Foreword

Today, I want to share with you our church's original 201 course: Making Disciples.
Everyone must clearly understand one thing: The Lord Jesus never asked us to be mere believers; He always wants us to be disciples.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is the scripture in the Bible about making disciples. We must establish the concept of being disciples, not just believers.
What does it mean to be a disciple? It means to completely surrender oneself. If a Christian only wants to be a believer, I think God might not recognize you. Only as a disciple of the Lord will God recognize you, because this is God's will. A person who truly believes in Jesus will be careful to obey what God has taught. After completing the 101 course, From Seeker to Believer, you know that the spiritual realm is real, about spiritual warfare, blessings, and curses... But knowing these things and not becoming a disciple of the Lord is troublesome; basically, it can be said that the Lord does not recognize you.

Be a Disciple Who Pays the Price and Takes it Seriously

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)

From this passage, brothers and sisters should know that the requirements for being a disciple of the Lord are very high; it is definitely not just the concept of being saved by believing. Some people say, I believed in the Lord in 2012, so I've been saved since then. This concept of being saved by believing has been completely polluted and subverted in traditional churches, and we need to correct this erroneous idea.

The meaning of being a Christian is to strive for completeness. It is impossible for a person to immediately be sure of their salvation upon believing. There are many courses that discuss once saved, always saved, once you believe, you have a permanent guarantee. I can give many examples to tell you that this is not the case. A person can lose salvation; many people lose their salvation as they continue to believe. In the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, there are many such examples, such as Demas, who followed Paul but loved the world and was lost. Some people fall back into destruction, some stand firm in their positions, and some constantly strive to be like the Lord Jesus.

Being a disciple of the Lord is only the beginning of being a Christian. When you have not yet begun to be a disciple of the Lord, at best you have only started a journey, and the end of the journey is discipleship; the end of discipleship is being a Christian like Jesus.

We are now talking about the 201 course Making Disciples. Some people who have studied the 101 course feel very important, thinking they can cast out demons, preach the gospel, perform miracles... But if these people do not become disciples of the Lord, I think when they come before the Lord, He will say, I do not know you. This statement not only sounds harsh, but its consequences are also very serious. If you truly believe, you will definitely become a disciple of the Lord; if you believe falsely, and the logical system within you has not been transformed, then you cannot become a disciple of the Lord.

Matthew wrote, I did not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword. The logical system within us as disciples of the Lord has been completely changed, so our logical system is completely opposed to that of the world. The world lives in this life, we live in eternal life; the world's hope is in this life, our hope is in eternal life; what the world considers honorable, we consider lowly; what the world considers lowly, we consider honorable. It is natural to have such contradictions, so being a disciple of the Lord requires paying a heavy price, because you and your family cannot understand each other, and this conflict is unavoidable. If you go to a church that does not require you to be a disciple of the Lord, you can believe without conflict, and you will live the same life as your family.

Course Outline Introduction

The Making Disciples course is built on the foundation of faith established on the revelation of the entire Bible. It includes: first, Mingding Destiny; second, building the church; third, church life; fourth, personal life; that is, our faith will enter into all aspects of our lives.

The course outline for Making Disciples:

Lesson 1: Mingding is the Key to Blessing;

Lesson 2: The Church is a Platform for Completing Life;

Lesson 3: The Victorious Disciple;

Lesson 4: Building a Victorious and Glorious Church.

Mingding Destiny is the Key to Receiving God's Blessing

The first lesson includes two parts: The first part is coming out of a life of emptiness. If a person does not know that they have come out of an empty life, they cannot live well. They want to live well but cannot, because life is inherently empty. The emptiness we speak of is not the same concept as the worldly view of seeing through the world's affairs; the emptiness we speak of is grasping the essence of life. The second part talks about obtaining Mingding Destiny is the beginning of blessing. Once a person goes their own way, living for the sake of living, they cannot live well. People are created with a purpose, and that purpose is our Mingding Destiny. People are created to live out God's glory, and we must have the concept of obtaining Mingding Destiny, which is to become a blessing to all nations.

