2.3.6 God's Discipline

2.3.6 神的管教

Shared by: Ming

Discipline may sound like a scary topic, but it is truly beneficial to us.

(Hebrews 12:5-13)  

5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 

8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 

9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 

10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 

11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 

13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

We are disciplined because we are not illegitimate children.

When we were first saved, it seemed God answered every one of our prayers. It felt like our honeymoon period with Him. But over time, things began to change. It was as if we had entered the wilderness. Our relationship with the church started to deteriorate, and it seemed God had allowed circumstances to rise against us. As the years passed, some people experienced drastic changes in their lives. They fought their battles and entered their promised Canaan land, enjoying abundant and glorious lives. Meanwhile, others continued to wander in circles, still stuck in the wilderness.

2.2.7 The Motherly Heart of God

2.2.7 神的母親心腸

Speaker: Ming

The motherly heart of our God is one aspect of his divine nature.

We have the identity of Children of God and can live out that identity with authorities in our daily lives. For example, when planting flowers, we can command the weather to send rain to water the flowers and call a storm to come when we need it. This freedom lies in knowing the truth of our identity which is the Sons of God. Now we have a new lesson on the motherly heart of our Heavenly Father. What kind of freedom can this truth bring about?

A question that children are most likely to ask is, is an angel a man or a woman? Another question: does God have gender? John 4:24 states, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” We know that in many passages of the Bible, male-like characteristics are used to describe God both in the Old and New Testaments. Commonly, masculine forms are used to represent God for example, "Jehovah," "Elohim," and "The Lord." The essence of God is found in Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit "ruach" in Hebrew is feminine in Genesis 1:2, but in Greek and Hebrew, masculinity is not always connected with gender. God is a spirit. This is because he is compared to the physical and spiritual realms. What we see with our eyes is the physical real, God is a spirit that we cannot see. We know that his comparison lies in the fact that there has never been anything in the material world that can be compared to God. There has never been a material thing that can be used to represent God. But gender is a characteristic and attribute of the physical body, whereas spirit is without gender, so fundamentally, God has no gender.

Although most of the verses (over 170) in the Bible without exception use male names when God appears, in Luke 15 and Matthew 23:37, Jesus referred to himself as a hen. In Genesis 1:26-27, do you remember the famous scripture that says, ' Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness....” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.'? There is a question about the image of God, he made both men and women. As I said earlier, God is genderless and any image in the material world cannot represent the image of God in the spiritual world. This fact could mean men and women are not identical to God since He has neither physical male nor female characteristics. People are created in the image of God; but this has no relation to the characteristics of their bodies. Because God is a spirit, and spirits can enter different carriers without physical characteristics, so God can reveal himself to people without limitations.

2.2.6 Heavenly Honor Culture – The Connection and Bondages in the Relationship

2.2.6 天國尊榮文化 – 關係的連接與捆綁

Life Academy Healing Course

Shared by: Ming

Where is the kingdom of God? The kingdom comes into our hearts and lives. The most important thing in the culture of the Kingdom of God is the tree of life, so what the Kingdom of God cares about is life. When Jesus came, he brought everything in the kingdom of God to us, like love, joy and peace, mercy, grace, and all this culture. The world does not understand him, and the culture of the heavenly kingdom is often offensive to our cultural background. Our earthly culture is rooted in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is a different value system. It values people’s excellence, talent, ability, academic level, and income. If one day a person fails, others can no longer respect the failed guy, this is the culture on earth. When Jesus brought heavenly culture to earth, it would be easy to offend our culture, just like we would say that there is a cultural conflict between the North American culture and the Asia culture. There are two key points in entering the culture of the kingdom of heaven.

There are two keys to developing a heavenly culture in our midst. The first is: that we need to receive a new revelation. When the culture of the Heavenly Kingdom comes, it means a new season or a new era starts for the people on Earth. However, we must overcome some difficulties, we are usually limited by our cognition (Old traditions). When the new season comes, the old must go, but often when the new comes, the old refuse to go. The Bible talks about Jesus eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. This was unacceptable in Jewish culture at that time, because Rabbis and teachers are very noble, and in Jewish culture, eating with someone means that they have an intimate relationship with the guests. That action represents respect and acceptance of the sinners. In the same way, when the kingdom culture comes, it may offend our current understandings, and it might be hard for us to embrace the change. This is our difficulty. What can we do to change this? To break the limitations of our cognition, we must have revelations from God. We need to know what God is doing in this season, and what God has done before to prepare for this new season so that we can adjust our understanding and align with God.

