Chapter 2, beginning in verse 1.
I said in my heart,
Come now, I will test you with pleasure.
! Enjoy yourself.
But behold, this also was vanity.
I said of laughter it is mad,
and of pleasure what use is it?
I searched my heart how to cheer my body with wine,
my heart still guiding me with wisdom,
and how to lay hold on folly
till I might see what was good for the children of man
to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
I made great works.
I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
I made myself gardens and parks
and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
I made myself pools from which to water
the forest of growing trees.
I bought male and female slaves
and had slaves who were born in my house.
I had also great possessions of herds and flocks
more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
I also gathered for myself silver and gold
and the treasure of kings and provinces.
I got singers, both men and women,
and many concubines the delight of the sons of man.
So I became great and surpassed
all who were before me in Jerusalem.
Also my wisdom remained with me.
And whatever my eyes desired,
I did not keep from them.
I kept my heart from no pleasure,
for my heart found pleasure in all my toil,
and this was my reward for all my toil.
Then I considered all that my hands had done
and the toil I had expended in doing it.
And behold, all was vanity
and a striving after wind,
and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
This is God's Word to us.
It was written for His glory and for our good.
And we would all do well to listen to it
in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
Now this morning our focus is going to be
just on verse 3.
And we'll probably speed to the end of verse 11
in the coming weeks,
but this morning I want to look at verse 3.
And let me read just that verse to you again.
I searched with my heart
how to cheer my body with wine,
my heart still guiding me with wisdom,
and how to lay hold on folly or silliness
till I might see what was good
for the children of man to do under heaven
during the few days of their life.
Note first in the text
the brevity of life.
How very brief life is.
If you splice verse 3
and put it back together,
you could read,
I searched with my heart
till I might see what was good
for the children of man to do under heaven
during the few days of their life.
James writes in James 4.14,
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears
for a little time
and then vanishes.
If we don't understand
how very brief our lives are,
we will not understand
how insignificant
what we can accomplish
under the sun
truly is.
Our perspective will be horribly inadequate
if we do not consider
the measure of our days
in the scope of eternity.
You are just a man.
You are just a woman.
And your life here and now
is fleeting.
It's vanishing.
It's like a vapor in the wind.
It will go so rapidly
in comparison to eternity.
David in Psalm 39, 4-7
prays this,
O Lord,
make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how fleeting I am.
His prayer is,
he cries out to God
that he would understand
that very thing.
How brief his life is.
Verse 5,
Behold, you have made my days
a few handbreadths
and my lifetime
is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind
stands as a mere breath.
Surely a man goes about
as a shadow.
Surely for nothing
they are in turmoil.
Man heaps up wealth
and does not know
who will gather.
And now, O Lord,
for what do I wait?
So here's the result
of him understanding
the brevity of his life.
My hope is in you.
As he looks at eternity,
as he steps back away
and he sees how very brief
his life is
and understands the scope
of the rest of it,
the beyond under the sun,
he sees the weighty matter
that's before him
and he knows
that he must hope in God.
Remember the conclusion
of our preacher,
Ecclesiastes 12.13.
After he's weighed
all of this out
in all of the preceding chapters,
he says,
the end of the matter
all has been heard.
Fear God
and keep His commandments.
For this is the whole duty
of man.
Beloved,
we spend far too much time
acting as if this life
has great weight
in what we can accomplish
under the sun.
So many of us,
particularly those of you
who are young,
live as if you're invincible
and that what's happening here
and now
is of the greatest
and ultimate value.
And it's not.
We need to rightly have
our minds and hearts
put in proper perspective.
Seeing that we serve
an eternal God
who has an eternal purpose
and plan
and we should live
for that
now.
So the beginning of verse 3
presents
a joy,
a self-indulgent pleasure,
a thing that the king
sought after,
trying to understand,
if this is a thing
worth finding value in,
worth finding gain in.
We know already
his conclusion,
but it's still right and proper
that we look at
the why.
Why does he still come
to that conclusion?
First,
the beginning of verse 3
presents some challenges
for us in interpretation.
It's structured
very interestingly.
We have to ask the question
and kind of waffle between
is the preacher
talking about
partying
or is the preacher
talking about
appreciating.
He says,
I search with my heart
how to cheer my body
with wine.
