Introduction

Good day to all! Let us turn to Proverbs, chapter two. Over the years, I have made a rather astonishing observation: Christians can become dim-witted. You might wonder, how could Christians become dull? Some were quite bright before accepting the Lord, only to become simpletons afterward. I find this rather perplexing. Some of you may disagree, but I do not understand how it is that Christians seem to end up this way. You may wish to observe and understand this carefully.

I have been working hard to solve a problem: how to make people intelligent. Some may challenge me, asking, What makes you so smart? Are others all becoming dull? Among the people I have encountered, I see a strange phenomenon: commonplace things become distorted in the minds of Christians. Common sense ceases to be common. How dull must such people be! Through studying Proverbs, chapters one and two, we can understand how to make people intelligent. The book of Proverbs speaks well on this matter.

Some time ago, I was deeply troubled, to the point that I was telling God daily, If it is possible, please take me home soon! I am not exaggerating, because I felt it was too difficult to make people intelligent. I often pondered how people could become like this. Later, I thought: since God has not taken me home, I must continue diligently. I must revere God properly. I began to earnestly ponder this, believing that one day I could solve the theoretical problem. Recently, I have resolved this theoretical issue. My Sunday sermons lately have been my presentations on this topic.

If some people claim to be masters or doctors of divinity, I am impressed. But if a master of divinity has no way forward, if a doctor of broad learning has no way forward, what then? I am an explorer, and I am eager to rack my brains for wisdom and discernment. I am also eager to shout aloud: Let us all seek wisdom together! Hurry and become intelligent! Later, I found that there were many who merely shouted slogans, but those who truly became intelligent were somewhat disappointing. I say, Seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures. These words truly reflect my inner thoughts. Whenever I study these things, I have a little discovery and a small step forward. I am truly grateful to God. It was said earlier, Seek, and you will find. Are we not finding daily now?

You may have noticed that, over the years, the breadth and depth of the content I share have been continuously increasing. I thank God, as I find great enjoyment in this. It is like a programmer who, upon finding a solution, clenches his fist in excitement, exclaiming, Yes! giving himself a thumbs up. It is a very exhilarating feeling. I find it very interesting. As a preacher like myself, whenever I present a message, I feel great, exclaiming, Yes! It feels wonderful to have found a treasure. My point is this: seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures. If you seek wisdom, you will gain knowledge of God. These words are excellent.

Rejecting Self-Conceit, One Will Then Seek Wisdom

Today, my topic is Diligently Seeking Wisdom Leads to Knowledge of God. This title is truly excellent: seeking to become intelligent leads to knowledge of God. I am always seeking intelligence, not for any other reason, but because I feel I am quite dull. I feel I am not capable. If you seek wisdom, you will gain knowledge of God. Do you want to become an intelligent person? If you want to become intelligent, encourage yourself. I say, I want to! I dream of it! I must become an intelligent person. I was so foolish before; today I will change. One lives a lifetime, and living as a dull person is living. Living as an intelligent person is also living. If you are seeking wisdom and seeking silver, which is better? Of course, seeking wisdom is better.

Incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:2-5)

You should know that it is somewhat difficult for ordinary swindlers to deceive me. Some among us have been swindled out of three or four hundred thousand, some out of three million. I am deeply moved by how many such people there are! Recently, I encountered a swindler. Some say I am dancing with wolves; I am dancing with swindlers. I danced with him for a short while, but it is still difficult for him to deceive me. He is a stock-trading expert. He said that recently, an institution was starting to make moves. I really wanted to learn these things. When I learn, I learn for real. As a result, he said that buying this made money, buying that made money. I was puzzled. How could there be such a person in this world, concerned about whether I could make money? How could he be so kind, caring about whether I could make money?

Another thing that also surprised me was that, even if I made money, he would not ask me for a single cent. I thought this was strange. Actually, it is not strange. You should know that swindlers are like this. In my mind, I had already labeled him as a swindler. One day, he actually called me, telling me to hurry and buy. He asked how much I wanted to buy. I said two hundred thousand, but I did not actually have even twenty thousand. I started listening to what he was saying. You know, there really are people who fall for it. Some people were immediately trapped. He said this stock could rise to $15, from $13 to $15, then to $18. As a result, it suddenly dropped to $8.

