This is the time God will use the Doctrine of Destiny, use Doctrine of Ming Ding, to set plenty people free. A lot of people will be set free by us. If you hear this message and you have some requirement, you can contact us over the Internet.

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning to all of you, may the Lord bless you.

I am so glad to be able to study the word of God together with all of you. Let's look at the book of 1 Samuel Chapter 7. If you are listening to the recording, I encourage you to read the original text of the Bible regardless of which version is it. Read this chapter several times, pay attention to what you should do, and try to figure out the point that the author is trying to tell us.

When we study the word of God, we emphasize the point that the author is trying to deliver to us. It is not about what we think by making assumptions. You may ask: "How should we know whether we understand the point from the author or not?" When the author writes something, we need to know one thing: the person did not just write it casually. Else, you will find the person just keep talking and you don't even know what the author is talking about, it was not written in that manner. When people are trying to write something, they are thinking hard, organizing content, and figuring out what kind of words they should use to present the ideas in a precise manner. They think very hard and organize the contents for the readers to perceive them correctly.

If we know how people write a paper or an essay, we would know how to perceive it correctly. When you are studying in general education from elementary school to junior college, there are 12 years of education which we called it as general education before you can study in tertiary education. Many people are trained to be more comprehensive, for example, schools may give you a paragraph to read, along with a set of questions for you to answer. They want to know if you can understand the point correctly or not. When we read the Bible, this is the same approach. We need to understand what the author is trying to tell us. Especially in Bible, I have been listening to a lot of Bible studies and reading reference materials, it seems like there are some gaps.

Today, let's look at the book of 1 Samuel Chapter 7. I assume you have read it carefully, probably you have read it several times and made some assumptions. Now, you listen to me and see whether it will make sense to you or not. The author is trying to tell us: Thus far the Lord has helped us. This is the sentence that appeared in this chapter, verse 12.

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." (1 Samuel 7:12)

If you read this sentence, then you will know that the author is trying to organize the whole content according to the point that the author is trying to make. The point is: Thus far the Lord has helped us. The story developed from the last chapter, the ark of the Lord was taken away by Philistines, and they encountered all kinds of problems, such as tumors. Later on, the Philistines sent back the ark of the Lord along with five gold tumors and five gold rats. After the Philistines returned it, the people who received the ark of the Lord were killed because they looked into the ark of the Lord.

And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?" (1 Samuel 6:20)

This is the question for the people of that generation. Twenty years ago, Eli passed away and Samuel took over the leadership from Eli, but the Israelites were not listening to him at all. Nobody bothered Samuel as everyone was going on his or her own way. During those 20 years, did God help the Israelites? Yes, God had been helping Israelites all along. We need to understand that the author is making a point: Thus far the Lord has helped us! The Lord has been helping those people who believe in God. No matter what happened, we need to know that the Lord is helping us.

God’s help in The 20 Years

The first point I would like to make is about what Samuel had been experiencing in the 20 years. What Israelites had been experiencing during those 20 years? The Israelites had suffered so much, but that was the help of God. If people are not suffering enough, they would never know that they need God. I am not sure whether you are someone special, but for me, I need to know God because I have suffered, that's why I tried to seek a God who can help me. During those 20 years, the Israelites went on their ways. If you read the book of Judges, the last sentence in Chapter 21.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. (Judges 21:25)

People will not do things that they don't think are right. Everyone is doing what they think is correct. The Israelites had been bullied by the Philistines during those years. The Philistines took away the flocks and harvest from the Israelites. The Israelites were working so hard because they wanted to live well, but they could not live well.

Sometimes, the neighbors fought each other because of the situation they were in. Whoever won the fight somehow suffered from cancers, diseases, and tumors. The Israelites had been experiencing this kind of suffering. Then they started to realize: "Why am I doing this?" The Israelites were suffering during those years, but that was the help of the Lord. It was not a people's point of view but Samuel’s point of view.

During those 20 years, Samuel had been preaching the message of God and not many people listened to him. Samuel had been walking from town to town and shared with people about the word of God. Samuel worked so hard, but not many people listened to him. Many people were wondering: "If I listen to you, what about my family life? How am I going to live? I have a lot of work to do, there is no time for me to worship the Lord.” This was the situation happening in those years.