The Church is a Platform for Completing Life

The second lesson has four parts: The first part talks about the church as a platform for imparting blessings. The gospel that many people preach is Believe in Jesus and have eternal life. This is correct, but it is not clear, making people feel that the church only focuses on things after people die. In fact, the church should focus on people's lives, because our God is the God of the living. The church is a platform for imparting blessings, and blessings are all in this life. Now our concepts must be subverted.

The second part talks about how to lead healing and deliverance. The most important thing in imparting blessings is healing. How can a sickly person be a blessing? That is definitely not a blessing. As disciples of the Lord, we must lead people to healing and deliverance. The Lord Jesus trained the twelve disciples, and after training them, He sent them out to heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the gospel. The third part talks about how to study God's Word. The Lord Jesus basically trained the disciples in two things: first, healing, deliverance, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel; second, studying God's Word. Jesus trained the twelve disciples earlier, and then He trained the seventy disciples later, and they all did these things.

So, as a Christian, you don't need to make things too complicated. You just do what Jesus does, and that is following Jesus. If you don't do what Jesus did, and you do a bunch of things that Jesus didn't do, that would be very dangerous. Actually, I think many things need to be adjusted. Perhaps my views are not all correct, but I boldly share them with you. In the days of the Lord Jesus, when did you ever see the Lord Jesus throwing parties? Performing shows? No. But now many churches invest a lot of manpower in rehearsing programs. What the Lord Jesus did was heal, deliver, cast out demons, and then share God's Word. These are two very important foundations. If you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus, you must learn to lead healing and deliverance.

I don't quite agree with the idea that, for example, Our church's pastor has more anointing, so you need to find him to pray for healing if you are sick. Our church requires every brother and sister to learn to lead healing and deliverance. Healing and deliverance are what the Lord Jesus did. You want to be a disciple of the Lord, right? You must do this, without even thinking about it. Some time ago, there was a Mr. Nice Guy who attended meetings on time, gave offerings on time, and usually posted some information online and promoted the church. Then I said to him, You have to do healing and deliverance. He said, I won't. Later, I insisted for quite some time, This is the teaching of the Lord Jesus. If you cannot carefully obey, we feel that we cannot shepherd you anymore. We are a church of disciples of the Lord Jesus, not a place for a motley crowd. If you are not willing to be a disciple and just hang around without committing, sorry, we cannot accept such people.

So, you must grow, from a believer to a disciple; this is our Mingding Destiny. Then the fourth part of the second lesson is: How to bring people into the blessing of Mingding Destiny. Many people preach a gospel without Mingding Destiny, and then they are cursed without even knowing it. In Galatians, Paul says this, If you preach a gospel that is different from the one I preached, let you be accursed. Indeed, that is the case. If you preach a wrong gospel, how can you not be cursed? So today we must preach the right gospel, the gospel of making disciples of the Lord. This is very well said.

The Victorious Disciple

The third lesson is: The Victorious Disciple. This is a crucial part. The first part of the third lesson is called inner victory. We must not retain the knowledge of good and evil within us; we must remove the knowledge of good and evil. If there is no inner victory, how can there be outer victory? So there must first be inner victory. Later, I felt that the reason why a person is controlled by the spirit of the dragon is basically because their thoughts are like the dragon's.

The second part of the third lesson is, inheriting the church's spiritual assets. Our church is a very united church. Why? Because we inherit the same spiritual assets from top to bottom, and these spiritual assets originate from Abraham in the Bible. We inherit Jesus, we inherit Paul, we inherit Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These key figures have become key components of our spiritual assets. Our church's spiritual assets and spiritual food are very rich, and we must inherit them well.

Some of our brothers and sisters like to listen to other sermons, etc. I think listening to these is not a problem, but some of the priorities of what they preach conflict with what our church adheres to. We have our own core values. I must tell everyone that our core values come from God's revelation. God wants to restore the truth of the Bible in our church, and many of the things we do are constantly moving forward under the revelation of the Holy Spirit. We cannot go back to the era of Martin Luther, nor can we go back to the era of John Calvin, nor can we go back to the era of some famous pastor twenty years ago.

