Introduction

Good day to all! I am here to share on a topic, “The Spirit of Arrogance”. Frankly speaking, “The Spirit of Arrogance” is a very interesting subject. I have observed a certain tragedy in this world, that there are many arrogant people, some very arrogant, some a little. Those with the means to be arrogant are very arrogant; those without the means to be arrogant are a little arrogant, never missing an opportunity to be arrogant. Why? Because they rely on arrogance to assert their sense of existence, their reason for living is based on the things they can boast about, and then they become arrogant. You know what kind of people are arrogant? Those with some ability are arrogant, and those without ability are also arrogant. These people should be given a Japanese name: Arrogant Self-Importance, surname Arrogant, given name Self-Importance.

There was a man named Gaddafi, do you recognize him? Gaddafi came to power in 1969, becoming the President of Libya. He led a few tank battalions to overthrow the former king, and then he became the president. Gaddafi was a very impressive person, and when he visited China, he also had that arrogant demeanor that people found annoying. How arrogant was he? He was the President of Libya for over forty years, and in the end, he offended all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, very impressive! Later, a rebellion broke out in Libya, and when the rebels entered the capital, he went down into the underground sewage pipes, and later he was beaten to death, a very tragic death, that was extreme arrogance.

Some people have not been presidents, but are more arrogant than presidents. They are rich, willful, and think they are extraordinary. Some people's walk reveals a kind of arrogance, have you noticed? That kind of flamboyant arrogance, you can tell they are rich at a glance, walking sideways, feeling like they are someone special, and later becoming prisoners, still thinking they are someone special. This is a tragedy of the world. You know, the local tyrants in the villages are like local emperors, even more arrogant! In our era, someone was stopped while driving, and the traffic police said, Show me your driver's license. He said, My dad is Li Gang, don't you know? As a result, he immediately ended up in jail (缸 gāng, a homophone), this matter was fatal!

Someone I know spent 200,000 on his birthday, very arrogant, and the way he spoke was unbelievable! As a result, a month later, a check-up revealed lung cancer, and he lived for four months, and then he died. A tragic death! When one is born, when one dies, it is not up to oneself to decide, what are you being arrogant about? You are arrogant because you have some money? You are arrogant because you have some power? It is best for people in this world to know their place; if they don't know their place, God will deal with them. Is it not a piece of cake for God to deal with people! In fact, people really have no right to be arrogant: When will you be born? When will you die? When will you be able to eat? When will you be able to defecate? It is not up to you to decide. When will you be able to breathe? It is absolutely not up to you to decide, so what are you being arrogant about?

When I was young, in the village, some people who had several sons would laugh at those who could not have sons. When others had several daughters, they would laugh at them, saying that their family was doomed to have no descendants, that having no sons was shameful. This was in the village, but in the city, no one cares about this. Then those who had daughters would laugh at those who could not have children, saying, Look, this is a hen that can't lay eggs; and then that person would look and say, This is a hen that can lay eggs. What are you doing? Some are hens that can lay eggs, and some are hens that cannot lay eggs, everyone becomes hens! Those who can give birth are called ducks that can lay eggs, and those who cannot give birth are called ducks that cannot lay eggs. They just argue about these things, the people in the village are really interesting, worth pondering.

A few days ago, we had someone with ankylosing spondylitis who was healed among us. He used to be very hard, using crutches, but when he went down to the countryside to return to his hometown and shared his testimony of being healed, the reaction of the people in his hometown was very interesting, saying, Oh, how can you still be superstitious? Oh, that is arrogance. Even if there is nothing to laugh at, they will still laugh. People are just this ignorant.

We must all know that the most important thing in life is not to be arrogant. There are so many things we don't know. How much do you know? Do you know more or less than you don't know? You definitely know less. So what are we being arrogant about with so much that we don't know? Arrogance is thinking that you know everything! Everything that flies in the sky, runs on the ground, swims in the sea, you know it all. You have so much confidence that you think you are amazing, but in reality, you are just the same. Someone said, My cousin used to drive a car worth over two million, but because of arrogance, he now owes over ten million.

