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Please enjoy this message delivered by Pastor Mark Hudson.
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00:00Solomon himself was an amazing man.
00:04If you think about Solomon, his mother and father met in an adulterous relationship,
00:11King David and Bathsheba.
00:14Yet he grew up in a household where apparently his dad spent some time with him,
00:18and then when it came time to choose the next heir of the kingdom, God chooses Solomon.
00:24And in that great prayer in the Old Testament, Solomon could have asked for money,
00:30could have asked for power, prestige in the kingdom.
00:36He didn't ask for any of those things.
00:38The one thing he asked for is, God, give me, please, wisdom so that I can rule over your people well.
00:46That's all he asked for was wisdom.
00:48He only wanted wisdom.
00:50And God graced Solomon with wisdom, extraordinary wisdom.
00:55As a matter of fact, the queen of Sheba, which we know now as Ethiopia today,
00:59came over and visited Solomon one time and was amazed at his wisdom.
01:05Solomon was graced, wisdom by God, to a level that no human being has ever received.
01:13Yet as we read through the Old Testament, sometimes Solomon did not exercise that wisdom, did he?
01:18He amassed himself 700 wives and 300 concubines when God said, don't amass yourself, wives, kings.
01:26He also amassed himself a great amount of horses where God said, don't amass horses to yourself.
01:32And then he also amassed a great volume of wealth greater than anyone else in his day.
01:37Again, God asked kings not to do that.
01:39So you kind of say, why should we even listen to Solomon when he's doing all of these goofy things
01:45and things he's not supposed to be doing?
01:48Well, I'll give you one good reason.
01:50Because when God graced him with wisdom, he sat down and penned what we know as Ecclesiastes
01:56under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to tell us what he learned through all of these mistakes.
02:01Here's a man who has the experience that he's talking about.
02:05Here's a man who really knows what's going on.
02:11Now at the end of his life, when he's writing the book of Ecclesiastes,
02:15he mentions multiple times this phrase, vanity of vanity, all is vanity.
02:19What he's saying is that life is temporary.
02:22It's transitory.
02:23It's not permanent under the sun.
02:25The permanence we find is above the sun in the realm of the heavenly where God's throne is.
02:30That's where permanence is at.
02:32But in this life, things come, things go, things change,
02:35and actually they remain the same all along.
02:42We're all a well of Solomon's buildings that he talked about that he built,
02:47but he reminds us they serve no lasting purpose.
02:51We're all of his buildings.
02:52They're just ruins now.
02:53We actually saw one of his ruins at Megiddo where he had his stables of horses
02:57where he wasn't supposed to have.
03:00And his military accomplishments?
03:03In the dust.
03:04His great wealth?
03:05Gone with the wind.
03:06Even the majestic temple he built as a dwelling place for God was destroyed,
03:12smashed to bits, plundered, and hauled away by Israel's enemies, the Babylonians.
03:18In the end, Solomon realizes that all earthly things are vanity.
03:22They're temporary.
03:23They're not completely satisfying.
03:26The only thing that lasts is what a person does for God.
03:31So serve God.
03:33Live for him.
03:34Spend all the energy you have in his service,
03:36and you will be building up great treasures, not on earth, but in heaven,
03:41where they are permanent.
03:42That's what Solomon wants to tell us.
03:44Even though he made some mistakes, out of his experience,
03:47he penned these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to tell us,
03:51I've been there.
03:53I've made that mistake.
03:55I didn't exercise wisdom here.
03:57God graced it to me, but I didn't use it.
04:00Now, let me tell you, I wished I would have.
04:02And he pens the book.
04:03He wants us to know.
04:05He wants us to understand.
04:07He wants us to understand the time to serve God and enjoy life as his gift is now.
04:13Right now.
04:14At death, all service and earthly enjoyment ceases.
04:19That's what he wants to convey to us today.
04:21These two areas, the advantage of life and the understanding of enjoying life.
04:27These two things he wants to explain to us.
04:30I'm not sure that the American culture truly understands the brevity of life,
04:36that life is short.
04:38I mean, we look around in our society,
04:40and everything is done in our society to prolong life as if it would go on and on forever.
04:46In fact, we have some people who have taken, and after they've died,
04:49they've had themselves frozen, hoping one day that a cure will be found.
04:52They can be unfrozen and cured so they can live forever.
04:56I don't think we understand the brevity of life, how short it is.
05:01So Solomon, after chapter 8, he continues with the truth that God is sovereign.
05:05He is in control of all things.
05:06And he picks up that theme as he begins chapter 9.
05:10Look at verses 1 through 6.
05:12I think I made a mistake in the first service.
05:14It's just 1 through 6.
05:15We'll pick up at verse 7.
05:161 through 6.
05:18But all this I lay to heart.
05:20Now, all this could be what he just said in chapter 8,
05:22or it could be all that he said up to this point in the book.
05:28But all this I lay to heart, examining it all,
05:32how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God,
05:37whether it is love or hate, man does not know, both are before him.
05:43It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and to the wicked,
05:49to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean,
05:54to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
05:57As the good one is, so is the sinner.
06:01And he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.
06:05This is an evil in all that is done under the sun,
06:09that the same event happens to all.
06:12Also, the hearts of the children of men are full of evil,
06:15and madness is in their hearts while they live.
06:19And after that, they go to the dead.
06:20They go to Sheol, the place of the dead.
06:22But he who is joined with the living has hope,
06:26for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
06:29For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing,
06:33and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
06:37Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished,
06:41and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
06:47Finality death brings.
06:49There is an advantage to life, for in death it's a final event.