We can move forward, because there are still many spiritual assets and many truths in the Bible that have not been restored. Since Martin Luther, the truths revealed in the Bible must be constantly restored. We cannot stop; the church must become a glorious church. If you see that the church is still like it was in the days of Martin Luther, I think that is a tragedy, because what God revealed to Martin Luther belonged to that era. So, brothers and sisters, you must know that what God wants to do in this era is not what He wanted to do in the era of Martin Luther. God is constantly restoring in this era. So, when we inherit spiritual assets, don't make a mistake. Don't tell me about things from hundreds of years ago.

I'll give you an example. A few years ago, the Eastern xx cult was very rampant. They infiltrated the church and caused great damage to the church. Some pastors asked me, Pastor Liu, what do you think we should do to resist them? They saw the people in this church as if they were facing a formidable enemy, very afraid, because they really would corrupt many brothers and sisters. I think they don't have much of a market in our church. Why? Because we have rich spiritual assets. These spiritual assets are nothing else but what God's Spirit has revealed. You must know for sure that what God has given us is what He has revealed in this generation. I will talk about inheriting spiritual assets in more detail later.

If you hear a brother say today that he often listens to sermons by some famous pastor, you need to be careful. He may not be reading the Bible very clearly. I think you should first inherit the things of your own church before going out to listen. I'm not trying to exalt myself, and I'm not unwilling to humbly learn good things from others. You can absorb them, but you must first establish a foundation of faith, which is the foundation of faith that our church inherits: doing God's Word as the foundation. Don't become just a hearer of the Word. You listen today, you listen tomorrow, and at best you will just be a hearer of the Word when you die. We should be doers of the Word, because I myself am a person who listens to God's Word and then goes and puts it into practice. I don't really approve of just listening all the time.

Let me give you an analogy: If you want to learn to swim, you won't be able to swim if you only listen to theory by the side of the pool. If you spend all day listening to lectures, you will definitely fail the exam. Swimming, splashing in the pool, choking on a few mouthfuls of water, and slowly you will learn to swim. No one taught me to swim; I just struggled and figured it out myself. It's the same with classes; if you don't review, you will fail the exam. But if you don't attend class and read the textbook thoroughly, you will definitely pass. Doing is key. Matthew 7:24 says, Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man. Don't just be a good listener, don't just talk; it's useless. The spiritual assets of our church are built on the rock of Jesus Christ, which is hearing the word of God and doing it.

You see so many testimonies in our church, so many that it's unbelievable. I myself am surprised, let alone you, right? Where do these testimonies come from? They come from us receiving God's spiritual assets. I am a person of prayer, and our church prays more than most. I once met a Christian who was going blind, and I prayed for him. After the prayer, his eyes were healed. After the examination, the doctor said that his retinal nerves had returned to normal. Later, he asked me about prayer. I asked him, Can you pray for a long time? He said, How do you pray for a long time? I said, We have one-hour, two-hour, three-hour, and even eight-hour prayers. He said, I can only pray for ten minutes at most. I think he is a good brother, but alas, only ten minutes of prayer. Some Christians say that they also pray. When do you pray? At mealtime. I find it strange; you should just enjoy your meal. After he finishes his prayer, the food is cold in ten minutes. The problem is, many people do not act according to the words of Jesus, which is fatal.

This is the third part of my teaching: the key to being a disciple of Jesus Christ is sincere obedience, even unto death. Sincere obedience unto death, and God will exalt us to the highest place. This is the logical system of a disciple of Jesus Christ. We must imitate Jesus, imitating His sincere obedience unto death.

The fourth part is the character of a victorious disciple: be strong and courageous. Being strong and courageous is the key to victory. Like Joshua, before he entered Canaan, he was very afraid. He did not know what would happen in the future. Did he have faith? Yes, but he was still afraid. In the first chapter of Joshua, God told Joshua: Be strong and courageous. He repeatedly emphasized to Joshua, Be strong and courageous. Joshua's victory was inseparable from being strong and courageous. Brothers and sisters, we must begin to have a character of being strong and courageous; no one can threaten us; no one can deprive us of our right to be disciples of the Lord; no matter what kind of persecution we face, we must be strong.