But then we get this insertion,
my heart
still guiding me
with wisdom
and how to lay hold
on folly.
So it's interesting
and scholars,
commentators,
kind of line up
in different places
on the text.
Is he talking about
inebriation
or is he talking about
sophistication?
Some suggest
that he's simply
partying
until he drops
and then he's
later assessing
the value of that.
His heart's still guiding him
with wisdom.
He goes through the experience,
he sees
what is the end
of this
temporal pleasure
and then he stops
and weighs it out
and considers
was this something
to be gained
under the sun
and then he does it again.
I can see why.
I can understand that.
I think there's probably
at least a part of that
happening here
for the preacher.
The reason I would say
is because beyond
that insertion
it says
in how to lay hold
on folly.
Right?
In the pursuit
of cheering his body
with wine
he also wants
to lay hold
on folly
or foolishness
or silliness
is the type
of partying
that comes
with inebriation
of value.
I also can see
the sophistication
argument.
This insertion,
my heart's still
guiding me
with wisdom.
That he
was appreciating
the brewing process
and what could be
produced from it.
That he was
sampling
the various
notes
and flavor
that could be found
in wine.
That he was becoming
a connoisseur
of this thing.
That he was pursuing
it as a hobby.
And I think
probably both
are true.
Ecclesiastes 1.13
read it to you
just a moment ago
says,
And I applied my heart
to seek
and to search out
by wisdom
all that is done
under heaven.
And so I think
he explores
both sides
of what
wine has
to offer
humanity.
And so we'll
look at it
in that way
in those two ways.
The vanity
of inebriation
as well as
the vanity
of sophistication.
So the
vanity
of
inebriation.
I searched
with my heart
how to cheer
my body
with wine
and if you
delete the insertion
and how to
lay hold
on folly.
Now beloved,
the Bible gives
many strong
warnings
against the
foolishness
of out of
proportion
drinking.
Listen to a few.
Proverbs 21
wine
is a mocker,
strong drink
a brawler
and whoever
is led astray
by it
is not
wise.
Isaiah 5
22
and I really
like this one.
Isaiah says,
woe to those
who are heroes
at drinking
wine
and valiant
men
in mixing
strong drink.
Proverbs 23
23.
Turn here
with me
to verse
29.
Proverbs 23
29-35
who has
woe?
Who has
sorrow?
Who has
strife?
Who has
complaining?
Who has
wounds without
cause?
Who has
redness
of eyes?
And then here
verse 30
and on is the
answer to
those questions.
Those who
tarry long
over wine.
Those who
go to try
mixed wine.
Do not look
at wine
when it is
red,
when it sparkles
in the cup
and goes down
smoothly.
In the end
it bites
like a serpent
and stings
like an
adder.
Your eyes
will see
strange things
and your
heart
utter
perverse
things.
You will
be like
one who
lies down
in the
midst
of the
sea,
like one
who lies
on the
top
of a
mast.
They
struck
me,
you will
say,
but I
was not
hurt.
They
beat me,
but I
did not
feel it.
So there's
this abuse
happening to
the drinker,
right,
to the person
who's abusing
alcohol.
But their
logic is
perverted.
That's what
he's saying,
right?
They struck
me,
I wasn't
hurt.
They beat
me,
I didn't
feel it.
When shall
I awake?
I must
have another
drink.
There's this
unending
cycle of
sorrow for
those who
drown their
sorrow in
addiction.
And it's a
great problem.
The addict
medicates to
ease the
woes of
life.
But their
endless
medicating
heaps up
for them
more
woes.
Strong
drink and
the abuse
of it is
a great
danger.
A great
danger.
The Scripture
is clear on
this for
us.
Further,
Christian
people,
those who
profess to
follow Christ
are not
to be
drunkards.
1 Corinthians
5, 11-13,
Paul writes,
But now I
am writing
to you not
to associate
with anyone
who bears
the name of
brother if
he is guilty
of sexual
morality or
greed or
is an
idolater,
reviler,
drunkard,
or swindler,
not even to
eat with
such a one.
For what
have I to
do with
judging
outsiders?
Is it not
those inside
the church
whom you
are to
judge?
God judges
those outside.
Purge the
evil person
from among
you.
