Introduction

Good morning! Let us turn to Hosea Chapter 4. There is a famous line in this chapter: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge! I pose a question to everyone: Are you God's people? You say, Yes. If you are an ignorant people, you will be destroyed! Why do the ignorant perish? Because a person lacks knowledge and does not recognise God, that is the tragedy of their life! Making decisions based on worldly logic, not knowing God's power, nor understanding the words in the Bible is the most tragic thing in a person's life! Know that in the past few years, what I have seen most in the church is destruction! In fact, these people are all believers, and to some extent, they still have a heart that loves the Lord!

Once I went to a church for a funeral. The deceased was a pastor from my previous church. He loved cars very much. As a result, one day he crashed his car into a large truck in front of him and died, leaving behind a child who was only a few months old. Some said: It's good that he died, so he was taken to God. I was very familiar with this pastor. He loved cars very much, but he died in a car accident, which touched me a little.

Not long after, I attended another funeral. My previous pastor was on stage hosting his memorial service. At funerals in Singapore, people can see through the glass window on the coffin. I saw that the faces of the deceased were sewn up with needles, which showed how tragic the car accident scene was! This couple was also familiar to me, and they also loved cars very much. This scared me! I will never dare to love cars again in my life! See how well I summed it up.

People cannot love money either! Because those who love money cannot love God, and those who love God cannot love money! Some people say: I love money fifty percent, and I love God fifty percent. Man dies for wealth, and birds die for food! A person who loves God will be blessed financially, but you cannot think that loving money will be blessed. This touched me very much. I must love God, and as a result, I am blessed financially! Not because of loving money that I am blessed, but because of loving God that I am blessed.

All these things are caused by the ignorance within people. If a person knows that loving cars will cause a car accident and loving money will cause trouble, they would not do it! The problem of ignorance is a deadly problem! I want to remind everyone, do not be surprised when you see injustice and unrighteousness in this world, and do not argue with God about why this is so! Because there is no why. Know that God will not make mistakes, and neither will ghosts. Only people make mistakes themselves! Some people ask me: Teacher, why did you get COVID-19? The reason is simple, because I am also a sinner!

No honesty, no goodness, no knowledge of God

Ignorance is not because you are ignorant of sales, human resources management, or finance. You may have even passed the Certified Public Accountant exam, but if you are ignorant from a spiritual perspective, then it's troublesome! Ignorance is because people do not know God. In this generation we are in, there are plenty of examples of this: no one is honest, no one is good, no one knows God. This is called perishing for lack of knowledge! Take the recent scam industry as an example, it has been developing for more than ten years and is very powerful!

There is a story being spread, don't ask me how I know, I just heard it. A girl met a Chinese young man while studying at a university in China. However, this boy fell in love with the girl without even knowing who she was. As a result, after the boy arrived at northern Myanmar, he found out that the girl was actually the daughter of a powerful scam family. Later, these two became the leaders of the scam group.

In fact, the boy's family was not short of money either. His family was also very powerful and had some family background. This boy received a large order of two hundred million US dollars. He thought: Who would be deceived for two hundred million US dollars? The owner of that money must have a very strong background. So the boy went to his girlfriend to discuss returning the money. But the girl disagreed, but he still transferred the two hundred million US dollars back to the original account. When the girl saw this, her temper flared up. The thug standing next to her wanted to scare him with a wine bottle, but he hit him too hard and killed him. Then he was thrown into the wilderness.

Later, the boy's family could not contact him, so they went through the black society in northern Myanmar to find him, but they couldn't find him. Later, they sent some people from domestic to look for him, but they were all killed! As a result, this matter shocked many people. Now, these people who engage in scams have been wanted, and some have been arrested and brought to justice! How can those who engage in scams, cutting livers and kidneys, end up well? The purpose of all this is for money!

There is swearing and lying, murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. (Hosea 4:2)

Why did they do such a thing? Because the consensus that everyone has reached in this world is money! Now you must listen to my advice: Man dies for wealth, and birds die for food! The world is already like this, so if you, as a people of God, also die for wealth and birds die for food, isn't that ignorance? Know that this ignorance started with Jeroboam. God gave Jeroboam a kingdom to manage ten tribes, but he thought: If these ten tribes of Israel all go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, that's 15 percent of their average income!

Jerusalem is like Taipei in Taiwan, China. The ten tribes led by Jeroboam are like mainland China. The people of these ten tribes have to go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. Everyone must know that if you give 10 percent as an offering, it's barely acceptable, but if you add this sacrifice and that sacrifice, like a thanksgiving offering, it would be 15 percent. Can the tax revenue of a country reach 15 percent? Jeroboam calculated the accounts and things went wrong. He calculated it with money, because he neither understood the word of God nor knew God's power!