If we put a little goldfish in a small fish tank, the little fish will stay quite small and won’t grow much. If we put a little goldfish in a larger fish tank, the fish will eat more and have a chance to grow bigger in size. The fish might grow bigger to fit the bigger tank. The size of the goldfish is determined by the living environment and its permitted growing range. As for us today, as big as the environment allows us to grow our spiritual life and understanding, we can grow to the maximum extent. The environment (situations, challenges) God has given us is often big and heavy because God has big plans for us. Sadly, we often look at the small fish tank and think that we can only be so small. In fact, our potential is unlimited because God is unlimited.

2.2.5 God Loved Us First – Love and Relationship (2)

2.2.5 神先愛了我們-愛與關係（二）

Life Academy Healing Course Sharing: MING

What do people need most in a relationship?

The security of being completely loved.

Total openness, complete trust in God.

Prayer: Dear Jesus Christ, the Trinity God is among us. Thank you for pouring your love into our hearts. I know that your love surpasses our knowledge. May we be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, according to God’s power that is at work within us, God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Lord, you anoint us and lay your hands on us, so that our spiritual life can truly wake up. Thank you. You have chosen us in love, please anoint this sharing, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

In the last teaching, we talked about how to establish a relationship with God. What is the relationship between man and God? Through what means can we know God’s heart? We know in our minds that God loves us, and love requires relationship and expression. We can express love to a teddy bear, but a teddy bear cannot express love to you. This is why God created us in his likeness, so we can have a relationship with him, which is why we have the identity as the son of God and bear his image and likeness.

What kind of relationship do you want to have with God?

Work?  Love?

Our God is a supernatural God. To establish a relationship with God is to live in the kingdom of God and experience Him. The focus is not on the experience of the supernatural kingdom but on Jesus. All things have only one purpose: to revolve around Jesus, so everything that happens in all things depends on seeking the face of God, rather than seeking the work of God.

2.2.4 God Loved Us First – Love and Relationship (1)

2.2.4 神先愛了我們-愛與關係（一）

Life Academy Healing Course Sharing: Teacher Ming

1. Who is God?

What kind of God is He? What kind of character does He have? Could it be that our relationship with God is somewhat distorted because of our relationships with authority figures on earth? Suppose you are a very sincere believer, but you have sinned, and your heart is very hurt. If you cry out to God, what do you think he might respond to your plea?

Who are we in God? To whom will God reveal His secrets? Under what circumstances is God willing to open His heart? What are the things inside of God that are so awesome, fascinating and delightful?

What can make God laugh? Who is the best friend of Him? When God is not working, what will he do?

The questions mentioned contain many truths, and these truths determine whether we can live an abundant and complete life in the grace of God. I believe a fundamental element missing from many churches and ministry groups today is knowing who God is and experiencing His passion.

Only once we understand that God loves us, will we love Him more and more. 1 John says that we love God because God loved us first, so the Holy Spirit has a function: to awaken the passion for holiness in us. We can understand that we are the most favorite of God, this is what God lets us know. Otherwise, we will not be able to fall in love with God just by relying on our enthusiasm. Therefore, the first point: spiritual growth is not dependent upon our human enthusiasm; it can only dry up our spiritual life, and it cannot make us fall in love with God wholeheartedly.

2.3.4 The Gifts of the Holy Spirit and Life

2.3.4 聖靈的恩賜與生命

By: Ming

Thank you Lord!

