WEBVTT

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 The old story goes of a monk and a student, and the student asked his master for advice on

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! And the older monk said to the student, go and sit in your cell and let your cell teach

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! In a way that's been the job of the preacher in Ecclesiastes this book. And as we come

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 to the conclusion of his tour that he's taken us on around the world, the realistic world

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 tour, and if you're joining us today you're here for the climax, it's a good day to join

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 us. The message that if you sit and if you look, and if you look hard enough and long

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 enough at this world in which we live, at the limits of this life, at the four walls of the

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 humanity that we live within, the cell, the world, will teach us. Perhaps not everything,

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 but it can teach us an awful lot about how to live in the world. And if we've been here

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 over the last few weeks, we know that the preacher has bombarded us with the real world. The world

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 where there is grievous evil under the sun, anomalies and injustices and frustration. And just as he began

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 the book in chapter 1, he ends it with his famous one-line sermon. It's there in verse 8.

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 Vanity of vanities, says the preacher. All is vanity. Life, with all of its questions still hanging,

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 is a life in a place where our perspective alone cannot make sense of it all. So we're at the end

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 of the tour, aren't we? And he gets us off the bus and he asks us one more question. Are you now ready

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 to submit? Are you ready to hand over your little human, flawed, limited, earthly perspective of life

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 in this world? Are you ready to hand that over to God? And are you ready to worship God?

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 If we're not ready to do that, if we're not ready to submit, there is one last chance this afternoon.

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 There's one last chance as he closes the book. In our passage we hear two voices. And first of all

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 we hear the voice of the future speaking to us. We hear the voice of the future. Reality is calling us

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 to our senses again here. And like many other times we've heard before in this book, it says to us,

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 let the impending things invigorate and change the present things. Let your tomorrows shape your todays.

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 The danger for some is that they think they've got all the time in the world. The danger for some is a

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 misspent youth. A wasted youth. You were here last week and he began speaking to a young person at the

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 end of chapter 11 and he carries on speaking to that same young person. And as we hear the voice of the

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 future, the voice of the future describes the young person or it describes you as you get older,

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 we go to the Christmas future. It's like one of those apps that you can get where it takes a photo of you

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 and it shows you what you will look like in 40, 50, 60 years time. Youngster, can you imagine yourself then,

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 he says, when there will come a time, as he says in verse 1, when the days of your life will be evil.

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 When the years of your life are years when you'll say, I've no pleasure in them.

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 See the picture that he paints of you years down the track. The picture of impending things

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 coming towards you. Now, don't just feel the analogies of the poetry here. Feel the picture.

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 See yourself here. Feel the cold. Feel the chill in the air. As faculties fade. As the sun and the moon

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 and the stars dim. Feel the darkness as the lights go out one by one. When ambitions that you hold on to

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 in your youth are let go of and parted with. When resilience fades. When time is no longer a healer,

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 but a killer. The older ones amongst us hear this voice, don't we? And we sit with a wry smile on our face.

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 And maybe we look at the young and we say, if only you knew what I know.

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 Let your tomorrows shape your todays. He pictures these future days, doesn't he, like an old abandoned house

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 that shows signs of a past glory. Emma and I, my wife, we're quite sad with the TV programmes that we watch

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 and we're years behind anyone else. But we just started watching Escape to the Chateau.

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 And it's a programme where a couple from England leave everything, leave their life behind and go and live in France.

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 And this couple, they sell a one-bedroom flat in London and buy a 45-bedroom chateau in rural France

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 for £200,000. And it's the bargain of a century. They fall in love with the charms of this grand building.

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 And it's full of details of its medieval glory and its past. Little cast-iron figures are on the banisters.

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 A priceless French hand-painted wallpaper adorns le salon. Windows crafted from the oak on the estate.

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 But when they buy it, they're given by the estate agent a lever arch file with 430 problems with the house.

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 No running water, no electricity, no sewage. He gives them 430 reasons not to buy it.

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 It's pretty much derelict.

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 And this life he describes here was once magnificent.

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 Windows filled with light, in verse 3, now dim.

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 Verse 4, doors that once swung open and welcomed guests in.

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 A life of hospitality are now shut to the streets outside.

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 As you, in the future, slowly recede away from society.

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 The palsy.

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 The fault of forgetfulness.

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 The popping joints.

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 The grinding bones.

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 Your aching muscles.

