Introduction

Good day to everyone. We continue with the seventh lecture in the series The Words of the Preacher: God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices. The Preacher preaches the way of life, the living way. I ask you, can a cancer patient preach the way of life? They preach the way of cancer. As far as I know, there are quite a few pastors who have cancer. Why do they get cancer? I tell you, the minds of those with a cancer personality are extremely complex.

God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices. The brain is a philosopher's brain. Oh my goodness, it is a speculator's brain. Constantly arguing with people, exhausted, exhausted to the point of cancer. Of course, if he is healed of cancer, receives the way of life, and continues to preach the words of the Preacher, that would be very good.

So if you want to live a good life, it's not easy. You must have the Dao (the Way). Not only the Dao, but also Dao Dao (the ways of the Way). Chinese is quite interesting. To have the Dao, to solve the problem of living, you must carefully read the words of the Preacher. What kind of book is Ecclesiastes? Ecclesiastes is a book that simplifies such a complex problem as living.

Simplifying things is not simple. You have to find the essence of living. For example, I like to find the essence of things. If you ask me to write a program, I tell you, after thinking over and over, I always take the simpler path. Making things simple is a matter of design.

Living is a design problem, so solving problems through design is a very important concept. God has already designed it for us. We just need to implement God's design. It's actually very simple. Don't complicate it. It's easy to complicate simple things.

Suppose you're writing a program. If you write two hundred lines for something that can be done in ten lines, you'll be exhausted, and it's very dirty code. It's the same with people. God originally designed things very well, but you complicate it so much that it looks dizzying. When I see this complex, unclean code, I get upset. I have a little OCD. I can't stand it until I clean it up. I think it's so much better to simplify things.

There was a brother who was renovating his rental house. He was making a kitchen. He drew a picture. I said this is too complicated, make it simpler. Then how to saw this board and that board, and a lot of work was saved. This is simplifying complex things. Today, we're talking about Chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes. God made mankind upright, which looks so good, but they have sought out many devices, and then people are entangled in their own devices.

The Chinese brain is a bit strange. Although we are Chinese Mingding Destiny, our Chinese Mingding Destiny, is not very Chinese. What are Chinese people best at? Chinese people are best at palace intrigue. Things like Empresses in the Palace (Zhen Huan Zhuan), The Book of Treachery (Luo Zhi Jing), Beyond the Realm of Conscience (Gong Xin Ji) are all about this stuff. There is also a very vicious book that specifically teaches people how to frame others, called The Book of Treachery (Luo Zhi Jing).

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the practice of bribing, accepting bribes, how to be corrupt officials, how to establish networks in the officialdom, had reached its peak. I don't know if in recent years, the Chinese have further advanced that thing from the end of the Qing Dynasty. I think it should be more complicated. Making it very complex, living very painfully, it's really deadly.

Thank God, Chinese Mingding Destiny is a theology that simplifies very complex theology, but simplifying it is not simple. People fall into these devices they have created, and are entangled by these things. You know someone who wanted to make money so badly that they were cheated.

There was a sister who was very interesting. Years ago, when I pastored her, she felt that at a certain age, you have to do certain things. When you reach the age of marriage, you have to find a boyfriend. Well, when you reach this age, I don't object to that. Then she thought about living a good life forever, so she got married.

After getting married, she found that her husband would sit on the sofa and play games after getting off work. Oh, that's annoying. Then, when she reached the age of having children, she had one. Having one is not safe, have two. Having two is not safe, have three. As a result, when she was having her third child, she developed depression, was possessed by a demon, and could see many things from hell in her eyes. very painful.

The church she went to, this is a very abominable place. When you're usually okay, you go to church. The church has very good sound, very good lighting, the whole atmosphere is very good, very sensational, very high, a large auditorium with ten thousand seats! When she got depression and was possessed by a demon, the pastor said don't come to the meeting, go see a psychologist.

She didn't go to a psychologist. Years ago, she saw me cast out many demons, so she came to me. I fixed her, oh, it was very hard. Did she solve the problem? One person's problem became two people's problem. Two people's problems became five people's problem. Five people's problem became six, the sixth is a demon. Oh, that's annoying.

As a result, the child's hand was rotten, the buttocks were rotten, anyway, it was these things, and I ministered to her. Strange? The more you fix it, the more complicated it gets. Later, one person became two, two became four, four became five, five became six, six became seven, and there was one more demon. Seven became eight, and there were many more demons. Do you understand? If the more you fix it, the more demons there are, how can you live this life? I am very moved.

