I. Introduction

Good day to all! Today, I will be sharing on the fourth part of Knowing the Schemes of the Devil. It is especially good to know the schemes of the devil, it is like landing a solid punch on him! In other words, once you begin to recognize the schemes of the devil, we will be less easily deceived. If we know the tricks of people, we will be less easily cheated. Some among us have been deceived, so we must know what the schemes of the devil are.

People are often caught in their own schemes, and it is especially troublesome when one is self-righteous. The first part of Knowing the Schemes of the Devil is titled Caught in Your Own Schemes, where the devil works on your mind, and then you begin to corrupt yourself. The second part is on The Devil Lives in Our Feelings, and it is very troublesome when people rely on their feelings. The third part is called Only Caring About the Things of Men. You see, the devil doesn't pry open your mouth to stuff the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil into you. No, you eat it yourself. So the devil does the thought work for a person, and once the task is completed, the person will corrupt himself. Do you think that's the case? How can a person corrupt himself? That's the strange thing. It's uncomfortable when a person is not upset. Look at what I'm saying, what kind of talk is that? What is it when someone has depression? Actually, nothing has happened outside, but they are thinking a lot in their minds. After thinking, they become very painful. See, isn't this troublesome? People corrupt themselves.

So today, brothers and sisters, stop believing in the attacks of the devil and start believing that you are attacking yourself. That's how people do it; people ruin themselves. Do you understand? Today's topic is called Conforming to the Ways of This World. If you want me to talk about how the devil gets people to conform to the ways of this world, I can give you a lot of stories. I can talk endlessly, but since we can't talk endlessly, let's talk about a few first. This thing is called the ways of this world, and behind it is a complete system that is seamless, and that thing is called culture. Companies have their own culture, and society has its own culture. For example, if you go to the tribes in the Amazon or the Maori tribes in New Zealand, everyone has their own culture, some have cannibalistic cultures, all kinds of cultures. But that set of culture forms a reasonable logic, and how people think becomes how things are reasonable. That's what is very interesting.

There was a Korean old lady who insisted on celebrating her big birthday, do you know about celebrating big birthdays? It's quite interesting. Once when I went home, my parents showed me the photos of their seventieth birthday celebration. After I saw it, I thought, oh my goodness, isn't that a monkey show? As a result, her in-laws, that is, the parents of her children's partners, also wanted to celebrate a big birthday. Oh, they learn everything but the good things. This Korean old lady wanted to celebrate a big birthday, but her daughter-in-law knew the problems of celebrating big birthdays, because in Korea there is a legend that people who celebrate big birthdays don't live long. Celebrating big birthdays means you will die soon, so she advised the old lady, saying: Mom, I will give you whatever you want, let's not celebrate this, I still hope you can live a few more years. The old lady said: Child, your mother doesn't have many wishes in this life, just such a wish to celebrate a big birthday. What kind of brain is this? As a result, she had diarrhea after the big birthday, and died a week later.

I once had a relative who celebrated his eightieth birthday, and sent me the video. Tens of thousands were spent on this day. As a result, not long after, he was diagnosed with cancer. I even ministered to him. No matter what I did, I couldn't convince him, because he had already formed an inherent logical system. So from celebrating his big birthday to his death, it took half a year. There are many, many stories to tell about this matter, think about it carefully.

We have a sister among us who is very interesting, and this interesting thing is that she was pregnant with a child. When the child was born, she celebrated the hundredth day of the child, and invited people to eat and drink. Everyone should know what this whole thing is. You should know what is the purpose for celebrating the big birthday? If somebody celebrates their big birthday we have to contribute money, right? When we celebrate big birthdays, we have to ask people to contribute money, right? When somebody celebrates the hundredth day, we contribute money, and when we celebrate the hundredth day, other people have to contribute money. It looks like money is being collected! Did the money actually received or not? As a result, after the hundredth-day banquet, someone drank too much and fell down the stairs and died. You say since you throw this banquet, you have to take responsibility, and you have to pay compensation of tens of thousands. There wasn't much money to begin with. Think about what I am talking about. If you were asked to celebrate the hundredth day again today, would you celebrate if you have learned from this loss? No. What about the seventieth birthday? No. What about the sixtieth birthday? No. Why? All these things are backed by evil spirits, which are very powerful.

We also have a sister among us. Before she came among us, her first child, who should be about ten years old now, celebrated the hundredth day and then had a fever. Anyway, big birthday celebrations and things like that were almost constant. Today this, tomorrow that, attending this, attending that. After all that, the child had a fever. Actually, no one can say exactly what celebrating the hundredth day or the full moon is. Anyway, that's the custom, and this custom is very powerful. So later, when this sister had her second child, it was when she came among us. She didn't have this concept yet, so she had a hundredth-day celebration again, and the child had a fever again. Oh my goodness, this time she learned her lesson and would never celebrate.

