WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.620 Great, welcome. It's a bit of a cliché question, I know, but if you knew you only had one day to live, how would you live it? 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:24.019 That is the question, isn't it, of what is worth doing with the limited time that we have in this life, life under the sun. 00:00:24.799 --> 00:00:30.439 That's the big question that's been on the preacher's mind in Ecclesiastes, all the way through the book. 00:00:31.259 --> 00:00:37.060 Do you remember how he starts off the book, way back in chapter 1, verse 2, his little mini-sermon, 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:45.020 vanity of vanities, all is vanity. He asks, doesn't he, what's the point of life? 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:53.800 And as we come nearer to the end of the book, from chapter 9 to the end, he's going to start tying up some of the loose ends 00:00:53.800 --> 00:00:59.880 and to begin to answer that question. And as you begin to answer that question with him, 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:05.939 there are a few more things that he just wants to slip in before we make our conclusions. 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:14.280 A few more things that he has to say. And there are three things in our passage today that he wants us to make. 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:22.239 Before you answer, how should I live in this world, he says, you need to look again with me 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:28.439 precisely at what this world is like before you decide what to do in it. 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:35.079 So first thing he says here, look at the world fully again with me. 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:38.620 Look at the world fully again with me. 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.579 If you just drop your eye down to verse 1 there. 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:46.439 All this I laid to heart, examining it all. 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:51.120 Now do you see what he's doing here at the beginning of chapter 9? 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:54.840 He's beginning to draw conclusions, isn't he? 00:01:55.539 --> 00:02:00.640 To lay all that he's examined to heart up until this point. 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:07.340 He wants to rewind the tape of the whole book and play us the video again. 00:02:07.340 --> 00:02:16.580 Let's look at this world fully, realistically, properly, with our eyes fully open to reality. 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:23.640 And as he does that, I wonder whether quietly in ourselves we're just thinking, not again. 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:27.900 Not again, preacher. Do we have to go through this again? 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:31.920 He's quite repetitive, isn't he, as a preacher. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.719 He says the same things again and again. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:40.479 None of what he's going to say in chapter 9 is particularly new. 00:02:41.679 --> 00:02:48.179 But he does that because his perspective on the world is so different to our perspective. 00:02:49.539 --> 00:02:53.399 And it takes a while for us to understand where he's coming from. 00:02:53.400 --> 00:03:02.319 He knows that we have made for ourselves little metaphorical sandcastles to live in. 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:09.340 Castles in our mind, in our attitude, in our perspective on the world. 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:15.340 And we look out of our little sandcastles and we think that the world is a certain way. 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.500 That the world is there to be used. 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:22.159 That we are in control of our lives. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:26.879 That I can dictate what is going to happen to me and my family. 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:29.740 That I can operate the future. 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:37.439 The motto for that view of the world, of enjoyment, is simply in the one word, gain. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.620 That is our natural perspective. 00:03:42.300 --> 00:03:45.979 So how do sandcastles get knocked down normally? 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:48.800 Well, by waves. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:58.040 And so with each repetition of his message, he sends wave after wave after wave. 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.300 And he begins to break us down. 00:04:02.040 --> 00:04:06.100 To erode and wash away that perspective we have. 00:04:06.200 --> 00:04:10.340 Which actually, he says, has no bearing on reality. 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:12.000 Not really. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:17.019 Because if you look at the world with your eyes fully open. 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:22.759 He says to us, your castles cannot stand in this world. 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:29.579 Life on the ground does not work as we want it to, humanly speaking. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.459 It actually makes very little sense. 00:04:32.459 --> 00:04:35.319 Look at the world fully, he says. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.339 And it's mad. 00:04:37.979 --> 00:04:39.539 It's a mad world, he says. 00:04:41.060 --> 00:04:42.060 Let's rewind. 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:47.500 Look again, for instance, at the madness of events. 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:50.339 Events that happen to us all. 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:51.959 Just look at verse 2. 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:54.319 It's the same for all. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.339 Since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked. 00:04:57.919 --> 00:04:59.239 To the good and the evil. 00:04:59.479 --> 00:05:00.919 To the clean and the unclean. 00:05:01.339 --> 00:05:04.519 To him who sacrifices and he who does not sacrifice. 00:05:05.779 --> 00:05:09.359 The key line there is at the beginning of verse 2. 