Introduction

Welcome to the second sermon in our series on Wisdom, Folly, and Arrogance. "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure." Once you see through the reality of human existence, you become a master of life. Is life easy for such a master? Yes, it becomes remarkably simple. The real issue is whether you have the capacity to become one.

Where does this mastery begin? Many people must go through endless trials and tribulations just to realize one basic fact: they will die. What kind of logic is that? If you accept this reality early on, you save yourself a lifetime of unnecessary detours and wasted effort. Death is the inevitable end for everyone. There is no debate about this. Once you accept this end, only then can you plan how to live. I ask myself every single day: "If I die tomorrow, will I have regrets?" If the answer is yes, then live properly today. Leave no room for regrets.

Of course, some people's regrets are utterly pathetic: "Oh, I have never flown in an airplane," or "I have never ridden a train." That is a low level of aspiration. Sometimes, even I lose focus. One moment I am a man of understanding, the next I slip back into foolishness, caught in a constant back-and-forth.

The moment we focus on immediate, trivial matters, our wisdom vanishes. I realized this was unacceptable. So, I developed a habit: I attend funerals. I often bring my co-workers along. We stand by the coffin and look at the deceased. All their love, their hatred, and everything they once clung to have vanished into thin air.

My brothers and sisters, you must understand my operating model. Do not misinterpret it. For instance, if I had cancer—and I have had all the symptoms, though I never went for a diagnosis—I would not seek treatment. You might find this incomprehensible. But I have my own logic. Yes, doctors can cure some cases, but I simply do not care. I had no desire to cling to life when I was young; why would I cling to it now that I am older? To me, to depart and be with Christ is far better.

Yet, some people cannot accept this. They cry, "You cannot die!" What nonsense. If you had told Jesus, "You cannot die," He would have said, "Get behind me, Satan!" The problem lies in human logic. When your logical framework is flawed, you are bound to suffer. I look at the man in the coffin; he can no longer see me. I feel a deep sense of pity. What a miserable struggle his life was.

God works in mysterious ways. When I fell ill, a friend of mine had the exact same symptoms. He went for a check-up and was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. He spent a fortune on treatments. Nine months later, he was inside the coffin, and I was standing outside it.

My way of doing things is hard to comprehend. I do not expect you to understand, but do not misinterpret me. Do not blindly copy my actions. Go see a doctor. Do not say, "The pastor taught me this." I teach no such thing. What I do teach is this: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning." You must realize that death is the end of all men. My logic is simple: there is a time to be born, and a time to die. You cannot die before your time, and some must suffer before they are allowed to go. I see this clearly; my mind and heart grasp this reality completely.

Look at history. Take the city of Pompeii. It was the Shanghai, or at least the Shenzhen or Guangzhou of its day. It was highly developed, famous throughout the Roman Empire nearly two thousand years ago. Yet, in an instant, it was wiped out. Today, archaeologists excavate the ruins, and the findings are horrifying. Science has proven that when the volcano erupted, the city had only four minutes. If you wanted to survive, you would have needed a helicopter. But even then, volcanic ash travels at 700 kilometers per hour, while a helicopter flies at 400. You might buy yourself a few extra minutes, but the end is the same.

The excavated remains were encased in ash, preserving their final moments. Some were found clutching bags of money, gold, silver, and precious jewels. Others held onto whatever valuables they could grab. At 700 kilometers per hour—faster than a high-speed train—the ash swept over them. Pompeii was buried instantly. Not a single soul escaped. In such a crisis, human effort is futile. Life is terminated in seconds by 700-degree molten lava. It is a brutal reality.

History is full of mass slaughter. Under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the killing was senseless. Dying quickly under Pompeii's ash was merciful by comparison. Yet, before they died, those people spent their lives obsessing over investments, wealth, and money. What a tragedy. Consider the Tangshan earthquake, the Indian Ocean tsunami, or the great tsunami in Japan. Human beings are incredibly fragile. You never know when your time will come. Therefore, "the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning." Do not take life so seriously; do not get bogged down in petty struggles. People fight and argue because they forget they will die. Let this truth sink in: death is the destiny of every man. No one escapes. However, your attitude toward death dictates how you live. You either live wisely or foolishly. When some get cancer, they insist, "I must live, I must seek treatment." Go ahead. Nine months later, they are in a coffin.