06:55So at the end of chapter 8, Solomon is reflecting on the frustration of
06:59why does it seem that the undeserving is getting the blessings of the deserving,
07:03and the deserving are getting no blessings at all?
07:06And I kind of ask myself, well, really, who is deserving in God's eyes?
07:10If it wasn't for God's grace, we would get nothing from his hand
07:13other than his wrath for being sinners.
07:16But because of his grace, his love is poured out unto us,
07:19demonstrated by the cross of Christ.
07:22So verse 1 then looks back on the problem of divine justice
07:25from a human point of view.
07:27Why does it seem that the wicked prolong their life,
07:30while the righteous, the one who does a good thing, dies early?
07:34Or why does it seem the wicked have great wealth,
07:37and that the one who is righteous has no wealth at all?
07:40So from man's perspective, he's frustrated at what he sees.
07:46He talks about the hand of God.
07:47We have all this from the hand of God.
07:49See, the hand of God symbolizes God's power,
07:53his love, his supervision, and control.
07:57So we often think of the hand of God as God's power.
08:00He has a power about that.
08:02Yes, that's that too, but it's more than that.
08:04The hand, these things that come graciously from the hand of God,
08:07we think of his love, his supervision, his control in our lives.
08:12T.M. Moore wrote,
08:13each one of us, while regard for what we've done in life,
08:17without regard for what we've done in life,
08:18or whom we know, or what place we might occupy in our society,
08:23each one is in the hand of God.
08:25And he decides for each of us just what will be for us throughout our lives.
08:30Solomon says, I get it, but sometimes I just don't understand what I'm seeing.
08:33I get that.
08:34I understand God's sovereignty, but I don't get what I'm seeing around me sometimes.
08:38It doesn't make human sense to me.
08:42Because of the way things turn out for the just and the unjust,
08:45we cannot know by what we see whether God is for them or God is against them.
08:51For sometimes the wicked have great wealth, all the children,
08:55all the possessions that the Old Testament talks about blessings of God,
08:59and the righteous die in their youth, have nothing.
09:04So I can't just look on someone's life that's in prosperity or adversity and claim,
09:09I know that God is for or against that person.
09:12I can't know.
09:12Solomon says, I just, I can't know.
09:16Because the same treatment is given to the just and the unjust.
09:20By looking, we cannot tell.
09:22I remember when I first became a Christian, I thought, ignorantly,
09:27that once one becomes a Christian, everything goes well with you.
09:30It's always roses.
09:32You never have any problems.
09:34Now, we have been in faith long enough.
09:36No, that is not the case.
09:37We understand that.
09:38But that's what I thought.
09:40And honestly, I used to think, well, that person is suffering.
09:45That person has a sickness.
09:46That person has a problem in their life.
09:48I wonder what sin they did.
09:51I wonder what they did wrong.
09:54And that's not, Solomon says, no, you can't tell whether God is for or against a person
09:57by what you see in their life.
09:59You can't tell that.
10:01It's un-a- because the same thing happens to both, the just and the unjust.
10:05So never let us say when someone is in a bad circumstance,
10:08oh, I wonder what they did wrong.
10:09No, no.
10:10Just say God is sovereign.
10:12He is just.
10:13He is good.
10:13He has brought this event into their life to glorify himself and to, for their good.
10:18So the question really is, is whether God's hand is for us or against us.
10:29How can we know?
10:30We can't see by just what's happening in someone's life whether that's the case.
10:34How do we know if God's hand is for us or God's hand is against us?
10:38That's the question.
10:40We cannot tell if God is for someone or against them
10:43by just looking at earthly prosperity and adversity.
10:46We can't tell.
10:47How do we know if God is for us or against us?
10:51In the new covenant, that is the New Testament, the work of Christ on the cross,
10:56we have been told by Paul in a very definitive way
11:00that everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Savior,
11:03who has put their faith and trust in him for salvation,
11:06God is for you.
11:08He is never against you.
11:09So how can I know whether God is for me?
11:13Well, have I placed my faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
11:16We are told that God is for us.
11:18He is never going to be against us in Christ.
11:21In fact, he said it in Romans 8.
11:23What then shall we say to these things?
11:25He lists a bunch of things.
11:27If God is for us, who can be against us?
11:30It's a rhetorical question with a no answer.
11:33There is no one.
11:34In other words, when the almighty creator God redeemed us by the blood of Jesus Christ,
11:39he is for us.
11:40And there's not a person or a thing on this world that could overpower him.
11:45He is for us.
11:47He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all,
11:50how he will not with him graciously give us all things.
11:53Again, a rhetorical question.
11:54He will graciously give us all things.
11:57That's the kind of God he is.
11:59And for us who know Jesus Christ, God is not against us.
12:02His hand is for us.
12:05Well, how do I get to that place?
12:07How do I know that I've trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior alone for salvation,
12:11not upon what I have done, but simply by his grace?
12:14Paul continues on in Romans 10.
12:17Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
12:20and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
12:23you will be saved.
12:25Confess in your mouth that Jesus is Lord.
12:26Jesus is who he said he is.
12:28And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
12:30There's a resurrection.
12:31You will be saved.
12:32For with the heart one believes and is justified,
12:35pure to my faith, apart from works.
12:37And with his mouth one confesses and is saved.
12:40For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.
12:44For there is no distinction between the Jew and Greek.
12:47For the same Lord is Lord of all,
12:49bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
12:52For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
12:56If you want to know if God's hand is for you or against you,
12:59the question is, do you know Christ as Savior?
13:01If you know Christ as Savior, God's hand is for you.
13:04It will never be against you because of the work of his son on the cross.
13:08God is for his people.
13:11He will never abandon.
