Points to Ponder:

• Do you worry about not having enough money? Or about contracting various diseases in your old age?

• If unexpected and accidental events were to occur in your life, how would you react?

• What do you think is the purpose and meaning of life?

Joy Above All!

In Philippians Chapter 4, every word is built upon a foundation, though Paul no longer emphasizes it. This is because he has already laid the foundation in the first three chapters. Today's chapter, I believe, is geared more towards those who have yet to believe. Many non-believing friends have doubts such as, Can faith be eaten as a meal? If you have nothing to eat and encounter difficulties, how can you still be joyful? I think it is better for people to have such confusions than to be apathetic. Allow me to share my views.

Have you ever pondered that, for a person living a lifetime—let's set aside the concern of whether there is a God or not—where does the effect of this lifetime lie? Is the effect of a lifetime measured by the amount of money one earns, or by any other standard? I believe that many people have not thought about this question as much as I have.

I want to share with you my research findings. And what are these research findings? It is that the effect of a person's lifetime lies in the feeling within the heart! The feeling in one's heart is supremely important. If a person's heart is entangled, whatever they possess is in vain. This lifetime is called a lifetime of entanglement. No matter how beautifully one writes Li Sao, in the end, Li Sao is merely a tool to express the depression within. But if a person is joyful, and continues to be joyful, this is a lifetime of joy.

I want to present my second research finding. I have discovered that anyone who has once been desperately poor, if they become wealthy one day, never wants to go back to the days of poverty. This is called being afraid of poverty! Having once had meals uncertain, sometimes hungry, sometimes full, people will conclude that it is impossible to live without money.

Therefore, when they have money, they eat desperately! In fact, when people's needs for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are met, many still carry such anxieties, Oh dear, what if I can't get enough to eat in the future? Because of such anxieties, they continue to work desperately to earn money, resulting in a life without joy. I want to tell you that when a person's needs for food, clothing, shelter, and basic sustenance are met, what remains is truly the pursuit of joy!

When we have food, clothing, and shelter, in fact, food, clothing, and shelter are no longer so important to us. But there are many people who, because they come from a background of begging, always have this impoverished mentality. Even when they have clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, they still have the impoverished mentality and forget that inner joy is very important. So they desperately earn money, desperately earn money. This is the mentality of the poor! Although they are wealthy later, they are still poor. Why? Because they have not understood that people do not live for food, clothing, and shelter! But for joy.

God Enables Us to Have All That We Need in Abundance

Those who do not believe do not understand these things, but the Bible explains these matters clearly. First, you must know that the God we believe in, the God written about in the Bible, will surely meet your basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. This is not at all a concern we should have. In verse 19 of this chapter, Paul writes, And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Then the second important thing is the feeling in one's heart. After Paul thoroughly studied this matter, he did not use a thesis to discuss what I am telling you today. But in his words, you will find that he is speaking to the people of the church in Philippi. In fact, if you carefully observe those among us who believe, not one lacks food or clothing. Absolutely not one! Because the God we believe in is a living God, a bountiful God, so we will never lack in our lives.

If we will never lack, our concerns about food, clothing, and shelter are immediately eliminated. We no longer worry about lack; we can live very securely. But why do people in this world desperately earn money, and then find themselves very unhappy even when they have earned it? It is because they fear future lack. But Christians easily solve this problem. Once this problem is solved, joy enters our hearts. When joy enters, there will be peace and comfort in people’s hearts.

This is a fundamental aspect of the gospel that Paul preached. The gospel that Paul preached is definitely not a gospel of lacking food and clothing. If he preached a gospel of lacking food and clothing, then those of us who believe in the faith would be in a state of lacking food and clothing. Gathering together like a beggar gang, and then I would be the leader of the beggar gang, haha. The fact is, we are not a beggar gang; we are children of God! Look at what Paul said, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” How wonderful it would be if everyone could receive this promise! How I wish everyone would put this gospel into practice!

The Peace of God, Which Transcends All Understanding

Then the second foundation is the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. Allow me to analyze for you what is meant by giving people peace that surpasses all understanding. It means that originally, when I encounter emergencies, I would be flustered, frightened, and even despairing. That should have been the reaction, but when we truly encounter things, we surprisingly find that our hearts are unusually calm and peaceful.

There is a short story: a small rubber raft full of people adrift at sea suddenly encountered a very large storm. Everyone on the raft was howling, except for one person on the rubber raft who knew how to sing. This person was not only able to sing, but he was also a very strong believer. He led everyone to sing hymns praising God. As soon as the hymns began, everyone calmed down.

