Keeping and Obeying is Key

What is this passage about? It is about keeping and obeying all the commands of the Lord your God, and not disobeying. A few days ago, I tried to tell a Chinese sister in Singapore that she should keep and obey, but she insisted on arguing with me, even interrupting me. Whatever I said, she would say, Not necessarily. What did she mean? After reading the word of God, she still wanted to speculate and discern. Whether it is speculation or discernment, let's see today, who can understand what this is about?

If you offer an offering by fire to the Lord, from the herd or from the flock, as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the Lord, then he who brings his offering shall offer to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil. And you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering for each lamb. Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (Numbers 15:3-7)

After reading these words, I can guess that some people will say, A tenth? Just grab a handful. Do you have such thoughts? Some people are wondering why it is a tenth? Why a tenth? Why flour, wine, and this and that? Just use some gutter oil, right? Would that work?

In our generation, those who do not keep and obey are everywhere. Today, we must know that the God in the Old Testament and the God in the New Testament are the same God. That is to say, this regulation and concept have never changed. You must keep and obey. You only have the part of obeying, not the part of changing. Do you understand? Today, some people often change things.

Let me give you an example, which is about baptism. The initial baptism was to put people under the water. If the Jordan River is too far, then go to the Yangtze River; if the Yangtze River is too far, then go to the Yellow River; if the Yellow River is also too far, then find a ditch near your home; if finding a small ditch is also troublesome, then just use a tank at home. At first, there was water in the tank, but later they felt why use a tank of water? Save some water, God understands me, so it became half a tank of water; after thinking about it, they felt it was okay, so they used a basin; later, they didn't even use a basin, they used a bowl; finally, they didn't even use a bowl, they used a small willow branch and sprinkled a little water. What is this? I think this is what Bodhisattvas do. I have never seen Jesus do this. I have only seen Bodhisattvas do this in Journey to the West.

Hearing the Word of God and Doing It

Today, some people just like to change the word of God. For example, before Jesus ascended to heaven, he said: And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)

Some people hear this and think, Why speak in new tongues? They forgot the words of Jesus and remembered the words of Paul: those tongues cannot be spoken unless they are translated. But you don't know if there is a translation when you speak. What should be done about this? They use many things to violate a clear word. Today, when we read the word of God, we don't do it after we understand, but we understand after we do it. You ask me why it is a tenth, what wine and fine flour represent, these are not important, what is important is whether you do it accordingly.

The Israelites like to study these things, such as keeping the Sabbath. People often fall into speculation, speculating about whether to do it this way or that way. If you look closely at the words of our God, you will find a characteristic: the words of God are very specific. I used to be in management, and I found a very interesting phenomenon: if you assign tasks to your employees and you don't describe the parameters of the task specifically, it will be very troublesome. For example, building a house: what kind of house to build? Any kind of house is fine. Take a toy house, can people live in it? No.

Is this a house? It is a house, but it is a model of a house. We will find that our God is a management expert. Regarding sacrifices, He never says that it is okay to sacrifice casually this way or that way. Our God describes the parameters very clearly. If you deal with our God, you will find that God is very powerful. When He does things, He sets the parameters very accurately, but why are these parameters set this way? Even if I tell you, you will not understand.

Today, we must know that the obvious things belong to us humans, and the mysteries belong to the Lord our God. This is the creed of faith that I have always followed. I don't study what is not said in the Bible. Where in the Bible does it tell you why it is a quarter or a tenth? No. I have summarized one point: the key is to do what God says. Later, I saw in the Bible that Moses wrote: as the Lord commanded Moses, so he did; as the Lord commanded Joshua, so he did; as God commanded Jesus Christ, so Jesus Christ did.

Is there a why? No why. Later, I wondered about this matter: not talking about why, don't you think it is strange that there is no why? Later, I understood, because even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. A former employee of mine came to me and asked, Why do we do this? I was so angry. A recent graduate asked me why. I said, Even if I tell you, you won't understand. It will take you ten or eight years to study it. Can you really understand what God does? God gave the obvious things to us humans and kept the mysteries for Himself.

I used to read a book called The Trinity. I found that Paul had not studied the Trinity. Why didn't Paul study it, but today's theologians want to study it? I am really puzzled. I bought it and read it, but I was confused. I can understand what I read. If I don't understand, it may be because the author didn't write it clearly. Everyone should be careful. If you can't understand a book no matter how you read it, either it is not suitable for you, or the author didn't write it clearly. If the author didn't write it clearly, can you understand it? To put it bluntly, the author is talking nonsense and piecing things together. The Bible never studied the word Trinity. If you find the Trinity, come and tell me. Is it three heads and one body, or three bodies and one head? Isn't that a monster? Three heads and six arms is Nezha, that is not our God. So today, we need to understand one thing: we don't care about what the Bible has not revealed to us.

