Introduction

Good day to all! We turn to Chapter 11 of the Book of Acts. This chapter marks a very important turning point. It contains crucial content: no one can hinder God, and the disciples' journey to becoming Christians began in Antioch. I wish to give this chapter a broader title, God Himself Will Accomplish His Plan, and no one can stop Him. This is not only the theme but also the significant turning point mentioned earlier.

This Gospel Shall Spread to the Ends of the Earth

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:6-8)

At that time, Peter seemed to have forgotten what Jesus Christ had said during His ascension. He preferred to stay in Jerusalem. In fact, I tell you all, people have a bad habit. Once they settle down, they neglect God's plan and always have their own agenda. God has His plan, and I have mine. Sometimes God directs you east, and you go west; God tells you to chase the dog, and you catch the chicken. This is something my mother taught me.

You must know that the first thing is that this gospel shall be preached to the ends of the earth. This was Jesus' last statement before His ascension. The Holy Spirit will descend upon Peter and the others, and they will receive power and be witnesses for God in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. But as people settled down, they forgot God's plan. They were all gathered in Jerusalem, eating, drinking, and having a carnival every day. The word carnival is translated from the English word carnival, which is a festival for indulging the flesh.

Peter and his companions were eating and drinking all day in Jerusalem. God saw that they had forgotten the plan, so He began to advance it through the hands of these Gentiles, or non-Christians. At that time, God divided people into two groups: one that trusted in Jesus and the other that followed Moses. As a result, those who followed Moses persecuted those who believed in Jesus. They persecuted Stephen, and Stephen was killed. God does not care about the death of one person; He does not care even if thousands die.

We must know that the gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth. This is God's plan, as stated at the beginning of the Book of Acts. But the problem is that God told them to wait in Jerusalem, but it was not to wait and continue waiting after that. Instead, after the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they would receive power and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. However, these people kept waiting in Jerusalem, making it impossible for them to leave. As a result, God stirred up persecution.

You can be slow, or even slower; you can be silly and mess around, or forget God's plan, or even ignore it altogether. God can show them visions time and time again, but they do not care about God's plan. That's okay; God can accomplish His own plan.

Our brothers and sisters must know that it is not what you think that matters. What you think is not important; what God thinks is important. Should we obey God's plan and seek God's will? This sounds a bit harsh, but all this time of carnivals and happiness groups has long cast God's plan to the winds.

Vessels Must Seek God's Will

And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. (Acts 11:1-3)

These people gathered together to eat in Jerusalem, and there was no problem. What was the issue with entering the homes of Gentiles for a meal? Especially since this was God's guidance. As a result, Peter turned the church into this kind of mess from the very beginning. Now those who were circumcised came to question him, but who were these circumcised people? What did they do? These people did not seek God's will; they just wanted to keep tradition. Tradition can be harmful, and these people could not directly confront Peter unless they had some status.

When Luke wrote the Book of Acts, he did not directly name them, but these people were probably those who kept the law of Moses and were about to climb to Peter's level of leadership. These people could stand in front of Peter and interfere, indicating that Peter was no longer the big boss. Instead, it seemed like he was being sidelined and the people below had formed factions. This was like the rebellion of Korah in the time of Moses, and their influence was already very strong.

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them. (Acts 11:4)

At that time, Peter explained the situation to them in order, which did not seem like a leader but more like a subordinate reporting to superiors. I will tell you a little story: people have to understand the relationships between people. Generally, people in this society have their own relationships up, down, left, and right. When speaking to superiors, one must take the attitude appropriate for superiors, and so on. When speaking to those below or to the sides, one must also have the proper attitude. Some people make a mess of these relationships, speaking very aggressively to those above them, but speaking like slaves to those on the sides or below them, which is putting the cart before the horse. This is all the result of leadership. Leaders must not be ignorant; they must not be confused about the business.

To be a great apostle, you must guide the group to walk in God's will. Peter's situation at that time was already a mess, which is called leadership failure. God saw that Peter's leadership was not up to the task, and there was another deeper problem: he had fear inside, afraid of these people. In fact, he had been afraid of these people for more than just a day or two; he had a hereditary disease of fear. It was the same in Galatians, even after many years had passed. This is because his thinking was unclear, and his mind was not working well. Do not think that I am criticizing him; I just want to explain this matter clearly to everyone. If a vessel chosen by God has the opportunity to seek God's will, he must seek God's will well.

