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Please enjoy this message delivered by Pastor Mark Hudson.
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LearningTranscript
00:00When General Stonewall Jackson was wounded and ended up losing his arm,
00:05he was talking with his chaplain.
00:08His chaplain said to him, oh, General, what a calamity.
00:12In other words, the chaplain was very impressed with General Stonewall Jackson,
00:15his courage, his ability to fight.
00:20And he thought it was a calamity that he lost his arm.
00:24And Jackson thanked him for his sympathy.
00:26But then he replied, now listen to these words.
00:29He just lost his arm.
00:30He doesn't know what we know.
00:31He's actually going to die from this.
00:34It's not actually from his arm.
00:36He gets pneumonia, dies later.
00:37But this is what he says.
00:39Now, I want you to listen to his words.
00:41You see me wounded, but not depressed, not unhappy.
00:45He's lost his arm.
00:47I believe it has been according to God's holy will, and I acquiesce entirely to it.
00:53You may think it's strange, but you never saw me more perfectly contented than I am today.
00:59For I am sure my heavenly father designs this affliction for my good.
01:04I am perfectly satisfied that either in this life or in that which is to come,
01:09I shall discover that what is now regarded as calamity is and will be a blessing to me.
01:16Listen to those words.
01:18Could we say that?
01:20He's in the midst of a war.
01:22He loses his arm.
01:24He's out of the battle.
01:25Now, he thinks, of course, he has his side and he wants his side to win, but he's not there to engage.
01:31And he says, I am perfectly content with losing my arm.
01:39That's amazing.
01:41Jackson is talking about God's sovereignty in every area of our life.
01:47Now, we confidently say the words, God is sovereign.
01:54I've said it.
01:56You've said it.
01:57We've confirmed it in songs that we sing.
01:59God is sovereign.
02:02But my question to myself and to you today is, do we really understand what sovereignty means?
02:10Do we really understand sovereignty?
02:13We know God is all-knowing.
02:16He is all-powerful.
02:18He is good.
02:19He is just.
02:20He is holy.
02:22That means everything God does and everything God allows to happen in my life is good, it is just, and it is holy.
02:33Sovereignty means this also.
02:35God can do whatever he wants.
02:40Now, think about that for a second.
02:41Now, we know he's good, he's just, he's holy.
02:43He's never going to do anything contrary to his character.
02:45We know that.
02:46But he can do anything he wants.
02:49Now, my question for us is, are we okay with that?
02:53Are we okay with that?
02:55When we read about biblical characters, they're distant.
02:59When it's our own lives, are we okay with that?
03:02I think of Abraham.
03:04Leaves his homeland, travels to a place God has told him he's in that place.
03:08And all of a sudden, he looks around, and his fields are drying up.
03:14He's looking at the other people, groups around him, and he realized their fields are drying up.
03:20Everything is being wasted in the sense that it's drying up and dying, and he has no resources, and he has nothing to eat.
03:29Would we still love God if we had nothing to eat?
03:38Joseph, the one who receives dreams of God, who's going to, we know the story, who does something great.
03:44But at this point in his life, someone, some people who are more powerful than him, sell him off into slavery.
03:53Would we still trust God if someone greater than ourselves sold us into slavery?
04:04What about Job?
04:06Wealthiest, wisest man of the East, we are told in the Scriptures.
04:09He loses all of his wealth.
04:11He loses all of his children.
04:13He has only his wife left.
04:15He loses his prestige, his honor.
04:17He does have a few friends.
04:18They're not real helpful at times, but he does have a couple of friends.
04:21He has lost everything.
04:23Would we still praise God if we lost all of our wealth?
04:28If our IRA went to zero and our 401ks were null, would we still love God?
04:36Moses, here this faithful Moses, leads the people out of Egypt,
04:42wanders around with them in the wilderness for a period of time as God is leading them around because of their unbelief.
04:47And the thing that he desires in his heart is to enter into that land that was promised to his forefather Abraham centuries before,
04:57about six centuries before, that he would go into that one thing that he desired most,
05:03the land promised to the children of Israel.
05:06Would we still follow God if he took away that one thing that we desired most in life?
05:20Jeremiah, the prophet, the weeping prophet during the time of the exile is thrown into a cistern,
05:25which is made out of stone that they stored water in.
05:28Of course, there's no water in there.
05:29Maybe a tabid at the bottom.
05:31There's nothing there.
05:32He's there to hold him captive.
05:36Would we still honor God?
05:39Would we still honor God with our lives if negative circumstances took over our lives?
05:45Calamity.
05:46See, we talk about the sovereignty of God, but I'm not sure I really understand it or you really understand it.
05:53And once I say this, I'm under obligation as much as you are.
05:58If Teresa's plane crashes on the way home from Savannah on Monday, would I still love God?
06:05Would I still follow him?
06:07Do I really believe he's sovereign in my life?
06:13Solomon is going to address this by three examples.
06:17And they all wrap up in the idea when we truly understand the sovereignty of God.
06:22God gives us a deep rest in our souls that we can live this life, enjoy this life, make it in this life,
06:30because he has given us a soul rest when we understand the sovereignty of God.
06:35In Ecclesiastes chapter 6, Solomon wants to tell us,
06:39knowing all things that are best for people,
06:42God alone brings the deep soul rest and satisfaction in life that people can never find by themselves.
06:50Humanity under the sun, that's what Solomon's been talking about.