And Paul is
not saying
that if we
fail at any
of these
points,
that if you
know someone
who claims
to follow
Christ,
who at
one time
got drunk,
that you're
to have
nothing to
do with
them,
that the
church should
judge them,
that there
should be
discipline
placed upon
them.
But what
he's saying
is those
who are
unrepentant
in these
things,
those who
pick up
these things
as habits,
are giving
evidence that
they're not
found,
in Christ.
And it is
the job
of the
church to
not associate
with them
as the
church.
Not that we
don't love
and wrap our
arms around
those people,
but we
don't endorse
their sin
in so doing.
Christians are
not to be
drunkards.
So can the
Christian drink?
Are you
young people?
If you're
under 21,
no.
I cannot
tell you
how many
stupid
conversations
I've
been in
with
people
under
21
about
drinking.
No,
it's
illegal.
You
cannot.
If you
are 21
or older,
yes,
the answer
is yes.
I could get
myself in
all kinds
of trouble
as a
Southern
Baptist
preacher.
I'm saying
that,
but some
stances
made by
denominations
are wrong.
Some gray
areas,
people have
tried to make
black and
white,
and it's
not okay.
Jesus'
first miracle
was to
turn water
into wine.
And don't
come at me
with Greek
arguments about
what he
turned it
into.
He didn't
turn it
into grape
juice.
He turned
it into
wine.
It was
actually said
that it
was the
best wine,
which meant
it was the
strong wine
that he
turned it
into.
In fact,
he turned
it into
120 to
180 gallons
of wine.
It was a
party.
Paul commends
to Timothy
the drinking
of wine
for his
health.
1 Timothy
5.23
It's a
parenthetical
in our
English text.
No longer
drink only
water,
but use
a little
wine for
the sake
of your
stomach
and your
frequent
ailments.
The Scripture
nowhere forbids
the drinking,
but don't
forget the
strong case
made against
the danger
of it.
Please don't
set that
apart in
your mind,
young people.
There's strong
warning given
in the Scripture.
About what
drink can
do.
But drinking
in moderation
is okay.
I hear the
argument often
on the other
side of the
coin.
Those who
want to be
licentious in
their drinking,
who are
Christians,
say for those
of us who
choose not to
drink,
that we're not
practicing our
liberty,
that we have
somehow denied
the freeness we
have in the
Gospel,
which is
total hogwash.
I can
choose not
to drink,
which I
do,
just to
clear that
up for
you.
For
myself,
I choose
not to
drink,
which is
a practicing
of my
liberty in
Christ.
It's not
a law
placed upon
me by
my
denomination,
but it's
rather something
that I
freely choose
to do
in Christ.
It is a
practicing
of my
liberty.
Don't
think that
if you
decide not
to drink
that you're
denying
the freedom
you have
in the
Gospel.
Romans
chapter 14.
In light
of much
debate in
that day
over the
consumption
of food
offered to
idols,
as well
as the
consumption
of foods
prohibited
by Old
Testament
ceremonial
law,
there was
lots of
hubbub
about food
and drink
in the
day in
the early
church.
And Paul
writes,
beginning in
verse 20
of Romans
14,
do not
for the
sake of
food
destroy
the work
of God.
Everything
is indeed
clean,
but it is
wrong for
anyone to
make another
stumble by
what he
eats.
It is
good not
to eat
meat
or drink
wine
or do
anything
that causes
your brother
to stumble.
The faith
that you
have,
keep between
yourself
and God.
Blessed
is the
one who
has no
reason to
pass judgment
on himself
for what
he approves.
But whoever
has doubts
is condemned
if he
eats,
because the
eating is
not from
faith,
for whatever
does not
proceed from
faith is
sin.
And I
bring that
text to
you to
say that
in the
culture in
which we
live,
which is
very split
on the
issue of
alcohol,
we should
be very
wise in
our day.
In fact,
I would
say to
you,
as you
consider
your freedom
in Christ,
as you
consider the
gray area
here,
that if
you have
doubt in
your mind,
don't.
If you're
in a given
situation and
you're just
not sure,
if you're
just considering
the issue
altogether and
you're just
not sure,
don't.
The text
says,
verse 23,
but whoever
has doubts
is condemned
if he eats
because the
eating is
not from
faith.
