Introduction

Hello, everyone. This is the third lecture in our campaign for Christian reform in this new era: The Curse Brought by a False Gospel. Before the meeting, when I was leading worship, I shouted out: “In your local churches, have you seen the curses brought about by all kinds of false gospels?” The result was that I received a mountain of feedback.

It was all evidence of curses: people dying of cancer, dying this way, dying that way, being killed in car accidents—a whole pile of such things. These things happen not only to church members; they often happen to pastors as well. Let me tell you: among pastors, the incidence of cancer is two to three times that of ordinary people. I have seen not one or two pastors die of cancer, but a great many. I began to think: God does not make mistakes. The devil does not make mistakes. Only man makes mistakes.

What is going on? It is the curse brought by a false gospel. In the past two days, we have covered two messages. The first was on hypocrisy in this new era. There is simply too much hypocrisy in this new era. Is it goodness? No. It is hypocrisy. And hypocrisy is detestable.

Do you know how detestable hypocrisy is? Everyone says, “Brother, I will pray for you.” Then, two or three days later, you ask him, “Did you pray for me?” Watch his eyes glance upward as he begins to make up a story. You can see it on his face. He says, “Yes, I typed for you: ‘May the Lord heal you!’” Hypocrisy!

The second message was about the confusion of Christians in this generation. Christians today have far too much confusion. Along the whole journey of believing in the Lord, there are all kinds of confusion—so much that it is a complete mess.

I sighed with emotion: Christianity is in desperate need of reform. The first two messages were all about how Christianity urgently needs reform. This message, on the curse brought by a false gospel, shows that reform is even more necessary.

When I was preparing this manuscript, there were so many stories that I did not know where to put them. They were everywhere—one here, another there. I could not possibly finish telling them all. There are simply too many curses brought about by a false gospel.

In fact, what have these hypocrites and those who bring confusion to Christians done? They have not necessarily done much. They only need to add a little to the gospel, or subtract a little from it, and they turn the gospel into a false one. You cannot add to the gospel or subtract from it. You must not add carelessly or cut away carelessly.

When I speak of a false gospel, let me give you an analogy. Suppose one day, on an impulse, I decide to print a counterfeit note. That would be hard work. Instead, I take a ballpoint pen, tear a page from my notebook, cut it with scissors, and write “One Hundred Dollars” at the top. The colour is not even the same. A hundred-yuan note is red. A US hundred-dollar bill is green. Mine is written in ballpoint pen on notebook paper.

If I took it to a nearby shop to spend it, they would certainly think I was mentally unsound. Why? Because what I wrote is not even counterfeit money. If you call something written in ballpoint pen counterfeit money, people will say, “Is something wrong with your head? Is this money?” One look is enough.

Do you know what counterfeit money really is? It looks exactly like genuine money. If you are not careful, you will take the counterfeit note as genuine. You have to rub it, inspect it, put it under ultraviolet light, and after much effort, you discover that it is fake. At first glance it looks exactly like the real thing, yet it is counterfeit. The thing written in ballpoint pen is merely a fake counterfeit note. It does not even qualify as counterfeit money.

So, brothers and sisters, understand this: what is false looks very much like what is true. There may be a huge signboard at the entrance, looking like a provincial government office: “The Christian Church of Such-and-Such District.” Is that a Christian church? It looks more like a government bureau. I tell you, it does not matter how similar the outward appearance is. A counterfeit note may be 99.9 percent identical to the real note. It only needs to differ by 0.01 percent to be counterfeit. The note written in ballpoint pen does not even count.

Over the years, I have not had a very good impression of Christians. One Christian came to me and said, “Teacher, give me one million, and by the end of the year I will return three million to you.” I thought to myself, “How about this: you give me one million, and by the end of the year I will return three million to you.” He would say, “No, that will not do.” Why not? Can I really get my three million back? Why should I give it to you?

This is what Christians can be like. There are more scammers among Christians than anywhere else. Do not be naive. There are plenty of pyramid-scheme operators who have mixed themselves into churches. Plenty of insurance salesmen have mixed themselves into church circles, all there to recruit their downlines. So the prayers in churches can sound very spiritual indeed.

A false gospel is the same. No one tells you, “I am counterfeit money.” No one says, “I am a hypocrite.” No one warns you, “Be careful, I am a fraud.” No one says, “Be careful, I preach a false gospel.” They all say they are genuine. But once you get involved with them, it is over—the curse comes quickly.

Over the years, what I have heard most often, especially from pastors, is this: “Ninety percent of what I do is the same as what you do.”

I think to myself: what use is that? A counterfeit note can be 99.9 percent identical to the real note, and it is still unacceptable. Is ninety percent something to boast about?

Now Chinese Mingding Doctrine seems to have gained a little recognition. A pastor came to me and said, “You do not know this—Chinese Mingding Doctrine has a great reputation outside.” I said, “I do not know, and I am not particularly interested in becoming famous.” Whenever people ask him about us, he says, “I know them. They are my good friends.”

