Good morning, everyone. Let us do a summary, a recap of what we have learned from the Book of Philippians. If I were to give it a theme, it would be "Joy Throughout Life."

What is life all about, really? Mother-in-law clashes with daughter-in-law, daughter clashes with mother, husband and wife clash with each other. Clashing and clashing, oh dear, today getting upset over this, tomorrow getting upset over that, so upset that the stomach aches terribly, the face contorted. In our lives, I tell you, the greatest benefit of believing in the Lord is joy. The greatest benefit of believing in the Lord is really not wealth, nor is it work; the greatest benefit of believing in the Lord is joy, joy throughout life.

If you read the Book of Philippians carefully and search for joy, ah, joy in the first chapter, joy in the second chapter, joy in the third chapter, joy in the fourth chapter, and more than one instance in each. So, believing in the Lord is believing in joy.

Therefore, those who create trouble for no reason, you may have reasons not to be joyful, but joy does not need a reason. If joy needs a reason, that is terrible. So, the Book of Philippians speaks of the theology of joy, which is a great reward in life.

So, I want to advise everyone, can we sort things out one by one, so as not to suffer? Today clashing with this, tomorrow clashing with that. Today getting upset over this, tomorrow getting upset over that. What is the reward? So, start imitating the Apostle Paul, imitating Jesus Christ, and gain the wisdom of joy.

Believing in the Lord is Believing in Joy

Believing in the Lord is believing in joy. In fact, what I just said is the first point. If believing in the Lord does not bring joy, that is a disaster, a deviation. So, joy is the greatest reward. How can one be joyful? If nothing succeeds, can he be joyful? Finding fault, complaining, that skill is great, but nothing else works. As soon as he does something, it goes wrong; if it does not go wrong, he procrastinates. Can he be joyful in this life? I find it difficult.

So, a person must learn to be joyful. How does he do it? He needs some wisdom, doesn't he? So, I think believing in the Lord should bring joy, and everyone agrees. Because getting upset leads to illness. Whether it is a problem with the stomach, intestines, difficulty breathing, inability to defecate, inability to urinate, inability to see, whatever part you damage is enough to cause trouble. Joy is good medicine for the whole body!

"I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith," (Philippians 1:25)

"then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind." (Philippians 2:2)

"But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you." (Philippians 2:17)

"So you too should be glad and rejoice with me." (Philippians 2:18)

"Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety." (Philippians 2:28)

"Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you." (Philippians 3:1)

"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!" (Philippians 4:1)

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4)

"I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it." (Philippians 4:10)

Joy Requires Wisdom and Knowledge

It is important to know that without knowledge and wisdom, it is difficult to be joyful. If you want me to give examples, there are many, because one gets angry over a single sentence. Isn't that common?

Some are angry with their sons and daughters-in-law, saying, "Look, I have to take care of the children from five in the morning." I think, you get up at five, the children are probably still sleeping. She also says, "Oh, look how busy I am all day, I wash all the clothes at home." I say, "Does the washing machine wash them or do you wash them?" My goodness, look at you people. I tell everyone, people are like this, why? Because they are foolish. Is what she says reasonable? She speaks a distorted logic. But the problem is what? People are not happy. People are unhappy, there are thousands of reasons. But people do not need to find a reason to be joyful. Everyone remember this sentence, a person who believes in the Lord properly cannot be unhappy.

So Paul said, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,". If you have no knowledge, like an old woman, picking faults all day long. Then, trivial things are stuffed in your brain. Isn't that what people say: "Your brain is stuffed with chicken feathers." Ah, the brain is stuffed with chicken feathers. It seems there is no such saying. But the problem is where? The problem is that people have no knowledge, no wisdom, and do not know how to handle things when they encounter them.

You must know for sure that if people have no knowledge, no wisdom, and do not know how to handle things when they encounter them, do you know what will happen? If you do not know how to handle things when you encounter them, you get angry, you explode. I say, if you feel this applies to you, I guess 60-70%, 70-80%, 80-90% can all match. In fact, exploding, getting angry, scolding people, thinking you are very reasonable. Bad! Joy is gone because of you.

