Introduction
Good day to all! We will study the Book of Proverbs, chapter 17. The Book of Proverbs is particularly well-written, which is why it can be so difficult to read. Some might say, Teacher, you explain the Book of Proverbs so well! But chapter 17 is not easy to learn, and I feel my explanation is not as good as the original text. My ability to explain is nothing compared to the original author's ability to write. So, don't just listen to me; you must read the original text.
When searching for the theme, I felt the author of Proverbs was too advanced, leaving me quite bewildered. Who hasn't felt bewildered? In fact, one's character is very important. You may be bewildered, and I may be bewildered, but I shake off my bewilderment, while others give up. They are often just a little bit away from understanding. For example, if you've been studying Proverbs 17 for an hour, taking notes and pondering, you might find the theme in the next minute. But you stop. Some brothers and sisters might say, Teacher, even someone as smart as you gets bewildered? In fact, everyone goes from bewilderment to clarity. I tell you all, it's because I'm often bewildered that I know my own limitations.
Some joke with me, Teacher, aren't you already good enough? Do you still need to grow? In truth, over the decades, building the church, pastoring people, and solving their problems, I've grown immensely. If I hadn't built the church, where would I have had the opportunity to grow? Like an old man who always drinks coffee at the café, day in and day out, year after year, and then one day he's gone – that kind of life has no growth. If you ask me, Teacher, what have you been doing lately? I'd say, I'm working hard to grow! Some might say, Teacher, don't grow anymore; if you grow any more, you'll go to heaven! Drinking coffee might get you to heaven, but growth is still a distance from heaven. Why? Because we are still on earth, and on earth, we must climb the mountain of the Lord. Why do I pursue growth? Because growth brings joy.
Growth brings joy, do you agree? If you say, I'm seventy years old already; any more growth and I'll be in heaven, even so, you must grow! Because that's truly living. When it comes to how to live, I am definitely an expert, but I am no match for the expert who wrote Proverbs. We are all learning and growing. When you step up one step on your own staircase, it's like, To see a thousand miles further, ascend to a higher story. When you get up there, you'll exclaim, Ah, the scenery is so beautiful! After growing some more, you'll marvel, Ah, the scenery changes with each level. Such a person lives a wonderful life!
But some people stand on the same step their whole lives, living the same way, yesterday like today, today like tomorrow, tomorrow like the day after, and they die the same way. They live only one day their entire lives, but we grow every day. I think, when I'm seventy, can I still do something new? That would be wonderful. When you see those sixty-year-olds around you, they will look up to you. Not because you are seventy, but because when you speak, they see your growth and admire you. When you walk home, your steps become lighter, utterly handsome, and you feel so satisfied. If people ask where you learned this, you can tell them you learned it in Chinese Mingding Destiny. So, by constantly learning, it’s hard not to be joyful. Living every day with zest, like a Beijing person eating Zhajiangmian (Noodles with Savory Soybean Paste), it’s so refreshing.
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.(Proverbs 17:3)
In Proverbs chapter 17, the theme I'm about to discuss I managed to extract only after much difficulty. But my summarized version is second-hand; what you come up with yourself is first-hand. I suggest you study the Bible by reading it several times, trying to summarize the themes yourself. Then, when you share it with others, it will be your own gain. The theme of Proverbs 17 is the third verse above. In short, the theme of this chapter is that phrase in that verse: The Lord tests the heart.
God Refines People Through Their Choices
A person's life ultimately depends on their fate. Whether you eat Zhajiangmian, Guolumian (Noodles in Gravy), Guoshuimian (Noodles in Cold Water), or Reganmian (Hot and Dry Noodles) does not determine your fate. The path one takes in life and the choices one makes are key to determining your destiny. Each time you encounter a situation and make a choice, know that God is refining your heart. The Lord tests the heart; what you value will be revealed by the refining process. If it’s just straw, it will turn to ash in the fire and disappear. But if it’s gold, it will become a small golden ball, which is valuable. God puts this gold in His kingdom. How wonderful it would be if people were as precious and willing to pay the price as real gold and silver! If you describe someone as being as precious as Zhajiangmian, they might get upset. Because Zhajiangmian cannot withstand the fire.
Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.(Proverbs 17:1)
People in this world love to争 (zhēng) to contend and 抢 (qiǎng) to snatch, compete for things, but upon reflection, why爭 these things? Some people sell their birthright for a bowl of red bean soup; their lives are worth only a bowl of red bean soup. God will surely curse them! If you spend your days eating and drinking well, thinking only of争抢, it is better to have a dry crust with peace. What you争 in this world determines whether you are precious!
