Introduction

Good day to you all! Remember why we started studying the Book of Proverbs? It was because I wanted to share some philosophical insights with everyone, hoping to help you cultivate wisdom. However, after searching extensively, I couldn't find sufficient material, nor could I invent it myself. I believe that to become wise, one must read the Book of Proverbs, a significant portion of which resembles philosophy. Proverbs Chapter 6, in particular, is challenging to summarize with a single theme, as it covers a wide range of topics that may seem unrelated. Summarizing it in one sentence would be particularly difficult.

However, I am not satisfied with addressing each paragraph individually, as it might confuse you without providing substantial help. I prefer to establish a systematic framework. I do not believe that the author of Proverbs lacked a system, nor do I believe that the author wrote without a coherent theme. I believe he intended to convey a crucial message. The events described in Proverbs Chapter 6 may appear unrelated on the surface, but they share a common theme.

If we abstract and summarize this chapter as: For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life, it seems to address the central point. But is this summary too condensed? It feels like it captures the essence, yet it also feels incomplete; it seems to conclude the issue, yet leaves something unsaid. Later, I invested considerable effort and finally found it. You must understand how this theme emerges! In the future, when reading anything, you must do the same! Learn how to learn! If a person does not know how to learn, the information in their mind becomes disorganized and chaotic due to a lack of abilities in abstraction, induction, organization, and summarization.

I have discovered that this chapter is consistently related to things of the flesh. For example, laziness is a problem of the flesh, and so is sexual immorality. If your sexual organs are highly sensitive and you end up with your neighbor's wife, such things cannot be hidden. These are all things of the flesh. Things of the flesh, the inherent abilities that humans possess, are rarely useful, leading only to corruption and decay. I am now explaining this point to help you understand how I arrived at this summary. The first section concerns guaranteeing loans for friends; the second, laziness; the third, a perverse heart, sowing discord, and a wicked scoundrel; the fourth, the things that the Lord hates. Then it says:

My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life. (Proverbs 6:20-23)

Following this, sexual immorality is discussed. Then I wondered, are these not all things of the flesh? Why should people always bind commandments and teachings on their hearts and tie them around their necks? Because people can easily become carnal. Therefore, I will express the theme of this chapter without using its explicit words, as the author has concealed it. I want to connect everything in this chapter, through my abstraction, induction, organization, and summarization. The theme of this chapter is do not yield to the evil habits of your flesh.

You must realize that if you do nothing, you yield to the evil habits of the flesh. These evil habits are reflected in each section of this chapter. I often say: Few things that people are born with are useful; only what is learned later is truly valuable. What are these innate things? You will find that children are born with some knowledge. Some children, shortly after birth, will protest if you touch their toys, and it is unclear where they acquired this knowledge. The inherent qualities of a person manifest most perfectly before they have learned anything. For example, by the age of three, one can generally observe a person's character, as the old saying goes: Look at three to know seventy. This means that by age three, one can see how strong their fleshly nature is.

Because they have not learned commandments, laws, or anything else, you can see the strength of their selfishness and fleshly desires. Whether this statement is scientifically proven is debatable, but by the age of three, when children are semi-conscious, they begin to understand many things. The behaviors displayed by each child differ; some children have very strong fleshly tendencies, while others are better; some children are difficult to raise from a young age and become even more unruly as they grow up; others are easy to raise and become filial children. You never know whether the child you raise will support you in the future, or whether you will have to support them until the day you die; the risk is truly great. Getting back to the topic, our theme is not to yield to the evil habits of your flesh; this statement connects the commandments as a lamp and the law as light, urging us to follow commandments and laws.

Evil Habits of the Flesh 1: Making Friends

Why do people clap hands and guarantee loans for friends? Friends are a peculiar thing, and I personally do not like making friends. One year, I visited a wealthy acquaintance to offer New Year greetings. While chatting, this wealthy person asked: Does anyone know how the Chinese character for 'friend' (朋友) is written? I thought it was a good question! The character is composed of two 月 (months). When have you ever seen two moons together? If you look up and see two moons, you are probably delirious from hunger. There is a joke that goes: If you hold up one finger and ask how many fingers there are, and someone answers three, you know they have a problem and are seeing double. Otherwise, how would someone see stars during the day? If you fast and do not pray for twenty days, you will see stars in broad daylight—you will be delirious from hunger!