I believe
we have
much reason
to doubt.
Not making
a case that
you can't.
I'm just
making a
case that
maybe you
shouldn't.
So hear
that.
Hear the
freedom in
it, but
hear the
strong warning
as well.
We're
to be a
people set
apart.
There is
a vanity
in over
consumption of
alcohol, to
be sure.
There's also
a vanity in
sophistication of
it.
we know,
many of us
here know,
many people,
I believe,
at least I
know that I
do, who
really have
taken up
craft beer
as their
thing.
They're going
to try them
all and
know them
all and
very proud
that they
know them
all.
And I'm
not saying
that they
can't do
this thing,
but there's
no real
value found
in it.
This little
phrase in
the middle
of verse
3,
my heart
still guiding
me with
wisdom.
And as I
said, I
think both
things are
going on.
I think he
probably at
times was
becoming drunk
and seeing
the vanity
of that,
and at
times he
was not
becoming
drunk,
but rather
drinking in
moderation and
then soberly
and thoughtfully
accessing his
experience.
Is this one
good?
Is this one
lend to joy?
What is the
strength?
What is the
particular alcohol
content that I
appreciate and
enjoy?
So whether
in sophistication
or in
inebriation,
there is no
gain.
Neither the
connoisseur nor
the drunkard can
find true gain
at the bottom
of a glass.
Now the thought
that the preacher
possibly pursued
gain in his
sophistication in
wine leads me
to consider,
to go a little
bit beyond the
idea of just
alcohol,
just wine,
just the
vanity of
hobbies.
Now many of
us may not
endeavor to be
connoisseurs of
wine or craft
beer or anything
else of fine
cheeses.
You ever seen
at Ingalls the
olive bar at
Ingalls?
Who in our
culture eats that
many different
kinds of olives
and shops at
Ingalls?
I don't
understand.
Twelve different
types of
olives at
Ingalls.
Maybe there
are some
connoisseurs of
olives amongst
us, maybe even
today.
Those of you not
laughing, maybe.
We can have any
number of various
hobbies, things
that we pursue,
things that we
seek to become
experts in.
And beloved,
there's not
ultimate value
in these things
either.
Now hear me, I'm
saying ultimate
value, there can
be some value,
there's some
value in
enjoyment,
there's some
value in
disconnecting,
in creating.
My wife is a
wonderful painter,
I'm so thankful
for the production
of beauty that
she creates in
our home from
the paintings
that she does.
For me, not
so much now,
but, oh gosh,
over a decade
ago now, the
hobbies that I
pursued in an
unhealthy manner
that I looked
for gain in
were rock
climbing and
whitewater kayaking.
And I know
there's some
people in our
congregation that
like to do
both of these
things.
I loved it.
And in fact, I
loved it to the
degree that I
sought to find
all of my
identity in it.
I was Nathan
who was firstly
a rock climber
and a whitewater
kayaker.
I can remember
going to have
an injury
assessed by a
doctor who
asked me how
I got the
injury.
He was a
surgeon.
I didn't get a
surgery, but we
were considering
it.
And he started
to share with
me how much
he had climbed
in college.
He'd done some
amazing things.
He'd gotten to
go some wonderful
places and do
some rather
advanced rock
climbing.
And I said,
do you still
climb?
And he said,
oh no,
insurance premiums
are just way
too high now.
And I can
remember at the
time just thinking
what a betrayer
of his own
identity he
was.
But he rightly
saw it as a
hobby.
He rightly
saw it as a
thing he enjoyed
doing one day.
And he was able
to put it back
down at another
time.
For those of
you who are
climbers amongst
us, those of you
who aren't,
this will make
no sense.
Not that I was
the best of
climbers, but I
bouldered V8.
I was leading
sport 511,
looking to
push into
12s.
I loved to
climb.
I was really
disappointed if I
didn't climb at
least three times
a week.
And I wanted at
least two of
those times to
be outdoors.
Ask some people
who were close
to me in those
days, if I was
gone, it was
where I was
at.
I was usually
climbing somewhere.
There was always
someone better
than me.
There was always
another grade,
another level to
achieve.
There would be
all of the
passion and
pursuit of
being able to
accomplish
something.
