Introduction
Good morning, everyone. I am here to talk to you about the sixth lecture in the Building God's Glorious Church series, Becoming Like Little Children. If you build a church according to human logic, you will not be able to build a church that is glorious to God. You must become like little children and remove all the things you have accumulated over the years.
You say, Teacher, I have a doctorate, how can I become a child? That's even more critical, why? Because we have accumulated many fixed ideas in this world, and the more knowledge you have, the more troublesome it is, those things belong to the logical system of the world. Therefore, the most important lesson in building a church full of God's glory is to break oneself.
Actually, God doesn't need us to build His glorious church; it is we who need to build God's glorious church. We can break ourselves in this process, break the worldly logic we have accumulated in the past, become like little children, and then you can humble yourself. Because you become like little children, you can relearn the logic of God. If you have a bunch of worldly logic in your heart, it is difficult to agree with God's logic.
One of our sisters has many problems. Listening to the sermon is like poking her spine, and it is difficult to agree. Why? Because her heart is filled with too many worldly things. After so many years in the church, she has received very strange things. So we must learn the logic of God, which is the opposite of the worldly logic we originally received. If you have the opportunity, you can listen to my Matthew again.
The Gospel of Matthew describes two kingdoms and two logical systems. We are now discussing the scriptures in Matthew Chapter 18. Jesus only mentioned the church twice in Matthew, once in Chapter 16 and again in Chapter 18. Chapter 16 talks about the definition of the church, while Chapter 18 talks about how to build the church.
Becoming a child and relearning is a kind of repentance, a kind of brokenness, demolishing all the garbage accumulated in the past few years, and becoming a child. Then, on this foundation, relearning and rebuilding can build a church full of God's glory. You have to be willing to demolish it. If you are stiff and unwilling to demolish it, it is a very critical matter.
In the Bible, Nadab and Abihu were so rigid. They turned a deaf ear to what God told them, and thought: there are not so many problems? He also said that I offered profane fire, I have always done this in Egypt, and nothing happened. Why are there so many problems? I won't indulge you.
Not indulging God, listen to what he said. If you indulge you with so many problems, how is that okay? Take some incense at home and take out the cigarette lighter and light it on the altar. Isn't this courting death? Are you indulging God, or is God indulging you? God will not indulge you, this is not a joke. To what extent must a person be rigid?
God said: Be careful, be cautious, carelessness will kill people. Reading Exodus will really kill people. Serving God will kill people, and building God's glorious church will also kill people. And many people have died, and even now many pastors get cancer. This is offering strange fire. Is God indulging him, or is he indulging God? This is not a joke. There are two kinds of people in this world. The first is a person with a rigid character, who suffers the most sins, and the other is a person with a soft character, who is the easiest to adjust.
For example, when my dad whipped me with a belt, my heart was very soft, I was not rigid, and I didn't argue with my dad. One whip from my dad's belt was enough. I can study hard, because if I don't study hard, I will be beaten. By studying hard, I finally got into a famous university. Thank God, I don’t know if I am willing to be soft, or if God makes me soft, because I belong to the soft type.
Do you know what my greatest strength is? It is admitting that I didn't do this right. Those rigid people will say: That's not how to do it, everyone else does it like me, alas, he has become the standard of the world. How stupid can this be, thinking that everyone in the world is as stupid as him. The most golden rule of our church is that I haven't done this right, and there are many things that I haven't done right yet. Although I have done many things right and broken many things, I still have to be soft and humble, like a little child.
Someone asked me a question, they thought a word could choke me to death. He said: Teacher, you said this five years ago, but now you say that, did you say it wrong five years ago, or did you say it wrong now? As a result, he wrote a long letter accusing me. I replied to him that maybe none of them are right. Maybe the ones that are done five years later are not all right, and I will change again after five years. Looking back, what the hell did I do fifteen years ago? I am a person who does not defend myself. He was dumbfounded when he saw me say this, thinking about which one I asked you was wrong, but you told me that maybe both were wrong, which choked him badly.
