's soldiers, and Jehovah God is the commander of the Israelites. So, it is obvious that our God fights for us. Why? Because we work with God to destroy the works of the devil and the enemy.

Some people say that now is the New Testament, not the Old Testament. In fact, whether it is the New Testament or the Old Testament, God has never changed. It is just that many people oppose the New Testament and the Old Testament when they read the 《Bible》. The New Testament and the Old Testament are actually both God's will. Some people do not understand God and say that God is really cruel when they see this situation. Is God really cruel? In fact, God is a God full of grace and mercy, but God has no mercy on those who resist Him and are enemies with Him.

Brothers and sisters begin to learn a lesson, do not have womanly kindness, and do not bring those who are enemies with God into the church. The church is a group of Mingding Destiny people, not a group of people who are enemies with God. Let us quote a New Testament 《Bible》 story. The New Testament 《Bible》 story is very interesting. It is recorded in the 《Acts of the Apostles》 that the Apostle Peter preached:

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:37-42)

After that, Peter preached again in Solomon's Colonnade. As a result, one person's illness was cured that day, and many more people believed in the Lord. Many people who study how the church grows read this passage, thinking that the goal is to pursue numbers since three thousand people were added all at once. In fact, I also pursued numbers at that time, but later I changed. Why?

Because the matter of pursuing the number of people in the church is actually a very serious matter. Why is it so serious? Because although they made three thousand or five thousand people believe in the Lord, are these all people who believe in the Lord? In fact, many Pharisees mixed in, and as a result, the church was in chaos, because all kinds of people came.

As a result, at that time, many Greek-speaking Jews complained against the Hebrew-speaking Jews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Everyone was afraid that they would get less of the advantage. Is this prosperity or not? I think this is also God's work. As a result, 7 deacons were selected. As we move forward, the church became full of people from the sect of the Pharisees. We just talked about Beware of the Yeast of the Pharisees recently. Did Peter beware of the yeast of the Pharisees when he led the church? Not at all.

Building God's Glorious Church

Should the church pursue numbers or should it pursue God's pleasure? If we pursue numbers, we will have great trouble. Everyone must know that in the process of church growth, if you pursue the number of people in the church, I tell you, the yeast of the Pharisees will definitely mix in. So later, in the process of building the church, I changed my thinking. What I pursue is no longer numbers, what I pursue is unity. This is why we say that we want to build a holy, unified, and victorious elite church.

So, what did the Jerusalem church become later? In the 15th chapter of 《Acts of the Apostles》, the leader of the Christians who supported the sect of the Pharisees, this Mr. James, agreed that the law of Moses could not be denied, but he also insisted that people keep circumcision. Those of us who are familiar with the New Testament 《Bible》 will find that the Apostle Paul strongly opposed keeping circumcision and did not need to keep the law of Moses, because in the past, in the years of Jesus, for 1,500 years since the law of Moses was promulgated, apart from creating a large group of Pharisees who nailed Jesus to the cross, nothing was actually accomplished.

Because nothing can be accomplished by relying on the flesh of man, and the people from the sect of the Pharisees mixed into the church, and their leader was James, the James who wrote 《James》. People of James went everywhere, and everyone who saw them was afraid. Even Peter, the great apostle of the church at that time, later lost his leadership power in the church. He was once a great disciple of Jesus Christ, but was later overthrown by the people of the sect of the Pharisees.

I think this is a very deadly thing. Where did it start? It started from having three thousand people believe in the Lord all at once, and having five thousand people believe in the Lord all at once. Among us, some pastors, when you hear this passage, you have to think about it and never bring the enemies of the Kingdom of God into the church. If you not only bring the enemies of the Kingdom of God into the church, but also put these people in a leadership position, then it will be a big trouble. They will definitely become enemies of the Kingdom of God and will definitely bring serious corruption. Fortunately, there is the Apostle Paul, so that we can have a pure gospel.

You ask me why our church has such great power, so many people are healed, and so many people are delivered, because we inherit the teachings of Jesus Christ and inherit the belief system of the Apostle Paul. In fact, the words in the 《Bible》 are very interesting. Luke, who wrote 《Acts of the Apostles》, was a doctor and was a helper to the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was taken to Rome and sued in court. Luke wrote 《Luke》 and 《Acts of the Apostles》 under this circumstance. Among them, the content of 《Luke》 represents Paul's thoughts, and it is written to describe this person named James.

Therefore it is my judgment that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. (Acts 15:19-21)

What do you glean from this? That people must observe the law of Moses, is it not? But I do not trouble you Gentiles. However, Israelis and Jews who believe in the Lord, I must give you a hard time; you must keep the law of Moses. Is that still the Gospel? Actually, there is more to what they say. What are the true colours of these people? What is in their bones? Do not think that just because someone is in church, he is a brother or she is a sister. In many churches, it is rampant how the church is corrupted.

Many pastors are pathetic, weeping and wailing, recounting the tragic history of their ministry. Why is that? Because of feminine leniency. Can you bring the enemies of God into God's church? The demons on these people are very bad. Looking around the church, you see all kinds of evil spirits in people.

