I. Introduction

Good day to all! Today, I will be sharing on the eighth character trait in the Chinese Mingding Destiny series – learning. If you delve into the Chinese Mingding Destiny system, you will discover that there are many unique character traits within our teachings. Through this, I hope to instill in everyone a Chinese Mingding Destiny character, one that includes a love for learning. You must understand that character determines one's destiny, character shapes one's habits, and habits dictate one's fate.

Today, we will discuss the character trait of learning. Last year, I delivered a series of twelve talks on learning. If you recall any of it, praise God! Learning is a grace. The kind of person you are determines the kind of church you build, the kind of company you establish. The church you build is ultimately a reflection of your character. It will bear your likeness. Today, do you know that Chinese Mingding Destiny is essentially a reflection of my own character? You must know that I am truly a person who loves to learn. Learning, to me, is a deeply enjoyable experience.

Throughout my life, I have not had many hobbies, truly not many. Even today, I struggle to understand those who can spend hours playing mahjong. Especially during my university days, they would set up a mahjong table in the hallway and play for over twenty hours straight. I couldn't grasp the appeal. And video games, oh, the excitement they generated! I found them quite meaningless. But I thank God! I love to learn, and I love to work. Many people may think that such a life is devoid of flavor, but in reality, I find it incredibly fulfilling!

I was born just like everyone else. You see, newborns all look the same. However, I later developed a love for learning and became someone who knows how to live life to the fullest. Just like you, I started knowing absolutely nothing. We all began at the same point. I, too, couldn't recognize a single character. Don't misunderstand. No one is born literate. As children, we wore open-crotch pants and played with mud dolls. You know, Westerners don't quite understand this, only we Chinese wore open-crotch pants. And we were clueless, playing marbles and bottle caps. Actually, there were many things we couldn't do. Perhaps all we knew was how to defecate, urinate, eat, and drink milk. We were only capable of those things. But those things don't require learning; they are instinctive. Everything else is learned.

Living is an art, and in recent years, I have dedicated myself to studying this art of living. It is a wonderful art! If you live according to the principles I share, you will undoubtedly live well. I was a well-behaved child, and well-behaved children grow up to be good people. I never really understood what management meant; I was just a very nice person. There's a crosstalk routine, by Ma Sanli, do you know him? Ma Sanli has a very famous crosstalk routine where he says, Do you know what my nickname is? My nickname is Ma the Benevolent, and another is Ma the Great Benevolent. He was truly a benevolent person. Actually, I was a very kind person when I was young, but today I have become less so. For the sake of pastoral care and management, I've become less benevolent. Why? Because it was learned.

From a young age, I was a kind person, this is the truth, not a fabrication. But good people are often taken advantage of, and good horses are ridden hard. This Ma the Great Benevolent is quite interesting. This Ma the Great Benevolent, grabbed a louse from his neck, and upon inspection, exclaimed: Wow, a fat, plump louse! Have you seen one before? If you haven't, you wouldn't know. He said, I am Ma the Great Benevolent, I cannot kill it.” So what did he do? He secretly placed it on someone else's neck, to let it live. Can you call that benevolence? He was benevolent to the louse, but not to the person on whose neck he placed it. Isn't that going to kill someone? Another incident: Ma the Great Benevolent, slap! He caught a mosquito with one hand. I cannot crush it, he thought, noting that the mosquito was still alive. His palm couldn’t be clenched too tightly, lest he crush it to death. Next to him was a mosquito net, his roommate was living inside that net. He secretly placed the mosquito in the mosquito net, to let it live, yes, very benevolent.

So, if there were a great benevolent pastor, a very kind pastor, he should be called the Tang Monk of Henan. A great benevolent pastor is very kind, so he cannot kill the demon. He catches a little demon and places it on a member of the congregation to let it live. Very benevolent! Is that what you call benevolence? That is being a nice person. Does this sound funny to you? Actually, many pastors keep demons on their congregants. Do you understand? I'll explain how they do it later. Catching a louse and placing it on someone else's neck; catching a mosquito and placing it in someone else's tent; catching a little demon and placing it on a member of the congregation.

Isn't that why many people come to me, and I drive the demons out of them? And many people ask me a strange question. Those are very kind people! Those very kind people say, Teacher, please don't drive the demon out of me. I said, Why not? I was perplexed! They said, Teacher, if you drive the demon out of me, won't it run to someone else? Oh, my heavens! Is your destiny in this world to harbor a demon? Fine, then harbor it well. I said, Worrying, worrying to this extent, how kind must you be!

I was a well-behaved child, very kind. Later, I took on management, and I messed things up because I wasn't very good at it. Because I wasn't very good at management, I was especially good to my employees. Because I was so good to my employees, they weren't good to me, and I learned a deep lesson. At the end of the year, they gave me a performance review. This company was quite interesting, conducting a 360-degree evaluation. We only had one degree here, but they did 360 degrees, with subordinates evaluating superiors, superiors evaluating subordinates, and evaluations from all sides, leaving no blind spots. As a result, my score was very low. My expectations were a bit off. If I was good to them, shouldn’t they be good to me too? Ah, it didn't work out that way.