Samuel had been preaching the word of God and told people: "You have to return to the Lord, then you will not experience suffering anymore." But Israelites had foreign Gods at that time, they found it to be a hassle to worship this holy God: "Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? This holy God will kill people, God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. God afflicted the Philistines with tumors and caused Israelites to fight against the Philistines."

Many people were wondering: "Oh, worshiping the Lord is of no use at all. Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? If we worship this holy God, what about my family, land, and property? I need to work; I have plenty of things to do and I don't have time to worship the Lord." No matter how Samuel preached, there was a lot of confusion during those 20 years. Some Bible study materials are saying Samuel was still young at that time. No, Samuel was no longer young. But when Samuel took over the leadership from Eli, not many people listened to him.

By Chapter 7 Verse 12, Samuel had led the Israelites and defeated the Philistines because the Israelites turned back to the Lord and threw away all foreign Gods. The Israelites fought against the Philistines and God made them win over the Philistines. The army of the Philistines was still strong, they had been bullying the Israelites over the past 20 years. The Israelites had experienced suffering at the hand of the Philistines, as well as from local people. God was helping the Israelites even though they suffered, all because they turned away from the Lord they serve and the covenant which they made with the Lord. And God did not kill them. God made the Israelites experience suffering, but that was the help from God, God was helping Israelites to turn back to the Lord.

Sometimes, you and I may encounter the same kind of situation. Not because of the suffering, we still go on our way. Whenever we suffer, God is helping us to turn back to Him. God is in a horrible dilemma: God wants us to live well. But when we try to live well, we turn away from Him. God does not want us to suffer, but without suffering, people will not turn to God and will not live well.

Do you see that? Do you see how it works? For 20 years, the people were seeking why they had to suffer through this ordeal. Probably, you and I might be facing a similar situation to the 20 years. In this situation, some Israelites might suffer more and some Israelites might suffer less. In the past 20 years, many people had been questioning themselves: "What am I doing? I am the people of God. Why do I have to suffer all these? Why am I bullied by the Philistine? Why am I suffering all this for no reason? Why am I worshipping the foreign God?" The Israelites realized, they knew they had a God and they turned themselves back to God. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim for a long time which was 20 years in all and all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord.

So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths and served the Lord only. (1 Samuel 7: 1-3 NIV)

Look at verses 3 to 4, Samuel said to all the Israelites if they returned to the Lord with all their heart then rid themselves of the foreign gods and commit themselves to the Lord and serve Him only. God would deliver you out of the hands of the Philistine. The Israelites put away their foreign gods and only served the Lord and this was exactly the situation in which God was helping them. God is helping us even if we are suffering greatly, whether we are suffering from a tumor or whether even some of us may have died, or some of us are suffering from this disease and that disease, it is a signal. It is signaling that God is helping us to turn back to Him, to live a blessed life. If we are not suffering, we will not turn back to God. God is helping us to come back to him by giving us suffering so that we understand there is no other place to go but turn back to him. The first point number I got to make is to summarize God’s help in the 20 years.

God Made Samuel A Leader

God made Samuel a leader. In the 20 years, people went astray and had their individual views on what was right. As for Samuel, he was consistently pursuing and serving the Lord. He continued preaching the message from God. Without his preaching, the Israelites would be still suffering and would not be able to experience God. Samuel as a prophet had been delivering the messages from God to the Israelites. This was like cultivating the ground as a grassroots leader.

Samuel was like a grassroots leader bridging the gap between God and the Israel people. He was cultivating on the ground by preaching from one town to another town. Many people were listening to the messages and looking at the situation of suffering they were facing. They listened to the messages and looked at their situation umpteen times for 20 years. Finally, this is the time that Samuel was serving as the leader of Israel at Mizpah.

Are you with me? Anyone who is serving the Lord with their whole heart will have God’s blessing. I am glad to say that in this time, we have someone like Samuel is a blessing. In this age, the doctrine of destiny or the doctrine of Ming Ding has been continuously preaching the message of turning back to the Lord and serving Him wholeheartedly. That is what we live for. That is our destiny. Serving the Lord is the best decision in our life. Serving the Lord, whether as a pastor or as a full-time minister, is the best job ever. In my service, I have been preaching about this. But who is listening?