When she recovered from her depression, she went back to that church that couldn't cast out demons again. It's okay, we accept it, we don't expect anything from it. I am very moved, it's not like what a Taiwanese sister said: There are none that lay eggs, but a pile that defecate.

The other day, there was a sister who was a little confused in her mind, just confused about living. If people don't think about death, they will always complicate things; if people don't think about death, they will willingly complicate themselves. Why did she simplify things before? Because when she reached the age of marriage and childbirth, she got a whole body of illnesses, and then she used our Whirlwind (Xuan Feng) to pray along, and her physical illnesses got better.

After she got better, her husband got a pile of debts again, and it's not clear how he got them. How could a person who works hard owe half a million? I've never quite understood. Just messing around in there. How many half a million can you earn in a lifetime? If saving half a million takes ten years, then two half a million is twenty years, and then people spend their whole lives paying off debts. Now she has to solve the problem of living again.

She asked me: I have to solve the problem of life. I said: Did you solve it? Are you going to create a whole body of illness before you consider solving the problem of living? I think it's better to solve the problem of death first. Why? People don't know when death is coming, they always try to complicate things.

I am particularly moved, how can you click on the phone and get so many debts? I think what kind of brain is that? Because they only want to use tricks, and they still want to play even if their brains don't work well, playing themselves to death. This is a very strange phenomenon.

Finally, a sister gave me some comfort. This sister developed depression more than ten years ago. She came to us and we cured her depression. In the past, it was depression, and her mind was still relatively simple, as long as she prayed she could get better. After she got better, living became complicated again. She didn't have the Zhen Huan brain to work, and she played a bunch of Zhen Huan stories, making herself very hard, and after a while, she was eliminated and lost her job.

That won't work, you can't look down on me, I have to prove myself! Then she proved herself, proving herself, and the demons came. When the demons came, she was still working hard to prove herself. In the past few years, she was exhausted, and she didn't earn any money, but thank God she didn't incur a lot of debt.

She called her pastor, because after listening to the previous lectures on Ecclesiastes, she suddenly woke up: What is the benefit of this to me? In the end, although she didn't prove anything, she only proved what is the benefit? Fortunately, she came out of it and began to learn to live in a simple way, no longer proving herself.

There are so many Chinese palace intrigue dramas, and people especially like to watch them. The Korean drama Dae Jang Geum is the same, the whole food is also fighting in it. One of our sisters especially likes to watch Empresses in the Palace, and she watches it ten times. But no matter how I look at it, her brain can't produce a Zhen Huan brain. She doesn't have Zhen Huan's brain, but she especially likes to watch it, and then she starts working in the company, doing it according to Empresses in the Palace.

I'll give you an idea. I have a little understanding of the spiritual realm. Suppose you really want to become Zhen Huan, you pray all day long for Zhen Huan to possess you, if Zhen Huan possessees you, you may have Zhen Huan's destiny. Do you really want this kind of destiny? If you want it, pray like this every day, that's so scary.

If you are a martial artist and want to become the best in the world, you must have something from the spiritual realm to help you. If you want to become very popular in the entertainment industry, you must have something from the spiritual realm to help you. Once a demon possesses you, you will definitely become very powerful. But if you want to live a good life, you can't do this. Doing this will only complicate things, and the more you fix it, the worse it will be. You really don't know what will happen.

Today, I tell you, people will attract what they want. Although the demons that are attracted will give you what you want, they will corrupt your life. I know a person who was the king of gambling in Southeast Asia in the early 1990s. He was very eager for gambling demons to possess him. As a result, gambling demons possessed him and made him win every bet. But in the end, he owed three million Singapore dollars.

What is the benefit? In the end, it was very miserable. He wanted to jump off the building to commit suicide. Fortunately, God saved him. Later, I met him. I also invited him to our church to give his testimony. This is not the way! Today, you must listen to the words of the Preacher, you must know that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices. Today, you must fix the matter of living correctly, simplify it, don't complicate the matter of living. What is beneficial to you? You must understand in your heart.

So I really hope that brothers and sisters can receive and accept this Chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes. I have observed a phenomenon, people live simply and live happily. If people's ideas are complicated, their brains are simple, and they love money very much, they live a very complicated and hard life.