So there are a lot of things like celebrating birthdays, and all sorts of other nonsense. I think it's better to celebrate death than to celebrate life. Some people don't understand these two things, life and death. So one day, a sister said: Pastor, it's not good. I said, What's wrong? She said: I dreamed I died yesterday. I said, You dreamed you died yesterday, then I have to congratulate you. She said, Why do you want to congratulate me? I said, I have to congratulate you, you are finally dead. She said, What does it mean that you congratulate me for finally dying? Remember, if a Christian dreams that he has died, then he must congratulate himself. You know that a Christian must be dead to this world, and then alive to God. So the flesh, the things that belong to the flesh, the things that belong to the flesh of man must die! Aren't we Christians baptized? Baptism is like dying and being buried with Jesus Christ, and then when you come up from the water you are a new creation. But later I found that the baptism of water is just a symbol, and later you have to deal with it slowly.

That's how people are. Can people do it without suffering? You have to suffer a little to think slowly, but many people don't necessarily think it through even after suffering. Do you think I'm talking about this? Actually not. Today I have to tell everyone that the ways of this world are far more than celebrating the hundredth day, or big birthdays, it's not like that. Think about it, there are many things in this world that are unbelievable.

When I was a child, my mom and dad suddenly started burning paper money for the elderly, starting from a certain year. I still don't understand why they started burning paper money that year. Burning paper money meant that I followed my dad, and my dad drew a circle on the ground, put the paper in it, then lit it, and knelt there, muttering words, raking the fire, and I followed him to rake the fire. Why? I had a dream, in which the old man told him that he had no money to spend. Later, he found a fortune teller. The fortune teller said that you had to burn paper money, just like that. No one can say exactly what this is for, but they just do it. So that's how people bring ghosts into our lives. As a result, the good things are not accurate, but the bad things are accurate.

What is Chinese Mingding Destiny theology talking about? It is to stop making everyone confused, to be a smart person, to slowly eliminate the logical system inside, those unclear, vague, seemingly true but not really true things. Customs are just customs, no one can say exactly what they are. If you ask me what is the purpose of celebrating the hundredth day? What is the purpose of celebrating a big birthday? I just think: looking for trouble. Isn't that how life goes? So today our Chinese Mingding Destiny theology has a deep research into the spiritual realm. What do we do after having a deep research into the spiritual realm? To deal with all the things in us that attract ghosts. If a person has a ghost on his body, it is impossible for him to live well.

So some people have put down twenty percent of the ways of this world, and eighty percent still remain. Then the twenty percent that have been put down have been replaced by the logical system of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Some people have put down fifty percent, some eighty percent, and some one hundred percent. So three weeks ago, when I played this song with everyone, the song they created for me is called Already Let Go. This song has been sung for three weeks in a row. Have you let it go? Don't put my song down after singing it. I guess you should have put my song Already Let Go down. Today, I will bring this song back.
Because I was preparing this manuscript, I read the Book of Ephesians several times and found many new revelations. One is the logical system of the culture of this world, and the other is the logical system of God. These are two kingdoms, two systems, two pursuits, and two hopes, which are completely irreconcilable. So if you want to see if you have been caught in the schemes of the devil, how do you see it? Just look at your pursuits and your hopes. If your hope is a worldly hope, you will definitely have many problems, couples will have many problems, then families will also have many problems, and then people will care about many things. But if your hope is a heavenly hope, according to the heavenly kingdom described in the Bible. You won't care about many problems, and you will feel that many things become less meaningful. Yesterday I saw one of our pastors ministering to the people he pastors, and their homes were dirty and messy, and they didn't clean up. And the people are very lazy. Whenever something happens, they blame others. Why don't they clean up? If you don't clean up, they don't clean up either, and everyone doesn't clean up.

So, to know whether you have been caught in the schemes of the devil, look at our pursuits and hopes. Some people are pursuing postgraduate studies, and some people are pursuing civil service. One day when I went home, my nephew told me that his classmate was taking the civil service exam, and after five years he finally passed, and was assigned to an outer county. You think, that city was originally a fourth-tier city, what tier is the outer county of a fourth-tier city? As a result, he gets two thousand yuan a month there. In this day and age, what are you doing taking the exam for five years? Because he is in the system, a civil servant! So, people follow the ways of this world and do this, and they don't even know why they do it. Anyway, everyone thinks that's what they should do. They want to get into the establishment and get the benefits. If you calculate it, you will know that the establishment only pays that much money a month, and you can't climb up. The money for twelve months, plus some bonuses, multiplied by twenty years. If you earn twenty years' worth of money in one year, you don't need to care about his benefits, right? That's how it is.