The curse brought by a false gospel involves several concepts. First: what exactly is a false gospel? I will explain this very clearly. Second: what exactly is a curse?

A false gospel is one that adds the slightest thing to the original gospel, or removes the slightest thing from it. Ninety percent? No. Even 99.9 percent similarity is not enough. A tiny difference is enough to make it false. This is what addition to, and subtraction from, the gospel means.

Addition and subtraction are no small matter. What is addition? What is subtraction? When Moses wrote Deuteronomy, he said that nothing should be added to or taken away from God’s words. But later, someone wrote Samuel; someone wrote Isaiah; someone wrote Jeremiah. Was that addition or subtraction?

You must understand what addition and subtraction mean. I have made this very clear. Within one coherent system, it is neither addition nor subtraction. But if you add something from outside that system, then you are in trouble. Therefore, building a system of faith is critically important.

What, then, is a curse? You must understand this: a curse is the lawful destruction of a person by evil spirits. Why can evil spirits lawfully destroy a person? The reason is simple: because the person does not carefully observe and obey God’s word. To “carefully observe” means to observe with rigor and precision.

When you carefully observe and obey God’s word, you cannot add or subtract. If you obey something that is not God’s word, you are in trouble. What does it mean to subtract? It means that what we ought to carefully observe and obey, we remove and say, “This is not God’s word.” Then we are in trouble.

Even today, many people still stare you in the face and speak nonsense. People perish for lack of knowledge. Therefore, I encourage everyone to develop the habit of learning and seeking. As long as people learn, seek, and refuse to be wilful or hard-hearted, there is hope. But once a person becomes wilful and hard-hearted, trouble begins.

Even when someone is at the point of death, if he knows that he has got it wrong and says, “I have not done this right. I need to repent,” let me tell you: for God, raising a man from the dead is not difficult at all. You must know this.

A few years ago, someone brought his good friend to see me. He felt that I was very effective in healing and deliverance; he thought I was remarkable. But they did not know why I was so effective in healing and deliverance.

His friend was in a very miserable state. He had attended a local evangelical church and had developed cancer ten years earlier. Over those ten years, he had survived with an opening in his abdomen. I do not know exactly what it was, and he did not show me. Because of cancer surgery, his throat had been so damaged that he could not eat. He had to receive liquid food through a tube. He had suffered greatly for ten years, not knowing that this was a curse.

Why did they bring him to me? Because his wife had also developed cancer. This couple was still young. Their child was only in his teens. It was exceedingly hard. Both husband and wife were dying.

I told him, “This is the curse brought by a false gospel.” He could not accept it. He was absolutely convinced that the Jesus he believed in was pure and correct. On what basis did he believe that the Jesus he believed in was pure and correct? I do not know. It was truly helpless to watch. The curse was right before their eyes. They were frightened by the mention of curses and frightened by the mention of demons, but they did not tremble at the cancer on their bodies. In the end, I could not minister to him.

There was another brother. A few years ago, in his local church, he was covered with skin disease. He himself was a general practitioner. He could supposedly see all kinds of illnesses, though perhaps he was not very good at seeing any of them. Many pastors in his church brought sick people to him for consultation, while he himself did not know whom to consult.

Later, he prayed, “God, lead me.” His pastor told him, “You need to wait upon God.” In the end, he did not wait upon God in that place. He waited until he found Chinese Mingding Doctrine. In that sense, he truly did wait upon God.

You might say that pastor suffered a tragedy—he lost a church member. This church member also owed quite a lot of money. That is what it is like when a person is under a curse. What glory is there in such things? None at all.

Does believing in the Lord not become deeply troubling when it is like this? After he came among us, his skin disease was truly healed. He really did wait upon God. More precisely, he encountered the God believed in by Chinese Mingding Doctrine—the God who heals and the God who blesses.

We must all know this: God eagerly desires to heal us. I still encourage everyone to carefully observe and obey—not to add, and not to subtract.

How do I know whether I have added something? How do I know whether I have subtracted something? Is not the Bible written plainly in black and white? Read it carefully. Why have churches become like this? Because churches want to please people. As long as you enjoy hearing something, they will preach it to you. Even if it is not God’s word, they will still speak nonsense.

I mentioned this a few days ago, and I will mention it again. A sister came among us who had given birth to three children with cerebral palsy. Of her four children, only one was normal. Every one of these children had come after kneeling, fasting, and praying.

Was this really given to her by God? Why would God give her such a thing? I have truly never seen in the Bible that God gave someone a child with cerebral palsy. Did Isaac come out with cerebral palsy? Out of four children, three had cerebral palsy.

After the first child was born with cerebral palsy, she asked, “Pastor, Pastor’s wife, why is this happening?” They said, “Fast and pray again.” She fasted and prayed for another two months, and then gave birth to another child with cerebral palsy. “Oh dear, this time fast and pray again.” After fasting and praying for three more months, she gave birth to one who was barely normal.