I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descending, as it had been a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. (Acts 11:5-7)

Someone questioned Peter why he went to the house of uncircumcised people to eat. If I were asked, I would definitely ask them who gave them the right to ask and tell them to get out of the way. What do they know? Who taught them? Don't they know what God's will is? If the church is full of these people, will the church be good?

But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. (Acts 11:8-16)

Peter opened his mouth and explained to them in order, which immediately offended God. Why? If a vessel chosen by God needs to explain, then explain to God. Seek God's will and ask God if you are walking in His will. However, Peter was busy explaining to people, and his attitude was wrong, reflecting confusion in his mind.

Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? (Acts 11:17)

Now you know that I am not criticizing Peter but explaining the reasons behind it. Peter was not even sure who he was at this time. The reason everything was a mess was that he had a sense of oppression and did not agree with God in his heart. Otherwise, God had told him three times, indicating that it was important, and he should have gone to eat with Gentiles specifically after that. But in his heart, he did not agree with God and agreed with the Pharisaical ways. How can God use such a person? As a vessel, we must seek God's will and be sensitive to it.

Do our brothers and sisters know God's will in this generation? God wants to raise up the Chinese in this generation and remove the absurdities in the Christian faith one by one. If God has chosen us, it is like He chose the Apostle Paul. I agree with God's will and do what pleases Him. Those who are willing to agree will walk this path with us, seeking only God's will. If you do not seek God's will, the fact that you have not been kicked out is already giving you enough face. Having money has nothing to do with me; money will also decline. If you are someone who seeks God's will, then let us walk together and seek together to see God accomplish His glory and His plan in this generation.

For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. A vessel chosen by God must be pleasing to God. This is really not easy; the resistance is great. How strong is the force of tradition? Their spit could drown me. But I am not afraid of death, so why should I be afraid of people spitting on me? Therefore, brothers and sisters must be sensitive: God wants to remove the absurdities in the Christian faith in this generation.

There are so many absurdities in the Christian faith that we can never remove them all. Some people still have traditional concepts, and it is normal for them to run into a wall with me once. Some people want me to quickly pray for someone who is dying or send that dying person to heaven. They are treating me like someone who sells tickets to heaven, so I want to remove many absurdities in Christianity. God wants to raise up a group of people in this generation to restore the truth of the gospel.

In fact, after Peter finished speaking, he should have raised his arms and called on his brothers and sisters to continue moving forward, which is God's will. But Peter's speech was not very good, so let us work together to remove the absurdities in us. Especially if you have believed in the Lord for some time, particularly in traditional churches near your home, there are not many decent things. I say this, and I may offend many people, but even so, we must emulate those who seek God's will.

God Will Choose Vessels Pleasing to Him

Was Peter pleasing to God? If Peter was pleasing to God, he would be the first person God called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. But where did he go later? Not to mention later, he was already failing in this chapter. God chooses vessels that are pleasing to Him. In any generation, God will accomplish His own plan, not our own plans, our own worlds, our own gangs. God's will is most important. God will choose vessels that are pleasing to Him, and God will surely cause these people to rise up and prosper in everything they do. What people fear most is going their own way and forgetting to seek God's will.

A few days ago, a sister said that she had arthritis in her legs before, but after coming to our church, God healed her, and now God has arranged a job for her. I kept reminding her not to forget God's grace and to walk in God's plan. May God's will be done, and may God's will become our will. God will accomplish His own plan, and if we can participate in God's plan and become vessels that are pleasing to Him, what a great grace that is! Just being able to participate in God's great project, even if it is just a small position, is a grace. God chooses vessels that do not please men but only please God.

Paul was a backup for a while and went to Tarsus. As a result, God Himself raised up Barnabas to go to Tarsus to find Paul. Barnabas was actually similar to Peter in his heart. If he were to stand up at this time and preach the gospel to the Gentiles, it would be possible. But he realized that the force inside the church was very strong, and preaching the gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch would offend them. At this time, God, to accomplish His own plan, had Barnabas go to Tarsus to find Paul.

Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. (Acts 11:19)

It is strange to say that God told Peter to preach the gospel from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, to Samaria. Samaria was a terrible place, like a red-light district, a place of sexual immorality. For Jerusalem, Samaria was like the famous red-light district in some countries. If you talk about preaching the gospel to Samaria, people will suspect your purpose in going there to preach the gospel. God discovered that the church had all gone against His will and had become corrupt. My research has found that history seems to be very similar. God created Adam and Eve, but they went astray; God saved Noah's family of eight, and they saw with their own eyes the flood that swept away all the people of that generation in the ark, but later Ham and Canaan were cursed. It is amazing that people go astray as soon as they walk, and there are not many people who walk the right path.

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. (Acts 11:20-23)

The people in Antioch were not Peter or James from Jerusalem, nor Barnabas, but people from Cyrene and Cyprus, who preached the gospel to the Greeks. Where was Peter at this time? He was certainly not in the church promoting the evangelization of Gentiles, taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. He was staying in Jerusalem, saying that God had asked them to wait in Jerusalem. When persecution came and Stephen was killed, he was still waiting there, unable to see God's will. God had to choose vessels that were after His own heart.

I once spoke to some pastors I respected about Chinese Mingding Destiny, but they said that if they did what I did, the church would be finished. It just wouldn't work. I wondered why it wouldn't work. Some people asked them how they went astray. That's called going one's own way. If a person can let go of his own ideas and seek God's ideas and see God's plan, that would be good.

It’s like those I minister to - I tell them not to discern good and evil. But they insist on discerning good and evil, and then they get dizzy and come to me for ministry. I ask them: Did you discern good and evil? They say: I can't control it. I told them long ago not to go into the discernment of good and evil, but they insisted on going there. It's like I tell you not to do it this way, but people insist on doing it that way. After they're done, they come to me to argue. If it's to prove that you're doing it right, I think I'll just let it go. As soon as they’re done, they explain it to me, and I don't want to listen.

God then has to choose a new vessel to move forward. The Cypriots and Cyrenians, on the other hand, were walking in God's will, while Barnabas felt that preaching the gospel to the Gentiles was a hot potato and couldn't be messed with. Later, he remembered Paul in Tarsus and brought him in to preach the gospel to those who were not circumcised. Barnabas himself continued to cultivate relationships with Peter and James, continuing to be a hypocrite. God is actually looking for people who are willing to take on hot potatoes, people who have their own way of dealing with contradictions.

Once, a pastor invited me to a conference. I sat below, listening and sighing at how far astray they had gone from what they were saying. They even asked me to come up and speak, but I was afraid of offending people if I opened my mouth, so I politely declined. But they insisted that I come up and speak. When I went up, I really hit the nail on the head. As I was speaking on the stage, the pastor who invited me was shaking his head and gesturing for me to stop. Since I was invited up, I had to finish speaking. I spoke about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and that ministry should be done in earnest. As soon as I came down, he took my hand and told me that I wouldn't be able to survive in this circle if I did what I did. Actually, I didn't want to be in their circle at all, because I just wanted to be in God's circle, and I didn't want to be in any other circle.

God wants to choose vessels that are after His own heart, those who seek God's heart. In the days of old Eli, God chose Samuel; in the days of Saul, God chose David; in the days of Jacob, God chose Joseph, all of whom stirred up hornets' nests. If you want to do this work well in this generation, you really have to be a vessel that seeks God's heart, and God will definitely choose you. God sits on His throne and searches throughout the earth to see if there is anyone who understands, anyone who seeks Him. To have one is a treasure; to have ten or a hundred, God must be overjoyed, and the angels will rejoice in heaven.

There is one more person on earth who seeks God. God chooses His vessels to accomplish His own plan, which is to preserve the pure gospel. We are fortunate to have Paul's letters to read, fortunate that God chose Paul to preserve the pure gospel. Otherwise, we would have to follow Peter in being hypocritical, and after a while, we wouldn't know which was real, and that would be troublesome. When eating with people, as soon as he saw someone from James' side coming, he would run away in fear. God chooses people like Paul, who please God alone. Because God wants to accomplish His own plan and find usable vessels.