Once when I returned to China, the people in my family would say one sentence to me every time we chatted: It's all a problem with the system. We don't even understand what the problem with the system is, and we have never understood it. Because they believe that it is the fault of this system, and the reason why they are not doing well is because the system is not good. What kind of logic is this? Instead of saying it is their problem, they say it is the problem with the system. This thing is quite interesting. I never believe in any system or anything. I only believe that my own constitution must be good. If your own constitution is not good, who are you going to blame? Are you going to blame the external system or the internal constitution?

I really don't like getting involved in these things. During the June Fourth period in Beijing, I was in Beijing, and when I saw the riots in Tiananmen Square, I detoured around it. Because I thought, what is this for? Can't you do something serious? You have to mess with the system. As a result, my attitude brought confusion to some people, and some people thought I had been bought off. Actually, I don't care about that, because I live in the kingdom of God. I don't really care about earthly systems, earthly customs, and earthly cultures. At that time, I was not a Christian yet, but I had something in my heart. I felt that being alive was meaningless, doing this was meaningless, doing that was meaningless, that's just how I lived. Later, I got to know God, and finally found something interesting. I thought it was pretty good! It turned out that God had prepared me long ago.

For a while, a brother immigrated from China to a foreign country. Why did he immigrate to a foreign country? Because he felt that the system was better. There was a lot of so-called democracy and freedom in foreign countries in his head. Don't say that I am not interested in the June Fourth thing, I am not very interested in those democracies in foreign countries either. I am just not interested, you can't blame me. As a result, one day, he said to me: Teacher, when I listen to you speak, it's like you are doing foreign propaganda? I said, What foreign propaganda, or even domestic propaganda! That's just how I am, I'm not that interested in these things. Because this set of democracy has entered his bones, he is interested in the system, and I am not very interested in the system.

I tell everyone that Chinese Mingding Destiny theology is not very interested in what democracy is, whether it is undemocratic, or whether it is autocratic. I am only interested in one thing, to let you be a person, to let you live out the image of God, to be a decent person. But many people have been brainwashed by these things, but in any case, it is a worldly cultural system. Actually, I have very deep views on Christians. Don't blame me, everyone. I often find Christians a bit silly. Why do I have such a deep view on Christians being a bit silly? Because I have experienced a lot! Why do Christians become silly as they become Christians? Later, I found that it was all the work of ghosts, and it was the work of customs.

Once, I went to a city to visit a church, and the church in that city sent an employee to pick me up. After picking me up, I sat in the passenger seat, and he sat in the driver's seat. You look at me, I look at you, how awkward, you have to start talking. So I mentioned the local politics, economy and other topics. I said: Your president was arrested in this place, does he really have a problem or not? I speak more carefully and neutrally, and don't bring our own political positions. He immediately said: That is political persecution, there is no corruption at all, there is nothing like that at all. After listening to it, why do I feel so strange? The money has been recovered, how can there be no corruption? I don't know what's going on, I just felt glad that I didn't say anything. What kind of brain is this? Oh my, I was so emotional. Later, I found that there are many Christians who participate in politics and in the ways of this world.

If people are so concerned about the kingdom of God, that would be great! Just like our Chinese Mingding Destiny theology, building a church means building a ceiling for the church. Does everyone know that Christians don't have a very good reputation outside. Actually, I have a lot of views on these things, which are different from the views of traditional Christian beliefs. It's probably because they don't read the Bible as well as I do, and I read these things from the Bible. Don't follow the ways of this world, we live in the kingdom of God, not in the kingdoms of the world. We are not pursuing earthly justice, we are pursuing justice in the kingdom of God.

A few days ago, I listened to a pastor's sermon on the righteousness of God, and he mixed up earthly righteousness and God's righteousness. He thought there would be righteousness in the world. What righteousness? Jesus was nailed to the cross without doing anything. Where can you find righteousness? He spent a long time upholding justice, promoting justice, and resorting to the law, doing these things. I said that the customs of this life are so powerful, and they sound so reasonable! But he ran to the wrong place and the wrong kingdom. He ran to the worldly country.

For example, Christians oppose homosexuality and want to participate in elections. These are all things that Christians do! I don't think he should be called a Christian anymore. He should be called confused. The Bible doesn't teach these things at all. If the Bible doesn't teach these things at all, then I would classify all of these things as the customs of this world. What are you opposing when it comes to homosexuality? If people don't like being homosexual, but they are bound and come to us, we will release them and cast out the ghosts on their bodies. If people are willing to do it, what are you going to do? What are you opposing? What I said may bring a lot of confusion to everyone, but brothers and sisters should know that I have biblical basis, and everyone should listen carefully to my Bible study. I don't believe in any system problems, and I don't want to care about any customs problems. I only want to manage one thing well: that we can enter the kingdom of God, live out the image of Jesus, and live out the glorious image that God created us in.