It is impossible to see two moons in the sky! The Chinese were very clever to invent the character 朋 (friend). Since there are no friends in this world! The wealthy acquaintance I visited was older, and he said this because he had been deceived by so-called friends, leading him to conclude that there are no real friends. If a carnal person is overly concerned with making you wealthy, they are likely trying to scam you. If you are tricked by a friend and act as a guarantor for them, you will realize that you have been duped. The reason you were duped is that you also had something to gain from them. It is not because you are selfless, but because you have something carnal in your heart that causes you to take the bait. The hook is the carnal desire. Now do you understand how you were hooked?

A person who is naturally carnal is foolish. Where are the friends in this world? It is good if they do not deceive you! If you are a carnal person, following your carnal feelings, and you get deceived, you have only yourself to blame. Because when they deceive you, they have already thought things through, and you will not know where to file a complaint. Once, I went to a city, and my classmate brought a good friend of his. He told us his experiences, which were all tragic stories, similar to those in skits.

He had previously partnered with someone to start a business. The partner persuaded him, Let's start a business together. You take 49% of the shares, and I will take 51%. You know that 49% cannot make decisions, while 51% can. As a result, the company borrowed 5 million, all from good friends. After borrowing the 5 million, the partner ran away! It was not a big deal that he ran away, but my classmate's friend owned 49% of the shares, so 49% of 5 million is 2.45 million, which he had to repay! Partnering to start a business is a trap! Brothers and sisters, I tell you, do not make friends! When you make friends, you just eat and drink together. It is good if they do not corrupt you!

Why do people make friends? Because carnal people easily feel lonely, and end up eating, drinking, and having fun. Is that what friends are for? If you really want to make friends, I will teach you a way: try borrowing 200,000 from them and see if they are willing. If they really lend it to you, return the money to them the next day! Why? Because this shows that the person can truly be a friend! When they ask to borrow money from you, you also have to be careful! Because if they are willing to lend you money, it means they are not smart! You must tell them, I never lend money to others. Then how did you borrow it from me last time? I was just testing you last time! But if you borrow from me, I cannot test you! Do you understand? Avoid piling up troubles.

I tell you, people who are as restless as old women are doomed! Do you know how many such people there are among us, chattering nonsense all day long? The proportion is quite high! My job is quite challenging! How can these old women be changed? It is difficult! Why? Because they cannot bear loneliness! They are unlearned and unskilled all day, gossiping about trivial matters, never doing anything serious, and they call this friendship. Whether it is in the countryside or the city, I tell you it is the same! I have hated this kind of stuff since I was little! Although I am also a very carnal person, I have dealt with many evil habits of the flesh! I just do not like chattering nonsense; I particularly hate it. But do I chatter? I do too, sometimes I have to say a little to lubricate the conversation for serious business!

Some people ask me if I am not lonely? I am not lonely! I have so many valuable things to create, I do not have time to sit there and crack sunflower seeds and chatter nonsense! I do not have time; what I lack most is rest. I want to create value; I want to do beneficial things. Chattering for half a day wastes household chores! What I hate most is when people come to relax! Some people often look for their pastors at night. Because they cannot sleep at night, they find someone to chat with, and if they cannot find anyone to chat with, they find their pastor.

Their pastor is a bit foolish because they have all been trained by me to learn to pay the price, but they have forgotten to learn to be smart, so they keep talking to them. Later, when I found out, I asked this pastor, do you know they are just relaxing with you? Do you know this is not paying the price? He said, I do not know, I thought this was paying the price. Oh my! Heavens! He was being played! Even the pastoral care is being used, how desolate this world must be!

I will tell you how to distinguish: when they call you, ask them if they have done the homework I assigned. I asked you if you have improved in the areas that needed improving? Did you do what I asked you to do? They will not call you next time. If they say they are uncomfortable, and you lead them to pray, they are actually relaxing with you! Uncomfortable? Uncomfortable about what? What kind of discomfort? Make them uncomfortable when they see you in the future; they need to be disciplined. Is it not the same with a carnal person? Not doing serious business during the day, chattering nonsense all day long, how can they sleep at night? So brothers and sisters, this passage we are talking about is that the carnal nature likes to make friends, and they end up in the pit.

