Introduction

I would like to share with you the principles of the kingdom of God through the Book of Joshua. Those who oppose God will perish. I think we brothers and sisters must begin to have a clear understanding of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is such that as long as you are willing to come in, no one can stop you. The kingdom of our God is open. As long as you are willing to surrender before God and obey God, even if you trick the Israelites into signing the covenant through deception, God will not kill you.

But there are some people who are hardened in heart, and those who are hardened in heart will be exterminated, and those who insist on resisting the kingdom of God and being enemies of God will be exterminated. What will we see in this place? The king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken the city of Ai and destroyed it, and then he heard another thing: that the Gibeonites had made a covenant with the Israelites. He heard two messages, one saying that all the people of Ai had been killed and the other saying that all the people of Gibeon were alive.

At this time, the king of Jerusalem made a very foolish decision. Why do people often make foolish decisions? Stupid decisions have to do with money. So let's go back to this chapter. The king of Jerusalem felt that they had a chance to win, so he contacted the other kings. These five kings of the Amorites were the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Larchish, and the king of Eglon.

Then what did they do? They led their armies against Gibeon and attacked the Gibeonites, and they wanted to destroy the Gibeonites. Why did these people want to fight against Israel so much? The Gibeonites surrendered and sought God's grace and mercy, and God let them have it. In fact, Israel did not seek God, so if Israel had sought God and asked God what to do with the Gibeonites, I tell you, God would have told Israel to keep them.

To Begin to Truly Know God

I think we all must know God, and we must know that our God is a God of grace and mercy. The Israelites were deceived and did not seek the Lord, but they did exactly what God wanted. In fact, God will not exterminate anyone who does not resist God, but if you are determined to resist God, God will determine to exterminate you, and not only the Gibeonites were not killed, but other people who came to attack the Gibeonites were identified by God as enemies of God's kingdom.

What is God's way of dealing with these people? God's way of dealing with them 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! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country 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 NIV)

God was solving two confusions: the first was whether Joshua would be afraid of them, and the second was whether it was proper for me to help the Gibeonites in this way. As a result, the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for I have given them into your hand, and none of them will stand before you." This is great, our God clearly shows us that even such people as the Gibeonites, God will save them, and you will come against the Gibeonites, and God will exterminate these people who attack the Gibeonites. Our God is really good. What will we see at this time? Another wonderful thing

The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely 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 down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. (Joshua 10:10-11 NIV)

It’s so strange. How can God hate these people so much, and how can God be so merciless as to strike these people? Many of us Christians like to think our God is Santa Claus, but in fact, our God is not. You have to know one thing: Our God has never changed since the beginning of time. Whoever loves God, He will show grace and mercy and bless you for a thousand generations, and whoever hates God, He does not have to hold you guiltless, but He will pursue your sin for three to four generations, do you understand?

Don’t Have Women’s Benevolence

For example, in the building of churches, there are many people who resist God, but some brothers and sisters are merciful to those who are enemies of God, and God will also treat you as His enemy.

We have high expectations for our brothers and sisters. It is not because of anything else, but because we do not allow the enemies of God to mix in the church, which is the body of Jesus Christ, and those who are in the church must be disciples of Jesus Christ.

In other words, we are doing our best to transform believers into disciples. There are some people who are not here to build the church, but to destroy it. They keep those people in the church and think that's called the grace and mercy of God, but I call that kind of thing women’s benevolence.

I often say to our shepherds, "Never have women’s benevolence. Those who are willing to follow us will build God's glorious church with them. Why would you keep the people who come to wreak havoc? You need to know one thing; God is never merciful to those who hate Him. There are those who are full of grace and mercy to those who hate God.

We need to begin to know that our God does not treat those who love Him and those who hate Him the same, and whoever comes against the kingdom of God are enemy of His kingdom.

And there are too many mixed-up gospels in churches, isn't that the enemy of God? God will strike them down, but should you have grace and mercy for them? This is a bit difficult to answer. It would offend many people to talk about it. I will say to our brothers and sisters, "If you can't shepherd them, give them to your shepherds; if your shepherds can't shepherd them, give them to your shepherds' shepherd; if your shepherds' shepherd also can't, give them to me; if I can't do it, then God can do it, and we will give them to God."