There are a lot of people listening to me preaching on the website. On the website, there is a lot of traffic in and out from North America, Australia, and all over the World. Yesterday, I received a message from a sister who was listening to my messages for nearly a year. She is the only one in her church who is doing deliverance and nobody in the church was bothered about it. She keeps on praying for people. Somehow her old pastor from the Church resigned and a new pastor was appointed who was recruited from the Job market.

The new pastor reported to work and after a couple of days, he suffered from Covid-19. This sister is the only one in the church praying and fighting against the devil by listening to my message. During her prayer, another sister joined her in praying for the pastor. His fever and Covid-19 symptoms were gone. It is so wonderful! They sent a message to me and I said: “Oh my God, I thank you for your help! You have been helping your people!”

But there are still many people living in different stages of the 20 years. They read the Bible and the Bible said when Jesus touched someone, he or she got healed. But when they touch someone, nothing happened. They read in the Bible that Jesus is the healer. But in the church, they cannot even heal simple sicknesses.

There is another brother from another Church who has been listening to my message for several years but still has many questions, doubts, and confusion about Christianity. He was a Christian ever since he was a young boy and his mum is a Christian. At the age of 60 years old, he was searching for the truth and listening to the doctrine of destiny. He has been casting out many devils and dealing with people suffering from depression.

One day, her daughter suffered from severe depression and mental illness. She was talking nonsense loudly and making a lot of noise. He called me, we prayed together and her daughter recovered. I am so glad that she recovered. **God is helping his people! Although people are seeing that as suffering, suffering is good! Suffering is good as it is helping people to turn back to God and seek the truth. **

This is the time; I would like to share with you the doctrine of destiny or the doctrine of Ming Ding. Ming Ding is the Chinese word for destiny but it sounds better. That’s right. We will keep on repeating Ming Ding, Ming Ding, Ming Ding. One day, you will say Ming Ding sounds better than destiny as destiny carries all kinds of meanings such as fate and more. In a nutshell, in the doctrine of destiny or the doctrine of Ming Ding, we turn back to the Lord, return to the Lord with all our hearts, and rid ourselves of all the foreign gods and all kinds of idols. We commit ourselves to the Lord and serve Him only.

We lay down everything we can lay down for the Lord. Do you know what happened? We will receive a hundredfold blessing. If you see a church carry no power at all and when you read the bible, God is so powerful but the actual situation is that the church is not that powerful. They keep on telling people God is with us and God is greater than anyone else outside of us. In reality, there are many people in the church who is sitting next to us suffering from depression, mental illnesses, and the possession of the devil was upon them. The church still continues doing it without setting these people free. What they are preaching does not align with the bible.

I have a co-worker who joined me because she accepted Christ through me. She attended another church for several years and was confused. In that church, they were reading the bible, yet they had no God’s healing power. In the church, there was a member who was suffering from mental illness, murmuring, shouting, making a lot of noise, hands, and heads were shaking and they could not do anything. Nobody in the church could do anything.

Let me tell you the truth, all these people who are suffering come over to our church will get healed and the devil will be cast out. Why? There are a group of people over here in this church who are committed to the Lord wholeheartedly. This is the time, God is helping His people. The people of God got to turn back to God and this is the doctrine of destiny. I would say that God will make a leader for his people. God will be making a leader for his people to lead the Israel people out of all kinds of misery, all kinds of suffering, and all kinds of astray. They will walk into the way of God.

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12 NIV

God is helping all the time. To Samuel God is helping all the time. But to Israel’s people, they asked “Where are you, God? Who can stand before this holy God?" Someone like Samuel believed in the God he was serving. Samuel was serving a great God, a good God, and a God who has thus far helped us. He is the Ebenezer. Are you with me? Today you may be suffering from this and that but let me encourage you to trust in the Lord. The Lord is helping you to turn back to Him and the moment you turn back to him, you will get what you are supposed to get just like the Israelites after 20 years.

