Introduction

Good day to all! We will be studying Proverbs Chapter 9. In the blink of an eye, we have already gone through eight chapters. Have you become wiser? I think becoming wise is really not an easy thing. To become foolish, you need do nothing; just eat what you want, drink what you want, play as you please, and do whatever you feel like—just live like that! So it is especially difficult for a person to become wise! You must know that when people come to us, I will usually observe what kind of person they are first. If they are scoffers, they might say: Pastor, I really enjoy listening to your sermons. Is that really the case? What is actually in their bones? I usually examine them first, testing them little by little; it’s not easy.

If I discover that someone is a scoffer, I will tell them: The Lord Jesus loves you, and I love you too! You are the smartest person under the heavens! After hearing this, they feel very comfortable. Once I see the attitude of mockery in a person, I steer clear of them, hoping to stay far away. Now, I've revealed my cards to you all. If you hear me say such things, you’ll know if I consider them a scoffer. Those who are self-righteous cannot be turned around! I have done many experiments and suffered quite a bit. If you've eaten raw soybeans, you know that the raw taste is hard to get rid of.

We have already studied nine chapters of Proverbs, which have long told us:how to treat different kinds of people with different attitudes and methods. If I am dealing with those who cannot be reproved, cannot be spoken to, and cannot be corrected, I say: God! Let me stay as far away from them as possible. Like the song says: As high as the heavens are above the earth, so far has he removed my transgressions from me! Everyone must understand what I mean. I feel that making friends is not necessarily a good thing, and you must not make friends carelessly; this is no small matter. If you make friends with a foolish woman who only knows how to talk nonsense, is ignorant, knows nothing, and whose words only corrupt you, eventually making you angry to the point of cancer, who will you turn to! So I have always hoped in my heart that we can all become wiser; this attitude is very important!

I know that after following me in studying the Bible, you have started to find the key points and themes, which is something to be happy about. We can often find the key points in the scriptures, but sometimes the author does not write the key points out. The key point of this chapter is really not necessarily that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why? Because it is difficult to connect the beginning and the end with this sentence. I will try to tell you the theme I have thought of. This theme is: 《Your attitude determines whether you choose to listen to wisdom or to listen to foolishness》.

Your Attitude Determines Whether You Are Wise or Foolish

If you choose to listen to wisdom, it is good for yourself, and your days will be multiplied and years will be added; if your attitude is scornful, you will definitely follow foolishness, and people will unknowingly attract the spirit of death. Do you think it's good to associate with foolishness? The result is that you end up in the depths of Sheol. If a person's attitude is scornful, that's terrible! What is scorn? It is dismissive.

For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will benefit you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.(Proverbs 9:11-12)

But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.(Proverbs 9:18)

Why is he dismissive? You speak good words to him, telling him to walk the right path, and he rolls his eyes: Hmph, if I do as you say, will I still have a life? Fine, then you live well, good luck! You cannot speak to this kind of scornful attitude. I have seen many scornful people, whether they believe in the Lord or not, the proportion is about the same. Those who believe in the Lord think they have believed correctly, but among so many believers, I am the only one who feels that I have not done it right. Even today, when I speak to you, I still say that I may not have gotten this topic right either. Don't ever think that I am being humble; I am telling the truth.

Some people say: If you are not clear yourself, are you not misleading people? No matter how much I mislead, I cannot mislead more than those self-righteous Christians. We don't have much to do with unbelievers! What does the war between Russia and Ukraine have to do with us? We can neither control it, nor do we want to control it, let alone comment on who is right and who is wrong. If you understand world politics, it is all about the combination of interests. Our country used to be good brothers with Vietnam, but in 1979, there was the Sino-Vietnamese War. The things in the world are like children playing house; today they are good with this one, and tomorrow they are not good with that one. Who knows what will happen? We don't care about these things.

But we care about believing in the Lord! The foundation of scorn, of being dismissive, is self-righteousness. A self-righteous attitude is terrible. To be honest, whether it is me or the big and small pastors of our church, we still have to deal with self-righteousness often. So this scorn is detestable; this attitude determines whether you are a wise person or a foolish person. Whether you are wise or foolish, whom you follow is because of this scorn. You know that I like it when people mess things up when they are doing ministry? Because once they mess up, you have a chance to talk about them. Look, why did you do that? They might start to discern good and evil! Once they mess up, people's attitudes are revealed without any concealment.

Some people are foolish and scornful like this; they finally get it right once, and their tails are wagging very high, like a meerkat. Sometimes messing up is a good thing! Once they mess up, they start to show their true colors. Whether you are a wise person or a scornful person is immediately distinguished. Don't think that I like to get things right; getting it right is for sure, but messing up is even more right. Because this way, it is good to understand a person clearly. For example, if your boss in a company is not very capable, what will happen? In your heart and mouth, you will feel that he is not good. You must be careful! I basically don't do this.