00:05:09.979 --> 00:05:12.120 It is the same for all. 00:05:14.179 --> 00:05:16.919 Here is the madness of the world in which we live. 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:24.319 The same events, the same things happen for very different people. 00:05:25.640 --> 00:05:27.640 And he gives a list, doesn't he, of very different people. 00:05:27.780 --> 00:05:29.640 Righteous and wicked, good and evil. 00:05:30.340 --> 00:05:33.139 Clean and unclean, religious or non-religious. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.620 But madly, he says, it's the same for all. 00:05:39.200 --> 00:05:42.780 Cancer happens to atheists and Christians. 00:05:42.779 --> 00:05:47.319 Redundancy for the good and the bad. 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.979 Success for the wicked and the righteous. 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:53.619 Mad, mad. 00:05:54.479 --> 00:05:55.119 Unfair. 00:05:56.500 --> 00:05:59.539 Man doesn't know whether he'll experience love or hate. 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:00.319 Verse 1. 00:06:02.099 --> 00:06:05.119 The actions of the righteous and the wise are in the hand of God. 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:11.839 But from our point of view, they're enigmatic, inscrutable, unpredictable, strange hands. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:13.000 Aren't they? 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:18.479 Isn't it mad that bad things happen to good people, good things to bad? 00:06:19.299 --> 00:06:20.579 It's all the same. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:22.739 Isn't it? 00:06:23.719 --> 00:06:26.779 We say to each other, good luck, good luck. 00:06:27.799 --> 00:06:29.659 And that is a confession, isn't it? 00:06:29.699 --> 00:06:36.799 It's a confession that deep down we know that we don't know what the future holds. 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:39.199 The madness of events. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:44.599 Then he says, look again at the winners and the losers in this world. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:51.379 It's mad, in verse 11, that the best aren't always at the top. 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:56.439 The race isn't always to the swift or the battle to the strong. 00:06:56.539 --> 00:06:58.099 And he gives other examples, doesn't he? 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:06.820 The bosses in the workplace or the winners in life aren't always the people who are best at their jobs. 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:10.500 They're not always the ones who put in the most work. 00:07:11.840 --> 00:07:14.000 Lazy people sometimes get rich. 00:07:15.140 --> 00:07:17.680 Useless people get praised sometimes. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.780 Those at the top don't always know the most. 00:07:22.840 --> 00:07:28.459 It's mad that sometimes it's, as they say, not what you know. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.759 The winners aren't always the best. 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:32.480 It's mad. 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.639 And then he says, look again at the madness of death. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:43.560 There's this nonsensical, indiscriminate, cold injustice to it, isn't there? 00:07:44.659 --> 00:07:49.539 Whether you're good or bad, religious or not, the same end. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.560 Death comes to all, regardless. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:08:00.000 You know, listening to some of the testimonies of people who survived Grenfell Tower, 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:04.360 it's quite clear, isn't it, that those who were caught up in that disaster, 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:06.399 there was a mixture of people there. 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:10.920 There was a mixture of good people and bad people. 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:14.800 But death is no respecter of persons. 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:21.500 From our point of view, on the ground, the grim reaper is just not fair, is he? 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:24.319 He cuts people down in their prime. 00:08:25.180 --> 00:08:28.339 He allows bad people to keep on living too long. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:29.860 It's mad. 00:08:31.339 --> 00:08:35.799 And not only is it mad, he says it's wrong. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:37.039 It's just wrong. 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:41.320 Verse 3 again, that refrain that we've seen throughout the book. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:48.500 It's a grievous evil that the same event, the same death happens to all. 00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:55.500 Regardless of lifestyle, of morals, of our controls, of our plans and of all of our securities, 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:57.840 the same thing happens to all of us. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.440 So can you feel your cattle starting to crumble? 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:06.720 Can you feel it falling around you? 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:10.620 How are you going to live in this mad world? 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:15.639 Well, his answer is quite surprising actually. 00:09:15.980 --> 00:09:18.560 He says, look fully at the world in all its madness. 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:23.019 But then, secondly, live life fully in the world. 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:25.160 Live life fully in the world. 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:30.600 Because there's one thing worse than living in this mad world. 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:33.700 He says, there's one thing worse than that. 00:09:33.800 --> 00:09:35.860 It is perishing from it. 00:09:37.180 --> 00:09:39.460 It is being taken from it. 00:09:41.060 --> 00:09:44.180 His solution to the question of the madness of life 00:09:44.180 --> 00:09:48.540 is to discover the alternative in death. 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:55.360 That's his point in that bit that we smile at in verse 4, isn't it there? 00:09:55.839 --> 00:09:59.199 A living dog is better than a dead lion. 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:00.620 It's a really great image. 