Finally, the Israelites waken up after 20 years and recognized they needed this holy God. They got to get rid of all the idols in their heart. Samuel gathered all the people in Mizpah. Do you know what happened? The moment they gathered together and recognized Samuel as the leader of Israel. They listened to Samuel and at that time something happened. The Philistines gathered together and attacked Israel’s people. The Israelites had been defeated again and again in 20 years. Every time they heard that the Philistines were coming, they would become so afraid when the Philistine was mentioned. Psychologically, they were defeated.

When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him. 1 Samuel 7:7-9 NIV

Unlike in the past, the Israelites were not afraid as they were not relying on the weapon in their hands but relying on God in heaven. They said to Samuel to cry out to God on their behalf. Samuel took one suckling lamb as a burnt offering to the Lord. A suckling lamb is a very young lamb still drinking milk. A burnt offering is an attitude of a leader to offer yourself completely to God and there was nothing left. Today, I encourage everyone including myself to offer ourselves as a burnt offering to God. Lay down our life for Him. We live for Him. We die for Him. We come to this world for Him. The purpose of our life is to fulfill God’s plan for us.

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. 1 Samuel 7:10-11 NIV

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle but they could not get close. They were shooting arrows everywhere. Oh my God, that was so horrible. Do you know what happened? It was not Israel’s people fighting against the Philistines but it was God fighting against the Philistines.

Even the Philistines' Attack is The Help of God

Point Number 3, "Even the Philistines' Attack is the help of God". Although we could be confused: "Oh! How come the situation is getting worse? The Philistines are coming over already!" Actually, God is going to demonstrate His power to the Israel people: "You can trust in me." You know what? The Isrealites did not fight much because God moved ahead of the Army of Israel and the the whole army of the Philistines were thrown into a great panic. Everybody suddenly started to panic! We don't know what happened but they suddenly started to panic! A great horror were put on them and then they started to run away from the Israelites. And the Israelites were amazed and said: "Oh! Wow! Amazing! God is working! God is working! Oh, this is a wonderful decision to turn back to God!" Yes, turning back to God is a wonderful decision. Even the Philistines come to attack while Samuel is sacrificing the suckling lamb as a burnt offering, you don't need to rush. God is fighting for us.

That's why Samuel concluded "Thus far the Lord has been helping us"! Thus far, all the way, not just to now, but to forever. This is what we believe. This is what I believe. In the past I engaged in battles against the devil, the demons, again and again and set many people free. Why could I do so? Because God is moving ahead of me and He caused the devil to panic. That's why today we can also set up a stone and call it "Ebenezer", "thus far the Lord has helped us".

If we look back at the past so many years, from the day I set up the church all the way to now, it is the tough journey. I was defeated and I was suffering, being bullied by the devil again and again. You know, although I know the Lord is in me, but somehow he didn't work. If you worship the Lord in the church and you have a lot of confusions like me in the past, I encourage you to search again. The Lord is indeed working. The Lord has been helping us all the time. But are we turning back to the Lord? If we turn back to the Lord, the Lord will fight for you. Even the army of the Philistines come to attack, that is somehow God brings them here to be defeated. When the devil comes to attack, I do not call that "Attack" but I call that "To be defeated". The devil comes here only to be defeated. If they're not coming to attack us, then where can we get the victory from? The devil's coming to attack is only a reason to demonstrate the power of God.

So in the Doctrine of Destiny, we do not have this word "Devil's Attack". There is no such thing as "I cast out the devil then the devil comes to attack me". We don't have this. We don't have this concept at all. I don't bother the devil's attack because God will put the devil under my feet. God will put the devil under my feet! There was one time I prayed for a lady who could not lift up her arm. After praying, her arm could be lifted up but my arm couldn't be lifted up anymore. But I don't have this concept "I'm attacked by the devil" and I also don't say: "Oh my God! From now on, I don't pray for people anymore!" No, no, no. I said: "Oh my God! What was the devil? How daring can you be? You will be defeated!" You know what happened? I kept praying for two months and finally my arm was set free! And from that day onwards, every time I pray for arm and shoulder problems caused by the devil, the devil had been defeated by me again and again. That's why every time they face me the devil will flee.