I think being a disciple of the Lord will definitely create conflict. Matthew Chapter 10 says, Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Daughters, daughters-in-law, and mothers-in-law have different views. A person's enemies are members of his own household. Although the relationships are very close, the value systems are different. A disciple who is not strong will not know where he is going; one compromise, and it's over. Therefore, being strong and courageous is the most crucial character trait for us as disciples of the Lord.

Building a Glorious and Victorious Church

Lesson Four, to summarize, is building a glorious and victorious church. A victorious church is made up of a group of victorious disciples. The characteristic of our church is that it is composed of a core of constantly victorious disciples. Other things don't really count. Believers are ranked outside of the disciples. This is the first part of Lesson Four—victorious disciples—a summary of Lesson Three, placed in the first part of this summary.

The second part of Lesson Four on building a glorious and victorious church is building a victorious church. We will especially emphasize inner victory, the inheritance of spiritual assets, sincere obedience, and being strong and courageous. With these, we can build a victorious church. What are the differences between churches? If you say this church is the same as that church, then you are wrong. Real money is not the same as fake money, and a famous university is not the same as a third-rate, unaccredited college. Of course, they are different.

Today, if we want to build a church, we must build a victorious church. This is in my bones. I don't know if God gave it to me when He created me, or if I developed it later. But I know one thing: I must make a choice. If I build a church, I will build a glorious church. I do not want to build a church that is declining and desolate. You say it is a church, it seems to be; you say it is not a church, it also seems not to be. What are you doing?

A person died and went to hell, and then came back to life. He said he saw many pastors in hell. Oh my goodness, I have to think about this carefully. After being a Christian for a long time and paying a great price, becoming a pastor, and then ending up in hell, this is no joke. I think I must do it well. I must build a victorious and glorious church. I think this is God's will!

Brothers and sisters, do not ignore such a concept. Why are there so many testimonies among us? Because we have a victorious mentality, and we stand firm there. The book The Torch and the Sword was written by Rick Joyner in his earlier years. It talks about how the devil's army surrounded a place tightly, but only one little girl stood firm there. How desolate that was. The little girl had a lot of character, standing firm there. Many churches that are not victorious have been taken captive by the devil. If you are not victorious, you become a plaything in the hands of the devil. Disciples must be victorious, and victorious disciples build victorious churches. This is very important. Why do we have so many testimonies? Because the church is victorious. Why do so many people experience miracles, blessings, and grace when they come among us? Because the church is a victorious church.

Once, when I was praying, a vision suddenly appeared before me, which shocked me very much. I saw a group of demons holding pearls, gold, necklaces, and all kinds of jewels, glittering and beautiful. I asked God, What is this? God said, This is the devil stealing the blessings of Christians. I asked, Why are they stealing the blessings of Christians? The Spirit of God said, Because the church is not victorious. I asked God, Why did you show me such a vision? The Spirit of God told me, If you are victorious, these are all yours. So that's how it is! I must be strong. No matter what, I must build a victorious church.

In Paul's time, when did you ever see Paul say, Come, let me pray for your job. No, why not? Because it didn't happen. After the church is victorious, where would these things happen? Who would have so much trouble finding a job? Life is simple; living is a simple thing. Why are there so many messy things? These people have experienced a great transformation in their lives. In a victorious church, and in a failed church, the experiences are completely different.

Brothers and sisters must know that in the Old Testament, Moses and Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land because they were victorious. Later, I summarized a view, which is our core value: only through victorious warfare can we obtain the promise. In fact, God has predestined victory, but do we dare to fight with faith? As long as we fight with faith, we will surely be victorious. Victory will surely obtain God's promise. God's promises are faithful. Paul's character was very strong; he was troubled on every side, yet not distressed. I admire Paul's character very much. I wish our brothers and sisters in the church had such a character. With such a character, they will surely be victorious. With a victorious church, you can see us obtaining God's promise among us.

