Introduction

Good day to all, we begin our study of the Book of Zephaniah. After reading the first chapter, one might feel puzzled, wondering what it is about. In essence, it speaks of Besides those who are sanctified, God will destroy all things. Zephaniah must have received a revelation from the Lord God. God said, I will utterly consume all things from off the land! (Zephaniah 1:2, NKJV). What is your feeling when you hear this? Do you think: Look, isn't this world quite good? God, why do you want to destroy all things? I imagine you would definitely have this perplexity!

God is about to do a very great thing, which is to set apart those who belong to Him! Those who do not belong to Him, He will destroy completely! What do you think of this matter? People on earth have a strange, vain idea, that they only know: Wow! Make money! Make money! And then one day they die, and people do not even know when they will die, but they feel that all the affairs of this earth belong to them, and the whole person becomes arrogant as a result.

Look again, when people are alive, they fight! They struggle! They rob! How earnestly they live! Look at Qin Shi Huang destroying the six states, that was a very serious and arduous task, and he accomplished a very great thing, but what happened? He himself also came to an end! Looking back from the present perspective, what did Qin Shi Huang do?

Sometimes we feel that the affairs of this world are very grand! But in reality, the things of the earth are all the same. You can say that God will destroy it, because it was originally going to be destroyed; you can also say that God will not destroy it, but it is still going to be destroyed. When everyone thinks carefully, they do not feel that there is anything wrong with this statement, but people just feel that it is a pity to destroy it.

Some years ago, one of our sisters said to me: Teacher, look how good this world is! But what is good about it? In the blink of an eye, the wrinkles on your face are definitely getting more and more, even if you pull the skin on the left, pull the skin on the right, pulling it back and forth, you are still an old woman in the end.

People just take the affairs of this world very seriously, and God tells you: It is useless for you to take it seriously, before the things of the world are destroyed, you will be destroyed first! For example, buying a freehold property in Singapore, its term is 999 years, and the land title of the house you bought still has more than eight hundred years left, but what is the meaning of that thing? The house may still be there, but the person is already gone.

God Will Destroy All Things From Off the Land

God will destroy all things from off the land. Do not think this is very strange, in fact, the things of the world are all in the process of perishing! Just like the freehold house is still there, but the owner is gone; or the trillion-dollar empire you built is still there, but the person is gone; or the person who built the century-old company is gone, but the company is still there. Alas! We just lament, do not be surprised, God will destroy all things from off the land.

Some people say: God, why are you so ruthless? In reality, that is not the case. God is just going to destroy all things from off the land. There are only two kinds of people on this earth, one is treasure, and the other is trash. Do not think that you are living so seriously, in the blink of an eye, the years of youth will climb onto your face, Time is a butcher's knife, later I understood why it is called butcher's knife? Because it slaughters all the pigs.

So do not be surprised, God wants to completely solve a matter, which is to completely destroy all your beautiful hopes in this world! If you still have hope in this world, then it is an urn. After you hear this sentence, you may say: Teacher, why do I feel so uncomfortable listening to this? This matter cannot be said like this, you may have been arguing with someone yesterday! That feeling was very real! But now when you think about it, you will feel: What am I doing? What am I after?

Look at the current Russo-Ukrainian War, the Russo-Japanese War more than a hundred years ago, in fact, every era is the same, they all want to expand the territory of the country. Look at the Sino-Russian Treaty of that year, which demarcated China's land all at once, the people who signed the Sino-Russian Treaty felt that they were very great, but they are all gone, what do you want that thing for?

If you want to live well, you must have a concept, which is: I still do not understand, it turns out that all things on this earth are on the list of destruction. Look at the political infighting in the Philippines, the United States oppressing various countries, alas, people are working hard and meaningless for something that is going to be destroyed!

I Will Stretch Out My Hand Against Judah and Against All the Inhabitants of Jerusalem

I will utterly consume all things from off the land, says the Lord; I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land, says the Lord. (Zephaniah 1:2-3, NKJV)

God told a truth, why are you in such a hurry? Some people say: Alas, teacher, why does God want to destroy? It is just that they are all already on the list, just wait slowly! Also, I will read it to you.