People cannot be rigid. What I talk about is like a software upgrade. Do people still use iPhone 4 now? The other day I found an iPhone 4, that small screen looks really ugly. But when I got that iPhone 4 back then, it was really foreign, and I had to hold it in my hand when walking on the street. Now it looks extremely ugly. Why? Because the phone has been upgraded.
Only rigid people will always stay on iPhone 4. Now if anyone uses iPhone 4, it is really embarrassing. The previous Apple mobile phones have been changing, and as a result, the upgrade and replacement have been good. It seems that it is a bit rigid now. According to Musk, there is no upgrade, it is still the old thing. If this is rigid, it will be over. Nokia has become like King Kong, I just don’t make smart phones, I just make a few keys for that small phone. As a result, it didn’t work later, and no one uses it now.
I looked at my Bible study of Matthew Chapter 18. I thought it was good at the time, but now I don’t think it’s very good, and it needs to be upgraded again. So people must know how to be soft, and often feel that they are not doing well. Even if you do it right, there are still many places that need to be upgraded. The most critical quality of Chinese Mingding Destiny is to constantly know God, and there is no end to knowing God, and we must constantly improve. In the past few years, we felt that we had climbed very high. Later, when we looked back at the height we climbed in the past, we felt good at that time. It was also very comforting at the time, and we relied on this good feeling to show some presence.
Now I will tell you about Matthew again. You know that rigid people are unwilling to change, and rigid people are more difficult to demolish. They can’t always become children and cannot humble themselves, so they need to suffer more. Thank God for letting these people suffer more. I hope they will not be like Pharaoh, Pharaoh is a representative of rigidity. Did God make Pharaoh rigid, or was Pharaoh himself rigid? There is really nowhere to reason. It was really God who made Pharaoh rigid, and God created a rigid Pharaoh to show God's glory. There is no problem with this, so you say God, why did you do this? God said: I am willing.
There is a joke. A young couple walked over on the street, and then someone took a microphone and rushed up and asked: Young man, how much do you earn a month? The boy said: More than two thousand. Then he asked the girl, why do you like him? As a result, the girl asked the reporter, do you know why Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching? He said: I don't know. The girl said: Then I will tell you, Lao Tzu is willing.
God is also willing to do this. Doesn't God have the right to create a rigid Pharaoh? Pharaoh is also willing to be a rigid person. All the firstborn sons of Egypt were killed by God. Seeing that Moses and these people could no longer be kept, if they were kept, the second and third oldest in the family might be killed. When Pharaoh heard that the Jews had reached the edge of the Red Sea and there was no road ahead, he thought I had to catch up and bring them back. As a result, he chased up and was buried directly at the bottom of the Red Sea. Many people have brains like this and suffer until they can't come back.
In the past few years, we have served many rigid people like this. A newcomer came to one of our pastoral districts, suffering from a lot of illnesses. He went to many hospitals, saw many doctors, then saw many Chinese medicine doctors, and also went to many temples. When he saw a Chinese medicine doctor, the Chinese medicine doctor saw his illness and gave him acupuncture and medicine. Finally, he gave him a suggestion, you should take these medicines first, and if it doesn't get better, you should go and drive out the ghosts.
When he heard the Chinese medicine doctor say to drive out ghosts, he searched online, and then found us, and came to us to drive out the ghosts. Originally, the ghosts were driven out and the illness was cured, but the things in his heart were not broken. The things in his heart were quite evil. I tell you, God has rich grace and mercy, not because he changed. He came among us because God gave him grace to guide him to repentance.
After he came here and got better, we pushed him to grow up and demolish the things inside him. In the past, he worshiped idols and tossed around in temples for a long time, turning himself into this. He had to start learning, but that learning was so tiring, so he said: Teacher, my illness is cured, I think your place is not good, what the hell are you? What the hell are we? We cured his illness, and he said what the hell is this? Things here are too slow and you have to learn, I have to go out and find a place where I can get better with just one treatment.