If you want to study, study the Bible thoroughly. That day, I tested that speculative sister with a question: what is the New Testament about? She said the New Testament is about God being with people, which is good, but she doesn't know how to be with people. The most mentioned word in the New Testament is the church. In Revelation, the first thing mentioned is the church. The victorious church opens the new chapter of human history.

Today, when we build the church, we must build a victorious church; when we build a victorious church, we will open a new chapter in human history. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and the church is the body of Jesus Christ. The victorious church is connected with Jesus Christ, and I don't know where the non-victorious church is connected to. Why do I say this? Because Jesus Christ is the head of the church, the church is the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ puts all things under His feet, that is, His church puts all things under its feet. We brothers and sisters should develop a habit: when we read the Bible and reach what we should do, we must do it. What is said in the Bible is what we should do.

I gave that sister a second homework assignment. I said, Go and read the first chapter of Genesis, and do what God says. But how can the first chapter be done? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3). You say, how can I do it? Can I do it? Anyway, I can't do it. I can't do the first verse of the first chapter of the Bible. I can't go back to the beginning where God created the heavens and the earth. What can I do? But I know that it is wise to read the word of God and do it, otherwise it is foolish. But what if the first sentence cannot be done?

Some time ago, I was very troubled when I read this sentence, so I knelt down and prayed for two weeks. The revelation of God came to me. You may ask why it took two weeks, why didn't He tell you in one day? God is testing you to see if you really want to seek Him. Later, God said, You are made in my image. How I do it, you do it—you don't need to create the heavens and the earth. You have the image of God in you. When you encounter a situation of darkness and emptiness, let my Spirit move there, and then you declare, and things will be accomplished. These words are good! I said, God, I have never seen a theologian interpret the scriptures like this. My God is great! God immediately told me how to do His word.

Understanding God's Will and Thinking About How to Do God's Word

Today, the transformation we bring is to restore the glorious image of God in us while we are alive. We originally possessed the glorious image of God, but today the result of our lives is the opposite. Those who trust in God must live out the image of God. Because God created us originally in that image. If you believe, God will accomplish this thing. If we don't believe, we won't do it. We read the word of God and discern and speculate there, and we still think it makes sense. Think about what your brain is like in the presence of God. There is a saying circulating in Israel: when humans think, God laughs. Human thinking is at most discerning good and evil. You can think, but think according to God's thinking, not according to human thinking. People think about the word of God:

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Thinking about how to do it, not thinking about it again and again and still spinning in your brain. Turning out a Pharisee this way. Because the Pharisees spent a lot of time studying the word of God, and by the time of Jesus, they had become Pharisees. They believed that Jesus could not heal on the Sabbath. They formed a team and wrote a book on how to keep the Sabbath, a thick book. God laughed in heaven, When did I tell you to keep the Sabbath like this? The Sabbath is for drawing near to God. You draw near and forget the image of God, and rely on speculation.

We must understand what the will of God is. God is a God of justice and mercy. If a sheep falls into a well, pull it up. This is called keeping the Sabbath. If a sheep falls into a well, wait until after twelve o'clock to pull it up. This is called being a Pharisee. Our God is a great and awesome God, full of power. We must strictly obey the word of God, keeping and obeying.

In the New Testament, first, do what Jesus did, which is called imitation. Imitation is a kind of wisdom. Second, do what Paul did. Recently, we have been attacking religious evil spirits. The spirit of religion will lead people astray. The Pharisees kept the Sabbath well, but deviated from the will of God, which is abhorrent. They thought they were serving God, but when the Lord of the Sabbath came, they crucified Jesus.

We must completely deal with the image of the Pharisees and attack the spirit of religion. The spirit of religion is forgetting the will of God and focusing on the letter. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6) Recently, we have been attacking the spirit of religion. Many things have happened. The spirit of religion has begun to fight back frantically. Religious people are hypoc

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## No matter where you are from, God is pleased if you diligently observe and follow His word.

This applies not only to the Israelites but also to the Gentiles who must diligently observe and follow. Ruth and Rahab diligently observed and followed God's word, and they were included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. God does not care where you are from; He only cares whether you diligently observe and follow. When building a church, we must dare to require every brother and sister to diligently observe and follow. This is something we are very strict about and will never compromise on. Either stay and follow the Mingding Destiny with us, or leave. Comply as much as you can, and we will not blame you if you do not receive it.

In the New Testament, obedience is a very important concept. If a person is not obedient, he cannot be blessed. You must learn to obey; this is God's word. Come among us and continue to grow. Today, if we teach you the 101 Course, you must diligently observe and follow it. If we teach you the words of the 201 Course, you must receive and follow them little by little.