On this issue of systems, the Israelites were no different. Don't think they were any different. Back when Samuel was the judge of Israel, governing them, he grew old and his sons took over. You may not have read it, but Samuel's two sons were quite unruly. As a result, the Israelites came to Samuel, insisting on establishing a king. Why? Because they thought it was a problem with the system. Understand? In fact, God's system was such that there was no king; God was the King of Israel. So why did they shift the blame to the system? It must have been that they encountered some problems. After encountering these problems, instead of saying they had not trusted God properly, they blamed the system.

But I'll tell you one thing, no matter what environment you are in, no matter what system you are under, no matter what career you have, no matter what your position is, none of that matters. What matters is that God blesses you, what matters is that you are able to diligently observe and follow God's word, and that God is able to bless you. If you believe that without God's blessing, you are living a miserable life, you will blame the government of Malaysia in Malaysia, the government of Singapore in Singapore, and the government of China in China. But isn't it the same wherever you go?

Brothers and sisters, you must know for certain that the only thing that hinders us from being blessed is ourselves. In the end, people live to a ripe old age, seventy years old, and still act like angry youths! Some are angry youths at sixty, some at seventy, and some are still angry youths at eighty! I just wonder why the world is like this. What we can do is not to change others, but to change ourselves. I think what hinders God's blessing is ourselves. If you are blessed by God, you will be blessed under any system, blessed in any environment. Even if you are a slave, you are a blessed slave, and God is still with you. Am I right to say that? The Bible gives us such good revelation. Joseph went to Egypt as a slave, but God was with him. Can anyone stop that? No way! Later, he was imprisoned, but God was with him. Who can argue with that? Some people, when they become prisoners, become the worst kind of prisoners; some, when they become slaves, become the worst kind of slaves. Joseph, when he was a slave, was the best slave; when he was a prisoner, he was the best prisoner. There is just no comparison! He was a top student when he was a student, a top worker when he was a worker, a top prisoner when he was a prisoner... destined to be the best!

I think today, we must implement things according to the Bible. Brothers and sisters, you must know that I have a character, which is to implement the words in the Bible fiercely, regardless of this or that. After implementing it, what happens? According to what people say to me: Pastor, your church, Chinese Mingding Destiny, is truly the ceiling of churches. I dare not say nonsense, I can only say, Nowhere, nowhere, strive to pursue, being polite.

But in fact, it is quite good! So when everyone shares their testimonies: In the overcoming church... People even think the church's name is Overcoming Church. In the overcoming church, this problem and that problem are solved, do you believe it? Financial problems can be solved, physical problems can be solved, all problems can be solved, and the complaining issues can be removed from the body.

The devil is not baring its fangs and roaring. Peter said: The devil is like a roaring lion. There is no such thing. The devil is all smiles, you know? Its ideological work is done very well, first-class, simply an expert in ideological work! The devil is not baring its fangs. Who would show their teeth all the time, looking like a ghost? The devil just instigates you inside, brainwashes you, puts the customs of this age in you, and then just watches you ruin yourself.

Brothers and sisters, today our goal in battle is the devil. We discern the devil's schemes, discern what things are the customs of this age, and what things belong to the world. Can we declare to this world: I have nothing in me! If you can improve a little bit, constantly know God, and no longer allow the devil to penetrate, I tell you, that is extremely good!

Two. Scripture

At that time you were living in that way, following the customs of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh, following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.(Ephesians 2:2-3)

We must know that in the past, we were all like that. Now that we know God today, can we still be like that? We cannot be like that anymore; we must become new people.

Three. Prayer

God! Today, let us put off the customs of this age, put off the past behaviors and logical systems of the old self. Today, let us be a new creation before you, so that we can receive your grace. Lead us to run forward constantly, to see your good will in us, to see how great the power you manifest in us is, and how glorious the grace manifested in us is! God, today let us be wise, let our understanding be clear, let us know clearly what things we have not cleared out, let us discern the schemes of the devil! Let us be holy before you, becoming a people who please you and are acceptable to you. Let us build a glorious church in this generation, so that our church can manifest your power and glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Four. The background of this scripture

Everyone must know that Paul wrote the book of Ephesians mainly to target the devil's schemes. What things did the devil do? The devil did many things. It wants to infiltrate secular things and the customs of this age into the church. If you look at the English Bible, the customs of this age is translated as the way of the world, that is: the way of this world. The customs of this age and the way of the world are to be infiltrated into the church, so Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to resist these things.