Everyone should have a global perspective and see what God's plan is, what God wants to do in this generation. If you understand this and follow God's overall plan, you won't easily go astray. Chinese Mingding Destiny speaks of the first chapter of Genesis as living out God's glorious image. We have all lost God's glorious image because Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Salvation is about living out God's original glorious image that we were created to have while we are alive. If a person wants to trust in God and seek the will of man at the same time; or half the will of man and half the will of God, it will end up in confusion.

Brothers and sisters, if you want to be in the Chinese Mingding Destiny circle, you have to be a person of conviction. Don't love the world and love God at the same time; don't want God's will to be done and want your own will to be done at the same time. People should seek God's will, and God has already revealed His plan in the Bible. And when God chooses vessels, He is with you again and again, letting you see God's will. Peter also saw God's will, but the entire Bible only has Peter saying that Lot was a righteous man. In fact, Lot was a man who lost his destiny. He was originally following Abraham, but later he went to Sodom, and his days were desolate.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. (Acts 11:24-26)

Barnabas went to Tarsus to find Paul, and they met with the church and taught great numbers of people. From Antioch, the disciples were called Christians. Teaching many people in that place was actually preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, seeking God's will, and taking this gospel to the ends of the earth. Now that it has been spread to us Chinese, we must take on God's will in this generation. Let God's will become our will, and let God's plan become our plan. We will live for God, live out God's glory, and walk with a halo on our heads wherever we go. Whether we are working or doing business, it doesn't matter, God's will is what matters. God's will has been revealed to us, God has chosen us, and we must become disciples of Jesus Christ.

The word disciple was already defiled in Peter's time. From then on, anyone was called a disciple, but could that be considered a disciple? When Paul saw that the concept was already confused and the word disciple could no longer be used, he changed it to Christian. Now the word Christian has been defiled again. Let's go back to disciple and become disciples again.

A friend bought a house and said that the area was surrounded by incense-burning, idol-worshipping Indians. I said it's a good thing they aren't Christians, because Christians have become synonymous with hypocrisy. For example, when one of our brothers was renovating his house, it was a Christian who complained about him. The brother's renovation was reasonable, legitimate, and legal, with all the necessary permits. But just because he worked the night shift and slept during the day, he complained that our brother's daytime renovation was disturbing him.

When you go out, don't say you are a Christian, just say you are a soldier of Jesus Christ, or someone who seeks God's will. When I hear someone say that his neighbor is also a Christian, I think to myself, I hope he doesn't defile me. Brothers and sisters must know that when hiring employees, don't hire Christians, hire soldiers of Jesus Christ.

The Headquarters of the Gospel Moved to Antioch

Originally, the headquarters of the gospel was in Jerusalem, but the people in Jerusalem went to keep the circumcision. They were busy doing a small surgery on their genitals, but that was not God's will. At the same time, God quietly moved the headquarters to Antioch to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. The apostle Paul took up this banner. At this time, Paul was just a small soldier, but he had God's will in his heart.

The headquarters of the gospel moved to Antioch, which is interesting, as if there were two command centers. On the surface, the headquarters of the gospel was still in Jerusalem, because the great apostles Peter, James, John, and Barnabas were still there. But to God, it had already moved to Antioch, and Jerusalem was being emptied out by God. Antioch was actually just a small group of people around the apostle Paul, in order to accomplish God's plan, to take this gospel to the ends of the earth.

Later, the apostle Paul expanded continuously to Asia and Europe, spreading God's wonderful works, and Antioch became a place to expand God's kingdom. Prophets also came to Antioch from Jerusalem and, through the Holy Spirit, said that there would be a great famine in the world, but this would not affect Antioch, because God was there. But Jerusalem was affected, because the Spirit of God went to Antioch.

During that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world, which happened during the reign of Claudius. The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:27-30)

I will give you a little bit of church history. The apostle Paul preached the gospel to the Roman Empire. He wrote many letters on how to build churches, preaching the gospel to Gentiles, including people from Spain, Rome, and Italy, but it had not yet reached the ends of the earth. God led Paul to first build Europe into the headquarters of the gospel, and later it was spread to the United States, and now it has been spread to Asia. We must remember that people once took on God's beautiful will for them in that era.