06:52Humanity under the sun is looking for satisfaction in life.
06:56It's looking for health or children or wealth or possessions.
07:00It's looking for all of these things under the sun to find satisfaction.
07:04And Solomon says, no, you misunderstood it.
07:07God alone can bring satisfaction in life.
07:10And when we understand that he is sovereign, he is good, he is just, he is holy,
07:14he will bring things into my life I may not understand,
07:17but he knows what is good and he can do whatever he wants
07:21because he is holy and just and good.
07:26So Solomon continues now his discussion on the meaningless of materialism in verses 1 through 6,
07:32trying to find true value in life through materialism.
07:36Look at verses 1 through 6.
07:37There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind.
07:45A man to whom God gives wealth.
07:46We already talked about God gives wealth.
07:48Wealth is not a problem.
07:49Love of wealth is a problem, but wealth is not a problem.
07:51So God has given this person wealth, possessions, and honor.
07:56They have respect in the community.
08:00So that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them.
08:08But a stranger enjoys them.
08:10Someone else, someone he doesn't even know, gets to enjoy all the gifts that God gave to this person.
08:15In other words, God has taken away the gifts and given to someone else.
08:18Naked I came from my mother's womb.
08:20Naked I returned.
08:21Blessed be the Lord who gives and takes away, Job said.
08:25So he says this is a vanity.
08:28It is a grievous evil.
08:30If a man fathers a hundred children, which is a lot of children,
08:35and lives many years so that the days of his years are many,
08:39but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things,
08:44and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
08:53For it, that's the child, comes in vanity and goes in darkness,
08:56and in darkness its name is covered.
09:00Moreover, if the child has not seen the sun or known anything,
09:04there's no suffering this child has experienced.
09:07Yet it finds rest rather than he.
09:10This man has no rest.
09:12He has no deep soul rest.
09:15Even though he should live a thousand years twice over,
09:19yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place.
09:27Someone trying to find satisfaction in life with materialism.
09:31These are topics he's addressed before.
09:34He wants to perhaps take a different view of it, a different angle.
09:38So he's looking at some of the same topics, but from a different angle today.
09:42That's what he wants to do.
09:45He explains to us, these are evils that are in every generation,
09:48in every society of every age.
09:51It's not just Israel in his day.
09:52It's in our day today.
09:54It'll be in 50 years of Jesus tarries.
09:56It's in every society of every day because people have not changed.
09:59People are still the same.
10:01So he gives us already a general rule that God gives good things.
10:08That's a general rule.
10:09That's a general rule.
10:10Now he's going to give us an exception to that rule.
10:13Not only did God give good things, but God took those good things away,
10:17and this person didn't get a chance to enjoy them.
10:20So this is an exception to the rule that God gives good things.
10:24In the Old Testament throughout, we can see wealth, children, and long life
10:30were considered as blessings from God.
10:32If you lived a long time, you were considered to be blessed of God.
10:35Lots of children, blessed of God.
10:37Wealth, blessed of God.
10:38That's old covenant thinking.
10:40So this person was honored and wealthy, respected in the community.
10:46Yet to enjoy life is a gift from God.
10:50Remember, he told us in Ecclesiastes 5.18,
10:54Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment
10:59in all the toil with which one toils under the sun.
11:02The few days of his life, our life is short, that God has given him,
11:07for this is his lot.
11:08This is his inheritance.
11:09This is his portion.
11:10This is what is good for us.
11:12This is what God has given to us.
11:14To take what he has given us, his good gifts,
11:16and to use them for his glory in our life, to live our life for him.
11:20It's what he wants.
11:22But this person has received something from the Lord,
11:26but now it's all taken away.
11:27Now the question, would we still love God?
11:31Do we think he had a right to take away everything that we had?
11:35Or do we question?
11:38A person can inquire nothing unless God permits them to do so.
11:44God is gracious even to the unbelievers in this world.
11:47He makes the sun shine on the just and the unjust.
11:49The rain comes down on the just and the unjust.
11:51We call that common grace.
11:54God gives good gifts to all people.
11:57He gives good gifts because he is good.
11:59He can't give anything that's evil.
12:03To enjoy the gifts of God without loving the giver,
12:05we like the gifts, don't we?
12:07We like the gifts, don't we?
12:08Let's be honest.
12:08We like the gifts.
12:10But without loving the giver means we love the gifts more than the giver.
12:14We call that idolatry.
12:16We want to make sure we love the giver more than we love the gifts.
12:19So to try to enjoy life that's focusing on materialism or hedonism
12:24or just entertainment in life is never going to bring satisfaction.
12:27It never will bring that deep soul rest that we long for
12:30because we are not trusting in the sovereignty of God,
12:33but in our own power.
12:36For whatever reason, I don't know why this person wasn't allowed
12:39to enjoy the gifts God gave him.
12:40Maybe there was a war.
12:41Maybe there was a war and the army swept through
12:45and by sweeping through everything he owned,
12:48he had to leave and forsake and he left only with his clothes on his back.
12:52We don't know.
12:53The Bible doesn't tell us.
12:54Maybe there was some great disaster and everything was wiped out.
12:57We don't know.
12:58Something happened and he lost everything.
13:01And not only just he can't enjoy it,
13:03his family can't enjoy it because a stranger is going to have it.
13:07That's hard.
13:08No amount of wealth can make up for a life without joy.
13:17Do not plan on living.
13:19Rather, start living now.
13:24Now, he begins by using an illustration of a stillborn child.