He was completely healed a few weeks ago and didn't need to see a doctor anymore. A week later, he went home to fix the Feng Shui and fiddle with those crystals. Later, his mother called his pastor and said he had died. I was thinking, isn't this Pharaoh? This Pharaoh was only in his thirties and his child was still breastfeeding. Oh my God, what kind of brain is this? I have encountered so many rigid people.
So we must soften before God. Many years ago, we served a cancer patient. The 18- or 19-year-old girl didn't live a very disciplined life. She ran to Dongguan at a young age and got a dirty disease. A large cauliflower grew in the woman's vagina connected to her stomach. There were worms crawling out of the cauliflower, and the liquid flowing out would rot wherever it touched, which was scary.
Someone took a photo and sent it to us. Oh my God, after we finished watching it, we couldn't eat anymore, it was so disgusting. The flesh was blue and purple, rotten and as big as a cauliflower. We started serving her. I served a little more, and other brothers and sisters served in shifts. We led her in prayer for three to six hours every night, and we paid a lot of price. During the whole process, we rejected this and rejected that. There were a lot of dirty things inside her. Her body was in super pain at night, and she screamed in pain, and she still had to fast and pray.
We served her like this. How much did we pay? The cancer became smaller and drier. I think it has shrunk by at least one-third. Isn't this about to get better? We have to live a blessed life. Don’t wait until the cancer is cured before she goes back to her old ways, that would be troublesome. I said: Start learning to give from now on. She said: I want to leave the church. What kind of brain is this? One of my online fans likes to listen to us tell stories. After hearing about the child I was serving, he gave the child 8,000 yuan worth of things.
I asked her to give 800, and that 800 yuan could take her life. You say this is very interesting, right? As a result, on the night I left the church, the person we arranged to take her to pray just didn't answer the phone. I called her mother at eight o'clock the next morning, and her mother said: The person died at five o'clock in the morning. This completely solved the problem. Just because of 800 yuan, how rigid can this person be?
I tell these stories because I hope everyone can be willing to break, and replace the things that we used to live for and live for with a divine logic. This child used Waterdrop Fundraising and gave hundreds of thousands to the hospital, and as a result, she was healed into a large cauliflower, and she was still willing. Giving 800 yuan to God and wanting to live a blessed life is just not possible. If she is not buried at the bottom of the Red Sea, she will not give up.
So later I discovered that God created many vessels that showed His wrath. So you must know that the most important thing in building God's glorious church is to become like little children, and then relearn. It is useless to repair on the original basis, just like you are repairing in a dilapidated house, you will never be able to do a good decoration, the same principle.
Therefore, the road to building God's glorious church must be to break one's original set of things, become like little children, and then start building again. The road to building God's glorious church is the road to climbing spiritual peaks, breaking oneself, and mortifying the flesh. It is the road to completely breaking the worldly logic system and knowing God, becoming a new little child, growing on that basis. In the past few years, we have broken a lot of things.
Once I discussed with a pastor. This pastor used to be a senior executive in a company. He shared with me that he wanted to establish a church governance system in the church. I asked him to share it with me and I was also exploring. He wanted to bring those corporate management things into the church, those KPIs, OKRs and other things. I was not very clear about these things at the time, I just felt that something was not right. Because this is not mentioned in the Bible. As long as I can't find a relative precedent in the Bible, I feel that there is something wrong with this thing.
Later, when he built according to this direction, he couldn't do it anyway. So what is his KPI? It is dedication and number of people. So when a person moves from one pastoral area to another, the two pastoral elders quarrel. How great is this, a KPI for establishing quarrels was established. We now know that this system is wrong.
That thing is called offering strange fire. There are very many churches that offer strange fire, and there are too many things that need to be demolished. He is a senior executive in a company, and it is not good to bring the management things from the company to the church. That company makes money, and the church saves people. Can these be the same? Some churches also want to inherit the traditions of the Methodist Church and the Anglican Church, and think that tradition is good. Jesus broke the tradition. Now we must become simple and become like little children, and people's thoughts become simple.
