[Original Audio Bible Study Recording - Mandarin - Theme: Accursed Things as the Reason for Failure in Spiritual Warfare - July 24, 2019]

The Reason for the Church's Defeat is the Presence of Accursed Things

Chinese Mingding Destiny explains some of the phenomena of defeat. Actually, the phenomenon of defeat is very common in the church. Generally, people attribute the inability to overcome, the inability to solve people's problems, the inability to be like Jesus, and so on, to the sovereignty of God. They use God's sovereignty as a fig leaf for their disbelief in God and His Word.

I say this rather harshly, but isn't it strange that people don't believe, yet believe in God's sovereignty?

Reading Joshua Chapter 7, we see that accursed things are a reason for failure in spiritual warfare. I can boldly say that many churches harbor accursed things, and this is a common phenomenon. For example, what is it when brothers and sisters in the church do not tithe? It is actually a problem of accursed things, which I will talk about later.

Chinese Mingding Destiny does not attribute the phenomenon of failure to God, calling it God's grace. All the promises God gives us in the Bible are faithful, without exception. I will give you a few examples: For example, the Book of Acts records that those who came to the church were healed; the four Gospels write that those who came to Jesus were also healed.

Now, many of us come from local churches, not because we invited them, but because they found that their problems could not be solved in the local church. Then they came when we held activities and were healed. How do you explain this phenomenon? Grace can be obtained in a victorious church. So what can be obtained in a defeated church? That is, defeat.

In other words, in a victorious army, you directly share the victory of the victorious army. In a defeated army, no matter how capable you are as a general, even if you were the most powerful prime minister during World War II, if you are in a defeated country, then from the prime minister to the soldiers, all have suffered defeat, no matter how powerful you are.

Why did you come to us and get healed? The reason is very simple, because our church is a victorious church. So why are we victorious? The reason is very simple, we insist that the Bible is the Word of God, and we will never use God's sovereignty as a fig leaf for our unbelief.

Jesus Christ criticized the disciples, criticized that generation, saying, O unbelieving and perverse generation! and then criticized them, O you of little faith! The problem becomes very obvious, the problem lies in people's unbelief. In fact, unbelief is the root of all problems. I wrote a book about Genesis Chapters 1 to 11, entitled Unbelief is the Root of All Human Problems.

Do we really believe in God’s Word? Many people classify themselves as evangelicals. What does the word evangelical mean? It means adhering to the Bible as the Word of God, but do we really adhere to it? If we really adhere to it, then the physical ailments would have been healed long ago! They only verbally adhere to the Bible, but if the words of the Bible are really implemented in the church, the church must be a victorious church.

I will give you a few examples: Many years ago, a person with a very deep curse came to us. He had been a Christian for many years. We looked at the problems he suffered, it was really hard! To what extent was it hard? He lost the lawsuit, and then he was sued again. In fact, he didn't do too many bad things. When I was praying for him, God gave me a word, that he had accursed things in his hand.

I said to him, You are not a tithing person. He got angry with me: I am a tithing person! I said: You are not, you have accursed things in your hand. He said he didn't, this person was very concerned about face. Later, after digging deep, he said that he donated all his tithes to the poor.

When did the Bible teach you to donate what belongs to God to the poor? It never taught that. What belongs to God should be brought to God's temple. As for whether the priests in God's temple should donate to the poor, that is another matter. What belongs to God should be brought to God's temple, to God's church.

So brothers and sisters, do you know? Our requirements for tithing are not lax. If you are not a tithing person, what remains in your hand is an accursed thing, and you will implicate the church in defeat. But now in many churches, this phenomenon is very common.

Some people say, how can you guarantee that everyone in the church tithes? In fact, we examine and examine again before we include you in the church. If you are not examined, what do we do to include you in the church? Don't think that coming to us means you are part of our church. It's not like that. What does it mean? The standards of the church cannot be lowered.