So from then onwards, the Philistines were routed before the Israelites. Then the Israelites rushed out and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to the point below Beth Kar. That's why Samuel set up a stone. This is marking the victory of God, marking the victory of the Israel people. The people of God shall stand in victory! Thus far the Lord has helped us. In fact, the Lord has been helping us all along. In the past 10 years, 20 years, all along, God is drawing his people back to him. Now it is the time. It is the end of the 20 years. People got to turn back to the Lord wholeheartedly. It is not just about the daily bread, not just about the food supply. It is everything, not just food supply. It is not just the bread. It is the bread of life and this life is that you and I got to commit our life like a burnt offering to the Lord.

God has been helping us. Even if we are bullied by the Philistines, even if there were seventy people who were killed because they looked at the Ark of Covenant, even if the Philistines were suffering from the tumor caused by the Ark of Covenant, God is the help of his people.

God Restored the Lost Land

Point Number 4, "God restored the land". You know, all the land which were taken away by the Philistines were now taken back by the Israelites. The land were taken back no longer by power, muscles, martial arts, chariots, horses, nor by weapons, but by the power of our God!

Serving God, how wonderful it is! It's so wonderful! It is time for all of us to think it again. God has restored what we ever lost. What we ever lost, ever stolen by the devil, taken by the devil, God has restored it. The devil got to return it. The devil got to pay it back, five times or four times!

So if you're suffering financial losses, this is the time your heart got to turn back to God. This is the time for your heart to turn back to God whole heartedly and God will restore your financial losses. If you suffer from physical health problems and your health was stolen by the devil, your blessing was stolen by the devil, now it is the time to restore. So the land had been taken back by the Israel people, just because of the leader Samuel. Samuel is a great leader of the Israel people and he was leading the Israel people for many years all his life, from young, three years old sent by the mother to the Temple of God before Eli, serving the Lord all the way to the old age, serving the Lord.

The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. (1 Sam 7:14)

Are you with me there? The peace will not come free. The peace comes from they wholeheartedly turning back to the Lord. You do not want to be bullied. If you do not want to be bullied by the devil again, it is the time to return to the Lord.

Thus Far The Lord Has Helped Us

The land was restored. This is Point Number 5. Samuel has summarized by Verse 12: "Thus far, the Lord has helped us". This sentence will carry on all along in Samuel's dictionary, in Samuel's mind. Samuel has this belief: "The Lord is my help. God is helping me all along." That's why he served God wholeheartedly. He walked from town to town, judging the people of the Israel. Whenever they fought, they brought the case to Samuel to make a judgment. As a leader, it is so wonderful, right?

For leaders like Samuel, they have this kind of belief: the Lord is may help. No matter it is 20 years for the people to turn back to the Lord or 30 years, the Lord is my help. Although he doesn't know in which part of the 20 years people would turn back, Samuel does know that God is my help.

Do you want to carry the same mind as Samuel? If you want to carry the same mind as Samuel, let me share with you: God will become your help. God is not just helping you, but also will help you to minister to the people of God. Samuel is a wonderful leader. Because of Samuel, it marks up the the history: during the period Samuel ruled over Israel, the Israel became a stronger country in the territory.

So in Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistine. If you read Bible carefully, you will see that if you serve the Lord and obey His word, your enemy will become God's enemy. God will take your enemy as His enemy, your adversaries as a God's adversaries. So who can go against you? Who can go against you? But you got to obey the Lord your God. Serve Him whole heartedly.

Let me share with you my view: This is the time God will use the Doctrine of Destiny, use the Doctrine of Ming Ding, to set many people free. A lot of people will be set free. If you hear the message and you have some requirement, you can contact us over the Internet. And surely, whether it is the tumor, cancer, depression, pains, stiffness, any kind of suffering, you will be set free.

It is time for you to know that. It will mark the end of 20 years. You and I got start to turn back to the Lord. Serve Him wholeheartedly. Get away all the idols in our heart. Get rid of all of them. Serve the God our Lord wholeheartedly, with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul and all our strength to love him. And you will be blessed, and you will be blessed.

May the Lord bless you. Thank you very much.