So I changed my kind heart into a heart for management. What is a heart for management? It is to manage well. So through this experience, I learned a deep lesson, and I want to tell everyone: My whole approach has been learned. Later, I became a pastor. I was also good to them, a Ma the Great Benevolent. As a result, I discovered that being too good to them meant slowly harboring demons in them. This was quite interesting. After working through all of this, these people turned against me. Looking back, I realized that I hadn't fully grasped the lessons from my previous management experience. I still hadn't learned, still too kind. Later, I discovered that good people cannot manage, good people cannot lead, good people cannot pastor, good people cannot do it! Actually, after I learned pastoral care, I became bad. It is bad in quotation marks, do you understand?

Later, after I became a pastor, after I did pastoral care, I became bad, bad in quotation. Why? Because I managed them a bit too strictly. Many years later, just recently, I discovered a result. This result is very interesting. There is something very strange in people called the flesh. If you want to bless someone, you have to deal with their flesh. Otherwise, you cannot bless them. If you harbor their flesh, it is equivalent to harboring a demon in them. If your child does poorly in school, is spoiled, and is disobedient and disrespectful from a young age, why? Because you didn't deal with their flesh from a young age. You were raising demons in them from the start. After you raise the demons, you will become like that kind of kind manager. That kind of very kind pastor, do you understand now? Could it be that your demons were raised by your former pastor? Possibly.

So, when you come to me, I have a set of management philosophies, and I have a set of pastoral philosophies. I know my methods are effective. They can solve a problem, which is that I can bless you. Why? Because I don't want to harbor this demon in you. How could I catch a louse and place it on your neck, catch a mosquito and place it in your mosquito net, and then catch a demon and keep it on you? That is what good people do. A bad person like me doesn't do that. I specialize in squashing lice, swatting mosquitoes, and grinding demons into the ground, making a crunching sound. So, this gave me a deep lesson. What do I want to say? I want to say that these things aren't innate, how could they be? What am I innately? I am innately a good person, but being a good person is useless. Being a good person doesn't solve problems!

So what do I do? I learn! So I told you, I am a person who loves to learn. Many of the things that I, a person who loves to learn, know are in books, are learned. The Bible isn't written by me. Guanzi wasn't written by me. The Art of War wasn't written by me. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine wasn't written by me. Han Feizi wasn't written by me. Shang Yang wrote a book, and that wasn't written by me either. None of those were written by me. They were all learned. Later, I learned all sorts of knowledge. After learning all of this knowledge, what happened?

I tell you, this knowledge wasn't invented by me. I learned it from others. After learning from others: Ah, this is how you govern a country. We don't have the opportunity to govern a country, so never mind. So who did I learn from to govern the church? I learned from God. Isn't that Chinese Mingding Destiny? You learn from God, and that's theology. If you learn from people, then that's just human learning. So later, today, I ponder, what am I pondering? It is to transform you very kind, good people.

Among us, there are some very interesting cases. Within couples, one manages their children well, and the other is very kind and manages their children poorly. Why? because the kind one did not learn, did not know how to manage children. But the one who was innately not so kind, I said this the other day. How did this mother do it? The mother said, Today, it's your turn to clear the table! But after the child finished eating, he nonchalantly went back to his room. The mother was sharp. She told me, I'll leave it until tomorrow morning, and it will still be his turn to clean up. I won't clean it up for him. I said, You're quite lazy, aren't you? Never mind, that laziness is right. Why is it right? The child will behave.

You must know that parents are like this. The one who deals with the child's flesh is the one the child feels close to. The one who indulges the child's flesh is the one the child messes with. If you say that our child is like this or that, how he has let me down. As soon as I hear that, I know that you are a Tang Monk of Henan, raising demons, and in the end, you raise a lot of monsters. If Sun Wukong wants to kill the monsters, he can't. You have to stop him, you can't let him do it. So everyone, think about it slowly, discipline your children often. Of course, don't discipline them recklessly, or they will hate you. But disciplining is always better than not disciplining. Because you are a very kind mother, you may be harboring a flesh in your child, which is directly harboring a host of demons.

So, I want to offer a course in the future called, How to Manage Children. Managing children, educating children, is a very profound field. I think that many of the mothers among us really don't know how to be mothers. I find it strange, I am very surprised. As the child grows, he becomes the master. As she raises children, the mother becomes the servant. What kind of family is this? Chinese Mingding Destiny does not allow this kind of thing to happen. If you don't know how to do it, I can teach you. In the past, I couldn't change him, but in the coming years, I must change him. As long as you allow the change, I will change you. If you don't know how to do it, I have to teach you. What's the reason? It's because you haven't studied, and you fumble around blindly. Someone typed, More of a grandson than a grandson. I tell you, I know a lot of things, and then I play the bad guy.