Why are some people among us rigid? As soon as they hear a sermon, they follow me to speculate and argue with me, talking and talking there, just wanting to prove that what I said is wrong. What good is it if you prove it to prove that this is wrong and prove that that is wrong and that you are the only one who is right? You get a body full of diseases, right? Discernment of good and evil and speculation are not the words of the Bible.
Our Chinese Mingding Destiny's faith is a very simple faith. In this whole process, speculation must be completely eradicated. Without speculation, God's glory will be revealed. If people carry a worldly logic, they will argue about who is the greatest. You argue about who is the greatest, but Jesus says that the child is the greatest.
Think about it, the disciples came to Jesus and asked who was greater in the kingdom of heaven, thinking that the left and right ministers were greater, but in fact the child was greater. You will be dazed after listening, but this is indeed what Jesus said. When people become simple, they can be united. You talk about your reason and I talk about my reason, can this be united? Only when brothers and sisters in the church are united can they do binding and release, so that those who are oppressed can be freed and those who are bound can be released.
Do you know why there are dragon and tiger fights in the church? A pastor built a church, and there were often dragon and tiger fights inside. He was still wondering, the church should be full of love, why is there always fighting here? Because he built the church according to the logic of the world, he could not build the church well. In the church, this one is offended and that one is offended, alas, you made me stumble, and I made you stumble. Arguing about these things all day long is because Matthew Chapter 18 was not read well.
Now we understand these things and let us be cleansed in our minds. Breaking is very important in a person's life. Yesterday I was serving a sister. She gets anxious as soon as she learns, and she looks at so many things. If these things are not broken, she always wants to learn them all at once, and as a result, she completely fails. She wants to pass the civil service exam all at once, and she also wants to pass the driver's license exam all at once. If she continues to take the exam, she will become BBQ, grilled meat skewers. If you don’t demolish that set of things, then you will become BBQ in the end.
I want to talk about becoming a child, are you willing to become a child? When you become a child, many things become simple. Because children only look up to God. The problem is simple when children realize that they are children.
Scripture
Let's look at Matthew Chapter 18, verses 1 to 5.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” (Matthew 18:1-5)
Prayer
Let us pray together. God, you are doing wonderful work in us today, breaking the complex worldly logic in us. Today, let us begin to turn to you and become a little child. Let our minds become simple. Let our minds be reshaped in you and have a divine logic.
God, we invite you into us. We are willing to turn around, help us, so that we can become people who build a glorious church, so that we can be like a little child in the kingdom of heaven. God, may you have mercy on us and be gracious to us. Until we see your face, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture Background
Fourth point, the background of this passage. At this time, although the disciples had driven out many demons and followed Jesus for a period of time, the thing in their heads was still very strange. Before Jesus was crucified, the disciples were still arguing about who could sit on Jesus' left and who could sit on Jesus' right. They began to divide up official positions, as if Jesus had become the emperor. Once someone becomes the emperor, there will be chaos.
The emperor has been determined, and the next step is the allocation of positions for civil and military officials. The marshal is better than the general, the general is better than the lieutenant general, the lieutenant general is better than the small general, and the small general is even better than some big generals. The big generals here actually refer to those generals who eat a lot. This process is an extremely complex system engineering, and every country will face such troubles during the establishment process. For example, when Li Zicheng captured Beijing in those years, because the problem of job allocation was not handled well, he only served as emperor for 18 days, and the regime collapsed.
So, these disciples were thinking, who is the greatest? Who should be in front and who should be behind? They argued back and forth, ultimately bringing their contention before Jesus, asking, Who is the greatest among us? Jesus looked at them and said, It seems none of you are the greatest. Then, He brought a little child and said, This one is the greatest.
People always desire to be great, because being great means being able to throw one's weight around and be served by others. However, that is not the way it is. Everyone wants to be great, wants to have the final say, wants power, desires to be a high-ranking official. But Jesus used a little child to tell them that true greatness is not what they imagined.