And when I
accomplished it,
there was a
brief moment of
joy and then
another turning
to another
goal and
another endeavor.
I started
getting into
whitewater kayaking
because I had
nothing to do
on days that
it rained.
I needed to
go pursue
adrenaline in
another way.
I empowered
class 5
whitewater.
I became
an American
Canoe Association
whitewater kayak
instructor.
I heavily
invested myself
into these
things.
Spent
countless
hours
pursuing
these
activities.
And it
had no
ultimate
value.
Pull some
things out of
it.
Some things,
some little
things to
grasp onto,
but no
ultimate
value.
Not saying
that you
can't have
hobbies,
what I am
saying is
that your
hobby ought
not be
your God.
And you
need to
really carefully
assess if
the stuff
that you
pursue to
be sophisticated
in, to
be the
expert in,
grab your
attention in
a way that
it diverts
it from
God.
Praise God
through a
number of
injuries and
through a
decade plus
of chronic
pain.
I don't
really get to
do these
things anymore.
And sometimes
I'm jealous.
I want to.
I see you
guys going
and having
fun.
I really
want to get
in the
middle of
that.
But one
of the
goods,
and I
believe there
are many,
but one
of the
great goods
in that is
that God
exposed my
heart as
He took
something away
from me that
I worshipped.
And beloved,
there is
greater joy
than anything
in this world
that you could
possibly throw
your energy
into and
endeavor to be.
I could have
been the best
rock climber
in the world.
I could have
been going off
the highest
waterfalls
better than
anyone else,
setting world
records,
having all
of the
acclaim in
every magazine,
the star of
all the
videos,
and yet it
would have been
meaningless.
There's greater
joy,
and that joy is
found in
Christ.
In Nehemiah
chapter 8,
the people of
God are
urged to
eat the
fat and
drink sweet
rind to
celebrate the
holiness of
the day.
But then it
reminds them
that true
strength is
found in
the joy of
the Lord,
a deep and
an abiding
joy, a joy
that's not
based on
circumstance
that cannot
be taken
from you
ever,
is found
in Christ.
That's why
the prophet
Isaiah cries
out to us
in chapter
55,
verses 1 and
2,
Come,
everyone who
thirsts,
come to the
waters,
and he who
has no money,
come,
buy and
eat.
Come,
buy wine and
milk without
money and
without price.
Why do you
spend your
money for
that which
is not bread
and your
labor for
that which
does not
satisfy?
Listen
diligently to
me and
eat what
is good and
delight yourselves
in rich
food.
There is a
food,
and a
drink that
comes from
God and
ultimately
satisfies.
Jesus says to
a Samaritan
woman at
a well in
John 4,
13-14,
Everyone who
drinks of
this water
will be
thirsty again.
Whoever
drinks of
the water
that I
will give
him will
never be
thirsty again.
The water
that I
will give
him will
become in
him a
spring of
water
welling up
to eternal
life.
Jesus stands
up in the
midst of a
great feast
and says in
John 7,
37,
If anyone
thirsts,
let him
come to
me and
drink.
If you
are in
Christ,
Christ is
to be your
supreme
satisfaction.
He is
our gain.
He gives
life meaning.
To be a
disciple of
Jesus Christ
is to fear
God and to
keep His
commandments.
If you're
not in
Christ,
you're chasing
around trying
to find joy
and satisfaction
and meaning
in this
world,
you're going
to come
up dry.
You will
not find
the answer
apart from
Christ.
You will
not understand
the proper
and right
created order.
We have a
good and
loving kind
creator that
you have made
your enemy
by your
activity and
you need
reconciliation
in Christ.
To pull
back in my
kayaking days
and an
analogy for
you,
there's a
river that's
on the
border of
Georgia and
South Carolina
called the
Chattooga and
there's a
section of the
Chattooga called
the Five Falls
and it is what
it sounds like,
a series of
rapids back to
back to back
which are so
much fun.
It makes me
want to be there
right now just
thinking about
doing the Five
Falls.
In the middle
of one of
those rapids
there's this
eddy that you
can catch,
which an
eddy is a
spot you stop
on the river.
Boy, I just
stepped out ahead
of some of you.
But below
that eddy is
what we call
a sieve where
all the water
drains through a
hole and usually
there's all kinds
of logs and
all kinds of
junk in a
sieve and you
do not want
to be in
that spot.