Do you understand? We had warfare recently, and as a result, we found that everyone thought that the real warfare was to have spiritual authority to cast out demons, but in fact it is something different. Many people have experienced it during the process of learning, and many testimonies were sent to my mobile phone. Many people were released during this period, whether it was the release of family finance or the release from family bondage. It turns out that spiritual warfare requires learning and knowing how to do it. It is not about gathering a group of people, rushing to the front line with all our strength, and then shouting, keeping binding demons, no. The first step is for the Holy Spirit to work within us shining upon our lives to deal with our problems, after which we can witness overcoming. As for today's topic, I know some of you have heard it. Thank God, it is actually very stressful to stand on this podium. Everyone knows about my situation recently. I currently have to take care of my husband, who cannot take care of himself. To describe my life as extremely nerve-wracking is not an exaggeration. Two weeks ago I had an instinct that God would call me to preach on the stage. I had an instinct, but I didn't get up. One morning, He spoke, and He said that this month is your turn. Then, in order not to preach, we all played our own tricks. I would do it too, because I was really too busy, so I looked for a speaker, and I had already planned and checked that he would definitely not leave Toronto. I also colluded with his assistants and assumed that he would come, but it turned out what I didn’t expect.  I waited and was thinking I might be able to pass this week and do not have to come to preach.  Finally, he sent me an email on Friday morning and said, sorry but suddenly I have something urgent this very Sunday. He has to go to the United States today. Any other time would be fine. Then I know that it is not easy for me to obey, because I know that every time we prepare, we encounter many situations. Thank God, God has mercy on me and gave me this topic - spiritual gifts. I have shared some of them, so there is no difficulty for me to prepare. I prepared it on Saturday.

Today we talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In fact, God began to tell me that it was proper to share this topic a few months ago, because many of us have begun to have outstanding gifts, but after the gifts come out, we don’t know how to use them or what to do with them. So today let’s look at a scripture first, in (1 Corinthians 12:4-12). I want you to read it, because I will talk about these verses repeatedly. Can we read together? " There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.  Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."

Gifts, they have a driving force. We all know that gifts build up others but not ourselves. Gifts have a driving force, which is love. Without love, we cannot talk about gifts.

2.3.3 Trials & Tests: The Training of Being Chosen

2.3.3 試驗乃呼召的訓練過程

Speaker: Ming

What is the first proof that you are filled with the Holy Spirit and are called to preach with assurance? The famous evangelist replied: You are going to encounter trouble. There is actually evidence for what he said. Luke 3:16-17 says that He will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire. I don’t know if the church talks about trials, but we know that once we start the ministry, we will definitely encounter this. Because God is here to elevate people from regional to global ministry, you must encounter the baptism of fire. Just like what Ephesians says, in order to accomplish everything and still stand, you must stand firm. We see that many of the great men of faith in the Bible had to endure a difficult process of being deprived when they received God's calling by faith.  Just like what is said in the book of Hebrews: Others endured severe torture and refused to be released in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others endured mocking, whippings, chains, and imprisonment, were stoned to death, were sawn to death, were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 11:33-38) This means that when we receive the call and know that God is going to use us, these great men of faith in the Bible that I just talked about are people the world are not worthy of, because they have faith and are willing to pay the price for the kingdom of God. Regardless of whether we admit it or not, or what kind of situation we encounter, the first thing we will face when we enter the ministry is this kind of situation. Whether you are happy or not, you will go through it.

So who is testing us? Is it God or the devil? We all have common sense, we know that it comes from God. But still some people think that the pain we experience comes from the devil, and therefore they blame the devil. Sometimes we do have difficulties that come from devil, such as attacks and unfair treatment. But we also have to see the other aspect: God allows certain things to happen to His beloved children. The most famous one we know is Job. The Bible says that Satan got God’s permission to test Job.  One important point to note in many passages is that Job said, God’s hand is against me. Even though God strikes me down, I still have faith in Him. We see that although Job was attacked by Satan, when he faced that situation, he talked to God instead of Satan. He even refused to blame Satan for his trials and sufferings. He knows that God is on his side. The only thing he can trust is that no matter what kind of environment he is in, his God is with him. The Lord also has words to comfort us in such experiences, saying that we will not be tempted beyond our strength. That is to say, even if we are tempted, the temptation is not something that we cannot handle or overcome. Peter also said that you should not be surprised if a fiery ordeal comes upon you to test you. The reason why we share this message today is because we have seen that many events will become more and more intense in the future, and the entire world will become more difficult than we thought.

I went to a meeting today and there was an Israeli speaker from Canada. He was a newscaster. I used to see him on TV. He was sent by God to Israel to report on the scene. He said that Israel is a foundation and a center of the future kingdom of God. It is also a center of the kingdom of heaven. He said that Israel on earth and Israel in heaven have the same spiritual meaning. What happens to Israel will affect the whole world, this is mentioned in the Bible. He said that when Israel was suffering, we Christians would also encounter almost the same situation spiritually. So when a country wants to attack another country and take over this country, what is the first thing it should do? It is to attack its capital. This is what is taught in the army. If you want to win a war and take over a country, you must first attack its capital. So he said that when God comes back in the future, the first thing he will capture is Israel’s Jerusalem. Jerusalem is also a type of spiritual capital. The first thing God will do when he comes back is to capture the country’s kingdom. That is to take the city of Jerusalem.