Yesterday, there was a very good math teacher who taught many top students in the college entrance examination, but he had late-stage lung cancer, and the oxygen levels in his blood were rapidly decreasing. The doctor called his family to ask if they wanted to intubate him, which means making a hole in his neck and inserting a tube. I once ministered to a lung cancer patient, and the doctor said that the oxygen levels had dropped to the point where the person was not doing well, and then a group of us prayed desperately. You know what the amazing thing was? The oxygen levels in his blood went back up, and then he came back to life. He said, Oh, modern science and technology are really advanced. What science and technology? The science and technology were there, but the oxygen levels in his blood were plummeting.

People don't know that there is a God in this world, what kind of mind is that? It is really laughable. Since he was so arrogant, we just didn't minister to him, but after a month, he called me again. Why? Because all the painkillers in the hospital had been used, and he still couldn't stop the pain, he was screaming in pain. He asked me, Can you pray for me? This time he remembered to pray. But you have to say, God has abundant grace and mercy, and when I prayed, the pain went down, and when it hurt again, I prayed again, and the pain went down again. But even when he had late-stage lung cancer, he still spoke arrogantly, he was still like that, he was arrogant out of habit, wouldn't you say that was an evil spirit? If you ask him how he is now? He died more than ten years ago, that was whom I ministered to many years ago.

How real the spiritual world is. He couldn't even get out of bed. In the middle of the night, bang! He got up from the bed himself, and his son, who was taking care of him, was terrified, he was speaking the names of dead people, it was scary! His son called me, and I rebuked the spirit of death to leave, and then he went back to bed and lay down. Don't those who saw it know that this is a matter of the spiritual realm? They should know. I am touched! People's arrogance is being deceived by a spirit of arrogance. What I am talking about is this spirit of arrogance.

So what exactly is that spirit? Don't think that a spirit is something headless that you encounter walking in the middle of the night, wearing a white robe. That thing is not scary; if it were me, I would step forward and tear off the white robe, and see that it is just a disguise. What is scary is a lie, a spirit. Everyone is definitely not clear about what a spirit is, that is, living in a state of knowing and not knowing. The Lord Jesus said, The words that I speak are spirit, and they are life. Do you all understand? The words that the Lord Jesus speaks are spirit, and they are life. Now it gets interesting, the words that the devil speaks are also spirit, but they are corrupt.

When that snake approached Adam and Eve, it was speaking words, transmitting a spirit ah. Hey, you can eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, eat it if you want to. Words are spirit, so the words the devil speaks are spirit, which is corruption, which is death. So you need to know that the spirit that enters into people is nothing more than thoughts and intentions. Spirit is word, word is spirit. My speaking to you is spiritual, to let people live is the spirit, to let people die is also the spirit, which is word. So people live their whole lives in their own words, in their own logical systems.

When a person opens their mouth to speak, you can generally tell what their situation is. People live in a series of logic, which is word; live in a series of intentions, and in the end, live out their own belief. What you believe, the ending that you live out is what you believe, has everyone's logic become clear now? Spirit is word, word is spirit. So what are the words that people speak? The words that people speak are also spirit. As soon as you speak, the spirit enters, as soon as you hear, it enters, as soon as you accept, it enters. So when people say that something is logical, the spirit comes in, that's how it is. For example, someone shouts on the street, and I hear it in the house through the window, through several floors. That's how the spirit works.

So people should be careful in their lives, careful about what? The words that people speak are also spirit, and they are also corrupt. There are many examples to give, suppose your boss didn't give you a raise, and you and your good friend agreed to go out to dinner together at night, and you said to him, Oh, my boss didn't give me a raise. Then what does the other person say? He says, Hi! That's really unfair. As a result, you were originally five points angry, but now it has jumped to ten points, right? The other person says, How could your boss do this? How could he treat you like this? It's too unfair. Finished! You have been corrupted, you were originally five points angry, but now it has become ten points, if you keep going, the tire will explode, too much pressure. So the words that people speak are quite bad.