As for the church we want to build, it is a church of holiness and unity, and we must be holy and united. For example, there are some people who don't pay tithes in the church, so what are they doing there? You think the church is asking too much, but it's not like that. I don't care about the money. If a person keeps the tithe in their own hands, doesn't that make him or her an enemy of God? Then they become thieves in the kingdom of God; that's what it says in the Bible, and they themselves become devoted things.

Chapter 7 talked about Achan stealing things that belong to God, and he himself became a devoted thing, and as a result, the whole Israelites were defeated. Let me ask you, are the Gibeonites considered devoted things? Don't you think it's interesting that the Gibeonites as a whole surrendered to Israel, signed a contract with Israel, and then God had mercy on the Gibeonites? Someone came to attack the Gibeonites, and God destroyed all those who attacked the Gibeonites.

Our God is really interesting, you have to figure it out carefully. If the Gibeonites come among us, we will be shepherding them, but if, say, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jemima, the king of Raj, the king of Israel, they are the 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 NIV)

What kind of faith is this, and what is this faith used for? This faith is to kill the enemies of God's kingdom. Why did God fight for Israel? Because the Israelites were God's soldiers, and God was the marshal of Israel. So, it is obvious that our God fights for us; why? We are working with God to exterminate the works of the devils.

Some people say that it is now the New Testament, not the Old Testament. Whether it is the New Testament or the Old Testament, God has never changed, but many people read the Bible and put the New Testament and the Old Testament in opposition to each other, but both the New Testament and the Old Testament are God's hearts. God is a God of grace and mercy, but God is merciless in dealing with those who resist God and who are enemies of God.

Brothers and sisters, please learn a lesson—not to bring women's benevolence and people who are enemies of God into the church, but a group of people with destiny in the church, not a group of people who are enemies of God. Let's quote the story from the New Testament. The story of the New Testament is very interesting. In the book of Acts, it is recorded 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 NIV)

After that, Peter preached again on Solomon's porch, and as a result, one person was healed that day, and then many more people were converted. Many people who study how churches grow read this passage and think you are going after the number of people in the church. I was also pursuing numbers at that time, but later I changed my mind. Why?

Because the pursuit of church numbers is a very serious problem. Why is it serious? Because although they converted 3,000 or 5,000 people, were they all believers? Many Pharisees came in, and as a result, the church was in chaos because all kinds of people came to church.

As a result, many Greek-speaking Jews complained to the Hebrew-speaking Jews at that time because their widows were neglected in the daily provision; that is, everyone was afraid that they didn't take enough advantage. I think this is also the work of God, and as a result, seven deacons were elected, and further on, the church was full of Pharisees, and many Pharisees were mixed into the church. Some time ago, we talked about "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees," but when Peter led the church, did he beware of the leaven of the Pharisees? Not at all.

Building God's Glorious Church

Should the church pursue numbers or should it pursue the pleasure of God? If we pursue numbers, we will be in great trouble. You should know that in the process of church growth, if you pursue the number of members, this leaven of the Pharisees will be among the church. So I changed my mind, and I was no longer after numbers; I was after unity. That is why we say we want to build a holy, united church of warring and victorious soldiers.

In chapter 15 of Acts, the leader of the Christians who supported the Pharisaical sect, Jacob, was in favour of not denying the Law of Moses, but he insisted people keep circumcision. Those of us who are familiar with the New Testament will find that the apostle Paul was adamantly opposed to circumcision and the need to keep the Law of Moses because, in the past, during the time of Jesus, 1500 years after the promulgation of the Law of Moses, nothing was accomplished except the crucifixion of Jesus by a large group of Pharisees.

Because nothing can be accomplished by human flesh, the Pharisees came into the church, and their leader was James, the one who wrote the Book of James. Even Peter, the great apostle of the church at that time, later lost his leadership of the church and was once a great disciple of Jesus Christ, but later was knocked out by the Pharisees. It all started with the pursuit of numbers.

Never bring enemies of the kingdom of God into the church. If you not only bring enemies of the kingdom of God into the church but also get these people in leadership positions, then you are in big trouble. That will definitely become an enemy of the kingdom of God and will bring serious corruption, but thankfully, with the Apostle Paul, we can have a pure gospel.