Even though the wind was still blowing fiercely and the waves were still rolling violently, the small rubber raft was still swaying, but everyone still did not stop singing hymns. Everyone should know that as long as the people on the raft do not shake it haphazardly, the small rubber raft can also reduce a lot of vibration. If everyone on the small rubber raft moves around randomly, the small rubber raft will capsize in a moment. But if everyone sits quietly on the side, the small rubber raft will not capsize. Thank God, in the end, these people were saved.

Many people die because they panic! So Christians are a special group of people. If a person's reactions are different from those of normal people, you need to know one thing: it is not because our faith is just a spiritual comfort, but because the God we believe in is a true and living God. No matter how difficult the environment, he can always give people peace that surpasses all understanding.

Later I will tell you that a person with stable emotions and a true sense of peace deep within their heart has the most important qualities that they are throughout their entire lifetime. This quality is fully demonstrated in Paul. Do not be like some people whose faith in God always changes with changes in the external environment. For example, if they cannot find a job, they are extremely happy if they suddenly find one. Later, when they encounter some setbacks, they no longer believe. Once a person's faith in God is gone, their heart begins to entangle and become depressed, and then they use human logic to analyze many things. The more people analyze, the more chaotic they become inside!

But I think that if a person gains peace that surpasses all understanding, this person has a quality called inner strength. Later, scientists studied that during times of disaster, such as tsunamis and earthquakes, people who are usually calm and stable in their hearts do not die. So who are the ones who die? They are those who run from upstairs to downstairs the moment an earthquake occurs, running flusteredly into the basement, and then cannot get out. Too panicked to even know how to run to the first floor, running past it. So everyone must know that being calm and composed when disaster strikes is the most important quality for preserving your life, and Paul has this quality.

Inner Stability and Peace Enable a Person to Accomplish Anything

Then you will discover that when one's needs for food, clothing, and shelter are met, and there is joy within, a peace that surpasses understanding in the face of any problem, such a person can accomplish anything! This is a most astonishing thing, to be able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Imagine how formidable such a person is!

This is one of the most important components of the Gospel! First, your material needs must be met. If you doubt it, try following me in believing in the Lord. As a Christian, you will find that you never need to worry about these things. Second, there is a peace within that surpasses understanding. Third, you can become so strong as to be able to accomplish anything. Do you know what it means to accomplish anything? To accomplish anything means that the God who can accomplish anything dwells in our hearts and performs many things through our lives that ordinary people cannot.

Once, a university student with lumbar pain came to us. He had been to many hospitals, but to no avail. He described how, when the pain was unbearable, he would bang his head against the table. God healed him through me, and the problem that had plagued him for many years was resolved in God's presence in an instant.

Another incident occurred many years ago when my mother-in-law was paralyzed, and many were helpless. My father-in-law, a doctor, had been practicing medicine his whole life, but he could do nothing in the face of such a situation. But for a believer, anything is possible. I prayed for her, and she stood up and walked. Is this God real? Absolutely.

In our lives, if a person has God, you can obtain all the benefits. When you receive this benefit, and you ponder it carefully, you will realize that this is the way of the wise! Why is a Christian willing to give offerings, to give a lot of money! In the past few years, I have given offerings of nearly one million RMB. One million RMB is a lot of money, but why can a Christian do this? Because I trust in my God, I regard my God as the most precious treasure, receiving Jesus Christ as the supreme treasure. Money cannot solve problems, but my God can solve all my problems. So Paul says here that these Philippian Christians repeatedly supplied his needs.

The reaction of a truly faithful person to events is to belittle many things. But what about the people of the world? The people of the world are miserable! People in the world may have several perceptions. First, they dare not be sure whether they will lack in this life, so no matter how much money they have today, they must desperately earn more.

Some people like to calculate how much money they will spend on medical care in their lifetime. Calculate the cost of treating diabetes, heart disease, cancer, adding up all the possible medical expenses, and see how much money is needed. Then they conclude that they will lack no matter what. Lack in the heart, that is the problem of man, the most serious problem. Once there is lack in the heart, there is no peace. Without peace in the heart, many things cannot be done. If many things cannot be done, they will truly lack and remain in this vicious cycle.

The Differing Ways of Living for Those Who Belong to God and Those Who Belong to the World

There are two different ways of living for those who belong to the world and those who belong to God. Those who belong to God live from the inside out, while those who belong to the world live from the outside in. To live from the outside in is very difficult. Many people rely on external conditions to maintain their inner state, but those who believe in the Lord rely on their inner state to change their external state. These are completely different kinds of people with completely different attitudes toward life.