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 Your descending mist.

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 And the singing stops.

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 And those sounds which said to you, you are part of this world.

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 And you belong here.

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 And you have a place here.

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 Slowly fade.

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 And you're on your way out.

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 Dylan Thomas closes that poem that people always quote.

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 He ends it,

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 Grave men near death who see with blinding sight.

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 Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay.

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 Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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 But the real voice of the future won't have any of that.

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 It says, get real.

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 Because when those days come, there won't be any rage left.

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 The images in verse 6 are so powerful, aren't they?

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 Like a silver cord.

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 A golden bowl.

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 A pot.

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 Or a wheel.

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 Once so beautiful.

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 Your life.

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 And useful.

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 And worthy.

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 Now absolutely shattered.

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 And there is no more rage.

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 There is no more fight in you.

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 And when those days come, we will realise that it was all so fragile.

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 And it was all so light.

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 And life was not mine to take.

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 It was never all me.

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 And you were put here for a reason.

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 To remember, verse 1, your creator.

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 To live for him.

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 And life is not yours to take and eke out however you want it to.

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 But to receive and enjoy from God's hand as a gift.

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 The faculties of your mind and body in your youth.

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 They may last long into old age.

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 They are all from him and for him.

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 This passage, I think, is much harder for the young person to hear, isn't it?

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 Because we can't imagine it.

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 The arrogance of youth.

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 And Mark Twain said that when I was a boy of 14,

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 my father was so ignorant,

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 I could barely have the old man,

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 to send to have the old man around.

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 But when I got to be 21,

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 I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

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 It's hard for the young to appreciate the old.

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 To appreciate the future and to listen to the future.

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 Youth is wasted so often on the young.

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 So youngster, whoever you are,

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 let this image make you wise.

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 That your tomorrows should form your todays.

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 Youngster, remember that now while you can.

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 And don't waste life,

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 don't waste your youth

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 on the endless pursuit of earthly pleasure.

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 Don't waste your life on vanity.

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 Preacher says, I've been there, done that.

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 Let the cell of your future teach you everything.

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 Let your tomorrows shape your today.

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 And grab life and do it with all of your might.

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 Go for it and live for God.

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 Live for him.

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 Live your life for God.

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 Because God gave your life to you.

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 And in the end, verse 7, he's going to take it back.

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 The voice of the future.

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 Secondly and lastly, the voice of the preacher.

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 The voice of the preacher.

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 Who have we been listening to now

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 and over the last few weeks on Tuesday lunchtimes.

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 I think it's great that at the end

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 we get a little biographical note

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 about him, don't we, of the preacher.

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 The man that we've listened to

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 and gained wisdom from.

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 And verse 10 is the key,

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 if you look there.

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 Here's his remit.

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 The preacher sought to find words of delight.

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 And uprightly, he wrote words of truth.

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 You see his two aims there throughout the book.

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 But to give you two things,

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 he speaks into you delight and truth.

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 I hope we've seen how those two things

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 are bound together.

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 The truth can often hurt, can't it?

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 And often the most true things about us

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 are the things that we don't want to hear.

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 They're the most painful things to hear.

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 And these words in Ecclesiastes 12

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 are painful, aren't they?

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 That tell us of our future.

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 And in all of that pain and truth,

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 he's held a mirror up to our lives.

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 He's held our prognosis up to us.

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 And he's held our prospects up to us.

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 And he shows us our ridiculous pursuit

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 of pleasure and our materialism.

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 And our absurd expectations of life

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 are shattered.

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 He's been doing that throughout.

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 And they are like goads.

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 Verse 11.

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 Like spikes in a beast's leg.

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 He spikes our stubborn view of the world

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 and of ourselves.

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 And his final word is,

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 the truth is,

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 there in verse 13,

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 fear God and keep his commandments.

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 Fear God,

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 keep his commandments.

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 Life,

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 that's all there is to it, really.

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 In all of the madness,

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 there is this one answer that he gives.

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 You might be a person,

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 actually,

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 who with a real answer

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 to the question of the meaning of life,

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 if that answer came to you,

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 actually it would spoil all of your fun.

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 Maybe you've enjoyed the preacher

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 circling the world as he has done,

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 examining everything,

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 asking all the great questions that he's asked.

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 But the question is,

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 do you really want the answer?

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 The truth.