Jesus told His disciples that unless they turn and become like little children, they will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The disciples were dumbfounded: This little child can be the greatest? The disciples did not believe it. This is recorded in Matthew chapter 18, and even in chapter 20-plus, the disciples were still arguing. Jesus had already made it very clear, did you really understand? They said, We understood. Jesus said, Understood what? They still did not understand.
Why is a little child great? Because a little child is humble. You know, the most important thing about Chinese Mingding Destiny is that if I didn't do it right, that's called humility. Many people feel like they have the truth in their hands. I say, You didn't do this right, that's not good. They say, I'm already saved. I looked for a long time and still couldn't see that they looked saved, and then I asked them which part was saved, and they couldn't explain it either.
But the concept of Chinese Mingding Destiny is that I am not good enough, I still have to rely on God. Until now, we have not fully understood God's word. Some people say, Then you haven't fully understood, why should we follow you? We are still far from God's standards, but if we compare the two of us, then I still understand more than you. When we run this road together, we should compare who is more humble.
This little child is the greatest, which is very strange, but if you cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for you to have a large millstone hung around your neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. I tell you, many people have not understood this sentence.
But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. (Matthew 18:6-9)
Earlier, it was said that little children are great, but now little children are not so great, and someone can cause them to stumble. In fact, the scriptures below are more important. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! We have always thought that you were tripped by others, but you did not finish reading this sentence.
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter eternal life crippled or lame than to have two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. It turns out that you are stumbled by your own hands and feet, because your hands are still grasping the world, and your feet are still walking the path of the world. This is to say that you become this little child, and at this time he becomes a little child and is great in the kingdom of heaven. At this time, he has to choose where to go. If he walks the path of the world, then cut off his hands and feet.
This means cutting off the worldly feet, the worldly hands, the worldly head, the worldly heart, the worldly liver, and the worldly lungs, and replacing them with the things of God. Jesus is talking about an awakening. Many people think that they really cut off their hands and feet, which means breaking all the worldly things.
Some people come to me and say: Teacher, look, he tripped me. I thought about it and said: You have never stood up, so what are you falling for? Alas, after these words were finished, he didn't feel good looking at me, and I felt uncomfortable looking at him. He has been lying down and still said that he was tripped today. You haven't gotten up, so what are you falling for? It's so stable to lie down, either lying down or lying down. At most, he helped you turn over.
Building God's glorious church is a complete breaking and then rebuilding, becoming a little child. Building God's glorious church is to seek the lost sheep. Those lost sheep are very eager for God in their hearts, but they do not yet know Chinese Mingding Destiny, and they do not know how rich and glorious the grace in Jesus Christ is.
Therefore, many of us have suffered a lot of sins in traditional theological concepts, have never been broken, and finally found Chinese Mingding Destiny. The first thing to do when we come among us is to break, get rid of all the worldly feet, the worldly hearts, livers, and lungs, and replace them with the things of God. God's will is to find the lost sheep. As a result, some people brought weasels and foxes into the church, and they came into the church and never left.
If your brother sins against you, here he is called a brother, so call him a brother for the time being. Go and point out his fault when only you and he are together. If he listens to you and is soft, you have gained your brother. If he will not listen, take one or two others along with you, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector, and drive him out.
Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he neglects to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)
Some people are willing to become little children, so we break them and rebuild them. Some people are lost sheep, and God tries hard to find them back. Some people come in and commit crimes, so they are kicked out. This is called building God's glorious church. People don't come to build the church, they come to ruin the church, so what are you keeping him for? We are not like some churches that want to keep people who are leaving. We never try to keep them, and then the church will be united. What is bound on earth will also be bound in heaven.
So if two or three of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. These are the words of the Bible. Is this very simple? This is how the church is built. Whatever we ask, our Father in heaven will do it for us. Those who are bound and oppressed will be set free, because this is God's will. This is the most important mission of building the church and the most basic work of the church.
At this time, Peter came. After Jesus finished speaking, Peter asked a funny question: Lord, if my brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive him, up to seven times? Why? Because those few people were arguing about who was the greatest, and Peter was squeezed to the side all of a sudden. John was squeezed to the front, and Peter felt very uncomfortable.