Sympathizing with your intentions is killing you with sympathy, so a person sympathizing with another person's intentions, not sympathizing with God's intentions, is Satan, that's the logic. So what is it that people are dealing with in their lives? Actually, it's really not demons, it's just a whole bunch of words, a whole bunch of logical systems inside us. Those things that seem to be self-evident inside ourselves must be replaced by the word of God. If they are not replaced by the word of God, will you get sick? Will you feel uncomfortable? When you open your mouth, you are speaking your own words, aren't you inviting demons? Do you all understand this now?

Isn't repentance a lifelong lesson for people? Some people's hearts are like peanuts, their hearts are so small, and their heads are like walnuts, how can they live their lives? How much can they hold? They only have so much space, and they are still filling it with human things, what are you going to do? People are deceived because they believe some words, words are spirit, the spirit of lies releases some words. Why are people deceived? Because people believe a lie. Why do people believe lies? Because people are self-righteous, but in fact, many lies cannot stand scrutiny.

People think they will not be deceived, and self-righteousness is an opportunity. As a result, some people say that this is an opportunity and are cheated out of 100,000; this is an opportunity and are cheated out of 600,000; this is an opportunity and are cheated out of 10 million. What are you working for? To lose money all day long. People are foolish, ignorant! They all think it's an opportunity. Some people are deceived, and what is hateful is that when I say it, they explain to me that it's not like that, it's like this. What's the matter, is it reasonable to be deceived? People need to know how foolish they are, people need to know how ignorant they are, they must never be self-righteous again, self-righteous people are the most foolish of the foolish. That's the problem. When you deal with him, he immediately shows his teeth, if he doesn't tear at me, can he live with himself?

So I have developed a powerful mouth, ordinary people can't out-argue me, when that evil spirit comes, shouldn't I argue back? That self-righteous look is infuriating. That is foolishness, it's not harming others, it's harming yourself. So people's foolishness is because of arrogance, because of self-righteousness, these are all called the spirit of arrogance. Don't be self-righteous about anything, anything, clarify what exactly is going on, don't just bring up your emotions. When emotions come up, you throw a tantrum. Don't talk nonsense, many people like to talk nonsense, have you noticed? Anyway, when the people next to me open their mouths to talk nonsense, I say, You're talking nonsense again. It's all unclear and unclear.

Let me give you a few examples, ask: what is one plus one? Answer: not much. Listen to that, is it clear? Ask: what is two plus two? Answer: not too much. Ask: how are you feeling? Answer: I'm feeling okay. What kind of talk is that? You can't understand even after listening. Ask: do you have time tomorrow? Answer: I'll see. I say: what are you going to see? Answer: I don't know what to see. Then what are you looking at then? I'll see.

I feel that some things seem to be said, and some things seem not to be said, it's so hard to describe something! If you can't explain it clearly, you talk nonsense, and after talking nonsense too much, you confuse yourself. Then people don't study well, it's just that they are living in their own world. When writing an essay, you should write what people taught you well, because knowledge is other people's knowledge, none of it is invented by yourself, when writing an essay, use what you have read from other people's knowledge; when learning mathematics, it's not what you think, it's using other people's mathematical language to speak about that mathematics. If you were to use your own language, how would you say it?

A few days ago, I found a joke, it was quite interesting. This joke is like this, Before my bed, bright moonlight, I suspect it is frost on the ground, I raise my head to look at the bright moon, I lower my head to think of my hometown. As a result, this child had a creative idea, which is how he explained this poem: Before my bed, bright moonlight means that Li Bai met a girl named Bright Moon, and as a result, he took off his clothes in front of the bed; I suspect it is frost on the ground means that her skin was as white as the frost on the ground; I raise my head to look at the bright moon means that he raised his head to look at Bright Moon; I lower my head to think of my hometown means that when he lowered his head, he thought of his wife in his hometown. What kind of logic is this?