2.2.2 Living in God's Order (Part 2)

2.2.2 活在神的次序裡（二）

Sharing from the Healing Course at Life School: Relationships

In our previous class, we talked about the topic of living in God's order. In the last class, we discussed how God created us to reflect His glory and gave us abundant life. However, we discovered that we cannot live up to that potential. We cannot move instantly like Adam in the Garden of Eden, govern a large territory like Adam did with the four rivers, or remember the names of all the animals. We realized that abundance is not seen in our current situation. So, we want to share where the problem lies. Next, we talked about relationships. In today's society, we find that we do not know what true relationships are. As a result, our lives are very chaotic, and we do not know how to handle relationships between people, colleagues, bosses, friends, and even family members. We found that we cannot handle them well. So, we turn to the Bible to see the truth and description of relationships.

So when we talk about relationships, we must have a model, and that model is who? It's our God. The relationship between the three persons of the Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - is an example for us. We see that the Father and Jesus, Jesus obeyed and honored God's will, and between the Holy Spirit and the Son, the Holy Spirit did not glorify Himself, but came to glorify Jesus. When the Father declared Jesus Christ His Son, who did He honor? He honored Jesus. Therefore, from the relationship and evolution of the Trinity, I discovered the truth about relationships, which is never to exalt oneself, but to honor the other and lift them up. This is the relationship that God created us to live out.

The paradigm for the relationship of the Trinity is to never exalt oneself but to honor the other, and this is the model that God wants to give us. How we handle relationships between people, including our collaboration models, should be the same. So why are there so many broken relationships in society? It's because we never lived in or walked in the relationship that the Triune God has revealed to us. God's love is expressed in our lives through relationships, and all His abundance is expressed to us through the love of relationships. This is the relationship that God has revealed to us so that we can move from one glory to another. Last time we also shared about the order in which God created things. The order of God's creation has spiritual laws, as well as worldly laws.

2.3.1 How to Be an Overcomer: Overviewing from Samson's Perspective

2.3.1 從參孫的角度來看如何成為一個得勝者

Speaker: Ming

The topic I'd like to share today is called "the power of Overcomers". The Book of Judges records the Israelites' subjugations for five times. The first one was at the hands of the king of Aram Naharaim in Northwest Mesopotamia, named Cushan-Rishathaim.  At that time, the Israelites were enslaved for 8 years. The spiritual meaning of Mesopotamia represents the world, since at that time Abraham also crossed the Euphrates River to Canaan and he also came from Mesopotamia. The second kingdom was overthrown by the king of Moab. The king of Moab was fat and his name was Eglon.  His fat body spiritually refers to the domination of the flesh.  At that time, the Israelites were under the reign of the king of Moab for 18 years.  Israel's third subjugation was when it was enslaved by Jabin the king of Canaan (in Hazor), which symbolizes the immorality of the flesh. The Israelites were subjugated for the fourth time at the hands of the Midianites. The spiritual meaning represents the deceitfulness of the flesh, and the nation was subjugated for 7 years. The fifth time was at the hands of the Philistines, and the country was subjugated for 40 years. It symbolizes spiritual deception and false appearances, that were devouring the Israelites.

God uses the stories of Israelites salvation to demonstrate our current situation. The five experiences of the Israelites being subjugated spiritually represent that we have all been dominated by the flesh, misled by the world, deceived by the world and the flesh, and misguided by spiritual counterfeiting. These are the areas we need to overcome.  What is most likely to devours us is not necessarily the flesh and the world, as the flesh only dominated the Israelites for 18 years, the world dominated the Israelites for 8 years only, while the Israelites were captive by the Philistines for 40 years. God raised up judges each time in that generation, who were saviors, and Samson was one of those who were raised up. The Israelites were in the hands of the Gentiles for a total of 93 years. These several times of national subjugation are of great spiritual significance, and they all foreshadow how our personal lives will be dealt with. We will look at how Samson became an overcomer from a spiritual perspective.