Why resist these things? In fact, when you think about it, how is it possible not to infiltrate? What does a person who has just believed in the Lord know inside? He knows nothing. But if you ask about the customs of this age, then he knows a lot. For example, when it comes to Valentine's Day, he is very familiar with it. If his boyfriend doesn't buy him a flower, that won't do! Am I still your lover?

What I mean is, a person who has just believed in the Lord comes to the church with 99% of the customs of this age and 1% of God's customs. Think about how harmful this is! After coming to the church, he first asks: Does the church have elections? I have to use my sacred vote to cast you down! It seems like you haven't had an election here yet? What this means is that he comes to the church with the customs of this age. Do you think this task is difficult? You have to do it even if you don't want to. The Jerusalem church was transformed by the Pharisees.

The Pharisees believed in the Lord like this: One came, and then another came! People were so excited. One person made a decision to believe in the Lord, and then another person made a decision to believe in the Lord! Today, a thousand people made a decision to believe in the Lord, and five thousand people made a decision to believe in the Lord! What did the church become later? It became a very broken, rotten, and dirty church that followed the customs of this age. Do you think that could be good? As they worked, they eliminated God's glory from the church! As they worked, they drove God away and voted God down. How powerful these people were!

Therefore, Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to face many confused concepts and re-emphasize the concept of the church. You must know that people are very lazy. How do they have the time to sort things out one by one? It is so easy to mess things up one by one! It is so easy to mess up your home! It is so tiring to clean up your home! How difficult it is to clean up the church! How easy it is to make the church dirty. The history of the church in the past two thousand years has been a history of making the church dirty. That devil is too powerful!

So we think that carrying the customs of this age is quite common today. I said to a brother: The spiritual atmosphere of Singapore is changing. He said: No, no, no. Because he has his own set of ideas about the spiritual atmosphere. His set of ideas is actually quite corrupt. He thinks who should decide the spiritual atmosphere of Singapore? The Prime Minister of Singapore decides it. He is giving the Prime Minister a big hat. I said: No, no, I'll give you an example. Antioch became Antioch not because of the ruler of Antioch, but because there was a small group of Christians like Paul in that place.

Antioch became a missionary city not because the ruler or governor of that place believed in the Lord. It has nothing to do with the ruler of that place. The spiritual atmosphere has little to do with the governor or head of that place, but is closely related to that small group of people who carry God's glory on their bodies like the Apostle Paul! I said later: This place will become Antioch! It is not because of anything else, but because of this small group of people like us. In fact, it may really be the case. Many people declared many years ago that Singapore would become Antioch because there is Paul in this place! A place with Paul becomes Antioch, and a place without Paul does not become Antioch.

Therefore, the concept he talked about has a political concept. He is very interested in opposing homosexuality, participating in politics, and participating in government policies! I am not. I just want to be a good citizen. No matter where I am, I want to reduce the burden on society. How much burden do we reduce on society? At least you reimburse less medical expenses, right? You reimburse a lot less medical expenses! You were originally very lazy, but you became diligent; you were originally receiving subsistence allowances, but now you don't receive subsistence allowances; you were originally losing money, losing money in everything you did, but now you have changed; you used to eat free meals all day long and live off your parents, but now you don't live off your parents and you can find a job... That's great!

If you have nothing to do, meddling in what you shouldn't be meddling in, you can't be the Prime Minister anyway, so why are you worrying about the Prime Minister's affairs? According to their words, you are worrying about the Prime Minister's affairs with the money you earn from sweeping the floor. Sweep your floor well and don't worry about that matter. The Prime Minister will also be annoyed by you, and the government will also be annoyed by you. Let's be good small citizens, be good citizens, and then let's change ourselves, one specific thing at a time, and not fall into the devil's schemes! Today, when we face this situation, we must reject the customs of this age, including political struggles. We do not participate in this stuff. In movies, the Shaolin Temple always participates in political struggles, which is annoying. They have to participate even if they don't want to. Today, our brothers and sisters, be good citizens. Chinese Mingding Destiny is a theology of being good citizens.

When Paul faced this thing and wrote the book of Ephesians, he discovered many problems in the church. There were problems between husband and wife, problems between children, problems between parents and children, and problems between slaves and masters. Everyone found that Oh, we will go to heaven when we die, so why live so tired in this world? Just live casually! Then there were troubles and a lot of confusion! Slaves wanted to escape from slavery: How great it would be if I could escape from slavery! The master did not allow the slaves to escape, because they were bought by him, and conflicts arose. Later, the slaves and masters believed in the Lord together, and the husband and wife believed in the Lord together. At home, they still吵得翻天覆地 (quarrel fiercely), but they smiled happily in the church and put on a fake mask. Then, the internal power struggles in the church were very fierce, a dragon-tiger fight of power struggles. These are all paradigms of the customs of this age. People began to no longer love to do serious business, but liked to do some smoky and chaotic things, which wasted a lot of time. Paul brought up these things in the book of Ephesians. After bringing them up, he wanted to solve the problems. We have solved many problems. What can really solve the problems is God's glory!