Peter didn't listen to a word of what Jesus said. He just thought, Lord, if my brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive them? John occupied one of the positions of prime minister on the left and right, and James occupied the other. There was no place for me, Peter, so what should I, Peter, do? As a result, Jesus said not seven times, but seventy times seven. Jesus then talked about the issue of forgiving offenses. God has already forgiven us.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (Matthew 18:23-35)
Jesus said that if your brother sins against you, Peter thought that he, Peter, had been sinned against by his brother. Peter completely missed the point, but Jesus still gave us the answer. To build God's glorious church, we must have a heavenly logical system. What is that heavenly logical system? It is that God has forgiven all our sins.
But we are unwilling to forgive a word that others say. We cling to a word from others and must argue about it. Such people live in a worldly logical system. Therefore, such a person's sin is returned to him, and he must repay it. If he can never repay it, he is finished. The final outcome is death. Therefore, building God's glorious church is not about people offending me, but that we must be able to endure being offended.
If someone offends you, and some people deceive you in the church, just let them deceive you, don't worry so much about it. How much have you done before God? In fact, Matthew chapter 18 is about how to build a church. If you want to build a glorious church, you must break the worldly concept of who is the greatest.
Breaking the Worldly Concept
Breaking the concept of who is the greatest, do you know who is the greatest in this world? Officials are great, and ordinary people are small. Officials do not serve the people, but the people serve the officials. These are all worldly concepts. Why do people like to be officials? Because officials have more resources, officials have the final say, and they can also be greedy for themselves, keep the money in their hands, and get more benefits.
Then who is the greatest in the kingdom of God? The smallest is the greatest, because he needs to serve. Those who serve are small, those who serve are behind, and those who are served are in front. Therefore, we must turn back like children and be humble, and like children, we will become great. This is the logic of the kingdom of heaven. So the last will be first, and the first will be last. We are willing to be ranked behind and become servants of all. Because we have too many unbroken things inside, so the fifth point is called breaking the worldly concept.
Break Yourself with the Determination to Chop Off Your Own Hands and Feet
If our hands are of the world, cut them off, this is called breaking. This determination is so strong that I would rather not have it. In fact, we have to turn our hands, feet, heart, liver, lungs, and our everything into things that belong to God. Break all the things of the world that cause us to stumble. If you don't break it and live like this, then you and your hands and feet will fall into the eternal fire, and there will be no hope of eternal life.
Therefore, the path of being a Christian and building God's glorious church is really not for God, it is for yourself. When you start building God's glorious church, you will find that the slogans you shout are for building, but you have ulterior motives. With the worldly logical system, there will definitely be a dragon and tiger fight.
Thank God, this kind of thing really doesn't happen among us. If it does, we have to chop it off. Therefore, our brothers and sisters must break themselves so that they can be united. If they are not united, they are dirty and unclean. If they are unclean, they must be broken, otherwise they will suffer. God's work on you has a long and far way to break. Therefore, it is not surprising that you are sick, you have no job, and you are in debt. Because the things inside have not been completely broken, and there are still many dirty things inside that need to be broken.
Some time ago, one of our pastors shared with me that some sisters came among us and saw that the pastor was so good to her, so they felt that they had to be worthy of the pastor and show her the most beautiful side. As a result, they put on a fake appearance and lived very uncomfortably, and served very uncomfortably. I don't want this. What I want is that you are what you are, and show it in its original flavor. Then let God work on you, break you and rebuild you into the image of a little child. This is the starting point.
There are many things we have learned over the years, many worldly dirty and filthy things, and we still think they are very good. We bring a lot of dirt and show the most beautiful side. Some people hide for three months, thinking that they can make a gorgeous turn and appear in front of me as a new self.
As a result, they found that after three months, they were still the same. God doesn't like this very much. If we come to God, we are torn and ragged, dirty and filthy, all of which belong to the world. Grasping the world is grasping a handful of feces, which is very smelly. From now on, don't be afraid, humble yourself, and what God wants is such a person.