Precisely because of this, we must take revenge on the devil and the enemy. What we do is to set the captives free and release the oppressed. Those who come among us must be willing themselves. If you are not willing yourself, who can help you? If you pursue the number of people in the church, I tell you it is very dangerous. What we must pursue is that the church must carefully keep and follow God's will, remove feminine leniency, and not bring the enemies of God into God's church, or even put them in leadership positions in the church, or else it is truly being at odds with God!

According to God's Will, God Will Surely Accomplish

In the process of God fighting for us, brothers and sisters, do not be afraid or dismayed. Even if we make mistakes, God will correct our mistakes. When we become strong and no longer have feminine leniency, boldly making demands of our brothers and sisters, then what we declare with our mouths, God will accomplish. Joshua obeyed God, he carefully kept and followed Moses' teachings, according to all the words that the Lord commanded, serving according to God's will. Joshua said, Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Ajalon. And God accomplished it.

In the book of Samuel, there is a sentence that deeply influenced me after I read it, which says: None of Samuel's words fell to the ground. I exclaimed: God, I want to be such a person! When building God's glorious church, we fight for God with faith, and God will also lead us to fight, releasing people from the hands of the devil, building God's glorious church, building the body of Jesus Christ. I have found that many times what I say, God accomplishes, because I build God's church according to God's will, and I never pity the enemies of God.

So brothers and sisters, if you are among us, and you find that our requirements are very high, it is not strange. Some people think that we place too much emphasis on offerings. I repeat again, if you do not know God, we do not accept your offerings. We are not keeping you here just to receive people's offerings. We are building God's kingdom. God's kingdom is not short of money, and the body of Jesus Christ is not short of money, only those who do not build the church according to God's will become very poor. The poorer the church, the more it needs offerings, and the more the church needs offerings, the more it brings the enemies of God into the church, and then the church becomes even poorer.

Before the Apostle Paul was arrested, he came to Jerusalem with many offerings, but he was arrested in Jerusalem. At that time, the church in Jerusalem had become very poor. If you are a pastor of a church and are also listening to my sharing, know that the poverty of the church represents God's displeasure. Why? Because you have not carefully kept and obeyed God's word, and have not built the church according to all of God's words. We must know that a church with things devoted to destruction will surely be defeated. If you are defeated, you will not be able to receive God's promises, so we must all emulate Joshua.

Then some people are confused, are all these people killed? Are there no good people? I believe that there must be some very kind people among the five kings of the Amorites and the people in the city. Are kind people also killed? Is there any justice? Everyone should know that the Gibeonites were saved, and Rahab's whole family was also saved, but none of these people in the city came to emulate the Gibeonites, and none emulated Rahab. They were determined to resist God and became enemies of God together.

So God not only had the Israelites strike them down, but also sent down great hailstones. More people were killed by hailstones than were killed by the Israelites. That is who God is. It is still the same in the New Testament. Therefore, we must not look at the appearance, but at the essence. I tell you that nothing that happens to people is unfair, it all happens according to the blessings Mingding Destiny by God, or according to the disaster Mingding Destiny by God.

When we read God's word, especially those who are pastors, we must read into God's will. Some people think that this is the God of the Old Testament, not the God of the New Testament, so when they share with brothers and sisters, they also find some excuses for God, finding some steps down. Actually, God does not need such steps down, because our God is such a God!

Some time ago, a person was so poor that they could not make ends meet. They came to me. She was a fund manager and was being sued in court. When she came among us, she had many other problems. I also felt sorry for her, so I led her in prayer. Just a few minutes after praying, God told me that this was a thief. I said, You are not a tithing person. You do not tithe. These are all disasters that God has brought upon you. After hearing this, she stared at me and began to scold me.

Do you think I can minister to such a person? Actually, she really was a thief. She said, I have given offerings, I have donated money to the poor. If there are such people among us, then you are a cursed person. Tithes belong to God. You can donate whatever you want outside of the tithe, but do not bring what belongs to God outside of God's temple. Those who are at odds with God must be destroyed. Never be at odds with God. Offering is just a beginning. If you are going to be a thief in offerings, what will you do in the future?

As a result, Joshua pursued these five kings, and finally brought them out of the cave and killed them all. Then you say, did these five kings have no redeeming qualities? Actually, what are or what are not redeeming qualities is not what God looks at. If you resist God, then you are an enemy of God.

Resisting God Is Being an Enemy of God

Joshua 10 records:

And Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction all the people in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. (Joshua 10:28)

Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. And the Lord gave Libnah also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. (Joshua 10:29-30)

And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah. Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining. (Joshua 10:32-33)

Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it. And they captured it and struck it and its king and all its towns with the edge of the sword. He left none remaining, just as he had done to Eglon, but devoted it and all the people who were in it to destruction. (Joshua 10:36-37)

Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to Debir and fought against it. And he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction all the people who were in it; he left none remaining. As he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and to their kings, so he did to Debir and to its king. (Joshua 10:38-39)

Therefore, I divide people into two categories: those who are blessed and those who are cursed. We can look at ourselves and see whether we are blessed or cursed. If you find that you have many problems and that everything you do is very difficult, I think there must be a reason. If you really want to know the reason, then I encourage you to read Deuteronomy 28, which includes everything about blessings and cursings. If you find that many of the signs on you are the same as the signs of a curse, you must be careful and you need to repent, like the Gibeonites and Rahab, and not become one of those who are destroyed.

