WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:31.439 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.280 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian, 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.759 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:21.120 Father, Father, you know how impatient we are, how quick we are to pass judgments, how easily we are 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:27.840 distracted. You know, Father, that sometimes we are impatient with your Word because it doesn't just 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:35.520 sort of seem to be easily digestible for us. But Father, we thank you that you are wise, and we 00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:43.120 acknowledge before you that we are not. And you and your wisdom, Father, have revealed truth to us that we 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:52.400 need to ponder, truths that become like pebbles in our shoe that irritate us and cause us to reflect more. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:02:00.320 So Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring your Word home to us. May it be like a pebble in our 00:02:00.320 --> 00:02:07.920 shoe that stays with us and prods us to think. It can't go away. And Father, we know that in your Word, 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:12.879 it's always to bring us to yourself. So do that by the power of your Holy Spirit. And we ask this in 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:16.400 the name of Jesus. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:27.199 Now, sometimes when ministers speak, we say something and it ends up for, I cause people to go down a 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:33.920 whole train of thought or inflame passions, which isn't the intent. And I thought hard about whether 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:39.679 my opening analogy was going to do that, but I think I'm going to still do it. And that is 00:02:43.279 --> 00:02:50.000 the death of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk this week has been very shocking to many people, 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:58.399 and has been very upsetting to many people. And so I'm not doing this to create some type of 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:05.760 political turmoil or anything like that, even my next comments, which could do so. I decided on Friday 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:10.560 morning, actually Thursday night, that I would do a little bit of a sociological research. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.920 You know, I spend time in coffee shops working on my sermons and doing other types of work. And I 00:03:15.920 --> 00:03:22.240 decided I would ask, and I would, you know, just try to make it very calm, how the effect of Charlie 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:26.000 Kirk, what they thought about it, or whether it affected them. And I tell them, I'm just doing some, 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:32.560 I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. And it's not surprising, given that I work in a variety 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:38.080 of contexts with a variety of people. Like, I got the whole range. I got one person, maybe some of you, 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:43.759 who had never heard of Charlie Kirk before he died. And all they knew is what the news reports had to 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:51.680 say. And it was just, I mean, it was still shocking to them. A 31-year-old man cut down so young in front of 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:58.240 his wife and a three-year-old and an 18-month-old. I met several people who told me that the universe 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:05.120 was a net positive for the universe for him to die. And they said it without any particular rancor, 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:09.360 and they said it in a loud enough voice that they knew they were in, they thought they were in a 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:13.840 comfortable environment that they could say that and not have to worry about people being upset or 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:19.840 shocked. And I think I didn't express any particular reaction to it. And then I met others who said it 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:25.359 was really heavy on their heart. I talked to one person who said they had to fight back tears most 00:04:25.359 --> 00:04:33.839 of Wednesday because of him being struck down. Now, I mention all of that because, you know, 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:39.359 those of you who know me and the church, Daniel Avitan and I made a decision we were going to go 00:04:39.359 --> 00:04:45.839 through the Book of Ecclesiastes. That decision was made months and months and months ago. And I 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:50.000 divided the book up in terms of preaching units and the Sundays and everything. That was all done 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:59.120 months ago. But for those of you who are struck by the death of Charlie Kirk, 31 years old, 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:05.679 in front of his wife and children, a completely shocking thing. And it makes you just ponder all 00:05:05.679 --> 00:05:12.239 sorts of things. The state of discourse in the United States in particular, but also Canada, 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:17.120 the shortness and uncertainty of life. The Bible text that we're looking at today is actually very 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:22.400 appropriate. It doesn't sound like it at first, but it's very, very appropriate. It talks about 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:28.560 the shortness of life and it talks about death. And so we're going to look at it. So if you get 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:33.439 out your Bibles, it would be a great help. We're going to be looking at Ecclesiastes chapter 1, 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:41.439 verses 12 to the end of chapter 2. It's a long text. Once again, we have bought these scripture journal 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:49.519 books, booklets. It has the book of Ecclesiastes, a nice size print on one side, an empty page on the 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:53.920 other. And it's designed for you to take notes, ask questions. And there's still some there if you 00:05:53.920 --> 00:06:00.240 want to get one. But if you have your Bible, let's read it and see what it is that the Bible has to say. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:09.279 And it begins like this. Chapter 1, verse 12, or page 8, if you're using these booklets. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:15.119 I, the preacher, have been king over Israel and Jerusalem. And just sort of pause there. This is 00:06:15.119 --> 00:06:19.919 a bit of a return to what was said at the very beginning of the book. And I just want to make 00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:26.159 it clear. Scholars debate whether or not it was Solomon. I'm fine with it being Solomon. I have 00:06:26.159 --> 00:06:31.279 nothing against it being Solomon. But scholars of good conscience debate one way or the other. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:37.279 This week in particular, it's very good to read it as if it was Solomon talking. And the main point of 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:42.719 it, and you'll really see that this week in the things that he goes through, is as I shared last 00:06:42.719 --> 00:06:48.319 week, it's the thought experiments he's going to go through. Basically, in some ways, this is like a 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:54.959 big picture autobiography of his whole quest to try to figure out the, you know, life's meaning and 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:00.879 what human beings are and what satisfaction is and how you should live. They're very, very important 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:06.639 perennial questions. And it's really interesting to think that if Solomon did write it, these are 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:12.799 questions that people have been asking for over 3,000 years. And we're getting the fruit of his 00:07:12.799 --> 00:07:19.919 wisdom. And the main thing is that Solomon had the financial resources, the heritage, the political 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:26.879 position, the looks, everything, that at no point in time could he ever say, but if I only had, 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:32.480 you know, I could say that, but if I only had an extra $10,000, if I only had this, if I only had that. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:39.200 And you know, and so that's a really, it's a constant aspect of human thought. If I only had, 00:07:39.200 --> 00:07:43.920 life would be better. And Solomon can't say that. That's what you have to keep in the back of your mind 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:49.840 as you're reading through this sort of autobiography or self-reporting of his quests. In fact, 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:55.679 he's going to report three quests. And the first quest is the most general. And by the way, it's a 00:07:55.679 --> 00:08:02.639 quest, not a journey. The difference between a quest and a journey is this. You can see it, 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:07.919 the Lord of the Rings is a quest. And at the end of the quest, Frodo is completely changed. 00:08:08.559 --> 00:08:12.639 You know, we go on a journey, we get some t-shirts, maybe we get a brand new tattoo, 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:17.519 get a whole pile of Instagram selfies. And then we come back and we're fundamentally the same person, 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:21.279 other than we might be more full of ourselves because of all the fantastic things we've done. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:27.519 But a quest is something that you get changes you at the end of it. And that's, he's giving you his 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:33.759 quest. And here's the most general, verse 13. And I applied my heart, and by the way, heart is the 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:39.919 center of everything. So when he says he applies his heart, it means he's using his mind, his imagination, 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:45.679 he's using his emotions, he's using his affections, he's using his will. That the heart is where all of 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:52.399 those things emerge from. And so he says, I applied my heart, the very depths and all my powers, to seek 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:58.559 and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It means he's going to be being pretty 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:03.759 systematic about it. He's not just going to be, you know, willy-nilly. He's pretty systematic about 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:09.120 trying to think it through. Verse 13 again, and I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom, 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:14.559 under heaven. And I'll explain what that means in a moment. And here's what he says, 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:20.879 it is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man, to human beings, to be busy 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:27.120 with. I have seen that everything that is done under the sun, I have seen everything that is done 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:34.719 under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:42.560 straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. So just before we go any further, I'm going to 00:09:42.560 --> 00:09:46.480 explain what some of those things mean. And one of the things you can pray for me about, by the way, 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:52.160 is that every week the word vanity of vanities is going to come out. And I can't assume that 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:56.720 this is like a university lecture, you're all taking notes, there's going to be an exam at the end. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.920 So I only have to explain that phrase once, because you know, you need to know it, 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:04.319 otherwise you're going to fail the court. No, that's not that. I need to, so how much I repeat, 00:10:04.319 --> 00:10:08.159 that's one of the things you can just pray for, just the right amount so you don't get bored and 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:14.479 tune out, but not, just enough so it keeps you remembering, but not so much that it bores you. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:22.479 But here's the thing about the book as a whole. It is a wisdom book. It is a book that's designed to 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:30.800 be pondered. It's desired, it is like when I said in my prayers, God using certain phrases and sayings 00:10:30.800 --> 00:10:35.840 to put pebbles in your shoe, that every time you take a step you feel the pebble and you just can't 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:41.360 get rid of it, and it's sort of always there so you're thinking about it. And it's designed, 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:46.399 another way to put it is, another analogy is, it's designed for you to be like a cow chewing the cud, 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:53.199 and that it's designed to be pondered over and to look for different levels. But here's another 00:10:53.199 --> 00:11:00.799 thing about why it's so depressing sounding, is that the whole book is a work of subversive 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:08.159 fulfillment. I know two big words, subversive fulfillment. And what that means is he's going 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:14.240 to disillusion you and disillusion you and disillusion you and disillusion you, and he's 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:20.799 going to be relentless in disillusioning you so you can actually have real hope. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:27.919 So in other words, he subverts the way you think, he subverts and undermines the normal types of ways 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:33.680 you evaluate your life and get meaning and all of that. But he does that not so he can say at the end, 00:11:33.680 --> 00:11:39.919 ha ha ha ha, you know, I'm way smarter than you, go off and be depressed. And it's not like that at all. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:45.679 He's not like just an arrogant arguer that I've met quite a few over my years. 00:11:46.959 --> 00:11:51.439 The whole point is that if you get all of the things, all the false hopes, 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:57.519 all of the illusions that you hope in, if they are stripped away, he strips it away so you can have 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:03.199 real hope. And that the deep longings and yearnings of your heart, you can start to see how they're 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:12.480 actually fulfilled. Okay, that's what he's doing. And so, you know, under the sun and under the heavens 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:18.800 are the same type of phrase. He's trying to, you know, to use in a Canadian example, it would be 00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:24.640 those who say that life is one dang thing after another and then you die. And so sometimes we say 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.960 that, but that's a very uncomfortable truth to Canadians. And so we, we distract ourselves, 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.759 we try to forget it, we come up with illusions that that's not true. It's looking at the world 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:42.000 as if the triune God fundamentally isn't at work and you're left with your own religions, 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:46.480 your own spiritualities, your own quests, all of that stuff. And that's what it means. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:53.600 But the big question is, what's not under the sun? What is beyond or above under the sun or under the 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:57.120 heaven? That's the big, that's the riddle. That's what he wants you to think about. 00:12:57.920 --> 00:13:04.720 And, and vanity is him describing what human beings are. And it literally means vapor. And as 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:07.920 I'm going to say it again, because it's such, you know, that they wrote this in the tropics, 00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:12.399 so they wouldn't have had this as an analogy, but it's a perfect analogy. The only time that we're 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:16.720 really conscious of the fact that we're breathing, I mean, we're always aware that we're breathing, but 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.879 that there's breath coming out of us is when it's minus 20 outside and you can see your breath. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.320 So seeing your breath, that's what's being described here. That's, that's vapor. That's the 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:31.360 thing, the word translated as vanity. It's describing that human beings are like vapor that you can see 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:35.679 on a minus 20 day coming out of your mouth, just there for a moment, and then it's gone. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:38.960 Can't be, you could, you can't try to hold it together. It's just gone. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:44.159 See, once again, you can see how this is very relevant to thinking a little bit about what's just 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:50.159 happened with, with Charlie Kirk. It's just something which is forced, you know, me, I'm not saying a hundred percent of the, 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:54.480 of the population. You know, some people have been jubilant over it, and I don't say that for you to be 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.319 angry. Being angry about that accomplishes absolutely nothing and isn't Christian. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.319 Being angry is not something that furthers the righteousness of God, that type of anger. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:10.319 But it, it does bring out to us just, we could die at any moment. It's really brought home to, 00:14:10.319 --> 00:14:14.559 I don't know what the percentage of North Americans, but for many, many people, it really brings it home to 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:20.319 us. How short life can be. And so that the word vanity, on one hand, when you hear it all the way 00:14:20.319 --> 00:14:25.439 through, you, sometimes you need to think of it primarily as vapor, and sometimes you need to think 00:14:25.439 --> 00:14:31.359 of it as literally as vanity. Because the, the thing about human beings is that I'm vapor. I think I 00:14:31.359 --> 00:14:37.039 described it last week that human beings are vapor with pretensions. Another way to describe it is, 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:44.959 I am vapor with arrogance and illusion that think I am something more like an eternal being. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:52.319 I think that I can cause eternal things to be, and transcendent things to be. And I tell myself 00:14:52.319 --> 00:14:58.240 these stories. And to tell yourself these stories, to deny that you're vapor, but to think that you're 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:04.799 somehow more eternal and more transcendent and can cause things, that's vanity. It's looking at yourself 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:10.159 with great pride. And an attempt to act on that is a vain pursuit, because it just can't happen. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:15.439 And we're going to see that as the rest of the story goes on. And, and then this phrase, verse 15, 00:15:15.439 --> 00:15:20.399 what is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. Sometime in the future, 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:25.519 I'd like to do a whole sermon just on that. It's very profound insight, and it helps to illustrate things. 00:15:26.079 --> 00:15:31.439 What is crooked that cannot be straightened? That's just, I mean, the fact of the matter is, I mean, 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:35.760 some of you work in businesses, some of you work in art, some of you work in the civil service, 00:15:36.160 --> 00:15:41.040 and all of your plans, they, you know, they're pretty good plans, but there's something in them 00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:47.360 that just don't work the way they're supposed to, and it's intractable. It all looked good on paper, 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:51.520 but then when it gets rolled out, it might be pretty effective, but there's things in it that 00:15:51.520 --> 00:15:56.960 just don't work. And it's also describing a little bit about human nature. The problem with human nature 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:01.920 is that it's not that everything that we human beings is bad, but there's something in our mind 00:16:01.920 --> 00:16:07.280 that's just not perfectly straight. It, it, it's bent somehow, and it misses its target. The same with 00:16:07.280 --> 00:16:12.560 heart, this, our heart, our love, our will, and everything. Like, even when we do a really, really 00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:17.200 good thing, there's something in it which is a little bit of selfishness, or a little bit of hurt, 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:23.120 or a little bit of pride, and it just can't seem to be gotten rid of. So that's one of the many reasons 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.960 why our pursuits are vain. Not only that we're vapor, but it's just not going to work. And the 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:32.159 other reason that things are vain, and that we have this problem of arrogance, is how many times 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:36.159 in our life, I mean, the whole thing about the problem of evil, which I'm not going to talk about 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:41.759 right now, is that God should do this if he has this power. And how many times in people's lives do 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:49.679 we think that if, you know, if, if, if, if, uh, you know, this is the missing piece that I absolutely 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:54.720 need, and I don't know why the universe isn't giving it to me, and I don't know why I'm not getting it, 00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:01.120 and if I could just get it, I mean, part of the whole operating philosophy of much of our culture is 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:08.720 only I know the authentic me, and only I know though that picture of what the authentic me is, and I, 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:15.120 only I know those pieces in the puzzle that need to be given to me, or attained by me, and, and, and 00:17:15.120 --> 00:17:22.000 given to me so I can complete this perfect picture of who I am, and I need to be on