13:12He will never neglect.
13:13He will never mistreat his people.
13:17Knowing your heart, can you answer this question?
13:21Is God for me?
13:24Is God for me?
13:27Or is his hand against me?
13:31The answer is, do you know Christ as Savior?
13:36Solomon encouraged us to serve God.
13:38Even when we don't have all the answers, we don't know all things.
13:42He still wants us to serve him.
13:46We're not masters of our own faith.
13:48Everyone is subject to God.
13:49He's the one that's sovereign.
13:50He is in control.
13:53And then he uses this phrase, love and hate.
13:55We can't know.
13:56Love or hate, we can't know them.
13:58When he uses these phrases, love and hate refer to divine favor or disfavor.
14:04Say, well, God doesn't hate people.
14:05He loves all people.
14:07Well, the question is, is God's favor upon me or is God's disfavor upon me?
14:12If God's favor is upon me, the statement is, he loves me.
14:16If God's disfavor is upon me, in other words, I'm not a believer in Jesus Christ.
14:21I'm outside of the faith.
14:22His disfavor is upon me.
14:24That means, in the sense that we're talking about here, is the word hate.
14:28Now, it's expressed in Romans 9.
14:31As it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.
14:35So, what was the difference between Jacob and Esau?
14:38Jacob had faith in God, and it was his faith that brought him in favor with God.
14:43Esau, because of his unbelief, was rejected.
14:47So, here we see the difference.
14:49God's favor is upon us when we have faith in Jesus Christ.
14:51His disfavor is upon anyone who has not trusted Christ as their Savior.
14:55Love and hate is the terms he uses here.
14:57Wisdom allows us to make good decisions that avoid making things worse in life,
15:04but it can never promise that all things will go well all the time for us.
15:09It just helps us avoid some really bad mistakes that we could make.
15:14But things could come into our life, again, through the hand of God
15:17or directly from God, for his glory and for our good.
15:20God, death is the evil that Solomon was talking about right here.
15:26This evil that I have seen.
15:27Death is an intruder.
15:29He is not part of the original creation.
15:31Death was not part of the original creation.
15:34God created Adam and Eve in an innocent state, sinless.
15:38Death entered in upon the fall of man when they rebelled against God,
15:42believed Satan's truth claims over God's truth claims.
15:47Solomon wants to say, listen,
15:49madness has the idea of being blind to the real issues of life and death,
15:56spiritually diluted.
15:59That's madness.
16:00There are real issues that we have to deal with,
16:03and I know we don't like to think about it,
16:05and I say the older I get,
16:06because some of you look at me and say you're just a baby.
16:08I get it.
16:08I'm not that old.
16:09I got it.
16:10But the older I get,
16:11I seem to think more about what's going to happen after I die.
16:15If Jesus tarries and I go to the grave,
16:17what's my legacy?
16:19What am I going to leave behind?
16:21Have I been like a pebble dropped in a pond that sends ripples out,
16:25affecting and influencing other things?
16:27I begin asking questions like that.
16:29That's wisdom, Solomon says.
16:31Madness is to ignore that.
16:33Say, it's not that big of a deal.
16:34It'll come someday, but not now.
16:37To be spiritually diluted,
16:39not thinking about the idea of my mortality.
16:42There's a grave epitaph in Ipswich, Massachusetts,
16:46that says,
16:47Children of dust who read with pensive eye
16:50this lettered stone where mortal relics lie.
16:54Think as you sigh,
16:55because they live no more.
16:57Soon you shall drop and be what you deplore.
17:01We don't like to think about that.
17:03It is easier to ignore the reality
17:07that someday we're going to die if Jesus tarries,
17:11because it awakens a sense of our mortality.
17:17But to ignore it is madness, Solomon says.
17:20It's madness.
17:23And then he talks about hope.
17:24He talks about hope.
17:26This is the only time the idea of hope
17:28is sounded in the book of Ecclesiastes.
17:30Use one time.
17:31Remember, hope is not what I wish for.
17:33It's a confident expectation
17:34of what God is going to do.
17:36In other words, based on the promises of God.
17:39The only time it's mentioned here
17:40is one time in the book of Ecclesiastes.
17:43Hope.
17:44And it's put in a very important spot
17:47here in the book of Ecclesiastes.
17:49Bill Blotknight said,
17:51A rabbi wrote about his experience
17:53in a Nazi concentration camp.
17:54One evening in the winter of 1944,
17:57his father, who was also a prisoner there,
18:00took him and some of their friends
18:02to a corner of the barracks.
18:04He told them it was Hanukkah
18:06and began to light a wig placed
18:08in his melted margarine ration.
18:10The son protested this waste of precious food.
18:13His father said,
18:14We have seen that it is possible
18:16to live up to three weeks without food.
18:19We lived almost three days without water once,
18:21but you cannot live properly
18:23for three moments without hope.
18:28If one's hope is based on circumstances,
18:30one must always live in fear.
18:33Circumstances change as quickly as the weather.
18:35But if one's hope is based on the ever-faithful God,
18:38one can smile in the face of the foulest circumstances.
18:42God is bigger than any problem
18:44one can ever face.
18:46He makes this mention
18:50that it's better to be alive,
18:51and some of you that have been with the series
18:53since the beginning have said,
18:54Wait a second.
18:56He talked back in chapter four
18:58about it's better being dead.
18:59Well, that was a different context.
19:01In that context,
19:02it was dealing with people
19:03who were being oppressed or persecuted.
19:06It's better if they were dead
19:07because there's no more oppression
19:08or persecution at this point.
19:10Now it's a different context.
