Salvation as the Restoration of the Heavenly Father's Image in Man

Good day to all. We continue with the latter part of Luke chapter 6. From verse 27 to the end, the theme remains: we must be like our Heavenly Father. A friend called me, saying, I’ll send you a text. It describes a pastor criticising another pastor's sermon, saying he only preaches half the truth.

The most dangerous thing about preaching the truth is only telling half of it, because it is deceptive. While it is indeed the truth, the other half is deliberately left out. This critical pastor meticulously analysed the truth that the other pastor preached. But the question arises, what good does this analysis do? Does analysing make one more like Jesus?

The concept that we, in Chinese Mingding Destiny, proclaim is that we must be like our Heavenly Father. The essence of salvation is to restore the image of our Heavenly Father within us. Having the image of the Heavenly Father is crucial. As we discussed in the first and second parts of chapter 6, you will find that our Heavenly Father is full of grace and mercy, and the word He conveys to us is good.

Possessing a Wealthy Mindset Like the Heavenly Father

Next, we will talk about having a wealthy mindset like the Heavenly Father. We should carefully ponder and observe. It is quite remarkable how some are poor, and others are wealthy. Certainly, you desire wealth, but if you harbour a poor mindset within you, it is difficult to become wealthy. To be wealthy like the Heavenly Father, you must have a wealthy mindset like Him. Some say that if all the world's wealth were collected and distributed equally, after five or ten years, a large number of poor and wealthy individuals would still emerge. A person's poverty or wealth is related to what is in their mind. Therefore, today, let us examine closely:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:29-36)

If someone takes your coat, give them your shirt as well; if someone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. It sounds difficult to implement, but if we are children of the Most High, and our family is wealthy, we can have as much as we want. If they want to take it, let them. There are two issues here. The first level is not having a wealthy enough family. Even if your family is wealthy enough, you still cannot bear it if someone takes your things. But if you are a child of the Most High, your family is infinitely wealthy, and resources are limitless. So, let people take what they want; you do not lack it.

The second level is that we do not live by these possessions or clothes, nor do we use them to nourish ourselves. In fact, not everyone can accept these words, and even I myself do not easily accept them. However, Jesus teaches this in the Bible, so we believe it.

If we become children of the Most High, everything the Heavenly Father has will be ours. If you can imagine that everything the Heavenly Father has is yours, what do you lack? The universe is so vast that you cannot even imagine it. There might be a planet larger than Earth, entirely made of gold. Would gold still be valuable? Gold is precious because of its scarcity, which is why it has become a valuable precious metal on Earth.

The problem is that we do not know how wealthy and merciful our Heavenly Father is, so we need to constantly emulate Him. On this journey of constant emulation and forward progress, our attitude towards money, being wronged, and injustice will be completely different. Our Heavenly Father is truly amazing! So many people betray Him, offend Him, and blaspheme Him, but what does the Bible say? As long as you turn back to me, I will turn back to you.

Why is this so? Because God does not remember people's sins. As long as these sinners turn back to God, God will turn back to them. Can you say that there is such a merciful God in the world? Extremely merciful! Our God loves the world! He does not want to destroy the world or condemn people, but to forgive them. Our God is an extremely generous and wealthy God.

If you are merciful like our Heavenly Father, what would you do? You should love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. Isn't this the image of Jesus Christ? If you have the image of Jesus Christ, do you think you will suffer a loss? No, because then you become a child of the Most High.

Therefore, salvation is a very good thing. Why are people poor? Because their minds are poor, always wanting to take advantage of others, but they do not gain anything and instead attract a lot of demons. We must be careful not to covet other people's possessions, as coveting other people's wealth and houses are very deep curses. If you carefully observe those who covet other people's wealth, how many of them live well? They live very miserably.

So everyone must begin to realise one thing: how can one become wealthy? By being like the Heavenly Father. By having a wealthy mindset like the Heavenly Father and constantly giving. As the Bible says, do not ask for the money back that you have lent. I think this is great! But some people say, How is this good? You lend money to people and do not ask for it back. But then again, just because you do not ask for it back does not mean they will not give it back! If they give it to you, then you take it.

Someone testified that after he started tithing, a debt that had already been written off and was impossible to recover was actually repaid by that person for 300,000. This made him very happy. In fact, we do not expect repayment, so will we be poor? We will not be poor. Therefore, your reward will be great, and we must be generous. Our reward is that we become children of the Most High. What is a child of the Most High? It means that everything the Heavenly Father has is ours.

