WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.839 If there's one thing that the preacher of Ecclesiastes has tried to convince us of is that things are not always as they seem in the world in which we live. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:25.420 If you were here last week, last Tuesday, the preacher showed us the topsy-turvy experience where affluence and plenty do not always necessarily automatically mean blessing and enjoyment. 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:33.120 Do you remember back in chapter 6 there was the man who had everything and yet he couldn't enjoy anything. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:39.479 But in our passage today in Ecclesiastes 7, the preacher goes one step further. 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:42.359 He shows us the flip side of that. 00:00:43.199 --> 00:00:54.140 Affluence is not necessarily a good thing in itself, but adversity is not necessarily a bad thing in itself. 00:00:54.140 --> 00:01:08.319 He takes a unique view on adversity, on suffering, on pain, because he says in one sense adversity is better. 00:01:09.659 --> 00:01:13.780 Did you see that word? It came up over and over again in the passage, didn't it? 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:15.939 The word better, it's repeated. 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:20.159 And the passage alarms us here, doesn't it? 00:01:20.259 --> 00:01:32.579 The preacher alarms us, he says sadness, mourning, adversity, even the day of death is better than the alternative. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.140 Seems as though he's being quite morbid here, doesn't it? 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:43.659 He takes us around different places, but he seems like a pretty miserable tour guide. 00:01:43.659 --> 00:01:56.439 So he takes us to a crematorium and he says to us, it's better to be here in the place of death than in the birthing suite. 00:01:57.379 --> 00:02:07.879 He takes us to the house of mourning, to the house of sadness, to a place where there's been loss, where there's been a death, where there's grief. 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:19.500 And he says to us in that place, it's better that we're here now, crying our eyes out, than if we were in the comedy lounge, laughing our heads off. 00:02:20.859 --> 00:02:30.359 And what he wants to show us is that there is a unique opportunity to be had in those places, in those dark moments. 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:37.720 There is something valuable to be had there, in those places that you can't replace. 00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:42.380 Bitter is sometimes better. 00:02:43.720 --> 00:02:52.920 For a person who wants to live wisely, to see things rightly, adversity brings a great opportunity. 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:55.600 How can he say that? 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.180 Well, the clue is in verse 2, if you look there. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:05.680 It's better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:11.740 For this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 00:03:13.359 --> 00:03:15.719 Do you see what his concern there is? 00:03:16.459 --> 00:03:21.659 His concern isn't what's going on on your face, on the surface of your life. 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:31.639 His concern is what is going on in your heart, and what you are thinking of, what you are like there, deep within. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:38.439 He wants us to refuse to live life just on a superficial plane. 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:48.500 And the dark moments of adversity, he says, are better, because they are a better training ground for your heart. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:59.340 I want to take you through his thinking this afternoon, to show you three of these comparisons, three of these better situations that he makes. 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:06.080 And the first one is, he says, the day of death is better than the day of birth. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.240 It's what he says there in verse 1, isn't it? 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.599 The day of death is better than the day of birth. 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:19.920 What's the difference between a birthday and a death day? 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:25.100 They're worlds apart in so many different ways, aren't they, those two days. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:30.980 But he is thinking specifically about their ability to train our hearts. 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.700 So he says, come with me to the birthing suite. 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:38.340 Come with me to the christening. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:40.040 Come with me to the baby shower. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.860 What is it like on that day, on a birthday? 00:04:44.200 --> 00:04:46.139 Well, it's filled with optimism, isn't it? 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:52.060 It's filled with potential, with that feeling of new life. 00:04:53.339 --> 00:04:58.180 Imagining what that new life will become, the things that that person will do and achieve. 00:04:58.579 --> 00:04:59.860 The world is their oyster. 00:05:01.099 --> 00:05:04.599 At the day of birth, hopes run wild, don't they? 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:09.360 It's not a day to dwell on human brevity. 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.560 It's not a day to dwell on limitation. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.660 It's a day to say to someone as they lie in your arms, 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.259 you've got a whole life ahead of you. 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:20.459 Grab it. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.680 But by contrast, come to the crematorium. 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:28.800 And it's a very, very different experience, isn't it? 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:32.279 He's not trying to get us to be morbid. 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.819 He just wants us to think more deeply. 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:41.639 Because the day of death brings a unique opportunity that the day of birth cannot bring. 00:05:42.899 --> 00:05:44.719 It brings a certain clarity. 00:05:45.719 --> 00:05:51.939 Where the cold facts of our destiny and our condition are laid before us. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:56.819 The day of death is better than the day of birth. 00:05:56.899 --> 00:05:59.439 Not because death in itself is better. 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:00.539 Of course it isn't. 00:06:00.540 --> 00:06:08.080 But because the day of death is a better teacher of our hearts than the day of birth. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:15.980 I wonder whether more people have become Christians at funerals than at christenings. 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:25.040 Because the day of death is a better preacher of the things that we need to hear and consider in life. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:29.860 Of the reality of who we are in relationship to God. 00:06:29.960 --> 00:06:31.420 That we are not God. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:33.520 That we are not immortal. 00:06:34.540 --> 00:06:37.879 And that we desperately need his grace and his forgiveness. 00:06:38.580 --> 00:06:41.840 We need the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:48.479 The last place if we had a choice would be at the graveside, wouldn't it? 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:49.279 We'd want to be. 00:06:50.159 --> 00:06:51.519 Or even to think about it. 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:52.619 To ponder death. 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:55.719 We'd say the day of birth is better. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:01.139 We don't even want to have death laid on our hearts for too long, do we? 00:07:01.739 --> 00:07:03.699 We don't want to think about our brevity. 00:07:03.919 --> 00:07:05.819 We don't want to think about any of these things. 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:10.300 The 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal. 00:07:11.219 --> 00:07:15.000 He writes, despite his afflictions, man wants to be happy. 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.480 But how shall he go about it? 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:21.819 The best thing, he said, would be to make himself immortal. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:23.860 Get rid of death. 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:25.360 That will be the best thing. 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:33.300 But as he cannot do that, he has decided to stop thinking about it. 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:36.759 Just don't think about it. 00:07:37.900 --> 00:07:39.800 Avoid funerals where you can. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:41.980 The day of death. 00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:43.139 Just blank it out. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:44.319 Put it out of your mind. 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:49.280 But the preacher is saying here, if you do that for your whole life, 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:52.360 you are missing out on some real clarity. 00:07:53.540 --> 00:07:58.220 You're missing out on a lucidity to bring you to your senses. 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:03.960 Because coffins are better sermon illustrations than cots. 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:08.680 Funerals are really sobering moments, aren't they? 00:08:08.760 --> 00:08:09.940 And we all know that. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:14.080 People are stopped in their tracks by the day of death. 00:08:14.180 --> 00:08:20.600 And they are put in a place where they are made to consider very, very important things carefully. 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:30.500 And so for the wise person he is saying here, in a sense the day of death is a godsend. 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:35.820 Because it focuses the heart on what really matters. 00:08:36.899 --> 00:08:40.440 It keeps us from drowning ourselves in triviality. 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:49.660 The day of death may even prove to bring you to new life in God. 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:57.460 And if that happens, bitter would have definitely been better for you. 00:08:58.160 --> 00:09:00.460 Even though it felt awful at the time. 00:09:00.460 --> 00:09:04.200 Let me show you another comparison he makes. 00:09:04.660 --> 00:09:06.780 The day of death better than the day of birth. 00:09:06.900 --> 00:09:10.220 Secondly, he says sorrow is better than laughter. 00:09:10.680 --> 00:09:11.440 Verse 3. 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:16.240 For by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 00:09:16.400 --> 00:09:18.420 What on earth is he talking about there? 00:09:19.379 --> 00:09:21.280 Well, do you see again his priority. 00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:25.019 His concern isn't what's going on on the outside. 00:09:26.160 --> 00:09:28.960 His concern isn't whether you've got a smile on your face. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.700 But what is going on underneath? 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:36.300 Smiling all the time doesn't necessarily mean anything, does it? 00:09:36.420 --> 00:09:39.340 You can be all smiles but underneath be utterly hopeless. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.300 And totally unhappy. 00:09:42.660 --> 00:09:45.240 His concern again is what goes on in your heart. 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:47.019 And how you are in your heart. 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:50.540 And again, it seems upside down. 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:53.580 Sorrow better than laughter. 00:09:55.040 --> 00:09:58.360 And we think, why so serious man? 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:00.420 Lighten up. 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:04.759 We're often led to believe the myth, aren't we? 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:11.379 That gladness of heart comes when we live an unexamined life. 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.240 Where we live a frivolous life. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.300 People say be free, be easy. 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:19.540 Don't take things too seriously. 00:10:19.540 --> 00:10:24.440 If you want relief in life, just get some comic relief. 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:26.000 Just smile. 00:10:26.400 --> 00:10:27.820 And everything will be alright. 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:30.760 But like he says in verse 6, 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:36.420 The laughter of fools can be like crackling thorns under a cooking pot. 00:10:36.419 --> 00:10:42.839 A few crackles, cackles and pops and snaps and they disappear. 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:44.779 They're just frivolous. 00:10:46.379 --> 00:10:49.679 Ibsen said, I'm always having fun but I'm never happy. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:11:01.479 The world says it's better to be in your house with the TV on and Tommy Cooper or Michael McIntyre telling you a few jokes than be in the house of mourning. 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:11.420 But the preacher is saying, don't miss the opportunity that comes in sadness to listen and to grow. 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:23.279 People spend their whole lives laughing and singing but missing out on this strange gladness that he speaks about here that comes in moments of pain. 00:11:24.839 --> 00:11:28.519 Tears can sometimes bring deep, deep gladness. 00:11:30.659 --> 00:11:39.299 Gerald Sitzer has written a book where he recounts the moment when a drunk driver struck his car about 20 years ago. 00:11:39.299 --> 00:11:43.299 And in that moment he lost three generations of his family. 00:11:44.439 --> 00:11:48.620 He lost his wife, his mother and his four year old daughter. 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:55.159 He writes the book entitled A Grace Disguised and he's a Christian man. 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:55.919 He's a believer. 00:11:57.179 --> 00:12:04.819 He wrote about the agonies he and his remaining three children had trying to piece their lives together in the years after the accident. 00:12:05.939 --> 00:12:08.979 He says, I was dizzy and nauseous. 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:12.979 With the vertigo of grief that overwhelmed me. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:19.099 About eight years after the first publication of his book he republished. 00:12:19.099 --> 00:12:22.740 And he changed his preface at the beginning of the book. 00:12:23.439 --> 00:12:24.620 Where he writes, 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:41.120 He described the bitterness turning out to be redemptive for him and his children and many others around him. 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:41.940 And he says this, 00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:57.100 Gerald Sitzer, he gets Ecclesiastes 7 doesn't he? 00:12:57.100 --> 00:13:05.180 God had provided an unexpected gladness in his dark sadness there. 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:10.360 And he realised that sometimes sorrow is better than laughter. 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:19.740 The preacher says it's possible to look at a sad face in the mirror and yet there be a deep gladness present in the heart. 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:22.419 He's not being morbid. 00:13:23.419 --> 00:13:28.299 He's saying that sadness can be a better trainer of the heart. 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:32.139 Because in the house of mourning comes clarity. 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.279 There comes those epiphany moments. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.339 Moments of insight into God's love. 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.039 Moments of true rest in him. 00:13:42.019 --> 00:13:45.819 Learning what it means to be his child in a very, very profound way. 00:13:46.979 --> 00:13:48.439 Learning reliance on him. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:49.519 In the pain. 00:13:50.359 --> 00:13:52.099 Experiencing his sufficiency. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:53.740 And his grace. 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:56.720 And many of us know that, don't we? 00:13:56.820 --> 00:13:59.500 Sometimes God speaks to us in suffering. 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:05.480 And he does that that he might prepare for us a greater and deeper joy. 00:14:06.419 --> 00:14:07.539 And a deeper gladness. 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:09.320 A gladness in the heart. 