Accursed things are a very common phenomenon in the church. Actually, this person had believed in the Lord for more than ten or twenty years before coming to us, but the previous pastors were embarrassed to tell him to tithe, and then included him in the church. How can he be blessed? How can the church be victorious?

Brothers and sisters, don't be good people, don't think about giving face, these are not ways to implement God's Word. If we see that the church is not victorious, one of the key reasons is that the church does not adhere to the truth of the Bible, does not adhere to the Word of God. Many pastors like to give face in tithing, and give explanations.

Accursed Things Caused the Israelites to Be Defeated

The Israelites attacked a small city called Ai. Joshua sent 3,000 men, but they were defeated. They actually fled before the enemy. It is difficult for us to say exactly what happened. They had just won a great victory in Jericho, but in a small city like Ai, they were defeated and 36 people were killed. The Israelites fled, and the hearts of the people melted like water.

Previously, the hearts of the enemies melted. Previously, God delivered the enemies into the hands of the Israelites. But this time, facing a very weak enemy, how could the Israelites be defeated? So the first verse says:

But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel. (Joshua 7:1)

The victory of the church is related to the presence of God. If there are accursed things in the church, then it is difficult for you to be victorious, and it is difficult for God to be with such a church. So brothers and sisters, when you begin to see these things, you must have a proper explanation. This explanation is definitely not that God's Word is ineffective, nor is it that defeat is God's will.

Was defeat in this city of Ai God's will? Actually, it was not. At that time, Joshua was greatly confused, so he tore his clothes, and he and the elders of Israel put dust on their heads. They were very confused, and then they fell to the ground before the Ark of the Lord until evening.

And Joshua said: “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people across the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth; then what will You do for Your great name?” (Joshua 7:6-9)

Do you see that? Even a person like Joshua, when encountering problems, first blames God. Brothers and sisters, begin to understand that no matter what kind of person, when encountering problems and defeats, they do not first look for the reason in themselves, but first blame God. We must know that our defeat has nothing to do with God's promises, but because we do not carefully observe and follow God's Word. Therefore, we brothers and sisters must take the matter of carefully observing and following God's Word more seriously.

Many of us are new here, you may not be used to it yet. It doesn't matter if you're not used to it, but I want to tell you something from the bottom of my heart, victory is the most important thing in a person's life. If you are not victorious today, and not victorious tomorrow, how will you live your life? Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must begin to have a clear understanding of accursed things.

Defeat is Our Own Fault

What did God say as a result? Brothers and sisters, see how God explained:

**Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed things from among you.

Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”’ In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes; and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel. (Joshua 7:10-15)**

When people encounter defeat, they shift the blame to God. We Christians have become masters of shifting the blame, and our God has become the one who takes the blame. In fact, God's promises are established in heaven, just as the Apostle Paul said, all our God’s promises in Jesus Christ are Yes.

Do you understand? That is, in my faith, I know that God's promises will not be abolished. Everyone should begin to have such faith. If you want to find problems, find them in yourself. What was the result? The story continues. The Israelites got up early in the morning and drew lots, until they drew Achan. Then Joshua asked Achan, what happened?

Achan answered Joshua that he took a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels. He coveted these things and took them. What was the result? He took all his households, and then he was stoned to death by the Israelites. Do you understand? That is, what Achan did was closely related to the defeat of Israel. Then you say, what if there is an Achan in the church? Don't say there is one Achan, maybe there are ten or eight! With so many Achans in the church, how can it be victorious?

Therefore, the church must know that in the process of spiritual warfare, the role played by accursed things in the church is extremely critical! Then I want to explain to everyone what is called an accursed thing.

What are Accursed Things?

The Bible's teaching on accursed things is not limited to this chapter in Joshua. There is a story in Genesis, about Jacob. How did God help him? Jacob left his uncle Laban and returned to Canaan. In this process, he encountered many challenges. His brother Esau wanted to kill him, but God helped Jacob, and his brother did not kill him. The two brothers recognized each other and reconciled.