Our God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Can you understand that? You must know that God does not actually want to eliminate them, but when their sins are full, the demons eliminate them. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must be merciful, like our Heavenly Father, and our reward will be great. Do you want to be wealthy? If you want to be wealthy, you must first learn the Heavenly Father's wealthy mindset, and then your reward will be great.

In my mind, I think: how good it is to be like God! How good it is to be merciful like the Heavenly Father! Of course, I am still far from doing that. It is painful in my heart when people take your money, scold you, curse you, and hate you. Who can you reason with? If someone takes your coat, give them your shirt as well. Is this reward great or small? If someone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. Is your reward great or small?

If you love those who do not love you, is your reward great or small? Of course, it is great. If you are kind to those who are not kind to you, is your reward great or small? Therefore, in my heart, I say: God, I want to be like you! This reward will surely be great, and that is wonderful.

We must be merciful, just as our Father is merciful. Can we also be kind to the ungrateful and the wicked? This is a bit difficult. If you can really do it, it is like God saying, do you really want to do as God says. Everyone must not forget that the reward will surely be great, you can be a child of God, and you can control all the resources of the Heavenly Father.

David in the Bible was a very wealthy man. He collected more than 200 tons of gold himself, not to mention silver and bronze, and he donated it all to God as materials for building the temple. You may ask, how could he be so wealthy? Because he had a compassionate mindset like God the Father.

Everyone must have a wealthy mindset, and the reward will surely be great. This cannot be measured by money. This wealthy mindset is very important, and I encourage you to start having this wealthy mindset. If we have a lot of money, we will not care about money, especially since we live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Every word that comes from the mouth of God blesses us, and we prosper in everything we do. Will we lack money? We are blessed in everything we do. Will we lack money? We will not lack money, and your reward will surely be great.

We Must Have a Broad Mind Like the Heavenly Father

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Luke 6:37-42)

This passage is from verse 37 to verse 42. This passage is not easy to explain. Why is it not easy to explain? Because we say: do not judge, and you will not be judged. Later, we found that there are many criticisms of the evil habits of Christians in the letters of the Apostle Paul. Is this judging? It is a little difficult to explain the word judging, because the purpose of judging is not to help people solve problems. There is a saying that goes: do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

For example, a person who steals deserves to die. We may not have stolen as much, but we have stolen a little, and as a result, we are judged. In fact, we often cannot see our own problems clearly, but we look at other people's problems with a microscope and our own problems with a reducing glass. No matter what perspective you take, whether you like it or not, you will be judged with the same words you use to judge others, and the same thing will happen to you.

For example, I have met some sisters who do not have a particularly good relationship with their mothers because they often complain about their mothers' shortcomings. Later, I found that those who judge their own mothers, and particularly dislike their own mothers, grow up to become more and more like their mothers. I thought this was very strange and interesting. Remember, you judge others, and you will be judged. This is a principle in the spiritual realm. Even if you look down on your mother in this way or that way, when you are old, the same evil spirit will attach itself to you because the Bible has already told you not to judge others. Some people say: I can't possibly be like her! But unfortunately, what you say doesn't count.

From a young age, we see many people who stutter. How did this stutter come about? My parents have always strictly demanded that we never laugh at people. Those who laugh at other people's stuttering will eventually be controlled by the spirit of stuttering. Some children are very bad and often like to bully people with disabilities, and as a result, they encounter many strange things later on.

The laws of this world operate on us, and in reality, it is related to whether we judge others or whether our ancestors judged others. For example, some people are born with children who have congenital problems. In fact, this is closely related to the parents judging others. Therefore, everyone should be careful not to judge others, otherwise the same thing will happen to your own head. Mocking those who stutter will eventually cause you to stutter yourself.

Therefore, we must carefully ponder this. These words are not easy to put into practice, but if you think about it carefully, in fact, we judge others a lot, and we always think we are very reasonable and like to condemn people. But everyone must know that if we do not judge others, we will not be judged; if we do not condemn people, we will not be condemned; if we forgive others, we will be forgiven. The principle is: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

If you are a very generous person and are willing to forgive others and are unwilling to condemn people, even if you are hurt badly, you are still willing to manage your mindset and use a very generous mindset to measure to others, then the result will definitely be very good. Because if you give, it will be given to you. Why are people poor? It is because of the poor mindset inside people. Why do people often suffer? It is because people often condemn others, so they are condemned themselves.