If you think you can really make money, you will go to the bank to take out a loan to buy it. You do not need to tell me. What would you tell me for? If there is something good, you keep it to yourself. I will tell you, he successfully swindled many people. Because my goal is not to seek silver, I do not have much interest in silver. I am filled with interest in seeking wisdom. He does not know that I am practicing to become wise. Everyone must remember: No one truly cares whether you can make money. If someone cares very much whether you can make money, I think he is either a fool or a lunatic. If he is neither a fool nor a lunatic, he is a swindler. Everyone must understand that no one cares very much whether you can make money.

What I want to do is hope that everyone becomes intelligent. How wonderful it would be if we all became intelligent together. Remember, if someone wants you to make money, even calling you late at night, without even thinking, that is a swindler. Do you have the kind of energy of seeking silver as for hidden treasures, using it to diligently seek wisdom? Later, I learned a lesson in the book of Proverbs. Someone asked me, How should I love God? I said, How you love money, so should you love God! This is what I learned. To understand the fear of the Lord and gain knowledge of God, you must know that fearing the Lord is not an unclear fear; it is a clear fear.

When a person seeks wisdom, he definitely thinks he is dull, that he is not capable, that he is foolish. That is why he starts seeking wisdom. Do not think that I feel I am very intelligent; I just feel that I am not capable. Do not think that I am very able; honestly, I am really not. But my God is able. I think everyone should seek wisdom, certainly on the basis of rejecting self-conceit. If you really think you are intelligent, you cannot seek wisdom. There are also some people who, although they do not say so, have a kind of foolishness, yet they still think they are intelligent. I say, Can you come out of it? He says, No! I say, Why do you react this way when you encounter such things, making yourself so uncomfortable? He says, Anyone in the world who encountered such things as I have would be uncomfortable! His meaning is that he is the most intelligent!

No matter who someone in the world is, even if Abraham faced what I have faced, he would not necessarily be stronger than me. Isaac would not be able, Jacob would not be able, Joseph would not be able. So he becomes a great deceiver, as if he is the only one in the world who is capable. Then he said to me, You are capable? You do everything right? I said, You ask well. Thank you for reminding me. Look at what extent such a person is self-righteous. He thinks he is the most advanced level in the world. For example, he writes a character with a brush, and I say, How did you write it like this? He will say, Anyone in the world would write it like this! Actually, there are many who write better than him. There are many calligraphers. But he will always say, Who would not do this when encountering this matter? I say, I will not hide it from you. If I encountered such things as you have encountered, I really would not do it this way.

I can tell everyone a truth: I would not encounter the things he encountered because I am not like him. Do you often hear these words? I give everyone a suggestion: Never say such things again. Always think that you are not capable. Only when a person thinks he is not capable will he diligently seek wisdom, cry out for understanding, seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures. If you have such an attitude, it would be very difficult for you not to become intelligent!

I tell you, those who seek will find, because God sits on His throne, looking down on mankind, seeing if there are any who seek, seeing if there are any who understand. He looks and sees a group of simpletons. Everyone should know that this term I use is definitely popular in heaven. Do you want to know what the term is? Everyone, guess. Alas! How simple-minded! Perhaps they do not speak Cantonese, nor do they speak Northeastern dialect. But no matter what language they speak, the flavor is the same.

Suddenly, God, on His throne, sees a small group of people, this group of people among us. Alas! These people think they are not capable. They think they are not intelligent. They are seeking wisdom. Then God says, Let them find! So they find. Did everyone know this took me many years to find? In the next period of time, many among us will be released from foolishness. This is really very good. The attitude inside is most critical for those who want to be released. When I am serving the brothers and sisters among us, I am very convinced that they have the glorious image of God, but their reactions are so strange, so self-righteous.

I myself am convinced of one thing: it is the operation of evil spirits. When we drive this foolishness out of our bodies, people become intelligent, which is really exceedingly good. I have been longing, hoping to find the theoretical foundation for making people intelligent. After finding it, it is so good. Everyone must have many confusions, which we will discuss later during the Q&A.

First, we must have a searching attitude. If you think you are yourself, it is not false, but the thing that continuously remains in foolishness, I think that should not be you. I still give everyone a very definite vision, which is that no one does not want to become intelligent. Do you want to be foolish for a lifetime? If you want to be foolish for a lifetime, then I cannot control you. If you do not want to be foolish for a lifetime, but foolishness is within you, you say, I cannot do it! I was intelligent for a moment, then foolishness came again, just tossing back and forth. Everyone should know that everyone wants to become intelligent, as long as we have a searching attitude today.