I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the priests— (Zephaniah 1:4, NKJV)

After reading this sentence, I have some feelings. Is Judah not in the Promised Land? Was Jerusalem not once the capital of David? How is it that Jerusalem and Judah are going to be attacked by God? Do not be surprised, I read the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, over and over again, and I only understood this matter.

Look, on this list of destroying all things, Judah and Jerusalem are ranked at the forefront. In our era, when translated, it means that what God wants to destroy is the church, can you understand that? The church is Judah and Jerusalem in the Old Testament. If you read the New Testament carefully, you will find that it is impossible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem, this Jerusalem and Judah are the places where prophets are killed! Where did Jesus die? He died in Jerusalem.

Some people say: I have already believed in the Lord, and have been born again and saved. I say: You have believed in the Lord, alas, congratulations! You have already entered Judah and Jerusalem, and have entered the first place on the destruction list. If you say: I can die and go to heaven, then that is bad! That is Simeon's heaven, because Judah and Jerusalem are in the first place on God's destruction list, why? Because that is just a Pharisee.

Does everyone know how the Pharisees came about? His origin is Ezra the scribe in the Old Testament. At that time, the emperor of the Persian Empire sent Zerubbabel back to be the governor of the province of Judah, and then sent Nehemiah back to rebuild the walls of Judah and Jerusalem, and then sent Ezra back to open a school to specifically train Pharisees, this is the root of the Pharisees, because he was a scribe, he was not very good at anything else, all the Pharisees behind him came from him.

In the same era as Ezra, there was a person named Nehemiah, he built the city walls again, and was the governor of Judah again, and restored worship there, and did many things. How did these people become Pharisees? I have to tell everyone, I was depressed for a long time, in the past few years of building churches, I know too much about Pharisees! I prayed: God, I am building a church, how can I avoid becoming a Pharisee?

Our Bible study should be about the same as what Ezra studied back then, alas, I just sigh, entangled for a long time, I feel that this matter is very strange, because reading the word of God, reading it, it becomes a Pharisee, do you not think it is very terrifying? The reason is because they only read the Bible, read the word of God, but do not practice it, and as a result, they rush to the first place on the destruction list.

Who is in the same rank as the first place on the destruction list? Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, But who also swear by Milcom; (Zephaniah 1:5, NKJV)

This matter is interesting, right? This matter has had a very profound impact on me, it turns out that Pharisees are in the same rank as these, worshiping the Lord God, and can go to that road! In the past, I always felt that reading the Bible should be pretty good, it is the words that come from the mouth of God that make people live, and as a result, I became a Pharisee while reading! So to speak, later my depression got a little better.

In the past few years, we have adhered to a sentence called He who hears the word of God and does it is a wise man, or He who reads the word of God and does it is a wise man. So next we will continue to push forward in this direction, we must let the word of God land on us. What is meant by landing? It is accomplishment, may the word of God be accomplished on us!

Do you understand now? Reading the word of God and not doing it, is that not a Pharisee? That is no different from worshiping Baal, no different from the priests of Baal. Those who swear by the Lord, and also swear by Mammon, that is, old Ma(slang for money), do you say this is not killing you? So God will stretch out His hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Our brothers and sisters must begin to know that God wants to set apart, God wants to let those who are set apart be preserved! Then I ask you, do you put money in the first place? Or do you put God in the first place? This question is serious, you say: Teacher, I do not have time. I say: Then what are you doing? You say: I have to make money. If a person is busy, what can he be busy with? Busy making money, all these things!

Our brothers and sisters who are Christians, are ranked first on the destruction list, God's judgment begins from His house, so in any case, be a person who is set apart for God, to be set apart is to be holy to the Lord, and to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is what counts, if you are a believer in Jesus, you are nothing! Then you say: I am justified by faith! Which righteousness is being justified? After being justified, you went to swear by Mammon again.