Further on, they arrived at Shechem. Jacob's daughter Dinah was raped by a man from Shechem. Isn't this very strange? Jacob was a person pleasing to God, why could his daughter encounter such a thing?

As a result, Jacob later removed the idols of the foreign nations among them, and the jewelry of the family members, and hid them under the oak tree in Shechem. Therefore, we must know that the root cause of many problems that we cannot overcome is ourselves. Therefore, we must thoroughly remove idols from our minds and thoughts.

Then Jacob buried the accursed things under the tree. Was his problem solved? God helped him solve it. Jacob, such a spiritual person, was still like this. Joshua, such a spiritual person, asked such ignorant questions, why do you want to destroy us? Look at what he said. In fact, people easily say such things. Don't think that spiritual people know all the truth. At this time, Joshua encountered the problem of accursed things for the first time, and he did not think that accursed things were a problem before.

Then let's start talking about what accursed things are. Everyone's understanding of accursed things is very important. People often ask me, is this an accursed thing, is that an accursed thing? I am thinking, first remove the idols in your heart, and then remove the idols in the world.

What are accursed things? There are two kinds of accursed things, one is something that God hates, such as objects closely related to idols and the spirit world, which belong to accursed things; the second is more serious, things that originally belong to God but are taken into one's own hands, resulting in oneself becoming cursed.

A few days ago, a sister called me. Because we tithe according to our conscience, who can know how much money you earn? As a result, because of a slight shortage of finances, she misappropriated what belonged to God and did not tithe. As a result, bad things began to happen. It was fine at first, but since taking the accursed thing, it wasn't long before something went wrong. After thinking about it, she realized that she must have sinned, so she called me. I said to repent quickly, don't sin with accursed things! As a result, she made up for the tithe.

Remember, don't think that God doesn't know and the ghost is unaware, and you can get away with these things. Did God and ghost know that Achan committed this crime? Yes! God knows, and the ghost is aware. Therefore, we brothers and sisters must know that the matter of accursed things is very critical.

As for accursed things related to idolatry, the Ten Commandments clearly state not to carve images of various animals, images of all things, and not to worship these things. Therefore, I encourage our brothers and sisters to develop a simple habit. Who knows where those objects you put out came from? Maybe they were taken out of tombs by grave robbers.

Brothers and sisters, use spiritual eyes to see. If you use worldly eyes to see, then you will not see clearly, and you will be confused. So where is the key to explaining these accursed things? The key lies in the part of the tithe that belongs to God.

Achan took what belonged to God, and as a result brought corruption to the Israeli army. Why did the things in Jericho belong to God? Because that was the first battle the Israelites fought after crossing the Jordan River, the first victorious battle, and all the spoils belonged to God. You cannot take the gold and silver treasures of Jericho for yourself. Then you say that God is too unreasonable, and the Israelites did not get anything after winning the war.

Actually, you will find that later on in the battles, the spoils were all distributed among the Israelites, unlike the regulations stipulated for Jericho. However, during the battle of Jericho, Achan happened to commit this act, and the consequences were quite severe; 36 people died on the battlefield.

These 36 people were indeed unfortunate, implicated by Achan. Achan thought his actions were undetectable by God, but as a result, the Israelites suffered a defeat. When Joshua brought his bewilderment before God, how clearly God spoke! It is not that My promise has failed, but that there is a problem with you. It is because you have taken what was devoted to destruction. Remove the devoted things from among you. If you do not remove them, I will not be with you anymore.

Brothers and sisters must understand that a church without God's presence is a tragedy! If a church is not built according to God's Word, if it does not strictly implement God's Word, it is truly perilous.

I once heard a pastor preach that God does not often strike people down in the church. But the problem is, it is not only in the Old Testament that we read about Achan being stoned to death, but also in the New Testament, where those who withheld tithes died on the spot. This pastor is grateful that God does not frequently strike people down now, but does this become an excuse for us to take what is devoted to destruction? It cannot!