One mother brought her child, and the child was breaking down. Why? Because his mother came to Singapore to accompany him in his studies, enduring a lot of hardship. As a result, the child plays computer games, indulge him, let him play, good boy. The mother makes breakfast and puts it there, asking the child to eat it as if she is inviting a master. He says, What is this stuff? Why is it so disgusting? When I heard that, I really wanted to beat him up. Later, the child couldn't find a job, so the mother brought the child to me, because she saw my small advertisement. She brought the child to me, and I trained him. After training, the child found a job. You say my training is pretty good. Whether people remember it or not, it doesn't matter, I treat it as practice. This mother indulged her child a lot, and then the mother's child had a child.

One day, the whole family went to Malaysia to play. The mother asked her grandson, Why didn't you bring Grandma along? As a result, the child revealed his parents' true feelings, saying at home, It's very expensive! Saving money to that extent on his own mother. It's upsetting to hear, but later we can't change it. Why? Because as I was playing the bad guy, people stopped accepting me as the bad guy, and they left the church. What do I want to say? Educating children is a matter of life and death. If you don't study, you won't know how to do it, and in the end, you will end up like this. She thought she was being good to her child, just like I used to be good to my employees, and I thought my employees would be good to me, but it turned out that everything was reversed.

Today, we must know that we must vigorously promote learning, and we must no longer be ignorant people. You must learn everything. Learn to make money, isn't not knowing how to make money a matter of life and death? Learn to save money, that's great! It's hard for people to earn my money. In the beginning, I paid tuition, but after I learned, I did it myself. People have a hard time earning my money. I do my own renovations, I write my own software, I clean my own data. You know, for many years, I didn't like hiring a secretary, not that I wasn't qualified to have one. Later, I discovered that if I hired a secretary, I would have to tell her how to do it, and by the time I told her, I could have done it myself. So I hate that. I read my own emails, I run my own meetings, I take my own meeting notes.

People think that professionals do professional things, but I am that professional. As I do things, as long as I have someone else do it, I learn from them, and after I learn, I do it myself. Our family's air conditioners are all installed by ourselves. Why? Isn't it just soldering? It's just a copper pipe. After learning the rules, looking at it, buying some tools, and soldering it, that's it.

Some time ago, a brother wanted to apply for the copyright of his software. He found a law firm and spent six thousand dollars to apply for the software copyright. If you let me do it, I would do it myself. What's there to it? You click around on the website, submit some documents, and that's it. Why should I give you six thousand dollars? I'm not going to let you earn my money. Why? Because I have a strong learning ability! After I saved six thousand dollars, I used it to tithe. Some people think I'm very tired, but I'm not. Why? Because I know how to learn. You click around on the website, look around, play around, make a few documents, submit them, and then chop a few turnips and eat them, and that's it. What's there to it?

Later, I had this situation as well. I found a lawyer and said, I have this. He said, If you want to apply for this, at least two or three thousand for one, four or five thousand or five or six thousand for two. I said, I'm not looking for you to do this. I'm looking for you to watch me do it, so that you can do this business in the future. Like this? I don't need an introduction. I said, What's the point of an introduction? After I do it, I still have to arrange time to tell him how to do it. It's easy for you to take up this kind of business online, isn't it? On the Internet, you click around, submit, take care of it, five or six thousand dollars, isn't that great? Yes, of course it's great. That's how money is made.

So, what is my expertise? My expertise is learning. I teach people how to learn! Let me tell you, I learn things incredibly fast; most people cannot keep up with me. Learning has become intrinsic to our culture today. Have you noticed that coming to Chinese Mingding Destiny is truly theological? We emulate God in our learning, achieving extraordinary proficiency.

An elderly woman once shared with me that since coming to our midst, she had written more than she ever had in her life. She never imagined she would type on a computer. I told her, Of course! What else would you do here if not learn? Learning has become part of our culture. You could learn for one or two lifetimes and still not be done.” Learning, taking notes, attending lectures, doing homework – it’s as if you’re back in school. And aren’t you here to study? Aren’t you here to learn Chinese Mingding Destiny? After learning theology, you’ll become someone who knows how to live. You must know how to live. Every time I preach, I say you don't have a license to live, so hurry up and get one and live well. If you don't know how to live, you'll live like your mother is your slave, then you become the slave of your grandchildren, and eventually the grandchildren's grandchildren. If you don't know, don't worry, you need to learn. I'm telling you, you will receive many blessings. Do you understand?