I told him bluntly—and do not blame me for my dark humor—"My friend, you are in the coffin, and I am outside it. One day, I too will lie in a coffin, or perhaps not even have one." I remarked, "You sought treatment; I sought God." A person can only make such a decision if they have a glorious hope in eternity. From the day I believed in the Lord, I loved Him deeply. I was prepared to lay down my life for Him. That is how I survived one crisis after another.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I nearly died. If I had, I would not be preaching to you today. I refused to go to the hospital. If hospitals could easily cure it, it wouldn't be called a pandemic. They couldn't cure it, and I refused to be subjected to their futile interventions. I stayed home and prayed daily. I have a very clear understanding of death. In Chinese, there is a crude but accurate slang for dying: gepi (kicking the bucket). Children use it naturally. When I prayed, my body reacted—I was burping and passing gas constantly, hundreds of times a day. When I survived, I was actually disappointed. I wanted to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Why was I sent back? It puzzled me.

Yet, others fight desperately to prolong their lives. They treat one cancer, only for another to appear. They fix one blood vessel in the brain, then another in the heart. They bounce from colon cancer to rectal cancer, lymphoma to liver cancer. My hope remains to depart and be with Christ. Do not tell me, "Pastor, you cannot die." If you do, I will say, "Get behind me, Satan." He who loves his life will lose it. Think about this carefully. If you cling to your life, you will lose it miserably. But if you disregard your life and dedicate it to God, you will keep it. This is a fundamental truth. Pampering the flesh is a grave mistake, because the flesh is destined to rot.

The moment you become obsessed with preserving your physical body, your suffering begins. I know of a ninety-year-old man whose children insisted on putting him in the ICU, hooked up to tubes. Have you ever had a cotton swab shoved up your nose? It is highly uncomfortable. Now imagine being intubated in the ICU for a month. When he finally died, his eyes were wide open. Why do people die with their eyes wide open? Because they refuse to let go, and because they are in excruciating pain. You may not adopt my logic, but let me tell you: dying a bit earlier or later makes no difference. What is the distinction?

I believe dying at eighty is far better than dying at ninety. At eighty, you are still mobile. At ninety, you might be bedridden for five years, unable to control your bodily functions. That is pure misery. Is it not better to die earlier? Of course, without the hope of eternal life, people cannot grasp this. I often wonder why people cling so desperately to this existence. If you know death is inevitable, yet you have no hope of eternal life, you are in a pathetic state. You believe death is the absolute end, so you do everything to delay it, dragging out a miserable existence day by day. Do not assume many Christians or pastors share my view. They do not.

It baffles me. They suffer immensely in hospitals, and upon discharge, they give "testimonies." What kind of testimony is that? Why are they so eager to prolong their suffering? Without eternal hope, you are reduced to surviving day by day, consumed by the desires of this present life. That is a dead end. If you love your life, you will lose it—and you will lose it in agony. Living merely for the sake of staying alive invites demonic oppression. The spiritual forces of darkness will exploit your fear of death. This brings me to another layer of my logic.

You must understand: the amount of sickness in your body is directly proportional to the garbage in your mind. The severity of your illness reflects the strength of your fleshly mindset. You must replace this mental garbage with the Word of God. If we were to lay your thoughts out on the table for everyone to see, how much of it would actually be God's Word? Most of it is your own invention—fleshly, worldly logic that guarantees suffering. Pastoral ministry is exhausting. Why? Because if I correct you too firmly, you bare your teeth in anger. If I am too gentle, it has no effect. It is a constant struggle. If I sometimes misjudge the force required, bear with me. My wisdom is imperfect, and I must continue to seek it.

My only goal is to help you purge this mental garbage so you suffer less. Why insist on suffering? To correct your course, I need your cooperation. If you resist clearing the trash from your mind, my attempts to remove it will be a bloody, painful mess. But if you actively choose to purge it, it becomes a trivial matter. "A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left." Take an X-ray, and you will find the fool's heart entirely on the wrong side.