this quest, and you 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:28.240 folks need to admire me for it, and applaud me for it, and that's what describes it. That I know the 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:32.960 picture, the puzzle piece, and if I can just get these few pieces and put them together, and what 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:42.960 this saying is, no you don't. You get a bag of puzzle pieces, you don't even know if that bag of puzzle 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:48.880 pieces is one puzzle, two puzzles, five puzzles, or seven puzzles. You don't know if it's something like 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.039 a triptych, you know, those stained glass and other images where you have, you know, something like this, 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:57.920 you have one, and then another, and that, you don't know if you have, you, if you have seven puzzle pieces in 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.360 there, and it's describing some type of journey, you don't know if you have one big piece, you don't 00:18:01.360 --> 00:18:08.080 know if you're missing one piece, 25 pieces, or 3,000 pieces. That's the human condition. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:15.440 It's very profound. How do we know that God should do these things if he's all-powerful? That implies 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:20.800 that we understand the entire universe, we know all the puzzle pieces, we can put all the puzzle pieces 00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:24.800 together, and there's just these two or three things which are missing that God should do if God is 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:32.480 God, but no, we don't know any of that stuff. We don't. It's vanity. I'm vain, because I do it too. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:40.720 By the way, all of these things, these aren't us versus us texts, this is a text trying to get 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:49.279 to describe a fundamental human problem, and if you're outside the Christian faith watching this, 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:53.039 I want to tell you some shocking thing that Christians forget all the time, 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:59.680 that we're human beings, and we have the normal human problems of everybody else, and we're not 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:05.759 better than other people just because we're Christians. So we'll go a bit quicker as we go on. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:12.720 Look at verse 16. This is sort of giving the general quest. I said in my heart I have acquired great 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:19.359 wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:24.000 and knowledge, and I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:31.439 I perceived this also as but a striving after wind. Go try to chase the wind down and gather it up. 00:19:31.439 --> 00:19:38.959 It can't happen. It doesn't work. You just can't do it. Just can't. And it's setting up something 00:19:38.959 --> 00:19:43.519 which he's going to in a sense double click on and expand in the next thing about wisdom and folly, 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:49.519 and that I'll talk about that in a moment. And then he ends with verse 18, for in much wisdom is much 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:58.799 vexation. And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. In my talking this week I know of I think 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:04.240 about three people or four people who saw the full video of Charlie Kirk being shot and they wish they 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:11.120 could unsee it. With more wisdom and more knowledge comes more vexation and unhappiness. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:22.880 Now we get it blown up a little bit or more detail about this general search. Verse chapter 2, verse 1, 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.759 I said in my heart, that's within myself, come now I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself. But behold, 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:35.519 this also was vanity. It's either vaporous, it just comes and goes, or it's something which 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:42.640 is just pretensions. I said of laughter, verse 2, it is mad and of pleasure, what use is it? I search 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:49.440 with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, my heart still guiding me with wisdom and how to lay 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:55.920 hold on folly till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:01.920 days of their life. Just sort of pause here. First of all, this quest list isn't, you can go ahead and 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:10.400 do this. This is an X-rated and an, this is an R-rated or triple X-rated list and a virtuous list. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:18.080 He's going to talk about how I had sex with lots of women. I got drunk constantly. I did drugs. I did 00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:23.759 all sorts of bad things. This isn't just a goody two-shoe list. This is a whole list of human experience. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:28.799 And it's really remarkable how much it covers it. He does everything from, I use all my mind to do 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:33.920 these things. He's going to describe intellectual and pursuits like architecture, which it requires 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:40.879 both great intellectual skills and creativity and imagination. And so it's a whole list of endeavors 00:21:40.879 --> 00:21:46.960 involve creativity, imagination, careful thinking, great skill. And it's also going to be a search 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:52.160 request that says maybe the mind is the problem. And what happens if I get rid of the mind and see 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.200 what's on the other side of what the mind withholds? And this is the whole, that's the history. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:02.880 These are all the whole history of mankind's search and humankind's search for things. Everything from, 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:09.120 you know, from drugs, from frenzies, from alcohol abuse, from, you know, dancing and mantras and 00:22:09.120 --> 00:22:14.400 chanting and stopping your mind and quietening your, all and everything from using your mind. It's a whole, 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:21.120 whole gamut of things. It's using psychedelics. It's, it's going into altered states of consciousness. It's, 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:28.239 it's sharpening your consciousness. Verse four, I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards 00:22:28.239 --> 00:22:34.559 for myself. I mean, what's a constant vanity project for athletes and, and, and musicians and, 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:39.679 and, and movie stars is to have their own vineyard with their own wines named after themselves. 00:22:39.679 --> 00:22:45.839 This is just today's news. This isn't, this is today. Verse five, I made myself gardens and parks 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:50.639 and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the, 00:22:50.639 --> 00:22:56.159 the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves. Remember, this is not a, 00:22:56.159 --> 00:23:00.879 this isn't saying, go ahead and do these. I'm only pursuing good things. He pursues evil things. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:09.279 What is one of the persistent ideas that will give satisfaction? Absolute power over people. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:19.839 It might not be yours. Hopefully it isn't. But there is a perennial attraction to power, 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:29.279 the lust for power. Verse seven continues, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:36.240 possessions of herds and flocks more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I gathered for myself 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:41.519 silver and gold, the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers. How many people have thought of music 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:46.799 as a source of ultimate meaning? Both men and women, and many concubines. A concubine is a woman 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:53.839 that you're not married to that you can have sex with. That's what it said. That's the good life. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:24:01.039 These are all the different paths to the good life. The delight of the sons of man. Verse nine, 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:06.159 so I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 00:24:06.159 --> 00:24:11.440 And others always, even when he was losing his mind in altered states of consciousness, 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:16.480 part of him was conscious that there was part of him there observing. And in verse 10, 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:22.720 and whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:31.440 for my heart found pleasure in all my toil. And this was the reward for all my toil. Now just a couple 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:36.559 of things. Actually, I'll read verse 11 and I'll comment. Then I considered that all that my hands had 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:45.440 done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity, all was vapor, and a striving 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:53.440 after wind. And there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Now, sort of what's going on there. 00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:59.600 The word translated here as reward is going to be an important thing in the rest of it. And it's 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:07.120 one of those words which is impossible to really translate into English. That's what I gather from 00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:12.799 the Hebrew, the commentaries on the Hebrew. And the literal word is portion. And by the way, when he says 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:18.000 it's my reward, one of the things in this whole section is that he keeps replacing it's not... 00:25:18.639 --> 00:25:24.559 It's so repetitive in the original language, it's not usually repeated in the English, 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:30.240 because it's off-putting for English grammar. But myself, myself, myself, myself, myself, 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:35.519 for myself, for myself, for myself, for myself, for myself, for myself. And the reward is a portion. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:40.720 And the question which you're going to eventually see is where that reward comes from. Is it a reward that 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:45.680 he earns? Or is there a portion, that's the literal word, that comes to him from somewhere else? 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:52.160 That's going to be another one of the riddles throughout it all. And what you see is that 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:58.160 a lot of these things gave him pleasure, and that was something that he understood as a portion that 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:07.200 came to him. But the gain word here, that's the big question. It shows the fact that we want something 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:13.759 more out of experience and out of our work. It's not just enough to have pleasure. We want something 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:20.480 more from it. We want something that is going to make us, or that we have created after us, that will 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:30.240 point back to us, that is transcendent, that is eternal, that is constant, that is permanent. And we want 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:37.680 these projects and these accomplishments to be something that comes from us, so that even if 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:44.240 we've died, that in the future people keep looking back and seeing us. And that's this whole word of 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:53.359 gain. That's what we want. Why is it that we want something like that? And why is it that when it doesn't 00:26:53.359 --> 00:27:00.559 happen, it bothers us? And these are the questions the writer Solomon is going to keep putting in our face. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:08.319 And it continues now in another version in verse 12. And now it's going to be something which is a bit more 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:14.799 spiritual. It's not as obvious because of the imagery, but look at verse 12. So I turned to consider wisdom 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:21.279 and madness and folly, for what can the man or the woman do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:31.519 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:38.639 In other words, what he's saying here is, it's not going to be gain. We're going to see that in a moment. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:46.160 But he realizes, see here's one of the things which is about him, is he's not a nihilist. He's not a cynic. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:51.759 And he's not a Buddhist. He's going to acknowledge that there are some things better than others, 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:57.680 and that pleasure is something good. But it isn't good enough for what he wants. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:02.720 There's something better about wisdom than foolishness. There's something better about 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:09.640 light than darkness. But it's not enough for what he wants, what he's in a sense lusting after. Verse 14, 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:16.200 the wise person has his eyes in the head, his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived, 00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:22.040 here's the thing, here's where death comes in, and I perceived that the same event happens to all of them, 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:27.540 the wise and the fool. And by the way, light and darkness, that's a symbolizing of a spiritual quest. 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:33.320 And it's everything involved in a spiritual quest, whether we have it specifically like religious quest, 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:37.880 whether it's more like what we would talk about as a spiritual but not religious quest. It's 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:42.940 pursuit of light and darkness is everything, and that there's, you know, there's spiritual and 00:28:42.940 --> 00:28:47.920 intellectual and aesthetic and emotional light and darkness and wisdom and foolishness. 