The other day, a sister came to me and said, “My mother has died.” I said, “Since your mother has died, I must tell you something: **Anything that cannot result in death is a small matter. If someone dies, it's no longer a big deal, it’s over.**” She asked, “Did my mother go to heaven or hell? Because her comprehension was not good.” Then she told me that her mother had come to our midst to study, take notes, and sometimes slapped her own head in urgency. I said, Isn't that attitude enough? I said, How is our attitude toward learning? This attitude will move God! You say, Pastor, but she is dead; her time had come. I tell you, God gave her immense grace. She did not have chemotherapy, radiation, or any tubes inserted. She just lost her breath, and that was it. Finished. That is grace!

In contrast, my friend has been in intensive care for over a month. In the ICU, they cut an incision under the armpit to insert a tube, and another incision in the throat to insert another tube. I wonder, what is the point? That's not grace! While alive, study hard so that you know when your days on this earth are complete, leaving this world is not a big deal. No suffering, really no suffering. Maybe a little suffering, always arguing with her husband, her own choice. Before, she didn't know how to live; later, she learned to live. To some extent, coming to Chinese Mingding Destiny, you will learn to live, learning throughout your life, until death. She was still serving others the day before, does that not indicate destiny?

People are born learning; this is my view. If it's not learning, it's instinct, like defecating, urinating, eating, drinking milk, those are instincts, no need to learn. I'll give you an answer to your concerns, so you don't keep wondering: How can someone just suddenly breathe their last without any illness? It's usually a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, that's how it happens. Later, the sister's father said, Fortunately, we called 120 (emergency services) a little late. Do you understand? If they had arrived earlier and inserted tubes, everything would have been out of your control, causing endless suffering! If we who are alive truly learn the lesson of taking life and death lightly, we will live in eternal life today. Would we then cling so much to life?

Why do I not like going to the hospital when I am sick, and I do not go to the hospital? Because if I die, I die! I don't believe hospitals can extend my life . So you must know that I am not forcing you; I am arranging this for myself, if you want to go to the hospital, I will not stop you. Clinging to life and fearing death, hoping that the hospital can extend your life, then you should extend away! Why? Because not learning, not learning is a tragedy, you even have to learn how to live, which word did you not later learn, what did you know when you were born? Being a person requires learning, being a mother requires learning how to be a mother, living requires learning how to live. And if you live without understanding, you'll be sent to the ICU.

Living requires learning! Many people don't have small eyes, their eye distance is normal. If you say their eyes are small and their eye distance is wide, isn't that Down syndrome? A person with Down syndrome still needs to learn! Many people whose eyes are normal and don't have Down syndrome still live out one, do you understand? If you don't learn in your life, nothing grows except your age. If you are silly and stupid, you will become someone who is generous because you are stupid. No learning! From birth to death, don't live to become a Down syndrome philanthropist.

My influence on people is quite considerable. A young brother, he later learned addition and subtraction. Before, two plus three equaled eight! After I taught him, I recently heard that his mother often received notes written by the child. What notes? Notes he took after listening to my sermons, sending them to his mother, actively learning. Isn't this child very good, very capable! I feel that developing a habit of learning is the character of our Chinese Mingding Destiny. Christians must learn to keep and follow God's word. That is the science of living. You can definitely live prosperously and healthily!

Actually, I also hope that one day when I leave this world, I will just 'pop' and be gone. Don't insert many tubes, as if you've left but haven't left, as if you've not left but you have. Then I tell you, living like that is really tiring! I won't do that. Everyone hopes that one day you'll just 'pop,' how great would that be! Still serving the day before, and maybe half an hour before, and half an hour later, 'pop.' What's the point of calling 120? It's not that fast. You say, Teacher, you live so clearly! Of course! It's satisfying! Come, let's read today's scripture. Oh dear, why did I talk for so long? Do you all remember the story I told? Don't be a philanthropist, catching a louse and putting it on someone's head to raise, catching a mosquito and putting it in someone's mosquito net to raise. Without learning, that's what happens. Now we must learn.

II. Scripture

Moses summoned all Israel and said: “Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. (Deuteronomy 5:1)

III. Prayer

God! Today we are Your children; today we come before You. God! Today we will listen to Your word. God! We can learn to keep and follow Your precepts. God! Give us a learning heart. God! May we also have such a learning disposition, cultivate good habits of rigorous study, not deviating to the left or right, living in God's will throughout our lives, living out Your destiny, living out the destiny You have for us, living out God's wonderful plan for us, living prosperously, living healthily, living out the glorious image of Jesus Christ. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

IV. The Background of This Passage

The preceding speaks of a grand principle, and the following speaks of a minor principle. Now it begins to speak of a minor principle; you can listen or not listen, there are not many stories in the paper. Let me tell you the background of this passage. Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. This passage is in Deuteronomy chapter five, verse one. After roaming for forty years, Moses calmed down before entering the promised land and wrote Deuteronomy. Writing Deuteronomy, you will actually find that Moses discovered a mystery in these forty years. This mystery is: the Israelites were ignorant before, so they died in the wilderness. In the following forty years, he did a very great thing, teaching the Israelites to know God and the law of God every day, because: thirty-eight years ago God promulgated the law on Mount Sinai. Moses constantly taught the Israelites the laws and regulations during these thirty-eight years. later he summarized a principle called: learning. What is learning? Learning is to tell you, but if you don't want to learn, it is useless. Do you all understand?