When we have such a concept as Christians, our purpose in living also changes completely. What does Paul say? He says, you are my joy, you are my crown. Then he says, so-and-so's names are in the Book of Life. People of the world have no concept of the Book of Life, no concept of eternal life, and do not understand what a crown or joy is. The way of living for those who belong to the world and those who belong to God is completely different.

What do those who belong to the world rely on to live? In the minds of those who belong to the world, living is just living. They live and then they die. I think this way of living is very abnormal. I think living into eternal life is normal. People who have no concept of eternal life have no hope, and whenever people experience difficulties in the world, they feel very miserable because there is no strength within to resist.

So, to summarize, Paul is actually elaborating from a different perspective on how a person who belongs to God should live. If those who belong to God lack nothing in the Lord Jesus, how should they live? They should dwell on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Those who do not believe in the Lord think that we who dwell on these things all day are fools. Some parents, when they hear that their children have believed in the Lord among us, worry that they will become fools among us. They also嘱咐them, Don't become fools. What are those who do not believe in the Lord pondering? They are pondering those false and deceptive things, how to deceive people, those base and unnoble matters. Only what benefits themselves do they consider to be clever. The concepts of believers are the opposite of those of non-believers.

The opposite of righteous is evil. The opposite of pure is defiled. Many non-believers have no expectation, no hope, no eternal life. When people are about to die, they must live it up in this world! To live it up, they must enjoy everything they can enjoy. Those lovely things, those admirable things, whatever is excellent or praiseworthy, they do not dwell on.

Later, Paul says, Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. Because Paul is a person who lived out the word of God, who lived out his faith. After Paul lived out this faith, it was extraordinary! The power of God was revealed through Paul, it was simply unimaginable. When he walked by, if his handkerchief fell on someone, the paralyzed could be healed and walk. Such a person is one whom the world is not worthy of.

Reading this, we should not argue about whether this is true. But one thing is, he was able to write such a joyful letter in prison, don't you find it strange? It is not because of anything else, but because he truly experienced the reality of God! I don't find it strange, because Paul and I have both personally experienced this power! God is a very rich God, a very powerful God, all of our human needs are in Him. This is not just talk, but we experience His great power every day.

So, can Paul and I not be sure of this faith? If anyone performed such miracles, would they doubt it? They would not doubt it at all. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. As a result, the God of peace will be with you.

The Correct Understanding of the Book of Life

Then we look at something called the Book of Life. Paul says in this third verse: their names are in the Book of Life. Do not think that Paul is saying here that being in the Book of Life means that everything is alright. Paul's words do not mean that. Because many people misunderstand this passage. What kind of misunderstanding is it? It is the belief that once one's name is in the Book of Life, everything will be fine. But there are several places in the Bible where God Himself says, I will blot out their names from the Book of Life. For example:

May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous (Psalm 69:28).

The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life (Revelation 3:5).

So, I want to teach everyone a correct theological concept. False teachings will lead us to death.

Holding onto this way of life is very, very important. That is, Paul says that these Clement and these others, their names are in the Book of Life. Why? Because they were chosen, but being chosen is not a guarantee. You must continually hold onto this way of life. Live out the word of God, and when you leave this world on that day , you will say the same words as Paul, and you will have succeeded .

I can give you a few examples. For example, Jesus Christ, He is the Word of God made flesh. As a result, on the night He was crucified, He slipped away at the last minute. Could that have succeeded? No! So how did things come to pass? It was because He was nailed to the cross, and finally He said, It is finished! It was only with great difficulty that He reached that point!

Brothers and sisters, that is not a simple matter. He truly walked up there gnashing His teeth. According to His own will, He certainly would not have been willing. But according to God's will, He had to complete God's will , to persevere until the very end . So when He said, It is finished, it was like giving Himself a round of applause, an exclamation of, Finally, it is accomplished! The mission that God gave me is completed. And it showed that He could guard himself and not weaken.

So everyone must have this kind of mentality. Do not think that once your name is in the Book of Life, everything is fine. We must live out God's glory in our lives, and only then can such people remain in the Book of Life forever. This is a very, very important concept! Earlier, we talked about faith as the foundation, and later, through this faith, God's power enables you to do these things! In other words, faith and actions must have an internal relationship. If you have true faith, you will definitely be able to act it out.