00:28:48.280 --> 00:28:54.100 So it's everything from intellectual pursuits to spiritual to aesthetic pursuits, all those things 00:28:54.100 --> 00:28:59.040 that get wrapped together in what we would consider being religious or spiritual. And then in verse 15, 00:28:59.100 --> 00:29:03.660 then I said in my heart, what happens to the fool will also happen, will happen to me also. 00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:13.019 Why then have I been so very wise? And I said in my heart, this also is vapor and vanity. Verse 16, 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:19.120 for of the wise as of the fool, there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come, 00:29:19.220 --> 00:29:27.300 all will have been long forgotten how the wise dies just like the fool. And here's the words that 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:40.759 people are shocked in the Bible. So I hated life. I hated life. I have had so many people tell me they hate 00:29:40.759 --> 00:29:50.879 their life. I hate my life. Maybe some of you here today, I hated life because what is done under the sun 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:54.660 was grievous to me for all is vanity and striving after the wind. 00:29:58.860 --> 00:30:04.860 I'm not asking for a show of hands, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than five or six 00:30:04.860 --> 00:30:09.380 people who could tell me the name of the rector of Church of the Messiah, St. Albans, before me. 00:30:09.380 --> 00:30:12.340 I know you could, Andrew. 00:30:15.860 --> 00:30:19.780 Right? Might only be five people in the congregation or a little bit more than that, 00:30:20.100 --> 00:30:22.080 that remember who was here before me. 00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:29.360 I mean, I have to consider the fact that when I finally stepped down as the rector of Church of the 00:30:29.360 --> 00:30:35.760 Messiah, that 30 years after that, if the next rector or the rector after that or the third rector 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:41.720 after me asked, how many people know the guy who stepped down on this date? I bet there's not more 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:42.559 than five of you. 00:30:52.319 --> 00:31:02.960 I mean, just to make it really crucial, verse 16, the murderer of Charlie Kirk in the state of Utah 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:09.799 can die. There's the death penalty. And whether that takes three years or five years, 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:15.559 and they almost definitely will not be in the same grave. One will be in Utah if he has a grave, 00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:19.460 and the other one will be in Arizona. I don't know if he's going to have a grave or he'll be cremated. 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:24.539 But in theory, in some time in five years, you can go to see the graves of both. 00:31:28.100 --> 00:31:30.180 Why does that make us very uncomfortable? 00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:38.700 See, what longings and yearnings of our hearts does that reveal that we have, that that makes us 00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:47.360 uncomfortable? It's an uncomfortable truth, but it's true. Well, it continues, verse 19. I have to... 00:31:47.360 --> 00:31:48.200 Verse 18. 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:55.820 I hated all my toil. It's more of his comment on his quest. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the 00:31:55.819 --> 00:32:00.200 sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will 00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:07.599 be wise or a fool. Yet he will be the master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:14.519 sun. This also is vanity, it's vapor. So I turned and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of 00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:19.799 my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill 00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:27.700 must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is a vanity, a vapor, and a 00:32:27.700 --> 00:32:34.819 great evil. What has a man or a woman from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the 00:32:34.819 --> 00:32:41.379 sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. 00:32:41.380 --> 00:32:48.880 This also is vanity. To make it very concrete, you work really hard, you save, you're very, very disciplined, 00:32:49.120 --> 00:32:55.200 and maybe you have children of your own, maybe it's just a nephew or a niece, and you save, and you even in 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:59.560 your retirement, you're frugal, because one of the goals in your life is that you want to leave some money 00:32:59.560 --> 00:33:06.260 and something to your children behind you, and let's say you just have one daughter, and you die, and 00:33:06.259 --> 00:33:13.359 you know, you leave a million dollars to your daughter, and then six months after you die, she marries a huckster 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:19.440 who steals all the money from her, and how would you make, how that make you feel if you knew that in advance? 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:33.079 I mean, one of the questions in all of this is, there's a famous, semi-famous, I hate it when I, I hate it when 00:33:33.079 --> 00:33:39.299 people say famous, and you'd never heard of it before, so I apologize when I do it. I really do, but in some 00:33:39.299 --> 00:33:45.720 circles, there's a famous line by the, the fellow who was, he committed suicide, he's a famous writer, 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:50.740 David Foster Wallace, and he was doing a commencement address somewhere, and he told this story, which is 00:33:50.740 --> 00:33:55.439 famous in certain circles, and I think I've said it here, so some of you remember it. One day an old fish 00:33:55.439 --> 00:34:00.740 was swimming along in the water, and he comes across two younger fish swimming the opposite way, and as the 00:34:00.740 --> 00:34:05.819 old fish passes the young fish, he says to the old, the young, old fish says to the younger fish, how's the 00:34:05.819 --> 00:34:12.500 water? And the two young fish says, great. They keep swimming the old fish this way, the young feet, two 00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:18.559 fish this way, and about 50 feet past the old fish, one young fish says to the other, what's water? 00:34:21.739 --> 00:34:27.460 You see, one of the things which this book is doing is it's making us aware of the fact of the 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:34.099 world we actually live in without ever noticing it, and here you can puzzle for yourself over several 00:34:34.099 --> 00:34:49.220 things. Do dogs worry about gain and doing things which are eternal? The fish. Well, why is it that we 00:34:49.220 --> 00:34:56.000 live in a world which is the way the world is, and yet these things make us uncomfortable, that we will 00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:02.500 not be remembered. We will be remembered for a short period of time, but then we will be forgotten, 00:35:02.739 --> 00:35:10.539 that our accomplishments will be forgotten. Why is it that that makes us despair and feel uncomfortable? 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:16.239 What does that say about us as human beings? And one of the things that the whole book is going to say 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:22.000 is the whole book is going to say that in fact what is going on is that we have a longing 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:29.280 for something which is on the other side of under the sun. We have a longing for that, 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:36.579 that we were made to have that connection with what is on the other side of under the sun. 00:35:37.380 --> 00:35:44.860 And look how he concludes. It's a very important moment, and it's taken us a while to get there, 00:35:45.340 --> 00:35:49.820 and it's a bit of the beginning of the answer which he's going to want to try to give us in the whole 00:35:49.820 --> 00:35:56.340 book. And hopefully I'll just take the time. You've been very patient to look a little bit at what this 00:35:56.340 --> 00:36:04.760 means practically for us. Look at verse 24. He pauses after all of these quests, all the wine, 00:36:04.900 --> 00:36:09.580 all the women, all the wealth, all the building projects, all the creativity, all the artistic 00:36:09.580 --> 00:36:15.300 stuff, all the technical skill. Verse 24, there is nothing better for a person than he should ink, 00:36:15.300 --> 00:36:21.360 that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. Now that's a surprise. 