My advice to you is simple: keep death in mind. It is the end of all men. Do not be so uptight about the affairs of this life. Even living a relaxed, slightly detached life is better than constant, anxious striving. If you stop striving and clear the garbage from your mind, defeating the devil becomes easy. My faith is anchored in the Gospel of power—the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, manifested in our lives. It makes the blind see and the lame walk. Yet, some people cannot stomach this truth. They cannot stand it, yet they persist in listening and leaving complaints. They say, "Look, this diabetic has all these annoying habits." Frankly, I do not even know if they have diabetes.

The Wisdom of Death and the Vanity of the Flesh

Human habits and demonic activities are closely intertwined. If you have a habit of dragging your feet, of constant procrastination, there is undoubtedly a spirit of procrastination operating behind you. These spirits exist to torment and destroy. Different demons manifest as different physical ailments. For instance, diabetes is often linked to a deep-seated habit of procrastination and harboring long-term resentment.

Traditional Chinese medicine captures this reality with profound accuracy: anger damages the liver, and fear damages the kidneys. When a person lives in fear, their kidneys are compromised. Since the kidneys govern the bones, bone issues inevitably follow.

The operational patterns of these spiritual forces align closely with the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. Therefore, we must rid ourselves of these toxic habits, these vices, and clear the garbage from our minds. Let me be clear: physical sickness is merely the symptom of these underlying spiritual realities. Behind every such phenomenon is a demonic force.

Take resentment, for example. Resentment manifests as cynical, sarcastic, and emotionally charged speech. It is a passive-aggressive, whining attitude. These habits destroy us from within.

We must begin to understand a fundamental truth: once a person accepts that death is the destiny of everyone, life becomes remarkably simple. When you see through the illusions of this world, the heavy burdens lift.

Consider the complex social and familial expectations we face. The pressure from parents and relatives to marry, to have children, to conform—it makes the simple act of living incredibly complicated and exhausting. But if you see through it all, the problems vanish. If someone insults you, you can simply think, "Indeed, I deserved that. Well said." If someone yells at you, you think, "Good, let them vent." We become like shock absorbers. When we understand the true nature of life and death, we acquire real wisdom. And as the Scripture says, wisdom is found in the house of mourning.

Scripture

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4)

Prayer

Heavenly Father, open our minds. Lord Jesus, work within us and grant us wisdom, so that we may truly understand that death is the destination of all mankind. Help us to lay this truth to heart. Before the days of physical decline overtake us, let us remember Your words. Grant us the grace to contemplate our mortality while we live, so that we may see through the vanities of this world. Guide us, Lord, endow us with wisdom, and deliver us from foolishness. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Background of the Scripture

Of all the books in the Bible, my favorite is Ecclesiastes. It is a powerful wake-up call. Yet, it is also the book that many preachers and pastors avoid, because it presents a sharp, uncompromising conflict. It is a total confrontation between the logic of this world and the logic of God.

Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon. Although he lived a thousand years after Abraham, in the spiritual order of things, Ecclesiastes should come first. It is only when we fully grasp the reality of "vanity of vanities" that we, like Abraham, will actively pursue our divine destiny.

Although Solomon penned these words, God had already written these laws into the human heart since the days of Adam, Noah, and Abraham. If you have never attended a funeral, or have only been to one, I urge you to go and sit in a house of mourning. The perspective it gives you is entirely different.

Recently, I had dinner with a primary school classmate whom I had not seen in forty years. During our meal, we received a call that another classmate had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. We rushed to the hospital.

When we arrived, we were barred from entering the ICU. We inquired about his condition and learned he had stomach cancer. He had undergone surgery three days prior. He seemed fine on the second day, but by the third, his surgical wounds ruptured. His gastric juices leaked into his abdominal cavity.

It was a horrific sight—akin to a slaughtered animal, with bodily fluids causing excruciating pain. The day after I visited him, I went to the funeral parlor. He was lying in a coffin, dead. It was a sobering reminder of the brevity of life.

Solomon saw many such things. By the time he wrote Ecclesiastes, he was an old man nearing death, likely in his sixties, his body worn out by a life of excess. As he reflected on his life, he did not boast. Instead, he declared it all to be "vanity of vanities."

"Having many wives is vanity; building grand palaces is vanity; all my great achievements are vanity of vanities." With his remaining days dwindling rapidly, he realized how fleeting time is. Ten years pass in the blink of an eye—it seems like only yesterday when Donald Trump was first elected president. Solomon knew his time was short, and indeed, he died shortly after writing this book.