19:11Now it's you're alive,
19:13and it's good that you're alive
19:14because you can learn some valuable lessons
19:16on being alive.
19:18So when it comes to oppression,
19:19the dead are better off,
19:20Ecclesiastes 4.
19:22And I thought the dead who are already dead
19:24more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
19:27But when it comes to life,
19:29the living are better off,
19:30is what he's saying.
19:32So Solomon is talking about
19:33the potential in life to experience joys.
19:37Death cuts a person off
19:38from this opportunity to experience joy.
19:41So the opportunity we have to serve God
19:44and experience joy is now.
19:46Because when death comes,
19:47I can't do it anymore.
19:48It's sealed.
19:49It's done.
19:50It's all over.
19:53In ancient Israel,
19:55actually in a lot of the Middle East today,
19:57dogs are the lowest of all the creatures.
20:00So the phrase,
20:01a living dog is better than a dead lion,
20:04immediately caught the attention of the hearers
20:06because they're thinking dogs
20:07are the worst animals
20:09in all of the animal kingdom.
20:11Lion's the most noble.
20:12But a dead lion is worthless,
20:14Solomon said.
20:15A living dog is far better.
20:18A living dog is better than a dead lion.
20:20Now, strange as it may be,
20:21I actually used that phrase
20:23in a sentence this week.
20:25A living dog is better than a dead lion.
20:27You would think,
20:27oh yeah,
20:27some of the stuff you never ever would say.
20:29Well, I happen to actually use it
20:30because it fit what we were talking about
20:32in the conversation.
20:34It's better to be alive
20:35to experience this life now
20:36because when you die,
20:37all of that is gone.
20:38It's over.
20:41Instead of reckoning
20:42with the reality of death,
20:44people fill their lives
20:45with distractions.
20:46Think about our American society
20:47so that they do not have to think about it.
20:50They don't have to think about death.
20:52Think of all the ways
20:53that people avoid
20:54the topic of death.
20:57They don't like to,
20:57I mean,
20:58we already talked about euphemisms
20:59they passed on.
21:00They went to a better place
21:02instead of they died.
21:04We don't like to use the word death.
21:05We don't like to talk about death.
21:07We try to do everything we can
21:08to avoid death in America.
21:11Solomon says,
21:12listen,
21:12death has something to teach you.
21:15Listen carefully.
21:17For there's only one distinction,
21:19a division between people,
21:20the living and the dead.
21:22Either you're alive or you're dead.
21:23That's both physical and spiritual,
21:24by the way.
21:25You're either physically alive
21:27or physically dead
21:28or you're spiritually alive
21:29or you're spiritually dead.
21:30There's only one distinction,
21:31one division between people,
21:32living and dead.
21:33But the last enemy,
21:36the last enemy
21:37that is to be overcome
21:39in this world
21:40under the sun,
21:41the last enemy is death
21:43and the wise know
21:44how to deal with it.
21:46The wise know how to deal with it.
21:48The wise think about it.
21:50The wise understand
21:51what's going to come after me.
21:53What legacy am I going to leave?
21:55What will people remember of me
21:57since my name will soon be forgotten?
21:59Paul said to the Corinthians,
22:02the last enemy to be destroyed
22:04is death.
22:05And in Christ,
22:07we have this hope
22:09through the resurrection of Jesus
22:11from the dead.
22:12It's a living hope.
22:13It's alive.
22:13It's a confident expectation
22:14that daily I can live with
22:16to strengthen me,
22:17to make it in this life.
22:20Peter says this,
22:21blessed be the God and Father
22:22of our Lord Jesus Christ.
22:24According to his great mercy,
22:25he has caused us to be born again
22:27to a living hope,
22:28that which is alive day by day
22:30through the resurrection
22:32of Jesus Christ from the dead
22:33to an inheritance
22:34that is imperishable,
22:36undefiled, unfading,
22:37kept in heaven for you
22:38who by God's power
22:39are being guarded through faith
22:40for a salvation
22:41ready to be revealed
22:42in the last time.
22:43The last enemy is death.
22:44It will be overcome someday.
22:46And in Christ,
22:47we have the hope
22:48that in him,
22:49we too will live
22:50just as he is alive today.
22:53Then he moves on
22:54to verses 7 through 10
22:56and he's going to pick up
22:57a theme that he's talked
22:58about before,
22:59but he's going to give us
23:00much more details
23:01about this theme
23:02that he's never said before.
23:04So verses 7 through 10,
23:07he's going to tell us,
23:08listen,
23:09to enjoy life is not a sin.
23:12Somehow we think,
23:12oh yeah,
23:13it's kind of like the lady
23:14that said to the candidate
23:17for ministry
23:18after he got ordained,
23:19oh, good for you.
23:21You've forsaken
23:22all the joys of life
23:24to become a minister.
23:25No!
23:26To enjoy life
23:27is not a sin.
23:29And he wants us
23:30to understand that.
23:31And he's going to give us
23:31more details
23:32about enjoying life
23:33right here.
23:34So look at verses 7 through 10.
23:39Go eat your bread with joy
23:41and drink your wine
23:42with a merry heart
23:44for God has already approved
23:45what you do.
23:47Let your garments
23:48be always white.
23:50Let not oil be lacking
23:51on your head.
23:53Enjoy life
23:53with the wife
23:54whom you love
23:55all the days
23:56of your vain life.
23:58That means short,
23:59temporary brevity of life
24:01that he has given you
24:02under the sun
24:03because that is
24:04your portion in life
24:06and in your toil
24:07at which you toil
24:08under the sun.
24:09Whatever your hand
24:11finds to do,
24:12do it with your might
24:13for there is no work
24:14or thought
24:15or knowledge
24:16or wisdom
24:16in Sheol
24:17to which you are going.