God's Word, God's spiritual principles, have never changed. Brothers and sisters must understand that God's Word, God's spiritual principles, have never changed from ancient times until now. From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, God's Word and God's will are established in heaven; what God says, He will accomplish.

Do not ever think that taking what is devoted to destruction is inconsequential. Brothers and sisters must understand that it is a very unfavorable thing to do. Why take what is devoted to destruction? Why take what belongs to God and become a thief? If God considers you a thief, can God still be with you? Stealing what belongs to God is a very serious matter.

Some time ago, an incident occurred. There was a sister whose pastor had not seen her giving offerings for a long time. As a result, I told her pastor to remove her from the group. Our pastor came back to me, saying he had made a mistake, that in fact, this sister had given offerings. I said, Then quickly add her back and quickly apologize to her. Many people do not understand my approach, thinking that I value money too much, but it is not that. It is that I value victory very much. A church that does not overcome will implicate all the brothers and sisters. A person who does not give offerings is a thief in God's eyes. How can that person belong to God's army?

Of course, if Achan had not been in the Israelite army and had taken the things from Jericho and run away, it would not have implicated the Israelites. In fact, people's ignorance leads to their destruction. To take what belongs to God and claim it as your own has such serious consequences. This is God's principle, and everyone must thoroughly understand God's spiritual principles.

Chinese Mingding Destiny explains many phenomena of why churches do not overcome. Another key phenomenon is that everyone wants to be a good person. Oh, Achan is okay. Who is not weak? Who does not sin? These past few months, his finances have been tight. It's not a big deal, right? It's not that serious, right? I tell you, it is very serious! Do you understand? Brothers and sisters, I myself never withhold tithes. From the first day I believed in the Lord, I dared not withhold tithes.

Because I read the Bible, I discovered that tithing is a matter of life and death. Of course, at the beginning, I was also conflicted. After tithing, there was not much savings left. I earned so little to begin with, and then almost a tenth of all my savings was tithed. Once I tithed, there were no savings left. My salary was so low, and then I tithed, and then the cost of living was so high. What was left?

Fortunately, I tithed, and God greatly blessed me, so I never dare to be negligent in the matter of tithing. Why? Because it is a devoted thing! Then how did it become a devoted thing? We take what belongs to God and hold it in our own hands, and we ourselves become devoted to destruction. Can you understand? If you cannot understand, it does not matter; the principle of the Bible is like this.

As a Man Thinks in His Heart, So He Is

Let me explain a few things:

First, why were those 36 people so unlucky that they were killed? Many people say that bullets on the battlefield have no eyes, but I tell you, bullets have eyes. It is not only that Achan stole what was devoted to destruction in the Israelite camp, but also those 36 who were killed. Life and death are all in God's hands. Is the death of these 36 people under God's control? It is under God's control.

If we connect the entire Bible and look at it, you will find that in a person's life, as a man thinks in his heart, so he lives out his life; that is to say, the result of a person's life is what he ponders in his heart.

The Bible does not record what these 36 people were thinking in their minds. We have no way of knowing because they were all killed. But we must affirm one thing: our God will never make a mistake! These 36 people were not killed because they were unlucky, but because what they had in their minds led to their end.

If you ask me, I say God's promise will never be abandoned. But the garbage in people's hearts is almost the same as what is devoted to destruction. So brothers and sisters, start pondering, not only to remove the outward things devoted to destruction, but also to remove the things devoted to destruction in our thoughts and intentions. Because outward idols are easy to remove, but the idols in people's hearts are difficult to remove!

As a man thinks in his heart, so he will live his life. Do you not think this spiritual principle is good? If what you have inside is a love for the world, even if you do not take it this time, you will definitely take it if you have the opportunity. If a person is greedy inside, will he not be a corrupt official in the future? If he has a love of money inside, will he not be a crooked businessman?