13:28Now, I just need to say up front,
13:30Solomon is not trying to be insensitive to any woman who has had a stillborn.
13:34That's not his intention.
13:35I can't possibly imagine how horrible that would be to have a stillborn.
13:39And my heart goes out to you.
13:41That's not what he's trying to say.
13:42He's only using it as a comparison.
13:45So he wants to make some comparisons of a stillborn child
13:47and this person who has not enjoyed what God has given him
13:51and places hope in the riches and not in God.
13:54So he says the stillborn baby is better off than the wealthy person
13:59who cannot enjoy life's good blessing.
14:02The stillborn child is better than he is or she is.
14:06See, the stillborn baby has not spent his life in a restless pursuit
14:10of that which cannot satisfy.
14:13He's never seen life or she's never seen life.
14:15A restless baby, a stillborn baby is at rest
14:20because they have not toiled in this world under the sun.
14:26And then this man doesn't even get a burial.
14:30So we don't know what happened.
14:32Again, if it was a war and the armies pushed through,
14:34maybe he was killed in battle and he laid on the battlefield dead.
14:36That's a possibility and he wasn't buried.
14:38That's possible.
14:39Or it could be that he pursued wealth to the extent
14:43that he broke all relationships with his family
14:46and no one liked him.
14:47That's another option.
14:49We don't know what happened to him, but he wasn't buried.
14:53And in the East, to be without burial
14:55is one of the greatest disgraces that there is.
15:01At least the stillborn baby has rest.
15:04Rest, the rich who enjoy, who do not enjoy this life
15:10find no rest in their hearts.
15:13Rest, rest.
15:16Rest is what allows us to sleep at night.
15:18And I don't mean rest as I'm tired, I worked really hard on it.
15:21I'm talking about when you lay down on your bed
15:24and put your head on your pillow,
15:25that your soul is such at rest,
15:29trusting in the sovereignty of God,
15:31knowing that he is good, that he is just, that he is holy,
15:33that you can sleep.
15:35For the scriptures say he gives his beloved sleep.
15:37That's the kind of rest I'm talking about.
15:39Where your soul is at rest.
15:41There's no anxiety.
15:42There's no cares.
15:43There's no concerns.
15:44Because you trust him.
15:45You roll all your concern on him
15:48because he cares for you, Peter tells us.
15:52A life free from concerns and cares.
15:56The ancients deemed this one of the most biggest blessings
15:58that a person could have.
16:00This type of rest.
16:01When we submit to the sovereignty of God,
16:06we find rest.
16:08Even in the midst of calamity,
16:11when we don't understand what's happening around us
16:14or in us or to us,
16:16we rest in the truth that God is good,
16:18God is just,
16:20and God is holy.
16:22And I sleep.
16:23Jesus said,
16:27come to me,
16:28all who labor and are heavy laden,
16:31and I will give you rest.
16:34I will cause your soul to rest,
16:38to be at peace,
16:40to not to be agitated,
16:41not to be anxious,
16:42not to be overly concerned,
16:43but resting in my Father's sovereignty.
16:47Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
16:51for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
16:53and you will find rest for your souls.
16:57For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
17:01Solomon says,
17:02an unsatisfied life has no value,
17:06no matter how lengthy it is.
17:09He lived to be 2,000 years.
17:11That's twice as long as Methuselah.
17:13Now we know that's not possible after the flood
17:15and things change and lifespans got,
17:17but this is just an exaggeration to prove a point.
17:20He can live 2,000 years,
17:21but if he doesn't find rest in God,
17:24he is unsatisfied when he dies,
17:25even if you live 2,000 years.
17:29This is a life completely devoid of any kind of true happiness,
17:33any kind of well-being of soul.
17:35Warren Wiersbe commented,
17:36what good is it for me to add years to my life
17:39if I don't add life to my years?
17:42That's good.
17:44And what we talked about two weeks ago,
17:45Jonathan Swift, I love this one.
17:47May you live all the days of your life.
17:50I want to put that on a mug and put up on my desk.
17:52I love that.
17:53May you live all the days of your life.
17:54Not may you be alive and breathe all it,
17:56but may you really live for the glory of God.
18:02So now he's going to move to something that's insatable,
18:05that cannot be satisfied in mankind.
18:08There's something in us that drives us.
18:12Look at verses 7 through 9.
18:15All the toil of a man is for his mouth.
18:17In other words, he's working to eat,
18:20yet his appetite is not satisfied.
18:24He's still hungry the next day when he gets up.
18:26For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?
18:32And what does the poor man have
18:33who knows how to conduct himself before the living?
18:37Better is the sight of the eyes
18:39than the wandering of the appetite.
18:42This also is vanity and a striving after the wind.
18:44He always ends up a section with,
18:46by that statement,
18:46this is striving, vanity, striving after the wind.
18:48You know that it's a thought that he wants to sum up.
18:50But here he's trying to tell us something very important.
18:55He reminds us that for all the effort work demands,
18:59nothing really ever gets filled or satisfied
19:01because we have to do it all over again, don't we?
19:04I eat one day, guess what?
19:05I'm hungry the next day.
19:06And then I got to eat the next day.
19:07It never ends.
19:09Never is satisfied.
19:11My stomach doesn't ever tell me,
19:12stop eating.
19:13Sorry, I just like to eat.
19:15And I think you're the same.
19:17James Smith said this,
19:18The more people pursue pleasure,
19:20the more elusive the goal becomes.