Being Precious in God's Eyes
Many people spend their lives as Christians, and after decades, they end up with cancer. Their lives are not very good. Others spend their lives as Christians, pleasing God and becoming a blessing to many. If you are争ing (zhēng) for the gold and silver of this world, thinking you are striving for real gold and silver, but after all your efforts, you become just a bowl of Zhajiangmian in God's eyes. In any situation, know what you want, to be a precious person in God's eyes, a treasure of real gold and silver! If you争 for the gold and silver of this world and feel unhappy afterward, you will end up with a Zhajiangmian destiny, getting cancer. Everyone needs to wake up!
A shrewd servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.(Proverbs 17:2)
For example, God arranges a good task for you, letting you help the master with things. If you take all the master's property and bring it to your own home, thinking this is real gold and silver that will make you rich, then after liberation, you are classified as a landlord and become a class enemy, eventually dragged out and shot. And the former master is very grateful; if the servant hadn't taken away all his property, the person being arrested and shot today would be him. In the kingdom of God, some people have already received the status of sons and daughters of God, but they are not discerning in their actions and become a source of shame. God only mentions their names and says, They are definitely not my children; they are your children! Even God feels embarrassed and troubled. Even if the identity is that of a servant, if they act wisely, they are more valuable than a disgraceful son. A natural title is useless; whether or not one acts wisely depends on their inner choices.
A servant could have taken the master's property for himself, but instead, he manages it well because he has a godly value system within him. A value system is what a person chooses as important in their eyes, and this determines whether you are sifted into or out of God's kingdom. The Lord tests the heart.
A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.(Proverbs 17:4)
Many Christians are actually very selfish; they only think about making money! They engage in MLM in the church, telling you how good their health products are as soon as they meet you, pretending to be thinking of you. But if there's a problem with the product, they immediately disappear! You can try it, ask to borrow 100,000 or 200,000 from them; will they lend it to you? They definitely won't. So, engaging in MLM in the church is actually just for money. If you engage in MLM to develop members, sell insurance, or start a pyramid scheme in our church, I warn you: you don't need to come tomorrow. If people's hearts are only focused on money, what do you think God will think of such people? God will see you as a wicked person. If a person does evil and their heart is greedy, their ears will only hear deceitful words, ultimately just for that little bit of money. Don't pretend and say, I make money to better serve God!
Such people can't survive here with us because after a few days, they can't even do their homework! Because they didn't come to seek God, they came to find downlines, but before they even started, they were almost kicked out. They can't survive here! Because the Lord tests the heart! I deeply know God's ways, know the Lord is a God who tests the heart. I imitate God and use homework, prayer, attending gatherings, and participating in training to refine people's hearts. Because whether or not you do these things isn't that important, I just want to refine people to see if they are genuine in seeking God. If you are fake, you definitely can't survive here.
A pastor told me that the Eastern Lightning cult is rampant lately; some people came to their church, and he couldn't tell them apart, scaring him into shivering. He asked me, Are you afraid? I said, I'm not afraid! Because they flash their lightning, but our God is more powerful. They can't survive here with me! The average church doesn't even properly review the Bible, so they are easily fooled and swept away by Eastern Lightning.
Building a Church Involves Disciplining Hearts
One characteristic of my church building is that I often discipline people, like simmering soup; I have many tricks. For example, I might deliberately wrong someone or give them something to do to see how they do it. If someone does something poorly, it's like the saying goes: Is it a mule or a horse? Pull it out for a walk and you'll know. My approach is to put many things in front of you and see your reaction; then I'll know what kind of person you are.
For example, if someone comes to me and criticizes and judges a poor person, full of contempt; seeing someone suffer a disaster and then being filled with schadenfreude, revealing all of it. Here, I have a goal for pastoring; I can see the spiritual garbage inside you and then remove that garbage so you can become valuable in God's eyes. From a young age, my mom reminded me never to make fun of people. Some people often mimic the speech of those who stutter, plainly ridiculing others. In the end, they themselves become stutterers because they mocked others.
Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.(Proverbs 17:5)
A bribe is seen as a charm in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns, he succeeds.(Proverbs 17:8)
People often need to use bribes when handling affairs. Why? If you want to get things done, you need to bribe people. Asking for favors and using connections requires giving people money, especially in law enforcement. There are many shady things in law enforcement. There are many people getting arrested there, which makes it a high-risk industry. Because they often need to judge things, and the position given by the government is not for personal gain. Honestly, that job is not easy to do. When real gold and silver are placed in front of people, it feels good, but it's actually bad. Careless to not be able to resist the temptation and get sent to prison. So, what are people's values? What do you compete for? What do you seek? What do you do? What do you see? What do you say? These things are all revealed through testing.