2.2.1 Living in God's Order (Part 1)

2.2.1 活在神的次序裡（一）

Life Garden Healing Course

Speaker ：Teacher Ming

I want to ask everyone, have you all had an experience of believing in Jesus? Let's do a survey: summarize your motivation for believing in Jesus in one sentence. It could be when you first encountered Christ, when you met someone who believed in Jesus, or the reason why you were interested in Christianity. Who wants to go first? Some people say they had no hope in life at the time; others say that believing in Jesus helped them understand love better; some were searching for love; some wanted to know the meaning of life. I found your answers to be very spiritual. Do you know what motivated me to believe in God at first? It was because there was good food at the fellowship, haha... Does anyone else relate to me? Some people made a covenant with God because a family member was sick, saying, "If you are good to my mother, I will believe in you." Are there any other reasons? Some people were kept awake at night by the Holy Spirit; someone online said they wanted to change themselves; others wanted to meet more people and develop their network; some were looking for healing; some were looking for the true value of life. I found that each of us had a different motivation when we first believed in Jesus or encountered Christ. Some reasons were very spiritual, while others were very worldly, like mine. However, we all hope for something better, because things were not good before, and we want to find something better. If we were unhappy before, we want to become happier, and we want things to become better. Like some people said earlier, they hoped for relationships, to meet more people, to be cared for, to be loved, or to receive love. Everyone's reason for believing in Jesus is different, but in general, our lives lack something, and we hope our lives will be better, so we are all searching for a better life.

What does it mean a life of Abundance?

When God created us, He intended to give us a better life. The Bible talks about having an abundant life - but what does that mean? It means what I mentioned earlier: after having this relationship, I can be loved, filled with peace, have relationships with others, have friends without fear of betrayal or loneliness. This is what we expect in our hearts and what many people desire. Looking back at the Bible, it tells us what kind of life God wanted to give us when He created us. The Bible says that God wants us to receive an abundant life, but in reality, we have lost this kind of life. This is what we will discuss today. My sermon is quite long, but you don't have to remember it. After leaving this room, just remember that the point we discussed today is that human beings were created to receive God's abundant life. After receiving this life, we can reflect God's glory.

2.1.4 Church, Where is Your Direction?

2.1.4 教會，你的方向在哪裡？

Reference to the End Times Ministry article: "Warning from Heaven: The Return of the Star of Bethlehem after 2000 Years and the Imminent Fulfillment of Revelation 12."

Sharing: Teacher Ming

Is the Church Prepared For Tribulations & Persecutions Before The Lord’s Return?

In the church, we all appear to be doing well, but we are unwilling to talk about the day of the Lord's return. In fact, it is approaching, and Jesus' feet are about to step in, but Christians still do not want to discuss this crisis because we are afraid. We fear that when we talk about the end times, people will leave the church. Therefore, the church is usually a place where everyone says, "I'm fine, and you're fine." Many people are still in the dark, living aimlessly. Everything seems good in their outward appearance, however, unless people walk closely with God, nothing will go well. Emotionally and spiritually, most people in the world are becoming increasingly depressed. The wicked will become more wicked, and the righteous will become more righteous because they have received a true warning. They do not know what will happen to their families or their churches.

People often say, "Just trust in the Lord, and don't worry about anything else." It sounds great, but people are naive and ignorant in real life. Do we not need to prepare, in addition to trusting and obeying? (Hosea 4:6) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. In fact, both faith and preparation are necessary for us (Hebrews 11:7). Noah, through faith, was warned by God of things unseen, moved with fear, and prepared an ark, saving his entire family. Thus, the sin of that generation was condemned, and he also obtained the righteousness that comes by faith. In English, Noah was warned, but he did not say, "I just need to trust, and I don't need to do anything else." At the same time, Joseph in Egypt was warned of seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, so he had to do something. Otherwise, he would not survive without preparation. This is important. If you do not heed God's warning, your family, yourself, and your church will be in danger. Noah, through faith, built an ark that allowed him, his family, and the animals to survive a dangerous time; Joseph, through faith, saved his family and the Jews. Therefore, if we only say, "I just need to pray, and God will take care of everything, and I just need to trust in the Lord," then we would be very foolish. Prayer and trust in God are essential, but action is also necessary.

We are now entering a critical and new era. If we said "we have 20 years" twenty years ago, what day is it now? As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. People were also eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building, but on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Eating and drinking are not wrong, but we are living as if we have 100 or 500 more years to live, and that is pitiful. How many churches are still living in such a time?