God has a ruler, and that ruler is determined by ourselves; God also has a measuring cup, and that is also determined by ourselves. But we measure to others with whatever measuring cup we use, and God will measure to us with whatever measuring cup we use. If you use a microscope to see other people's problems, God will use a microscope to see your problems; if you use a microscope to see others and condemn others, God will use the microscope you used to look at you.

When we stand before the judgment seat one day in the future, you will know that this is the principle. Some people have planks in their eyes, but they can see the specks in their brothers' eyes. Do you not think this is very strange? They did not see the planks in their own eyes. Because we have to remove the planks from our own eyes first before we can remove the specks from our brothers' eyes. You must know that we cannot see things accurately.

Judging by the Fruit They Bear

For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (Luke 6:43-45)

The fruit that a person bears comes from what they think in their heart. When assessing a situation, look at the outcome. If someone has this ailment or that ailment, did they do the right thing? Sometimes, to address their suffering, I have to speak frankly. In my ministry, there are times when I ask someone: Are you unforgiving? The person might vehemently respond: No, I forgive everyone! I would then say: Then I misspoke. I would say no more, and they can continue to suffer.

They do not admit their problems until their bones ache and they can no longer bear the pain. Only then do they remember that they were indeed unforgiving in a certain matter and begin to repent. Therefore, the fruit you reap is indeed what you sow; you must know that the word of God cannot be violated. What seems like a disadvantage at first is not actually a disadvantage. We must know what is more important and what is less. If we do not know this, wouldn't that be troublesome? We must know to carefully keep and obey God's word, but not just by saying, Lord, I love you! Rather, we must see if a person is willing to be one who carefully keeps and obeys God's word.

Putting God's Word into Practice

If you hear these words of God and put them into practice, what will happen? It is like a person building a house who lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floods come, and the winds blow, the house will not collapse. This is how you can firmly establish your foundation on the word of God. But hearing and not doing is like having no foundation. This person is like someone who builds a house on sand. When the flood comes, the house collapses immediately, and the collapse is great.

Therefore, in building our church, we must build according to the word of God. We live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Whether you live well or poorly depends entirely on whether you do according to the word of God. You might retort: That's not right, I haven't done according to the word of God, and I'm still living well! That is because the flood has not yet come. When the flood comes one day, you will understand!

You will see many people who work tirelessly in their twenties, only to return to square one by the time they reach thirty. They continue toiling in their thirties and are back to square one again by forty. If you are someone who often returns to square one, you must be careful. Sometimes, you overshoot that point, and no one knows where you end up.

What exactly do we rely on to live our lives? Some people think that by coveting another's house and seizing their wealth, they will live a good life. But others, when faced with someone coveting their possessions, adopt an indifferent attitude: Take it. We look at the outcome to see which person lives well. From a young age, I have been a more generous person, not easily dwelling on the evils of others, so the outcome of my life has been quite good.

Everything must have a foundation, especially a theoretical foundation for living. If a person's life lacks a foundation and they follow their own feelings, coveting another's vineyard, servants, house, or livestock, and insist on taking another's house, thinking that it will be good, they are in for trouble. For example, King Ahab coveted another's vineyard, and his end was truly tragic.

I encourage everyone to constantly ponder this: it is not whether a person obtains something that determines whether they will live well, but whether we carefully keep and obey God's word. If we do not carefully keep and obey God's word, how can we possibly live well? Those who are enemies of God live under a curse; how can they possibly live well? For example, the last five commandments of the Ten Commandments are all closely related to material things and the affairs of human life. If a person breaks any one of them, the curse is very, very deep. The last of the Ten Commandments is not to covet another's house, wealth, servants, or livestock.

Therefore, if a person builds their life on the foundation of God's word, it is difficult not to be blessed! The result is that your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. Do you show kindness to the ungrateful? Do you show kindness to the wicked? Do you understand? If you truly understand, then do as God has said. I offer you a suggestion: when we make any decision, do not worry about whether that decision will lose money. The first thing we should care about is whether this decision will offend God. If it offends God, what should we do? Isn't this a very serious problem? The key to living a good life lies in whether we carefully keep and obey God's word.

May God bless everyone!