Sharing Recording on January 19, 2019

Introduction

When we were studying, we learned a lot of liberal arts knowledge, but our language skills did not improve much. Why is this? Because we did not grasp the essence of learning. The essence of liberal arts is to master a knowledge system based on language. A person can speak Chinese, but cannot say anything substantial. When I went to an English church before, I learned English seriously, studied the word of God, and researched how to preach. Learning a language is constructing a knowledge system in our minds. In Singapore, everyone speaks English, and a lot of content is in English, but it cannot be translated into Chinese well. Language is indeed very wonderful!

Your Height Determines What You See

There is a Chinese saying: Seeing trees but not the forest. This sentence means: Only seeing the part, not the whole, describing a narrow vision. The story of the blind men and the elephant is the same. Each person touches a different part, only a part, not the whole, and then starts to argue and guess. Many people in this world argue back and forth, but they are only arguing about what you see? What did I see?

People often cannot see the whole picture when they are alive, nor can they understand why people live. Wherever I go, I like to see the whole picture. When I arrived in Shenzhen, the entire map of Shenzhen was in my mind. When I arrived in Hong Kong, the entire map of Hong Kong was in my mind. With a global view, it is not easy to get lost.

If people want to live well, they must stand at a very high level to see clearly what it is all about to be human. If you stand in a narrow place, what you see is at a very low level. What seeds the farmer sows in the spring, he reaps in the autumn. Some people live to be over fifty years old and say, Why am I so miserable? In fact, it is all determined by the choices people made one after another when they were young. The Book of Ecclesiastes takes us to a very high level to look down. A person's height determines what he can see. So, as a person, you must learn to grasp the essence of things.

If people want to live well, they must grasp the essence of living. When I was in a small city, there were only a few roads, and they didn't change for decades. After walking them many times, I became familiar with them. Now, living in a big city requires navigation. Map navigation is achieved by navigation satellites launched by people. Without satellites to guide your life, you will not live well. So today's theme of Chapter 12 is to see the essence of living clearly.

Christians Do Not Rely on Feelings, They Need to Examine

I also thought about it for a long time before I came up with this theme. The initial theme I got was that the conclusion is to fear God. This theme seems to be understood, but it also seems not to be understood. Then I started reading again, that God will judge everything, and it also seems irrelevant. I continued scratching my head, what is it? Finally, the theme of seeing the essence of living clearly is what I got after repeated pondering and repeated thinking.

Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing, examining, and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Teacher sought to find pleasing words and write them uprightly, words of truth. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-10)

We need to meditate and examine, not just come up with ideas impulsively. Many Christians say: The Holy Spirit moved me. In fact, feelings are unreliable. We must start to examine. Religiosity will kill people. Brothers and sisters, do not rely on feelings. You must remove all religiosity and start learning how to examine. This is a person's duty. It is the same with educating children. It is not just impulsively thinking that it should be like this. You must learn!

People Need to See Far Ahead

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)

The author of Ecclesiastes makes us understand that people need to think further ahead. When Jack Ma held a conference, he asked everyone: What do you think about the next three years? He said, If you cannot see thirty or fifty years into the future, these three years will also be a waste of time. That is to say, you have to see the big picture first before you can get into the small details, and then you will know what to do. In this life, you must know how to see further ahead and plan before the days of decline come!

I have asked many people what they will do when they are old? They say they don't know. I ask again: What will you do if you have Alzheimer's? They say it probably won't happen. Those who get Alzheimer's never thought they would get Alzheimer's! A pastor called me a few days ago because my mother's Alzheimer's had improved, so he came to seek my help. His brother-in-law's father plays with feces at home every day. His brother-in-law is a very traditional Christian. His head is full of garbage. He cannot grasp the essence of things and likes to argue with you out of context.

People need to think further ahead and know that there are blessings and curses in the Bible. Deuteronomy was written to the Israelites and also to us Christians today. I have asked many Christians, and they say that there are no more curses in the New Testament. The Bible writes this: If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! (1 Corinthians 16:22).

I divide Christians into two categories: one is blessed Christians; the other is cursed Christians. Blessed Christians, God exalts them above all the nations of the world. Cursed Christians are beneath all the nations of the world. The Israelites disobeyed the words of the Lord God, so they were cursed and thrown around among all the nations, losing their country for 2600 years. During World War II, the Jews suffered terribly, and no one took them in. We Chinese were great and took in the Jews.

People need to think further ahead before the days of decline come. Once the days of no joy come, you can't do anything. My mother played mahjong for 40 years, smoked for 70 years, and did a lot of nonsense, but she has a son like me, so she will suffer less when she is old. What about you? If your son is not like me, you will definitely suffer. People must make good plans while they are alive, before the days of decline come. I often ask people: What will you do when you are old? They say: I won't do anything. I will be happy and play as much as I can now. There is a Chinese saying: The pitiful must have something hateful. We often see pitiful people on the street, and they all made it themselves. People's lives are chosen by themselves.

People need to think further ahead in their lives. Although playing mahjong is fun, there is no answer when the days of decline come. Today, as a preacher, I pass this way to you, so that you know to enter into the way of God, and then there will be an answer? In my mind, there is a hope that I will not decline when I am old. Some people are a bit dull in their 40s, some are half dull in their 50s, and then it will be troublesome. But people who live like me will hardly get Alzheimer's when they are old.

So, when you are alive, if you want to think further ahead, grasp the deeper essence. Think about what to do when people die? I often think about doing one thing. I have to prepare two coffins. When I meet someone who can't think straight, I will lie in it with you for a while to feel it. Write a couplet next to it: So-and-so will be immortal. When people die! No one commemorates them, and even the debts of the bank can be waived. In this world, whether there is love or hate, it is gone, and your life will come to an end. The circle of us Chinese is a period, and the period of foreigners is a solid point. At the end of our lives, let's think about, what am I doing? We can imagine: when I die, those loves, hates, and entanglements will be meaningless.

God's Purpose in Putting Us in This World is Mingding Destiny

The previous chapter wrote about living happily when you are young. Some people live happily, and then they get Alzheimer's. You want to be happy but you can't be happy. When you get old, you will find that there is no joy. What will you do? That is to say, today we must know an essential thing. In order to avoid the days of unhappiness and no joy from coming, do one thing quickly, that is, remember your Creator. What does it mean? It is to think about what God created me to do when I came into this world? Is it for eating, drinking, and playing? No. Did he create me to be happy and joyful in this world? No. What exactly did God create me to do? To let me come into this world is to achieve the purpose he put us in this world, and that is called Mingding Destiny.

What did I come into this world to do? I started thinking about this question when I was 17 years old. I thought about it for ten years before I understood a little. I only understood when my dreams in this world were completely shattered. Because at that time, I walked into the church myself. I was thinking: People live every day, go to school, study, take university exams, study for graduate degrees, and then work. They are really not happy, but there is a lot of pressure, and they live with frowns for so many years. If you say there is no joy, it seems like there is a little; if you say there is joy, there are a lot of tangled days.

Worrying about this, worrying about that, there are too many nonsense things. Every family has its own problems. At that time, I didn't read the Bible. I read difficult scriptures, which were too difficult to read! I started asking myself when I was 17 years old: What am I here for? I will die if I live, so I should die early to suffer less! I couldn't figure it out. Later, I decided to seek God. If there is no God, there is no meaning for me to live, so I went to find God. As a result, I really found him, the God in the Bible. In order to find this true God, I examined a lot. I had a lot of friends, including monks. I observed their beliefs and felt that it was not good. It was better to go to church to see, at least it was reliable!

Today I will tell everyone this answer: Know that the spiritual realm is very real. From the time I believed in the Lord until now, what I have experienced the most are miracles and wonders. When I talk about the miracles and wonders that God has done through my hands, I can speak endlessly. For example, this child next to me, her spine was curved 38 degrees. After praying with me here, she was healed. If I cannot grasp the essence of things, I cannot solve her problem.

This is really not bragging! She is sitting next to me, not lying to you at all. Her mother brought her to Singapore and said to me: Can you pray for my child? Good! I prayed with her. After praying for a while, I felt that she had a lot of grievances inside. When I asked, it was indeed the case. Because her younger brother was weak and sick, her mother often took care of her younger brother. Because of this, she was jealous, extremely entangled and uncomfortable. This is the discernment of good and evil. In reality, it is just looking for trouble when she is idle, having food and drink and still feeling uncomfortable. What kind of brain is this? There are many such people who like to feel uncomfortable, so the spine is curved? I said to her: Let's come out of this, okay? She readily agreed: Okay! I explained the Dao to her clearly, and she will no longer look for trouble when she is idle in the future. I tell you that there are too many people in this world who are looking for trouble when they are idle. This is because there is no Dao in people's hearts.

After people die, everything is vanity. Since everything is vanity, what should we do? Some people say that I will become a monk. It is not empty when you are a monk. They are also uncomfortable and suffer. But it must be admitted that there are also enlightened monks. It's a pity that I didn't meet them. If I met them, I would have to visit and see. Enlightened monks are also very powerful. This is the truth.

Since everything is vanity, we must find a way to solve this problem. Some people become monks, and we must respect them. They like to shave their heads, put a few dots on their heads, and wear a big gray robe. This is their choice. Is it the right way? We don't know because we haven't walked it! Some people choose to jump off the building. What happens after they jump? I imagine you being taken by the ox-headed and horse-faced men to a place where there is a big oil pot, and you are thrown into the oil pot.

and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

After people die, the dust returns to the earth, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. I have lived for so many years and it is meaningless. Why didn't I jump off the building? I didn't dare to jump. I don't know what will happen after death. It would be troublesome if there really is a King of Hell after death!

Seeing Through That All Is Vanity

I am qualified to talk about these things. My mother was almost taken away by evil spirits. Later, I prayed, and my mother's soul came back. After she came back, she cried and said: If you didn't snatch me back, I would have been taken away. She could hear the sound of my prayers, but I couldn't hear her calls. Her soul was taken away by something, but she was still alive. Some old people are very difficult before they die, making their families feel very uncomfortable. They don't recognize their relatives and are confused. In fact, in this case, it is very likely that it is a ghost.

That day, I sensed something was off with my mother. I grabbed her and asked, Who are you? The ghost then spoke, I am your mother. I thought, why does my mother speak like this? And those shifty little eyes. Once a person is controlled by a ghost, even their lips change. This must be a ghost, but at the time, I didn't know my mother's spirit had been seized. I prayed to get rid of this ghost, and later the ghost told me that it was Old Ma who sent it.

After a person dies, they kick their legs, close their eyes, and all the affairs of this world are vanity of vanities. What learning, investing, managing finances, buying houses... even those with perpetual leases won't live in them; it's all vanity of vanities. If that's the case, how should you live when you're alive in this world? You should remember the Lord who created us, carefully keep and follow His commandments, and fear God. After death, we will be judged by God, who will judge everyone. This one goes to hell, this one goes to heaven, this one goes to the King of Hell, that one comes to me... where you will be assigned depends on your fate.

The problem is, if we keep walking until we reach the coffin, and only wake up when we leave the world, it's too late. In this life, you can be happy when you're young, become senile when you're old, and be judged after death; that's not good. But if we are happy when we're young, happy when we're old, and finally return to God happily, that's good. This logic sounds pretty good, and living according to this logic is the meaning of our lives in this world.

Believe that the Spiritual Realm is Real

Yesterday, a big entrepreneur brought his father to see me. His father said that when he was in his twenties, his younger sister, who is the entrepreneur's aunt, had a crush on a boy and something went wrong. Now, there are many people who go from unrequited love to mental illness; our brothers and sisters must never have unrequited love, it's very harmful. As a result, the boy got married, and his aunt jumped into a well. His father pulled his sister out of the well, and after pulling her out, a perfectly fine person became ill. Through chatting, I found that his father was very smart. Look at the children he raised; both his sister and brother are academic achievers, and his father is not much different. From then on, he was frail and unable to work, and it has been like that until now. For so many years, thanks to the state-owned enterprise continuing to pay his salary, but it was still hard and uncomfortable; it's so difficult not to be able to work!

People are very tired when they don't understand the things of life. Originally, it is the spirit that makes a person live; the flesh is of no benefit. I told him: Unrequited love is a ghost, which turned his sister into this. When he rescued his sister, the ghost jumped onto him, making him frail for so many years. This ghost is really bad! Some people say: Where are the ghosts? Why haven't I seen them? There are many things you haven't seen. Hearing is false, seeing is believing. What you haven't seen is also real; you haven't seen what's beyond the universe, but it has long existed in reality. We must never say that seeing is believing and hearing is false. If I put you in a haunted house, and at night you hear cracking sounds, you see nothing, but your hair stands on end.

My mother often hears sounds at night where she lives. I'll tell you why: One day in Singapore, I was walking my dog outside when the Holy Spirit moved me to call my mother. At that time, my mother was passing away. As soon as I prayed, I saw in a vision a ghost as big as a monkey, strangling my mother's neck. I immediately drove it away. At this time, my sister arrived. The ghost was driven away and came back, came back and was driven away, like a tug-of-war. I thought, something is wrong; there's something wrong with this house. So I told my sister: As long as Mom gets a little better, take her away, leave here. As soon as she left this house, my sister lived on the seventh floor, without an elevator, and my mother actually climbed up. An hour ago, my mother was about to pass away, and an hour later, she climbed up to the seventh floor by herself.

The spiritual realm is very real. I used to hear sounds in the house I rented, and later I sold the house. Don't take seeing as believing and hearing as false. The world we live in is a very spiritual world. Some people just have a hard mouth, for example, saying: You might have an accident when you go out today. This person says: Why are you cursing me? It seems they still believe in the things of the spiritual realm! It is so sad for a person to live their whole life without knowing the spiritual realm or that there is a spiritual realm after death!

Be More Open-minded to Meditate, Investigate, and Explore the Truth

Later, I gradually understood one thing: I must be like Jesus when I am alive. This is the key to my entire faith. I strive to be like Jesus every day, so I have many stories to tell.

Yesterday, I saw an old man. I told him about the spiritual realm, and he didn't believe it. I don't need him to believe it; whether he believes it has nothing to do with me. Then I mentioned the sister sitting across from me; her grandfather's dementia was cured. How was it cured? It was cured by me and this sister and her mother praying and casting out demons for her grandfather! When the old man heard this, his eyes lit up because his aunt had dementia. I said: You are in your seventies this year; whether you become senile later is not up to us. No one wants to be senile! No one wants to play with feces! But what do you do if you encounter this disease?

Today, we must begin to think and seek. I never proselytize or recruit people into the faith. If you listen, fine; if you don't, that's your business, but I'll tell you some truth: Do you have an answer for the future? If you don't have an answer, you must explore and seek.

Besides, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. (Ecclesiastes 12:9)

Today, we study the Book of Ecclesiastes; we must meditate, understand, and investigate. This entrepreneur's whole family has experienced so many supernatural events, not only his sister but also his brother and his mother. The whole family has experienced supernatural events. This time, he thought about it: Yes! I explore and I understand. Does it cost money? It didn't cost a penny.

We must learn to have a rigorous attitude. Don't make decisions based on guesswork; investigate carefully before making choices. Don't just listen to me; you have to see what I do and see the problems I solve. I long to believe in Jesus, but if you can find another answer after investigating, I congratulate you. But I think that among all the master-level figures in the world, Jesus is the most powerful.

For example, a mother saw her child die, knew that Jesus was nearby, and invited Jesus over. Jesus took the child's hand, and the child came back to life. I ask you, is this Jesus good? It's really good, isn't it? If you are told a series of reasons why people will eventually die, but the problem is not solved and the child is still dead, would that work? Our Jesus is so good; He solves problems. When the sick come to Jesus, aren't they all healed? Don't you want such a Jesus? I don't want to donate the money I worked so hard to earn to the hospital and still beg them: Save my child! And still worry that they won't perform the surgery well and stuff money into the doctor's pocket. Why bother? It's so much better to find Jesus!

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is the essence of man's life. If you don't rely on every word from the mouth of God but rely on something else, it's unreliable.

What does the preacher preach? He preaches the way of eternal life. He must investigate and meditate. Whether you are doing scientific experiments, inventing, or creating, you must investigate. The Wright brothers, who made airplanes, and Edison, who invented the light bulb, had to go through thousands of experiments and overcome many technical difficulties to make it happen, didn't they?

