Good day. Let us revisit the Book of Colossians. This book, together with Ephesians, addresses a crucial theme: “The Gospel is the power of God.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only the power of God but also encompasses all of God's promises, which are found in Jesus Christ.

However, the Colossians, in their faith journey, veered off course. In my past ministry, many had experienced the power of God, only to turn to a “gospel” that was not the true Gospel. This is perilous. And so, the Colossians strayed onto a different path.

In today’s church environment, how many Colossians and Corinthians are there, seemingly lost along the way? Why is this so? Is it not good to believe in a powerful Gospel? Why then do people deviate from this Gospel to embrace a powerless one? It is perplexing. Yet, perhaps it should not be. Cain and Abel could speak face-to-face with God, yet Cain did not believe.

Later, I encountered someone who came to serve among us. He had experienced God countless times, only to revert to engaging in dubious activities with his former church. I lack Paul’s patience, but I understand clearly that if the errors in our minds are not dispelled after experiencing God’s power, what can we truly accomplish?

We minister according to people’s longings. But if someone listens to me expound on Colossians chapters one through four daily, yet still pursues erroneous beliefs, then so be it. Now, allow me to offer a brief summary. The hope of the Gospel is exceedingly good, resolving not only our present concerns but all future issues as well. Yet, if people still deviate to believe in another gospel, let them be. I seek only to choose what is precious. There exists a vast difference between true treasures and counterfeits. Paul wrote to the Colossians because of their ignorance. Ignorance can be remedied, but if one is willfully ignorant, choosing to abandon Jesus, then let them go.

Do Not Lose the Hope of the Gospel

The Gospel is a powerful gospel, resolving all our issues in life, in death, and even unto eternity. People may experience the power of Jesus Christ, yet forsake God, perhaps without even realizing they have done so. Whether you acknowledge it or not is of little consequence to me. I believe that if one experiences the power of God yet turns away from Him, what a curse they invite upon themselves.

I used to try to intervene in such matters, but now I generally avoid doing so. The churches in Colossae, Corinth, Galatia, and even Ephesus are prone to error. Therefore, Paul says, do not lose the hope of the Gospel, do not be taken captive, be careful not to be taken captive by the elementary principles of the world. And you must tell them that you must be progressively renewed in knowledge in the image of the Lord who created us.

If we are running on the same path, let us comfort one another. Colossians is a vital book for building God’s church. This Gospel is a gospel of great hope. Secondly, be cautious, lest you are taken captive by the elementary principles of the world. Thirdly, be progressively renewed in knowledge in the image of the Lord who created us. Fourthly, let us comfort one another on this heavenly path. This is the overarching theme of Colossians. You can review the details by rereading or relistening to chapters one through four. I believe I have expounded them well, having put in considerable effort.

Why Are People So Easily Led Astray From This Gospel of Great Hope?

Consider the power of the Gospel we believe in, the immeasurable power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Is there anything it cannot resolve? Yet, I often feel great disappointment because many are easily blinded by the world’s logical systems. You might even have personally performed miracles, yet you still fall into this worldly system of logic.

The reason is simple: people always seek shortcuts. Remember, if you seek shortcuts, avoiding effort and the continuous renewal of knowledge, always desiring instant success, you will inevitably stray from the doctrine of the Gospel. For example, someone whose son is about to take university entrance exams might travel far to make a wish at a temple. How simple! Make a wish and return home, feeling reassured. But encouraging the child to study diligently—that is far more difficult. This is the desire for a shortcut. Seeking shortcuts always leads down the wrong path.

Why do people always seek external, heterodox paths? Recently, a sister among us hoped for her child to secure a government job. Seeking steady employment and time to diligently believe in the Lord is understandable. I do not wish to see you constantly struggling, barely squeezing out time to gather. I sympathize with that.

This sister sought a shortcut, by offering bribes. But will such bribes guarantee success? No. If you offer someone $300,000 and your child still fails to secure the position, where can you reclaim that money?

People are too eager to take shortcuts. It took considerable effort to dissuade her, and even then, I might face blame in the future, might I not? But God had mercy. Her daughter passed the exam without the bribe, saving $300,000. I bore great risk, for had the child not passed, I would have been blamed for preventing the bribe.

People are so eager to take shortcuts, failing to recognize the power of our Lord. It was not because her child excelled, but because of God’s great grace. Perhaps this child is blessed, yet also has many faults. When one seeks shortcuts, they neglect diligence in learning. I ask you: if God has such great power, what do we lack if we trust in Him? We lack nothing good. Yet, people choose to follow ineffective paths.

Let me give you an example. Many need employment, right? If someone controls access to jobs and receives bribes from ten people, each offering $300,000, that amounts to $3 million. But with only one job available, only one can be chosen. The rest have given their money in vain.

A clever person might dismiss the hired candidate after six months and offer the position again, amassing another $3 million. Of course, such actions are prone to exposure and denunciation. But if one offers the money willingly, whom can they blame? Why offer money in the first place? Some simply dislike trusting in God, preferring heretical paths.