Many people think that going to church on Sunday makes them a Christian, but that is useless. So those who were killed by Joshua, they thought they were very reasonable and that God was unreasonable, but actually God speaks of God's reason, which is to do it this way. Why does God do it this way? Actually, in God's eyes, how you die is the same. As long as people do not turn to God, then how they die is about the same. So brothers and sisters, you cannot see through problems by looking at them with human eyes.

One of our sisters, I led her to believe in the Lord, her son got depression, I called her, she felt that her son was much better, but he was not much better, the demon was just hiding. In the matter of casting out demons, we often look at problems with human eyes. From God's perspective, her child is still the same as before, and is still a person who resists God. I believe that many people have a lot of confusion in the matter of casting out demons.

Once I went to class, during a break, everyone came out of the classroom and into the surrounding open space. Among them, there was a sister whom I had once ministered to. She knew about my affairs and brought a very seriously ill person to me. This person was on the verge of collapse because she was being tormented by demons. I led her in prayer. The demons began to scream after only two minutes of prayer. It was troublesome whenever the demons screamed. The teachers and pastors in charge of the class heard the sounds and came out. I slipped away because it was someone else's turf and they were all pastors and co-workers.

But they used the way of indulging in the flesh to help her, and stuffed the demons back into this sister's body. Fortunately, not all of them were stuffed back in. As a result, this sister's body recovered a bit of normalcy. actually, she would have been released if they had continued to cast the demon out. As a result, she ran to the front after class to give her testimony on the stage. As a result, she went up and said that she had been feeling very uncomfortable, and she felt something inside of her that made her feel very frantic and collapsed, and she was about to die, but someone prayed for her and cast the demon out of her body, and then some people came and gave her a massage. Wouldn't it have been even better if they had continued to cast out the demons?

Learn to Look at Problems with God's Eyes

People like to look at problems with human eyes, but we need to learn to look at problems with God's eyes. Those who become enemies of the Lord will be destroyed. I have encountered many pastors with cancer. Brothers and sisters should think carefully, cancer is a curse, because it violates God's word. Where have they violated God's word? Actually, it is really hard to find, but they often soften up on destroying God's enemies.

Like King Saul, if you read 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, you will find that King Saul often had mercy on God's enemies. Brothers and sisters, what is our mission? Our mission is not to engage in charity, our mission is to build God's kingdom and follow God's will. It is not to be a good person, but to be a person after God's own heart. Being a good person is just a moral code. Being a person after God's own heart is like Joshua, commendable in doing this.

You may not agree, and I find it hard to agree after reading it. But I know that other people do the right thing, and I may not do the right thing. Some people read it and think that other people did not do the right thing and that they did the right thing, as if they were even more powerful than Joshua, and more powerful than Isaac and Jacob. Brothers and sisters, never, ever have mercy on God's enemies. Our mission is to receive the mission from God, take the Mingding Destiny of this generation, and then build the body of Jesus Christ.

Some people may be confused, is there a problem with doing charity? But as for me, I am to build the body of Jesus Christ, build God's kingdom, build God's glorious church, and release the captive souls. Actually, I do not care at all about the number of people. What do we care about? The New Testament asks us to build the church, to build the body of Jesus Christ. At this time, Jesus Christ is about to come. Should we not cleanse the church with the word of God so that the church has no blemishes, wrinkles, or other problems?

What exactly are we going to do today? Some time ago, someone contacted me. He had a lot of mentally retarded, autistic, and people with various disabilities, and their church's ministry was to educate these people. I thought about it, what are they seeing me for? The Bible clearly writes that these people are full of demons, and besides releasing them from bondage, there is no good way. He should go to God, and there is no use in seeing me.

Conclusion

We are to trample on the devil and the enemy, and make God's will the principle of all our actions, and God will surely take the promised land and give it to us. Therefore, those who obey God will receive the promise, and those who resist God will be destroyed. Some people say, I do not need blessings, give the blessings to them, and you seem to have mercy on these people on behalf of God. When we see that people have problems with poverty, it is actually God who makes them poor. Of course, we need to have a heart of compassion, but not solve people's problems with human methods.

I may not have said it clearly, but there is one thing: God will punish those who hate him to the third and fourth generations. Jesus has already died for us, that is for those who repent. How can God save someone who does not repent and does not rely on God? If we are God's people, and we build God's glorious church, then the Lord God of Israel will surely fight for us, trample on the devil and the enemy, and take the promised land and give it to us!

May God bless everyone!

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