The Work of the Church is to Seek the Lost Sheep
The work of the church is to seek the lost sheep, not to find wolves, weasels, or grooms, but to find the lost sheep. So what is a lost sheep? He has a heart to turn to God and a desire to know the word of God. If we look carefully, we will see a lot of needs. Seeking the lost sheep is our job. It's just that our current capacity is only enough to shepherd these sheep. If more come, we can't handle it.
May God raise up the little shepherds among us, constantly breaking themselves and constantly shaping themselves. Let us be able to shoulder more responsibilities, so that we can shepherd God's flock well and seek the lost sheep well. You will find what God cares about. God doesn't care about us very much, but God cares about us and cares about the lost sheep in different ways.
We have already obtained us, we are in God's house, we have spiritual supply every day, and there are still pastors to shepherd us when we have problems. But there are no pastors to shepherd the lost sheep, which is so pitiful! Therefore, we begin to have this kind of longing to spread the gospel and bring back the sheep. It doesn't matter if you do it wrong. If people come with a criminal attitude, not to build the church, then it doesn't matter if you clear them out again. It doesn't matter if you do it wrong.
Attitude towards Sin
To build a church, build a holy church, a church that breaks the worldly logical system of people, and the attitude towards sin must be firm. Are people here to build the church? Let them receive some grace if they are willing to receive it. If you want to continue to live in sin, we will also give you a place. Then go to Streams in the Desert. We must build a holy church, and it is not that he has offended one or two people, but his attitude towards sin. Find the pastor of the church and determine that he is indeed like this.
If you can't handle it, it doesn't matter. Find your pastor. If your pastor can't handle it, find your district leader. If your district leader can't handle it, come to me. If we really can't serve, we will hand it over to God. Perhaps we are wrong. God still regards him as a lost sheep. God really cares about that one sheep and will definitely bring him back, but He cannot tolerate sin. Finally, we will build a glorious church of God. Building God's glorious church will be of one heart and one mind.
With One Heart and One Mind, Take on the Mission of Binding and Releasing
The work of the church must be to snatch the lost sheep from the hands of the devil, which is binding and releasing. Bind the devil and the enemy, release the oppressed people, and let people have freedom together in Jesus Christ. This is the most basic work of the church. How is it done? It is that we come together with one heart and one mind to ask God. No matter what we ask for, no matter what kind of ghost it is, as long as we are of one heart and one mind, the ghost will definitely be trampled under our feet, because this is the body of Jesus Christ, called one heart and one mind. The church is built in this way, and this is the answer Jesus gave us.
What I am talking about is Matthew chapter 18. Jesus has already revealed this to us in chapter 18. Who completed Jesus' instructions later? It was the Apostle Paul. In the church, if you can't resist being offended, then you will become Peter. Lord, my brother has sinned against me. There is no such sentence in the Bible at all.
Attitude towards Offenses
Dealing with the attitude of being offended is also a kind of breaking. If you say, He made me fall, then you say this to show that you have never stood up. If a person is offended, that's great. Looking at your attitude towards being offended, you will know your current spiritual height. We need to be broken, we need to be like children. What should we do if we are offended? If you are bullied, go home and find your parents, and then your parents will scold him. There is so much to do.
Some families are stricter, and the father takes the child out to pursue fairness. Some families let their children learn to face offenses. You need to know that the ability to be offended is a sign of a person's strength, which is the system of the kingdom of God. Practice being offended well. Sometimes I will deliberately offend you to see your reaction, which is very normal.
Sometimes I arrange you to do a ministry, and the ministry is designed to be offensive. I deliberately arrange an immature little pastor who is easy to offend you. He doesn't even know that he is offending you. Our ability to be offended is the quality of the kingdom of God.
So our brothers and sisters are so good. There is such a good design to be offended, to be broken, and to grow. Do you understand now? Everything we have designed is to bring you into the kingdom of God and make you the greatest in the kingdom of God.
Amen, may God bless everyone.