As a result, the teacher gave him a zero, what this child wrote is too subversive. If you answer like this, won't the teacher give you a zero? He will definitely give you a zero. Where have you taken what you thought? You thought Li Bai went to a brothel. Don't talk nonsense, the things you think are not verified. If it is verified, that would be easy to handle, everything must be carefully examined. If a person who does not have thinks he has, he is deceiving himself, many times he is deceived by self-righteousness, deceived by arrogance. You say how self-righteousness is called arrogance? If self-righteousness is not arrogance, what is it?

Scripture

Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God. Boast no more so very proudly, do not let arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and with Him actions are weighed.(1 Samuel 2:1-3 )

Prayer

God, prevent us from speaking proud words. Help us, give us knowledge and wisdom, let us not utter arrogant words. Let us engrave Your words in our hearts, let us know that we are human beings, let us know that You are God. God, let us, like Hannah, say: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God. God, You will raise us up among the people, make us vessels to manifest Your glory, let us no longer tear our clothes, but tear our hearts, let us constantly remove those lies within us, remove those arrogant things within us, remove those proud things within us, let us fear You alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Scripture Background

The background of this scripture is very interesting. This happened in a village, at that time it was polygamy. This man was called Elkanah, he married two wives, one was called Hannah, and one was called Peninnah. Elkanah, this husband, loved Hannah very much. Have you noticed that this person has a characteristic: the one who is loved more has difficulty having children; the one who is loved less gets pregnant easily. Peninnah was loved less by her husband, and Hannah was loved more by her husband, this Peninnah gave birth to children like giving birth to puppies, Hannah couldn't give birth no matter what, as a result, this Hannah was always sad in the village.

You know that when two women share a husband, everyone knows how subtle that relationship is . You say: do not know. I also do not know, we have not experienced it, this subtle relationship can be summarized through the Bible. This Peninnah looked at Hannah, and her eyes flickered and what that conveyed was very rich, that made Hannah very angry. One day, a chicken did not lay an egg, and Peninnah said, Look at this chicken, it's a waste, it can't even lay an egg, what kind of chicken is it? It made Hannah so angry! Then that day, a duck came over, and Peninnah said, What kind of duck is this? It doesn't lay eggs, a duck that can't lay eggs. This made Hannah angry again, she got angry at everything, if she got angry again, she would get cancer.

As a result, every year, their husband would take these two wives to the temple to worship God and offer sacrifices. Eating things, giving out red envelopes, Hannah gets two portions, but this also does not solve the problem. Why? Imagine, when eating, they are sitting around a round table, the husband brought out a roast chicken, and then Peninnah opened her mouth again and said, It's because she doesn't lay eggs that she became a roast chicken. I ask you, can Hannah eat this roast chicken? Can not eat, are just angry, is full of anger. After a while, she said again: What kind of fish is this? It doesn't even have a size. Did you understand? Elkanah said: what are you saying ? Peninnah said: what did I say ? I did not say anything, I just said that this chicken does not lay eggs, I killed this chicken, this chicken really does not lay eggs. You say, her husband cannot say anything, there is no way to deal with it.

As a result, this Peninnah mocked Hannah, provoked her, made her angry, one day Hannah went to the temple and knelt there to pray, the grievance was too deep, she could not even speak. Does everyone have this experience? This experience is actually deadly, you cannot even pray out loud, your lips are moving, but there is no sound. As a result, old Eli was sitting there, and asked Hannah: are you drunk? She said: Not drunk, the sorrow is too deep. As a result, old Eli said: May the Lord grant you what you have asked for. As a result, Hannah went home and became pregnant.