Evil Habits of the Flesh 2: Laziness

Laziness is a very serious problem for people. Because people are lazy, they need to make friends and spend time, otherwise they feel like they are living a life worse than death. There are all kinds of people in this world, but lazy people are carnal people. Laziness is a deadly thing; if you are diligent and creating value all day long, you do not lack this or that, would you take someone's bait? If someone says, invest with me, and you will get a 110% return per year. Now invest 1 million, and by the end of the year, you can get back 2.1 million. If there is such a good thing, you would go and do it yourself, right? If there is such a good thing, you would tell them, can you lend me 200,000 to invest? If you can lend me 200,000, I will invest! Do you understand? This is all nonsense. There are many such stories.

Brothers and sisters, when have you ever seen ants idly chit-chatting in groups of three or five? Ants do not have such habits. They work tirelessly without needing to be told, automatically and conscientiously. They are truly remarkable! People of the flesh are not even as good as ants, which is most vexing. The research of scientists and our ancient philosophers, prominent figures who governed the nation, yield similar conclusions. In fact, more than 2000 years ago, there was a very famous man named Shang Yang, the same Shang Yang of the Shang Yang reforms. This Shang Yang wrote a book called The Book of Lord Shang. Shang Yang laid the foundation for the strength of the entire Qin Dynasty, and was later appointed Prime Minister of Qin.

He had a theory that there is a force within people, and if this force is not channeled into earning money properly, it will be used for evil deeds and causing trouble. Therefore, the stability of a social environment requires releasing this force within people to create value. If people do not direct this force towards creating value, they will cause trouble all day long, and this evil thing becomes deadly. Because when people are full and satisfied, they become unhappy and take to the streets to protest. People can only enjoy endless blessings, but cannot endure suffering.

Shang Yang was such an important figure, he laid the foundation for Emperor Qin Shi Huang's unification of China. Besides Shang Yang, there was also Fan Ju, and Li Si, all very capable individuals in Qin, each with their own theories. What I mean to say is that the force within you, Shang Yang understood thousands of years ago, that if it is not used in the right place, it will be used in the wrong place. Do not think that I am a saint, because I am not. When I feel bad, I go to work, while some people go to chat with old women. So when you see me working, you know I am feeling bad.

People should not be lazy, because after being lazy, they feel even worse. I do not know if you have this feeling, of waking up feeling sore and tired. And after sleeping again, it feels even more sore? Oh my, sleeping one more time only makes it feel more sore, nothing seems to work unless you get to work, then no more lethargy! So lazy people are very annoying. I take laziness as a very important topic to study. Those who are lazy do not even know they are lazy, it is easier if they know they are lazy. You may not even know you are lazy, so I will describe a few phenomena to see if you have them.

When you see the work in front of you, you think, Oh no! There is so much work to do! Have you experienced this? This is laziness! And after doing little work, you start exaggerating. I wonder what this person has been doing all day? Oh! I cleaned, cooked, and did the laundry. Cooking can be done with a rice cooker, laundry with a washing machine, there is no need to chop wood or burn coal for heating, so what have you been doing? Full of energy turned into lazy flesh, and then feeling unwell. If I ask them to do some writing ministry, they become sleepy, and sleep endlessly. But ask them to gossip, and they become energetic.

I learned something from famous people, which is: When the ruler is idle and the ministers are busy, the country will prosper; when the ruler is busy and the ministers are idle, the country will perish! If I am constantly busy serving this one and that one, exhausting myself while everyone else is idle, waiting for me to serve them, then I tell you, it is all over, we can stop. I have invented many tricks to keep you from being lazy. Doing this ministry, doing that ministry, there is plenty of work to arrange, and you do not need to chop wood or burn coal. As a result, everyone prospers!

Laziness is the root of many problems, after being lazy, one becomes poor, and after being poor, one will think of crooked ways, right? There is a saying that desperate people come from poor mountains and bad waters, do you know this? Poverty is a very vexing thing! If you see a poor person, be careful! Why are they poor? It is because of laziness! In this day and age, can you be poor if you are diligent? People become poor when they are lazy, and after becoming poor, they will think of evil ways, and then they become wicked villains, wicked villains are desperate people! For a person of the flesh, laziness is natural. Can you understand? Laziness leads to poverty, and poverty leads to wickedness, and then one becomes a wicked villain.

Does this chapter connect? It does! The author is quite skilled! They write this thing in a roundabout way, going around and around, and I finally found the train of thought. I have observed old women gossiping, sitting on our kang, gesturing with their fingers, shaking their shoulders, pursing their lips, and making expressive glances. I find it really disgusting. They often talk nonsense, and their ability to deceive is immense. They kick under the table to signal others not to reveal their secrets, they do all these things. They have energy but nowhere to use it, what else would they do if not this?