Now there were two with cerebral palsy and one normal child. Let us improve the ratio, shall we? Could it become two to two rather than two to one? But it did not work out. It became three to one—another child with cerebral palsy. How could they live such a life?

What kind of gospel is this? That pastor and pastor’s wife were far too wicked. Brothers and sisters, understand this: people want to please people. Do you know why churches focus so much on family? Because pastors’ wives focus on family, and many sisters in churches are very concerned about family. Why? Because family can be used to keep husbands completely under control.

What a sigh. People are constantly confused. Christians are confused beyond measure. There is every sort of disorderly thing. That is not the gospel at all.

If you believe the wrong gospel, will you suffer a curse? Yes, you will. Why? It is very simple. The Bible was written for believers. Will you not read it? Once you read the Bible, you will know that such things are wrong. How can you not know? Yet after people read the Bible, they do not carefully observe and obey it. Or they do not read the Bible at all and do not know how to carefully observe and obey it. They merely follow hearsay. That is how they listen to a pastor’s wife and end up with three children with cerebral palsy.

Let me tell you: Christianity needs a reformation for this new era. Christianity in this age needs reform. It must return to genuine good news—the true gospel! What was meant to be gospel has become moralism, sentimentalism, and every other kind of “ism.” It is not a gospel of blessing. It is a cursed, curse-filled message.

Scripture

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:6–12)

Prayer

God, let us receive Your revelation once again. God, let Your Spirit move among us. God, personally reveal to us the gospel of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Let us truly know God. Let us truly know what a great hope we have in Christ Jesus. Let us know the surpassingly great power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that we may overcome every dark power of the devil in this world.

God, may Your almighty gospel be manifested once again among us. Let all our brothers and sisters enter into Your blessings. God, do this wonderful work among us. Reveal Yourself to us. Lead us into Your will. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Background of the Scripture

The background of this passage is most interesting. A few days ago, I spoke about the background of Galatians. Let me add something now.

A group of people came to Galatia and preached another gospel to them. Their message probably went something like this: “The Jesus you believe in is quite good. I preach this Jesus too. But the Jesus we believe in should be a better version than yours. You only need a minor operation on your reproductive organ.”

It was only a minor procedure. Surely, having a little more is better than having a little less? Do you understand that mentality?

Let me give you an example. Many people are foolish in this way. I have marked examination papers before. I asked a student, “Why have you written so much? You could explain the issue clearly in two or three sentences. Why write all this?” He said, “Teacher, I know the answer is somewhere in this long paragraph, but I do not know which part is the answer. Writing more will not cost me marks.”

I said, “If you come to me, writing more will certainly cost you marks. Why? Because that is not the answer. Why are you stuffing all that in? It shows that you do not understand. If you understand, one sentence, three sentences, or five sentences will make it clear. You wrote a hundred sentences. The exam had only one question, and you did not finish the others.”

I sighed: he had still not understood. He thought writing more would not lose marks. But if you do not understand and merely write more, you are in trouble.

The Galatians thought this was an upgraded gospel. They did not know it was an old version of the gospel. Think about it: can you install old software and expect it to work? Put Android 4 on your phone and many apps will no longer run. Use an old iPhone 3 and many things cannot be used. Does anyone still use Windows XP? Windows Me is more than twenty years old, and so is Windows 98.

These people who came were something else. Some even brought in angels: “An angel told me that you must be circumcised.” Since an angel said it, surely it must be obeyed. Is that not madness?

Suppose a swindler comes to you and says, “An angel told you to transfer your money to me.” Then you are in trouble. If someone comes to me and says, “An angel said…” I would say, “Who produced that?” Everybody laughs, and with one punch you put the other person straight into the filth—sticky, mushy, and with a smell. What are you trying to show off before me? If you speak to me about angels, I will ask you who produced it.

Paul encountered such people: “An angel said…” So does an angel’s word automatically settle everything? Therefore Paul wrote: “No matter who it is—even an angel from heaven, or even something from heaven’s toilet—if he preaches a gospel different from what we preached to you, let him be cursed!” That is strong language.

What is the problem? The problem is that they added just that little bit. How deceiving that is. Is adding that bit better, or is lacking that bit better? That tiny addition creates trouble. It differs by only a fraction.

The Galatians therefore thought this was good, and they were circumcised. The next day they came to church, still in pain. Painful beyond words. Someone said, “Why are you walking like that?” Do you know how a man walks after circumcision? There is a wound down there. “I have been circumcised! Have you not?” “No.” “Why have you not been circumcised? Look, I have been circumcised.”

Then it was over. One Galatian was circumcised, then two, then three, four, five—and before long they all were. It spread like an infectious disease, very quickly. I find it quite interesting. Why suffer this? Strictly speaking, it was only a minor operation. In two or three days it healed. The price seemed worthwhile to them.