We will extract the core belief system – Chinese Mingding Destiny. If you listen to it, then diligently observe and follow it. If you diligently observe and follow and suddenly make a mistake, we allow you to make mistakes. If you are willing to repent, offer a sacrifice of repentance, and God will surely forgive you. If you diligently observe and follow, God will raise up the right people at the right time. God wants to greatly restore things in our time, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be restored in the church.

God wants to build a strong and glorious church on earth, restore the truth of the church, and build a glorious church to welcome the return of the Lord Jesus. Today, we must know that there are occasionally Gentiles in the church, but that does not mean you can do whatever you want. We never speak ambiguously. We tell our brothers and sisters what to do, and these are very specific things. We are not the kind of people who talk vaguely; we do not talk about grand theories. We only talk about what is feasible. Read God's word and then do it:

**Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25)**

That is the core of our belief system. No matter what, after reading God's word, you must put it into practice. If you do not know how to do it, ask God, and God will surely tell you how. But do not go astray and spend all day studying why it is a tithe, why there are fifty ropes, and why there are fifty pegs. We are not mathematicians; we are mighty people who believe in the Lord. So whether you are local or a sojourner, no matter who you are, when you come to our church, you must diligently observe and follow. Not only must you diligently observe and follow, but you must also hang God's word on your sleeve and make tassels on the edges of your clothes, and then constantly remember the words of the Lord your God. What we share with you that you can receive, receive it well.

I really thank God that the pastoral work we are promoting in the church today is very important. Yesterday, I called a former boss of mine from many years ago. He leads a seminary in Singapore and is a brother who also loves the Lord very much. When I told him about what I was doing, he said, Okay. When I continued to speak, he said, Okay again. One day, I must go and see him, to visit my former boss. What I am saying is this: we must know one thing today. We must read God's word and go to God. This is crucial, and no matter who comes, they cannot change this fact.

I know that some people, when they enter a church, the pastor of that church is particularly afraid of you, afraid that you will cause trouble in the church and is constantly guarding against you. That is not how it is among us. We are not afraid of anyone; we only want to bring people to the words of God, to diligently observe and follow God's word. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. God has especially given us an opportunity to make mistakes, so we repent, and then again and again, you will truly understand what God's words are saying.

**But the one who does anything presumptuously, whether native-born or foreigner, is blaspheming the Lord and must be cut off from their people. Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them. (Numbers 15:30-31)**

In the church, we must maintain the holiness of the body of Jesus Christ. The body of Jesus Christ is not a place for collecting scraps; the body of Jesus Christ is a place for collecting treasures. We must bring treasures to the church of Jesus Christ to become the body of Jesus Christ, and that is a holy church. We never pursue numbers; we only pursue holiness and unity, and then fight a victorious battle. The church cannot but be blessed. Having said all this, one day, a case suddenly arises: a person went to gather firewood on the Sabbath. Is it necessary to stone him to death? Isn't he just gathering firewood? What do you think? Many of us would not agree with God. I agree with God. I do not know why God is so harsh, but I know that what God did was right. I agree with God; I will not agree with people's moral concepts. I agree with God's word.

Thank God that in the New Testament, we will not take a person outside the city and stone him to death. But we must know that this sentence gives us a very deep revelation: what will happen if this kind of person is mixed in with the church? Today, he went up the mountain to pick up firewood and came back. On the first Sunday, ten people went up the mountain to pick up firewood. The second week, many people went up the mountain to pick mushrooms. After another week, many people went up the mountain to hunt. After a while, who knows what it will be. Everyone begins to think, what is the Sabbath? Isn't this quite restful? What happened as a result? The result will be like Adam and Eve after they sinned, deteriorating until Noah. When Noah came out of the ark, it deteriorated again until Abraham. Everywhere was full of sinners.

## Following one's own heart will lead people astray.

People in this world like to go their own way. I later discovered why people are like this: because people like to follow their own hearts, and their eyes commit adultery. Following one's own heart will despise the commands of the Lord your God. Can you understand? I think what people say is very reasonable: my child is freezing at home; can I not burn some firewood? What does burning firewood matter? What does it matter if I violate the commands of the Lord God a little bit?

Look at our churches today; there are examples of violating the commands of the Lord God everywhere. Just now, I gave an example of baptism. People think it is a matter of course to go to the hospital when they are sick. How can we not send him to the hospital when he is sick? It seems like there is something wrong with us. But the hospital treats him to death and has to pay hundreds of thousands in compensation. God, why do you let such things happen?

A few days ago, a friend told me that a pastor I know had a recurrence of cancer. Today, we need to carefully say a sentence. What is this sentence? Do not follow your own heart; we must diligently observe and follow the commands, decrees, and laws of the Lord our God. It is not called following if you only follow one sentence; it is called following if you follow all the sentences.