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 C.S. Lewis,

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 in his book,

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 The Great Divorce,

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 pictures this conversation about heaven

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 and about God's wisdom.

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 You've probably heard it before.

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 One character says,

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 ah,

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 but we must all interpret

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 those beautiful words in our own way.

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 For me,

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 there's no such thing as a final answer.

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 The free wind of inquiry

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 must always continue to blow

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 through the mind,

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 must it not?

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 To travel,

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 hopefully,

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 is better than to arrive.

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 The response comes,

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 there was a time

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 when you asked questions

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 because you wanted answers,

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 and you were glad

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 when you found them.

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 Become that child again,

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 even now.

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 Ah,

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 but when I became a man,

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 I put away childish things.

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 And the voice of the preacher

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 again says,

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 get real.

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 Get real with your questions.

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 Because if there is no answer,

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 then there is no hope

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 in the pursuit of it.

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 All of the questions

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 that we ask

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 are just part of,

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 in that case,

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 an endless,

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 pitiless road

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 of pure speculation,

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 of uncertainty

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 and vagueness,

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 of hopelessness.

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 If you'd rather just

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 speculate

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 about the meaning of life,

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 he says here,

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 my son,

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 beware of that.

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 Beware of going beyond

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 the simple answer

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 that I'm giving here.

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 Beware of going beyond

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 the fixed sayings

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 of the wise,

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 beyond my words.

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 Yes,

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 out there,

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 there is a whole world

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 of study

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 and of making

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 many,

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 many books.

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 A whole world

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 of opinion,

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 knock yourself out

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 if you want.

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 A whole world

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 of endless opinions,

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 diverse ideas,

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 explanations,

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 conflicting purposes.

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 But you,

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 my son,

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 I will not have you

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 thinking that

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 the number of ideas

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 out there

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 means that none

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 of them is true

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 and not one

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 of them

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 is the answer.

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 The voice

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 of the preacher

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 is authoritative,

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 isn't it?

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 It's final.

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 All has been heard.

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 He says,

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 this is the end

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 of it.

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 Fear God.

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 It's all about him.

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 This preacher,

00:16:41.719 --> 00:16:42.939
 he's been so helpful.

00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:44.360
 But in closing,

00:16:44.620 --> 00:16:45.479
 I think we see

00:16:45.479 --> 00:16:46.939
 behind his voice

00:16:46.939 --> 00:16:48.240
 is another.

00:16:49.959 --> 00:16:51.339
 And as we hear him,

00:16:52.719 --> 00:16:53.979
 I certainly feel like

00:16:53.979 --> 00:16:54.879
 I'm not sure

00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:55.819
 how to take him.

00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:56.419
 I'm not sure

00:16:56.419 --> 00:16:57.219
 how to relate

00:16:57.219 --> 00:16:58.099
 to the preacher.

00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.179
 He sounds godly

00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:02.899
 and he sounds

00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:03.740
 really wise,

00:17:03.939 --> 00:17:05.259
 but we know

00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:06.220
 that he isn't

00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:07.200
 God himself.

00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:10.279
 If he is Solomon,

00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:12.079
 he is a very,

00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:13.240
 very wise man,

00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:14.619
 but he is not God.

00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:16.960
 And it's right

00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:17.740
 that we recognise

00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:18.299
 that.

00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:20.180
 Because not even

00:17:20.180 --> 00:17:21.539
 the wisest men,

00:17:21.619 --> 00:17:22.559
 not even the best

00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:23.480
 preachers,

00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:25.019
 can save you.

00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:26.879
 They can't even

00:17:26.879 --> 00:17:27.720
 save themselves.

00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:30.400
 And he wants

00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:31.259
 to remind you

00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:31.980
 that, doesn't he?

00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:33.079
 All of these sayings

00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:34.059
 I've given you,

00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:34.920
 verse 11,

00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:36.700
 are given by

00:17:36.700 --> 00:17:37.839
 one shepherd.

00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:40.819
 That word is

00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:41.440
 loaded.

00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:45.180
 Behind his sayings

00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:46.720
 and behind his voice,

00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.119
 we hear the echoes

00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:51.200
 of the shepherd's voice.

00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:53.839
 God,

00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:55.140
 who speaks to us

00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:56.640
 in a man's accent

00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.119
 and in a man's voice.

00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.259
 A voice who knows

00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:03.059
 what it is like

00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:03.899
 to live in this

00:18:03.899 --> 00:18:04.899
 mad world.