I am very moved, what is the benefit of a whole body of illness to him? This generation can let us see many facts as testimony with our own eyes. For example, enterprises, keep doing it, doing it to the 170th place in the world's top 500, that's all getting money from the bank. If you pile up money from the bank, isn't that the world's top 500? As a result, when it came to being insolvent, it all collapsed in a mess. Why did it collapse? Because he didn't accomplish anything. He only had one skill, which was to get money from the bank. Later, he committed suicide. If he could go back to his youth, would he still do this? He just doesn't have the opportunity to go back.

So I have observed a phenomenon, people's ideas are very complicated, and their brain's computing power is not enough, they live a very hard life, they live a very uncomfortable life. Is that the purpose of living? That's not the purpose of living. The purpose of living is to let us know what is beneficial to us. A person who has God will definitely live very simply, because he does not rely on himself to protect himself, he relies on God. He brings in God's computing power, and his computing power is enough.

Your brain's computing power is not enough. With a small broken laptop, can you do artificial intelligence? There's not even a graphics card, and you're just sweeping. Forget it, with a whole laptop, you still want to engage in artificial intelligence, and you still want to do large models. You can't even do small models. No!

Solomon was a person who had seen the world. When he was old, he realized that he had worked hard all his life and was exhausted. Then he remembered: What is beneficial to me? Why didn't you do it earlier? In fact, Solomon was God doing a great experiment on him. As a result, Solomon realized when he was old that these things were of no benefit. Today, let's all ask ourselves, what is beneficial to us? Wouldn't it be better to ask earlier?

Then he exclaimed with emotion. Why did he exclaim with emotion? He went everywhere to explore, he wanted to find these principles in the world, to find the truth, and he was exhausted. Observing and exploring, observing and exploring, he couldn't figure it out no matter how he thought about it. In the end, he exclaimed: God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices. I'll add a sentence at the end: They ruin themselves.

You know, many people live so hard. One of our sisters told me something yesterday. She said that their office director, oh my goodness, on the left side of her cubicle was a couplet that read: Petty people get out; on the right side of her cubicle: Step on petty people; it was just missing a banner. Oh, they live so hard, always feeling that someone is going to take her position.

Fortunately, this sister is among us. I taught her a long time ago to live simply. She was originally a simple person. She worked hard in the office, was harmless to humans and animals, and was very happy. Everybody remember these words: Harmless to humans and animals, and very happy. Her relationship with her director is also good, so she has a good life. Thank God.

Beat villains, villains get out! Are there any among us? There are also among us. As soon as you talk to your pastor, as soon as I listen, I find that a Zhen Huan has come. Do you have to do these things? Fight with heaven, fight with earth, fight with people, and then palace intrigue, fight in the palace, fight outside the palace, fight out many tricks, and when you are old, you exclaim with emotion: What is beneficial to us?

You will walk through empty days like Solomon, and find that you have complicated yourself too much. Those tricks inside you have harmed you. What is the point of being so hard? Is that wisdom? That's called foolishness. So brothers and sisters must learn to fear God! That is the beginning of wisdom.

Next, let's read Chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes. I encourage our brothers and sisters to learn to study. For example, you all know that I am going to talk about Chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes today. In the first week, you should read it ten, twenty, or one hundred times to see what it says, and then you come to listen to my Bible study. Like the Book of Judges that was studied on Wednesday. For Friday's study, I usually push everyone to study actively, and the effect is particularly good.

Scripture

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7, verses 27 to 29:

Behold, this is what I have found, says the Preacher, adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. See, this alone I found, that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices. (Ecclesiastes 7:27-29)

Prayer

God, today I ask you to take away our thoughts. Remove those complex things from within us, and let us begin to be people of faith, trusting in you, relying on you, because you are my God. God, give me such wisdom and understanding that I may return to being an upright person.

Let me once again become a vessel that manifests your glory, let me begin again to experience your power, let my uprightness be a vessel that manifests your glory. When people see it, they will give glory to your holy name. God, may you keep me, that I may dwell in your temple all the days of my life, to behold your beauty and live out your glorious image, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Scripture Background

When you hear this passage, you may argue with me that it's sexist. Men can have one upright person, but women don't have any. Let's not talk about this matter. If you want to blame, you blame Solomon for being sexist. It doesn't matter if you sue him to court. I hope the judge will travel with you to three thousand five hundred years ago to judge Solomon. Maybe the two of you's wisdom can't even fix Solomon.