19:23Yet something within drives worldly man
19:26to continue the fruitless and draining effort
19:28to achieve satisfaction.
19:30With each new disappointment,
19:32he mutters to himself,
19:33there must be more to life than this.
19:36He tries multiple sex partners and the latest drug.
19:39He accumulates more of the toys and trinkets
19:41which he thinks will quell the gnawing hunger of his soul.
19:44Nothing works.
19:46Without God, his life is completely empty.
19:50That's this man.
19:52He is never satisfied.
19:54And there's something that's in us
19:55that constantly is gnawing at us,
19:58desiring more and more.
20:00And the natural man,
20:01this is who we are.
20:04It comes from within.
20:05The word appetite is an interesting word.
20:08It doesn't mean you'll appetite,
20:09I'm hungry.
20:09It means more than that.
20:11It means I'm hungry, yes.
20:13But that hunger comes from somewhere.
20:14It comes from within me saying,
20:17I must nourish my flesh so that I can stay alive.
20:19There's this desire that comes from within
20:21and we call it the appetite.
20:23That's why in the Old Testament,
20:24the word is often translated soul,
20:28living being, life, self, person, emotion,
20:33and a passion.
20:34So we're not talking about just my appetite.
20:36Okay, I have a good appetite.
20:37I'm hungry today.
20:37That's not what we're talking about.
20:38We're talking about where it comes from.
20:41Desires from within is the idea.
20:44Desires from within.
20:45It could be translated with the idea,
20:48all the work of man is for his mouth,
20:50but his soul, his life is not satisfied.
20:54It is never satisfied.
20:57In the natural man,
20:59there is uncontrolled desires that harms the person.
21:04If not bridled by the Holy Spirit,
21:06if not brought under the fruit of the Holy Spirit,
21:08those works of the flesh manifest themselves
21:11and they harm the person.
21:12These are desires that come from our old indwelling sin nature
21:16that's in sinful passion that's in us.
21:20There's a story in history about the three Edwards.
21:24It describes the life of Raynaud III,
21:26a 14th century duke that is now Belgium.
21:29He was rather large, this Raynaud.
21:33He was commonly called by his Latin nickname,
21:35Crocus or Croxus, which means fat.
21:39I like to have this nickname.
21:40Hey, fatty.
21:41And that's his nickname.
21:42He's fat.
21:43He's really big guy.
21:45After a violent quarrel,
21:46Raynaud's younger brother, Edward,
21:48led a successful revolt against him.
21:50Edward captured Raynaud, but did not kill him.
21:53Instead, he built a room around Raynaud
21:56in the Newark castle
21:57and promised him he could regain his title on property
22:00as soon as he was able to leave the room.
22:03Now, you need to picture this.
22:05He built the room around Raynaud
22:07with a door that was an average-sized door
22:11and Raynaud was not an average-sized man.
22:16He could give back his title,
22:18his property, his possessions
22:19if he would just leave the room.
22:22The problem is he's fat.
22:24He can't get through the door.
22:24It wouldn't have been difficult for you and I
22:28since the room had several windows,
22:30a door of near-normal size,
22:32and it wasn't locked or barred.
22:34The problem was he was too fat.
22:37To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.
22:41He could be free.
22:43But Edward, the older brother,
22:45Edward knew Raynaud's desire.
22:49Each day, he sent a variety of delicious foods.
22:57Instead of dieting to get his way out of the prison,
23:00he actually got fatter
23:02because he knew his brother's desire for food,
23:07unquenching, uncontrolled desire to eat,
23:10which came from within.
23:13When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty,
23:15he had a ready answer.
23:16My brother's not a prisoner.
23:17He may leave whenever he wills.
23:22Raynaud stayed in that room for 10 years,
23:24according to history,
23:25and wasn't released until after Edward was killed in battle.
23:29And by that time, his health was so broken down,
23:31he died shortly thereafter.
23:33There is in the natural man uncontrolled desires
23:37that drive us, passions,
23:39whether it's eating, whether it's sex,
23:42these passions that drive.
23:45They're in us.
23:46That's who we are as human beings.
23:50And the natural man works for self-preservation,
23:54and to use his wealth, he acquired selfishly.
23:57It's not about other people.
23:59It's about himself.
24:01These desires are never satisfied
24:02because he's never found his rest in God.
24:05He's never found his sole rest
24:07in the sovereignty of God,
24:08who gives and, yes, takes away,
24:10but who is good and holy and just.
24:12We only can find satisfaction.
24:16And God, Philippians tells us,
24:17not that I'm speaking of being in need, Paul says,
24:19but I've learned in whatever situation I am
24:21to be content.
24:24To be content.
24:26And then he makes this comment.
24:28He's talking about the wise and the poor man.
24:30And he says,
24:31when it comes to mortality or death,
24:34the wise man does not have advantage over the poor.
24:37Why?
24:37Because you could be wise all your life,
24:39you're still going to die.
24:40Now, there's good to be wise,
24:41there's nothing wrong with that,
24:42but when it comes to the idea of death,
24:44there's no difference between the wise man
24:46and the poor man.
24:47They're both going to die.
24:48So get this in your head.
24:49He's going to talk about that more next week.
24:51Get this in your head.
24:53There's no advantage of being wise or poor
24:55when it comes to death.
24:58No advantage.
24:59So where does the advantage lie then?