Doing things requires knowledge and wisdom, being a person requires knowledge and wisdom. Where does this knowledge and wisdom come from? It comes from God. It is important to know that knowledge and wisdom from God can bring joy. So we must know that we have obtained treasures, but many people do not know it. If you have obtained treasures and do not know it, how can you be joyful? If you do not think it is a treasure, you think your reason is the only reason. Ah, people do everything so slowly, so uncomfortably. Why? No knowledge, no wisdom. If you do not do things well, there will be some financial problems. If there are financial problems, you start to love money, and if you do not get money, you live in this entanglement.

So I tell everyone, if believing in the Lord does not bring blessings in finances, if it does not bring blessings in health, it is over. Why? Because of that mouth, those eyes, fortunately, you do not need to smell to distinguish good from evil. If you could smell and distinguish good from evil, even the nose would be included. That mouth, those eyes, are only looking at the bad things. Then, speaking only speaks devilish words, never speaks God's words, even in the church that believes in the Lord. You say believe in the Lord properly, it is not about believing in the Lord with joy. It is that we believe in the Lord and make ourselves joyful, not making the Lord Jesus joyful, we make ourselves joyful. Ah, no, believing even leads to infighting in the church.

I thank God that no one in our church can fight with me, so they do not fight. Why can't they fight with me? You may not answer correctly. It is not that I grab your hair, grab your collar, you grab my collar, you grab my hair fiercely. It is not that I am strong, it is that I seek your benefit. You also seek your benefit. You say after we fight, you will definitely say: "Hey, what am I doing? He is seeking my benefit, he hopes I can be happy and joyful, and I am still arguing and fighting with him?" Don't say, this is called having the Way. Why am I like this? Because I learn from Jesus Christ, I learn from the Apostle Paul. You do not seek your own benefit, I seek your benefit, what are you fighting me for? Look at that, the face is twisted, turn it around.

So we must be especially careful about corruption. If a person has wisdom and knowledge, he is not easily corrupted. I will give you an example, I have a set of logic. If I do not talk about this logic for a long time, everyone will become unfamiliar with it. Do you know what logic? It is called the "dog shit theory." People say: "Look, you are like a dog." I say: "Ah, thank you for the compliment, I am at most a dog shit." What do you think they will do when they encounter this kind of person? If we are arguing, you say: "Look at your dog-like appearance." I say: "Thank you for the compliment, I am just a dog shit." Don't say, I really think so in my heart. With this, oh dear, my goodness. The other party cannot exert any strength.

Someone says: "Is what you said all correct? Did everyone understand?" I am also thinking about whether what I said is correct. What do you think I do? I do not argue. I do not fight for a steamed bun, I do not fight for a breath. Amazing, so I am very happy. I see those who have no wisdom, no knowledge, getting angry all day long, over trivial matters. Ah, my goodness. I feel sorry for them in my heart.

So can we all learn from Jesus Christ, learn God's words, learn them into our hearts. Brothers and sisters, do not wait until your stomach hurts, your belly hurts, your intestines have problems, your butt has problems, your brain has problems, your heart has problems. You brought the devil in at the beginning, you raised the devil fat, what do you do? You get a body full of diseases, is that interesting? Either a stone grows here, a stone grows there, any stone growing is enough to cause trouble; either a tumor grows here, a tumor grows there, any tumor growing is enough to cause trouble, isn't it?

Toothache is not a disease, but it can take your life when it hurts. I tell everyone, do not get to that state. Some of us, ah, full of shit in our brains, full of garbage in our brains. To what extent? The legs do not work well, the feet do not work well, the hips do not work well, the waist does not work, the shoulders do not work, the neck does not work, the most important thing is that the brain does not work. If the brain works well, can he make himself like that?

So living requires joy, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,". What secret did you get? That is, whether he has it or not, it does not affect me. Whether rich or poor, whether humble or noble, whether it is this way or that way, I have learned the secret. Relying on the Lord Jesus, relying on the one who gives me strength, I can do all things. I do not know if I will offend people by saying this, I really am like this. I know how to be content in humble circumstances. Right?

Dog shit can be done. Being dog shit, so what? Very noble dog shit. Flowers are not inserted on cow dung, flowers are inserted on dog shit. "I know how to be content in humble circumstances, and I know how to live in plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.". Do you think a person like me needs to worry about retirement? Will I need retirement?

A sister discussed with me about old age. She said: "I think it is good that Qiong Yao did it that way, because she was over eighty years old and fell asleep in one sleep, it is good." I said, do we need to consider this matter? No need. I will love my God well, my God will not let me lack anything in my life, in my life, I can be content in anything. At any time, in any situation, I have learned the secret, I do not consider this thing. What I consider is what? To speak from the heart, let me bless one if I can bless one in this life, let me bless two if I can bless two. Love the Lord well! Do you understand?