24:18Again,
24:19once you die,
24:20all service,
24:20all of these actions
24:22are over with.
24:23It's done
24:24when you die.
24:26So once again,
24:27Solomon recommends
24:28how we should live
24:29in light
24:30of bad circumstances
24:31in life.
24:33God is the source
24:34of the opportunities
24:35to enjoy life.
24:36They're gifts of God.
24:37God gives us
24:37these great gifts
24:38to enjoy.
24:39They come from his hand.
24:41He is the source
24:41to enjoy life
24:42and Solomon wants us
24:43to embrace
24:44these opportunities
24:45with enthusiasm
24:46to live life
24:48vibrantly.
24:51Him and Drummond wrote,
24:52I shall pass
24:53through this world
24:53but once.
24:55Any good thing,
24:55therefore,
24:56that I can do
24:56or any kindness
24:57that I can show
24:58to any human being,
25:00let me do it now.
25:02Now.
25:04Let me not defer
25:05or neglect it
25:06for I shall not
25:07pass this way again.
25:09So Solomon opens up
25:10his largest section
25:12on the idea
25:12of enjoying life
25:14in the whole book
25:14of Ecclesiastes
25:15is right here.
25:17He picks up
25:17this thought again.
25:19He's spoken about it
25:20before.
25:20We understand that.
25:21But now he adds
25:22details about
25:23what it means
25:24to enjoy life.
25:25What does that look like
25:26to enjoy life?
25:27And three areas
25:28that Solomon's talking
25:29about to enjoy life.
25:30The first one is
25:31feasting.
25:32In other words,
25:33to be in community
25:34with people,
25:35to share life
25:36together with people.
25:37You think of a feast
25:38inviting all your friends
25:38over in your community
25:40and fellowship with people.
25:41That's the idea
25:42of the feasting part.
25:43Then he talks about
25:44your marital relations
25:45and he talks about
25:45your occupation.
25:47These three areas
25:48are where we get joy
25:49in life
25:50is what he's saying.
25:51These three areas.
25:52The marital relations,
25:54Proverbs 18,
25:55Solomon said this to us,
25:56he who finds a wife
25:57finds a good thing
25:58and obtains favor
25:59from the Lord.
26:00So he's going to talk about,
26:02he's going to talk about
26:03our communal feasting,
26:05our fellowship,
26:06our being in community,
26:08our marital relations,
26:09and our occupation.
26:09These three things
26:10he wants to talk about.
26:11Notice in the text
26:13where you can't really see it,
26:14but they're imperatives.
26:16In other words,
26:16he's not making a suggestion.
26:18He's telling us
26:19what we need to do.
26:20He's giving us
26:20his experience.
26:21I've learned these things.
26:23This is what you need to know.
26:24You need to actually
26:24do these things.
26:26So they're imperatives.
26:30Even though our life
26:31is in God's hands,
26:33we are not passive.
26:35We understand the sovereignty
26:37of God,
26:37but he has asked us
26:38to do things.
26:40That's what an imperative is.
26:41It's a command.
26:42He's asked us
26:43to actually do things.
26:44So yes,
26:45we are in his control
26:46and in his hand,
26:47but we're not passive.
26:49God wants us
26:50to take initiative
26:50and act today.
26:52It is a daily decision.
26:55The foolish ignore it
26:56to their harm
26:57to ignore this admonition.
27:01They ignore it
27:01to their harm.
27:03There is a song
27:04that fully describes
27:06the failure
27:06of what Solomon
27:08is talking about today.
27:10It describes it so well
27:11that I'm going to
27:12read you the song
27:13and I want you to hear it.
27:16Harry Chapin wrote this song
27:17in 1974.
27:20Some of you may know it.
27:21Some of you may not know it.
27:22But this song
27:23adequately
27:24or to the point
27:25describes what Solomon
27:26is not talking about.
27:30The song is called
27:31Cats in the Cradle.
27:34It goes like this.
27:36My child arrived
27:37just the other day.
27:38He came to the world
27:40in the usual way.
27:41But there were planes
27:42to catch
27:43and bills to pay.
27:44He learned to walk
27:45while I was away.
27:47And he was talking
27:48before I knew it.
27:49And as he grew,
27:51he'd say,
27:51I'm going to be like you,
27:53Dad.
27:54You know I'm going
27:54to be like you.
27:56And the cats in the cradle
27:57and the silver spoon,
27:59little boy blue
28:00and the man on the moon.
28:01When you coming home,
28:02Dad,
28:02I don't know when,
28:03but we'll get together then.
28:05You know,
28:06we'll have a good time then.
28:08My son turned 10
28:10just the other day.
28:11He said,
28:11thanks for the ball, Dad.
28:15Come on,
28:16let's play.
28:18Can you teach me
28:19to throw?
28:19I said,
28:20not today.
28:21I got a lot to do.
28:22He said,
28:23that's okay.
28:24And he walked away,
28:26but his smile
28:27never dimmed.
28:28It said,
28:28I'm going to be like him.
28:30Yeah,
28:30you know I'm going
28:31to be like him.
28:33Well,
28:33he came from college
28:34just the other day.
28:35So much like a man,
28:36I just had to say,
28:38son,
28:38I'm proud of you.
28:39Can you sit for a while?
28:41He shook his head
28:42and said with a smile,
28:43what I really like,
28:44Dad,
28:44is to borrow the car keys.
28:46See you later.
28:47Can I have them,
28:48please?
28:50I've long since retired
28:51and my son's moved away.
28:55I called him up
28:56just the other day.