What was Hannah praying for? She prayed to dedicate her child to God. You only had one son, little Samuel, would you dedicate him to God or not? Some people say, God, I misspoke. That won't do! Hannah took the three-year-old child to the temple and gave him to old Eli. Hannah said, Let my child serve God for life. That is what the Nazirites were like, giving their whole lives to God.

First Samuel chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, is Hannah's prayer. These words of prayer are a profound experience, summarizing the suffering she endured. Hannah was really grateful to God. She said, I must thank God for letting Peninnah provoke me all day, stir me up all day, and make me angry all day. Otherwise, I would not have seen through it, and I would not have been able to come before God and dedicate my son to Him. Without this whole story, where would Samuel have come from? After Hannah gave birth to Samuel, she dedicated him to God. This prayer is excellent; everyone should read it often.

What does this prayer mean? It is a contrast between trusting in God and trusting in yourself. Trusting in God is one choice, and trusting in yourself is another choice. So, this passage became Samuel's motto. I guess Samuel could definitely recite it. How do I know he could recite it? Because Samuel wrote the book of Samuel. When Samuel was writing the book of Samuel, he was already very old. He wrote his mother's prayer just like that. This child was remarkable. Hannah didn't just say this prayer when little Samuel was three years old; she repeated it to Samuel every year when she came to see him.

**Hannah prayed, My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is lifted high in the Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (1 Samuel 2:1-10)**

Samuel heard it every year. If we heard it every day, we would be incredible, and we would no longer speak arrogantly. A person who trusts in himself will speak arrogantly; a person who trusts in God will not speak arrogantly. So, **you cannot, but God can; that is called trusting Him. You cannot, and God cannot either; that is called arrogance; that is called unbelief. Everything that does not come from faith is sin!** Later history tells us that Samuel became the greatest prophet alongside Moses, which is excellent! Why? Because he was after God's own heart.

## Peninnah's Arrogance, Hannah's Humility

Peninnah's family did well, giving birth to children one after another. As a result, Peninnah felt she was remarkable. You must know that she felt remarkable because she had a reference point. Hannah became her reference point. As a result, she often spoke arrogantly, saying, You cannot give birth, but I can. Have you noticed that among us, some brothers and sisters, or in your workplace, say, You cannot do it, but he can, and that's amazing. Or, If you can do it, and he cannot, then you are also terrific, right? Always terrific!

Have you ever heard this question? How do you do this? The answer is, You don't even know how to do this? Go and study! This is hurtful. In your workplace, if you can do it, and he cannot, what is your behavior? If he can do it, and you cannot, what is his behavior? It's definitely arrogance. People rely on this arrogance to show their presence, relying on this thing to sustain their courage to live, right?

Listen to those words, saying, Oh, I'm not good enough compared to those above, but I'm better than those below! Meaning, I'm still okay compared to those below. Even if they are second to last, they still say, It's okay, there's still one below me. How did you only get the last place? You're even worse than me. They are second to last; people in this world are like that. When everyone is taking an exam, they ask, How many points did you get? I got 98 points. How about you? The answer is, I got 89 points. Actually, 89 and 98 are not too different, but they both feel old and proud!

So, I must tell you that Peninnah's arrogance is manifested in her being stronger than others, in her womb being fruitful. If Elkanah had married another wife, would Hannah have turned up her nose? Maybe, maybe not. But Hannah began to learn to trust in God in this situation, being provoked, being made angry, and not being comforted by her husband's consolation. God was her comfort. In other words, don't ever think that humility is, I am humble; I am not capable. That is not called humility. What is humility? It is, I am not capable, but God is capable. Everyone must know that our interpretation of the word humility is not the same as the interpretation of humility in the Bible.