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:11.440 Not just on the face. 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:20.419 The preacher's whole thing is getting us to see why adversity isn't always something to run from. 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.320 It isn't always something to be embarrassed about. 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:29.500 The wise person, the godly person, need not fear adversity. 00:14:30.659 --> 00:14:32.460 The Christian need not fear adversity. 00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:36.419 Bitter in God's plan can be better. 00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:39.960 It is going to be less comfortable, isn't it? 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:40.700 Sure it is. 00:14:41.060 --> 00:14:42.279 When we face suffering. 00:14:43.379 --> 00:14:44.799 That's his point in verse 5. 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:49.320 It's better to hear a rebuke from a wise person than the song of fools. 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:53.280 Getting wise criticism is not nice, is it? 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:54.740 It's just not a comfortable thing. 00:14:55.160 --> 00:14:55.960 I hate that. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:57.540 Someone pointing out a fault. 00:14:57.700 --> 00:15:00.760 I'd rather be showered with compliments constantly. 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:02.780 It'd be so much more comfortable, wouldn't it? 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:06.120 But that is better than the song of fools. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.279 It's better than easy listening compliments all of the time. 00:15:10.579 --> 00:15:15.659 And the point he's making is that the harder the thing is, the less comfortable the thing is, 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:18.819 the stronger and greater the adversity in life. 00:15:18.939 --> 00:15:21.079 Often that brings the greater results. 00:15:21.819 --> 00:15:23.919 It brings the more lasting results. 00:15:25.439 --> 00:15:27.120 Adversity brings real change. 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:28.579 It brings real focus. 00:15:29.319 --> 00:15:32.679 It brings real life in the long run in Christ. 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:35.899 First, the day of death better than the day of birth. 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:37.139 Sorrow better than laughter. 00:15:37.859 --> 00:15:42.039 And thirdly and lastly, he says the end is better than the beginning. 00:15:42.959 --> 00:15:44.620 The end is better than the beginning. 00:15:44.819 --> 00:15:45.599 Verse 8. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.019 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. 00:15:50.099 --> 00:15:53.620 And the patient in spirit, one who looks to the end, 00:15:54.339 --> 00:15:56.219 is better than the proud in spirit. 00:15:56.220 --> 00:16:00.680 He's already touched on this, hasn't he? 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:05.399 Because of course the end for each one of us is in death itself. 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:10.899 And just as the coffin is a better teacher than the cot, 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:15.680 so the end of things is a much better preacher to us. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.000 The end of things is a much better teacher of what matters 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:22.259 than the beginning of things. 00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:27.019 How something is finished, just in general, 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.600 says more, doesn't it, about the process 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.600 than how it's begun. 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:36.659 Someone could brag at the beginning of something, 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:38.299 but it doesn't mean anything, does it, 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.840 in compared with what the situation is at the end. 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:43.580 And that goes for life. 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.580 One day someone will write out your obituary. 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:52.500 They'll write out mine and they'll read it out. 00:16:53.540 --> 00:16:56.320 And you will be spoken of after you are gone, 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:57.180 at the end. 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:00.900 And what is said then, in that moment, 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.200 will mean more than what has been said at your birth, 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.220 at the beginning, when you first arrived. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:09.600 The preacher wants us to see that. 00:17:10.620 --> 00:17:13.740 To realise that the end is calling. 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:18.099 And how you leave this world is far more important 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:19.539 than how you came into it. 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:24.120 The wise person then is someone who takes the long view, 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.559 who takes the end view. 00:17:26.859 --> 00:17:29.819 That's why he mentions that funny thing in verse 1, 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.740 about a good name is better than precious ointment. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:36.720 I think that relates to the day of death 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:37.839 and the day of birth. 