The Fear of the Lord Is Wisdom

The book of Proverbs begins by saying that man is foolish. Whether someone is very intelligent or very foolish, all are foolish. Only those who know God are wise. When we have this seeking attitude, I tell you, those who seek will definitely find, and you will understand the fear of the Lord. The first chapter of Proverbs speaks of the fear of the Lord as the beginning of knowledge, but people do not understand how to fear the Lord, and then they do not seek Him, so they become dull.

Suddenly one day, I discovered that Esau, Jacob's twin brother, was cursed, but in this world, there are many people like Esau, yet the Bible does not mention cursing them. Why single out Esau and say that he was to be cursed? I tell you, Esau was Abraham's grandson, Isaac's son. When they were born, Abraham was still alive. From a young age, they often listened to Abraham and Isaac talking about God. After listening, Esau thought in his heart: Can that fill my stomach? It was this attitude—not seeking, not understanding, not caring. He liked fishing, hunting, and racing. As a result, he was cursed. If people become Christians like Esau, it would be troublesome.

The Bible clearly curses him, and God would be at enmity with him for generations. This is why many Christians become dull after believing in God, because they are like Esau. How did they become like Esau? They did not explore, did not seek, did not take God seriously, and did not understand how to fear the Lord. They had their own ideas. I want to tell everyone that you seek her, as for hidden treasures. Exploration is an attitude. How do we explore? Do you know those who do scientific research? Among us, is there anyone with a deep understanding of science? Are there any scientists who can talk about what science is all about?

Each step of research and advancement in science is a bold hypothesis, with careful and rigorous verification. There must be a hypothesis, and then verification. We can have all sorts of hypotheses, and then we verify them. Because you are exploring and seeking wisdom, to solve the problem of wisdom, you must continuously explore the theoretical teachings of wisdom. Later, as people searched, they began to know to follow God's word, first assuming that God's word is true, and then I carefully verified it and rigorously demonstrated it. Once verified, one will find that God's word is very powerful. Each verification is very effective, and you will begin to fear the Lord. You will discover that the God I serve, the God I do not know well, is great and awesome.

All wisdom comes from God. Our God is great and awesome. He holds up the universe with His almighty hands. All the laws of the world are created by Him. We feel very good when we seek a little bit. Should we not fear God? There was once a scientist named Newton. He studied Newton's three laws of motion. As long as you give him the weight and mass of various planets and celestial bodies and know their speed, you can predict their orbits. The orbits of all the stars in the sky can be calculated. Amazing! As he studied, he later went on to study theology. Many people reacted with very foolish ideas when they saw Newton's actions, thinking that the great scientist Newton had become involved in theology and superstition.

They do not understand that a great scientist has reached such a high level and then goes on to study God, to yearn to know God more. You should start to reflect and say, Alas! I should not have done anything wrong, right? Many people foolishly say, Alas, what a pity! A pity for what? Knowing God is wisdom. How do we understand the fear of the Lord? You continuously verify. Some people say, I have verified it too, but the result of the proof is that God is dead. As a result, he himself died not long after. What I mean is that he did not verify at all. If he had an attitude of verification, he would not have a negative attitude from the start. If you want to prove that there is no God, you will be filled with confusion, and in the end, you will leave this world miserably with confusion. You must verify according to what God has said! The method is very important.

Integrity and Loyalty as Traits of the Wise

If one observes carefully, two things will become clear. First, what is the end of the upright? Second, what is the end of the eccentric, the perverse, and the deceitful? You might say: it is all retribution! Even if people do not observe, they still like to speak rashly. If we observe things closely enough and examine them thoroughly enough, you will find that God reserves true wisdom for the upright.

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. (Proverbs 2:6-15)

Has everyone carefully examined this matter? I suspect it is not examined enough. One person handled hundreds of millions, and that person invented something called Ponzi, the Ponzi scheme. That person's Chinese name was Ponzi. Although Ponzi made a lot of money, he died miserably in his old age. You can search online for the Ponzi scheme. Many people were defrauded into poverty. In this world, direct selling and many other industries play with Ponzi schemes, some at 10% and some at 90%! Some are 90% Ponzi, and some are 100% Ponzi, just with different proportions and different media.