00:18:05.859 --> 00:18:06.619
 And he knows

00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:07.379
 our needs.

00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:08.359
 And he knows

00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:10.079
 what the four walls

00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:11.019
 of the cell

00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:12.419
 are like.

00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:13.740
 Truly,

00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:14.299
 he does.

00:18:15.899 --> 00:18:17.119
 We hear a shepherd

00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:18.599
 who makes us

00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:19.200
 lie down

00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:20.399
 in green pastures.

00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:22.240
 Who leads us

00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.419
 beside still waters.

00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:25.899
 Who is with us

00:18:25.899 --> 00:18:26.700
 even in the valley

00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:27.619
 of the shadow of death.

00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:29.059
 who restores

00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:30.079
 your soul,

00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:31.199
 your failing,

00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:32.159
 derelict,

00:18:32.879 --> 00:18:33.759
 ageing body

00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:34.419
 and soul.

00:18:35.879 --> 00:18:37.579
 The one who prepares

00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:38.719
 a place for you

00:18:38.719 --> 00:18:39.939
 in the presence

00:18:39.939 --> 00:18:40.679
 of your enemies,

00:18:40.679 --> 00:18:41.799
 who brings you home.

00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:42.519
 We hear

00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.619
 the Lord Jesus Christ,

00:18:45.659 --> 00:18:46.459
 our God.

00:18:46.460 --> 00:18:49.660
 I think Ecclesiastes

00:18:49.660 --> 00:18:50.700
 is a bit like

00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:52.799
 spiritual acupuncture.

00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:54.840
 And acupuncture

00:18:54.840 --> 00:18:55.720
 works when

00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:56.640
 someone sticks

00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:57.200
 a needle

00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:58.019
 into you

00:18:58.019 --> 00:18:59.860
 and it creates

00:18:59.860 --> 00:19:01.019
 a small wound

00:19:01.019 --> 00:19:02.880
 in the problem area.

00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:05.019
 They purposely,

00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:06.019
 the doctor purposely

00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:07.299
 wounds your muscle

00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:08.740
 and as that muscle

00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:09.259
 heals,

00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:09.779
 it kind of

00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:10.980
 resets itself

00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:12.980
 and it releases

00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:13.980
 and it relieves

00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:14.519
 tension.

00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:16.859
 And God

00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:17.700
 has stuck

00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:18.559
 his needle

00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.000
 into our hearts

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.200
 to reset,

00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:22.740
 as it were,

00:19:22.819 --> 00:19:23.759
 our heart muscle

00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:24.299
 memory.

00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:26.200
 To make us

00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:27.000
 understand

00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:27.720
 that when we

00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:28.480
 live life

00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:29.259
 our way,

00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:30.579
 all is

00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:31.879
 vanity.

00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:34.579
 That this world

00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:35.299
 will send us

00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:36.519
 absolutely mad

00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:37.460
 without him.

00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:40.019
 But that there

00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:40.740
 is much to

00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:41.599
 live for with

00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:41.920
 him.

00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:42.720
 There is much

00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:43.879
 to enjoy.

00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:45.519
 And relish

00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:46.400
 and receive

00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:47.200
 as a gift

00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:47.940
 from him

00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:49.160
 in life.

00:19:50.599 --> 00:19:51.279
 There is much

00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:52.000
 to waste

00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:52.960
 if we don't.

00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:56.579
 The tour is

00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:57.740
 over for now.

00:19:58.920 --> 00:19:59.579
 We go off

00:19:59.579 --> 00:20:00.059
 the bus

00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:00.839
 and say,

00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:01.339
 don't we,

00:20:01.579 --> 00:20:02.160
 enough,

00:20:02.579 --> 00:20:03.039
 enough.

00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:03.519
 I've heard

00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:03.879
 enough.

00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:05.559
 And I

00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:06.200
 submit,

00:20:06.740 --> 00:20:07.319
 I submit.

00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:09.159
 and I

00:20:09.159 --> 00:20:09.700
 worship,

00:20:11.139 --> 00:20:11.519
 and I

00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:12.220
 live for God.

00:20:13.379 --> 00:20:14.099
 Let's do that

00:20:14.099 --> 00:20:14.700
 as we pray

00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:14.980
 now.

00:20:15.139 --> 00:20:15.500
 Let's pray.