2.1.3 Two Books of Life

2.1.3 兩本生命冊 

Reference to the End Times Ministry Broadcast: Two Books of Life

Speaker: Teacher Gan

Lord Jesus, we thank and praise you very much! Lord, through the internet, you have once again called together your children. In this end times era, we come to share your message for the end times, so that more children can enter into the position of the bride. We understand clearly our own personal calling. Lord, at this moment, we invite the Trinity to come to our room and move freely in our room, for you are the God beyond time and space. Today, we give all glory and praise to the Lamb who sits on the throne. Lord, in this end times era, you release and reveal such truth to many of your servants, so that your sheep can be fed, so that your sheep can walk with purpose, so that your sheep can understand their destiny and know what it means to be faithful. Lord Jesus, here we are once again calling upon you, to have mercy on your sheep and to feed your sheep. May your Holy Spirit fill this room today, and touch everyone who enters this room, for your truth is light, and when it is opened, it shines into our hearts. May those who have not yet heard this truth be awakened. Lord, we thank you, thank you, thank you. We pray and give thanks in the name of Lord Jesus, Amen!

Thank you very much, Pastor Liu, for giving me the opportunity to share information with everyone in this room. I believe that the connection between us, including Pastor Liu's, is from God, so it is a wonderful connection. Thank God very much. Although we have not known each other for a long time, I feel very close to everyone in the Lord. So I won't say anything unnecessary, let's start today's sharing. The topic we are going to share today is the mysteries of two Books of Life. Some people may have heard of it because some of our truths are posted online. So I will start with a dream of mine many years ago. One night, I had a very special dream, which did not have any scenes, people, heaven or angels. In that dream, I heard a sentence, which was: Not all Christians are the bride of Jesus. This sentence was very special, and I dreamed of it for three consecutive days. On the first day, I didn't take it seriously, and then on the second day, I dreamed of the same words again. On the third day, I dreamed of the same words again. So this caught my attention. I began to think that God must be speaking to me in my dream, otherwise how could I dream of such a sentence? Moreover, God did not say anything more, just this sentence. What made me even more puzzled was that at that time, when I dreamed of this sentence, I had not been opened by the Holy Spirit yet. I was pastoring a church at that time. Moreover, this sentence: Not all Christians are the bride of Jesus Christ, was against my faith background and what I believed in. I couldn't come up with such words myself, because I became a Christian in a Chinese evangelical church in the United States and grew up there. Later, I received God's call and entered an evangelical seminary in the United States for training. After that, I came to Canada to pastor a church. Therefore, the theological training and equipment I received, including my background growing up in my mother church, all believed that after Christians believed in and were baptized in Jesus, they became the bride of Jesus Christ. In the future, we will be kings together with Jesus Christ in heaven. This is our hope, and we believe that we will all be the bride of Jesus Christ and be kings together.

2.1.1 Call to Love

2.1.1 呼召被愛

Our lesson is called "Call to Love," which is the second part of the previous lesson. In the previous lesson, we talked about becoming vessels of God's anointing and releasing His grace. Today, you need to receive the message that in order to release God's anointing, you must have today's message, which is the Call to Love.

The most important thing about the Call to Love is establishing an intimate relationship. Remember the story of Paul encountering the Lord in Damascus. Paul experienced God's presence and power, and both he and the donkey were knocked to the ground. At that time, Paul asked the Lord two questions: "Who are you, Lord?" and "What do you want me to do?" These two questions are also fundamental questions for Christians. If the church, which is us, wants to operate in the order of the Kingdom of God, these two questions cannot be reversed. Modern churches often reverse this order.

Paul first asked, "Who are you, Lord?" and then asked, "What do you want me to do?" This is a very specific order. Paul placed knowing and recognizing the Lord before serving Him. But in our culture, the order is often reversed, especially in Asian cultures where there is a driving force to make individuals perform. When we lead others, we often urge them to do things in the hope that they will do the same, and then come to know God. If we do not make knowing God the foundation and start serving Him, we cannot operate in the anointing that comes from relationship. Serving in talents and gifts, for example, I have the gift and ability to heal and cast out demons. Wherever I go, I can operate this gift, but it is not because of my relationship with God that this anointing works; it is because I have this gift and can operate this ability. These are different things. So today, our focus is on using gifts and anointing through relationships to expand our service. Because the power of God comes through relationships, and the power that comes from having gifts is not the same thing, do you understand?