As for me, I rarely ask for help. I used to ask for help when I did not believe in the Lord, when I lacked faith in God. Since knowing Jesus, I need ask for nothing, for Jesus takes care of everything. Truly, this Gospel is a powerful, hopeful gospel.

Sometimes I wonder, when I am old and sick, who will care for me, cleaning up my excrement and changing my diapers? Thankfully, I am of slight build. If I were heavier, it would be exceedingly difficult. But in my faith, this will not happen. In my lifetime, I must live according to God’s Word, not according to the world’s logic. There is no such thing as changing diapers or being moved around in God’s promises.

God's promises are my hope. Even if that day comes, I will fast and pray for eighty days, without resorting to medication. For in my faith, I know that my God is all-powerful. Though one day my body and my heart will fail, my spirit will be renewed day by day. I do not seek shortcuts; I will live out God’s image while I am alive. Amen!

Those ineffective things are the elementary principles of the world, unable to influence me. People choose to believe in what may be ineffective, thinking that doing something is better than doing nothing. I gave someone $300,000, thinking that even if a job was not secured, at least I tried. But what is the point of such effort? That day, I told my colleagues that the child was hired, passing the exam. The $300,000 which was meant as bribe can now be saved for his child; It should be his child’s.

Then my colleague said that he should be encouraged to contribute to the church. I replied, “No, the church is a place of blessing.” But brothers and sisters, you must know that giving is an incredible blessing. You do not give because the church lacks money. You give to our God, the great, awesome, and all-powerful God. Give to our God, do you understand?

People like to do such worthless or ineffective things. This is why Galatians are easily deceived. Keeping a festival, performing circumcision—how easy these things are. But the mind doesn't need to be changed, a operation will settle every thing?

People actually like complex things, not simple ones. Trusting in God is such a simple logic, but people just don't believe it, and want to do some complicated things. Is this or that should be done, etc. People are filled with carnal logical systems, which are to please people. But my logic is to please God, and I will please God all my life, because no one can help me.

I sometimes imagine that I will have to be taking care of a sixty-year-old when I am eighty. God is so good to me. My God revives from the dead and overcomes death. My God, He can also be relied upon to enter eternity and live forever.

Actually, someone like me is hard to fool. If the devil fools me, I won’t cheat him at least. Speaking from the heart, I have a real hope. That one day I will come to the Lord Jesus and hear a word: You are both faithful and good servants, come in and enjoy the glory of your master. I know that a crown of glory will be reserved for me, because this is my Mingding Doctrine.

Must Exercise Prudence

Must exercise prudence. Those who do not pursue holiness will certainly pay the price for their foolish actions. Many are already paying the price. Do not presume you are very spiritual. I often say, a person being healthy does not prove anything. But a person being ill certainly has a problem in the spirit; all illnesses are demons. Therefore, we must be prudent. How much of what is in your mind is truly the Word of God?

We often have a lot of things inside us. If those things are worldly, carnal logic systems, you will certainly be hit. For example, being concerned about face, indulging the flesh, a whole bunch of these things. So, must exercise prudence, do not be taken captive by the elementary principles of the world.

Therefore, we must learn to do things. Perhaps compared to Huawei, they are better at doing things than we are, so we learn from them. However, if they want to take me captive with worldly foundations, that is not acceptable. I must be prudent, and you must also be prudent. Do not be taken captive. This is a hope I have for everyone.

Starting from Abraham, those who are saved are a very, very small number, very few. In Abraham's time, there was no Abraham II, III, nor Abraham IV. After Isaac came, there was no Isaac II, III. Jacob came out with two brothers, Esau and Jacob, but there was only one Jacob, no Jacob II.

Do you want to be a rare treasure? Garbage is always in piles. Later, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, six hundred thousand men who could fight, but only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land. After entering the Promised Land, the Israelites did as they pleased and could not serve Jehovah their God. They quickly deviated, including Moses' grandson. Moses' grandson became a very interesting figure in the Book of Judges.

How easily people go astray! They came out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, experienced a lot, but turned around and forgot, all were struck down in the wilderness, becoming people displeasing to God, or people who provoked God's anger. Why? Because they did not believe in God. So, we must be prudent.

I hope that the brothers and sisters in our church can smoothly enter the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and while alive, desire to live out the image of God. That is the key. If you live out the image of God, as smart as Jesus, how can the demons deal with you? If you are as smart as Paul, the demons cannot deal with you.

We read the Bible more diligently than any church we know. Not only do we read the Bible diligently, but we also diligently practice what we read in the Word of God. Let me reveal to you that recently, every Monday, we are training the small group leaders how to study the Bible. When this courseware on how to study the Bible is developed in the future, it will form a module of our 103, 104 ministries, a very important module.

I am still discussing with my colleagues how to train the small group leaders. We will have a very systematic training for the small group leaders, which is our unique skill. In pastoring, we want to have great breakthroughs in pastoral theory. In the future, this will become a basic course in our Mingding Doctrine Seminary.

So, be prudent. Be prudent in reading the Bible, and also be prudent about what we put in our minds. Remember, the result of a person's life is a reflection of what is in their mind. If what we have in our minds is worldly, Old Marx will certainly take you down. As for whether you can be saved, I can only say I hope you can be saved, may God have mercy.