00:36:23.820 --> 00:36:28.720 This also I saw is from the hand of God. 00:36:31.900 --> 00:36:38.840 Joy and pleasure is a gift that comes to you from the hand of God. 00:36:38.840 --> 00:36:52.300 For apart from him, that is God, who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him, 00:36:52.300 --> 00:36:56.480 I'll explain what this means in a moment, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, 00:36:57.420 --> 00:37:02.840 but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting only to give to one 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:08.519 who pleases God. This also is vanity and striving after wind. Not the earlier part, the striving after 00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:14.019 wind and all that's referring back to the sinner and the business of gathering and collecting. It's not 00:37:14.019 --> 00:37:20.340 referring to the 24, 25 and the first half of 26. So here's the thing, several of the things in 00:37:20.340 --> 00:37:28.760 conclusion about what the writer is saying. The first thing is this, that when we take the things that 00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:35.220 we're doing, when I take the things that I'm doing right now, and if I try to say that the whole hope 00:37:35.220 --> 00:37:39.860 of my sermon is that I'm going to do something which makes an eternal difference that I've accomplished 00:37:39.860 --> 00:37:45.540 by my own power, that will be remembered forever, that something transcended. When I put a weight on 00:37:45.540 --> 00:37:49.100 all those things, it will only lead me to despair. 00:37:49.099 --> 00:38:00.400 Pleasure and joy and accomplishment cannot bear the weight of being something eternal and transcendent 00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:08.059 that flows from me. And it will mean I end up even losing the possible enjoyment and satisfaction 00:38:08.059 --> 00:38:14.000 what I did because I want it to accomplish this other thing and it will just crush me. 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:18.420 But if I take moments of joy 00:38:18.420 --> 00:38:21.420 and moments of wisdom 00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:25.960 and moments of an accomplishment in a good task well done 00:38:25.960 --> 00:38:30.440 and rather than thinking it should be a light as if it comes from me 00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:34.099 that people in the future can look down that light and see me 00:38:34.099 --> 00:38:38.460 but I realize it is a gift that has come from God 00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:41.659 and it is as if I stand in the light 00:38:41.659 --> 00:38:46.259 of the sunbeam and I look and I can see 00:38:46.259 --> 00:38:48.739 through 00:38:48.739 --> 00:38:52.079 that barrier that is between us and God 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:53.319 and I can see God 00:38:53.319 --> 00:38:55.960 that it's something not that is for my 00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:57.079 vanity 00:38:57.079 --> 00:39:01.219 but something as an opportunity for me to look 00:39:01.219 --> 00:39:02.859 Psalm 12 00:39:02.859 --> 00:39:06.059 eternal joy, eternal pleasure 00:39:06.059 --> 00:39:07.759 is at God's right hand. 00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:11.640 life is not something for me 00:39:11.640 --> 00:39:12.460 it's not 00:39:12.460 --> 00:39:17.220 a set of tasks for me to master for my glory 00:39:17.220 --> 00:39:19.580 life is a gift 00:39:19.580 --> 00:39:26.360 the joy that you get from having that first cup of coffee in the morning 00:39:26.360 --> 00:39:27.980 or your cup of tea or whatever it is 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:29.700 that is a gift that comes from God 00:39:29.700 --> 00:39:31.220 that you should relish and enjoy 00:39:31.220 --> 00:39:35.400 doesn't have to transform your life or bring your glory 00:39:35.400 --> 00:39:38.139 but it is something you can actually just sit down and enjoy 00:39:38.139 --> 00:39:40.740 all the more reason to say grace over it 00:39:40.740 --> 00:39:44.000 that walk you do this afternoon in the sunshine 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.840 and there's no mosquitoes and you can enjoy the day 00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:49.200 and it is designed not for you to think 00:39:49.200 --> 00:39:50.200 how can I do so 00:39:50.200 --> 00:39:53.099 how it's so so sad that this will all go away 00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:54.160 and I'm going to die in a moment 00:39:54.160 --> 00:39:56.559 no it's an opportunity for you to pause and reflect 00:39:56.559 --> 00:39:58.760 and to look beyond the pleasure and the joy 00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:00.680 to the one who gives it to you 00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:03.419 because the fact of the matter is is I am vapor 00:40:03.419 --> 00:40:05.539 that the reason I am vapor 00:40:05.539 --> 00:40:07.980 do not just completely disperse right now 00:40:07.980 --> 00:40:09.019 is completely and utterly 00:40:09.019 --> 00:40:14.319 because I am held together by the one who is beyond the sun 00:40:14.319 --> 00:40:15.940 God holds me together 00:40:15.940 --> 00:40:19.199 and God gives gifts to his people 00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:21.179 he gives gifts to all people 00:40:21.179 --> 00:40:24.960 and the whole thing about sinners and sinlessness 00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:26.919 that's also just telling us another 00:40:26.919 --> 00:40:28.759 another very very important thing 00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:31.340 it's not saying that the task of my life 00:40:31.340 --> 00:40:33.700 is to live such a sinless life 00:40:33.700 --> 00:40:36.240 and and be so vain and so powerful 00:40:36.240 --> 00:40:38.400 that people from the future look down 00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:40.540 the glory of me 00:40:40.540 --> 00:40:44.060 to see how I've accomplished sinlessness 00:40:44.060 --> 00:40:47.020 it's for me to realize 00:40:47.020 --> 00:40:48.860 that even my sinlessness 00:40:48.860 --> 00:40:50.580 and being held together 00:40:50.580 --> 00:40:52.380 has to be a gift 00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:55.840 that comes to me undeserving 00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:59.559 and here we are completely 00:40:59.559 --> 00:41:01.780 and utterly prepared for the gospel 00:41:01.780 --> 00:41:04.360 the gospel is this good news 00:41:04.360 --> 00:41:05.440 follow the clues 00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:06.480 follow the hints 00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:07.559 follow the light 00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:08.420 look up 00:41:08.420 --> 00:41:10.360 realize that everything that is good 00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:11.280 is gift 00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:13.059 you are always going to be vapor 00:41:13.059 --> 00:41:14.760 but understand that you are vapor 00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:16.019 held together by God 00:41:16.019 --> 00:41:17.680 but here is this profound truth 00:41:17.680 --> 00:41:20.440 God sent the greatest of all gifts 00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:21.800 in the person of his son 00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:23.460 and God the son of God 00:41:23.460 --> 00:41:25.740 took into himself our human nature 00:41:25.740 --> 00:41:27.619 he took into himself vapor 00:41:27.619 --> 00:41:29.480 and so he became 00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:31.320 not two weird creatures 00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:32.720 or some type of cyborg 00:41:32.720 --> 00:41:33.740 but one person 00:41:33.740 --> 00:41:35.519 and when you look at him as man 