25:02Where can we get an advantage
25:04when death equalizes both wise and poor,
25:08rich and poor,
25:09all of us come to the same place
25:10when we come to death.
25:11What advantage could we possibly gain over death?
25:15You know it, don't you?
25:18Faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
25:20The one who has conquered death.
25:23The one who has defeated death.
25:24The one who came out of the grave on the third day
25:26and lives forever.
25:27Who says, who believe in me will never die.
25:31That's the advantage we can get.
25:33Wise or poor,
25:34he's going to make no difference
25:35when it comes to death.
25:36But when you believe in Jesus Christ,
25:38when it comes to death,
25:38it makes all the difference in the world.
25:41And I ask,
25:42do you believe in Jesus Christ for salvation today?
25:45Have you trusted him alone?
25:47Because you're going to die
25:48if Jesus doesn't come back.
25:49I'm going to die.
25:51It's the lot that we have in this world
25:52under the sun right now.
25:54Are you prepared?
25:55Do you have an advantage?
25:58And the advantage is faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
26:00And I hope that you know him today.
26:02I hope that you know him.
26:05John Stott wrote this.
26:07Over 1,300 years ago,
26:09in a portion of pagan England called North Umbra,
26:13the first Christian missionaries arrived.
26:15They came to the courts of King Edwin of North Umbra.
26:18In his great hall ablaze with the light of many torches,
26:21these Christian missionaries gave their first sermon
26:23on the Christian faith.
26:25When they had finished,
26:26an old chieftain asked this question.
26:28This is the question humanity asks.
26:30This is the people who understand death.
26:32They asked this question.
26:34Here's what he asked.
26:35Can this new religion tell us anything
26:37of what happens after death?
26:40The soul of a man is like a sparrow
26:42flying through this lighted hall.
26:45It enters at one door from the darkness outside,
26:48flits through the light and warmth,
26:50and passes out into the dark again.
26:53Can your new religion solve for us the mystery?
26:55What was the mystery?
26:56The mystery of death.
26:57And I say to you, yes.
26:59Christianity answers the question of death
27:02and puts us on a footing that has the advantage
27:04over the wise, over the poor, over the rich,
27:07over all people,
27:09simply because Christ has paid the penalty of our sins.
27:12And he has gone through death
27:14and came out the other side.
27:17Yes, it has the answer to that question.
27:20Then he talks about the sight of the eyes,
27:22what I see with my eyes.
27:24What he's talking about when he says
27:26the sight of the eyes
27:26has an understanding of enjoying the present.
27:29It's what I'm seeing with my eyes right now.
27:31Not what I saw, but what I see with my eyes,
27:33the sight of the eyes.
27:35So it has the idea of the present,
27:36which one sees at this moment.
27:38When we look out with our eyes,
27:40we have the objects that we're viewing,
27:41we have them in view,
27:42what we're looking at in view.
27:44So it's dealing with the present.
27:46But then he says the wandering of the appetite
27:49or wandering of desire
27:50or the wandering of the soul
27:52speaks about the restless craving
27:54for what is distant,
27:56that is future and uncertain and out of reach.
28:00So one sees with his eyes
28:01and realizes God is sovereign
28:03and has given me this life to live for his glory
28:05and lives in that.
28:07The other who has desires that are unsatisfied
28:10looks out distantly saying,
28:12is there something else out there?
28:14I'm uncertain.
28:15I don't know.
28:15I don't have the rest in my soul.
28:19A person who is locked onto a desire by definition
28:23has not attained that desire yet.
28:24He's locked onto it.
28:25He hasn't got it yet.
28:29It is better to experience pleasure
28:30with what a person has
28:32than to allow insetable desires
28:33to dominate a person's life.
28:36Paul told Timothy this,
28:38but if we have food and clothing,
28:39with these we will be content.
28:41I don't see an IRA on there.
28:47401k?
28:51It's not there, is it?
28:54Are we really?
28:55Are we really content?
28:57Do we really trust the sovereignty of God?
29:02Instead of greed,
29:03God desires true enjoyment of life.
29:05Satisfaction is found in God
29:07because he is good and he is sovereign.
29:09Solomon now concludes this section.
29:14It's actually the first half of the book.
29:16Verses 10 through 12
29:17are a transition to the second half of the book.
29:19But 1 through 9 belong to verses 10 through 12 as well.
29:23So here now he sums up everything
29:25in verses 10 through 12.
29:27Whatever has come to be
29:29has already been named.
29:31And it is known what man is
29:33and that he is not able to dispute
29:35with one stronger than he.
29:36The more words, the more vanity.
29:39And what is the advantage to man?
29:42For who knows what is good for man
29:44while he lives the few days of his vain life
29:47which he passes like a shadow?
29:51For who can tell man
29:53what will be after him under the sun?
29:57Again, he's concluding this under the sun.
29:59Under the sun.
30:00So verse 10 is the beginning
30:02of the second half of the book now
30:04and 10 and 12 are this transitional text
30:06between the first and the first half
30:08lays down all of these thoughts.
30:10The second half is going to answer
30:11all of the questions that he brought up
30:13in the first half of the book.
30:16So the idea in the ancient world
30:18to name something
30:19has the idea to make it exist.
30:22To depend on the one who named it.
30:25That's to name something.
30:26The emphasis on divine sovereignty
30:30over all creation.
30:32God has named them.
30:34He named certain things.
30:37It also has the idiom of meaning
30:39to designate a point
30:40or determine a destiny of something.