We may all still be in Jeroboam's framework. If you were managing the people of these ten tribes, and the people put 15 percent of their money into a hostile country, you certainly couldn't accept it! Then you are Jeroboam, which means that you have not yet emerged from Jeroboam's political economy. In fact, it is ignorance!

If I were in Jeroboam's position, my political economy would be theology, because I know that the throne comes from God. If I can do it, I will do it; if I can't do it, it doesn't matter. My God will surely protect me! I know God's power. God can make the Israelites cross the Red Sea as if walking on dry ground. Even if my people take 15 percent of their offerings to Jerusalem, it doesn't matter. God will give me more money, and the country will surely prosper!

Although this logic may not be agreed upon by everyone, and they may think that I am talking nonsense? You are great if you agree with this logic! Take us as an example, I must tell you that the greatest decision I made in my life when I was poorest was to tithe, and it was quite worthwhile! Know that people do not live by money, but by God. People live by God, and God will surely make us prosper! Otherwise, you can try it.

I once ministered to a real estate businessman who was about to jump off a building. It would have been bad if I had ministered to him just to get him to donate more money. As a result, after I finished ministering, God really changed his financial situation. At that time, he only had 50,000 RMB in his hand, and his children were still studying in the UK. I said to him: You must pay a tithe. He said: I still have many debts to pay. God gave him 300,000 at the beginning to solve his immediate needs, and then again gave him more than 2 million, which enabled many of his projects to start and begin to recover. At that time, our church was still in its early stages, but donations still had to be qualified. As a result, in less than half a year, he came to me again and was beaten back to his original state.

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no compassion, and no knowledge of God in the land. (Hosea 4:1)

Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky, and the fish of the sea are perishing. (Hosea 4:3)

Starting from Jeroboam, the Israelites were pushed into the eyes of money, and as a result, the land was cursed, and nothing prospered.

This land is cursed

A person's ignorance will be cursed! Because you cannot believe in God with ignorance, you must know God and know God's power. Know that things that seem impossible in the eyes of man are possible in the kingdom of God, and this is how it works in the spiritual realm. People live not by money, nor by power or talent, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. I am very moved along this road! I wondered: Why are there so many people who love money? There are not a few Christians who love money either! I really rarely see people who love God more than money! Because there are more people who love money, this land will be cursed, so people don't live well!

There was once a sister among us who said to me: Teacher, I am getting married, and I asked my fiancé's mother for a dowry of 150,000. In fact, her fiancé's mother was a cancer patient and I had ministered to her before. She had cancer, and her children were studying abroad. The family's finances were supported by the old couple. If they had to give another 150,000 as a dowry, it would simply be taking their lives! I said: Can you not ask for a dowry? She said: No, I have to have the money. I said: What are you going to do with the money? She said: Eating chicken drumsticks is better than eating cornbread! It turned out to be the theory of small chicken drumsticks! I said: You are going to eat chicken drumsticks, but his mother has to eat cornbread. How much of a curse would that bring? But when a mother sees her son getting married, she will scrape together the money even if she has to sell everything! As a result, he married a wife who eats chicken drumsticks, and he can only eat cornbread! If what people do is only for money, they will definitely be cursed and have bad luck in the end, it's just that their evil has not yet reached its fullness! This land is cursed, so God says:

But let no one contend, and let no one accuse; for your people are like those who contend with a priest. (Hosea 4:4)

These people are like those who accuse the priest, because everyone has fallen into the eyes of money. You ask her why she is not blessed? She will say: It's all because of the pastor's problem. People have fallen into the eyes of money and are unwilling to repent properly, so how can they be blessed? When I talk about the testimony of someone who has been blessed on stage, he will say below: It's all nonsense! It's impossible to be blessed. So don't ask why, and don't accuse or argue, and don't say that the pastor led us into the mud pit. If you are a person who trusts in God, even in an unsuccessful church, God can bless you.

If people do not find problems in themselves, they will live in a curse. If people think about small chicken drumsticks all day long, and let others eat cornbread, it's difficult not to be cursed! When God sees: Such an ignorant person! God will send a few ghosts to torment you to death. If you are tormented and still don't think you did anything wrong, and it's all someone else's fault, then it's troublesome! Ghosts will not make mistakes, and neither will God. If a person is sick all over and very poor, don't blame others anymore, start looking for reasons in yourself. God knows that you have repented and will lead you out of this situation.

In fact, people are really bad, and they just think it's all someone else's fault. If they can't find someone else's fault, they will say it's the moon's fault, but they just don't admit that they are wrong. Some people live like enemies after getting married, and they ask: Is there a medicine for growing old together? But who can you blame? Isn't that all your own choice? Why do you blame others and not yourself?