Let me give you another example. Are there not very many churches that prohibit praying in tongues? Is that in accordance with the Bible? The Bible says not to forbid people from praying in tongues, not to quench the Holy Spirit. As a result, one day a brother was moved by the Holy Spirit, but it seemed to be from the devil, and it was no longer allowed. This is the same principle as the Chinese saying of giving up eating for fear of choking. One person died in a swimming pool, so everyone stopped learning to swim. One person choked to death drinking water, so everyone stopped drinking water. One person choked to death eating, so everyone stopped eating. In the end, everyone starved to death. This is driven by fear.

Today I am telling you that many places are driven by fear. Do you know what hinders innovation? Fear, because if I innovate, I will make mistakes. If I make mistakes, I will lose my job, so everyone thinks, Do not move, do not rock the boat, everyone be quiet.

I thank God that today is really the era of us Chinese. The Chinese are hardworking and diligent, and the Chinese are bold and dare to innovate. Someone told a very interesting story about Chinese logic.

I am telling this as a negative example: One day, the gates of heaven were broken and bidding was invited. As a result, the Germans bid, the Indians bid, and the Chinese bid. The Chinese won the bid. Everyone bid, the Germans bid very expensively, and the Chinese bid very cheaply and won the bid. Why? Because the Chinese used Chinese methods. Later, the gates of hell were broken and God wanted to invite bids: this time God said, I want to change the rules of the game. The Chinese bid, the Indians bid, and the Chinese bribed the little devils and won the bid. Later, the gates of the human world were broken, and God said, No, this time I have to change the rules, and I have to set up a lot of rules like this and that. The Chinese came to bid, I will build it for you for free and guarantee it for 150 million years, and the Chinese won the bid. Later, the Chinese built a gate in the back and charged a fee.

The Chinese are very creative, but this is an example of negative creativity. I do not approve of this kind of creativity, but I want to illustrate one thing: we Chinese have many examples of creativity today, and we Chinese also need to learn to abide by the rules. Learn to abide by God's rules, diligently observe and follow the words of the Lord our God, and do not be creative in this area, turning the Jordan River into a can, the can into a bowl, and the bowl into a small cup of dragonfly skimming water.

Today, we begin not to follow our own hearts; this is key. We must follow God's heart, because the Lord our God is a jealous God. He brought us out of the land of Egypt to be our God. The Lord is our God, so diligently observe and follow the word of the Lord God. Do we want to diligently observe and follow today? If you still do not know how to diligently observe and follow, it does not matter. Imitate Abraham, imitate Isaac, Joseph, Jacob, imitate Jesus Christ, imitate the Apostle Paul; that is the way.

So brothers and sisters, we must completely change today. Do not follow your own hearts, following your own hearts often leads us to destruction. Today we must begin to understand one thing: if the gospel that people preach is not the gospel that Paul preached, then he should be cursed. Today, this Chinese Mingding Destiny that we are talking about easily explains several phenomena: the first phenomenon is that the pastor gets cancer. If a person diligently observes and follows the words of the Lord God, do you think he will get cancer? This is a debilitating disease.

## Cursed for not diligently observing and following God's word

**If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. (Deuteronomy 28:58-59)**

After reading these words, you will know what the result will be if you are a Christian but you do not diligently observe and follow God's word. The Lord God will put great and prolonged disasters and severe and lingering illnesses on you. It is not that you do not follow all of it; following only part of it is enough. God wants us to follow all the decrees and laws. Isn't that legalism? No. If you love the Lord your God, you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.

If you love the Lord your God, all these decrees and laws are not difficult to keep. If you do not love the Lord your God and only love yourself, you will think that offering sacrifices is too troublesome. Originally, all of us were supposed to die in Egypt, but God brought us out of Egypt; originally, we were all supposed to perish, but God brought us out of here to be our God, and we are His people. Our lives all belong to God, so our diligent observance and following is a responsibility, an obligation; it is not something extra that is added on, because our God wants us to live, and that is the only way to live.

If you believe these words, you cannot but live prosperously, cannot but live in a way that is above and not below, the head and not the tail. God's glory will surely be manifested in your life. If you value work more than God, your work will be cursed; if you value family more than God, your family will be cursed; if you value yourself more than God, you yourself will be cursed. Therefore, we must not love the world, must not indulge the flesh, must not discern good and evil, because indulging the flesh is death, discerning good and evil is also death, and the love of God is not in you if you love the world. I have deeply learned several lessons. Even when I am in a bad mood, I still choose to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and strength. We were born for this, we live for this, until we come before God, so that our lives can live out God's glory.