I often thank God for creating the devil. One day, when I was casting out a demon, a big boss demon started talking to me: Teacher, did you know that I'm here to help you build the church? I asked, How are you helping me build the church? It said, Didn't that so-and-so leave the church? I took them away. I said, Is that so? This guy knows everything. Actually, it was the demon living inside him speaking through his mouth. It said it also took so-and-so away. That person had left the church for so long that I had forgotten their name, but it knew. I said, That's good; those people are all garbage. Later, I came to a good understanding: He has made everything beautiful in its time. Later, I discovered that many brothers and sisters came to believe not because of anything else, but because the demons drove them in.
God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
One of our brothers began studying Genesis with me in 2016. At that time, he remarked that his church was quite good. In 2017 and 2018, when I contacted him, he still maintained that his church was similar to ours. However, by 2021, he had been diagnosed with cancer. His church had everything – the fullness of the Holy Spirit, healing, and deliverance – but when he contracted cancer, no one ministered to him. It was all for naught. So, I began to minister to him, and he eventually admitted that he had found true love here, which is our heartfelt service. He joined our church and gradually realized that what we did was entirely different from what his original church did, and his heart began to change slowly.
I thank God that he found true love because of this incident. Recently, I ministered to three cancer patients, all of whom I knew previously. I believe that one day they will also say, I have found true love. Not only is God refining their hearts, but He is also refining mine. There are many pastors who love money, but thank God, I deeply love God and His people. God can examine my heart; only God is my true love. Many years ago, I knew that God refines the human heart. Brothers and sisters, you must understand that the Chinese often say, Money makes the Devil turn the mill. How frightening that sounds! Why is bribery effective? Because there are so many people who love money.
A bribe is seen as a charm by those who give it; they think success will come at every turn. (Proverbs 17:8)
Even if he is a Christian, he is finished as soon as he sees money; his legs go weak. In the Book of Numbers, there is a record of a prophet named Balaam. When he saw the King of Moab, Balak, send basket after basket of gold, he had never seen so much money. He asked God, God, may I go? God told him no. Two days later, he asked again, God, may I go? His mind was filled with those baskets of gold. God again told him no. He asked again and again, and finally, God said, Go. As a result, he was almost killed. Later on, he was killed by the Israelites in the camp of the Midianites for the sake of those two baskets of gold.
Although he was a prophet of Jehovah, if a person's heart is attracted by these things, he is done for. Brothers and sisters, you must see clearly to what extent you love money. Are you true gold and silver, or do you see that money as true gold and silver? If you see that money as true gold and silver, you are quickly becoming a bowl of Zhajiang noodles (a common and inexpensive Chinese dish); but if you see yourself as true gold and silver in God's eyes, then you are noble.
Seeing if a Person Is Loyal to Authority
Therefore, people need to know how to choose in these matters. Value systems are revealed through testing. If you become an official, you become a corrupt official; if you become a businessman, you become a treacherous merchant. It all comes out through testing. Some people hate that they do not have the opportunity to be corrupt when they are poor. Seeing others being corrupt, they also want to take the civil service exam, not to be servants of the people, but hoping to have the opportunity to embezzle. Eventually, they embezzle their way into prison. Their hearts are only set on money, and they will not listen to your rebuke. When you rebuke them, they think you are blocking their path to wealth.
A rebuke impresses a discerning person more than a hundred lashes a fool. (Proverbs 17:10)
Many people are picky, and that is a test. They use a microscope to look at other people's problems but a magnifying glass to look at their own. A test reveals what kind of material they are. If you betray your superior for money, that is something that God deeply abhors. Satan was originally a beautiful angel under God's authority, but he felt dissatisfied. He mobilized one-third of the angels, intending to hold an election in Heaven, but the election was stopped before it even began. God is not chosen through elections. Therefore, evil people only seek betrayal; they have no concept of authority or a concept of power. I would rather meet a ghost walking in the night than meet this kind of person.
Once, a church pastor suffered from depression. He shared how his members sued him in court, all of whom were chairpersons of the deacon board, people who held some power in the church. A total of three people jointly sued him. The first was killed in a car accident, the second died of cancer, and the third, seeing these incidents, found the pastor and asked for his forgiveness. Why was he sued in court? The reason was that they felt the pastor was doing something wrong. Whether the pastor was doing something right or wrong, he was your superior, and you cannot do that!
Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good. (Proverbs 17:13)
Therefore, brothers and sisters, if you come among us, I hope to find a relatively poor pastor to shepherd you. Some pastors are not very skilled in shepherding, and some people will feel that they are really unlucky, that others who come to church are assigned such good pastors, while they are assigned such poor pastors. Now, a test has revealed everything. Some pastors are good, but they have no way to refine the human heart. I have two goals for those who come to me for shepherding. The first goal is to shepherd you away; the second goal is to shepherd you into gold, to shepherd you into noble princes.
Do not think that whether your pastor is good or bad determines your fate; what is in your mind determines your fate. If you are Joseph, even being sold into slavery in Egypt cannot stop your great future; if you are not Joseph, even if you are enshrined on an altar, it is useless; you are still that bowl of Zhajiang noodles. Now, do you understand why David would rather die than lay a hand on Saul? David was a man after God's own heart; Saul was his superior, and David would never harm his superior.
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out. (Proverbs 17:14)
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)
Quarreling is a bad habit. You still think you are right, but that is because your perspective is not high enough. You think it is a principle, but it is not. Life is a trial, just like making friends. When things are good, we are all fine, but one day when he borrows hundreds of thousands of dollars from you, when you ask him for the money, he is no longer fine. Therefore, do not have greasy relationships with friends. The saying, A gentleman's friendship is as light as water, although not from the Bible, is in accordance with biblical teachings.
I can boast in front of the brothers and sisters that no matter how you have treated me in the past, I will definitely not refuse when there is a real need for service. Our church is really a very dedicated church in service. I know that some churches, when you really need their service, are finished. Once, a member of a church came to me and asked if they could meet with their pastor. I said, Let's meet online. After chatting, I realized that the purpose of meeting me was to outsource the cancer patients in their church to me because we have this gift, ability, and attitude of service.
They outsource their church members to me, I pay the price to serve, and they collect offerings. They are calculating the accounts very clearly! Do you think I am so easily fooled? I said, This is a member of your church. I will never shirk serving him and can definitely serve him. Since you have found me, I will personally serve him. However, if I serve for an hour, you will accompany me for an hour, okay? You are his pastor. As I serve him, you will be by my side, even if you are playing games or doing whatever you want. I don't care, but you have to be with me.
The person said, No, I don't have that time. Then, they slipped away. I have time; how can they not have time? I tell you that this generation is extremely desolate! God is just testing through this cancer patient. God not only tests me but also tests that pastor. After testing, what is refined is either garbage or gold. What is in people's hearts?
I tell you, it is truly a blessing for you to come among us! A few days ago, someone came among us, and the story he told the assistant pastor was truly tearful! He had been a believer for more than twenty years, but his pastor had not found him an outsourcing opportunity, so he outsourced himself to us. But we are not in the business of outsourcing; we are all-inclusive. As long as I can bless you, I will never refuse.
In my heart, I have a very clear vision that everything that comes upon me in this world is just God testing me. I said to God, God, You can test me often, but may the pursuit in my heart be fulfilled, and I hope that each assessment can present a beautiful answer sheet before You. What I ask is that one day when I come before God, I hope to hear God say to me, 'You are a good and faithful servant.' I will be satisfied. Thank God! I also hope that brothers and sisters all have such aspirations. Don't encounter an event that is originally a test, but you treat that test as true gold and silver, and as a result, you become a bowl of Zhajiang noodles or a bowl of red bean soup. That would be troublesome.
Conclusion
To have a fool for a son brings grief, and there is no joy for the parent of a scoundrel. (Proverbs 17:21)
Our Heavenly Father, if He sees that His own children are all stubborn and rebellious, God will truly not be happy! But I believe that when our God sees such a group of people on earth, our God's will will be satisfied. I eagerly hope that in the spiritual world, I will see God happily telling this angel, that angel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, Do you see this group of people? They are My spiritual children.
Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents. (Proverbs 17:6)
How wonderful! Amazing. I take God as my glory, and God also takes me as His glory! May God's name be lifted high among us.
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)
How important is joy! God is the God of my joy, so I come to the God of my joy, and my heart will be satisfied because of my God. What a wonderful choice! I take God as my glory; I am not ashamed of this gospel. This gospel is the power of God, and this power is being manifested among us!
A foolish son brings grief to a father and bitterness to the one who bore him. (Proverbs 17:25)
Do not be foolish. I think there are still many things within us, our temperament, the way we speak, the attitude we face rebuke, our mentality as servants, and whether we begin to have a concept that God is doing something, which is:
The crucible forSILVER and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart. (Proverbs 17:3)
If you can remember this sentence, how can you not fear God? You will surely take the fear of God as your joy. May God bless everyone!
Questions for reflection
How does God refine the human heart?
What kind of person is considered noble in God's eyes?
How should people view every event that comes upon us?