Why did they do it? Because it pleased those who preached the gospel of circumcision. See how good the relationship became? At once they made the gospel complicated.

After circumcision, then you had to observe festivals. Even today, some Christians observe the Feast of Tabernacles and all sorts of festivals. There is a whole pile of pointless business. During the COVID pandemic, if you gathered to observe these festivals, everyone would catch the virus.

If you do not get this right, is it not frightening? It is like idol worshippers burning incense on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. If they fail to burn it on the first but do so on the second, they become terrified. “This is a serious matter!”

Then after all that, when you observe Passover, must you kill a lamb? Must you offer bulls? Must you offer burnt offerings? The whole matter becomes complicated. The more you do, the more confused you become.

Do you know what happens then? Everyone becomes increasingly muddled. As they remain muddled, evil spirits begin to operate. Then people in that place start getting one sickness after another. Many die.

I kept wondering: what are these people after? Even now, I do not fully understand what they are after. Later, I understood. Is this not the era of internet celebrities? They were gathering followers. With followers, they had traffic. With traffic, they could monetise it. At once, they turned Paul’s followers into their own followers by advertising: “Mine is more high-class. I have circumcision; he does not.”

It is quite interesting to hear. Gathering followers is only a small matter. Gathering money is the real issue. Then they began to collect money. What were they after? An industrial chain. They built an industrial chain. Look at how wonderful that business chain appeared. But this was not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Where does the gospel of Jesus Christ contain such things? Could they escape the curse? The curse was very deep.

Let me add a little aside here. You will probably enjoy it. These things are not recorded in formal history; I am drawing inferences. But what I say is not without basis. There is a passage in Acts. Do not say that I am telling an unfounded tale. Luke wrote Acts in a very restrained manner. He spared the Jerusalem church a little embarrassment. How did he write it?

He wrote about a Gentile named Cornelius. Peter went to preach the gospel to Cornelius. Now, Cornelius was a Gentile, not a Jew. For Jews to associate with Gentiles was considered unclean. If you came out of a Gentile’s home, you had to shout through the streets, “Unclean! Uncleanness is coming!” That was Jewish tradition, and in some ways it continues even today.

The concept of uncleanness had long existed in interactions between Jews and Gentiles. Yet Peter went to Cornelius’ house because God revealed it to him. Cornelius believed in the Lord through Peter. Peter himself was anxious: how would he explain this to the Jews when he returned? Yet this was God’s revelation. It was real.

But explaining it to the Jews was not easy. After he had explained how Cornelius believed in the Lord, Peter should have gone boldly to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, because this was God’s command to him. But something happened: he was arrested and put into prison.

If it were you, what would you think? Peter sat in prison and thought, “I have been arrested. I must reflect on what I did wrong. Ah, it was because of Cornelius. I entered his house and preached the gospel to him. After I came back, I was arrested and imprisoned. I became unclean. I did not get it right.”

Luke did not write this explicitly. It would have been difficult to write, because Peter was still alive at the time. He could not simply write anything he wished. So we can only infer.

After Peter came out of prison and returned, he knocked on the door. The one receiving him was James, the brother of Jesus. Mary must have been there too. You see, I have connected the story, and it sounds plausible.

The church at that time was quite wealthy. Everyone gave offerings to the church and ate and drank together. The church had money. Peter was arrested, and they were still looking for him. So Peter slipped away and ran.

How was it arranged after that? Mary saw this and said, “Peter, do not be the leader of this church anymore. Let my son James lead the church.” Once Jesus’ mother spoke, could they refuse? Certainly not. It would have been awkward to say no. Moreover, Peter had to leave Jerusalem for a period. So he departed.

After he left, Peter’s story was no longer written about. Did he continue preaching the gospel to Gentiles? No. That ended. God then raised up another man, Paul. If Peter had continued preaching the gospel to Gentiles, perhaps there would have been no place for Paul.

When Peter appeared again, James had become the leader of the church, and Peter had become second in command. Moreover, Peter was afraid of James. When James’ men came, Peter was afraid of them. What was all that? It was pleasing people. Between the lines, you can see that Peter was trying to please people and was mindful of human concerns, not of God’s concerns.

Why did Peter no longer preach to Gentiles? It had to do with his arrest. After thinking it over, he concluded that it was because of uncleanness. So when he came to Antioch, he sometimes ate with Gentiles. But when men from James arrived, he acted hypocritically and withdrew from the Gentiles.

Why did he do that? The reason was simple. Not only did Peter himself think that his arrest and imprisonment were related to preaching the gospel to Cornelius, but James—the physical brother of Jesus—likely added fuel to the fire. He must have said, “Peter became unclean by associating with Gentiles. That is why he was arrested.”