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:03.899 When he says dog there, he means a mongrel, 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:06.779 kind of scrawny animal, a street dog. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.939 As much as we bemoan the problems of life, 00:10:10.939 --> 00:10:14.839 he is saying there, life is life. 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:17.300 And it's precious. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:19.940 Even if we're a dog. 00:10:21.540 --> 00:10:24.019 And he tries to convince us of that. 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:26.920 From verse 4 to verse 10, 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.100 he's trying to tell us that life is worth living. 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:34.320 Whatever you've got, whoever you are, 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:38.600 because the alternative to life is far worse. 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:42.320 You see, he says when you're alive, 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.240 verse 4, that there's always hope. 00:10:46.520 --> 00:10:48.860 When you're alive, you're connected 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:51.540 with the land of the living, with others. 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:54.360 Chance to influence and have relationships. 00:10:55.900 --> 00:10:58.120 When you're alive, it's really interesting 00:10:58.120 --> 00:10:59.660 what he says in verse 5. 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:03.420 The advantage is, you know you're going to die. 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:07.760 When you're alive, you've still got decisions to make. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.179 You've got the opportunity to gain wisdom, 00:11:11.580 --> 00:11:14.419 to let death shape how you live. 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:17.960 When you're alive, you can enjoy things. 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:19.460 You can eat and drink wine. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.419 You can enjoy life, in verse 7. 00:11:22.779 --> 00:11:25.259 When you're alive, you can get married. 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:27.659 You can enjoy good company. 00:11:28.819 --> 00:11:31.340 When you're alive, verse 10, you can work. 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:32.580 You can think. 00:11:33.319 --> 00:11:34.379 You can apply yourself. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:35.259 You can learn. 00:11:35.259 --> 00:11:38.080 You can do a whole host of things. 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:40.860 Even dogs do a lot, don't they? 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:42.899 Even dogs go into outer space. 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:47.679 But once death comes, all of that goes. 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:51.240 When you die, there are no more decisions. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:53.620 There's no more knowledge. 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:55.879 The dead know nothing, verse 5. 00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:58.139 All that is most dear to you, 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:00.639 all that you love, all that you hate, 00:12:01.439 --> 00:12:03.100 will perish along with you. 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:07.279 You've got to understand how the preacher is talking here. 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:12.279 He's not speaking literally or fully in every respect. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.779 He's speaking poetically, 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:16.620 thinking about life on one level. 00:12:17.560 --> 00:12:20.779 It's not as if there won't be any knowledge of any kind 00:12:20.779 --> 00:12:23.540 in heaven or in hell. 00:12:23.539 --> 00:12:27.980 He's not saying there won't be any consciousness after death. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.259 But as far as this world goes, 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.279 all of it will perish as far as we're concerned. 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:40.759 Your knowledge, all that you've studied and accumulated in your life, 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:42.179 all of your experience, 00:12:42.839 --> 00:12:43.860 will die with you. 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:48.820 Your missions and your projects and your personal campaigns, 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:52.100 your high horses will die with you. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.940 Your chance to change and to influence, 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:59.220 to experience, will die with you. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:04.279 In the school of life, death will come and ring the final bell. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:05.720 School's out. 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:09.460 You hear people say a lot, don't you? 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:10.639 Dream big. 00:13:11.420 --> 00:13:12.340 Dream big. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.000 But the preacher warns us of 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.600 dreaming big while living small. 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:22.779 Often we're so focused on the next thing, aren't we? 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:24.080 On what I'm going to do then, 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:26.460 when I get this thing sorted and when that's in place. 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:30.379 But the preacher flips all of that on its head 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:32.240 and he says in a way, 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:35.679 dream small and live big. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.179 Live big. 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:41.960 Because you don't know in the madness of all this world 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:44.779 what will happen and when your life will end. 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:50.960 So live this precious life while you have it. 