I will share a very important point with you. How important is learning? Learning is not that I am lecturing and you are listening, it's not; it is that after I finish speaking, you go and learn by yourself. I have observed a phenomenon that you should all listen carefully to, is that if a student goes to listen to class and then takes an exam, they will definitely fail. If this student does not listen to the class, but reads the textbook carefully and takes the exam, they will definitely pass. Do you all believe it? If you don't believe it, then you should ponder whether this is the case. Therefore learning is more important than listening to lectures. After listening, grasp a few key points, and then go back to contemplate. Only learning can internalize. Do you all know the word 'internalize'?

Moses concluded that this learning is too important, it is truly a tragedy for people to be ignorant! Forty years of wilderness road to enter the promised land, God killed batch after batch in the wilderness. Ten thousand people die today, and another ten thousand die after a while. You think more than six hundred thousand people died for thirty-eight years, that means at least ten thousand or eight thousand people died every year. Calculate more than six hundred thousand divided by thirty-eight, more than ten thousand people must die every year. Many were killed by God. Why? The Israelites wanted Moses to say to them: You must learn to fear God. So if you use Deuteronomy to search for the word learning, you will search many times that Moses repeated: learn to fear God. When it came to writing Deuteronomy chapter five, Moses began by saying that you must listen, learn, and be sure to follow. After learning, you can understand God's word and understand the laws of God's blessing and curse. This is the background of this passage.

So it is talking about the background of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt in the previous chapters, so today everyone must develop the habit of learning, it is not just today, those who did not learn in the days of Moses died in the wilderness, they focused on loving God, knowing God, learning God's word, believing God's word, and entered the promised land. That generation could not enter the promised land in the wilderness and all died. Later, the new generation learned for thirty-eight years studying God's laws and regulations. Moses did a job, he had been teaching the Israelites for more than thirty years, and as a result, those who learned entered the promised land.

So what is it talking about here? It is talking about such a thing. If you have the opportunity, you can read Deuteronomy chapter five again. You only need to have the attitude of learning. You don't necessarily have to learn as well as me. I have been learning for so many years, and my learning efficiency is high. If you have never written a word in so many years, it is a bit slow to suddenly learn to write, but you must have this learning attitude even if it is slow. After learning, you can survive and be blessed so that your days may be long in the land. This is the fourth point: the background of this passage. After listening, I hope you can know how important learning is.

V. You Must Listen, Learn, and Be Sure to Follow

This is the focus of this passage. What exactly is learning? Just now I said a sentence called: internalization, the process of internalizing learning the things of God, learning spiritual things, God's word is to explain spiritual things with spiritual words. Chinese Mingding Destiny places great emphasis on this spiritual matter. That is to say our 101 first lesson is [How Real is the Spiritual World]. If you understand spiritual matters, you know spiritual laws, you must learn to observe. You observe: ten thousand died, the plague came, what did you learn from the death of ten thousand? Learned: Oh, this is not fun! Do you understand? Then you go and see, you go and observe, you go and ponder, and then what? Let me tell you again, use: abstract, summarize, conclude, and organize. You see batch after batch of Israelites dying in the wilderness, including Korah and his people, all swallowed by the earth.

After you finish watching, go home and write notes. I asked you to write notes today, and you could have written notes at that time. After writing you will know: This kind of person will die miserably, oh, that kind of person will die miserably. So what can you do? You can learn to fear God. Learn what? Learn a blessed law: Oh, this kind of person is blessed. You observe carefully, I have observed a lot. Do you understand? You know that I met an old friend some time ago, and he said something to me that impressed me deeply. He said: Teacher Liu, there are many smart people in this world. Extremely smart, simply very smart. And they are also very hardworking, but as a result, they achieve nothing in their lives, they are just unlucky! People need to know that the laws of being blessed are more important than being smart, that smartness is useless. If people do not understand the laws of being blessed, just watch how you live. So everyone gradually begins to develop a systematic understanding of being blessed.

I met a Christian who told me: God is a God who loves me. I said yes, yes, yes, God is a God who loves you, but I don't know if you love God. Later he said that God's love is unconditional and God's blessings are also unconditional. Nonsense. Why does he talk nonsense? He doesn't read God's word, he doesn't know. I tell you, is there a condition for being blessed? Absolutely there is a condition.