Priests and prophets fall together

If people want to walk into blessings, even if they marry the wrong person, God will still bless them, but people are stupid and just don't know it. Do you think God is saying that the priests are doing a good job? Actually, no. God means: Don't point fingers, the priests are just as bad as you, and the priests and prophets have fallen together. The people have fallen into the eyes of money, and the priests, prophets, and pastors have also fallen into the eyes of money! Both ignorant and blind, they use a microscope to pick out other people's faults, but they can't see their own faults! Seeing the speck in someone else's eye, but not seeing the log in your own eye, isn't that ignorance?

You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. The more priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glory for disgrace. They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. And what the people are, so will be the priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. (Hosea 4:5-9)

You think being a priest is a guarantee? In truth, an ignorant priest is no different from an ignorant prophet. As the Bible says, They feed on the sin offerings of my people and relish their wickedness. This means that when the people sin, they have to make offerings. After the people made offerings, the priests would take the lamb legs home and sell them. So those priests wanted them to sin more so they could have more sacrificial meat to sell in the market. What kind of thinking is this? Don't they know that doing so would offend God? But all they see is money. Whether it's people or priests, ignorance is the same; they will be overthrown by God.

We must take out the fingers pointing at others and the dirty thoughts and intentions in our hearts. In reality, a priest's love for money is similar to that of a swindler. The more people they deceive, the more profit they make, but they don't realize that incurring God's wrath will lead to tragedy. Actually, I am very calculating. I often ask myself if I have figured this matter out, whether it is pleasing to God.

My standard is that I dare to offend anyone, but I dare not offend God. If you say, Teacher, I want to leave the church, then I will open champagne in the office to celebrate. Because I have not offended God. Offending people can't do anything to me, but offending God leads to destruction! I am good at calculating. I can clearly calculate the big picture, but I'll let the small things go.

And it shall be, like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. They shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase; because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. (Hosea 4:9-11)

Among us, are there still people who dare to offend God? Someone says, Teacher, I can't control it! I say, It doesn't matter, you don't need to control it, just follow your feelings, don't look to either side, and in the end, you will dissolve into the blue sky. Ignorance leads to destruction, and the work of our church is to make people wise, to bring people out of destruction. Everyone, don't think that you can gain anything on the road to destruction. If people can't control themselves, they can only drink their own urine and eat their own feces on the road to destruction.

An Ignorant People Shall Fall

They shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase; because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. (Hosea 4:10)

An ignorant people shall fall! This sentence is at the end of verse 14. You need to know that when the people in this place sin, the priests in this place contract everything out to households and are consumed by money, then this place is cursed, and as a result, believing in the Lord doesn't work! Everyone is praying desperately there, but if you are consumed by money, can you get out? So in the future, you will eat but not be satisfied. After committing whoredom, you will not have descendants. They have left off to take heed to the Lord. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away their hearts, and then believing in the Lord doesn't work!

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. (Hosea 4:11-13)

Everyone, take a close look, are there many churches with God's presence? Not many! I'm not exaggerating at all. Believing in the Lord doesn't work! Some churches have fewer miracles and wonders than temples, which is a tragedy! What to do when believing in the Lord doesn't work? They go to ask counsel at their stocks, thinking that their staff can declare unto them, because the spirit of whoredoms has caused them to err.

They commit whoredom and forsake God, not keeping their covenants, sacrificing and burning incense on the tops of the mountains, on the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good. Therefore, your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. What is this all about? It's like your newlywed wife giving you several green hats, and the daughters born are flirting outside. The nation of Israel is in chaos. Where did it all start? It started from people's ignorance, because they do not know God!

Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth. (Hosea 4:15)

God said, I will destroy this nation! This sentence is in verse 5: Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. Everyone, don't think that destroying his mother means that his mother will die. Everyone, think about it, when some people are reading aloud or expressing emotions, they say, Motherland, my mother! Yellow River, Mother River! That's the meaning. God destroyed the nation of Israel, and as a result, the nation of Israel was gone, it perished! God said, An ignorant people shall fall! Even if you go to Gilgal, to Beth-aven, it's useless. Even swearing by the name of the living God, the Lord, is useless!

I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. (Hosea 4:14)

Gilgal is a holy place for the Israelites, but going there is useless, even going to Beth-aven is useless! Because going there to make sacrifices and swear to the Lord God, when it doesn't work, they say they made a mistake and should swear by the temple. If it still doesn't work, what should they do? They should swear by the gold in the temple, which is nonsense! They say, God! My daughter goes out and fools around with people every day, and my newlywed wife is also like this. She keeps giving me green hats, God! Why don't you care? God said, I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery, because they have left off with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall!