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:56.379 Stop trying to make sense of everything and live. 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:00.279 If you look at verse 7, 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:02.220 there's a two letter word there 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:05.299 that is really weighty at the beginning of verse 7. 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:06.919 Go. 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:09.639 It says go. 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:13.519 Live as much as you can now. 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:17.580 Don't get life and let it pass you by. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:18.820 Don't waste life. 00:14:20.539 --> 00:14:22.799 And if you haven't learnt your lesson, 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:25.779 death will come and show you one last time 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:29.580 that life was never yours to take in the first place. 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:32.299 But it was given to you as a gift. 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:35.700 So verse 7, 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:36.840 the whole of verse 7, 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:39.559 sums up I think this passage 00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:42.480 and it sums up the whole of Ecclesiastes really. 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:46.159 Because the solution to all of this madness 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.340 is that we can live life fully 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:52.139 when we see that God is the giver of life. 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:54.139 Go. 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:54.139 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:55.360 Live. 00:14:55.539 --> 00:14:56.059 Live. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.179 When you know, 00:14:58.259 --> 00:14:59.179 he says there, 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.199 God has approved what you do. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:07.100 Those who truly live despite the madness 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:09.779 are people who seek God's blessing 00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:12.379 that his pleasure 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:15.059 is actually the cause of our pleasure. 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:20.059 Knowing that when we live and grab life, 00:15:20.179 --> 00:15:21.219 he smiles 00:15:21.219 --> 00:15:25.759 when we enjoy this gift of life from him 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.599 and receive it from him thankfully, 00:15:28.899 --> 00:15:29.759 he smiles. 00:15:31.099 --> 00:15:33.539 That makes all of the difference. 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:37.639 It means that life becomes totally different actually. 00:15:39.199 --> 00:15:40.519 Look at the world fully. 00:15:41.219 --> 00:15:42.199 Live in it fully. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:44.339 Thirdly, he says, 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:47.139 and paradoxically to do that, 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:48.419 let go of this world. 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:51.279 If you want to live in this world fully, 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:52.860 let go of this world. 00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:57.980 When our castles are finally washed away 00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:01.600 and we start to realise that as creatures 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.240 put in this world by a creator, 00:16:05.300 --> 00:16:07.620 we can only live in this world fully 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.440 when we refuse to worship this world. 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.580 Even though we're in it, 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.000 we can and we should let go of it, 00:16:17.180 --> 00:16:17.759 in a sense. 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:20.700 Or at least let go of that 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:23.660 one-dimensional worldly perspective 00:16:23.660 --> 00:16:25.080 that we naturally have. 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:30.080 I think Ecclesiastes is a bit like 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.700 one of those crash test dummy experiments. 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:35.200 So you know when car manufacturers, 00:16:35.400 --> 00:16:37.379 they want to test the safety of their car. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.480 And so they video a crash, don't they? 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:41.820 A controlled collision. 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:44.000 And they put a dummy in there 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.120 and see what happens to the dummy. 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:49.240 And we are like the dummies 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:51.399 being put into a crash 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:53.060 when we read Ecclesiastes. 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:57.639 This book does that to us 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:00.620 because it forces us into a collision 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:04.819 where we are smacked against the world. 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:08.099 We are bombarded against this world. 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:11.839 And what we see and observe in the world 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.500 is smashed against our conscience. 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:17.980 And our inbuilt sense of right and wrong 00:17:17.980 --> 00:17:19.039 that God has put there. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:22.960 And when we see, like the preacher here, 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:25.000 that things aren't fair. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.380 That we see that the same event happens to all. 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:31.900 We cry with him, don't we? 