Let's talk about the fourth point, the background of this passage. Solomon once used wisdom to seek the reason for all things. Look at what he said:

All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness of madness. (Ecclesiastes 7:23-25)

Did he find it? Later he said he didn't find it. Then he went on to say:

And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. (Ecclesiastes 7:26)

The Preacher says, behold, among a thousand men, I found one upright man, but among all the women, I did not find one. I compared this one by one, to seek wisdom, my heart still wants to seek, I will never give up! But I have not found it. Why? Because in the process of finding this thing, he actually wanted to find it with tricks, which he could not find. Later, what did he find? That God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices.

Originally, you don't need to care too much about the principles of all things. The principle of all things is that people fix it back and forth. Two women, one child died, and the other child lived. When they arrived at Solomon's place, the two people began to fight for a child. Don't you think this is very evil? Why are you snatching someone else's child?

When Solomon was in the world, he saw so many such problems, but only recorded a few. What about moving the boundary, stealing other people's cattle, it was very complicated. When people come up with many tricks, Solomon wanted to study them. But I think Solomon should not be as smart as Guiguzi. If he was as smart as Guiguzi, he would have trained many Pang Juan, Sun Bin, and Zhang Yi. He didn't do this, I think maybe he was not very good.

As a result, he looked at these things, and he studied them back and forth, and only found one conclusion, that God made mankind upright. If the people in this world live according to God's word, that is, live according to God's image, these smoky things would be gone.

This matter is vividly reflected in us Chinese. What does it mean? It means that even if you move foreign things to China, they won't work, because Chinese people have so many tricks, they are all descendants of Zhen Huan, they are all Guiguzi. Chinese people admire Guiguzi, Zhuge Liang, and Zhen Huan the most, all of these things.

Oh my goodness! No matter what policies you use, what rules you use, they can always find loopholes for you, and then they can do you to the point where you really have nothing to say, which is very powerful. So among Chinese people, it doesn't seem like a Chinese person to simplify complex things like I do.

As a result, what Solomon was looking for was? Originally, God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many devices. Forget about those tricks, why study those things? After studying them, what can you do? At best, you can live out a Zhuge Liang, who died at the age of fifty in Wuzhangyuan. Even Zhuge Liang, it's still God's will that cannot be violated. I am particularly moved, do people have to live a tragedy?

Then Solomon said:

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. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-2)

So that's how it is. That is to say, once a person understands death, he gains wisdom. Remember, a person gains wisdom once he understands death. Why is that? Once a person understands that they live and then die, and they cannot control it. Not only can one not control death, but even sickness is difficult to manage. As a result? People will seek God. Is that the case?

I ask you, who seeks God when they are living well? No one. It's only when they can't manage anymore that they seek God. When they can manage, they resort to cunning schemes. And when they resort to cunning schemes, they become foolish. After becoming foolish, they create many problems that they cannot solve, and then they have to seek God again.

Then, after seeking God and God helps them solve the problems, they can live again. Then they become foolish again, and they come up with many cunning schemes because they want to live. How poignant! People are in this vicious circle, spinning until they die. What's the point of living a long life, living a painful life, living with a body full of diseases? It becomes a tragedy of a lifetime.

Think about it, isn't everyone trying to live? In our generation, the first was the great leader Chairman Mao, followed by the great Vice Chairman Lin Biao. We all knew that when we were young. Suddenly one day, Lin Biao defected to the enemy and died in a plane crash. We were very confused. He was the successor chosen by the great leader Chairman Mao, so how could he defect to the enemy? We were very young children, and we didn't have the brains for this, but we found it very interesting.

Someone built a trillion-dollar empire, and when the empire collapsed, they hanged themselves. It even rhymes a bit: Empire collapses, hangs himself. What do you say is going on? Then we see many unjust and unrighteous things, and there are so many twists and turns in them. When you listen to those things in court, ah, we can't bear to listen. It's these unjust and unrighteous things that are used to judge cases. There are so many of them, and women's cases are even more complex.

But if you put death in a person's heart, that person will immediately wake up and know that these things are not important. Every matter is worth nothing in the face of death, none of them is important. Therefore, if a person wants to gain wisdom, he must put this death in his heart.