Do you think my analysis has some logic? Of course, this is an aside. But the question is this: was it a revelation from God? No. It was not God’s revelation. It was pleasing people. Therefore Paul said:

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

Brothers and sisters, if you are going to be Christians, be Christians like this. There is no need to please people. Who do you think you are? Have I come into this world with difficulty only to live for you? Forget it. In my terms: move aside; get out of the way. That is roughly as blunt as northeastern Chinese speech can be.

This is the background of this passage. Then the question arose: where did Paul’s gospel come from? Peter’s gospel seemed to have a source, because he had followed Jesus. James’ gospel also seemed to have a source, because he was Jesus’ physical brother. But where did Paul’s gospel come from?

Paul’s gospel did not come from human ideas. It was not taught by man. It came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Do you see?

I also tell you boldly: Chinese Mingding Doctrine was not invented by me. It came through revelation from Jesus Christ. How did that revelation come? When I did not understand, I had to ask God. I paid an immense price in seeking. I read things that I did not understand. After reading, if I still did not understand, I had to ask God. Then God revealed these things to me.

We must know this: we have turned a highly complicated gospel theology into a very simple gospel. If you work with me, you will find one major characteristic in me: I can explain a very complicated thing in a very simple way. I like to summarise the principles behind things. Everything I do is built into a system. It is not chaotic.

When I was young, I believed that reducing a book to its essentials was real competence. Why? Because after summarising it, there is not much left. So let me tell you: making things simple is a mark of competence. You will find that the things I do are simple, not complicated. Whatever remains complicated is what I have not yet understood properly.

But these people made everything exceedingly complicated. Therefore, when Paul wrote Galatians, he was really trying to establish one thing: that was not the gospel.

If you preach the wrong gospel, you are under a curse. Why are those pastors like that? Because they preached the wrong gospel. If you believe the wrong gospel, will you be under a curse? Yes, you will. If your pastor tells you to preach the gospel, will you simply preach nonsense? That is the problem. This is the background of the passage.

We truly must thank God. Before the creation of the world, God chose the apostle Paul. Before the creation of the world, God chose this group of us. God chose Paul before the creation of the world, so that in his generation he would persist in restoring the pure gospel. In this generation, God has chosen us again to restore God’s pure gospel. For a false gospel brings curses. Therefore, you must know that Chinese Mingding Doctrine places great importance on learning.

Addition and Subtraction

Let me tell you: the gospel in this generation has either been added to or subtracted from. This is something I can demonstrate. In this generation, people have added a great deal of all sorts of things.

When I was in a local church, the pastor told me, “When you pray for people, do not lay hands on them.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “After you lay hands on them, the demons may run into you.” When I heard that, I thought it was pure demon-talk. I wondered, whose side are you on? Are you preaching the power of demons or the power of God? Have you heard such talk?

I thought: when people squeeze onto a public bus, how many demons must there be? They do not even need to lay hands on one another. Everyone is pressed together like cards. How many demons would be darting back and forth? Do you think they are COVID viruses? My goodness.

There is another saying: “You have an opening in your life, so you cannot pray for people. If you pray for them, demons will enter you.” What kind of talk is that? Where is such a thing in the Bible? I have never found it in the Bible.

In the Bible, I see Jesus’ twelve disciples going out to cast out demons. They had enormous so-called “openings.” By the time Jesus was crucified, their openings were like the holes of a sieve—more holes than a window screen. What openings? It is all talk.

I say, what sort of nonsense is this? We cast out demons by the name of Jesus Christ. Do you think you cast out demons by your own “openings”? Can your openings cast out demons? It is all nonsense. These are things people have added.

When I pray for people, what demon wants to run into me? Come and try it, you little thing. You must learn to say this: “You little thing.” That is my character.

One day I prayed for someone whose arm could not be lifted. Later, he could lift it, but I could not lift mine. Do you think I would believe that the demon had entered me? What openings? I do not care about such things. They are not in the Bible.

I prayed in the name of Jesus, and continued praying. Two months later, my arm was healed. Let me tell you, I discovered a mystery: once such a thing has happened to me, later when I pray for people with arm pain, it works; when I pray for people with back pain, it works; when I pray for other diseases, it works too.

When I had COVID, I rubbed the spirit of COVID into the ground. At first, it was a draw between us. It rubbed me into the ground, even tried to strangle me. Do you know what strangling means? It means gripping my neck. In that state, I fought it for three weeks.

Thank God, every battle was victorious. Do you know the first thing I did after I got a little better? I do not care much for preserving health or nursing myself back to health. I went straight back to work. Whoever came looking for me, I led them in prayer. One person had a fishbone stuck in his throat. I prayed, and he was healed. Later, I found that the spirit of COVID was afraid to come near me.

After one person contracted COVID, he began manifesting. As his pastor led him in prayer, “Old Horse” began speaking through his mouth. What it said was interesting, and it gave me confidence. It said, “There are not many in this world who overcome Old Horse. This pastor is one who overcomes Old Horse, so I am afraid of him.”