When a person's belief in the Lord doesn't work, what exactly happened? It's forsaking God, giving God several green hats. You have great courage! If you give your husband a green hat, God may not care. But if you give God several green hats, then you really have eaten bear heart and leopard gall! You think God doesn't care, but God will definitely let you perish. He's just letting you wait now, until the day of destruction comes! Hosea wrote this book to warn the Israelites, but after the Israelites heard it, they thought, Will this really happen? They see that everything is fine, and they stubbornly persist in this ignorance!

Stubbornly Persisting in This Ignorance

For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. (Hosea 4:16-17)

Among us, the pastoral leaders are heartbroken to shepherd you. Actually, I am heartbroken to shepherd the pastoral leaders. My heart is being poked like a honeycomb. People are very stubborn in persisting in this ignorance. For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. Sometimes it's really frustrating to shepherd some people. I think, Let them do what they want, let them perish! Why do people stubbornly persist in this ignorance? Can we start learning to know God! Little by little, recognize God, little by little growth. Our little shepherds are using my words very well, but sometimes they use them incorrectly!

Ignorance leads to destruction! Our brothers and sisters start learning to know God! Come out of ignorance! You have to know that you didn't do it right. This isn't right, that isn't right, don't stubbornly insist that you've done it all right. How can a person with a bad brain do God's word right? Why stubbornly insist on discerning good and evil? Why stubbornly persist in the worldly logical system? Why insist on bringing the devil of the world upon yourself? Why suffer so much? Why not repent? Wouldn't it be better to be soft? Why be so stubborn? Even frequent prayer and sacrifice are useless, you must reflect on yourself! If prayer and sacrifice are useless, isn't that a tragedy?

Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:18-19)

See, their sacrifices will bring shame. Making sacrifices is in vain. Who told you to stubbornly persist in ignorance? Can you open your eyes and see the filth on yourself? Don't think you're good enough, and then feel wronged: Teacher! What else do you want me to do? I don't want you to perish. God's people perish for lack of knowledge! Can you hear this?

If you say, I am God's people, I have already been saved! I think, You'd better stop it! With your ignorant appearance, are you still God's people? Brothers and sisters, start learning and growing well, and deal with the problems on yourselves. Don't just stubbornly insist on praying, insist on being one minute more than the devil! Ignorant persistence is meaningless. If you don't know God, and your bones are filled with filth, how can it be useful?

Learning to Know God

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19)

When people learn to know God, they must know God's great power, know God's word! You must know that our God can make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert; you must know that our God can let Israel pass through the Red Sea as if on dry ground, and let the Israelites be brought out of the house of slavery by God's mighty hand, and from then on, there will be no lack of any good thing for those who trust in God! Money is not a problem, is there a problem with offering the money received from God to God? Is there a problem with going around from God and earning it back? But some people love money so much that they have gone crazy! So they pray to God, God! Just give me ten million, and I will donate five million to you. They calculate the accounts very well, and then they think, God! It doesn't need to be so troublesome, just give me five million directly! The calculations are still loving money in their bones!

Will God give you five million? God reaches out and pinches your left cheek: This is five million! Then he pinches your right cheek: This is ten million! Do you still want it? God says, I'll let you want five million! I think you look like five million! I'll make you an old millionaire! People just don't know God, why do they ask this way? Because they think that five million is very important! God can give you five million, and burn five million for you when you die, what's the benefit? People just don't know God's great power! The foundation of the Israelites has a problem, and this foundation is the worldly logical system! They do not know God, nor do they know God's great power!

Have we suffered enough now? Have we learned enough lessons? We have! After being healed, will we still follow the previous logic? If we follow the previous logic again, the disease will come back, see what you will do! So you must learn to know God! Do not be lazy on the road to knowing God, but strive to pursue! Knowing God is much deeper than learning artificial intelligence, mathematics, physics, quantum mechanics! Has the development of physics, science, engineering technology, computer technology in this generation been completed? No! It is still advancing by leaps and bounds. How can our knowledge of God not advance by leaps and bounds? I thank God! God in this generation wants to raise up Chinese Mingding Destiny, so that the logical system of Mingding Destiny can once again sow a seed in the hearts of Christians. This seed can take root and sprout, allowing people to begin to strive to pursue, no longer loving the world and the things of the world, but loving God alone!

You must know that we live not by money, but by the power of God! When you begin to learn to love God, thinking about God in your heart, a fundamental change takes place in our logical system, and you will surely know that God will open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings on you! Because God has been waiting there for this day for a long time! When Hosea wrote these words, it was not to curse the Israelites, but because the Israelites were living under a curse, he wrote these words to encourage them, wanting to pull them out of the curse and lead them on the path of blessing.

Let us never make God angry again, let us never let God say, Let you sin and fall! Change that evil energy in your bones! How many of us have that evil energy? Many! I have to answer a phone call every day to solve this evil energy. That evil energy is an evil spirit! Once people know God's great power, many problems will be solved easily! Amen!

May God bless everyone.