Then Solomon studied where foolishness comes from. Foolishness comes from people wanting to live, doing many things, but ultimately not being able to outsmart God. If you don't have Zhen Huan's skills, you will get very angry and your temper will flare up.

If you are a salesperson and you encounter a female customer, good customers are fine, but those difficult ones are deadly. Just looking at them makes you tired. So Solomon said that you should observe the works of God, and then learn to fear God, and you will come out of these things, out of this complex vicious circle.

Do you all understand now? I don't think I can explain it clearly in a few words, but I have made one thing clear. Solomon searched for a long time and didn't find it, but finally he found it. That is the theme we are going to talk about today: God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many cunning schemes.

Death is the End of Everyone

Do you know that you will die? You know. Do you know when you will die? You don't know. If you know that you will die, let's simulate it. Suppose one day, we die, and then we see many people carrying you into a coffin, carrying you to the funeral home, and then performing religious ceremonies. Regardless of whether you are a Christian or not, you see these people doing these things for you. What are you thinking at this time? Death is the end of everyone.

I tell you, once you know that this is the end, you will know that many things become simple. The reason you always think about complex things is that you always think you will live a long time. If you always think that I will die tomorrow, today becomes simple. You put this matter in your heart, the living must put this matter in their hearts.

Why put it in your heart? Suppose I am going to die tomorrow, then these petty people are no longer important. As a result, everything becomes simple all of a sudden, and you become joyful all of a sudden. Death is the end of everyone, and that is the problem. This is called wisdom. Therefore, the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. I have a deep understanding of this.

I especially like to attend funerals. If anyone dies, let me know, and I will go and see. Some people say, Why are you like this? Actually, I don't really care who dies, and I don't really care if I die myself. Why is that? As soon as I see a dead person, my heart immediately becomes simple. As soon as I become simple, I immediately become joyful.

Death is the end of everyone, and many things are not important. You slowly ponder this matter, you have to practice it. Sometimes I stand next to the coffin and even say a few words to the dead person. I believe that the dead person's spirit should still be there, and he should be able to hear what I say. He would say, You are so right, you little rascal, why didn't you tell me this when I was alive? But even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it.

So why are people like this? Why are people foolish? It's because they don't want to die, they always think they can live a long time, and they are always preparing many things for themselves. After a person dies, they fight over the family property. Is that property really meaningful to him? Actually, it's not very meaningful, but he thinks he has to have it.

Once a person puts death in their heart, then the person will seek God. Of course, some people do not seek God, thinking that this is a natural law, a natural process. But they also know that they will die one day. If you know that you will die one day, then what are you busy with today, doing so many murky things?

But the problem lies here. Actually, people do not put death in their heart, but always put living in their heart, and then they become foolish. Why do people become foolish when they put living in their heart? Because they are focused on living, they complicate things and come up with many cunning schemes. That's how it is.

I once served a person, and she was about to die. Ah, she saw through many things. Have you ever seen a person who is about to die? They see through many things because they are about to die. At that time, she only had one thought: Teacher, can you make me live again?

How did she get into this situation? Because in the past, she wanted to live so much that she lived to the point of being about to die. When she was about to die, she began to seek God. She used to avoid me when she saw me, because she knew I was a Christian, and she would walk around me, not wanting to pay attention to me. Now that she is about to die, she has come to me.

You say, why do I do this kind of work? When couples quarrel, they come to me. When couples are in love, they leave me aside. When they are making money, they ignore me. When they are losing money, they come to me. When they're living well, when they're happy, they don't look for me. They only come looking for me when they are having difficulties. Then I save them.

After I saved her, that's it, it got complicated again, and she came up with many cunning schemes again. Then she went on blind dates, got married, and then her husband had an affair. Then she came to me crying. Oh my god, there are so many stories. So, you can't see through because you're alive.

I think you must know that the end of a matter is better than its beginning, but people have reversed this. Since people have reversed this, it is difficult for them to truly trust God. It's not like me. When I first knew God, I knew this was a treasure. Once I come to life, I feel that I have a treasure that I can live with.

They only think of the treasure when they are about to die, and they lose the treasure when they are alive. That's really strange. Take a closer look, are you that kind of person? Once you come to life, good, you go to work, make money, pay off debts, support your family, a lot of things. Then you say to me, Teacher, I have to solve my living problems, right?