28:58I said,
28:58I'd like to see you
28:59if you don't mind.
29:00He said,
29:00I'd love to,
29:01Dad,
29:02if I could find the time.
29:04You see,
29:04my new job's a hassle
29:05and the kids have a flu,
29:07but it's sure nice
29:08talking to you,
29:08Dad.
29:09It's been sure nice
29:10talking to you.
29:11And as I hung up the phone,
29:13it occurred to me
29:14he'd grown up
29:15just like me.
29:17My boy
29:17was just like me.
29:20And it's the cats
29:21in the cradle
29:21and the silver spoon.
29:23Little boy blue
29:24and the man in the moon.
29:25When you coming home,
29:26son,
29:26I don't know when,
29:28but we'll get together
29:29then, Dad.
29:30We're going to have
29:30a good time then.
29:33Dad is sad.
29:36That's exactly
29:36what Solomon
29:37does not want us to do.
29:39It's not then.
29:40It's now.
29:41It's not tomorrow.
29:42It's now.
29:43He wants us
29:44to live life now.
29:46What a sad song.
29:50He moves on
29:52from this idea
29:53of living life now.
29:55He continues on
29:55using a different metaphor
29:57of bread and wine.
29:59Bread and wine
30:00are staple food
30:01and they're also
30:02a symbol of life's joys.
30:06In the Psalms,
30:07we read this.
30:08You cause the grass
30:08to grow for the livestock
30:09and plants for men
30:11to cultivate
30:11that he may bring forth
30:13food from the earth
30:14and wine to gladden
30:15the heart of man,
30:16oil to make his face shine
30:18and bread to strengthen
30:19man's heart.
30:19So when he uses bread
30:21and wine,
30:21he uses it in the sense
30:22of life's joys.
30:25Life's joys.
30:26And then he moves on
30:27to festive clothing.
30:28Put on your white clothing,
30:29festival clothing.
30:31Again,
30:31anointing with oil,
30:32showing the idea
30:33of life's joys
30:34that he's talking about here.
30:36Psalm 23
30:37talks about this festivity.
30:39You prepare a table
30:40before me
30:40in the presence
30:41of my enemies.
30:42You anoint my head
30:43with oil.
30:43My cup overflows.
30:45My portion is so great.
30:47You've anointed
30:47the idea
30:48of joy in life.
30:50Enjoying life.
30:52The divine gifts
30:53of eating,
30:54drinking,
30:54and joy,
30:55they're not earned.
30:56They come from
30:57the gracious hand of God.
30:59That's why it says
30:59God has already approved.
31:02It doesn't mean
31:02God approves
31:03our sinful action.
31:03What he means is
31:04he already knows
31:05the great gifts
31:05he's going to give
31:06each one of us.
31:07He's approved of them.
31:09So take the gifts
31:10that he's given
31:10and live with those gifts
31:12is what he's trying
31:12to tell us.
31:13He's already approved
31:14of those gifts
31:14in your life.
31:16Genesis 27 says,
31:19may God give you
31:20the dew of heaven
31:21and of the fullness
31:21of the earth
31:22and plenty of grain
31:23and wine.
31:24And then he moves
31:25on to a new way
31:26to enjoy life.
31:27He says,
31:27enjoy life with a wife
31:29or in this case,
31:30husband if you're married
31:31to not another woman
31:33or a man.
31:33Enjoy life with the wife
31:34of your youth,
31:35the one whom you love,
31:36not with somebody else.
31:39Proverbs 5,
31:39he says this,
31:40let your fountain
31:41be blessed
31:42and rejoice
31:43in the wife
31:43of your youth,
31:44a lovely dear,
31:45a graceful doe.
31:47Let her breasts
31:48fill you at all times
31:49with delight.
31:50Be intoxicated
31:51always in her love.
31:53Why should you
31:54be intoxicated,
31:55my son,
31:56with a forbidden woman
31:57and embrace
31:57the bosom
31:58of an adulteress?
31:59No,
31:59live with your spouse
32:00in joy.
32:02Love them
32:03from the bottom
32:03of your heart.
32:05See,
32:06the joys of life
32:06are to be spared
32:07with our spouses
32:08or shared
32:09with our spouses.
32:09That's what it's all about.
32:11Live with the wife
32:12of your youth,
32:12the wife that you love.
32:14That's part
32:14of enjoying life.
32:17An anonymous author wrote,
32:18several years ago,
32:19a West German magazine
32:20released a study
32:21by Dr. Arthur Sazbo,
32:24which he conducted
32:24for a life insurance company.
32:26This study found
32:27that husbands
32:28who kiss their wives
32:29every morning
32:30live an average
32:31of five years longer
32:32than husbands
32:33who do not.
32:35Do I have your attention,
32:36men?
32:36Okay.
32:38Here's what else
32:39they found out.
32:39I thought
32:42you might like
32:42to know that.
32:43Furthermore,
32:43they are involved
32:44in fewer auto accidents,
32:46are ill 50% less time,
32:48and earn 20% to 30%
32:50more money.
32:51The study did not indicate
32:52what kissing did
32:53for their wives.
32:53Hopefully,
32:54it was something good
32:54as well
32:55and made their day good.
32:58But we want each of you
32:59around for a long time,
33:01men.
33:02So,
33:03may I suggest
33:04as a pastor,
33:05kiss your wives
33:06in the morning
33:06when you go off
33:07to work
33:07or when you come home.
33:10Enjoy the wife
33:11or the husband
33:12whom you love.
33:14See,
33:15the marriage relationship
33:15that has been given
33:16by God
33:17is for our enjoyment.
33:18It is to share life together.