How can the church have God's glory? We must return to the concept of the church. What can corrupt the church is the devil's schemes. Although Paul put a lot of effort into writing the book of Ephesians, not many people can understand the book of Ephesians! So later churches had the book of Ephesians, but they did not do things according to the book of Ephesians! Paul resisted for a while, but after Paul died, things became a mess. So the church gradually became Ichabod. Do you know what Ichabod is? The glory of God departed from Israel.

Today's church should not be called the church of Christ Jesus, but should be called the Ichabod Church. Because there is no glory of God. Without God's presence, how can many problems be solved? They cannot be solved! It is very difficult. The root of solving problems is still God. Therefore, Paul talked about a very important concept in this chapter, which is the concept of the church. God wants to manifest His glory through the church; God wants to manifest His wisdom through the church; God wants to let the dark forces in the air know the manifold wisdom of God through the church; God wants to receive glory through the church! This concept is very clear. So history has proven one thing: the customs of this age constantly infiltrate the church, and the church loses God.

Today, Chinese Mingding Destiny wants to invite God back again. It is easy to invite God, but difficult to送神 (send God away). You don't have to send Him away. He will leave if you just do a little bit. We must try our best to establish His throne in the church again and completely remove the customs of the world from among us! Let the brothers and sisters of the church see God's power again, see God's glory, and see how easily God can solve our problems. Today, these problems are all brought about by the customs of this age and the logical system of the world. We are operating according to the ways of the world. Today, we must operate according to God's ways.

V. Re-recognize the hope in Jesus Christ

Everyone knows that before we believed in the Lord, we had no hope. We were very辛(bitter)苦(hard) in this world. Everyone knows how we came into God's kingdom? How did we believe in the Lord? How did we know God? Before, we had no God, no hope, no promise, no expectation, and we went to the hospital when we had diseases. We didn't know who to turn to when we had problems. So today, the devil deceives people and makes them like that. People have suffered enough and eaten pig food. Today, they have returned to God's inside. But we still have to re-recognize the hope in Jesus Christ.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:4-17)

Does everyone know where I'm talking about this? In the Bible, Ephesians:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.(Ephesians 1:18-23)

====输出开始
Having said all that, you might feel something after listening. Do you feel anything? Among us, you will see with your own eyes that these words will be fulfilled among us. The church is God's will. The church is the body of Jesus Christ, and all things will be under the church's feet. That is the powerful Gospel, the Gospel of great hope, the hope in eternity.

**Our Chinese Mingding Destiny is to restore this truth and restore the power of God. Let the church be far above all principalities, powers, might, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.** That is not for our worldly pursuits; those are in the past. We no longer pursue this world. So today, let us rediscover the hope in Jesus Christ.

Do not believe such a good Gospel to be a powerless gospel, a church of Ichabod. Today, we must begin to know that if the church does not adhere to the truth and resist the customs of the world, it will be troublesome. I encourage everyone to ponder this carefully. So what good does celebrating a baby's 100th day, birthdays, or grand birthdays do? It's better to spend that time doing serious things.

The fifth point we are talking about reaffirms these hopes in Christ, and these hopes are real. Just don't let these hopes be taken away; don't choose the devil and reject God. If we put God first in our lives, brothers and sisters, we must know for certain the power of God manifested in us. Regardless of physical illness or financial problems, under any political system or in any environment, God can still bless you.

## VI. Establishing the Concept of the Church

Everyone should know that the Book of Ephesians is a book about building the church. Where can God's glory be placed without the church? Do you think hiding in the secret chamber has become a culture? Later, it was discovered that hiding in the secret chamber doesn't work either. So the concept of building the church is: through the church, the principalities and powers in the heavenly places may now know the manifold wisdom of God. Therefore, let him be glorified in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

What is the result?
> that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:16-20).

**This is the mystery of God throughout the ages, and I thank God! I have such grace to discover these mysteries of God, these things written in the Book of Ephesians.** Let the brothers and sisters begin to personally experience the grace of God's arrangement, which is truly wonderful! So brothers and sisters, you must know that **God wants to use the church to make the principalities and powers in the heavenly places now know the manifold wisdom of God. Brothers and sisters, you must begin to establish the concept of the church. This is the wisdom of God. If you ruin God's church, no matter how good you are, it is useless and difficult.**

That's why Paul wrote the Book of Ephesians to the church in Ephesus while sitting in prison, so that the church in Ephesus would never reject God and drive God out of the church. You know: it is easy to send a god away, but it is difficult to invite him back! To build a glorious church of God, build His church according to His revelation and His Word, and then God will manifest His glory among us. It is very easy for you to let God leave.