God has moved the headquarters of the gospel to us Chinese. Someone once declared that Singapore would become Antioch. This once caused me some trouble, because Singapore didn't look like Antioch at all, and many concepts in the church were extremely confused. I wondered what Antioch was all about. It turned out that Antioch was not formed by the government actively promoting the gospel, but that place became Antioch because Paul was there. Later, I understood that Singapore becoming Antioch meant that there was a small group of people who loved God and were transmitting the pure gospel here like the apostle Paul.

I really thank God that we have the opportunity to become vessels chosen by God, that the place where I am can become Antioch, what a grace! You may not agree, Antioch was formed because the apostle Paul was there. In the orthodox history of Antioch, there is no knowledge of this group of people of apostle Paul. They were small in number and unknown. It's not because there are many large churches there, but just a small group of people who love God and are crazy for God. The visions that those people declared 40 years ago, that Singapore would become Antioch. I say this vision has been fulfilled.

A few years ago, an American prophet said that God would raise up a small group of people among the Chinese to restore the truth of the gospel. I said that's our small group of people. Even if you say it's not, I won't argue with you, because that doesn't explain anything. If some of us live long enough, you will definitely see that God's will is accomplished through Chinese Mingding Destiny, and the headquarters of the gospel has moved to us.

Rising and Falling

Everyone should observe for themselves. From history, it is not difficult to conclude that some people rise and some people fall; many people prosper and many people decline, and a conclusion can be drawn. The United Kingdom was once a world power, but was later replaced by the United States. Before the United Kingdom, there was Portugal, and many other countries. In fact, this is how this generation is. When the British took on the mission of the gospel, Europe was the number one in the world at that time. If you ask why science was so developed at that time, it was because God placed the headquarters of the gospel there. Later, the development of the United States was not because of the system at that time, but because the headquarters of the gospel moved to the United States.

Why are the Chinese so developed now? That's because the headquarters of the gospel has moved to the Chinese. Where there is the gospel, there is prosperity. If rising and falling were to make a prediction, it would be that the era of the Chinese has arrived. It's not that we've done anything right, it's that God is going to do it this way. There are explanations for this from any historical methodology, but from a theological historical perspective, you will see that God is raising up the Chinese in this era. The problem is that if a person walks in God's will, he will definitely prosper. On the other hand, if he does not seek God's heart, but only seeks his own heart, or seeks both God's heart and his own heart, he will decline. Therefore, rising and falling have a natural law of history, and this law is closely related to God's heart. Whoever seeks God will definitely prosper.

There was a famine in Jerusalem, but there was no famine here with Paul. Do you find that strange? A whole group of people is not walking in God's will, they are eating, drinking, and having fun all day long, and no amount of family wealth can withstand this kind of squandering. Paul and Barnabas brought the money they had raised to Peter, James, and John in Jerusalem, because that was their root. Don't think that Paul did it all wrong, because Paul didn't do many wrong things after that.

Think about it, is it strange that the church in Jerusalem needs people to help them? Many people rise and many people fall, because the headquarters of the gospel has moved away. If people don't walk in God's heart, God will find someone else. Brothers and sisters, should we tell God that since God has chosen us, we will take God's heart as my heart, and God's plan is our plan. If we want to monopolize it a little, since God has found us, there is no need to find anyone else, but on second thought, the more people there are, the better. The 144,000 people mentioned in Revelation seem to be difficult to gather, but it doesn't matter, may God's will be done. I am one of the 144,000. I have already taken a spot, and no one can take away this great blessing.

So we must know that the standard for being a disciple of Jesus Christ is very high, but we must still be disciples of Jesus Christ and soldiers of Jesus Christ. We must not just be there and wasting our time. We must strive to pursue, sharpen our heads and squeeze into the kingdom of God. Even if we are not chosen, we must be chosen. Even if we are a spare tire, we must strive to be installed later and run forward with active and proactive faith. May God have mercy on us! Amen!