From his life's reflection, he extracted a supreme rule of wisdom: man must lay death to heart so that he may number his days. I have always maintained that what you possess in this life is secondary. What matters is whether, at the moment you close your eyes in death, you can look back on a life of joy.

If your journey from birth to death is nothing but a cycle of anxiety, struggle, and misery, then it is a wasted life. Some may ask me, "Pastor, you seem to live such a joyful life." Of course. No one can rob me of my inner joy. I may let others take financial advantage of me, but no one can steal my joy.

Naturally, I face moments of anger and frustration. But then I remind myself: death is the end of all men. If my remaining years are short, why waste them on trivial disputes? People ask me, "Pastor, what will happen to the Chinese Mingding Doctrine after you die? What if the church collapses?" I say, it has nothing to do with me. God is in control. If He chooses to raise up another leader, He will do so.

Thus, Solomon's greatest summary of life remains: death is the destiny of everyone, and the living must lay this to heart. If you find yourself forgetting this, go to a funeral. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. To see through the illusions of life is the very foundation of our faith in Jesus.

Wisdom is not a mere title; it is a state of being that keeps mortality in view. As I have said before, we must look at death often. Over the years, I have witnessed many deaths.

I once knew a woman dying of cancer. Her tumor was massive, infested, and discharging highly corrosive fluid. It was a horrific, unclean disease. Yet, even on her deathbed, she remained gripped by greed and selfishness.

I prayed with her, and the tumor began to shrink by half. I told her, "You must learn to give, to tithe, and to rid yourself of the cancer of selfishness and greed, and you will be healed." She knew she was recovering, yet she chose to walk away from the church to keep her money.

She made this decision on a Saturday. By 5:00 AM the following morning, she passed away. When I called her mother at 8:00 AM, she confirmed the time of death.

It is tragic. With only hours left to live, she chose to cling to her greed. This is the folly of man. Solomon witnessed this repeatedly—men dying for wealth, just as birds perish for food. He saw the folly of Shimei, Adonijah, and Joab, all of whom met violent ends because of their greed and ambition.

We see this same folly today. Generations come and generations go. Fools spend their entire lives obsessing over worldly survival, while the wise focus on what lies beyond death. If you operate within the framework of eternity rather than the logic of this present age, the anxieties of this world lose their grip on you.

People go to great lengths to save face. But can you take your pride into the grave? To value reputation over eternity is utter foolishness. Solomon’s conclusion is absolute: the day of death is better than the day of birth. If you cannot grasp this, it is because you are still trapped in the worldly mindset.

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4)

Solomon then moves to his second point:

It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 7:5-6)

True wisdom requires us to keep death in mind. The foolish, however, cannot reconcile this reality. Therefore, hearing the rebuke of the wise is far better than listening to the empty songs of fools. The laughter of a fool is as fleeting and useless as thorns burning under a pot.

When men live solely for survival, believing they will live forever, they resort to corruption, extortion, and bribery to secure their wealth. But as Solomon observed through his judgments: extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

Let me give you a concrete illustration to bring this point home. Suppose a man is destined to live to the age of one hundred and fifty, but he retires at sixty. If you retire at sixty with another ninety years ahead of you, what must you plan for? You must have financial security to sustain you from sixty to one hundred and fifty. By the time you reach one hundred and fifty, dynasties would have changed—the Ming Dynasty would have become the Qing Dynasty, and the currency itself would have been replaced.

Ninety years is a long time. Calculate the cost, factor in inflation, and ask yourself: how much money would you actually need? What is your solution? When a man contemplates this, he panics. In his desperation, will he not resort to extortion? Will he not accept bribes? Solomon observed this human anxiety extensively, and concluded: “The end of a thing is better than its beginning.”

Solomon saw far too many people suffering through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and lingering deaths, hooked up to tubes, slowly wasting away. He saw men whose legs rotted inch by inch, from the foot to the thigh, until even their reproductive organs decayed. They endured unspeakable agony.