When I was young, I had this wisdom: to always be the best subordinate, to be the best member in the church, and to be the best group member in the small group. A person who does not know how to be a subordinate immediately discerns good and evil as soon as the superior shows a bit of timidity, which is foolish. In their bones they are guys who discern good and evil! It's not that you don't discern good and evil, but that the time has not yet come. I work hard to strive to be a good subordinate wherever I am. Whether my boss is capable or not, I fully support his work with all my heart and strength. In the small group, no matter how badly the group leader leads the Bible study, even if he says something wrong and it becomes a joke, I secretly support him below. It's not that I want to support people to say something wrong, because I am not his boss, superior, or his pastor, so I keep silent.

Basically, I have never missed a small group meeting. Most people can't stand this. I take good notes below, not of what he says, but of reading God's word well and writing down the scriptures. Anyway, the small group is there, so I don't waste time. Occasionally, the group leader asks me to share; he lets me speak for a few minutes, and I stop when the time is up. When I was little, I was a good son in the eyes of my parents, and I took advantage of that a lot. My dad loved me so much that he often put me on his bicycle and took me out to eat; it was so much fun! Whether working in a company or being a member in a church, being a good subordinate can take advantage of a lot. Although there may be different views and different opinions, that is not something I should care about.

So do you know why God uses me? Because my attitude is good, because I am humble! Just like Moses said that he was very humble! Attitude really determines people's choices! In the process of leading people, I have found that there are many self-righteous people; I encounter them every day! I have experienced many things and dealt with many people; as soon as I hear someone speak, I know whether they are a foolish person. They don't listen to what I say and just like to follow their own ways. So my patience increases day by day; it is all developed by dealing with these self-righteous people! I will tell you a story. When my mother had Alzheimer's disease, I served her very effectively.

There was a sister whose parents were about the same age as my mother. I told her: Look at how I do it, and you can follow suit if you need to in the future, because your parents may also get Alzheimer's disease! But she said to me: My parents are fine; they have already made a decision to believe in the Lord with me! I was so choked up that I couldn't catch my breath for a long time, which really tested my patience. Later, when her father got Alzheimer's disease and serving him had no effect, she remembered what I said and served him according to my method, and the effect was very good!

So I think attitude is very important! If I can successfully change everyone's attitude towards life, then I will thank heaven and earth! Thank my God! Thank my Lord! It is amazing when people become wise! I can tell you that whenever I am scornful and arrogant, I become foolish. I am only wise for a short period of time, and the rest of the time I am foolish! Our attitude determines our choices! Do we choose to listen to wisdom or to foolishness?

In this world, some people will say this to you, and some people will say that to you. I once heard our brothers and sisters say to me: Teacher, after talking to you, I feel comfortable in my heart, but after talking to some people, I feel agitated in my heart. I told him: Because what I say is the word of God! Then why do you always talk to those people who make you feel agitated in your heart? I told you what kind of people you should talk to! You will feel comfortable in your heart when you talk to people who do serious things; you will feel agitated in your heart when you talk to people who do nothing or cannot do anything.

Foolish and ignorant people like to talk nonsense, like to gossip about other people's families, and like to do sneaky things; you will feel uncomfortable after talking to them! If there are some among us who have serious illnesses, I have to tell you how these illnesses came about. Your illness comes from the power of Sheol! Why haven't you seen this power of Sheol? In fact, you have seen it long ago! Because you often talk to some people who say things that corrupt you. For example: Look, how can your husband treat you like this? How can your boss treat you like this? After you hear it, you start to feel uncomfortable in your heart!

You still think that they understand you so much, that they think you are right and everyone else is letting you down. But that is actually the spirit of death from the underworld speaking to you! They even take the initiative to come to you and chat with you for no reason, and all the words in their mouths are corrupting! Imagine that you are gossiping with others outside, and your husband is also gossiping outside. After the two of you have finished gossiping with the spirit of death from the underworld, you go home and have a fight! Isn't this a joke? As a result, you get seriously ill. Ankylosing spondylitis, cancer, rheumatism, etc., are all accumulated into a big pile, all corrupted! Your attitude determines your choices. You can choose to listen or not to listen, because scorn is actually a very evil attitude.

How to Choose to Follow Wisdom or Follow Foolishness

The scriptures speak of basic principles, the principles, precepts and laws of all things. I am not the one who wrote the Bible; when I lead the Bible study, I just try hard to explain the principles of the Bible and tell everyone how to implement them. When we have a good attitude, the second point is to know who to follow. You have to listen to whom, and you have to see what they are doing. A person who does serious things speaks words that edify people, while a person who talks nonsense basically speaks words that corrupt people.

Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.(Proverbs 9:1-5)

He does not do things that build people up, nor does he do things that build; he is not a person who edifies people. Where does wisdom live? In fact, wisdom lives in people. A person with wisdom must be a person who builds. A person who builds will definitely have a supporting framework, and these seven pillars are the pillars of truth. Building a house by relying on God's truth, and building people by relying on God's truth, he is coming to bless people.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.(Proverbs 9:2)

**Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. (Proverbs 9:5)**

A person who gives freely is one who blesses others. If he constantly seeks to take advantage of others, teaching them how to do the same, and you become distressed and ill because you cannot gain such advantages, should you not distance yourself from such a person? Why seek advantages that are not rightfully yours? If an advantage is rightfully yours, can you choose not to take it? We must learn to observe people, to see clearly what they are doing. Is this person a builder? Is he a blessing to others?

I have no desire to take advantage of anyone. I only wish to give, and I hope that others may take advantage of me. To associate with me is safe; I am not constantly scheming to put your money in my pocket. Many preachers simply want others to give them money; there are many such people. Is that a builder? Is that someone who wishes to bless others? Or someone who seeks to take advantage of others? I do not know. If a person is doing honest work, building well, then he must be a wealthy person who seeks to bless others, not to take advantage of them.

God chose Abraham. Do you think Abraham was a beggar? Did Abraham beg in Haran before God directed him to Canaan and then to Egypt to beg? Of course not! If one is a beggar, it does not matter where one begs. It requires no faith. Any decision is easily made because he is a proletarian, and the proletarian revolution is the most thorough. But Abraham was a man of great wealth and property. To leave a good life in Haran for Canaan, wandering east and west, requires great faith.

A wise person who is after God’s heart has God’s wisdom dwelling within him. What he does will have a solid foundation, not seeking to take advantage of others but setting a table. The Bible records that one day God appeared at Abraham’s tent. Abraham did not know it was God, but he washed their feet and prepared a feast of cattle and sheep for them. Later, he learned that they were messengers of God. Do not be petty people who are miserable if they cannot take advantage of others. Observe people carefully. If a person’s attitude is not right, wisdom will depart from him. God detests scoffers, so I must learn from God.

**He who corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. (Proverbs 9:7-9)**

Do you see the importance of attitude? I will not do what God does not do! Yet some “good people” among us specialize in serving scoffers, as if they are begging to serve them. Should our pastors not consider whether they are more capable than God? This is a foolish approach; you cannot serve them. I do not even want to deal with those who do not wish to pursue, let alone a scoffer. God does not like to reprove scoffers; are you more capable than God? We must not act rashly in matters God does not do. I have tried, and the success rate is zero.

In the church, I choose people based on their attitude. There is an elderly sister in the church, over seventy years old, who did not have much education but takes her faith very seriously. I always answer her calls because she loves to learn, and her attitude moves me. She can be taught and rebuked without hating me because she trusts in God. There was a man who had cancer, an Evangelical Christian. His church did not practice healing and deliverance. A friend of his was healed through me and introduced him to me.

This man’s situation was this: Ten years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer. Due to the illness, food would enter his lungs when he ate, so he had a tube inserted into his stomach to receive liquid food. Ten years later, his wife also developed cancer, and their children were still young. I felt sorry for him, but such people are difficult to heal and deliver. However, since he came, I had to minister to him properly.

But when I tried to communicate with him, it was impossible. As soon as I said that cancer was a curse, he argued that cancer was a blessing. There was no way to reason with him. If cancer is a blessing, would you like a few more? Where in the Bible does it say that cancer is a blessing? Is that what Deuteronomy 28:1-14 says? If you carefully obey the word of the Lord your God, I will give you cancer? There was no communication, and ministering to him was exhausting, leaving me covered in sweat.

Would you want to be a scoffer like that? Later, he told me he was a modern-day Job. I could only say, “Okay, okay, you are the modern-day Job. I am defeated. I must learn from you.” You cannot rebuke him; he will hate you if you do. I said these are curses, and he retorted, “You are cursed! Do not curse me.” Forget it; I will save the reproof for the wise. So I have quite a few reservations about Evangelicals. I do not have a good impression of the word “Evangelical.” So-called Evangelicals can talk but cannot act. Here, “cannot act” means they cannot do the works that Jesus did, such as making the lame walk and the blind see.

Of course, one cannot condemn the entire ship. But the Evangelical I met was like that. There was another person who had severe depression, so I ministered to him. His original church was also Evangelical. While I ministered to him, his former pastor was also ministering to him. But the previous church did nothing about healing and deliverance. They sent him to the hospital for medication and only forbade him from entering charismatic churches that performed exorcisms. They told him it was better to have depression than to go to heaven. It sounds like a joke.