Do you understand? There is no reason for us not to overcome through Jesus Christ. That may sound a little roundabout. What I mean is this: there is no reason, and nothing, that can separate us from the power of Christ. Powerful—very powerful.

In this generation, people add so many things. What a mess. They add everything because they interpret matters according to outward phenomena.

Take praying in tongues. When people pray for tongues, and then pray in tongues, some begin crying and screaming like demons. Others become frightened. Once frightened, they say, “These are demonic tongues.” In fact, the person is being delivered. How foolish.

Once I attended a gathering as a student. During the break, they brought someone to me. As soon as I began praying, the demon began to leave. As it left, the person’s mouth made wild cries and loud shouts. Then the person in charge of the course rushed over, and I had to step aside. He began rubbing the person’s chest and back. Why rub him? The demon was leaving. Why were you trying to rub it back in? I could only sigh.

Even today, confusion about praying in tongues fills the Christian world. Is God unable to manage prayer in tongues? Of course He is. God upholds all things by His almighty hands. If His children pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, would He give them evil spirits?

Yet people say, “If you ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, evil spirits will come.” What kind of talk is that? Those who say such things are under a curse. Therefore, brothers and sisters, examine yourselves.

Some time ago, there was a book called The Seven Mountains. They wanted to transform government, education, media, entertainment, culture, and so on. Have you heard this? No matter how I read the Bible, I cannot find such a thing.

We must know this: God is not seeking to transform this world. God is going to destroy this world. God will bring His people into His kingdom and destroy this world. Some people think, “This world is so good. Why destroy it? Why not transform the city?” Transform it into what?

One day, I told someone, “Singapore will become Antioch.” The spiritual atmosphere of Singapore is not determined by other things. It is because there is a small group of people like the apostle Paul. I am referring to us, and I do not avoid saying so. Many prophets have said that this place will become Antioch.

Why will it become Antioch? Because there is a small group of people like Paul. The whole world will receive blessings through this small group.

But one Christian did not see it that way. He said Singapore’s spiritual environment was determined by the Singapore government—the prime minister and the ministers. Is that not absurd? Where is such a thing found?

Antioch in the New Testament was the base of the apostle Paul. The government of Antioch probably did not even know that there was such a small group of people. Antioch became Antioch not because of the government leaders, but because there was a small church there—Paul, Barnabas, and a handful of others. The Bible records only a few of them.

Brothers and sisters, there is much addition and subtraction. We believe in Jesus, repent of our sins, and are baptised in the name of Jesus. Many people stop there. But if you read the Bible carefully, it also says that we receive the promised Holy Spirit. Later, people removed this step—the promised Holy Spirit. They removed the Holy Spirit. Is that not strange?

Addition and subtraction are profoundly evil, because demons are behind them. That is how corruption comes.

In churches, what do people use to please church members? Family, children, kindergartens, Sunday schools—these things. How do they please governments? Charity, social work, and such things. It is all tragedy.

If we please people, we are no longer servants of Jesus Christ. Do not even think about what to add or what to remove. What God says, we do. What God says, we put into practice. Once people add or subtract, they will certainly be under a curse. That is what a curse is.

Misconceptions About Curses

In this generation, we must redefine curses. Let me tell you: when some church members were leaving, they came to me and said, “Pastor, may I buy you a cup of coffee?” I said, “Certainly. Let us have coffee. What would you like to ask of me?” He said, “Pastor, after we leave, please do not curse us behind our backs.”

I said, “I have taught for so long, and you still do not understand the definition of a curse. Do you think I can curse people? If I could curse people, do you think I practise black magic? Would I make a little doll, write your name on it, stick needles into it, and then you jump around? I do not do that, and I have no time for it.”

Many people are terrified at the mention of curses because they do not know what a curse is. Write down this definition of a curse, and you will no longer remain confused about it.

A curse is the lawful destruction of a person by the devil. Why is it lawful? Because the person has not carefully observed and obeyed God’s word. When someone does not carefully observe and obey God’s word, the devil can lawfully carry out destructive work in that person’s life. In other words, wherever you do not carefully observe and obey God’s word, trouble will arise.

A curse does not come from demons. A curse comes from God, because people do not carefully observe and obey God’s word. Once we understand that, blessings and curses are clearly defined.

If you carefully observe and obey, you will be blessed. If you do not carefully observe and obey, you will be cursed.

Read Deuteronomy. It is exceedingly clear. Do not think this is merely the Old Testament. The New Testament is the same. Can you accept what I am saying? If not, I will not force you.

We need to bring about a new change. We must redefine what blessing means and what curse means. We must clearly bring reform in defining what addition means and what subtraction means. These are matters of life and death.

Once something is added, once something is removed, a curse is formed. If you read Deuteronomy, you will find that man must not add to or take away from God’s words. When we come to Revelation, we find the same: nothing may be added to or taken away from this prophecy. If you add, you come under a curse. It is very simple.