What happened to Peninnah later? The Bible doesn't write about it and doesn't bother to write about it. Because her arrogance is contending with the Lord, she will be shattered. Later, Peninnah was arrogant. The demons won't get it wrong, God won't get it wrong, and God will surely let people experience the results of arrogance according to their arrogance. You must be careful and not talk nonsense. Some people like to talk nonsense as soon as they open their mouths, and that is all arrogance. What happened to Peninnah? Peninnah was arrogant and ultimately reaped the results of arrogance.

## Eli's Sons' Arrogance and Samuel's Humility

You must know that Eli's two sons were very wicked and arrogant to what extent?

**Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or pot or cauldron. Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.” This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt. (1 Samuel 2:12-17)**

See that? They are just arrogant, feeling, I am a priest; you must give me what the priest wants! In Israel, what is a priest? That is the highest leader, the highest official. Priests are very powerful in Israel. So, what do you do about offering sacrifices? If there is a lawsuit to judge right and wrong, it will be even more troublesome! These are Eli's two sons, who are very arrogant, not taking the sacrificial offerings seriously, not taking the people of Israel seriously, and not taking God seriously. Then they say, Is there anything wrong? No, is there a problem? That is the kind of attitude they had.

Samuel listened to his mother tell him this prayer of hers every year, so he often studied this and learned what? Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people. I ask you, would you like arrogant people? You would not like arrogant people. But Samuel was very humble before God, not saying that he himself was not capable and God was not capable either, but that he himself was not capable, but God was capable. This concept must be established.

Later, Samuel became the most powerful prophet in history. This is the arrogance of Eli's sons and the humility of Samuel. What happened to Eli's two sons later? Arrogance will surely produce the results of arrogance. The two died in battle on the same day, and old Eli also broke his neck that day and died. Old Eli's daughter-in-law died after giving birth, and the child born was called Ichabod. Later, even offering sacrifices could not solve the problems of old Eli's family, and they all died in middle age.

Yesterday, we mentioned a story, a true story. Who was that person? He was a very powerful person in our area. He was very powerful in the early days of reform and opening up in the 1980s and 1990s. People went to his house to give gifts during festivals. He could sell those things for several thousand dollars. What happened later? That family was filled with disasters. This powerful person got cancer; his son also got cancer; his youngest son had kidney failure and uremia. How can you live like that? It is because people are arrogant. How can you not be arrogant when you have power and influence? Just like Eli and his two sons. But Samuel later became the greatest prophet, closely related to his humility, so be careful of this spirit of arrogance.

## Do not boast proudly or speak arrogantly

Why do we call it the spirit of arrogance? Speaking proudly, these are all results of arrogance; these are all arrogant spirits attached to people. This spirit is very powerful. When people are ignorant and do not know how to fear God, they will speak arrogantly. I have seen many examples of people saying arrogant things. I think it is best to control people's mouths. What do I mean? You may have some arrogant thoughts in your heart, but don't say them. It is better not to say them than to say them; the outcome may be better. The best thing is not to have this kind of thought, because this is an evil spirit.

This evil spirit encourages you, just like it encouraged Peninnah. When she gave birth to several children and felt that she was excellent, she began to say very arrogant things. After she said arrogant things, there would be arrogant results, and God will surely repay arrogant people. There must be a reason for people to be arrogant. Peninnah was arrogant because she could always give birth, and her husband felt it was really good, with many children bringing many blessings. Some people are arrogant because they did well on the college entrance examination; some people are arrogant because they teach well; some people are arrogant because they do things successfully.

Later, I discovered that people who rely on their own abilities become arrogant once they succeed and become discouraged once they fail. Why? Because they feel that they did it themselves. We all must know not to think too highly of ourselves. Later, I discovered that people who have made a lot of money don't seem to have particularly good brains, and they don't seem to have much knowledge. Have you noticed that? It's just that they encountered an opportunity, which has little to do with their abilities. But when they write books, they write about their abilities, setting up monuments and writing biographies. But when people do things according to what they wrote, it goes wrong! It definitely doesn't work. Why? Because it has nothing to do with their own abilities; it has to do with the opportunities they encountered.