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:42.459 Saying you can smell of roses on your birth, 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:44.819 covered in baby oil, 00:17:45.439 --> 00:17:46.519 in precious ointments. 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:49.899 But what is said about you at the end, 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:53.159 your name then matters far more. 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.220 The end is not something that we want to face, is it? 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:01.339 But the preacher wants to tell us, 00:18:01.439 --> 00:18:03.959 just as with all of the other adversities here, 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.840 the end can be our friend here. 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:14.259 The end, death, tells us and preaches to us 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.059 like other things cannot. 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:20.079 The end tells us that we're not going to live forever. 00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:23.880 And we get one chance, one chance in this life 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:25.559 to get right with God 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:29.100 and the opportunities that he gives us to do that. 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:31.420 And we better be wise about that. 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:33.200 And we better sober up. 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:35.279 And come to him. 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:39.779 The good news is that you may have messed up 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:41.319 at the beginning of your life. 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:45.380 You may have messed up in the middle of your life. 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:47.180 And you may be messed up right now, 00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:48.440 if truth be told. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.460 But in a way, the bard is right. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:54.980 All's well that ends well. 00:18:56.600 --> 00:18:58.519 And if you can think about the end, 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:02.440 if you can sense the inevitability of it, 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.900 if you can sense the ache of it, 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:06.660 God says to you, 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.259 well there, now is your chance. 00:19:09.620 --> 00:19:11.299 Strike while the iron's hot 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.460 and lay these things on your heart 00:19:14.460 --> 00:19:17.080 and get right with me. 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.359 come to Christ. 00:19:20.399 --> 00:19:21.159 Trust in him. 00:19:22.579 --> 00:19:24.500 Don't waste the lucidity 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:26.199 of your sadness 00:19:26.199 --> 00:19:28.220 and your mourning 00:19:28.220 --> 00:19:29.980 and your death 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:31.639 and your end. 00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:35.320 because those times can be better 00:19:35.320 --> 00:19:38.000 for you when your heart is open 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:39.180 to him. 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:43.280 We're urged by the world, aren't we, 00:19:43.320 --> 00:19:46.220 not to focus on these things for too long. 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:47.800 Don't think about them too long. 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:50.100 If death confronts you, 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:51.380 just tell them a joke. 00:19:52.140 --> 00:19:53.180 Get a glass of wine. 00:19:53.540 --> 00:19:53.920 Smile. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:55.040 Don't think about it. 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:55.700 Be happy. 00:19:55.700 --> 00:19:58.960 But the preacher tells us here, 00:19:59.080 --> 00:20:01.160 in adversity comes a great opportunity 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:04.960 where you might seriously contemplate 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:06.120 important things, 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:08.299 where you might seriously contemplate 00:20:08.299 --> 00:20:09.759 your regrets 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.900 and your failures before God 00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:14.500 and before others, 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:17.160 where you might come face to face 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:18.140 with your pride, 00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:21.080 that you might run to him 00:20:21.080 --> 00:20:21.900 in those moments 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:23.900 and find a deeper gladness. 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:27.100 Dwelling on death 00:20:27.100 --> 00:20:29.740 and these difficult things 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:31.880 might be the means 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:32.740 that God uses 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:34.300 to bring you to life, 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:36.660 to save you 00:20:36.660 --> 00:20:38.780 from drowning in frivolity. 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:41.680 And in that, 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:45.360 bitter is better. 00:20:46.540 --> 00:20:48.800 Let's join together in prayer.