God will add strength to me. I also know that my God will govern my life forever. In the end, I will stand before God and receive His reward. I believe the Spirit of God can testify for me, that serving God is my life, relying on the one who gives me strength, I can do all things. How good!

So in the Lord Jesus, I really hope that our brothers and sisters, our little pastors, even the most humble brothers and sisters, can have more and more fruits in Jesus Christ. Gradually grow. I really deeply hope that brothers and sisters will gain wisdom and intelligence. If you gain wisdom and intelligence, you can finish the work that others do in ten hours in one hour, how competitive you are. If others do one hour of work, you do ten hours, how busy you must be? You are collapsing, and you still think you are doing it right. Do you think it is a bit silly? It is really a bit silly.

So do you know? I really thank God, just take doing work as an example. There are not many who can do better than me, even doing physical work, I will not lose to many people, I can use skill. Do our brothers and sisters know? I wish that brothers and sisters would strive to grow in knowledge and wisdom. If we are doing live streaming, let us be a good live streamer. If we are doing accounting, let us be a good accountant.

Didn't we establish a small community of accountants? We provide all kinds of help to those weak accountants. Why? Because many people lack wisdom and knowledge. They do not know how to take exams, they do not know how to pass the certified public accountant exam. If you had known me earlier, you would have passed the exam earlier. But people do not believe it, they are arrogant, they think they are doing very well. As a result, they work hard, how can they be good? How can they be joyful?

Ah, I am really risking my life, hoping that everyone will get benefits. The most important benefit is to have wisdom, the most important thing is to have knowledge, the most important thing is that because you have wisdom and knowledge, you have joy.

If there are still some among us who create trouble for no reason, entangled in some trivial matters, losing their joy. Turn around, I advise everyone with God's mercy. Learn to be joyful. Learn to have wisdom, learn to have knowledge. Many people cannot work as well as me, I can do the work of ten people alone, and ten of them cannot do the work of one person. So we need wisdom and knowledge, remember, where does knowledge and wisdom come from? It comes from God. People must fear God! What I am saying is really from the heart. Like some pastors I know, they become depressed while being pastors. I say, what kind of Lord is this to believe in? Would you want to go to a church where you become depressed? You say: "I am really working hard to change." But there are really not many people who can listen to what I say.

If you still have a bit of reverence, repent quickly. Do not wait until your feet are ruined, your legs are ruined, your hips are ruined, your stomach is ruined, your gut is ruined, your chest is ruined, your head is ruined, your neck is ruined. Then, grimacing in pain, you say: "Teacher, pray for me." Where were you earlier? You reap what you sow. Didn't you know that?

If you sow, you shall reap. You say: "I am so embarrassed." If you could have listened to what I said, you would have avoided these disasters. Why insist on offending God? Therefore, I want to be of one heart with the Lord, to walk with the Lord. So, I will speak on the second chapter, titled: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." But if you have the mind of Cain, you will have the fate of Cain. If you have the mind of Christ Jesus, be of one heart with the Lord. Think about it, it is hard not to be joyful, no one can take away the joy within you.

Joy Requires Unity with the Lord

Think about it, a person without the Word finds it hard to be joyful. A person without the Word, who is selfish to the core, can he be joyful? The Reform and Opening Up has reformed and opened up the joy away. Why? Because everyone is fixated on money. Look at the people of North Korea, how joyful they are. When I was young, during the Cultural Revolution, I was not clear about anything, but we were poor, very poor. Thinking about it, we were quite joyful. Which should we choose?

I tell you, we must live joyfully and abundantly. If a person lives in Christ Jesus and is united with the Lord, how can he be poor? If he is united with the Lord in Christ Jesus, how can he not be joyful? It is so good to be both abundant and joyful, to be a blessing to many. Do you have theological basis for this? How can we not?

Abraham was so joyful, did he have money? He did! He was a patriarch of his generation. His household, oh my, had thousands of slaves, running a business of about two thousand people. In those days, two thousand people was a lot. Four thousand years ago, I don't even know if there were emperors, or whether the emperors came before or after. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Daniel were all so good.

So, can you suffer losses by being united with the Lord? You cannot suffer losses by being united with the Lord. The treasures of heaven are all yours, how can you suffer losses? Being united with the Lord, the power of Christ Jesus' resurrection from the dead is also upon you, can you suffer losses? How is it possible to suffer losses?