How strange does that sound to me? Haven't you wanted to solve it before? How did you solve it? You ended up with a body full of diseases, now you want to solve it again, solve a body full of diseases, you can't do it. You have to know that death is your end. You can't even control death, so you might as well give up. Solomon was so smart, but he couldn't figure it out. Can you figure it out? You don't have that brain, you just know how to create a lot of diseases. You should come and trust God.

The Heart of the Wise is in the House of Mourning

Death is the end of everyone. If you have to wait until you die to understand, it will be too late. When you see others die, you can simulate your own death. When you see how others are, you can know how you are. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. Have you seen someone breathe their last? When you see it, you will think that his life is over. Many things have become vanity of vanities, many things have become meaningless, and he's still doing this and doing that.

Of course, some people hope that their father will come back to life after praying when he is about to die. Why is that? Because Lazarus is recorded in the Bible, and Jesus made him come out of the tomb. This Lazarus was actually quite unlucky. Why was he unlucky? He died twice! Ordinary people breathe their last once, but he breathed his last twice. He sacrificed himself and gave himself to Jesus to make a display. Jesus made a display, demonstrating to everyone that people can be resurrected from the dead. As a result, this Lazarus didn't live to this day, he breathed his last again.

The first time he breathed his last was very hard. How hard? His two sisters cried so much, it was very hard. As a result, he breathed his last again. Oh my god, you say he asked for trouble by dying twice. Dying twice is so hard. But some people want him to come back to life after he breathes his last through prayer.

An old man was paralyzed in bed. When his daughter saw that her father was about to breathe his last, she prayed and her father came back to life. When her father was about to breathe his last again, she prayed and her father came back to life again. He could never finish breathing his last each time. She complained to God and said, God, look how painfully I am living. God said, Look, every time I want to solve your problem, you don't let me solve it. I want to take your father away, so you don't have to take care of a paralyzed person, but every time you pray to me to let your father come back, and then you complain to me. Is this reasonable? This is unreasonable.

Then she said, Then what should I do? God said, Next time your father is breathing his last, don't bring him back halfway. Think about how much he suffered from lying in bed, being unable to control his bowel movements. Foolish. Actually, it's the same whenever you die. Just die sooner, lying in bed with bedsores on your back, how painful is that?

The day of death is better than the day of life. Have we all reversed this? Therefore, the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. Once you think about it clearly, you will no longer want to struggle to live, and you will get rid of all the cunning schemes. You don't need to read Luo Zhi Jing anymore, you don't need to read Empresses in the Palace anymore, you don't need to study palace intrigue anymore, you don't need to study those manipulative tricks anymore. The end of framing others is very miserable.

In our generation, there was the Gang of Four, who framed many veteran revolutionaries. As a result, weren't these people also very miserable? It's better to be simple and upright. Why simple and upright? Because I don't really want to live. I really want to give this feeling to everyone, but I can never give it away, no one wants it. Do you want it? I really hope you want it.

A few months ago, I went to see my old friend. He didn't want to die, he didn't want to die before he died, he just wanted to live. As a result, he breathed his last in a few days. I went to attend the funeral, and his wife said to me that he didn't want to die, he couldn't let go. You thought you couldn't let go, but can you really not let go? You have to let go even if you can't let go.

What do I want to share with everyone? That is, don't want to live, always think about death. Usually just think like this, don't really want to live, really want to leave this world, really want to lay down the burden, really want to leave this world and be with the Lord, not just generally want to. Once you think like this, you have wisdom. Once you think like this, the pressure is gone. Why do people want to die? They owe a lot of debts, they want to commit suicide, they want to end this pain, they really want to die.

Then do it earlier, when you don't owe anything, I want to die. Is there any pressure then? No. I don't want to live, I don't really want to live. As a result? I no longer want to live, so I don't need to prepare this and prepare that for my future, scheming against each other all day long, fighting with heaven, fighting with earth, fighting with people, fighting back and forth, and then engaging in palace intrigue. Then you won't owe debts, and if you don't owe debts, you won't have to pay them back, and you won't be so tired.

I'm going to die tomorrow, so I'll live one day easily today. If I don't die tomorrow, then I'll die the day after tomorrow, and I'll have another easy day today. Isn't it simple and without pressure? Isn't living simple and upright? Those cunning schemes in your head, just throw them away. Of course, some people can't get out, they feel that those things are important. Some people are about to die of cancer, and they still want to occupy other people's houses. Wisdom is very beneficial when people are alive.