00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:37.420 he is vapor held together by God 00:41:37.420 --> 00:41:39.400 when you look at him as as God 00:41:39.400 --> 00:41:40.740 he is God the son of God 00:41:40.740 --> 00:41:42.460 the creator and sustainer of all things 00:41:42.460 --> 00:41:44.059 but he's not two separate beings 00:41:44.059 --> 00:41:45.659 he is just one person 00:41:45.659 --> 00:41:48.019 and God the son of God 00:41:48.019 --> 00:41:50.699 came into our world as vapor 00:41:50.699 --> 00:41:53.079 and as and a world of vanity 00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:54.960 and striving after the wind 00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:57.279 but without ever becoming vain 00:41:57.279 --> 00:41:59.139 or striving after the wind himself 00:41:59.139 --> 00:42:02.039 he came to be God's profound gift 00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:06.639 to understand that all life 00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:07.739 ultimately is a gift 00:42:07.739 --> 00:42:08.980 and when we put our hands 00:42:08.980 --> 00:42:10.219 in the hands of Christ 00:42:10.219 --> 00:42:12.159 and accept him as our savior 00:42:12.159 --> 00:42:13.919 and take him into himself 00:42:13.919 --> 00:42:15.339 and as he starts to form us 00:42:15.339 --> 00:42:17.019 he is going to form us 00:42:17.019 --> 00:42:19.059 in the direction of understanding 00:42:19.059 --> 00:42:21.299 that every second is a gift 00:42:21.299 --> 00:42:24.179 it's not my due 00:42:24.179 --> 00:42:25.019 it's a gift 00:42:25.019 --> 00:42:27.079 enjoy that moment as a gift 00:42:27.079 --> 00:42:28.320 but he comes 00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:31.000 and my future is not that after death 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:31.860 because of Christ 00:42:31.860 --> 00:42:34.320 I become another eternal being like him 00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:36.400 but I can rest in the confidence 00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:37.799 that all my learning 00:42:37.799 --> 00:42:39.679 yearnings and longings 00:42:39.679 --> 00:42:41.579 for eternity and transcendence 00:42:41.579 --> 00:42:43.460 is only given to me as a gift 00:42:43.460 --> 00:42:45.500 when I put my faith and trust in Christ 00:42:45.500 --> 00:42:47.119 and after death 00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:48.400 I am still vapor 00:42:48.400 --> 00:42:50.699 but I have this solemn promise 00:42:50.699 --> 00:42:51.940 by almighty God 00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:53.360 that for all eternity 00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:55.119 I will dwell in his presence 00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:56.340 and I will be filled 00:42:56.340 --> 00:42:57.599 with a fullness of pleasure 00:42:57.599 --> 00:42:58.739 that would unmake me 00:42:58.739 --> 00:42:59.840 on this side of the grave 00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:01.320 and that for all eternity 00:43:01.320 --> 00:43:03.039 I will be held together 00:43:03.039 --> 00:43:04.539 by the hand of God 00:43:04.539 --> 00:43:05.860 and in the love of God 00:43:05.860 --> 00:43:06.500 in Christ 00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:09.219 brothers and sisters 00:43:09.219 --> 00:43:10.500 that is the gospel promise 00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:14.619 enjoy this day 00:43:14.619 --> 00:43:17.079 enjoy this time 00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:19.159 and give thanks and praise 00:43:19.159 --> 00:43:20.920 I invite you to stand 00:43:20.920 --> 00:43:29.480 bow your heads in prayer 00:43:29.480 --> 00:43:34.059 father we give you thanks and praise 00:43:34.059 --> 00:43:35.860 that when we give our lives to Christ 00:43:35.860 --> 00:43:38.320 it is not that we change our species 00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:39.539 and all of a sudden 00:43:39.539 --> 00:43:41.519 while everybody else around us 00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:42.100 is vapor 00:43:42.100 --> 00:43:44.120 in a world that is fleeting 00:43:44.120 --> 00:43:44.920 that we somehow 00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:46.039 aren't vapor 00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:48.039 we give you thanks and praise 00:43:48.039 --> 00:43:49.600 that you give us something better 00:43:49.600 --> 00:43:52.039 you give us something better 00:43:52.039 --> 00:43:53.360 that we remain ourselves 00:43:53.360 --> 00:43:54.460 we remain vapor 00:43:54.460 --> 00:43:55.200 but we know 00:43:55.200 --> 00:43:56.440 that on this side of the grave 00:43:56.440 --> 00:43:57.120 you are the one 00:43:57.120 --> 00:43:58.140 who holds us together 00:43:58.140 --> 00:43:58.840 in your love 00:43:58.840 --> 00:44:00.800 and that in a far greater 00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:01.460 and truer 00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:03.300 and in the only possible way 00:44:03.300 --> 00:44:04.900 to fully and truly enjoy 00:44:04.900 --> 00:44:05.980 and be in the new heaven 00:44:05.980 --> 00:44:06.559 and the new earth 00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:07.360 in all eternity 00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:09.320 is that when we put our faith 00:44:09.320 --> 00:44:10.400 and trust in Christ 00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:11.860 and your Holy Spirit 00:44:11.860 --> 00:44:13.500 comes inside of us 00:44:13.500 --> 00:44:14.880 that we have your solemn 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:15.640 and wonderful 00:44:15.640 --> 00:44:16.240 and glorious 00:44:16.240 --> 00:44:17.420 and beautiful promise 00:44:17.420 --> 00:44:19.240 that for all eternity 00:44:19.240 --> 00:44:20.440 you will hold us together 00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:21.180 in your love 00:44:21.180 --> 00:44:24.099 and that we will not live 00:44:24.099 --> 00:44:24.960 under the sun 00:44:24.960 --> 00:44:26.960 but we will live every day 00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:27.880 in the future 00:44:27.880 --> 00:44:29.559 in the full presence 00:44:29.559 --> 00:44:30.280 of your love 00:44:30.280 --> 00:44:30.880 and your beauty 00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:31.660 and your glory 00:44:31.660 --> 00:44:33.539 and that we will drink it in 00:44:33.539 --> 00:44:34.640 and be filled with joy 00:44:34.640 --> 00:44:35.220 and pleasure 00:44:35.220 --> 00:44:36.200 for all eternity 00:44:36.199 --> 00:44:37.739 and have tasks to do 00:44:37.739 --> 00:44:39.179 that are glorious 00:44:39.179 --> 00:44:39.879 and wonderful 00:44:39.879 --> 00:44:41.439 and gives you the glory 00:44:41.439 --> 00:44:43.359 and so we ask Father 00:44:43.359 --> 00:44:45.539 that you make this gospel truth 00:44:45.539 --> 00:44:47.000 more real to our heart 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:48.559 that you would help us 00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:50.579 to die from all of our eternity 00:44:50.579 --> 00:44:52.659 and transcendence projects 00:44:52.659 --> 00:44:54.679 and that you might grant us 00:44:54.679 --> 00:44:55.639 that humble gift 00:44:55.639 --> 00:44:56.939 of enjoying the good things 00:44:56.939 --> 00:44:57.919 you give us each day 00:44:57.919 --> 00:44:58.599 and the tasks 00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:00.079 you give us to do each day 00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:01.819 that we might do them 00:45:01.819 --> 00:45:02.919 not for our glory 00:45:02.919 --> 00:45:04.119 but for your glory 00:45:04.119 --> 00:45:05.219 and for the good of others 00:45:05.219 --> 00:45:06.759 and we ask these things 00:45:06.759 --> 00:45:07.679 in the name of Jesus 00:45:07.679 --> 00:45:08.400 your Son 00:45:08.400 --> 00:45:09.239 and our Savior 00:45:09.239 --> 00:45:10.679 Amen 00:45:10.679 --> 00:45:12.339 you 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 --> 00:45:12.339 00:45:12.339 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