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:33.259 Grieve us evil. 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:36.740 And we step away from the crash 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:41.099 and say, this just cannot be all there is. 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:45.099 This just cannot be all there is to the world. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.879 This is our perspective. 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:50.180 But in the crash, 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:52.519 we're pushed into admitting 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:54.400 that there must be another perspective 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:55.799 to the world. 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:56.900 There has to be. 00:17:56.900 --> 00:18:00.200 There has to be some reward 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:02.019 or punishment 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:04.780 that the same ultimately 00:18:04.780 --> 00:18:07.220 does not happen to good or bad. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:10.800 That somehow everything will be fair 00:18:10.800 --> 00:18:11.759 in the end. 00:18:13.360 --> 00:18:14.940 And if you feel that 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:17.300 stepping out of the crash of Ecclesiastes, 00:18:17.620 --> 00:18:20.960 then happily your castle is breaking down. 00:18:21.820 --> 00:18:22.540 It is falling. 00:18:22.540 --> 00:18:22.680 It is falling. 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:26.019 The world is mad. 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:29.920 But only when we reduce ourselves down 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:31.320 to our own perspective. 00:18:32.420 --> 00:18:34.540 When we do life our way, 00:18:35.540 --> 00:18:35.880 gain. 00:18:37.320 --> 00:18:38.580 And living life like that 00:18:38.580 --> 00:18:40.880 will drive us absolutely crazy 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.320 if we limit ourselves 00:18:43.320 --> 00:18:45.120 to our own perspective alone. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.060 But when God, 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:49.580 through the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:51.259 becomes our centre, 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:52.820 everything changes then. 00:18:54.040 --> 00:18:55.380 And we can enjoy life 00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:56.740 when we hold it lightly, 00:18:56.740 --> 00:18:58.339 when we hold this world lightly. 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:02.359 He who loses life 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:03.940 for my sake and the gospel 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:06.000 will find it, 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:06.920 Jesus says. 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:08.200 Not just in heaven, 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:09.599 but now. 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:12.700 It's so counterintuitive, isn't it? 00:19:14.140 --> 00:19:15.400 We can take life 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:16.599 and live it fully 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:17.640 when we admit 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:19.480 that our portion in life 00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:22.000 is apportioned to us 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:22.619 by God. 00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:23.220 By God. 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:25.619 And we submit our lives 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:26.180 to him 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:28.200 and to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:31.460 God wants us 00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:33.079 to live life 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:35.079 and to enjoy life. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:36.079 But the key is not 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.500 just in living life, 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.299 but living life for him 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:41.180 and from him. 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:43.460 Strangely, 00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:45.400 when God's pleasure 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:47.240 we find 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:48.440 becomes our pleasure 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:49.740 in life. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:52.480 If you've got children, 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:53.600 you'll know 00:19:53.600 --> 00:19:54.640 or you'll remember 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:55.799 what it's like 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:57.620 to see your child 00:19:57.620 --> 00:19:59.060 enjoy pleasure. 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:00.019 It's a great thing. 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:02.359 I took our two-year-old 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:04.200 out a couple of weeks ago 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:06.019 and went to Walpole Park 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:06.379 but I thought 00:20:06.379 --> 00:20:07.059 I'm going to buy him 00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:07.839 a bacon roll. 00:20:08.859 --> 00:20:10.299 And not just any bacon roll. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.599 A giant adult-sized 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:13.200 bacon roll 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:14.180 from Wenzel's 00:20:14.180 --> 00:20:15.079 in West Ealing 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:16.639 just to see his face. 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:19.000 And it was just 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:20.480 filled with surprise 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:22.180 that I could be 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:23.500 so irresponsible 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:24.879 as to give him 00:20:24.879 --> 00:20:25.720 this bacon roll. 