God Will Cut Off the Priests of Baal and Those Who Worship Idols

It is so sad to believe in the Lord and then worship idols! So a person who loves God cannot love Mammon, and a person who loves Mammon cannot love God, so either serve Mammon or serve God, you can only choose one! So once a person falls into the state of loving money, he is no different from the priests of Baal, no different from those who worship idols and look at the stars, even if you swear by the Lord, it is useless.

I encourage everyone to often look in the mirror, see where we are like God? See where we are truly acting according to God's will? See whether we are like Mammon or like Jesus Christ? So God will cut off the priests of Baal and those who worship idols.

You often watch in this world, if a person's dream is built on this world, he will definitely encounter tragedy! Once a person takes the things of this world as his dream, then he will definitely live very miserably! He cannot even sleep well, and plays games every day, what is that called? Putting his head on the back burner.

If a person's dream is in this world, that is really a tragedy. Let us take a closer look, while fixing it, bam! One died, while fixing it, bam! Another died! Whether you have trillions in debt or trillions in assets, you live very hard, why? Because his dream is in this world. What we see when we open the news, which one is not a dream in this world?

Of course, when I talk to people about digitalization and decoration, I do have this skill, but that is not my dream. My dream is to build a glorious church of God, to become a people set apart! Because a person's dream is in himself, it is the root of tragedy.

There is a sister, I really want to know what happened to her? I just analyzed it according to my own logic. Why did I do this? Because I want to serve her, and want to drag her out of bondage, in fact, I really want to find the root of her problem. What happened to her? She is sixty years old, and suddenly got epilepsy, in fact, it is not epilepsy, it is convulsions, and then I feel that this matter must have a root.

You also have to be careful, this time bang! she fell down and broke her waist, and then had convulsions again; next time bang! she fell down and broke her arm; next time bang! she falls down again, then I do not know what will be broken! When we serve her, we do not know what the root is? Later she told me the truth, the first time she had convulsions, she felt that her body was severely overdrawn, why? It is because she took the little things of this world, things that deserve to go to destruction, too seriously!

That morning she did three projects, different from my projects, mine are digital projects, her projects are infrared energy buckets, and usually it takes twenty to thirty minutes to complete, but she did it for ninety minutes. Then she also did a coffee enema, using double the dose, and then she also had a pain-relieving ointment, using triple the dose, and as a result, she had convulsions at noon, and broke her waist.

You must always remember, if a person's hope is in this world, it is a tragedy! Like Esau, who was so tired that he was dizzy, bang! and used three times the dose, using three times the dose for this, and three times the dose for that, do you say it is a tragedy? If my hope is not in this world, would I overwork myself? Do not look at me doing a lot of things, but I have not overdone it, because my hope is not in this world.

Someone told me: You have to make it big and make it strong! I thought: What are you doing! Just do not do it to the point of destruction. I often sigh! So God wants to destroy these worldly dreams, if you still have worldly dreams, and then you believe in the Lord, you are ranked first on the destruction list, and will suffer God's attack.

God Will Punish Those Who Handle Silver

This matter is quite interesting, the Bible says this: Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all those who weigh out silver are cut off. (Zephaniah 1:11, NKJV)

What does this passage mean? All the merchant people of Canaan are destroyed, and all those who handle silver are cut off, are these real gold and silver? That is for sure! Who would be idle and carry ghost money? Real gold and silver represent the hope of this world.

Some people say this is an opportunity! That is also an opportunity! But a few years ago, 5G was popular, but now 5G is not popular, it was said that it had so many uses, but now I have not seen what 5G can do! Later, there was talk of big data, and then there was a call for artificial intelligence, and as it was called, a large model came out. Some people say this is an opportunity, that is an opportunity, thinking about the people who say this, do you know who they are? They are the ones who carry silver all day long, but you feel that it is silver, but God feels that it is ghost money, in fact, it is ghost money burned for yourself.

If a person's hope is in this world, he feels that money is the most important thing, all these things are for money. All these things of collecting tariffs, you hit me, I hit you, hegemony are all for money, in the early years, political economy was said like this: The economic base determines the superstructure. What does it mean? It means that if the economy is not good, this government is easily overthrown. Why? Because people are going for money, and a bad economy offends public anger, so these merchant people who carry silver are destroyed.