You ask me why our church has so much power and why many people are healed and released. Because we inherit the teachings of Jesus Christ and the belief system of the Apostle Paul. The words in the Bible speak very interestingly. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, was a physician and a helper of the Apostle Paul, who was taken to Rome and sued in court, and it was in this context that Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, in which the content of Luke's Gospel represents Paul's thoughts and there are descriptions of James.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:19-21 NIV)

Do you know what it means? It means that man must keep the law of Moses, right? But I don't give you Gentiles a hard time; but if the Israelites, the Jews, want to believe in the Lord, I must give you a hard time; you have to keep the law of Moses. Do not think that he is a brother, and she is a sister because she is in the church. In many churches, as you look around, the people who corrupt the church are very rampant.
Many pastors are miserable because they have women‘s benevolence. Can you bring the enemies of God into the church of God? The demons that these people carry are very bad, and when you look around in the church, there are all kinds of evil spirits in people.

Because of this, we want to take revenge on the devil, and what we do is release the captives and set free those who are suppressed. These people must come to us willingly, and if you are not willing, who can help you? If you are pursuing church numbers, then I tell you that it is very dangerous. What we should pursue is that the church should be careful to do the will of God, remove the women's benevolence, and not include the enemies of God in the church of God or even put them into leadership positions in the church, otherwise they are really enemies of God!

According to God's Will, God Will Surely Accomplish

In the midst of God's fighting for us, brothers and sisters should not be afraid or frightened, for even if we have made mistakes, God will correct them. When we are strong, no longer with woman's benevolence, and boldly demand of our brothers and sisters, then God will accomplish what our mouths declare. Joshua obeyed God, and he kept and obeyed the teaching of Moses, and he served according to all the words of God and according to the mind of God, saying, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."

There is a sentence in the book of Samuel that had a profound impact on me when I read it. It says, "God let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground." And I felt, "God, I want to be like that!" In the building of God's glorious church, we fight for God with faith, and God will lead us to fight to release people from the hand of the devil, to build up God's glorious church, and to build up the body of Jesus Christ. I then found that many times what I said God accomplishes, it's because I build God's church according to God's heart, and I never have mercy on God's enemies.

So, brothers and sisters, if you're among us, it's not surprising that you find us demanding. Some people think that we take offerings very seriously. Let me repeat: if you don’t know God, we won’t accept your offerings. We don’t keep you here because of people’s offerings. We are building the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God 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 the heart of God will result in the church to become very poor. The poorer the church is, the more it needs tithing, and the more the church needs tithing, the more it incorporates the enemies of God into the church, and then the poorer the church becomes.

Before the apostle Paul was arrested, he came to Jerusalem with a lot of offerings, and he was arrested there, and by then the church in Jerusalem had become very poor. If you are a pastor of a church and are among us listening to my sharing, know that poverty in the church means that God is not pleased. We must know that if the church has devoted things, it will definitely lose battles and will not be able to get the promises of God, so we must all follow the example of Joshua.

Then some people are confused: are all the people killed? Not even one good person is there. I'm sure there were some very good people among the five kings and the city. You should know that the Gibeonites and the whole family of Rahab were saved, but none of the people of the city followed the example of the Gibeonites or Rahab, and they were determined to resist God, and they became the enemies of God together.

So, God not only let the Israelites smite them but also sent down large hailstones, which killed more than the Israelites did. This is God. This is also still true in the New Testament, so we should not look at the appearance but at the essence. I tell you that nothing that happens to people is unjust; it happens according to the blessings or calamities that God has ordained.

Some time ago, there was a person who was so poor that she couldn't even live anymore, so she came to me. She was doing fund management, and she ended up being sued in court and came to us with many other problems. I felt sorry for her, so I prayed with her. Just a few minutes into the prayer, God told me that she was a thief. I then said, "You are not a tithing person; you have not tithed, and these are the plagues that God has brought upon you." When she heard that, she looked at me with wide eyes and then started cursing me.

Do you think I can serve such a person? In fact, she was really a thief who said, "I have tithes, I give my money to the poor." If there is such a person among us, then you are a cursed person. The tithe is what belongs to God. You can give what you want after the tithe, but don't bring what belongs to God outside of the temple of God. Don't be an enemy of God. Giving is just the beginning. If you are a thief in giving, what will you do in the future?

As a result, Joshua chased these five kings and finally brought them out of the cave and killed them all. So, you say, "Don't these five kings have any merit?" If you resist God, you are an enemy of God.