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:27.460 It was filled 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:28.400 with pleasure 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.259 and shock 00:20:30.259 --> 00:20:32.620 that I could give him 00:20:32.620 --> 00:20:33.140 this thing. 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:35.680 And in that moment 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:36.900 I approved 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:39.120 of his enjoyment. 00:20:40.340 --> 00:20:41.740 I loved seeing that. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:45.180 And God approves 00:20:45.180 --> 00:20:46.420 when we live 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:48.580 when we live 00:20:48.580 --> 00:20:49.540 for him 00:20:49.540 --> 00:20:51.380 and not for ourselves. 00:20:51.660 --> 00:20:52.960 That makes him smile. 00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:55.500 And that smile 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:56.320 can fill 00:20:56.320 --> 00:20:57.360 all you do. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:20:58.439 eating, 00:20:58.719 --> 00:20:59.039 drinking, 00:20:59.939 --> 00:21:00.259 marrying, 00:21:01.339 --> 00:21:01.859 working, 00:21:02.379 --> 00:21:02.719 resting, 00:21:03.679 --> 00:21:04.099 learning. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:05.339 His pleasure 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:06.979 will be your pleasure. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:09.219 We can even 00:21:09.219 --> 00:21:09.859 suffer, 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:10.559 can't we, 00:21:11.159 --> 00:21:12.579 with great meaning 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:14.279 knowing that the God 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:15.399 above us 00:21:15.399 --> 00:21:16.179 knows all things. 00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:17.319 The God who made us. 00:21:19.199 --> 00:21:19.459 So, 00:21:19.579 --> 00:21:20.159 what would you do 00:21:20.159 --> 00:21:21.459 if you had one day left? 00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:23.119 You could ignore the world, 00:21:23.219 --> 00:21:23.559 couldn't you, 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:24.159 as it is. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:26.120 You could despair 00:21:26.120 --> 00:21:26.540 of it. 00:21:27.540 --> 00:21:28.840 You could get angry 00:21:28.840 --> 00:21:31.519 and in some twisted pleasure 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:33.420 just destroy things 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:35.300 as a mass murderer 00:21:35.300 --> 00:21:35.940 smiles 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:36.980 as he pulls the trigger. 00:21:38.120 --> 00:21:39.140 You could reap it. 00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:40.580 You could eat, 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:40.900 drink, 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:41.480 and be merry 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:42.519 for tomorrow we die. 00:21:43.460 --> 00:21:44.580 The 16th century 00:21:44.580 --> 00:21:45.460 church reformer 00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:46.160 Martin Luther 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:47.820 was asked that question 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:50.019 and he answered like this, 00:21:50.139 --> 00:21:51.119 if I knew tomorrow 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:51.700 that the world 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:52.579 would go to pieces 00:21:52.579 --> 00:21:54.399 I would still plant 00:21:54.399 --> 00:21:55.240 my apple tree. 00:21:56.639 --> 00:21:57.319 I think Luther 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:58.500 understood the preacher 00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:00.439 who says that 00:22:00.439 --> 00:22:01.480 while it may be 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:02.220 a mad world 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:03.539 the right response 00:22:03.539 --> 00:22:04.700 in this mad world 00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:06.000 is live. 00:22:07.139 --> 00:22:07.859 Grab life. 00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:10.099 whatever your hand 00:22:10.099 --> 00:22:11.139 finds you to do, 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:12.479 do it with all your might. 00:22:13.639 --> 00:22:14.599 Go and write a book. 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:17.199 Enjoy the smell of rain 00:22:17.199 --> 00:22:18.919 on hot tarmac. 00:22:20.139 --> 00:22:21.359 Drink a Coca-Cola. 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:23.199 Phone someone. 00:22:24.019 --> 00:22:24.779 Change a nappy. 00:22:25.819 --> 00:22:26.199 Give. 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:27.159 Share. 00:22:27.479 --> 00:22:27.879 Learn. 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:29.519 Be quiet. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:30.939 Pray. 00:22:31.939 --> 00:22:32.639 Watch a film. 00:22:33.179 --> 00:22:33.519 Travel. 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:35.159 Talk to the neighbours. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:35.899 Go. 00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:37.400 Go and live 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:38.180 while you can. 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:40.880 Death may be 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.280 no respecter of persons 00:22:42.280 --> 00:22:43.800 but God is. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:45.440 So live 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.080 in this mad world 00:22:47.080 --> 00:22:47.820 because life 00:22:47.820 --> 00:22:48.860 is a precious gift 00:22:48.860 --> 00:22:50.780 and when you come 00:22:50.780 --> 00:22:51.340 to God 00:22:51.340 --> 00:22:52.440 in Jesus Christ 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:53.460 he will give you 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:55.140 licence to enjoy it 00:22:55.140 --> 00:22:57.280 and his pleasure 00:22:57.280 --> 00:22:58.440 will be your pleasure. 00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:00.460 So live for him. 00:23:01.580 --> 00:23:01.920 Pray. 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:02.960 Let's pray together.