So we should not think that those 36 people were unlucky. In the Book of Numbers, God killed ten thousand, twenty thousand, killed a lot of people. God never makes mistakes. How come Joshua and Caleb were not among those who were killed? How come they were not among those who died of the plague? If a person trusts in God in his heart, God will not be unaware. Those who trust in God will never be put to shame.

Second, Achan confessed his sin, but in the end, he was still stoned to death. Does God not have abundant grace and mercy? Why did He still have to stone him to death? Why did He burn all that he had with fire?

In fact, dealing with what is devoted to destruction must be in accordance with the Bible. Should Achan still have died after confessing his sin? Brothers and sisters, do not ever think that Achan was confessing his sin. Do you know how many opportunities God gave Achan? God gave Achan one opportunity after another, because God had them draw lots by tribe. After drawing lots by tribe, Achan felt that he could not escape and quickly confessed his sin. Perhaps he could have escaped the fate of death. No way, right? It can't be that accurate, right? Could it really be me? I don't believe it!

Then they continued to draw, from his tribe to his clan. What did he think? No way, it can't be that accurate, right? Could it really be me? Maybe it will be someone else? His heart began to harden. Then they drew by clan, and then they drew the household. It had already reached Achan's household. He was still thinking, Perhaps it will draw someone else. It won't be me, right? As a result, Achan was drawn.

When we sin, especially when we steal God's offerings and become a thief in God's eyes, we often think that God does not know, but in fact, God knows both the visible and the invisible. There is nothing hidden under the sun. Everything is clear before our God. Not only are the things we do clear before God, but also the thoughts and intentions in our minds are clear to God.

We often feel that Judas was unlucky, and we sympathize with Judas for betraying Jesus. We also sympathize with Achan, wondering why he was stoned to death. If you sympathize with them, have you ever sympathized with God? We must understand that spiritual principles cannot be reconciled with womanly sentimentality. If you have womanly sentimentality, you will let it go, but God does not do that. Our God kills many people. People die in their own sins. Remember, people die in their own sins.

Judas betrayed Jesus, and God gave him many opportunities. God said, The one who dips his hand in the dish with me will betray me. As a result, Judas dipped the bread in the dish. Could he not have known that he was going to betray Jesus? Could he not have known that Jesus was talking about him? In fact, the other disciples also knew, but Judas hardened his heart, determined to be stubborn, hearing but not hearing, seeing but not understanding, believing in the devil's lies in his heart, and heading down the road with a stiff neck. This is not an attitude of repentance.

So brothers and sisters, if you have what is devoted to destruction in your hand and become a thief in God's eyes, it is really better not to be a Christian. What are you doing as a Christian? Being a Christian who will be stoned to death by God? Then why bother? Just do not do it! That is why our church has another characteristic: we do not casually accept people's offerings. What do we do by casually accepting people's offerings? If you want to be a serious Christian, then let us seriously build God's glorious church, and then walk before God by faith, becoming a person who is justified by faith.

Achan, Judas, including Joshua and Jacob, gradually learned about what is devoted to destruction and about sin, little by little. Some people learned it, like Joshua, who understood when he heard God's Word, but many people do not understand when they hear it!

We read Joshua Chapter 7. Which pastor does not read it? After you become a pastor, what do you do after reading this chapter? Continue to tolerate thieves in the church? Then you say, What can I do if I don't tolerate them? Actually, it is not difficult. You just treat them as visitors. There is no problem. So the church must teach people the truth and not please people. If the church is a church that pleases people, how can the church bless the brothers and sisters? How can the church have God's presence? How can it enable people to overcome?

I do not want to say that I have preached all the truth. Many times, I am also like Joshua, with deep confusion, but it does not matter. I seek God. God is a God who reveals. God will certainly tell us the path we should take. God will never say, Just keep it to yourself. If you don't know, then just forget about it. Seeking won't tell you. There is no such thing. The one who seeks will surely find.