People drown
and die going
into sieves.
And if you
pull into this
eddy you have
to do what's
called the
hairy fairy.
Am I
remembering this
rapid correctly
Wes?
Okay, I am.
And it's called
the hairy fairy
because you have
to go above
that sieve and
a fairy is when
you're pointing
upstream and
you're moving
across the
river.
Okay, the
sieve's behind
you when you're
in the middle
of this rapid
doing this
thing and it
is a real
danger.
It is there
and you have
to be aware
of it.
You don't
take somebody
through the
five falls
that's never
been through
the five
falls and
not explain
these types
of things
to them.
You don't
say, hey,
follow me
into this
place and
not have
them realize
what will
happen if
they don't
do the
hairy fairy
properly,
if they
don't stay
upstream of
that sieve.
It's not a
place you
want to be.
If you're not
found in Christ,
hear me say
this to you,
there is a
danger at the
end of your
brief life and
it is eternal
damnation.
It is bearing
the weight of
God's wrath
forever because
you're his enemy.
That's where we
are on the river.
the rescue,
the way around
is Christ.
If you are
in Christ,
you must
treasure him
up the way
he deserves
to be
treasured,
the way he
ought to be
treasured because
it's for your
good and it's
for the good
of the world.
The vision
statement for
our church
is that we
exist,
Christ Family
Church exists
to glorify
God,
to bring a
claim to
his name
by experiencing,
proclaiming,
and displaying
the supremacy
of Jesus
Christ in
all things
to all
peoples.
Wes and I
at the beginning
of this
semester
got the joy
of receiving
a rather
scathing email
from a young
lady who just
really didn't
enjoy our
worship service.
And it was
shocking to me
for two reasons.
Firstly,
that she had
the audacity
as an 18-year-old
to speak to
the leadership
of a church
the way that
she did.
Shame on her
father for not
raising her
better.
But also that
she so
misunderstood
so much
of what we
did together.
And she was
very upset
about the
vision statement
of our
church.
Just didn't
wrap her mind
around it
at all.
And so let
me help you
this morning
by saying to
you that if
you're in
Christ,
there should
be a real
and a day-to-day
experience of
the supremacy,
the great value
of Jesus Christ.
It should be
something that we
experience.
It should be a
real thing for
us.
Not a
philosophical
idea that's
out there.
But that we
are walking
with him day
by day
by day.
That we are
experiencing this
supremacy.
And out of that
comes proclamation
that we will say
things that are
true of who he
is.
The things that
we enjoy,
that we like to
talk most about.
Jesus will be on
our lips.
And we'll display
him in the way
that we live our
lives.
We'll orient
ourselves differently
because he is
our treasure.
Because he is
supreme to us.
And this will be
the case in all
things.
And it will be
the case to
all peoples.
This is meant
to be the
practice experience
of the Christian
life.
And I think
that the challenge
for so many of
us is that we
don't experience
the supremacy
of Christ
in the day
to day
because we
don't engage
ourselves in
the activities
of a Christian
in the day
to day.
You don't know
how you encounter
Jesus today
and tomorrow
and all of the
days that follow?
In four ways.
Read the
scripture.
This attests
as the word of
God to the
word of God
who is Christ.
You see and
you behold him
here.
This is where
he speaks
to us.
You communicate
to him in
prayer.
You lay down
the burden
of your day.
You give back
to him what is
due him in
praise in
prayer.
You say to
him, I am
just a man
and I am
nothing without
prayer.
You fellowship
with the church.
And I don't
just mean showing
up and consuming
an event.
I mean
fellowship.
You live in
life, in the
day to day, in
the going and
coming of the
life of a
congregation.
In all the
varying ways
that that
happens, you
fellowship with
the church.
And thirdly,
you obey.
You do all
those other
things that
we're meant
to be doing
and obedience
necessarily leads
to suffering.
And you meet
Christ in
suffering.
Our king,
our lord,
came to this
earth and was
hated.
He was
despised and
he was
murdered.
This is the
way the
world should
perceive us.
Not a,
well, we're
American kind
of a way of
suffering.
But no, the
world should
really despise
us.