The Preacher sought to find pleasing words and write words of truth plainly. (Ecclesiastes 12:10)

Some people feel uncomfortable when they hear about death, as if I am cursing you. What does the Bible say? The words of the wise are like goads. Death is death, but this sounds unpleasant. For example, when an elderly person dies at home, the family cries and wails, but the dead are dead, and the living must live well. After a person dies, the coffin is sealed. We should seek the essence of human life.

The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. (Ecclesiastes 12:11)

The words we speak today should be like the words of the teacher in the assembly, like well-driven nails. This sentence is a bit prickly; it can wake people up. Why do people get mental illnesses? It's because they haven't thought things through. Some people solve mental illness like this, for example, the story of Fan Jin passing the imperial examination that we read in middle school. Fan Jin went crazy after passing the examination, so what did they do? A big slap in the face woke him up. Do you understand? Or a needle is stuck into him, and the person wakes up, isn't that how it's often portrayed on TV? So I think the words of the wise are like goads; after being poked, they can be more sober. For example, when children are often uncomfortable and fussy, you have to stimulate them.

Never say nice things. What I hate the most is preachers who only say nice things. Yesterday, the old man I saw had his daughter find many pastors to see him. He has seen many preachers, but he has never seen anyone as real as me. In the end, he said to me in Cantonese: 入味! (Ru Wei! - Tasty!). He had a very flavorful conversation with me, and we became good friends. Why did we become good friends? Because I spoke the truth; I didn't choose to say nice things. Today, our brothers and sisters really need to learn to have the Way! Having the Way can help people get out of depression, out of scoliosis, and out of discomfort.

All things are vanity. Even writing many books has no end, and much study wearies the body. This thing cannot be solved. Don't take reading and writing books as your life. The main point is to fear God, the words of the Lord your God, and then you can live well. If you don't carefully keep and follow them, it's all in vain even if you write many books. It's as if these words are for me. I have written more than 50 books, and next there will be more than 60, more than 70, making you think that I live for this. No, writing many books has no end. You must know that the main point is to fear God!

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

We who live in this world, God will judge every deed, whether it is good or evil. These words often prick me because, like you, I often secretly do bad things, thinking that no one knows. Later, I discovered that God knows and the ghosts know! It's like what I said last week: God will reveal the secrets of your heart; you can't hide them. Those with diseased bones have a serious problem in discerning good and evil; those with diseased eyes and ears have a very serious problem in discerning good and evil; cancer is both discerning good and evil and indulging the flesh; loving oneself to an outrageous extent is either depression or cancer. God will judge every deed, whether it is good or evil. Can we not fear God!

In the future, we won't just be finished when we leave this world; people will return to their eternal home! If your eternal home is that hell... if you don't do well in these seventy or eighty years, you'll go there. If you do well in these seventy or eighty years, you'll go to another place. Some people go to God, and some people go to the ghosts, isn't it?

Some time ago, I met a real estate businessman. He asked me a difficult question, saying that he had met a pastor who said that 999 out of 1,000 people go to hell, and only one goes to heaven. He asked me if this was the case. I said that you asked a good question, but I don't have an answer. Why? Because I haven't been to that place. If I give you an answer, I'm just talking nonsense. After hearing it that way, he felt that my answer was better than the nonsense of that pastor. I may not agree with the pastor, but regarding this question, I have my own view.

The key is to see who you are like when you are alive. If you live like someone, you will go to that person after death. If you live like a ghost, you will go to the ghosts; if you live like Jesus, you will go to Jesus. The old man asked me again: What you do is really good! But what is it for? I said, in your words, it's called serving the people; in our words, it's called blessing this generation!

I have come into this world, and I must live according to the words of God. If God wants me to become a blessing to this generation, I will become a blessing to this generation. I will not live for myself but for Jesus Christ who rose from the dead for me. Our brothers and sisters must know that the main point is to fear God and to know what God has put you in this world to do. It is to be a blessing to this generation; this is destiny. So, what we mean by Mingding Destiny is this, everything is for God. We have come to this generation to obtain destiny and become a blessing to this generation. This is God's will for us.

Jesus became a blessing to this generation, and even today, He continues to be a blessing to this generation. Let us follow our Lord Jesus, follow in His footsteps, until we see the face of our Lord Jesus.

May God bless everyone!

Book of Ecclesiastes List