For example, there is a short video about a person who makes coffee. As a result, capitalists chose coffee to manipulate capital. Many people in the coffee industry say: look, our coffee industry is about to prosper. But capitalists who understand coffee operations say: what does it have to do with you? You think they are playing with coffee, but no! They are playing with capital. Brothers and sisters must understand that Ponzi schemes can use stamps as a medium, the Eiffel Tower as a medium, cosmetics as a medium, and even health products. Anything can be used as a medium, just with different proportions. So brothers and sisters can observe carefully.

Years ago, I actually did direct selling. With my silver tongue, I did quite well. But I knew which of my words were lies and which were truths. Then I quit after only a few months. Although it was only a few months, I learned a lot. Can you make money without deceiving people? You can't make money without deceiving people, do you understand? Good if you understand. I have a fairly deep understanding of this. For example, direct selling might say, you build an organization, and if your organization is big enough, you can sit back and collect money, and you can be financially free for the rest of your life. There is no such thing! It's all lies.

Now I am talking about wisdom and understanding. If you study carefully, you will find that upright people will gain true wisdom. Those eccentric people, treacherous people, those wicked people will be cut off and uprooted. Is everyone clear about what I am saying? Everyone must be clear and not be fooled into following along. Have you seen Zhao Benshan's skits about fooling people? I tell you, that is fooling to the extreme, even the one trying to counter the fooling gets fooled, it's really厉害! In this world, if you play with fooling, if you play with scams, if you play with treachery, all you want to gain in the end is fame, fortune, and wealth, but what can these things give you in the end? In the end, it is just a tragedy in this world.

If everyone examines carefully, you will find that there is a heavenly principle in this world. If you are shortsighted and have no long-term goals, then there is nothing I can say. Some people are very prosperous, they look good, very 厉害, but do you know how tragic their end will be? Many people's endings are very miserable. We brothers and sisters must begin to seek understanding, because if people are not smart, they will be entangled in the crooked things of this world, and then they will follow others to do these things. The final outcome is an eccentric person, a treacherous person, a wicked person, an adulteress. You can't just make decisions impulsively, you have to examine it! I will read to you.

Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. (Proverbs 2:16-22)

Don't fail to examine, if you examine, you will come to these conclusions. If you have the opportunity to explore, go to the prison to explore, and you will see many very real stories. If you go to the hospital to explore, you will also see many very real stories. But if you explore among God's people, if you explore and observe those upright people, those who are pure in conduct, those who understand righteousness and justice and fairness, if you look at their wisdom, you will discover God's wisdom.

Among God's people was a man named Daniel, Daniel served as prime minister in the Babylonian and Persian empires. He served as prime minister for three dynasties, from youth to old age. He was once thrown into the lions' den, but God sealed the lions' mouths, God吧! As a result, those eccentric people, those who accused him, were thrown into the lions' den by the emperor, and the lions' mouths opened and tore those people to pieces, devouring them alive. Brothers and sisters must know that Daniel learned to be an upright man even while serving as prime minister in an idolatrous country.

Our integrity and foolish integrity are not the same, ponder this slowly. Our integrity is the integrity in the 《圣经》, we don't have time to talk about this today, but this is smart integrity, not foolish integrity. When some people see Deng Xiaoping, a very great figure, they say he is a 小矬子. Yes, he is not tall, but wouldn't it be good to learn a little from his intelligence? Why speak short words in front of a 小矬子? Isn't that annoying? You must know that although his height is small, his wisdom is not small! The kind of integrity I am talking about is useless, that kind of integrity is called foolishness. It does not edify others, nor does it edify oneself. We brothers and sisters must ponder this slowly! There is one thing I must tell you, this passage speaks of a very peculiar thing called what? Called an adulteress, a wayward woman.

She has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. (Proverbs 2:17-19)

Sisters must be careful! Why is this? In the New Testament there is an answer, Paul argued that the devil first诱惑ed Eve, if the devil had first gone to 诱惑 Adam, the chances would not have been great. But the devil first went to 诱惑 Eve. So if you are a sister, you must be even more careful. Until today, as a result of my service, through my statistics, I have found that sisters are very lovely when they are lovely, but when they are confused, they are really confused. Brothers usually don't look so lovely, but when they are confused, they still can't compare to these sisters! That is, when they are very indulgent in the flesh, very old horse, compared to the sisters' confusion, it is also far behind. So, sisters, be careful, the book of 《箴言》 specifically says that wisdom can save you from an adulteress, if a person marries such a wife in their lifetime, it will be a big trouble.