Once you add, that is no longer careful observance and obedience. It is no longer correction; it is distortion. Regarding the misconception of curses, let me tell you:

The suffering endured while living under a curse carries no glory whatsoever. The misery suffered while living under a curse carries no glory whatsoever. But if a person suffers a little in paying a price for God, that has glory.

Never confuse the two.

Some people live under a curse and yet say that they are people whom the world is not worthy of. What nonsense. There are plenty of people like them.

What does it mean to be a person whom the world is not worthy of? Before I preached this message, I asked everyone whether they had stories for me. I received many.

In a previous church, there was a prophet. Many people came to him for prayer, and he made much money. Later, a great calamity came upon him. His wife died. The prophet’s daughter gambled and owed more than a million. They sold the house to repay the debt. All the money he had earned was gone.

There was another case. A pastor’s son had a cerebral haemorrhage. One month later, the pastor’s wife died of breast cancer. The pastor said this was a fiery trial given by God to everyone. That is nonsense. The pastor said it was God’s great blessing.

Look at this. Because of what they added and what they removed, curses came, yet they did not even know it. Is that not tragedy? I want to tell you: this generation desperately needs reform. We must redefine these things and remove the confusion.

Man Lives by Every Word That Comes from the Mouth of God

Do you know? Deuteronomy 28 states it very clearly. From verse 1 to verse 15 are words of blessing. From verse 15 onward, through more than sixty verses, are words of curse.

Once, I searched the Bible for the phrase “every word.” I wanted to understand, because Jesus said to the devil:

Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

That day, I suddenly discovered the mystery of “every word.” I prayed, and God gave me revelation. In fact, throughout the Bible, it is all about every word.

What then do we do with every word? If you carefully observe every word, you will surely be blessed. You will be above and not beneath; the head and not the tail. Your storehouses, your bank accounts, and everything you possess will be blessed. You will be blessed in the countryside, blessed in the village, blessed wherever you go.

But if a person does not carefully observe and obey, God will bring every disaster and disease upon him. Disease and disaster are certainly curses. There is no need to debate it.

So I give you homework: go back and read Deuteronomy 28 carefully. But after reading it, take heed. Man lives by every word that comes from God’s mouth.

How do we obey every word? Why is it that people can bear curses, but cannot carefully observe and obey God’s word? How difficult is it to pay a little price for this? It is not difficult, is it?

No matter what, develop the habit of loving God’s word. Understand God’s word. Grasp God’s word. Then you can build an entire system of faith. In the process of building that system, faith is the foundation. That was what we spoke about in the previous message.

Let me tell you: when you are an infant, you can only drink milk. God will not require you to do calculus.

Our God is full of grace and mercy. To a newly born spiritual infant, God extends His mighty arm to protect that child so that he may grow. At three to five years old, there are requirements appropriate to three to five years old. At six, seven, and eight, when one begins primary school, there are requirements appropriate to primary school. Spiritual life is the same.

It is not the case that, because you are an infant, demons can attack you. Brothers and sisters, we must have faith in God. Do not hear me say, “Live by every word that comes from God’s mouth,” and then say, “Oh dear, I violated this; I violated that. I have not carefully observed and obeyed. I will be cursed.”

If you deliberately act this way—if you deliberately violate God’s word—then you will indeed have much to answer for.

So, brothers and sisters, do not be afraid. Grow from childhood to adulthood. At each stage, speak and act according to that stage. But if you are over twenty and still in primary school, will you not be disciplined? If you refuse to study properly, you will certainly be disciplined.

Faith is the foundation. When we cast out demons, we do not cast them out through our conduct. We cast them out through the name of our God. Casting out demons in God’s name certainly works. It does not matter if you have so-called openings. What is the problem with that? There is no problem. God has ordained our victory.

Because you are never good enough, you must keep improving. But that does not stop you from healing the sick and casting out demons. You must know that demons deceive you. What can be done about the fact that I am never good enough? Yet the demons must retreat.

Building a System of Faith

Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a system of faith. You must know this. Why “every word”? Exactly which words are “every word”? It is because of every word that we have built Chinese Mingding Doctrine.

Chinese Mingding Doctrine builds every word into a system. Then we know what has been added and what has been removed. What is within the system must not be removed. What is outside the system must not be pasted onto it.

This is why I say that 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and James have problems, because they do not fit into this system. Constructing this system is what “every word” means. What does not form a system is not “every word.”

Why do many people live under the curse of a false gospel? Because they lack this system.

If you are an accountant, you must form an accounting system. If you are a lawyer, you must form a legal system. If you are an engineer, you must form an engineering system. Let me tell you why a system must be formed: because this is what it means to seek God. This is God’s will.

God is a God of revelation. The apostle Paul said in Galatians, “What I received was not from man, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The very process by which the system of Chinese Mingding Doctrine was formed is itself God’s revelation.

In these last days, God intends to reveal once again the mysteries of the gospel, so that through God’s revelation and through Paul’s epistles, we may once again understand God’s will and God’s plan.