It's easy to invite a ghost, but it's hard to send it away! But it’s easy to send God away, but hard to invite Him back! Do you understand? We must cherish all that we have today! So when brothers and sisters testify, ah! I am in the victorious church. Your original church did not prevail. Some people ask me: Is that still a church? According to the Bible's standards, it shouldn't be. Then what about you? I'm not very good either. Am I not still pursuing it? So today we continue to resist the worldly value system, and never mistreat ourselves again.

## VII. No Longer Conforming to the World's Customs

You know, **when we are born, then grow up little by little, we have nothing, but the customs of this world, the worldly system, and the way this world operates are all inside us, entering our bones. Even if you do nothing, it enters our bones. Since we are called by God's grace today, we should walk worthy of the calling with which we were called. Know that this is an extremely great calling. So once we have our eye on God, we must decide to become a new person and renew our minds: God! You are so precious! No longer conforming to the customs of this world.**

Why do people take the civil service exam? Do you know? Civil service jobs are secure. Actually, they are not that secure. Are civil service jobs secure? Relying on money. The need for money to live is simply ingrained! It's all for money, and a secure job is for that bowl of rice! If we don't deal with these things, how corrupting are they? Why take the postgraduate entrance examination? I don't know. Isn't it better to work early? Isn't it better to have work experience early? So I encourage everyone, those of us who want to take the postgraduate entrance examination, to hurry up and go to work and find a job. Taking the postgraduate entrance examination may not increase much value, except that you can stay in school for at most two years, right? Can’t you stay at home and do real work? The most important thing is to be a new person, not only in language and behavior, but also to be a new creation! No longer be a child, because it is easy to fall for tricks and deception, and it is easy to follow the customs of this world, drifting here and there, and it becomes chaotic. In language, we must begin to speak words that edify people. Although you may find fault with my language, to be honest, my words edify people. So you must adjust your language and not say things that sound like old women, which would be terrible! So no longer be a child, but grow up to become a full-grown man, with the fullness of Jesus Christ, put on the new self, and then always do serious things.

Some people say: Wouldn't this become justification by works? No, it is because we believe in God that God is in us. Because God is in me, we cherish this very much. Because we trust in God, we no longer live in the old worldly system, can everyone understand? That is a state of mind! Why do we always nitpick at others when we speak, see the speck in someone else’s eye but cannot see the log in our own eye, which is very troublesome. **So we must deal with the customs of this world little by little, gradually grow up little by little, and have the fullness of Jesus Christ.**

Why do people steal? Because stealing means you don't have to work. Why do people labor? To do this kind of thing with their own hands, to do serious things, because that has God's image. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and all malice be put away from us! Why are these things there? It is because we view the things of this world with a worldly perspective. If we view them with God's perspective, God can solve all our problems, so what are you worried about? Don't let God disappear from the church, that would be troublesome.

Brothers and sisters, will you still find fault with your husband? Will you still find fault with your wife? Will you still worry about your children's affairs? Today, these things will all pass away one by one, and we must do one thing, which is to destroy this worldly logical system from within us one by one.

## VIII. Start Being a Smart Person

The Book of Proverbs has a total of thirty-one chapters, and it has finally been completed. I read it with a trembling heart, but after reading it, I think it is well explained. As for whether it is self-righteous, that remains to be seen. Later, when I listened to myself speak, I felt that it edified me.

We need to know how to be a smart person. So what is a smart person? The Book of Ephesians says it very well, in Chapter 5 - Redeeming the Time, saying do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So do not indulge in the flesh, do not follow the desires of the flesh, do not be foolish, start learning, and possess all kinds of knowledge, and do not have religious behaviors. Do you know what religious behavior is? It means that it doesn't matter whether I understand or not, anyway, there is one thing I did and it is OK. For example, keeping the Sabbath Day, keeping it, but not understanding why to keep the Sabbath Day, and as a result, when the Lord came on the Sabbath Day, they crucified the Lord. What kind of brain is that? So **we should imitate God, like beloved children of God, and start being a smart person.** Don't say: I'm smart enough, you're far behind. It's not about feeling, it's not about this, it's not about that, but about learning, doing serious work, and all kinds of knowledge.