A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up conflict. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. (Proverbs 6:12-15)

Isn't this how people of the flesh are? To this day, no matter what kind of malignant disease a person gets, whether it is cancer, ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis, cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, or whatever else. Having ministered to so many people, I have never found one whose mind is not filled with garbage. When they open their mouths to speak, there is nothing edifying. They can pretend in front of me, they often listen to my sermons, and after listening, they wipe their eyes, purse their lips and say, If it is as you say, how can we live? Later, I severely reprimanded these people, to rescue them from within, one must first deal with the things of the flesh, and after dealing with them, the disease will be healed. Where does the disease come from? It comes from being idle and talking nonsense.

who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up conflict.(Proverbs 6:14)

Look at some people, two old women chatting, each goes home and quarrels with her husband. They put on a stinking face, all learned from the outside, all learned from nonsense. I never teach this, I teach how to manage well, how to manage well, how to get things right, not to make things worse. Some husbands and wives at home are grateful to me. Because I am not training them to become people who talk nonsense, gossip, and spread conflict, I am teaching them to be able to do proper things. Everyone, let us create some value, shall we? So all these things of the flesh are what the Lord hates.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.(Proverbs 6:16-19)

These are all things of the flesh. Why do these things? It is for money. If they had money, would they need to do these things? If they could create value, invent something, would they need to do these things? Of course, if you have a lot of money and mix with capital, you will suffer. That thing of capital is deadly. Brothers and sisters, be careful of this society! So to deal with these things, do we need commandments? What are commandments? Commandments are commandments, and if you do not keep the commandments, there must be a disciplinary rod. Have you seen a disciplinary rod? It is used to hit the palms of the hands. The disciplinary rod is a disciplinary ruler. If you go to a temple, the old abbot in the temple will have ways to manage the young monks. Those who have just arrived have many problems, and they will be beaten, definitely be disciplined.

Brothers and sisters must know that a place lacking commandments, laws, and teachings, with only freedom and rights, and throwing away commandments and laws, will have many problems. If you do a statistic, you will find that the more developed the economy, the higher the degree of freedom, the more learning disabilities and autism there are in that place, because I often encounter this situation in the areas I serve. Why? Can a person have wisdom if they do not keep the commandments, do not keep the laws, and do not keep the teachings?

Evils of the Flesh: Adultery

Next, the author writes about the adulteress, stay away from the adulteress, stay away from the foreign woman. What is a foreign woman? A foreign woman is a woman who belongs to someone else. Stay away from evil women, stay away from foreign women.

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. for a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(Proverbs 6:25-26)

But where does the problem lie? If you are a normal person, your sexual organs are more mature and developed. You really cannot resist it, and if you cannot resist, you are in trouble. Who told you to follow the flesh? Isn't it obvious?

Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?(Proverbs 6:27-28)

Brothers and sisters, be very careful! If a person is of the flesh, and indulges in the flesh, and is lazy, and has nothing to do, and is also poor. Being poor is okay, because you have no money to window shop, but if you have money, it is all consumed there. If a person steals food because they are hungry, people will not despise them, but if they do that thing, they are ignorant.

But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. Wounds and dishonor will he find, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.(Proverbs 6:32-33)

Why? If the woman has another man outside, the woman's husband's jealousy becomes a raging anger. He will not spare anyone when he takes revenge, no ransom will work, because he has been cuckolded, he will not forgive you. Even if you send gifts, he will not let it go, and if you do not send gifts, it will be even more deadly. Brothers and sisters, do you know why this is?

These adulterous people are very much of the flesh, and do not have much to do. This woman has a man at home, why is she messing around outside? This woman is also of the flesh, and does not have much to do. When a person does not have much to do, they will think wrongly. There are several organs that people most easily think wrongly with: the first organ is the mouth, the mouth will talk nonsense; the second organ is the sexual organ, which is the most damaging when released. So do not obey the flesh, obeying the flesh becomes extremely foolish. What should we do? We should imitate God and be a person who lives out the image of God.

Summary

Everything should edify, and every thing should create value. Not only should our hands be diligent, but our minds should also be diligent. Our minds should always think and always ponder. If our hands are diligent, we will often create things, and we will certainly not be poor, and then we will have the ability to give, and the ability to bless others. Can everyone understand? We must do right, we must use all our strength to do right, and you will become a wise person!

May God bless everyone!