2.3.2 The Victory of the Soul

2.3.2 屬靈爭戰之方 – 在魂的層面上得勝

1. Setup the defensing lines of life

Even when Jesus came, he was in constant battle with the devil.

The Bible does not say that after being born again, we can automatically be protected from the attack or influence of the devil (spiritual world)

2 Cor 2:11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

We need to build a wall to guard our lives to resist disturbance and attack from the spirit world. Many people don't understand the relationship between us and the spirit world is like the front and back sides of a coin. The influence of the spirit world will be reflected in the material world.

Daniel 10:12-13

12 He said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia.

A spiritual principal:

We need to have a proper understanding and know how to deal with anything that prevents us from coming close to God or tries to destroy God’s will and plan on the earth, especially when you have a position and a role to play in that plan. And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes. We can recognize the enemy's schemes. If the believer does not understand or see through the enemy's scheme, the enemy will take the opportunity to overcome us. If you don’t recognize the way the enemy works, then it will be able to deceive us.

Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

The lack of understanding of the influences and areas that the spiritual realm and the evil spirits can impact has caused many believers to fall and fail, and many people opened the door to disasters, destruction and even death for themselves in ignorance. When facing the spiritual realm, we even know nothing as the enemies drive straight in to attack and rob us. If we are ignorant of this field, we will lose our initiation and become passive.

2.3.8 The Holy Spirit Helps Us to Walk in the Law of the Spirit

2.3.8 聖靈幫助我們行在聖靈的律中

Key verses:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8: 1-2)

1. Law of the Spirit who gives life — set us free from sin and death.

2. Law of sin and death — In Christ we have the ability to overcome sin, but we are in the process of overcoming since we still have a lot of bad habits, flesh, old self, strongholds, which still strangle us.

* Jesus Christ gives us life.

* The law of the Spirit gives us life.

* The Holy Spirit set us free.

Key point:

What can truly set us free is that through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, by the correct application of spiritual law, our lives can be released from the law of sin and death, and we can truly have the power to overcome and live a victorious life.

2.3.7 Growth of Spiritual Life – from The Perspective of Exodus

2.3.7 從出埃及地看屬靈生命的成長

The book of Exodus vs. the book of Romans: same spiritual meaning (growth process)

Exodus: how the Israelites were in Egypt, left Egypt, entered the wilderness and Mount Sinai, met with God, and established the tabernacle.

Romans: How we get saved, overcome, be sanctified, and be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Metaphors in Exodus:

Egypt vs. the world

The Egyptians ruled over the Israelites vs. the world rules over us.

Previously slaves in Egypt, the Israelites went through a process to become God's army vs. Christians, previously slaves of the world, become citizens of the kingdom of God.

The destination of the Israelites is Canaan and a life with God vs. Christians become the army of God, enter the destiny that God has promised to each one of us.

Our purpose on earth: enter our Canaan land – our density

Salvation (from Exodus to Joshua):

Exodus is the process of salvation

Passover: the blood of the lamb on the door posts and frame

Cross the red sea: washed in water (water baptism)

When in Egypt, the Israelites enjoyed life though suffering from slavery. They did not know God nor know how to worship Him. They had to go through exodus to get to know the God of their ancestors vs. We enjoyed the world though we had sufferings. We worshiped idols while knowing there is such a thing as Christianity, but thought it irrelevant to us. Then we experience the blood of Jesus and get baptized. Some experience miracles at that time.

2.1.2 Wedding Banquet of the Lamb - Insiders and Outsiders of the City

2.1.2 羔羊的婚宴– 城裡和城外

Teacher Ming

“The Book of Revelation” is such an interesting book. Some people like it; some don’t, just because it’s too profound.

What will God say about the Book of Revelation? We know that He values Revelation very much. It’s the exceptional book in the Bible that says at the very beginning, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy,” and says at the end that people who destroy this book should be cursed; And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy or adds anything to them, God will put on him the punishments which are in this book, and they will also lose the salvation and the chance to enter the Holy City. That’s quite serious! It is not ordinary that people, who read or hear it and take to heart what is written in the book, will be blessed; however, people who take words away from the book will be cursed. There is only this book on the Bible that states the conditions to be blessed and to be cursed. (The outline of Come With Me Through Revelation, David Pawson)

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”