The world
really should
look at
Christians here
and say,
what an
unsavory
people.
How much
we don't
enjoy them.
And you
know why?
Because we
tell them
that they're
wrong.
In the way
that we
live and
in what we
say.
We call
evil,
evil.
We point
it out.
Not because
we're self-righteous
and we're
judgmental,
but because we
care.
Because we
know of the
danger to
come.
It's been
shown to
us and
we've been
rescued from
it.
And so we
share this
with people.
We live for
righteousness and
we call
evil,
evil.
People are
not going to
like that.
Our Christian
culture will
not like
that.
If you
can tell
people who
follow,
say they
follow Christ,
that they're
not really
following Christ,
you won't
be popular.
Is that
okay?
Do you
want Jesus
to that
degree?
That you're
willing to
follow Him
into whatever
storm He
takes you
into?
For His
glory and
for the
good of
all people.
I'm going
to read to
you in
closing from
Pilgrim's
Progress.
I told you
it was
coming out.
If you're
a guest
today,
you're not
familiar,
I haven't
talked to
you at
all.
Pilgrim's
Progress was
written by
a man named
John Bunyan.
It's an
allegory.
It's told as
a dream,
a dream of
a man named
Christian who's
making a
journey to
the celestial
city.
At this
point in
our story,
he's picked
up a
traveler whose
name is
Faithful.
And they've
gone through
a town,
through a
portion of
a town
called
Vanity
Fair.
So you
get the
tie-in to
Ecclesiastes.
Vanity Fair.
And I
read,
Now these
pilgrims,
as I said,
must needs
go through
this fair.
Well,
so they
did,
but behold,
even as they
entered into
the fair,
all the
people in
the fair
were moved
and the
town itself,
as it were,
in a hubbub
about them,
and that
for several
reasons.
For first,
the pilgrims
were clothed
with such
kind of
raiment as
was diverse
from the
raiment of
any that
traded in
that fair.
They looked
different.
The people,
therefore,
of the fair
made a
great gazing
upon them.
Some said
they were
fools,
some they
were bedlems,
and some
they were
outlandish
men.
Second,
as they
wondered at
their apparel,
so they
did likewise
at their
speech.
For few
could understand
what they
said.
They naturally
spoke the
language of
Canaan,
but they
that kept
the fair
were the
men of
this world,
so that
from one
end of the
fair to
the other
they seemed
barbarians
each to
each other.
Third,
but that
which did
not a
little amuse
the
merchandisers
was that
these pilgrims
set very
light by
all their
wares.
They cared
not so much
as to look
upon them,
and if they
called upon
them to buy,
they would
put their
fingers in
their ears
and cry,
turn away
mine eyes
from beholding
vanity,
and look
upward,
signifying that
their trade
and traffic
was in
heaven.
One
chants
mockingly,
beholding the
carriage of
the men to
say unto
them,
what will
ye buy?
But they,
looking gravely
upon him,
said,
we buy
the truth.
At that
there was
an occasion
taken to
despise the
men the
more,
some mocking,
some taunting,
some speaking
reproachfully,
and some
calling upon
others to
smite them.
At last
things came
to a hubbub,
and great
stir in
the fair,
insomuch
that all
order was
confounded.
Now was
word presently
brought to
the great
one of the
fair,
who quickly
came down
and deputed
some of his
most trusty
friends to
take these
men into
examination,
about whom
the fair
was almost
overturned.
So they
disrupt the
fair,
and they're
subsequently
arrested.
And there
is a
caging of
them,
an imprisonment,
there's a
trial,
which I'm
going to
skip over
the top of,
but it's so
good,
and you
really,
really need
to read
it.
And then we
pick up
here.
The judge
says,
Thou
runegate,
heretic,
and traitor,
hast thou
heard what
these honest
gentlemen
have witnessed
against thee?
This is the
trial of
faithful.
Faithful
says,
May I
speak a
few words
in my
own
defense?
The judge
replies,
thou
deservest
to live
no longer,
but to
be slain
immediately
upon the
place.
Yet that
all men
may see
our
gentleness
towards thee,
let us
hear what
thou
hast to
say.
Faithful
says,
I say
then,
in an
answer to
what Mr.
Envy
has spoken,
there's great
character names
in all
this,
to what
Mr.