If you read the Bible you will see: If you carefully keep and follow, how and how things will be, and then God will bless you. Do you understand? There is definitely a condition. Then why does he think it is unconditional? He thought that God's love is unconditional, so he thought that God's blessings are also unconditional. False reasoning. Then why does he infer falsely? Because he doesn't learn. Talking nonsense, saying nonsense by patting his head is a common phenomenon, so you must listen, you must learn, to be sure to follow.

Many people ask me: Teacher, why can't I do it? Why? The reason is very simple, your comprehension is not clear. You always think that you will take advantage if you do this, and you will suffer a loss if you do that, so you will not do the things that suffer a loss, but in fact, you have just reversed it. You think you are taking advantage if you do that, but the result is a loss. You think you are suffering a loss, but in fact, you are taking advantage. Why? Because you do not know God's word, so your mind is troubled by this. Many people say [The New Testament has no curses]. Have you read the New Testament? I say, go go go, go back and reread elementary school. When I talk to them, I am wasting time. Not learning is fatal.

VI. God Uses Fear as a Tool

God uses fear as a tool, everyone write it down, the sixth point is so important. Do you say, does God really use fear as a tool? Do you not understand? I ask you, God killed a group of people, why? To make you fear, you need to know to be in awe. You say, I this word fear is not right, use awe, not fear. Why use the word fear? Let me read to you:

The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. (Deuteronomy 5:4)

As a result, the Israelites were all trembling, why? Intentionally. God thundered and spoke in the sky, intentionally, to make you fear, you can't do it without fear. Why? If I reason with you, can you understand? You are like a little kid, if the rattan is raised, you will immediately be good, sit here and learn, if you don't learn, I will beat you. If I reason with you, can you understand? Do you all understand? A group of slaves, never learning in their lives, carrying the mentality of slaves all their lives. So God spoke to them in a loud voice from the mountain, from the fire, from the cloud, and from the darkness, as a result, they learned to be afraid and awed. A great fire destroyed some people, and a plague killed some people. Do you say these are not fear? Therefore, may you have such a heart to fear God, and always follow His commands, so that your descendants may be blessed forever.

If God were just a kind old man, could He handle this? No, this is tough work. With painstaking effort, willing to be misunderstood, He does it so that people can be blessed and learn. You don't need to worry about those who have died. Why? God used them as a prop. OK? For example, a teacher takes a piece of chalk, snaps it into a small piece, and throws it at a student's head. What happened to the chalk? You were treated like chalk, broken and thrown away. Is there a problem? No problem. The problem is that those who were killed are just props so that those who see it can have reverence.

You know, there was something I didn't understand for a long time, but I slowly figured it out. That is, some bosses really don't have great skills. They're not eloquent, not the kind who understand everything and solve problems for others. But they can do a good job in that position, which is very amazing. Why? The reason is that they can inspire reverence and fear in their subordinates.

In human resource management, fear is a motivational tool. You can't do it by being a nice guy; you have to know how to use fear. Fear is a tool that God uses, which is very powerful. So what about you? You have to imitate God. I often use this in my pastoral work. Without it, I can't subdue the little demons in you. So, everyone, think about it slowly. This guy's tricks are pretty ruthless. Of course, God's tricks are much more ruthless than mine. Why? So that everyone can be blessed.

People have bad memories and don't revere God. If you don't revere God, you will be afraid of ghosts. Can everyone remember that now? If you want to discipline your children, use God's method. A little discipline is okay; it's better than none at all. I once saw a mother hitting her child. I said, You have to discipline your child. She said, I am disciplining. Later, she came to see me with the child, her hand raised very high, as if she was going to hit the child hard, but when her hand reached the child's body, it slowed down, and then, pat, she touched the child. I said, That's a massage, not discipline. Just keep massaging; the child is quite comfortable. Can that work? No, it can't.

Seven, Learning to Love God

When we learn to see these things, can we learn to love God? When you see these things, you say, Wow, God, you killed your people. Done. You say, You are a very evil God. Done, you're swept into the trash heap too. I tell you, today, brothers and sisters, whether you were born in the New Testament or the Old Testament, no matter which generation you are in, or many years after the New Testament, not loving God is accursed.

The seventh point is to learn to love God, because the Ten Commandments say:

Showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:10)

God will surely show covenant love to those who love Him for a thousand generations. Can you learn this lesson? If you are a person who does not love God, you deserve it. Have we suffered enough today? Don't think that God is Santa Claus. God is not Santa Claus. How does He treat those who love Him? To those who love Him, God will keep His covenant of love. To those who hate Him, God will punish their sins to the third and fourth generations. Have you learned it? Whether you love God or not, learn it yourself, study God's Word. As soon as you read God's Word, as soon as you read spiritual things, as soon as you understand spiritual laws, everything hurts except your hair.