I will remind everyone, do not think it is strange that Zephaniah said this, he just wants us to take the initiative to destroy worldly hopes. Do not get it wrong! God wants to punish these people, so that what they rely on is useless. For example, those who made a lot of money during the COVID-19 pandemic, watching the news, found that they died in their forties, do you say this is not putting themselves in it?

That is how God works! God wants us to observe this generation carefully so that we can understand: we must be sanctified Christians, living in this world relying on God and being set apart. Therefore, those who are set apart will surely be protected; that is the key!

Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited. In the day of the LORD's sacrifice I will punish the officials and the royal princes and all those clad in foreign clothes. In that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit. On that day, declares the LORD, a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, a wail from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. (Zephaniah 1:7-10)

What does this passage mean? It means that having money is useless! So put your hope in God. I must tell you, now that you are among us, shouldn't we commemorate the grace God has given us? Among us, are there people who have received grace from illness? Many!

I received a person who had breast cancer. She was a few years younger than me and graduated from a 985 university. She seemed to be an alumnus of Lei Mou! Very capable! She told me about her experiences, which were like a soap opera. When she took a bath, the bathtub turned completely red. That day, when I prayed for her, pus flowed out of her body. Isn't that life-threatening?

People in this world always think this is mine and that is mine. She thought her husband was hers, but who belongs to whom? His mother gave birth to him, and your mother gave birth to you. Originally, nobody knew each other. Later, when they grew up, they met, and they moved two pillows together. Who belongs to whom? As a result, she got breast cancer. Who told you to put your hope in this trivial matter?

But you know what, after talking to her for a long time, I felt sorry for her. That thing is so scary. I had never really seen it before. I didn't know what breast cancer was like. But when she told me, my goodness, it was frightening! I also ministered to someone with a giant cell tumor, which grew on the knee, like a soccer ball, and blood spurted out like a tap. Oh my! My goodness, that was really scary!

But people are like this, they cannot change their love for the world, and God will punish those who carry silver! Therefore, we must have the heart of a priest. We must be priests of the Lord God, touching the throne of God with our hands and standing on the earth with our feet, bringing the problems of the earth to heaven and bringing the power of God down from heaven! That is being set apart. Can we do it? It depends on our destiny.

God Will Punish Those Who Say God Neither Blesses Nor Curses

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think to themselves, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.' (Zephaniah 1:12)

Some people say: everything looks good, God neither blesses nor curses. How can that be? God is walking in Jerusalem with a lantern. Do you know what is the most common sentence heard in church? Sister, peace! Brother, peace! I don't like to say such things. Peace your head! Still peace? Don't you think you love the world too much? If God does not destroy your worldly heart, how can you live?

So our brothers and sisters gradually understand, what are these words? Aren't these the words spoken by Christians? Saying it all day long, thinking that God is Santa Claus. Many churches have believed in Jesus as Santa Claus.

I ministered to a cancer patient. I said to him, this is a curse, and he turned against me. He said: how could God curse me? I said: then you should read the Bible carefully! He said: undeserved curses never come to pass. Do you understand the meaning of this sentence? That is, all curses have roots, and all curses are not without reason. As I said: God will not make mistakes, ghosts will not make mistakes, only you are wrong!

Some people, even though they have cancer, still think they are Job. Later he said: I am a contemporary Job. I said: stop it! You little thing, still Job? You may think, am I not building people's faith by saying this? Later, I also felt that this sentence should not be said indiscriminately, so I stopped saying it. I began to say: Job also got it wrong.

Does everyone know that Job got it wrong? Job initially experienced hearing of God, but not seeing God with his own eyes. After experiencing the disaster, he argued with God, asking God this and that. God did not bother to pay attention to him. In the end, Job thought about it and realized: oh, I used to hear of God, but now I see God with my own eyes, so I should repent!