Wisdom is good, and so is an inheritance, especially for those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12)

You really should see that you rarely see me living unhappily because I have attained enlightenment. It's good to attain enlightenment, this is called a wise person. Only wisdom can preserve the life of a wise person. Wisdom cannot preserve the life of a foolish person. So, once a person doesn't want to live, many things become simple. Being a deadbeat is OK, eating a little more or eating a little less is OK.

Once You Want to Live, You Become Foolish

Why do people fight in the palace? Because they want to live. They want to defeat their opponents so they can live. Once people want to live, they become foolish, and they come up with many cunning schemes, making themselves exhausted. Because their living is living in the flesh. A person who is of the flesh is an enemy of God. A person who wants to live in the flesh is bound to be messed with by God and messed with by ghosts, forgetting that death is the end of everyone.

If you forget that death is the end of everyone, you will be entangled in the trivial matters of life. Children's studying, heartbreak, work, these things make you exhausted. Anyway, as soon as I think about living, I become foolish, and I feel tired, forgetting that living is vanity. After forgetting these things, I begin to fall into the cunning schemes of these politicians, the cunning schemes of businessmen, and the cunning schemes of office politics. Scheming back and forth, scheming back and forth.

Today, everyone, try to gain wisdom. No matter where you are, you start working hard, and then you are harmless to humans and animals, full of humor, not fighting or striving. If people kick us, we will be kicked. If they glare at us, we will be glared at. That's it. See if you live well, I tell you, you live very well. So, once people think this way, they become simple. Once you become simple, you can understand the works of God.

You Must Observe the Works of God

Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything about their future. In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes. (Ecclesiastes 7:13-18)

What can you get after reading it? You observe the works of God. In the world, there are many things that God wants to make people confused about, which Solomon studied and studied, but couldn't figure out. What did he study in the end? He understood. What did he understand? Who can straighten what God has made crooked?

That is, if you are King Solomon and you want to redress injustice for him, you can't redress it, and there is no way to fix it. Therefore, when it comes to legal matters, you should rely on God and avoid those things. Today you sue someone, tomorrow you sue someone, seeking some justice, you can't find it in this world.

The righteous perish in their righteousness, and the wicked live long in their wickedness. Can you understand it? If you can't understand it, you must fear God! You really need to fear God! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? That person's head, God made him crooked, so he is always thinking about twists and turns, and then he comes up with many cunning schemes. Why? God just doesn't want people to have hope in this world! The only thing you can get in this world is death! The flesh is of no benefit.

If you are overrighteous, you want to straighten what God has made crooked. As a result, being overrighteous will destroy yourself. Why are you arguing with God? These are not things you can manage. Do not be overly wicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time?

Do Not Be Entangled in Sin

Aren't you going to examine the works of God? After you have examined them, what are you going to do? You must not be entangled in sin. Look, you have woven many cunning schemes yourself, and as a result, you are entangled in sin. You have thought a lot yourself, twisting the words of this person and that person. After twisting them, you put these meaningless things in your heart.

When a couple gets along, Look at your eyes, I can tell that you are disappointed in me. How can you tell? That's just nonsense. Look at us serving people, What's wrong, you don't want to pray for me? That's what people say, very evil.

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you— for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. (Ecclesiastes 7:20-22)

I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare. (Ecclesiastes 7:26)

Today, fighting corruption depends on mistresses, they are all entangled. People always twist things because they care about too many things. The one who pleases God is an upright person, puts death in his heart, and gains wisdom, and sees through the things of living. If you are a sinner, you can't see through, and then you want to live, and you want to live gloriously, but as a result, you live miserably.

Summary

Ponder slowly, let's make a summary together, so the key is to fear God! Because the one who fears God will surely come out of these two things. This thing is not important, and that thing is not important.

Since Ecclesiastes says that living is vanity of vanities, do you believe it? Since Ecclesiastes says that death is the end of everyone, and you also know it, can you remember it in your heart? Can you know what will happen after a person dies? If you don't care, those things will surely come to pass. Never think that you will go to a good place after committing suicide. That is more painful than living in the world.

We fear God, so we gain wisdom, and become vessels that manifest His glory on earth, and live out God's image on earth. No longer a crooked person, but an upright person, because God created us originally upright. Do not be overrighteous, and do not be overly wicked. Don't care about these two things, just fear God well. That is the key.

May God bless everyone! Amen!