30:42In Isaiah 40 we see the word used.
30:44Lift up your eyes on high
30:45and see who created these.
30:47He who brings out their host by number
30:50calling them all by name.
30:52Designating them.
30:53Recognizing them.
30:54Calling them into existence
30:56by the greatness of his might.
30:58And because he is strong in power
31:00not one is missing.
31:03He says but this man
31:05this man here
31:06who wants to try to dispute
31:09with one that's stronger than him.
31:10The word is interesting.
31:11The word man comes from
31:13the understanding of the word Adam.
31:15It's the exact same word Adam.
31:17So the word man means Adam
31:19which makes us think about
31:20Genesis chapter 2
31:21where God again creates man and woman
31:23places them in the garden
31:24tells him to tend the garden.
31:26In chapter 3
31:27when the fall of man happens
31:28when man rebels against God
31:30and is cast out of the garden.
31:32So this idea
31:33that points us back
31:33to Genesis chapter 2
31:34where man was satisfied with God
31:36in Genesis chapter 3
31:37when he's no longer satisfied
31:38because he's thrown
31:39from the presence of God
31:40because of his rebellion.
31:44This is what he wants us
31:44to understand.
31:47Man's name, Adam
31:49puts him in his proper place.
31:51Adam means
31:53from the earth
31:54red dirt.
31:56Who is man?
31:59He comes from the earth
32:00and to the earth
32:01we will return.
32:03He's just dust
32:04placed together
32:05and formed
32:06by the mighty hand of God
32:07where God breathes
32:08into his nostril
32:09the breath of life
32:10and man becomes
32:11a living soul.
32:12But he's from the earth.
32:15Man is a puny creature
32:17in light of the holy
32:20transcendent
32:21omnipotent
32:22almighty God.
32:24He puts us
32:25in our place
32:26doesn't he?
32:27He said we're just man.
32:30Adam has already
32:31showed us who we are.
32:33He showed us
32:34when he was
32:35in fellowship
32:35with God in the garden
32:36there was peace
32:37and satisfaction.
32:38As soon as he fell
32:39in chapter 3
32:40there's no longer
32:41satisfaction.
32:42He's roaming now.
32:43His heart is not at rest.
32:44He shows us
32:48who we are.
32:50We are weak mortals
32:51before an omnipotent God.
32:54But what do we do?
32:55We just start
32:56talking more don't we?
32:58We just start
32:58talking more.
33:00You ever watched
33:00and listened
33:01to someone talk?
33:02Isn't it interesting
33:03the more they talk
33:04the more likely
33:04they're to hang themselves
33:05with their own words?
33:07You ever notice that?
33:08I mean I've talked
33:09to someone
33:09in one sentence
33:10they tell me something
33:11the next sentence
33:12they completely contradict
33:13what they just said
33:14in the first sentence
33:15and you're thinking
33:16didn't you just hear
33:17what you just said?
33:18But what do we want to do?
33:20We want to talk.
33:21We want to talk.
33:22We want to talk
33:23and just get it all out.
33:25More words
33:26don't necessarily
33:27mean better things
33:28for us.
33:29It just simply means
33:30more hot air.
33:33And what we tend
33:33to do is try
33:34to justify ourselves
33:35before a holy
33:36just God
33:37and not submit
33:38to his sovereignty
33:39by all the words
33:40that we're trying
33:41to say.
33:42See the many words
33:44question
33:44that the divine work
33:45is God
33:46really sovereign?
33:47God why are you
33:48letting this happen
33:49to me?
33:50Why does this calamity
33:51in my life?
33:53Why am I sick?
33:55Why did I lose
33:55someone I love?
33:56Why is this
33:57the greatest dream
33:58of my life
33:59been taken away
34:00from me?
34:01Why?
34:02So we have
34:03all these words
34:04to try to justify
34:05ourselves
34:05before the creator.
34:07We're questioning
34:08his divine work
34:09when these words
34:10and they're empty
34:10they're worthless
34:11they're fleeting
34:12words Solomon
34:13says.
34:14We are subject
34:15to the creator
34:16not the creator
34:17to us.
34:21I've always
34:22wondered sometimes
34:23I wonder if I
34:24should record
34:25myself in a
34:25conversation
34:26and actually
34:26listen to the
34:27words I say.
34:29That'd be
34:29interesting
34:29wouldn't it?
34:30Wouldn't it?
34:31I wonder how
34:32many times
34:33in a conversation
34:33we betray
34:35our lack of faith.
34:39By our conversation
34:40people could say
34:40huh
34:41I thought
34:42he believed
34:42in Jesus.
34:44What's all
34:44this about?
34:47We ramble
34:48on about
34:48ourselves
34:48and our lot
34:49in life
34:50failing to
34:51remember
34:51that we
34:51are subjects
34:52of the creator
34:53and not kings
34:54of our own
34:55domain.
34:57We're subjects
34:57of a sovereign
34:58God
34:58who is holy
34:59and just
35:00and good.
35:03And then he
35:04asks this question
35:04who knows
35:05what is good
35:05for man?
35:06Now that's
35:06what he's
35:06going to do
35:06he's going
35:07to answer
35:07that question
35:08in the second
35:08half of the book
35:09he's going
35:09to tell
35:09us
35:09what's
35:10good
35:10for man
35:10for who
35:11knows
35:11what is
35:12good
35:12for man?
35:12Well God
35:12knows
35:13what is
35:13good
35:13for man
35:13he's going
35:14to tell
35:14us
35:14what's
35:14good
35:14for us
35:15but how
35:16do we
35:16know
35:17what's
35:17good
35:17for man?
35:18Under
35:18the sun
35:18all we
35:19see
35:19is this
35:20how do
35:21we
35:21know?
35:21That is
35:21the
35:22central
35:22question
35:22of the
35:23second
35:23half
35:23of the
35:23book.
35:25Now Solomon
35:26is not
35:26speaking here
35:27about life
35:27after death
35:28that's not
35:29what he's
35:29talking about
35:30he's talking
35:31about how
35:31things turn
35:32out while
35:32one still
35:33lives on
35:33earth
35:33that's why
35:34he uses
35:34the phrase
35:35under the
35:35sun
35:35he's not
35:36talking about
35:36life after
35:37death
35:37he's talking
35:38about now
35:38living under
35:39the sun
35:40on the earth
35:41right now
35:41that's what
35:41he's talking
35:42about
35:42so he's not
35:42talking about
35:42the afterlife
35:43he's talking
35:43about this
35:44life right
35:44now
35:44while we're
35:45here on
35:46this earth
35:46man's life
35:47is vain
35:48because it
35:48is short
35:49man's life
35:49is vain
35:50because he
35:50cannot
35:50know what
35:51the future
35:51brings
35:52we can't
35:53possibly know
35:53what the
35:54future
35:54brings
35:54Charles
35:56Swindoll
35:57wrote
35:57apathy
35:58rules
35:58and nobody
35:59seems to
35:59care
35:59life isn't
36:03H.M. Meckin
36:04said it well
36:05the basic
36:06fact about
36:06human experience
36:07is not that
36:08it is a
36:08tragedy
36:09but that
36:10it is a
36:10bore
36:10it is not
36:11that it is
36:12predominantly
36:12painful
36:13but it is
36:13lacking in
36:14any sense
36:15that is a
36:15life under
36:16the sun
36:16that is a
36:18life that's
36:18not lived
36:19above the
36:19sun for
36:19the glory
36:20of God
36:20and his
36:20honor
36:21but under
36:21the sun
36:22according
36:23to all
36:23human
36:23existence
36:24no one
36:28ever said
36:29it better
36:29than Thoreau
36:30most men
36:31lead lives
36:31of quiet
36:32desperation
36:32this is
36:34the life
36:34under the
36:35sun
36:35apart
36:36from
36:36God
36:36is this
36:39the life
36:40that you're
36:40living today
36:40are you
36:42living a
36:42life simply
36:43under the
36:43sun
36:43human
36:44existence
36:44trying to
36:45find
36:45satisfaction
36:45in life
36:46when you
36:47can't
36:47possibly
36:47get it
36:48apart
36:49from
36:49God
36:49is it
36:51possibly
36:51today
36:51the day
36:52to look
36:52above
36:52the sun
36:53to Jesus
36:53Christ
36:54who has
36:54risen
36:54and sits
36:55at the
36:55right
36:56hand
36:56of the
36:56father
36:56who
36:57promised
36:57that he's
36:57coming
36:57back
36:58again
36:58someday
36:58and to
36:59love him
37:00and trust
37:00him
37:00no matter
37:00what
37:01happens
37:01in your
37:02life
37:02perhaps
37:06today is
37:06the day
37:07for that
37:07for true
37:09happiness
37:09is the
37:10byproduct
37:10of making
37:11a good
37:11life
37:12not the
37:13automatic
37:13result
37:14for making
37:14great
37:15wages
37:15the British
37:18essayist
37:19and poet
37:20Joseph
37:20Addison
37:20in the
37:2118th
37:21century
37:22wrote
37:22this
37:22the grand
37:24essentials
37:24to happiness
37:26in this
37:26life
37:27are something
37:27to do
37:28someone
37:29to love
37:30and something
37:31to hope
37:32for
37:32Addison
37:33probably
37:34did not
37:34have
37:34Christianity
37:35in mind
37:36that's
37:36not what
37:36he was
37:36talking
37:37about
37:37but if
37:38you look
37:39at this
37:39something
37:39to do
37:40someone
37:41to love
37:42and something
37:43to hope
37:43for
37:43we believers
37:45have all
37:45three
37:46in Jesus
37:47Christ
37:47think about
37:48that
37:49we have
37:49a purpose
37:49to live
37:50to preach
37:51the gospel
37:52to all
37:52of creation
37:53to glorify
37:54God
37:54in our
37:55lives
37:55as we
37:55serve
37:55one
37:56another
37:56and love
37:56one
37:56another
37:57we have
37:57a purpose
37:57for living
37:58and what
37:59else
37:59did he
37:59say
37:59he said
38:00we have
38:00a purpose
38:01for living
38:01we have
38:01we have
38:02someone
38:02to love
38:03we love
38:03God above
38:04all things
38:04we love
38:05our family
38:05we love
38:06our neighbor
38:06we have
38:07someone
38:07to love
38:07we have
38:09something
38:09to hope
38:10for
38:10not this
38:11wish
38:12oh I hope
38:12it takes
38:13place
38:13no but
38:13the confident
38:14expectation
38:14that God
38:15keeps his
38:15promises
38:16all three
38:17of these
38:18are in
38:18Christianity
38:19where God
38:20knows what's
38:20good for
38:21us
38:21Warren
38:22Wiersbe said