What does it mean that God neither blesses nor curses? How can that be? In this world, which disaster is not directed by God behind the scenes? Proverbs 26:2 Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow, an undeserved curse does not reach its intended target. I ask you, how do you explain this sentence? Even elementary school students know that curses have causes, not without reason.

We still need to know clearly, have we really been set apart? We must know that those who are set apart will surely be protected by God, because God only cares about His people. All things on this earth must be discarded as garbage. Hell is a garbage incinerator, and the fire of hell is a garbage incinerator. Garbage goes there, and treasures return to God.

Jesus' standard is actually not very low, nor is it very high, but it is to make people forsake for the sake of Jesus Christ. Do you say it is high or low? I met some Christians who said: oh, who can do this? As soon as I heard this, I understood! What do you mean by who can do it? Does everyone understand what this means? They think it's a loss.

Can everyone hear this meaning? If you haven't heard it, then I have to teach you, listen hard! What does this mean? That is, I can't do it, and others can't do it! How stupid must you be to say that! If this thing is worth a small target, then you would have rushed up long ago! Not to mention that it is far more than one hundred million! But for me, why is it so easy? Because I don't have much hope in this world! Because this world will be destroyed by God, what am I hoping for?

God let me experience those things, and I almost died of anger. At that time, you must understand in your heart. If you are fooled, you will move from here to there, and this life will be over. At that time, I thought: people cannot have hope in this world! Someone said to me: Teacher, after you die, what will happen to Chinese Mingding Doctrine? I thought, that has nothing to do with me, how can I care about this! Because I am dead, God is still there! So we must fear God well. God will punish those who say that God neither blesses nor curses. If you think God is Santa Claus, then you are wrong.

The Day of the Lord Is a Day of Wrath

The great day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the LORD is bitter; the Mighty Warrior cries out his war cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— a day of trumpet and battle cry when the fortified towns and high corner towers are attacked. I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. (Zephaniah 1:14-17)

What else can a person be if they are not a pile of garbage? But people live very seriously. Later, I summarized one thing: how can this spiritual height be improved? That is, you must first understand this matter in your understanding. Once your understanding is clear, your spiritual height will go up. If your understanding is not clear, your spiritual height will go down. Then you may have gone down to hell.

The paradise below and the paradise above look similar to the model room, but the real situation is like the projects promised to you by the sales staff. When the sales sign the order, the promises are all based on the model room, but when it is delivered, it becomes an unfinished house. That is the day of God's wrath, so don't go down to hell!

Let us all actively destroy our worldly hopes. If you do not destroy them, God will help you destroy them, but when God helps you destroy them, it will be a bit fatal. People's flesh will be discarded like dung, and people's blood will be poured out like dust. People cannot love the world! Can't love it!

Thank God! I have lived a good life. From the moment I knew God, I felt that God was a treasure. It is infinitely good to abandon everything for God! I don't care too much whether I go to heaven or hell, but in any case, I want to return to my God. In any case, I must set myself apart and be protected by God.

In retrospect, it is quite terrifying. I lived and lived and became unemployed, but now when I look at it, I find: oh, God is so good! He made me unemployed when I was in my 40s. How good is my physical strength in my 40s! That was when I started building the church, but I had nothing! But I had time. Now that I think about it, it was quite terrifying. So many mortgages to pay, what to do?

But with God, from that time on, I began to build a praying church, a church that looked more and more like Jesus Christ. That was really good! Now that I think about it, God, you are so good! You see farther than me, otherwise, wouldn't a person's life be a tragedy? Fortunately, God destroyed my worldly dreams long ago. I don't have dreams in this world because God destroyed my hopes long ago.

When encountering disasters and bad luck, I feel that life is meaningless. I might as well die! Then some people wonder: Teacher, do you also have times when you want to die? In fact, it was just a little bit away. If I had taken another step forward, I would have melted into the blue sky. Thank God I found God later.

The day of the Lord is a day of wrath. I don't want to enter the hopes of this world. Those who enter there have become vessels of God's wrath. You know what, one of our sisters asked me: Teacher, do you think I am a vessel that manifests God's glory or a vessel that manifests God's wrath?