In other words, if you have succeeded, it may have nothing to do with your abilities; in fact, it really has nothing to do with your abilities. People boast proudly and speak arrogantly because they have too much confidence in themselves; their confidence is overwhelming. People often rely on their own abilities, and in the end, they offend God. Don't think that those people are very capable, that those people have accomplished things, but what about later? Later, they owed trillions of dollars; that is amazing! I once went to Haikou, where there was a street that belonged to one person's family. Later, he died at a young age and owed a lot of debts. His abilities were not good either. These are all spirits. These spirits in the world are very powerful.

## God will surely repay arrogant people

People who say arrogant things will be punished. We all must be careful. If you have ever said arrogant things, you must repent deeply, and God will surely repay arrogant people.

**Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. (1 Samuel 2:3)**

That is, God will take what you have done and weigh it on a scale. Once weighed, it is only half a catty or eight taels. Once seen, it is no good, and God will repay you. So, after we have spoken, once weighed and found to be exaggerated, God will repay you according to what you have exaggerated. How will He repay you?

**Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:10)**

What do you do if God shatters you? If you contend with the Lord, and you think you are powerful, and Jehovah God thinks He is powerful, can you compare? You say, God, let me compare with You. This is all very deadly! Including offerings, you cannot say, God, look, I have made an offering. Which one is yours? Offering is giving to God what comes from God. Do not contend with God. Do not think that you are the one who supports God; it is God who supports us. So, we cannot contend with Jehovah, and we cannot act with our own strength and ability. The result of relying on ourselves is that once we rely on ourselves, we will be shattered. Have you figured out this pattern? If you have figured it out, you will find that sometimes you can accomplish things, and sometimes you will be unlucky as soon as you work. It is better not to work; it is even worse to work. It is as if God is against you.

Among us, some brothers and sisters have relied on themselves to get through the first half of their lives or most of their lives. In the end, as they walked, either they slipped back to before liberation, or some people slipped back to before creation. Have you all learned a lesson? Say, Look at that person who earned 1 billion, that person who made so many tens of thousands buying a house. Their vision is very impressive; their vision is very unique. Do you think these words sound good? These words are almost like cursing people. Do you understand? These all belong to proud words and boasting terms. God will repay these people. If you carefully observe in this world, you will observe that those who think they are very powerful are all punished.

Some people erect a decorative column for themselves. Do you want to be an emperor? Some people build their gate towers very large, like a prince's mansion. A person who pretended to be a ghost built a large courtyard like a prince's mansion for himself. What happened in the end? Later, he was arrested because he knew too much and eventually died! So, people must know that they are human beings, and they must know that knowing God is good beyond comparison.

## Know that God is in control of everything

**There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)**

**The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails. (1 Samuel 2:4-9)**

He controls everything. Do you think the demons control it? God controls it, but many people do not believe it. You must know that God is in control of everything. Never oppose God, never contend with God, never be arrogant before God, and be sure to know that God is in control of everything. Everything that does not come from faith is sin, and those who do not believe in God are arrogant and foolish! If you want to have faith, build our faith on God. If you have not experienced these things, you can continue to walk that path of relying on your own abilities until you are struck by God.

Of course, being broken and rebuilt is a glorious vessel of God, and we thank God. Not knowing that God is in control of everything, they are busy all day long with their own strength, doing this and that. Remember, this is not a very strange logic; it is a very normal logic. Our trusting in God does not mean that we do not do things well, and our doing things well does not mean that we trust in God. You must know that trusting in God is based on God, and then you do things well. When you do things, what you have inside is not the logic of Cain and Lamech; what you have inside is peace and stability. Everyone should no longer be confused now. Let me make a summary: The spirit of arrogance is very corrupt. People who say arrogant things will be punished. In the end, not only will God punish you, but also this generation will punish you!

May God Bless everyone!