38:23there are
38:23some questions
38:24about life
38:24that nobody
38:25can answer
38:26but our
38:26ignorance
38:27must not
38:27be used
38:28as an
38:28excuse
38:29for skepticism
38:29or unbelief
38:30instead
38:31our ignorance
38:32should encourage
38:33us to have
38:33faith in
38:34God
38:34after all
38:35we don't
38:36live on
38:36explanations
38:37we live
38:38on promises
38:38Psalm 16
38:41says this
38:42you make
38:42known to me
38:43the path
38:44of life
38:44in your
38:45presence
38:45there is
38:45fullness
38:46of joy
38:46at your
38:46right hand
38:47are pleasures
38:48forevermore
38:49for those
38:50who love
38:50God
38:50who trust
38:51him
38:51will walk
38:51according
38:52to his
38:52purposes
38:53this is
38:53the lot
38:54in life
38:54that we
38:55have
38:55above
38:56the
38:56son
38:56person's
38:59duty
38:59and ultimate
38:59happiness
39:00is to
39:00submit
39:01to the
39:01authority
39:02and sovereignty
39:03of God
39:04again
39:06I ask
39:06do we
39:07really
39:08believe
39:08in the
39:08sovereignty
39:09of God
39:09Mark Twain
39:12said this
39:12shortly
39:12before his
39:13death
39:13Mark Twain
39:13is not
39:14a believer
39:15listen to
39:15what he
39:15says
39:16he sums
39:17up
39:18life
39:19under the
39:19sun
39:19very well
39:20he says
39:21this
39:21a myriad
39:22of men
39:23are born
39:24they labor
39:25and sweat
39:25and struggle
39:26they squabble
39:27and scold
39:28and fight
39:29they scramble
39:30for little mean
39:31advantages over
39:31each other
39:32age creeps
39:33upon them
39:34infirmities
39:34follow
39:35those they
39:36love
39:36are taken
39:36from them
39:37and the joy
39:37of life
39:38has turned
39:38to aching
39:39grief
39:40it
39:40the release
39:41comes at
39:42last
39:42the only
39:43unpoisoned
39:44gift
39:44earth
39:44has ever
39:45had for
39:45them
39:45and they
39:46vanish
39:46from a
39:47world
39:47where they
39:48were of
39:48no consequence
39:49a world
39:50which will
39:50lament
39:51them a
39:51day
39:51and forget
39:52them
39:52forever
39:53that's
39:54some of
39:55the things
39:55Solomon
39:55has been
39:56talking
39:56about
39:57if that
39:58is a
39:58person's
39:59life
39:59under
39:59the sun
40:00that is
40:00their
40:01existence
40:01but there
40:02is a
40:02life
40:03above
40:03the sun
40:04because life
40:07is short
40:07and often
40:07we do not
40:08know what
40:08the future
40:09will bring
40:09the Bible's
40:10admonition
40:11to us
40:11is threefold
40:12enjoy
40:13God's
40:14gift
40:14of life
40:15live
40:16today
40:16don't plan
40:17on living
40:17honor God
40:19with your
40:20life
40:20live
40:21for his
40:21glory
40:22and trust
40:24God
40:24he knows
40:26what is
40:26best
40:26and he
40:27gives
40:27what is
40:28best
40:28because
40:28God
40:29is
40:29sovereign
40:30he is
40:30holy
40:31he is
40:31just
40:32and he
40:32is
40:33good
40:33and
40:33everything
40:34he allows
40:34to come
40:35into our
40:35life
40:36is for
40:36his
40:37glory
40:37and our
40:38good
40:38let's
40:39pray
40:39father
40:40we thank
40:41you for
40:41this word
40:42today
40:42and we
40:43are
40:43we're
40:47repentant
40:47because we
40:48understand
40:49that there
40:49are times
40:50we do
40:50not trust
40:51your
40:51sovereignty
40:51we want
40:52to take
40:53matters
40:53into our
40:53own
40:54hands
40:54we don't
40:54believe
40:55that you
40:55possibly
40:55could allow
40:56this to
40:56happen
40:56in our
40:57life
40:57so something
40:58must be
40:58out of
40:58whack
40:59that you're
40:59really not
40:59in sovereign
41:00over all
41:01things
41:01you really
41:02are not
41:02all powerful
41:02you must
41:03not really
41:03know what's
41:04going on
41:04we question
41:05the divine
41:06work
41:06when we
41:07question
41:07your
41:07sovereignty
41:08in our
41:08lives
41:08that really
41:10is where
41:10the true
41:10wealth
41:11is at
41:11father
41:11is the
41:12the submission
41:13to your
41:14sovereignty
41:14to your
41:15authority
41:16in our
41:17lives
41:17to place
41:18ourselves
41:18underneath
41:18you
41:19because you
41:19alone
41:20can give
41:20the deep
41:21soul
41:22rest
41:22our hearts
41:23crave
41:24it is not
41:25found anywhere
41:26under the
41:26sun
41:27it is only
41:27found in
41:28you
41:29it is found
41:30in the
41:30living
41:31savior
41:32jesus christ
41:33raised above
41:34the sun
41:35seated at
41:36your right
41:36hand father
41:37who is
41:37coming back
41:38who promised
41:39to make
41:40all things
41:41new
41:41we trust
41:43you
41:43we love
41:44you
41:44forgive us
41:45when we
41:46fail
41:46we pray
41:47in jesus name
41:48amen
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