I said: I dare not say nonsense. I think you are a vessel that manifests God's glory. I have to give you some faith, right? She said: Teacher, why do I feel like I am a vessel that manifests God's wrath? I said: then the vessel that manifests God's wrath has not yet destroyed your worldly dreams, isn't that right?

Their Silver and Gold Will Not Be Able to Save Them

Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath.In the fire of his wrath the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth. (Zephaniah 1:18)

Can people's gold and silver save them? We must establish this concept. Even if you have a lot of money, you can't stop a small COVID virus, you can't stop a cancer cell! A small virus or cancer cell can destroy a person. What good is it if you have a lot of money?

One of the brothers in our church is very rich. His company has branches in thirty-nine countries. He is the CEO of that company. Why did he come to church? Because his younger brother got cancer, he said to the doctor, how much money do you want? You heal my brother, I will give it all to you! I won't deduct a penny, but his younger brother passed away soon. Can money solve the problem?

I have to give everyone a good hope, you don't spend much money in your life! Haven't we verified one thing among us? That is, among us, we don't need doctors very much! Because Jesus is our greatest doctor! By relying on Jesus Christ, the problem of disease is solved; by relying on Jesus Christ, the problem of money is solved; then what do you love money for? Why don't you love God well and love money?

I have encountered many such things. When I sit with my old friends who don't believe in the Lord, I like to tell them testimonies. I said: look at him, his medical insurance card has never been used and he died. Some people say, then my medical insurance card is all used up! But my knees are not good, my lumbar spine is not good, my cervical spine is not good, and I can't breathe at night! If you don't breathe in one breath, then you will be gone, right?

What can people's gold and silver save people from? I will tell you again a very important concept, none of the things that money promises people have been fulfilled! But everything that God promises us is faithful! Diseases are gone, disasters are gone, ghosts can't do anything to us, God is not angry with us, does not punish us, does not cut us off, does not attack us, and does not destroy us. We are called by God, and we are already like burnt offerings, completely offered to God.

Do people still rely on gold and silver? None of the things that gold and silver promise have been fulfilled, and there is nothing that God promises that cannot be fulfilled. Therefore, I thank God that in those years, God destroyed my worldly dreams and then built a glorious church. I want to lead everyone to offer themselves as burnt offerings to God. We have read the first chapter of Zephaniah, can you grasp the key point? The key is to set ourselves apart.

Don't be a spiritually adulterous person. Spiritual adultery means that you want to worship God and get benefits from God, and you want to worship Mammon and get benefits from the world. Such people should wake up. Let us all set ourselves apart and offer ourselves as burnt offerings to God. God will surely protect us. What God has prepared for those who love Him is something that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and the mind has not imagined. It is infinitely good! Those who love Him, God will keep His covenant and show His love to them for a thousand generations; those who hate God and love the world, God will punish their sins, from fathers to sons for three to four generations.

Our theme is great! Except for those who are set apart, God will destroy all kinds of people. We take these things in the world, including our pastoral care and ministry, and like to argue with people, taking worldly things too seriously. Some of our sisters who do ministry said: Teacher, look at this and that. I smiled and said a word, may God have mercy, in fact, these are not important. As for whether your ministry is done this way or that way, God's hand still holds all things!

So everyone, don't take yourself too seriously. Put yourself on a scale and weigh yourself, you are only half a catty or eight taels. Half a catty, he is eight taels, what are you arguing about? Oh, you think you are great, when weighed, you are half a catty; that one thinks he is great, when weighed, he is eight taels, and then the two of them are arguing. From now on, start to behold His beauty in the temple of the Lord and be set apart. It is not good to be self-righteous. Since we have received grace and have been redeemed and released from it, why do we still take these things so seriously? This is all a worldly logic system.

We will share this here this time. Are you willing to be set apart? Are you willing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? If you are willing, it is worthwhile! Do I need to persuade you? Such a worthwhile thing, don't mess it up, that's at least one hundred million! Actually, it is priceless. Amen!

May God bless everyone!