In fact, today's problems are all caused by ignorance of God's Word, thinking that after believing in God, you can sit back and relax, and you can lie down, but when you lie down, you find that you have never gotten up, and you have been lying down until you are bankrupt and have fallen into poverty, which is troublesome. You see, laziness must be dealt with, and laziness is not smart!

All of our small pastors and leaders in the pastoral areas, can you clean up the homes of the people under you, whether they are new or old? Deal with your own laziness, and tidy up your house, which looks like a pigsty. How can you live like that? How can God be with you? When you enter the house, there is a stench. How can God be in that place? It would be good not to attract ghosts. Clean up well, at least be clean, right? Like welcoming God, my God is coming to my house, but when you look at it, how can you show it to anyone? It can't be shown. We must know that cleaning up the house and making it beautiful does not cost a lot of money, but requires people to have the image of God. When we are clean, we feel comfortable ourselves. Next, we will really help everyone do these things, constantly teach everyone, train everyone, and improve the living environment, isn't this doing serious things? Use your intelligence and talents, no longer follow the desires of the flesh, which includes laziness, and it won't work if you are lazy and gluttonous.

> to cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27).

Every one of our brothers and sisters must enter into diligent pursuit, and everyone must be a smart person. Financial problems are definitely not a problem. Your health problems, the diseases accumulated over the years, being a foolish Christian, a foolish Christian, is useless, start being a smart Christian. I tell you, once you embark on the road to being smart, you won't even like going back to being a foolish person. In the future, you will come to the same conclusion as me: looking around, oh my god, why were we so foolish in the past? Many foolish people must transform themselves, be a new person, and be a smart person.

## IX. Summary

> Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17).

**Put on the whole armor of God, gird your waist with truth**, what is truth? Truth is the knowledge of God in your understanding, **put on the breastplate of righteousness**, your heart must be filled with the righteousness of God, not the righteousness of men. The righteousness of God is that Jesus must be crucified, and Jesus did not curse anyone, that is called the righteousness of God, **shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace**, go everywhere with the gospel, go everywhere so that the place where you step your feet will be blessed, and the demons will be driven out, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons, this is called the gospel of peace. This will eliminate all the unpeaceful ghosts, and then **take the shield of faith**, enduring faith, called faith, can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, **and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.**

Take a closer look, which one is not related to understanding? Therefore, what Chinese Mingding Destiny speaks today is: knowing the schemes of the devil and not conforming to the customs of this world. **Starting today, put on the whole armor of God, equip yourself with the truth of God, equip yourself with the word of God, equip yourself with the power of God, this is a great grace.** Today, the devil has been punched hard by me. In the past two thousand years, he has continued to succeed, but today, let him be swept out of our midst! What is easy to invite ghosts but difficult to send them away, it is not difficult to send them away, because God is here! Send the ghosts away, send the customs of this world away, **do not let the customs of this world become our inner logical system, let the logical system of God's kingdom become our inner logical system, the devil's ideological work has been completely defeated, the thought work of God has finally entered us, we can see God's glory, the power of God, and all our problems will be solved easily.** If you live in God's blessing, I guarantee that your finances, your health, and even your retirement at the age of seventy or eighty will not be a problem. You don't need to worry about it, God will take care of it! It will be great, so good that you can't imagine!

Today, let's start doing this work, constantly removing the worldly logic system from within us. With God, our grades will improve. Grades do not determine our destiny, and work performance does not determine our destiny, but God and God's glory are on us, and whatever problems we have will be solved easily. No matter how many swords of the devil are shot, there

are shields to resist them. In these last days, we can climb the mountain of Jehovah, enter the temple of the God of Jacob, build the glorious church of God, and become the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, Amen! May God bless everyone!

If you don't understand the meaning of giving, please don't give. The church is not a place to collect money, but a place to distribute blessings. The church is a place to train people to become givers and to bless others, so if you don't understand the meaning of giving, please don't give. Because giving is a grace, so brothers and sisters, don't think about what the church is doing. The church is training people to

become a place to dedicate themselves. If you understand the meaning of giving, I tell you that tithing is just the beginning, just the beginning of experiencing God. We must not only offer our offerings, but also offer ourselves.

**Everyone must know that we are a giving church, not a receiving church. Brothers and sisters, you must train yourselves to keep giving because that is what pleases God. Our hope is in God's kingdom, in God's good will for us.**

Let's raise our hands and say a prayer together: Lord Jesus, I want to offer myself as a living sacrifice. May you accept my offering. God, may you mold me, shape me, and cleanse me, so that I may be holy and without blemish before you, and grow to the fullness of Jesus Christ. God, I offer myself to you, completely to you, may you use me and raise me up in the midst of all nations to be a blessing to many! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for the kingdom, the power, and the glory are all Yours, forever and ever, Amen!