Of course, do not think that I am doing well enough. I strive to pursue, and even now, I am still striving to imitate Christ. So, the second chapter speaks of "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," having the same attitude, the same mind, the same humility. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, so that He might put all things under His feet. This logic is generally not received by people. Without wisdom, how can you receive it?

Therefore, we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. If we work out our ruin, there is no need to learn, no need to be united with Christ Jesus, just be united with yourself. Right? Being very united with yourself, being very considerate of your own desires, just live according to your own desires. How good it is to live according to your own desires, isn't it? No need to learn, I just want to be myself, and you will become yourself.

If you do not put down yourself, it is difficult to live out joy. Ah, order a takeaway, and then order another takeaway, and if you don't have money, use Huabei (a Chinese online credit service). It is very happy when spending money, but how painful it is when repaying it. It is very comfortable when eating takeaways, but can you still be comfortable when you gain a pound of weight? We brothers and sisters must think about it.

You really need to imitate Christ Jesus, because Christ Jesus is the model of victory for our entire life. So, be careful of dogs, be careful of those who corrupt people. What they say sounds good, but they are indeed corrupt people. The words of demons are the sweetest, remember that, the words of demons are the sweetest. But they can sell you a pair of crutches, and your legs, which were originally fine, are deceived into becoming crippled. Right? For money, you are crippled, and they sell the crutches. Later, they sell you a wheelchair. Oh my goodness, that's how the world is making money. Can you still be deceived if you are united with the Lord? You cannot be deceived.

Joy Requires Striving

In this world, I find it very interesting. The other day, I was browsing my WeChat Moments, and someone shared a Moment. The video recorded a middle-aged woman, drinking until her face was flushed, singing there. Oh my, she seemed to be singing with the eyes of a dead person. Oh my, the more she sang, the sadder she became, the more she sang, the sadder she became. The person who posted this Moment must have agreed with it. There is wine to drink, but no joy.

Why is that? They eat, drink, and have fun all day long. You must know that if you carefully browse your WeChat Moments, your friends who eat, drink, and have fun, when they sing this kind of tearful song, they really feel it. Their hearts are filled with a kind of sorrow, I don't know what kind of strange taste it is. Oh my, how sad. They agree with it very much. Why can eating, drinking, and having fun lead to this?

I tell you, take a closer look. What kind of people are happy? Have you noticed what kind of people are happy? People who love to work are happy, think about it carefully. Those who do not like to work but have to work, that is suffering upon suffering. Those who do not like to work and only like to eat, drink, and have fun, cannot talk about joy. But people who love to work and have work to do, oh my, they are joyful! Really, think about it carefully.

Let's observe again, because God created man to rejoice in his labor, that is a special gift from God. That is not you, that is the blessing you have cultivated in some previous life. You say, is there such a thing as a blessing cultivated in a previous life? I tell you, it is cultivated in God's previous life. Loving to work brings joy, and loving to work brings health. Think about it slowly, lazy people are prone to illness.

People who eat, drink, and have fun will need a heart bypass sooner or later, and I don't know if there are other places where they can have a bypass. Do you think it is hard? It is hard. Sooner or later, they will need a hole drilled in their brain. If there are holes drilled all over the body, from head to toe, what are you going to do? I tell you, illnesses are really caused by eating. Why am I so healthy? Because I love to work, I deeply understand the knowledge of joy.

The knowledge of joy is in striving. Think about it carefully, think about it carefully, was your IQ the highest when you took the college entrance examination? You made me laugh, and then I declined. Then think about it again, when you were striving during the college entrance examination, was it particularly fulfilling? You had no time to be sad, and no time to get sick. It was particularly fulfilling.

What about now? I tell you, rejoice in your labor. Why? Because Christ Jesus is the treasure. We must strive to gain the wisdom and knowledge of Christ Jesus. Because Christ Jesus is not only the treasure, He is also a carpenter. There are several carpenters in China, the first is Lu Ban, the second is Zhuge Liang. Do you know? They are all famous carpenters. The third is Jesus from abroad, this is how the Chinese rank them.

So, I tell you, strive. Striving, no matter what you do, is not about throwing time into it desperately, it is about throwing wisdom into it. Some people can collapse themselves by throwing time into it. Do you know? Throwing time is a stupid thing to do. Always remember, throwing time is a stupid thing to do.