Some time ago, I talked about a tumor pastor. I communicated with those people between the lines, and I found that there was a kind of unwillingness in their service to God. I am not like that. From the time I knew God until today, when I read the Bible, I think, Oh my goodness, is this how it works? God, you will deal with those who hate you; you will show covenant love to those who love you. Okay, God, I will study hard. I will learn to love you. You tell me how to love you, and I will love you that way. I am willing. At that time, I made a very smart choice. For many years, I have learned in this way. Oh, I thank God, I really thank God. I don't know if He created me to love learning, or if I came to love learning later. I really don't know, but today I know that I must encourage everyone to learn to love God. Don't be a tumor pastor, don't be a tumor do-gooder, it's useless. Learn to love God.

The difference between a person who likes to serve God and one who doesn't is too great. You will never hear me say here, Oh, serving God is burning out. Serving God, loving God, loving to the point of being dead or alive, how can there be a burnout problem? If there is burnout, it is being burned out by the fire of love. Wow, the fire of love is rekindled. Why don't I feel tired? Because I like it. Why? Because loving God means liking to keep and obey His commands. Isn't that simple?

You say, Teacher, I can't do it. I say, Then what can you do? You say, I play video games. I say, What can you do without getting tired? You say, Playing video games is not tiring. I say, That's good, use the energy you use to play video games to love God. You say, Teacher, I can't do it. I say, Then what can you do? You say, I can make money. I say, Then use the energy you use to love money to love God. You see? As soon as you go to make money, you have time, you have everything, you just like to love money. If you love God, what happens? As soon as you talk about loving God, you have everything, you have time, you have ability, you have energy, you have strength. Someone says, Teacher, as soon as I play mahjong, I'm full of energy. Then use the energy you use to play mahjong on God. Love, just love playing mahjong. When we put all our emotions on God, I tell you, the smartest choice in life is to love God.

Eight, Learning to Revere God

God uses fear to discipline, why? Because people are slaves, and God uses fear to manage this group of slaves. If a person loves God, what will happen? God will surely discipline those who love Him. When a person is disciplined, they say, Ah, this is love for me. When a person is disciplined, do they say, like a child being disciplined by their parents, I wasn't born into a real family, it's like having a stepmother or stepfather. You say that? You break your parents' hearts. As a result, when parents hear this kind of talk, after their hearts are broken, they say, Why didn't I strangle you when you were little? They said something out of anger.

Who among us has not experienced discipline? Is there anyone who has not experienced discipline? If you have not experienced discipline, you are lying. Let me give you an example: A sister came to me many years ago with a muscle pulling in her back. It was released after prayer, that was grace. Later, after teaching, whenever she acted foolishly, that muscle would pull up again. She said, Teacher, this muscle is pulling up again. I said, I know, I understand. Do you understand? She said, I also understand. I said, How do you understand? She said, I've been acting foolishly again recently. She knew it. After a period of time, after it was released by prayer, it pulled up again, and she acted foolishly again. Those whom God loves, He disciplines.

Some people still find it strange. Why is it so fast? I just did something bad yesterday, and I'm being disciplined today. That's God loving you. So don't say, God, why are you like this? Don't say that. Some people are disciplined in an hour, some people are disciplined in half a day, there is everything. I also have the marks of discipline on my body. Don't be surprised, those whom God loves, He will surely discipline. Why? After being disciplined, you will have reverence for God. Don't repeatedly sin against God in the same place, do you hear? You will feel: If I commit the same sin again, I may not have another chance. You won't dare to commit it. I think it's not too difficult to learn to revere God in Chinese Mingding Destiny, because God's discipline is especially fast. You say, Huh, God disciplines him, but God has never disciplined me. Oh, God loves me so much. Nonsense! Why? You may not be one of them, you are not someone God loves, so God is too lazy to discipline you. You are not one of them, it's like you came to the wrong place. God doesn't care.

Nine, Learning Not to Deviate to the Left or Right

Do you know what people are like today? Either they are extremely legalistic, or they are extremely gracious. With grace, they forget the law; with law, they forget the grace. They often wander around here and there. Everyone understands now, right? Some people deviate to the left or right and no one cares. They commit sins and no one cares. They leave the church and live a very comfortable life, with zest and flavor. If no one cares, they are wild children, just wild children in God's eyes.

So today, if we deviate to the left, we will hit the curb. Does everyone know what a curb is? There are curbs on both sides of the road, which are higher. If you drive to the right, bang, you will hit the right curb. If you drive to the left, bang, you will hit the left curb. Then carefully observe God's actions. Oh, this is true. If you don't understand, you will deviate to the left or right. Then you say that God loves me unconditionally and then just do whatever you want, that's troublesome. Today we talked about a little bit of truth, and we should restrain ourselves a little bit in the time that follows.