To Resist God is To Be an Enemy of God

Joshua 10 writes:

Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The LORD gave Lachish into Israel’s hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. (Joshua 10:29-39 NIV)

So I divide people into two categories: those who are blessed and those who are cursed. We can look at ourselves and ask, "Which one are we?" If you find that you have a lot of problems, a lot of problems with your body, and you are having a hard time doing anything, I think there must be a reason for that. If you are curious to know the reason, then I would encourage you to read Deuteronomy 28, which is all about blessings and curses. If you find many of the same signs in yourself as the signs of the curses, be careful, you need to repent and be like the Gibeonites, like Rahab, and not be the one who is destroyed.

Many people think that going to church on Sunday means being a Christian. That doesn't work. The people that Joshua killed, thought they were reasonable, but God was unreasonable. In God's eyes, as long as people do not turn to God, it is the same no matter how you die, so brothers and sisters, you cannot see through the problems with human eyes.

One of our sisters, I brought to the Lord, her son had depression, I called her, and she thought her son was much better, in fact, he was not much better, but the demons were hidden. I believe many people have a lot of confusion in the matter of casting out demons.

One time I went to class and during the break, everyone came out of the classroom and was in the open space around. One of the sisters I used to serve, who knew about me, brought a very sick person to me who was on the verge of collapse because she had been so badly screwed by the devil. I prayed with her, and not long after, the devil started to yell. This is going to be problematic. The teachers and pastors in charge of the class came out when they heard the sound, and I ran away because there was someone else's territory and they are also pastors.

But they went to help her in a carnal way and stuffed the demons back into this sister again, luckily not all of them, and as a result, this sister's body returned to a little bit of normalcy, in fact, if they had continued to cast out the demons, they would have released the sister. After the lesson, she ran to the front and went to the stage to give her testimony. She said that she was very uncomfortable and felt something inside her body, which made her feel very frantic and broken. The whole person was about to die, but someone prayed for her and cast out the demon from her body, and then some people came and gave her a massage. Wouldn't it be better if they continued to cast all the demons out?

Learn to See Things With God's Vision

People like to see things through the eyes of man, we need to learn to see things through the vision of God. Those who become the enemies of God will perish. I have met many pastors who have cancer. Brothers and sisters should think carefully, cancer is a curse because they disobey God's word and are often weak in exterminating the enemies of God.

Just like King Saul, read 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, and you will find that King Saul often had mercy on the enemies of God. Brothers and sisters, what is our task? Our task is not to be charitable; our task is to build up the kingdom of God and to do the will of God, not to be a good person but to be a person after God's heart. To be a good person is just a moral code. To be a man after God's own heart, as Joshua was, is a remarkable thing.

Brothers and sisters, never pity the enemies of God. Our task is to receive the mission from God, to take up the destiny of this generation, and then to build the body of Jesus Christ.

Some people will be confused, so is there a problem with being charitable? But as for me, I'm to build the body of Jesus Christ, to build the kingdom of God, to build the glorious church of God, and to free the captive souls. The New Testament tells us to build up the church and the body of Jesus Christ. At this time, Jesus Christ is coming, don’t we have to cleanse the church even more with the Word of God, so the church doesn't have blemishes, wrinkles, and other defects?
What exactly are we doing today? Some time ago, I was contacted by a man who was fixing a lot of mentally retarded, autistic, and variously impaired people, and the ministry of their church was to educate these people. I thought about it, and the Bible is very clear that these people are full of demons, and there is nothing better than to release them from their dominion. He should go to God, and there is no use in looking for me.

Conclusion

We are to trample on the devils and make the heart of God the principle of all our actions, and God will take the promised land and give it to us. So, he who obeys God will receive the promise, and he who resists God will be destroyed. Some people say, "I don't need blessings; give them to them." You seem to have mercy on these people for God. Of course, we need to have compassion but not humanly solve people's problems.

I have said so much, and it is not always clear, but one thing is that God will punish them for the sin of those who hate Him for three or four generations. Jesus has died for us, and that is for those who repent. How can God save a person who does not repent and trust in Him? **If we are the people of God, and we build the glorious church of God, the Lord God of Israel will fight for us, trample down the devils, and take the promised land and give it to us! **

May God bless everyone!