33:22But people experience
33:23it far too often
33:24more like a war
33:25with battlefield scars
33:27that go along with it.
33:30Another gravestone
33:31in England said this,
33:32the children of Israel
33:33wanted bread
33:34and the Lord
33:35sent them manna.
33:36old clerk Wallace
33:37wanted a wife
33:38and the devil
33:38sent him anna.
33:41That's what a marriage
33:43is like sometimes
33:44it seems like.
33:45It's meant to be there
33:46for mutual joy
33:47but often it's a battlefield.
33:49Solomon says,
33:49don't make your life,
33:50don't make your marriage life
33:51a battlefield,
33:52make it a joy.
33:55So,
33:56he talks about
33:56the temporariness of life.
33:58You know,
33:58if you've been again
33:59for our series
34:00since the beginning,
34:01I've asked myself
34:02and I asked when I was
34:03studying this,
34:03I'm going,
34:03Solomon,
34:04are people going to get tired
34:05of me talking about
34:06enjoying a good life?
34:07It seems like we're
34:07talking about this
34:08all the time
34:09and I assured Dennis,
34:11I said,
34:11Dennis,
34:11we're just going to
34:12preach the text.
34:12If it's in the text,
34:13we're going to talk about it
34:14but maybe you've asked
34:15this question too.
34:16Why does he keep repeating
34:18this theme to us?
34:19Why does he keep telling us
34:21over and over and over again
34:23in the book of Ecclesiastes
34:24that we are to enjoy life?
34:26Why does he keep saying it?
34:28Well,
34:29my suggestion is this,
34:31because we're really
34:31not good at it.
34:33We have to be reminded.
34:36We get distracted.
34:37We get selfish.
34:39Everything's about me.
34:40And it's not about
34:41enjoying life.
34:44People tend to live
34:45their lives
34:46for all the wrong reasons.
34:48We need to be reminded
34:49what is ultimately important,
34:51that is glorifying God,
34:52enjoying his gifts
34:53that he graciously gave to us.
34:56So in order to enjoy life
34:58and develop a healthy lifestyle,
34:59we must ponder death
35:00or in other words,
35:02life's brevity.
35:03We must ponder that.
35:04We must think about that.
35:06Because I could only live
35:08and enjoy life now.
35:09When I die,
35:10yes,
35:10I'll get to go
35:11into the presence of God
35:11because of Jesus' work
35:13on the cross.
35:13That's true.
35:14But everything I experience now
35:16with you all
35:17and in this life
35:18is over with.
35:19I only have the now.
35:24R. Scott Culliser
35:26in Finding a Faith
35:27that Makes Sense wrote,
35:27I recently saw a news report
35:30about an Army veteran
35:31named John Crabtree
35:32who had been receiving benefits
35:34from the government.
35:35Evidently,
35:36he had been wounded in Vietnam
35:37and was now
35:38on permanent disability.
35:40One day,
35:40out of the blue,
35:41he received an official notification
35:42from the government
35:43of his own death.
35:46Needless to say,
35:47he was quite shocked.
35:48He's still very much alive.
35:50So Mr. Crabtree
35:51wrote the government a letter
35:52stating that he was indeed
35:53very much alive
35:54and would like to continue
35:55receiving his benefits.
35:56The letter did no good.
35:58He then tried calling
35:59the government.
36:00You ever tried calling
36:00the government?
36:01Calling the IRS?
36:02You'll wait four hours online
36:03just to get,
36:04yeah,
36:04that did no good either.
36:06Didn't any good.
36:08Finally,
36:09at his last resort,
36:10the veteran contacted
36:10a local television station
36:12which ran a human interest story
36:13about his situation.
36:15During the interview,
36:16the reporter asked him,
36:17how do you feel
36:18about this whole ordeal?
36:19The veteran chuckled
36:20and said,
36:21well,
36:21I feel a little frustrated by it.
36:23After all,
36:24have you ever tried
36:25to prove that you're alive?
36:27And then R. Scott Collinger
36:29made this comment.
36:30That's a pretty good question
36:32for us all.
36:33Could you prove
36:34that you're alive?
36:36Really?
36:37Genuinely?
36:38Deep down alive?
36:40When was the last time
36:41you had an alive moment?
36:43Not the last time
36:43you took a breath
36:44or let your heart
36:45beat inside your chest,
36:46but the last time
36:47you felt yourself
36:47alive to your living,
36:49alive to your loving,
36:50deeply present
36:51with the gift
36:52of life itself?
36:53It's a good question.
36:55Can we say
36:55we're truly alive?
36:57Solomon wants to say,
36:57this is what it means
36:58to be truly alive.
37:00This is good.
37:03Solomon wants us
37:04to be wholeheartedly
37:05devoted to our occupation,
37:06to our job.
37:07That's the third point.
37:08He said this,
37:09one good deed,
37:10Charles Spurgeon said this,
37:12one good deed
37:12is worth
37:13a thousand brilliant theories.
37:15Let us not wait
37:15for large opportunities
37:17or for a different
37:17kind of work,
37:18but just do the things
37:20we find to do
37:21day by day.
37:22We have no other time
37:23in which to live.
37:24The past is gone.
37:25The future has not arrived.
37:27We shall neither have
37:27any time but the present.
37:29Then do not wait
37:30until your experience
37:31has ripened into maturity
37:33before you attempt
37:33to serve God.
37:35Endeavor now
37:35to bring forth fruit.
37:37Serve God now,
37:37but be careful
37:38as to the way
37:39to which you perform
37:40what you will find
37:41to do with all your might.
37:42Do it promptly.