A few days ago, there was a brother, because I designed a plan. Later, this brother pondered it every day, and then called me, saying: "Teacher, in fact, doing it that way can save about twenty times the workload." Twenty times, this plan is really good! He vetoed my plan, and I put his plan on the stage. Good, that is called wisdom, that is called cleverness.

So, if some work takes others ten hours, you can do it in one hour. If others take a year, you can do it in a month. If others take twenty minutes, you can do it in twenty or thirty seconds. I ask you: how can you be tired? Why can people do it this way? Because they strive. What is striving? You may not know, few people have this wisdom, and few people have this cleverness.

This is called pondering. For example, when I sit on the toilet, when I poop, I use my brain's CPU, I ponder in my head, the picture is in my head. What about driving? Ponder. When I have pondered it well, I pick up a pen and brush, brush, brush, and if I need to draw a picture, it comes out, if I need to write, it comes out. Why? Because I strive. I will not forget, I will not say: "Oh, I can't remember what problem I want to solve." There are many problems I solve.

So, striving, I squeeze water out of every minute of time. Is that right? Then I tell you, constantly push this wisdom, constantly improve it, constantly improve it. I am particularly emotional. What am I emotional about? People are desperately throwing time into it and don't even know they are doing it wrong. Why? Because they have no wisdom, they are stupid.

So, Christ Jesus is the source of wisdom, Christ Jesus is our treasure. Christ Jesus is the source of power. If you do it this way, I tell you, God will surely be with you, and God will open your mind. I can tell you, it is difficult for God to use self-righteous people. It is difficult for God to open your mind, because you always think you are doing the right thing. You are so busy, you don't say you are wrong, you say you have no time. Where did your time go? It was all wasted. Do you understand?

Joy requires striving. But there are many lazy people, and lazy people are prone to illness. Many people don't know that being diligent is the root of curing diseases. Heaven will not fail those who are diligent. But don't work hard bitterly, work happily, do things happily. Solve one problem, and then solve another problem. Have you ever experienced solving a problem and admiring your solution? I tell you, it is more comfortable than eating a Manchu Han Imperial Feast, and then you also learn.

Why do we need to strive? Because we don't have joy, we have to learn joy. If you learn joy, you only need to use one point of effort. I may not have enough even if I use twelve points of effort. You use one point of effort or no effort at all, and lie flat all day long, and then you are in pain. Is that right?

So, strive. The Apostle Paul was a striving person. There is an ancient Chinese saying, "The silkworm spins silk until its death, the candle sheds tears until it turns to ashes." This was not said by a Christian. But Christians should actually surpass this. People are too lazy. Christ Jesus is the treasure, don't underestimate Him, use all your strength to pursue Him. Use all your strength to practice the teachings of Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul did just that.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. (Philippians 3:12-15).

Work happily, and grow well in your work. Then people will be able to do more and more things.

Joy Requires Power from God

Joy requires power from God. What about our God? He is the God who accomplishes things. If you are united with Christ Jesus, with the mind of Christ Jesus, if you gain wisdom and knowledge, and are filled with the knowledge of God's will. Then I tell you, you will surely be a person of faith, you will surely be a person who trusts in God. Those who trust in God lack no good thing.

So the Apostle Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let me translate what that means, nothing can take away the joy within me, I can do all things, what do I have to worry about? Be a person of faith.

If you are a person of faith, you will basically find that whenever you have faith, you can create the future. Whenever you have faith, you will always be joyful. Whenever you have faith, you will always have power. Whenever you have faith, you will always have hope, and you will accomplish things through your faith. If you accomplish things, can you not be joyful? What people lack is power.

I have quickly summarized this book of Philippians by the Apostle Paul, and shared a few key points with you. In short, imitate the Apostle Paul. Let me add a sentence at the end. Are you willing to imitate me? I am enough for you to digest for a while. Right? If you can really imitate the Apostle Paul, I will rejoice with you.

But if you cannot see or touch. Then I am a person who imitates the Apostle Paul. I am a person who imitates Christ Jesus, although I do not imitate Him very well, but I have a striving heart. May God enable us to grow well. And be someone who accomplishes things, someone who has faith, who can draw on the power from God in heaven, draw on the wisdom from heaven, draw on the knowledge that God has reserved for us in heaven. Amen!

May God make everyone joyful. Amen!

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