One brother did not take notes for many years. When I talked about learning, he started taking notes. I was very happy when I heard that. People must have the ability to write. If you do not write, are you not being foolish? People will become foolish if they do not write. People must learn to write, take notes, write plans, write reflections, write reports. These are the most important basic skills of living. Why do we do these things? Because we must be prudent, so that when we need to take them out, we have something.

Learn to Gradually Have the Image of the Lord

Learning is the main axis of Chinese Mingding Doctrine. I often hold large and small meetings to train colleagues and small group leaders. The purpose is to push them to learn, but it is not easy to push people to learn, it is very difficult. Later, I learned to work with God, but if I am just talking and you are doing your own thing, whatever will be will be, then something will certainly go wrong in the end.

In the afternoon, a sister sent a message in the group, saying: Who can lead me in prayer? I said: Let me lead you in prayer. When I called, what happened? It turned out that she was making mistakes at work, often doing things wrong. I said: I have been training you for so long, can you learn today? She said: Yes, yes, yes, I want to learn. When I called in the afternoon, she was crying, it was quite sad. I do not really believe in tears, I only believe in learning. If you want to learn, I am willing to teach, I am willing to teach you whatever you want to learn.

Our church has many unique skills. We are a human resources training institution, training people to be like God, training people to be like Jesus. It is annoying when people do not love to learn. Some time ago, there was a sister who had many problems. After coming to the church, she saw that this place also required studying. Did you think you came here to sit in Buddhist meditation? There is no sitting meditation here, only working and studying. As a result, that was not acceptable, so she went back.

Half a year has passed, maybe a year or two, she came back again. Why? Because paying the price of learning is a good price to pay. After paying it, many problems are saved. If you pay the price of laziness, the demons will certainly find you. Recently, she could not bear it anymore, so she came back again. I told her pastor to not make the training intensity too high, teach her more, and give her a smaller intensity.

We have a sister who is doing scientific research, which is quite interesting. She met a professor, and the professor was very surprised, saying: Your teacher trained you well when you were doing your postgraduate studies. Because the doctoral and master students that this professor was teaching were all the kind who were casual, and would take a step forward when kicked. If they were not kicked, they would take two steps back. This professor was very annoyed, so he was very curious and said: Why are you so proactive, exploratory, learning, and disciplined?

Her professor asked who trained her like this. She was embarrassed to say that it was the church that trained her, but it was actually the church that trained her. I said that if you encounter this kind of thing again in the future, I will tell you, say that I have a life mentor, a human resources training expert.

We must learn, the goal is to be like the Lord. Do not look like a demon at first glance, and then look like a ghostly figure? Wouldn't that be troublesome? We must learn, with the knowledge of God filling our minds like the ocean. Actually, there is no need to fill the ocean, just fill your head. If your head is filled with the knowledge of God, it will be easy.

Our Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a learning church. What do we learn? It is the knowledge of God. Let the knowledge of God gradually take first place in us, gradually renew us, and then enable us to live out the image of God, get rid of all those worldly logic systems, and you will become my comfort.

I am really very concerned about those among us who are living on the line of life struggle, in poverty, with monthly income not meeting expenses, very hard. But in the Kingdom of God, in the gospel of God, there is no such thing as poverty. I hope everyone can give me some comfort, just like the Colossians gave Paul comfort, so that you can all be raised up. You have the bloodline of Abraham in you, you have the faith of Abraham in you, and what you live out is the image of Jesus Christ.

During this period, I am also very anxious. Teaching people to speak has been studied for a long time, several years have passed, but nothing has been developed. Teaching people to take action, but there has not been much progress in these years either. Alas, may God have mercy, may God have mercy. We must learn to conduct ourselves, learn to be as shrewd as snakes, learn to be like the Lord. How can being shrewd as snakes be like the Lord? Our Lord is more shrewd than snakes, not like snakes. So we must begin to move forward constantly and become each other's comfort.

When you see that the pastor has grown again, you must also be comforted. When I see that you have grown, I must also be comforted. I hope that those who are sick, as long as you are not terminally ill and bedridden, and you still have the opportunity to learn, then study hard. I do not care which corner you are in, maybe I do not even know who you are, but if you listen to my sharing, then start to adjust yourself, adjust what you have in your mind, and let the knowledge of God continue to be added to us.

Some people even rebroadcast our live broadcasts. They themselves lead a small group of people. Please listen to my advice, and I hope that those of you on the periphery can also become my comfort. I think the will of God is exactly like this, may the will of God be fulfilled.

So, when Paul wrote the last chapter of Colossians, he mentioned, I want them to go and see you, so that they can tell you how I am doing now. My spirit is being renewed day by day. Although my body is gradually decaying, my spirit is being renewed day by day. May you be comforted. I also hope that through reports and growth notes, you can also tell me, Teacher, I have grown again. I must also be comforted.

I hope everyone will remember the theme of the entire Book of Colossians: Do not lose the hope of the gospel! The summary of Colossians is over, but I must tell you that when I read the Book of Colossians, I really thank God that I have grown a lot. After so many years, this is the first time I have understood the Book of Colossians. Thank God very much!

May God bless everyone!