Ten, Developing Strict Study Habits

Strict, don't just slap your head and think. Is this what it says or is that what it says? What does the Bible say? Have you all noticed that Chinese Mingding Destiny cares very much about whether this matter is actually in the Bible or not. If it is not in the Bible, it will say: It doesn't seem that the Bible says this. I have not seen such a prayer in the Bible: God! Let this tube be smoothly inserted into his lungs. I have not seen it. Does it seem good to insert that thing? There are also prayers: God! Bless my business. God! Let's all pray for his business, his business is about to go bankrupt. Praying for his money. No, there are no such things in the Bible. Today, develop the strict habit of examining whether there is a biblical basis.

What does it mean not to deviate to the left or right? If you find that Judas committed suicide, what is that? That's not God's will in the Bible. God's will is not for you to commit suicide, that was Judas committing suicide. Do you want to be Judas? That is not strict, you must be strict. How strict? After examining and learning, keep and obey it, and then after obeying, look at the results of the practice, it's right, the result is very good. Why? After seeing the results of the practice, you will see that God has allowed you to see that you did the right thing in this matter. Therefore, it is very important for us in Chinese Mingding Destiny to develop strict study habits. Don't develop this habit of just slapping your head and thinking. You see, anyone who is in close contact with me, when I ask what is going on with this matter, they can't answer. What is going on with that matter? They can't answer. If you can't answer, then what are you doing? You just like to slap your head and think.

When people like to slap their heads and think, I tell you, oh, the description is scary. Someone used his hand to gesture: That thing is only half a kilogram. Is that big thing only half a kilogram? Is it cotton candy? Do you understand? When you gesture, you just gesture blindly. When you slap your head, you just talk nonsense. There is no basis at all. Then he says: I think it's like this, self-righteous. Therefore, to develop strict habits, you will study systematically, have learning, have practice, have results, and then piece by piece put together to become a systematic thing.

Eleven, Conclusion

Okay, I will make a conclusion. Today I missed a little bit, which is how to develop good study habits. Today I talked about how to develop the right study habits. But how to develop them, I want to add a sentence when I summarize. That is, the thing that hinders your learning is your flesh, so dealing with your flesh is the key. This flesh has many evil things, if there is no reverence and fear, this flesh cannot be controlled. I know you can't control it, so I play the bad guy, so that I can help you control it. What do you think? We cooperate very well.

So I discovered a series of linguistic tools that make people uncomfortable. Actually, when you are uncomfortable, I am also uncomfortable. Actually, I don't really want to say it, I don't really want to be the bad guy. But if I don't be the bad guy, you can't develop this habit. I just said, I just don't develop strict habits, I just slap my head and do things blindly, I just like to talk nonsense, I just don't really like to love God, I just don't really revere God, I'm just like that. That's okay, I often make you uncomfortable. I am extremely rich in language to make you uncomfortable. What do I do? I do pastoral care. Can good people do pastoral care? I have the skills to make you uncomfortable. The result is that it produces something to deal with the flesh. Ordinary people can't argue with me.

There is a brother named Liu Youfu, he said, Teacher, you are my brother. I said, How did I become your brother? He said, Your name is Liu Youli (meaning 'Liu has reason'). Oh my goodness, I have become Liu Youli. That's right, ordinary people can't argue with me. And I have practical evidence as well. Why? For the sake of pastoral care, I can't not do this. Finally, I deal with your flesh, and then I get the demons out from inside. I don't nurture your flesh and say, Oh, sister, peace be with you. Brother, peace be with you. And then conveniently put a demon in, conveniently put a demon in to nurture. I don't do that.

So I want to make a conclusion today. Learn well when summarizing. But when learning, cooperate with me, cooperate with your pastor. Among us who are pastors, develop into pastors who deal with the flesh. Only pastors who deal with the flesh can successfully do pastoral care. If you can't deal with the flesh, you can't do pastoral care. If you can't deal with this person, you can't deal with the demons on this person. If that person is willing to submit, that's good. Everyone understands now, right?

Let's sing a hymn and collect today's offering. If you don't understand the meaning of offering, please don't give an offering! But if you really feel that you want to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, then your offering is pleasing to God. Because the church is not a place to collect money, the church is a place to distribute blessings. Offering is blessed, because God wants to mold us in this matter, to become a person who offers, Amen! Keep and obey Your words, revere Your glorious and awesome name. Imitate Your way to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with You. Because we love God, God's Spirit will dwell among us, and we will find rest!

At this time, raise your hands: I declare in the name of Jesus Christ that I will rely on the Holy Spirit to put to death the deeds of my flesh, to become a person who learns! I will rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the deeds of my flesh. God, work on me, let me learn to love You, to revere You! Let me be able to know Your word, let me be able to know the reality of the spiritual realm, to know the laws of the spiritual realm. I just want to enter into Your blessing. God, use me, I just want to enter into God's will. God, mold our brothers and sisters, mold me into a person who learns. Let me know You, let me live in prosperity all my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever, Amen!