Once, I said that the Nicene Creed was not a system, and someone became unhappy. Do you know the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed? If you do not, you can listen to them or look them up.

The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed say things such as: “I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the holy catholic church. I believe that Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, became man, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, and was buried.” That is about it.

I said that those things are of no use. Anyone who has experienced it knows that they are of no use. I was speaking the truth, but some people were offended. “How can you say that these things are useless?”

Because after people memorise them, some are deceived by Jehovah’s Witnesses; some are deceived by Eastern Lightning. I discovered that those things are of no use at all. They carry no power. People think that after memorising them, they can go to heaven. Why memorise such things? I do not know.

God is a God of revelation. The God of revelation wants us to construct an entire system of faith. It is not about reciting a spell or memorising something. After memorising it, people still remain at a very primitive stage.

You must know that there are many things I cannot explain in such detail here, but I can tell you that I explained them very clearly in the 101 Course. I encourage you to listen to the 101 Course on the website. If you are from outside, you must listen to the 101 Course. It establishes a basic framework.

Do you know how to build a house? If you have never built one, let me tell you. First, you dig a large and deep hole for the foundation. That takes a long time. Then you build the foundation, and that also takes a long time.

When you build a multi-storey building, you do not build and decorate the first floor, then build and decorate the second floor. No. First, you lay the foundation, erect the pillars, and set the beams. It is all bare structure. That is called constructing the framework. It is rough, but the shape is there. At a glance, you know what the building will look like. Is it difficult? No. Once you see the framework, that is it.

The 101 Course is a framework. Building a victorious church is the most important concept revealed in the New Testament. To whom does God reveal these things? To those who seek Him.

Let me tell you: the 101 Course is now in its second edition. When I wrote the first edition, I felt distressed every day. I could not make it clear. Every day I knelt there to pray, seek, write, and work through it. Finally, what I wrote was quite good. Now the second edition is even better.

God gives revelation to those who seek Him, to those who please Him. Those who do not seek Him, God leaves in their hardness of heart. That is the framework. The details can be added gradually. That is not difficult.

Whatever you study, you begin by building a framework. If I give you a framework and it leaves you completely confused, then I am sorry.

This generation needs reform. We must take scattered things—one pile on the left, one pile on the right, a stroke here and a stroke there, a chaotic mess—and organise them into a system that constructs a system of faith.

I gave it the name Chinese Mingding Doctrine. Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a systematic theology. Why can we speak of reforming Christianity for this new era? Because in this generation, let me tell you, I may not have studied everything, but I have studied quite a lot. There is truly no systematic faith among them. It is all very confused.

So we must begin to establish a comprehensive view and construct a framework with an overall perspective. The church is the key.

If you ask me what healing and deliverance are, I will say this: the foundation of healing and deliverance is the victorious church. God wants to build this church upon the rock. God wants to give us the keys of heaven, so that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we release on earth will be released in heaven.

When we establish the 101 Course and such a framework, then sort out these concepts one by one, everything becomes much better.

Some time ago, I taught a series of foundational courses and established a framework. Before this framework, there should perhaps be another set of foundational courses. I may need to organise them again and call them “001 Before 101.”

I long for brothers and sisters no longer to live in confusion. Let me list the titles of the second edition of the 101 Course: From Seeking to Believing.

Lesson One: Man’s Life Is a Spiritual Matter.

Lesson Two: Man Needs God to Live. Since life is a spiritual matter, must you not seek the greatest God in the spiritual realm? Man needs God to live. Without God, life is tragedy.

Lesson Three: Receiving God’s Grace Through Faith.

Lesson Four: Unbelief Is the Root Cause of Failing to Receive Grace.

Lesson Five: The Two Most Important Matters in Life: Blessing and Curse. This is the matter of curses we are speaking about today.

Lesson Six: The Key to Blessing Is Victory.

Lesson Seven: The Key to Victory Lies in Spiritual Height. Therefore, you must strive to climb.

Lesson Eight: At the Spiritual Summit Is the Temple of God. This is what it means to ascend the mountain of the Lord and enter the temple of the God of Jacob.

Lesson Nine: Building God’s Glorious Church Is Our Mingding.

What an excellent framework. Everything becomes clear at once.

Conclusion

People must come out from under curses. The price people pay because of curses is too heavy, and it carries no glory at all. Let us save that price and use it in pursuing God, pursuing spiritual matters, and knowing the truth.

It is worthwhile to pay a price to know the truth and receive blessings. To pay a price for curses is miserable beyond words. To pay a price to know the truth and receive blessings is entirely right and proper.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, strive all your lives. Enter into perfection. Grow into the full measure of the stature of Jesus Christ. This is the key of Chinese Mingding Doctrine.

Brothers and sisters, how far have we yet gone in receiving blessings? In the days ahead, we must expect God’s more wonderful works to appear in our lives. What a beautiful thing this is. It is marvellous.

May God bless you all!