Last night, I had a dream. I dreamt of a duck. Its body was fully cooked and roasted, yet its head was still alive, quacking away. I thought to myself, how excruciating that must be—only a small section of its neck remained alive, while the rest of its body was cooked meat, prepared as a red-braised dish.

When I woke up, I wondered about the meaning of this dream. It was a dead duck, yet not entirely dead. Let me be frank with you: when the time comes for us to depart from this world, let us suffer as little as possible. Is it possible to depart with minimal suffering? Yes, but you must fear God and refrain from sowing curses upon yourself. Otherwise, you will find yourself in a state where you can neither die nor live, trapped in agonizing torment.

I tell you, that kind of pain makes people scream in agony. Every brother and sister who has served cancer patients alongside me has witnessed this grim reality. It is a harrowing sight. Today, we must scrape the bone to cure the poison; we must purge the rubbish from our minds and lay death to heart. It is not merely about the act of dying, but about keeping the final end in mind, and purging the impurities within our hearts.

Why do men become impatient and angry? Because they expect to live a long time, and when their core interests are threatened, they fly into a rage. Yet, those core interests are nothing more than the trivialities of daily survival. Therefore, “anger rests in the bosom of fools.” If we find ourselves frequently angry, we must reform.

Solomon reflected further: many complain that their former days were better than their present ones. They say, "I used to have an excellent memory, but now it is failing." Let us be realistic. Your memory was likely poor even in your youth, yet you romanticize the past, believing you are in a state of constant decline.

When a man’s mind is consumed solely with the mundane routine of daily survival, he will inevitably attract demonic oppression. Therefore, one must acquire wisdom. Wisdom guarantees a good end. This is the background of this passage, which Solomon understood only in his old age. Do not assume that the wisdom given to him in his youth was sufficient; it was only in his twilight years that he synthesized these truths.

How much better it would have been had he written Ecclesiastes when he first ascended the throne. But he did not know then; he merely thought wisdom was a grand tool. He busied himself seeking wisdom, but it was only in his old age that he truly understood the reality of death. Once you understand death, everything falls into perspective.

The Day of Death is Better Than the Day of One's Birth

Can you comprehend why the day of death is better than the day of birth? I tell you, when a man dies, he lets go of everything. The days of his suffering come to an end. In death, a man no longer needs to struggle to defend his reputation or preserve his self-esteem. When you lie in a coffin, others may insult you, but you remain unmoved; you have no reaction.

If they deny you respect, you do not react, for everything is gone. Life in this world is indeed full of toil. I do not know if this insight was given to me by God or if it is simply my own conviction, but of one thing I am certain: I have always held the conviction that to live is to suffer.

Therefore, once we die, the suffering ends. Furthermore, since I came to believe in the Lord, I have found a God who is exceptionally good and who loves me. Thus, I have always believed that to depart and be with Christ is far better! If you merely believe that death is better than life because life is full of suffering, that is only the first step. The second step is to declare with conviction: "To depart and be with Christ is far better." That is the ultimate goal.

Let us examine our past actions. Do not deceive yourselves into thinking those deeds were good. The moment anger rises within us, we are undone. When resentment and hatred take root, when we fall into the trap of judging good and evil, it is all because we are clinging to worldly things.

If you work with bitterness and live under a curse, how can you possibly depart to be with Christ? If you know that departing to be with Christ is far better, and that life on earth is but vanity of vanities, then you will live practically, free from unnecessary anxiety. Will you not then find joy in your labor?

Listening to the Rebuke of the Wise

"It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 7:5-6)

In truth, we must learn from others. Everything you know was learned from someone else. Newton’s laws of motion were discovered by Newton; you did not invent them. You learned them from your physics teacher, who in turn learned them from Newton. If we want to build an online brand, run a business, generate traffic, or execute marketing, we must learn from those who know.

Therefore, listening to the rebuke of the wise is a critical quality. We fail to listen because we lack discernment. When I lack insight and a wise person rebukes me, I am exceedingly glad. A wise man rebukes me for my own benefit.

Yet, some people despise rebuke. They prefer the laughter and songs of fools, surrounding themselves with constant flattery. This is a dangerous path. Were there many flatterers around Solomon? If you have ever been a business owner, a senior executive, or a leader, you know that flatterers queue up at your door.