Later, his mother saw that every time he contacted his former pastor, his face would become distorted. Can corrupting people’s faith not cause distortion? The spirits being released were spirits of death from hell; can that not cause distortion? That pastor represented ignorance and the spirits of death from hell. Imagine if Jesus stood before him, what would happen? Jesus would not care whether one was charismatic or Evangelical; healing him would be the most important thing. I have many more examples to give. How should we choose today? We must see if a person is a loudmouth. Loudmouths can talk but cannot act. Every day, they are lazy, wanting to gain without working.

That is foolishness! Loudmouths, though filled with ignorance, have much to say. We Northeasterners describe such people as “a two-cent teapot with a good spout.” But the spout is broken. Do you now understand who to choose? **First is attitude; do not be a scoffer. Second, choose to follow wise people rather than foolish people.** Following wisdom and following foolishness are not the same.

I tell you, if you only read the Bible your entire life, you will become a very foolish person, constantly claiming to see angels, visions, and even hearing God speak to them more than Abraham did. How to choose to follow wisdom or foolishness? Do not listen to what they say; look at what they do. If they achieve nothing, you will be ruined by following them! Wisdom and foolishness both shout in the streets. See what wisdom and foolishness say.

**She has sent out her maids; she calls from the highest places in the town, Whoever is simple, let him turn in here! To him who lacks sense she says, Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. (Proverbs 9:3-5)**

**She sits at the door of her house; she is seated on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. And to him who lacks sense she says, Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. (Proverbs 9:14-17)**

Therefore, choice is crucial. The path you walk and its outcome are the result of your choices.

## See the Results of Your Choices

How does one know they have made the wrong choice? Look at the results of your choices. If you choose wisdom, you will live longer and your years will be increased, not your illnesses. If you have wisdom, it will benefit you; if you lack wisdom, you will visit the underworld, residing on the eighteenth or seventeenth floor. So some say one should not buy a house on the eighteenth floor. Why? Because the eighteenth floor is similar to the eighteenth level. People like to think this way. Is that wisdom? That is not wisdom. People must understand that following something will bring about certain results.

**The spirit of death from hell dwells in people for a reason: It is brought about by your choices.** If you have contracted some malignant illness that persists, you must be careful! It is because you are prone to joining forces with foolish women. When has the spirit of death from hell ever blessed anyone? It is good enough if it does not ruin people! Whether you choose wisdom or foolishness is related to you, not to me.

If you choose a scornful attitude, you will walk the path of foolishness and invite the spirit of death from hell. You must bear the consequences alone. If you do not bear them, who will? You reap what you sow! Will you not eat what you have cooked? Eat whatever you have cooked! Eat bitter melon if you have planted bitter melon, and eat sweet melon if you have planted sweet melon. You have been eating the curses you planted for so many years. Do you want to continue planting them? You must bear the consequences alone! The tragedies of the world all begin here. I encourage everyone to ponder this carefully.

## Conclusion

What should our attitude be? **If you think you know but do not continue to learn, you will not be able to learn anymore. If you know you do not know, you still have the opportunity to seek, and whoever seeks will find.** Even if you know, what you know may not be entirely correct, and you can still improve. Do not think you are the most perfect believer in the world. There is no such thing as the most perfect believer in this world! Therefore, I encourage everyone to humble themselves, fear the Lord, and know the Most Holy One. If you fear the Lord and know the Most Holy One, you will be a builder.

**The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)**

I further challenge you: Who have you pastored? What are you proud of? Some people are very prideful, but they cannot solve many pastoral problems and do not understand much. **I encourage everyone to seek with an attitude that says, I don't quite understand; I'm not quite knowledgeable; I still need to explore and learn continuously. There is no end to knowing God.** If you truly know, you will become a builder of houses and churches, and the church will become a place of blessing.

I tell you, do not casually receive offerings, because the church is not a place to receive offerings but a place to impart blessings. If he does not understand, thinking he is giving alms to God, God lacks nothing! Do you think this is the Earth God? Do you think this is an idol? Brothers and sisters must know with certainty that I will not receive your offering unless you know it is for your own benefit.

If you want to be a person of Mingding Destiny, a blessing to others, a builder of houses and churches, a slaughterer of livestock, a mixer of spiced wine, and a setter of feasts, you can call those who are ignorant and foolish to come and enjoy your blessings. Then it is okay for you to give an offering! Because you understand. Otherwise, what are you giving an offering for? As if the church needs you to support it? Do you understand? As long as you have God, money is not a problem, and people are not a problem.

So sometimes, people are foolish, blaspheming God without knowing it. Some people say, The preacher is so poor; I must earn money to support him, and then they offend God, inexplicably receiving a curse. Why? Because they think God cannot provide! These people are poor because they like to act rashly. How can they not be poor? Brothers and sisters must know that the result of choosing is clearly seeing God's blessings, and your days will be increased and your years will be prolonged! And then I tell you, you will lack no good thing.

May God bless you all!