37:43Do not fritter away
37:44your life
37:45in thinking of what
37:45you intend to do
37:46tomorrow
37:47as if that could recompense
37:49for the Christ,
37:50a little slurred labor.
37:51done in a matter
37:52of course now
37:53and again,
37:54but when you do serve him,
37:57do it with your heart,
37:59soul,
37:59and strength.
38:01Our opportunity
38:02to serve God is now.
38:03When I die,
38:03that opportunity is gone.
38:06See,
38:07God desires
38:08his good gifts
38:09to be received
38:10with reverence
38:11and thanksgiving.
38:13He wants us
38:14to be grateful.
38:14Ann Wells
38:16in Something to Think About
38:18wrote this.
38:20She said this,
38:21My brother-in-law
38:22opened the bottom drawer
38:23of my sister's bureau
38:25and lifted out
38:26a tissue-wrapped package.
38:28This, he said,
38:29is not a slip.
38:30This is lingerie.
38:32He discarded the tissue
38:33and handed me the slip.
38:35It was exquisite,
38:36silk,
38:37handmade and trimmed
38:37with a cobweb of lace.
38:39The price tag
38:40with an astronomical figure
38:42was on it
38:43still attached.
38:44Jan bought this
38:46for the first time
38:47we went to New York
38:48at least eight
38:48or nine years ago.
38:50She never wore it.
38:51She was saving it
38:52for a special occasion.
38:54Well,
38:55I guess this is the occasion.
38:57He took the slip from me
38:58and put it on the bed
38:59with the other clothes
39:00we were taking
39:01to the mortician.
39:03His hands lingered
39:04on the soft material
39:05for a moment.
39:06Then he slammed
39:07the drawer shut
39:08and turned to me,
39:09Don't ever save anything
39:11for a special occasion.
39:12Every day you're alive,
39:14is a special occasion.
39:16I'm still thinking
39:17about his words
39:17and they've changed my life.
39:19I'm reading more
39:20and dusting less.
39:21I'm sitting on the deck
39:23and admiring the view
39:24without fussing
39:24about the weeds
39:25in the garden.
39:26I'm spending more time
39:27with my family
39:28and friends
39:29and less time
39:29in committee meetings.
39:31Whenever possible,
39:32life should be a pattern
39:33of experience
39:33to savor,
39:34not endure.
39:36I'm trying to recognize
39:37these moments now
39:38and cherish them.
39:39I'm not saving anything.
39:41We use our good china
39:43and crystal
39:43for every special event,
39:45such as losing
39:46a pound of weight,
39:48getting the sink unstopped,
39:49and the first camellia blossom.
39:52Someday,
39:53and one of these days,
39:54are losing the grip
39:55to my vocabulary.
39:57If it's worth seeing
39:58or hearing or doing,
39:59I want to see
40:00and hear
40:00and do it now.
40:02I'm not sure
40:02what my sister
40:03would have done
40:04had she known
40:04that she wouldn't be here
40:06for tomorrow.
40:07We all take for granted.
40:08I think she would have
40:09called family members
40:10and a few close friends.
40:12She might have called
40:13a few former friends
40:14to apologize
40:14and mend fences
40:15for past squabbles.
40:17I'd like to think
40:17she would have gone
40:18for a Chinese dinner,
40:19her favorite food.
40:20I'm guessing.
40:21I'll never know.
40:23It's those little things
40:24left undone
40:24that make me angry
40:26if I knew
40:26that my hours were limited.
40:28Angry because I put off
40:29seeing good friends
40:30who I was going
40:31to get in touch with
40:32someday.
40:34Angry because I hadn't
40:35written certain letters
40:36that I intended to write.
40:38One of these days.
40:40Angry and sorry
40:41that I didn't tell
40:41my husband and daughter
40:42often enough
40:43how much I truly love them.
40:45I'm trying very hard
40:47not to put off,
40:48hold back,
40:48or save anything
40:49that would add laughter
40:50and luster to our lives.
40:52And every morning
40:54when I open my eyes,
40:55I tell myself
40:56that it is special.
40:58Every day,
40:59every moment,
41:00every breath
41:01truly is a gift from God.
41:05Everything you and I
41:07want to do for God
41:08and His kingdom
41:08and for fellow human beings
41:09ceases when we die.
41:12Our work is complete.
41:14Will we be satisfied
41:16with what we've accomplished
41:17for the kingdom of God
41:18during our lifetime
41:20when it's all said and done?
41:23If not,
41:24we can change course today.
41:25And that's why Solomon wrote this.
41:27If we're not
41:28living and enjoying life,
41:31if we're putting off
41:32for tomorrow,
41:33the joys intended for today
41:35as from the gracious gift
41:36hand of God,
41:38it's time to change course.
41:41And begin living
41:42for the glory of God
41:43for His kingdom
41:44and for fellow human beings
41:45around us.
41:46Let's pray.
41:46Father,
41:48we are encouraged once more
41:50through the wisdom
41:51of the man
41:52you graced wisdom to.
41:54You gave it to him.
41:56He didn't always exercise it.
41:58Often,
41:59he was very human
42:00in his actions.
42:02But here,
42:03in this word
42:03that you inspired
42:04for us,
42:05your wisdom
42:06is displayed
42:06once again
42:07in his life.
42:09He shows us
42:10what is good.
42:11He shows us
42:12what is the right
42:12course of action
42:13for our lives.
42:14He shows us
42:15those things
42:15that should be avoided.
42:17So I thank you,
42:18Father,
42:18for this work,
42:19for my life
42:20and for our lives
42:21here present today.
42:22May you use it
42:24to change
42:25the way we view life.
42:27I ask this
42:28in Jesus' name.
42:29Amen.
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