For her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. (Proverbs 2:18-19)

Some time ago, they told me a story. There was a Chinese couple in Japan, and the wife escaped and ran to her闺蜜's house. Her husband chased after her outside. As soon as she entered the door, she locked the door, locking her闺蜜 outside. As a result, her husband stabbed her闺蜜 to death with a knife. The闺蜜's mother began to sue them, and they are still in court. Just such a woman, her husband became a murderer, and her闺蜜 became an unlucky person. I tell you to stay away from such people.

Brothers and sisters may not know enough about these things. Once, on the fifth floor of my old home, a couple had an argument and lit the gas tank. The photos they took were like a missile site. As a result, the ceiling of the fourth floor was blown down, and it seemed that one person was also killed. The couple was renting the house. From then on, I learned a lesson, I would rather the house not be rented out than rent it to such a couple. Didn't someone say that when two people live together, you don't know who will be in the refrigerator first? Do you understand? You don't know who will be put in the refrigerator to be a specimen. Aren't these all things related to men and women? Her house leads down to death; her paths to the dead, there are too many such things.

Also, many years ago, a couple who were chemistry experts from Peking University and engineers from Tsinghua University, later the wife poisoned her husband with heavy metals. Some time ago, in Hangzhou, a husband chopped up his wife, cut her into pieces, and flushed her down the sewer, later found in the septic tank. There are too many of these things in this world, just ponder them slowly! As long as it involves these things, things become extremely complicated. Brothers and sisters must know what is going on? It is sexual immorality! Sexual immorality in the flesh is the result of disloyalty. When people are disloyal to each other and disloyal to God, it will cause heaven and earth to be turned upside down!

If people only love money, that is also very dangerous. What I want to say today is this: if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Some time ago, a sister wanted to fall in love very much, and I scolded her pastor. She was passing on a preconceived notion, which is disapproval. If people want to fall in love, let them fall in love! I want to restate that I have never opposed people falling in love, and I have never opposed people getting married. If you want to fall in love, fall in love properly. If you want to get married, get married properly. After you get married, manage it well and don't create a lot of foul-smelling things.

I am just telling you to examine and understand well, and don't end up with a whole bunch of tragedies. Then say: God! Why is this? I told you long ago. We have never opposed you, what we oppose is that you do not manage well, do not explore, understand, and seek well. We don't care about the quarrels between couples, we care about whether there is Mingding Destiny. We care about whether you are smart or not, whether you seek or not. So, explore well and seek well. If you want to seek understanding well, you will understand that God is great and awesome, full of glory, all wisdom comes from His mouth, God's glory is full of wisdom, He wants to give people wisdom. Knowing God is understanding and wisdom.

The most important thing for us to know God is to know that we are stupid, that we are ignorant, and that we do not understand, so we seek. Not only that, but we must also know that our lives are not long, just a few decades pass in the blink of an eye. Some people suddenly turn thirty, and some people suddenly find themselves forty. Before they know it? Suddenly they are fifty. Some people are fifty, and their perception of themselves seems to be still twenty, they always feel that they are still living in their少女時代. But when they look in the mirror, the skin on their neck can't hold up, and the wrinkles on their face can't be hidden, the age is all written on it. People must know that their lives are not long! But what is the meaning of living and then dying?

Conclusion

Seeking God is seeking eternal life, seeking God is seeing through that living is empty. When people see through that living is empty, there is no need to be so serious, and then seek God very seriously. Do you think you can't become smart? You will definitely become smart. Then you will become happy, and when you become happy, the wrinkles on your neck will be a little less, and the wrinkles on your face will be a little less, and the bitter melon face will be a little less. When you look in the mirror and see that you look like a crooked melon and cracked date, you have to reflect, don't you? The vicissitudes of life are all hanging on your face. If we are not walking through the vicissitudes of life, but walking through all the joy, wouldn't that be great? Start to understand, don't be confused by other people's words. Next chapter:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The book of 《箴言》 speaks so well, the fifth and sixth verses of the third chapter speak so famously. Brothers and sisters, do not forget God, and receive the words of the preacher:

listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; Yes, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, (Proverbs 2:2-4)

Finally, you will understand why people should fear the Lord, and you will know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowing God. Do not despise God! When people are self-righteous, they are actually despising God, as if you are the most 厉害 in the world.

May God bless everyone!