This is what it means to hear the song and laughter of fools. Solomon understood flattery all too well. What he needed most was the rebuke of the wise. Because no one dared to rebuke him, his missteps went unnoticed until he repented in his old age and wrote Ecclesiastes.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must realize that if even a man as wise as Solomon needed the rebuke of the wise, how much more do we, who are not Solomons, need it? Do not seek sweet talk; seek constructive rebuke. When we cannot tolerate rebuke, it is because foolishness still dwells within us.

Some people are rebuked even when they perform their duties correctly, which at least shows they are in the game. Others perform miserably, yet they take offense when corrected. This reveals whether we truly lay death to heart. If we must all die one day, should we not pursue the path of wisdom during our brief lifetime? If we keep our mortality in view, what does personal pride matter?

Pride is an utterly foolish thing. When it is pricked, men lose their minds. Foolishness is rampant. “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.” This distinction is plain to see.

Extortion and Bribery are Driven by the Pursuit of Wealth

Extortion and bribery are driven by the desire to secure one's livelihood. Why do men extort money? They do not detain someone and demand immediate payment just for the sake of it; they do it to enrich themselves. They refuse to release the captive until the ransom is paid.

The Christian faith is entirely different; we are called to be a blessing to others. When we bless others, we do not seek personal gain. Extortion and bribery are merely tools for survival. People accept bribes to secure their earthly existence. If you were preparing for death, why would you accept bribes? Once you close your eyes and breathe your last, neither Renminbi nor US dollars will be of any use to you. At that point, burning joss paper would be more relevant to your memory.

The End of a Thing is Better Than Its Beginning

The end of a thing is better than its beginning. I have seen many who fared well in their youth, only to suffer miserably in their old age. Therefore, the ultimate goal of our lives must be this: when we depart from this world, will we be with the Lord? We must keep death in mind while we live, but what is our final destination? Is it to be with the Lord? Will you be fit to dwell in His presence?

We must examine ourselves in the mirror. Do our countenances reflect wisdom, or do they betray foolishness? Only in his old age did Solomon conclude that the end of a thing is better than its beginning. He began by building the temple of God and his own palace; he accumulated hundreds of wives and concubines, keeping himself exceedingly busy. Yet, what was the ultimate value of all these pursuits?

Do not assume that a bad ending is simply God's sovereign will. No, a bad ending is the harvest of what a man has sown. If you sow bribery, extortion, the judgment of good and evil, and carnal desires, how can you expect a good end?

Impatience and Anger

Solomon summarized this beautifully: “Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.” Let us ask ourselves: are we impatient and quick to anger? Solomon encountered many such individuals. Why were they angry? Almost always, it was over matters of survival. If you threaten a man’s livelihood, he will inevitably become angry. It is all about their mundane existence.

Former Days Versus Present Days

Is it true that the present days are better than the past, or vice versa? The issue is not which era is superior; the issue is the focus on mere survival. In the Chinese Mingding Doctrine, we have identified a concept called "living a small, self-centered life" (Xiao Rizi). Mark my words: those who live only for their "small lives" are doomed. Such people live without any regard for their mortality.

No matter how comfortable your "small life" may be, what will your end be? Some say, "I do not care about the end; I just want to live day by day, comfortably." Do not live in a way that incurs the wrath of God. The people of this world may live for their "small lives," but those who belong to God cannot afford to do so.

"Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and an advantage to those who see the sun. For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it." (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12)

Conclusion

I may not have explained this perfectly, but I have done my best to convey these truths. My earnest desire is for our brothers and sisters to become truly wise. Do not harbor a multitude of character flaws and still consider yourself wise. Do not be self-deceived. “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

Do we possess the character of Jesus? Do we bear the image of Christ? Do our lives reflect a conscious awareness of our mortality? If a man does not care about returning to Jesus after death, he is no different from the rest of the world.

Remember, if a Christian’s hope is confined only to this earthly life, he is of all men most pitiable. Let us begin now to cultivate the fear of the Lord, for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We must number our days and plan carefully how we ought to live.

We must live in a manner that pleases God. I encourage you to read the Book of Ecclesiastes repeatedly. Look at life and death from the elevated perspective of Solomon, and ultimately, from the perspective of Jesus Christ.

This concludes my sermon. May God bless you all.