Some Christians are very good Christians, but they do not experience grace in a church that is not victorious. This is easy to understand. If your army is defeated, your soldiers will naturally be defeated. You cannot say that I am a victorious soldier; this does not make sense logically. Therefore, building a victorious church is key.

A Glorious Vision

Therefore, brothers and sisters, share the same vision with me. We want to build a holy, unified, glorious, truth-abiding, and victorious army church. I want to mold brothers and sisters into disciples who are pleasing to God, and then be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. How wonderful! If mental illness comes, be healed; whatever illness comes, be healed; then be a disciple of the Lord. Some people think that they are doing well as people. When they come before me, I see how miserable they are living. Can I help them if I don't rebuke them? After rebuking them, they are very happy. When they came, their heads were not right, their hearts were not right; they were being terribly oppressed by demons everywhere. Why rebuke them? To demolish the old logical system within them and establish the logical system of a disciple of Jesus Christ, and then establish a pure and victorious faith. How wonderful! I wish our brothers and sisters could listen to this and do well in these four lessons. After doing well, I think this is a million-dollar, a million-dollar, or even a hundred-million-dollar decision.

Demolishing the old logical system and establishing the logical system of a disciple of Jesus Christ and a pure, victorious faith is a million-dollar, a million-dollar, or even a hundred-million-dollar decision. Don't think this is a small decision; this is a big decision. This concerns whether you can enter the kingdom of God, become a child of the kingdom of God, or become a prince or princess of the kingdom of God. It is a tremendous thing, an important decision. So today I share a general idea with you, hoping that everyone can have such a desire, to begin to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of just being a believer.

Rick Joyner mentioned in his vision of The Final Quest that he saw a mountain, and that mountain was full of the glory of God. The mountain was so high that the top of the mountain was the place where God's throne was most intensely present. Then he climbed up from the bottom of the mountain. At first, he saw that the Christians fighting against the devil outside the mountain were defeated miserably and were in great pain, and the churches were also in great pain. Then he turned back and climbed up the mountain, climbing constantly. In fact, the Bible has long revealed that in the last days, people will ascend the mountain of the Lord, enter the temple of the God of Jacob, and the temple of the God of Jacob is on the top of this mountain. This mountain is the one you must climb. Today, brothers and sisters, you must understand one thing: the life of a Christian is a life of climbing the mountain of the Lord and entering the temple of the God of Jacob. Do not just stay at the foot of the mountain, because in the first few layers at the foot of the mountain, such as salvation, the arrows shot by the devil will hit Christians. Although you are on the holy mountain, you will still be hit by arrows in the first few layers, so you must quickly climb upward. When you reach the level of brotherly unity, the devil's arrows will not be able to hit you. But as you climb up from this level, there are still vultures of the devil spitting saliva and excrement on Christians, making these Christians very frustrated and uncomfortable. If you become a Christian and you are often hit by arrows, frustrated, and often entangled and uncomfortable, the reason is that your level is not high enough. We cannot be such Christians.

In Rick Joyner's description, he talked about a very good level. He climbed to that level called I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20). At this level, the devil's arrows can no longer hit you, and the vultures can no longer spit on you, and you can shoot arrows at this level to hit the devil hard. Brothers and sisters, you must yearn to enter this level, that is, to reach the level of complete unity with Jesus Christ. Walking further up, you will feel very good, with angels of faith, hope, and love accompanying them, and finally you will reach the garden of the Father's love, which is the temple of the God of Jacob. How wonderful it is to live in the house of God.

We must be disciples, striving to enter into completeness. As a Christian, if you cannot obtain the promise of victory, that is, the promise of God, it is very disadvantageous and you will regret it very much. It's like someone else bought real estate, and later it increased several times in value. You could have bought it at the time, but you didn't, and you regretted it terribly. Today I will draw a beautiful picture for everyone, building a victorious church, constantly climbing on the mountain of the Lord, and then until you enter the temple of the God of Jacob. How wonderful it is to live in the house of God. Brothers and sisters must begin to have this kind of desire. The most important thing in life is to obtain God's promise, but the prerequisite is to build a victorious and glorious church.