Remove Idolatry

I have learned a deep lesson about this matter of what is devoted to destruction. I said earlier that stealing what belongs to God is being a thief in God's eyes. Taking God's things into your own hands is what is devoted to destruction. Then what is the other type of thing devoted to destruction? It is what is related to idols.

There are many stories about things devoted to destruction that are related to idols! Once I ministered to a sister who had unbearable pain in both legs. Today her eyes hurt, tomorrow her legs hurt, and the day after tomorrow her fingers were swollen. Anyway, there was something happening every day. After praying, I discovered that there was a cursed object. After removing it, things got a little better. Later, it was pain here and pain there. There were some objects devoted to destruction in her home that were very valuable. You might ask, Why do people collect these things when they have nothing else to do? As a result, she was in extreme pain!

So when I was leading her in prayer, I encouraged her to remove the objects devoted to destruction from her home, but she was reluctant. What happened as a result? One day, the pain became unbearable. She could not walk with either leg at all. She crawled to deliver the objects devoted to destruction to the door. As soon as she delivered them to the door and threw them outside, her legs immediately got better! She was healed on the spot! I was still waiting on the distant phone line, Why is there no sound? As soon as she came back, she said, She was healed! And someone just happened to come and gave that thing to him. Then you might say that giving something devoted to destruction to someone else is hurting them, right? Who is to blame for this? He was willing to take it.

You might say that this thing devoted to destruction is actually deadly. Brothers and sisters, check your homes carefully. If you feel uncomfortable looking at something, just throw it away. But if something is not yours, do not throw it away. If you are a tenant and you throw away the landlord's things, will that work? If something is not yours, try not to touch it. Even if that thing is your husband's, try not to touch it. If it is yours, it is yours; if it is your husband's, it is your husband's.

Brothers and sisters, begin to understand that these objects devoted to destruction are actually very harmful. Many Christians have suffered a lot of confusion over objects devoted to destruction. I am a good person. Why are these things happening to me? Know that God's promise is always faithful. If we cannot draw on God's promise, then there must be a problem.

Build a Victorious Church and Obtain Destiny

A key component of Chinese Mingding Destiny is explaining victorious disciples and a victorious church. I wrote a book called Obtaining Destiny, which has an upper and lower volume, which talks about victorious disciples and the victorious church.

Our Chinese Mingding Destiny says that being saved is being victorious, and being victorious is being saved. How can you be saved if you have things devoted to destruction in your hand? It is already good enough to not be stoned to death and to not be killed by God. So brothers and sisters, begin to rediscover God. No matter what, if you are going to be a Christian, be a victorious Christian! If you are going to be a Christian, be a remarkable Christian!

Not only do you verbally insist that the Bible is God's Word, but you also put God's Word into practice in your life, and then you listen to God's Word and go and do it. We read Joshua Chapter 7 and know that these cursed objects are so deadly! And it will implicate the entire congregation of Israel. Therefore, everyone should have a deeper understanding of what is devoted to destruction.

Why is our healing and deliverance far beyond that of many churches? Even when you come among us to be healed, it is not because we are very spiritual, but because here we insist that the Bible is God's Word, here we insist on putting God's Word into practice, here we insist on not compromising on God's Word. Therefore, a key component of Chinese Mingding Destiny is to be careful to obey and follow God's Word and never compromise.

Some people criticize us for being too absolute, but we just do as God says! The result is good! You know, some people ask, If we believe in the Lord like this with you, will we still be able to live our lives? And I was thinking, If you don't believe in the Lord like this, how will you live your life? If you are always defeated, will you live a good life? Of course, it is better to live a victorious life, right? When you are victorious, you can plunder the enemy, which is not the same as being plundered by the enemy. These are two different outcomes!

So brothers and sisters, begin to learn a lesson on what is devoted to destruction, give what belongs to God to God, give it to the church, and then you must live a holy life. May God bless everyone!

Joshua List