Envy
has spoken,
I never
said
aught
but
this,
that what
rule or
laws or
customs or
people were
flat against
the word of
God are
diametrically
opposed to
Christianity.
If I have
said amiss in
this,
convince me of
my error,
and I am
ready before
you to
make my
recantation.
As to
the second,
to wit,
Mr.
Superstition,
and his
charge against
me,
I said
only this,
that in the
worship of
God there is
required a
divine
faith,
but there
can be no
divine faith
without a
divine revelation
of the
will of
God.
Therefore,
whatever is
thrust into
the worship
of God
that is not
agreeable to
divine revelation
cannot be
done but
by a human
faith,
which faith
will not
be profitable
to eternal
life.
As to
what Mr.
Pick
think,
hath
said,
I say,
avoiding
terms as
that I am
said to
rail and
the like,
that the
prince of
this town
with all
the
rabblement,
his
attendance
by this
gentleman
named,
are more
fit for
a being
in hell
than in
this town
and country,
and so
the Lord
have mercy
on me.
You see the
things that he
responds to
them,
that those
things of the
world are
diametrically
opposed to
the things
of Christ,
that those
things that
have made
themselves into
the worship
of God
that are not
given to us
by the
regulative
principle
of
scripture
are of
man's
faith
and not
of faith
in God,
and that
those who
rejoice in
these things
are more
suitable for
hell
and for
the kingdom.
These are
the charges
he brings
against these
men.
And then we
see the
judge's
charge.
Then the
judge called
to the jury
who all
this while
stood by
to hear
and observe.
Gentlemen
of the jury,
you see this
man about
whom so
great an
uproar
have been
made in
this town.
You have
also heard
what these
worthy gentlemen
have witnessed
against him.
Also you have
heard his
reply and
confession.
It lieth
now in
your breast
to hang
him or
save his
life,
but yet I
think meet
to instruct
you in
our law.
There was
an act
made in
the days
of Pharaoh
the great,
servant
to our
prince,
that lest
those of
a contrary
religion
should
multiply
and grow
too strong
for him,
their males
should be
thrown into
the river.
There was
also an
act made
in the days
of Nebuchadnezzar
the great,
another of
his servants,
that whomever
would not
fall down
and worship
his golden
image should
be thrown
into a
fiery furnace.
There was
also an
act made
in the days
of Darius,
that whoso
for some
time called
upon any
god but
him should
be cast
into the
lion's
den.
Now the
substance
of these
laws
this rebel
has broken,
not only
in thought
but also
in word
and deed,
which must
therefore
needs be
intolerable.
For that of
Pharaoh,
his law
was made
upon a
supposition
to prevent
mischief,
no crime
being yet
apparent,
but here
is a crime
apparent.
For the
second and
third,
you see,
he disputeth
against our
religion,
and for the
treason that
he hath
confessed,
he deserveth
to die
the death.
So there's
some discourse
amongst the
jury,
which is
fantastic,
and then we
read of
Faithful's
martyrdom.
They therefore
brought him
out to do
with him
according to
their law.
First they
scourged him,
then they
buffeted him,
then they
lanced his
flesh with
knives.
After that
they stoned
him with
stones,
then pricked
him with
their swords.
Last of all,
they burned
him to ashes
at the stake.
Thus came
Faithful to
his end.
Now I saw
that there
stood behind
him,
behind the
multitude,
a chariot
and a
couple of
horses,
waiting for
Faithful,
who,
so soon as
his adversaries
had dispatched
him,
was taken up
into it,
and straight
away was
carried up
through the
clouds with
the sound
of trumpet,
the nearest
way to the
celestial gate.
But as
for Christian,
he had some
respite and
was remanded
back to
prison,
so he there
remained for
space.
But he
who overrules
all things,
having the
power of
their rage
in his
own hand,
so rotted
about that
Christian for
that time
escaped them
and went
his way.
And as
he went,
he sang,
sang,
Well,
faithful,
thou hast
faithfully
professed unto
the Lord with
whom thou
shalt be
blessed.
When
faithless
ones with
all their
vain delights
are crying
out under
their hellish
plights,
sing,
faithful sing,
and let
thy name
survive,
for though
they kill
thee,
thou art
yet
alive.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray