WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.219 Good to worship with you guys. Please open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. 00:00:15.700 --> 00:00:16.740 Thank you, Gary. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:28.000 We have been in the book of Ecclesiastes for the last four weeks or so, five weeks. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:33.700 And now we're in chapter 3, verse 16, going to chapter 4, verse 3. 00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:37.780 Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word. 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:50.719 Heavenly Father, 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:59.739 truly there is no one righteous, no not one. 00:01:02.519 --> 00:01:05.680 And we stand here before your holy presence 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:11.080 because of the merit of Jesus' righteousness. 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:21.460 So now, Lord, graciously speak to us as you always do from your Word. 00:01:23.460 --> 00:01:28.060 Meet us here in the presence of your Holy Spirit. 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:28.760 Lord, 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:35.799 conform us to your Word. 00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:39.840 Teach us how to live 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:43.020 with the wisdom of humility. 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:46.040 Surrender to your will. 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:52.340 So we might navigate this unjust world 00:01:52.340 --> 00:01:57.860 without losing hope, 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:01.180 with great faith and love. 00:02:03.740 --> 00:02:05.160 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:02:05.520 --> 00:02:05.820 Amen. 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:08.139 If you are able, 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:12.620 please stand and join me as I read this passage. 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.000 We stand to honor God's Word 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.439 that God has given us. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.060 I'll read from chapter 3, verse 16, 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:23.500 to chapter 4, verse 3. 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:25.500 Moreover, 00:02:25.500 --> 00:02:39.879 I said in my heart, 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:43.000 God will judge the righteous and the wicked, 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:46.620 for there is a time for every matter 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:48.000 and for every work. 00:02:50.139 --> 00:02:51.439 I said in my heart, 00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:52.960 with regard to the children of man, 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:54.719 that God is testing them, 00:02:55.320 --> 00:02:58.820 that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:02.020 For what happens to the children of man 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:04.340 and what happens to the beasts is the same. 00:03:05.140 --> 00:03:07.500 As one dies, so dies the other. 00:03:08.140 --> 00:03:09.920 They all have the same breath. 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:13.040 And man has no advantage over the beasts, 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.000 for all is vanity. 00:03:16.140 --> 00:03:17.879 All go to one place. 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:20.780 All are from the dust, 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:23.319 and to dust all return. 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:27.680 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:30.219 and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth. 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.780 So I saw that there is nothing better than that 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:36.860 a man should rejoice in his work, 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:38.500 for that is his lot, 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:41.740 who can bring him to see what will be after him. 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:46.879 Again, I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun, 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:49.540 and behold the tears of the oppressed, 00:03:50.100 --> 00:03:52.360 and they had no one to comfort them. 00:03:53.219 --> 00:03:55.939 On the side of their oppressors there was power, 00:03:56.439 --> 00:03:58.700 and there was no one to comfort them. 00:03:59.700 --> 00:04:00.460 And I thought, 00:04:00.640 --> 00:04:02.060 the dead who are already dead, 00:04:02.320 --> 00:04:04.580 more fortunate than the living who are still alive, 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:07.900 but better than both is he who has not yet been 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:11.439 and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:13.939 This is God's holy and authoritative word. 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:14.520 You may be seated. 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:26.600 A pastor friend of mine passed away last month, 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:28.620 and he was in his 70s. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.680 He died of chronic lung disease. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.879 And he used to say this often. 00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:34.960 He used to say, 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:39.859 all you have to do to suffer is live long enough. 00:04:41.099 --> 00:04:43.019 I think he is right about that. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:48.219 Suffering in this sinful, broken world is inevitable. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.799 You don't have to do anything special to experience suffering. 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:56.019 You just have to live long enough. 00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:01.019 And one significant cause of suffering throughout the world is injustice. 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:07.019 Many people throughout the world have valiantly fought to eliminate evil 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:09.180 and to eliminate injustice in this world, 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:12.419 but to no avail, as you can see in the world around us. 00:05:13.659 --> 00:05:17.859 Some prominent examples of people who have sought to form a utopia, 00:05:18.159 --> 00:05:20.839 a utopian society, come to mind. 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:23.839 One example is John Humphrey Noyes. 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:25.000 I don't know if you guys have heard of him, 00:05:25.159 --> 00:05:29.199 who founded the Oneida community in 1848 in Oneida, New York. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:35.639 The community was founded on principles of communalism, free love, and equality. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:38.279 Sounds good on the surface. 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:41.180 But the commune shared everything. 00:05:41.659 --> 00:05:42.860 They shared all their income. 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:44.579 They shared all their possessions. 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:46.800 They even shared their partners. 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:51.519 Noyes instituted so-called complex marriages 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:56.379 where every man in the commune was considered to be married to every woman in the commune. 00:05:56.379 --> 00:06:01.439 So if you think all this talk nowadays is about open marriages and polyamory is new, 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:02.379 no, it's not new. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:03.980 There's nothing new under the sun. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:10.279 The members of this commune called themselves the perfectionists 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.779 and believed that their practices would shape a man-made Eden. 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:22.060 But the experiment crumbled when Noyes was charged with statutory rape 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:25.439 and other sex crimes and fled to Canada. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:31.219 Honestly, that result doesn't surprise me at all. 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:37.519 The communes stopped enforcing their idea of complex marriages after that. 00:06:38.459 --> 00:06:43.079 No matter how hard we try to create a perfectly fair society, 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:45.360 a truly just society, 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:48.579 even the U.S. is that experiment, 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:56.620 there is no way we can hermetically seal ourselves from injustice 00:06:56.620 --> 00:06:59.740 which always finds a way to warm itself in. 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:05.280 That was actually a point of the book 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:10.300 which title, the word utopia comes from Thomas More's book, 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:12.400 Utopia, written in 1516. 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:14.939 It describes a fictional island of utopia, 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:16.920 which is an ideal society. 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:20.199 And the word utopia is a combination of two Greek words, 00:07:20.340 --> 00:07:23.139 utopos, which literally means no place, 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:27.000 because there's no such place as utopia. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:34.300 Only some of us in this room have been victims of grave injustices, 00:07:34.659 --> 00:07:38.759 but probably all of us have experienced some kind of injustice. 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:43.219 Maybe you were misunderstood or misrepresented. 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:46.500 Maybe you were discriminated against. 00:07:47.380 --> 00:07:50.240 Maybe you were manipulated by a significant other 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.000 or backstabbed by a friend. 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:57.080 Maybe you were abused by those who had power and authority over you. 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:02.340 Given the stubborn persistence of injustice in the world, 00:08:02.520 --> 00:08:05.420 how do we find the faith and the courage 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:07.500 to keep fighting for justice? 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:15.279 How do we make sense of so much senseless injustice in this world? 00:08:17.660 --> 00:08:22.920 Ecclesiastes 3, 16, 4 to 3 teaches us the answer to that question. 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:26.160 In this unjust world, this is the main point of this passage, 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:29.560 where life is breath and death is gain, 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:34.379 we should rejoice in our work and wait for God's time of judgment. 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:36.460 We're going to talk about that in two parts. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:38.220 First, we'll talk about how to live is breath. 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:41.220 And secondly, we'll talk about how to die is gain. 00:08:42.560 --> 00:08:44.960 In chapter 3, verse 16, it says this, 00:08:45.040 --> 00:08:47.980 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:49.759 even there was wickedness. 00:08:50.040 --> 00:08:53.500 And in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 00:08:53.920 --> 00:08:57.660 The repetition of this and the parallel structure of these lines 00:08:57.660 --> 00:09:00.820 convey the preacher's horror and indignation. 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:06.000 In the very place where justice ought to be residing, 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:09.080 there in that place is wickedness. 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.580 In the very place that should be characterized by righteousness, 00:09:13.900 --> 00:09:15.920 there is instead wickedness. 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:21.480 Imagine the horror of seeing in the temple of God an idol. 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:25.980 That's the kind of horror that you're supposed to feel, 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:28.180 the shameless blasphemy of it all. 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:33.360 The word justice here is also translated judgment in other places. 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:36.960 It's in the very place where right judgment should be rendered 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.340 and where the right verdict should be given, 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:44.379 where the right judgment should be executed, 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:45.639 there is wickedness. 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:49.360 Take Thomas Maloney, for example, 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:51.620 who served as judge in Illinois for 14 years. 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:55.379 One of the most corrupt judges in U.S. history. 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:59.399 He fixed three murder trials after taking bribes. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:02.259 Or think of Timothy Evans, 00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:06.139 a British man who was executed by hanging on March 9, 1950, 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:09.000 after being falsely accused 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.319 and wrongly convicted of the murder of his own daughter. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.660 During his trial, the man insisted, 00:10:15.800 --> 00:10:18.140 it wasn't me, it's my downstairs neighbor. 00:10:19.140 --> 00:10:22.160 But the downstairs neighbor was a chief witness, 00:10:22.300 --> 00:10:23.680 the star witness for the prosecution. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:29.120 He was wrongly convicted and he was hanged 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.140 and then later it was discovered 00:10:30.140 --> 00:10:31.980 that it was the downstairs neighbor who was the murderer. 00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:34.740 In fact, he had killed seven other women in the same house. 00:10:34.940 --> 00:10:35.720 He was a serial killer. 00:10:37.160 --> 00:10:38.740 Imagine the pain, 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.840 not only of losing your daughter to murder, 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.020 and then being accused of killing her yourself. 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:52.120 You guys have probably read the book 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:53.800 or seen the movie, Just Mercy, 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:57.360 where a black man named Walter McMillan 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.200 was accused of murder and sentenced to death in 1988 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:03.080 despite the fact that he had an ironclad alibi 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:05.460 confirmed by dozens of witnesses, 00:11:05.660 --> 00:11:06.800 including a police officer. 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:09.380 No motive for the murder whatsoever 00:11:09.380 --> 00:11:11.660 and despite the fact that there was no physical evidence 00:11:11.659 --> 00:11:13.839 and no corroborating circumstances, 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:17.620 he was still sentenced to death. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:20.559 Thankfully, this story has a happy ending, 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:22.480 but still he was sentenced to death 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.379 because of the false testimony of one man, 00:11:24.439 --> 00:11:25.740 a convicted criminal himself, 00:11:25.939 --> 00:11:28.059 in exchange for a lesser sentence for him. 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:31.939 He testified against falsely Walter McMillan. 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:35.180 In the place of justice, 00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:38.020 even there was wickedness. 00:11:39.660 --> 00:11:43.460 However, this is no cause for despair 00:11:43.460 --> 00:11:46.060 because it says in verse 17, 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:47.220 I said in my heart, 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:49.900 God will judge the righteous and the wicked 00:11:49.900 --> 00:11:53.340 for there is a time for every matter 00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:54.920 and for every work. 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:57.240 Remember I mentioned the word justice 00:11:57.240 --> 00:11:58.800 is the same word that means judgment. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.879 It's the noun form of the verb judge here in verse 17. 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:04.219 So there's a contrast between the two verses. 00:12:04.479 --> 00:12:07.399 Humans in the world do not judge righteously, 00:12:07.819 --> 00:12:09.099 but God does. 00:12:09.979 --> 00:12:10.899 Under the sun, 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.319 we find wickedness in the place of justice, 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:16.319 but God judges both the righteous and the wicked 00:12:16.319 --> 00:12:18.459 for there is a time for every matter 00:12:18.459 --> 00:12:19.359 and for every work. 00:12:20.199 --> 00:12:21.219 Now that should ring a bell 00:12:21.219 --> 00:12:21.879 if you've been with us 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:23.279 through this Ecclesiastes series 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:24.279 because that phrase, 00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:26.019 there is a time for every matter, 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:28.759 is a repetition of chapter three, verse one. 00:12:29.419 --> 00:12:29.639 It said, 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:31.519 for everything there is a season 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:34.519 and a time for every matter under heaven. 00:12:35.699 --> 00:12:38.879 So verse 17 is linking back to that poem 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.539 about time in verses two to eight 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:43.259 that we looked at last week. 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.000 And the main lesson of that poem, 00:12:46.079 --> 00:12:47.319 if you missed it, was this. 00:12:47.659 --> 00:12:50.960 Yes, God has made everything beautiful in its time. 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:54.340 Yes, God has put eternity in man's heart, 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:59.139 but God has made it so that we cannot find out 00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:00.980 what he has done from the beginning to the end. 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:02.160 That's what it says in the Bible. 00:13:03.280 --> 00:13:05.620 The times that verses one to eight speak of 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:09.600 are not our times, but God's times. 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:13.700 Eternity and knowing what is going on in this world 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:14.900 in the light of eternity 00:13:14.900 --> 00:13:18.980 is God's unique prerogative and purview, not ours. 00:13:18.980 --> 00:13:21.940 That's why it said in chapter three, verse 14, 00:13:22.060 --> 00:13:25.680 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:27.639 Nothing can be added to it, 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:29.740 nor anything taken from it. 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:33.460 God has done it so that people fear before him. 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:38.100 God has instilled in the heart of every human being 00:13:38.100 --> 00:13:40.220 this inkling of eternity, 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.399 a longing for eternity, 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.899 but because we are finite and temporal creatures 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:47.700 that inhabit fleeting time, 00:13:47.700 --> 00:13:50.740 we can't quiet grasp hold of it. 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:53.259 We can't quiet make sense of it. 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:58.460 We can't understand why everything happens in its season. 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:03.480 We can't understand why there is injustice in the world. 00:14:08.160 --> 00:14:10.720 God, you are holy. 00:14:11.140 --> 00:14:12.379 You are just. 00:14:12.800 --> 00:14:13.940 You are righteous. 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:18.240 So why is there so much evil and wickedness 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.040 and injustice in this world that you've created? 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:26.180 Yes, of course, there are good, logical, 00:14:26.380 --> 00:14:29.140 and biblical answers that we can give to that question. 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:32.460 But even the best apologists 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:34.580 cannot fully answer that question 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:36.620 because God has hidden it from us 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:39.200 because it stretches beyond our scope. 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:42.000 God has made it so that we cannot find out 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:43.779 what he has done from the beginning to the end. 00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:45.340 As finite creatures, 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.220 we are unable to connect the dots 00:14:47.220 --> 00:14:49.279 in this great chain of events in our lives 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:50.299 stretching to eternity. 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:54.220 We're like rats in an impossible maze. 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:56.740 The maze is too vast, 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.419 and our knowledge and our memory, 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:00.440 our experience, 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:01.360 too limited 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:03.940 so that we cannot connect 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:05.779 from the beginning to the end. 00:15:05.779 --> 00:15:10.419 God has ordained the world to be like this 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:13.059 in order to instill the fear of God, 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:15.059 it says in verse 14 of chapter 3, 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:17.579 so that we might know how small we are 00:15:17.579 --> 00:15:20.019 and know how big he is. 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:21.759 In the same way, 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:23.339 a parent might say to a child, 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.000 you can't quite understand this yet, 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.480 but when you're a little older, 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:29.480 I'll explain it to you. 00:15:30.819 --> 00:15:32.839 My kids are probably tired of hearing that from me. 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:38.800 So when the preacher says in verse 17, 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:39.960 I said in my heart, 00:15:40.280 --> 00:15:42.320 God will judge the righteous and the wicked, 00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:45.160 for there is a time for every matter 00:15:45.160 --> 00:15:46.080 and for every work, 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:50.019 he's assuring us that the ultimate time of judgment 00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:51.139 and for justice 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:53.820 is God's time and not ours. 00:15:55.340 --> 00:15:57.060 We want justice now. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:59.240 We clamor for justice now. 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:01.480 Look at the George Floyd protests in 2020. 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.960 Millions of people demanded justice and got it. 00:16:05.820 --> 00:16:08.399 Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:09.399 for second-degree murder. 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:11.840 But many other times, 00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:13.779 we don't see justice under the sun. 00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:19.960 Take the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China. 00:16:22.139 --> 00:16:23.000 The government, 00:16:24.420 --> 00:16:25.360 the communist government, 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.220 the students protested against it. 00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:30.340 A million people gathered in Tiananmen Square 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:32.300 to protest the Chinese government. 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:35.139 But it did not end with the overthrow 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:37.180 or the reform of the communist government. 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:40.340 It ended with a military crackdown. 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.320 300,000 troops sent into that historic square. 00:16:44.920 --> 00:16:46.460 Killed hundreds of civilians. 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:52.220 No human judge presided over that atrocity to condemn it. 00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:54.240 In the place of justice, 00:16:54.340 --> 00:16:55.680 even there was wickedness. 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:00.139 But verse 17 reminds us, 00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:03.480 God will judge the righteous and the wicked, 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:06.720 for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 00:17:07.600 --> 00:17:10.759 Justice comes in God's time, not ours. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:13.640 As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, 00:17:14.360 --> 00:17:16.660 the arc of the moral universe is long, 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:18.720 but it tends toward justice. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:23.000 That arc of the moral universe is in fact so long 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:26.240 that we cannot see it from the beginning to the end. 00:17:26.500 --> 00:17:28.600 We can't quite make sense of it, 00:17:29.059 --> 00:17:30.759 but we can trust that it bends 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:32.079 toward God's ultimate justice. 00:17:33.600 --> 00:17:35.940 The preacher continues his musings in verse 18. 00:17:36.220 --> 00:17:38.680 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:40.579 that God is testing them 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:43.579 that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.839 Notice that both verse 17 and verse 18 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:47.920 begin with this phrase. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:49.519 I said in my heart. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.500 The preacher's sayings in Ecclesiastes 00:17:52.500 --> 00:17:54.240 often begin with a different phrase. 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:55.100 I saw. 00:17:55.820 --> 00:17:57.880 You see that in chapter three, verse 16, 00:17:57.980 --> 00:17:59.700 verse 22, chapter four, verse one. 00:17:59.779 --> 00:18:01.200 I saw, I saw, I saw. 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:02.800 These are the observations, 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:05.380 his observations of the world and the way it works. 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:07.980 But the phrase I said in my heart 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:10.580 signals to us that these are his reflections 00:18:10.580 --> 00:18:12.800 based on those observations. 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:14.779 And so these are key verses 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:16.880 for understanding what this passage means. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.960 Verse 18 is connected to verse 17. 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:22.620 By reserving his judgment and justice 00:18:22.620 --> 00:18:24.640 to his eternal timeframe 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.740 to which man has no access, 00:18:27.280 --> 00:18:28.940 God is testing them 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:32.760 that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 00:18:35.120 --> 00:18:36.160 In other words, 00:18:36.820 --> 00:18:38.400 the preacher is saying the same thing 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.780 that he said earlier in verse 14. 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:42.920 I perceive that whatever God does endures forever. 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:44.079 Nothing can be added to it 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:45.279 nor anything taken from it. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.240 God has done it so that people fear before him. 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.599 Once again, God has made his judgments inscrutable to us 00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:55.059 in order to put us in our place, 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:56.619 to humble us, 00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:58.500 to make us revere him 00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:00.079 and to put our hope in him 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:01.700 and depend on him. 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:05.840 And how does God remind us that we are but beasts? 00:19:06.100 --> 00:19:07.759 Look at verses 19 to 21. 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:10.299 For what happens to the children of man 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:12.440 and what happens to the beasts is the same. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:14.779 As one dies, so dies the other. 00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:16.900 They all have the same breath. 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:19.400 And man has no advantage over the beasts 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:20.900 for all is vanity. 00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:23.059 All go to one place. 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:24.480 All are from the dust 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.019 and to dust all return. 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:28.880 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.580 and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth. 00:19:32.320 --> 00:19:35.120 It seems that there was in the days of the preacher 00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:38.220 this popular idea, speculation, 00:19:38.840 --> 00:19:41.980 that the spirit of man goes upward when he dies 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:43.380 but that the spirit of the beasts 00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:44.940 goes down into the earth. 00:19:45.580 --> 00:19:49.600 It's a predictably prideful and man-centered idea. 00:19:50.800 --> 00:19:53.660 Of course, our spirits cannot go to the same place 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:56.380 as these lowly beasts is the logic. 00:19:56.380 --> 00:20:00.800 But the preacher pokes holes into that fancy notion. 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:01.940 He says, 00:20:02.080 --> 00:20:03.960 We all have the same breath. 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:07.140 And man has no advantage over the beasts 00:20:07.140 --> 00:20:08.820 for all is vanity. 00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:10.640 All go to one place. 00:20:10.840 --> 00:20:11.920 All are from the dust 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:13.680 and to dust all return. 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:17.120 Now, please don't hear what I'm not saying. 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:20.840 I'm not saying that human beings are equal to animals. 00:20:22.360 --> 00:20:23.900 I remember getting into trouble 00:20:23.900 --> 00:20:26.240 with one of my friends in college. 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:30.440 I was peeling a banana to eat it. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:32.820 And as I was peeling the banana, 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:33.900 she told me, 00:20:34.600 --> 00:20:36.340 You're opening the banana the wrong way. 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:37.980 And I said, 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:41.300 I didn't know there was a wrong way to open a banana. 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:42.820 I said, 00:20:42.860 --> 00:20:43.840 What do you mean it's the wrong way? 00:20:43.860 --> 00:20:44.400 And then she says, 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:46.560 Well, you're supposed to open it 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.000 the way monkeys open it. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:48.700 This way. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:50.839 And I, 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:51.940 you know, 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:52.519 being the, 00:20:53.639 --> 00:20:54.919 back in those days, 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:57.079 I know I was a lot more prideful 00:20:57.079 --> 00:20:58.440 and contrarian than now. 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:01.099 And I thought, 00:21:01.179 --> 00:21:01.359 you know, 00:21:01.419 --> 00:21:03.059 I'm going to ask you a philosophical question. 00:21:03.679 --> 00:21:04.159 I said, 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:05.460 Why should a man 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:08.299 copy an animal? 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:10.539 Why should I learn 00:21:10.539 --> 00:21:12.319 how to peel my banana from a monkey? 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:13.819 And then she got mad at me. 00:21:14.539 --> 00:21:15.039 She said, 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:16.419 You're just an animal like all of them. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.240 You're just a beast. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:17.639 You're just like, 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:19.099 And then she got into evolution 00:21:19.099 --> 00:21:20.480 and we had this long conversation. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:21.740 And, 00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:24.799 so that's not what I'm saying. 00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:27.119 I'm not saying that humans are the same as animals. 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:29.339 In one sense, 00:21:29.419 --> 00:21:30.180 she was right. 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:32.079 We are no different from the animals, 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:33.019 as the preacher says here. 00:21:33.419 --> 00:21:34.379 But in another sense, 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:36.440 we're all also very different from the animals, 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:36.819 aren't we? 00:21:36.819 --> 00:21:38.839 In Genesis 1.27, 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:39.220 it says, 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:41.379 So God created man in his own image. 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:42.839 In the image of God, 00:21:42.899 --> 00:21:43.659 he created him. 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:44.960 Male and female, 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:46.039 he created them. 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.419 Human beings are the only creatures 00:21:49.419 --> 00:21:52.419 that God creates in his own image. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:56.059 In order that we might represent him 00:21:56.059 --> 00:21:57.639 to the rest of creation 00:21:57.639 --> 00:21:59.419 as rulers over creation 00:21:59.419 --> 00:22:01.799 and so that we might resemble him 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:04.740 to be like him as his sons and daughters. 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:06.940 Only the human beings are created 00:22:06.940 --> 00:22:08.000 in the image of God. 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:09.039 However, 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:09.920 with that said, 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:12.380 there is still one important sense 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:14.160 in which we are no different from the beasts. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.620 We all die. 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:20.160 After forming the man 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.660 from the dust of the ground, 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:22.819 it says in Genesis 2.7, 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:24.920 that God breathed into the nostrils 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:26.099 the breath of life. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:26.700 His nostrils, 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:27.480 the breath of life. 00:22:27.620 --> 00:22:29.180 And the man became a living creature. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:31.359 That's how we become living creatures. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:32.419 The breath of God. 00:22:32.659 --> 00:22:33.759 The spirit of God. 00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:37.379 And this applies not only to mankind, 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:39.919 but also to the animals. 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:42.359 It says in Genesis 1.30, 00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:43.779 and to every beast of the earth, 00:22:43.879 --> 00:22:45.019 and to every bird of the heavens, 00:22:45.099 --> 00:22:46.479 and to everything that creeps on the earth, 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.859 everything that has the breath of life, 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:51.819 I have given every green plant for food. 00:22:52.979 --> 00:22:53.500 So then, 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.500 only mankind is created in God's image, 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:59.900 but all creatures have the breath of life. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.640 We depend on it for life. 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.059 And the Bible teaches consistently 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:05.859 that when creatures die, 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:08.099 our bodies return to the dust, 00:23:08.420 --> 00:23:10.720 but our spirits return to the God who gave it. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:15.680 We see that in Ecclesiastes 12.7, 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:17.519 Job 34.14.15, 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:19.819 Psalm 104.29-30, 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:20.660 among other places. 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:22.200 And that's the point 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:23.920 that the preacher is making here. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:25.480 In this sense, 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:27.519 we are all but beasts. 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:30.300 We have no advantage over the beasts. 00:23:30.740 --> 00:23:31.820 This is what we call 00:23:31.820 --> 00:23:34.080 the creator-creature distinction. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:37.779 God is not quantitatively different from us. 00:23:37.820 --> 00:23:38.279 He is, 00:23:38.580 --> 00:23:40.920 but he's not merely quantitatively different from us. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:43.320 He's not just a superlative form, 00:23:43.560 --> 00:23:44.940 a bigger and stronger 00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:47.740 and wiser and kinder version of man. 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:51.420 He is qualitatively different from us. 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:52.500 He is, 00:23:52.620 --> 00:23:53.420 as one theologian, 00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:54.259 Karl Barth calls it, 00:23:54.320 --> 00:23:55.200 a holy other. 00:23:55.860 --> 00:23:57.400 He is different from us. 00:23:58.180 --> 00:23:59.800 No matter how advanced 00:23:59.800 --> 00:24:00.840 or perfected 00:24:00.840 --> 00:24:02.100 or wise we become, 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:03.420 we will never be God. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:04.800 That's the creator 00:24:04.800 --> 00:24:06.080 and creature distinction. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.720 God is as different from us 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:09.880 as the potter 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:10.840 is to the clay. 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:13.420 God is as different from us 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:15.039 as the author of the book is 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.080 from the character 00:24:16.080 --> 00:24:17.039 that's in the book. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:19.980 God transcends time. 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:21.440 We are confined to time. 00:24:21.620 --> 00:24:22.900 God is sovereign 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:24.400 and we are subjects. 00:24:24.740 --> 00:24:26.099 God is the infinite creator 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:27.759 and we are finite creatures. 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:29.279 And this is why 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:31.220 we cannot grasp hold of eternity. 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:32.779 This is why 00:24:32.779 --> 00:24:33.900 we can't make sense 00:24:33.900 --> 00:24:35.220 of the injustices in life. 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:36.500 And this is why 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:38.460 we stand in awe of God 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:40.259 in worship 00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:43.180 because we see that he is big 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:44.660 and then we are small 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:46.839 and we can't quite see 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:47.779 all that he is up to. 00:24:47.779 --> 00:24:50.039 What then? 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:51.980 Do we simply despair 00:24:51.980 --> 00:24:53.299 of justice in this life? 00:24:54.579 --> 00:24:55.960 Answer is in verse 22. 00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:58.059 So I saw that there is nothing better 00:24:58.059 --> 00:24:59.539 than that a man should rejoice 00:24:59.539 --> 00:25:00.279 in his work 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:01.940 for that is his lot. 00:25:02.660 --> 00:25:03.680 Who can bring him 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:05.079 to see what will be after him? 00:25:06.099 --> 00:25:07.680 Notice the same word work 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:09.379 which we saw in verse 17 00:25:09.379 --> 00:25:09.759 where it said 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:10.960 God will judge the righteous 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:11.539 and the wicked 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:12.980 for there is a time 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:13.839 for every matter 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:15.160 and for every work. 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:17.019 Ultimate judgment 00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:18.380 is God's work 00:25:18.380 --> 00:25:19.440 which will occur 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.100 in his own perfect time. 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:23.980 But there is still work 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:25.660 for us to do here on earth 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:27.060 which is our lot 00:25:27.060 --> 00:25:27.680 it says here. 00:25:28.380 --> 00:25:30.100 Yes, there is no ultimate justice 00:25:30.100 --> 00:25:30.800 here on earth 00:25:30.800 --> 00:25:32.500 but we are still required 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:33.040 by the Lord 00:25:33.040 --> 00:25:34.019 in Micah 6.8 00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:35.500 to do justice 00:25:35.500 --> 00:25:36.860 and to love kindness 00:25:36.860 --> 00:25:38.320 and to walk humbly 00:25:38.320 --> 00:25:39.019 with our God. 00:25:39.840 --> 00:25:41.779 Yes, there is no ultimate justice 00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:42.519 under the sun 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:43.779 but we are still supposed 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:45.299 to long for that justice 00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:46.839 and pray for that justice 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:47.900 as the psalmist does 00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:48.660 in Psalm 82 00:25:48.660 --> 00:25:50.039 verses 3 to 4. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:51.900 Give justice to the weak 00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:52.799 and the fatherless. 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:54.200 Maintain the right 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:54.920 of the afflicted 00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:55.680 and the destitute. 00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:57.019 Rescue the weak 00:25:57.019 --> 00:25:57.680 and the needy. 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:58.579 Deliver them 00:25:58.579 --> 00:25:59.240 from the hand 00:25:59.240 --> 00:25:59.779 of the wicked. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:02.900 But when we learn 00:26:02.900 --> 00:26:04.460 the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:06.180 it radically alters 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:07.519 the way we go about 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:08.779 doing justice 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:09.680 in our work. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:12.400 it enables us 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:13.200 to rejoice 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:14.100 in our work. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:17.920 If we think of 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:19.140 doing justice 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:20.539 if we think of justice 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:21.100 as something 00:26:21.100 --> 00:26:22.640 that is within our grasp 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:23.519 and something 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:24.360 that is ultimately 00:26:24.360 --> 00:26:25.539 up to us 00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:26.660 as human beings 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:28.400 then we're going to 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:29.580 try to make it happen 00:26:29.580 --> 00:26:30.740 in our time. 00:26:31.420 --> 00:26:32.360 We're not going to 00:26:32.360 --> 00:26:33.120 wait for 00:26:33.120 --> 00:26:33.900 or hope for 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:34.660 God's justice. 00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:35.820 We're going to 00:26:35.820 --> 00:26:37.000 become impatient. 00:26:37.420 --> 00:26:38.039 We're going to become 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:39.120 triumphalistic. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:39.779 We're going to 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:41.159 become sinfully angry 00:26:41.159 --> 00:26:42.039 and we're going to 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:42.639 take things 00:26:42.639 --> 00:26:43.779 into our own hands 00:26:43.779 --> 00:26:45.000 and then that's going 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:45.959 to create new 00:26:45.959 --> 00:26:46.679 miscarriages 00:26:46.679 --> 00:26:47.519 of justice. 00:26:48.399 --> 00:26:49.539 And then the pendulum 00:26:49.539 --> 00:26:50.699 swings back and forth 00:26:50.699 --> 00:26:51.879 back and forth 00:26:51.879 --> 00:26:52.979 back and forth. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:26:57.939 And then when we're 00:26:57.939 --> 00:26:59.139 faced with setbacks 00:26:59.139 --> 00:27:00.539 which is inevitable 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:01.779 in this world 00:27:01.779 --> 00:27:03.779 we will be plunged 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:04.539 into cynicism 00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:05.299 and despair. 00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:07.339 that's what 00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:08.159 pursuing justice 00:27:08.159 --> 00:27:08.980 apart from God 00:27:08.980 --> 00:27:09.779 looks like. 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:13.019 But if we recognize 00:27:13.019 --> 00:27:13.919 that God's ultimate 00:27:13.919 --> 00:27:14.879 justice is coming 00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:16.599 then we can rejoice 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:17.839 in our various 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:18.940 works of justice. 00:27:20.259 --> 00:27:21.379 Is our work 00:27:21.379 --> 00:27:22.159 to bring about 00:27:22.159 --> 00:27:22.720 justice 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:23.919 futile? 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:25.359 Yes. 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:27.700 In an ultimate sense 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:28.339 yes it is 00:27:28.339 --> 00:27:30.379 in this life 00:27:30.379 --> 00:27:30.940 under the sun. 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:32.680 Will we ever 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:33.839 eradicate injustice 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:35.039 from this earth? 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:36.399 No we will not. 00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:39.980 But it is still 00:27:39.980 --> 00:27:40.819 the right thing 00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:41.299 to do. 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:46.799 We are obeying God 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:48.439 and we are honoring God 00:27:48.439 --> 00:27:49.399 and we are imitating 00:27:49.399 --> 00:27:50.779 God who is just 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:52.159 and who is righteous 00:27:52.159 --> 00:27:53.599 and that's why 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:54.339 there's pleasure 00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:54.939 and joy 00:27:54.939 --> 00:27:55.679 to be had there. 00:27:58.679 --> 00:27:59.839 Knowing that the arc 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:00.859 of the moral universe 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:01.859 and the arc 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:02.619 of human history 00:28:02.619 --> 00:28:03.579 is bending 00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:04.239 toward God's 00:28:04.239 --> 00:28:04.939 ultimate justice. 00:28:05.639 --> 00:28:06.739 We can do justice 00:28:06.739 --> 00:28:08.219 not out of desperation 00:28:08.219 --> 00:28:09.199 or frustration 00:28:09.199 --> 00:28:10.119 or anger 00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:11.839 but out of faith 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:13.079 and hope 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:14.079 and love. 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:20.039 Then in chapter 4 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:20.939 verses 1 to 3 00:28:20.939 --> 00:28:21.919 the preacher returns 00:28:21.919 --> 00:28:22.459 to the theme 00:28:22.459 --> 00:28:23.000 of oppression 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:24.319 and injustice. 00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:25.439 He says, 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.279 again I saw 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:28.779 all the oppressions 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:29.160 that are done 00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:29.740 under the sun 00:28:29.740 --> 00:28:30.740 and behold 00:28:30.740 --> 00:28:31.340 the tears 00:28:31.340 --> 00:28:32.120 of the oppressed 00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:33.279 and they had no one 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:34.100 to comfort them. 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:35.259 On the side 00:28:35.259 --> 00:28:36.080 of their oppressors 00:28:36.080 --> 00:28:36.940 there was power 00:28:36.940 --> 00:28:38.279 and there was no one 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:39.039 to comfort them 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:39.900 and I thought 00:28:39.900 --> 00:28:40.420 the dead 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:41.420 who are already dead 00:28:41.420 --> 00:28:42.039 more fortunate 00:28:42.039 --> 00:28:42.620 than the living 00:28:42.620 --> 00:28:43.539 who are still alive. 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:45.680 But better than both 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:47.200 is he who has not yet been 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:48.360 and has not seen 00:28:48.360 --> 00:28:49.019 the evil deeds 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:49.500 that are done 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:50.200 under the sun. 00:28:52.100 --> 00:28:52.840 The phrase 00:28:52.840 --> 00:28:53.480 no one 00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:54.440 to comfort them 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:55.380 is a common feature 00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:56.500 of lamentation 00:28:56.500 --> 00:28:56.960 and mourning 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:57.460 in the Bible. 00:28:57.880 --> 00:28:58.779 It occurs repeatedly 00:28:58.779 --> 00:28:59.240 for example 00:28:59.240 --> 00:28:59.759 in the book 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:00.539 of Lamentations. 00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:02.440 It is meant 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:04.019 to evoke great pity. 00:29:05.019 --> 00:29:05.660 At least 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:06.640 most of us 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:07.640 have shoulders 00:29:07.640 --> 00:29:08.319 to cry on 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.180 in times of sorrow. 00:29:10.360 --> 00:29:10.860 But there are 00:29:10.860 --> 00:29:11.440 some people 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:12.620 some oppressed 00:29:12.620 --> 00:29:13.400 people in the world 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:14.759 who have no one 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:15.680 to comfort them. 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:17.819 How pathetic 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:19.200 is the person 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:20.360 who has no one 00:29:20.360 --> 00:29:21.039 to comfort him 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:21.339 or her? 00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:27.039 Have you beheld 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:27.720 these tears 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:28.279 of the oppressed? 00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:29.019 Maybe you think 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:29.420 the preacher 00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:30.039 is being a little bit 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:30.779 overly dramatic. 00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:31.759 Oh, it's still 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:32.319 definitely better 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:32.900 to be alive 00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:33.620 than to be dead. 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:35.559 Let's consider 00:29:35.559 --> 00:29:36.240 some of these 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:37.000 examples. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:38.160 First one 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:38.920 is a fictional one. 00:29:39.019 --> 00:29:39.900 I recently watched 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:41.099 one of my favorite shows 00:29:41.099 --> 00:29:41.839 Les Miserables. 00:29:43.059 --> 00:29:43.559 So it has been 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:44.180 on my mind. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:45.880 In the show 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:46.460 the details 00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:47.120 are sparse 00:29:47.120 --> 00:29:47.860 but if you look 00:29:47.860 --> 00:29:48.500 at the book 00:29:48.500 --> 00:29:49.559 which is the original source 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:50.559 Victor Hugo's novel 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:51.160 Les Miserables 00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:52.220 Fantine 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:53.160 is a young 00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:54.320 naive girl 00:29:54.320 --> 00:29:55.440 working class girl 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:59.000 with bright future 00:29:59.000 --> 00:29:59.640 ahead of her 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:02.300 but then she's 00:30:02.300 --> 00:30:03.019 impregnated 00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:04.120 by a rich student 00:30:04.120 --> 00:30:06.120 who then 00:30:06.120 --> 00:30:07.360 abandons her 00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:09.300 leaving her 00:30:09.300 --> 00:30:10.300 to raise her daughter 00:30:10.300 --> 00:30:10.860 Cosette 00:30:10.860 --> 00:30:11.720 by herself. 00:30:13.100 --> 00:30:14.220 Needing child care 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:15.200 in order to work 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:15.920 and provide for her 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.600 she entrusts 00:30:16.600 --> 00:30:17.360 the care of Cosette 00:30:17.360 --> 00:30:18.440 to the thenardiers 00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:20.519 who are innkeepers 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:21.700 not knowing 00:30:21.700 --> 00:30:22.340 that they actually 00:30:22.340 --> 00:30:23.279 abused her daughter 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:25.519 treat her as a slave 00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:27.600 and then lied to her 00:30:27.600 --> 00:30:28.460 in their letters 00:30:28.460 --> 00:30:29.320 to extort her 00:30:29.320 --> 00:30:30.000 of more money. 00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:31.820 Fantine sinks 00:30:31.820 --> 00:30:32.940 further and further 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:34.080 into the moral 00:30:34.080 --> 00:30:34.920 mire of society 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:35.700 in order to provide 00:30:35.700 --> 00:30:36.340 for her daughter. 00:30:37.120 --> 00:30:37.980 She's unjustly 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:39.039 fired from her work 00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:39.900 by a meddlesome 00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:40.720 supervisor 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.320 forcing her 00:30:41.320 --> 00:30:41.980 to work at home 00:30:41.980 --> 00:30:42.820 which earns her 00:30:42.820 --> 00:30:43.539 a meager sum 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:44.120 barely enough 00:30:44.120 --> 00:30:45.080 to support her daughter 00:30:45.080 --> 00:30:46.000 let alone herself 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:47.819 which leads to her 00:30:47.819 --> 00:30:48.500 overworking 00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:49.440 and then which leads 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:50.660 to her becoming sick 00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:51.759 with a fever 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:52.380 and a cough. 00:30:54.059 --> 00:30:54.759 The thenardiers 00:30:54.759 --> 00:30:56.019 lie to her 00:30:56.019 --> 00:30:56.799 saying that they need 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:57.599 10 francs 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:58.859 to buy Cosette 00:30:58.859 --> 00:30:59.779 a woolen skirt 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:00.660 and then 00:31:00.660 --> 00:31:01.819 so Fantine 00:31:01.819 --> 00:31:03.160 having no other way 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:04.039 cuts off her 00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:05.319 long beautiful locks 00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:05.660 of hair 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:06.980 sells them 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:08.519 saying to herself 00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:09.220 my child 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:10.380 is no longer cold 00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:11.759 I have clothed her 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:12.579 with my hair 00:31:12.579 --> 00:31:13.819 not realizing 00:31:13.819 --> 00:31:14.400 that Cosette 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:14.980 will never 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:15.640 get to wear 00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:16.299 those woolen 00:31:16.299 --> 00:31:17.500 coats 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:18.759 or the woolen skirt. 00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:20.799 Desperate 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:21.680 Fantine 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:22.460 takes on a lover 00:31:22.460 --> 00:31:24.079 who uses her 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:25.759 beats her 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:27.339 and abandons her 00:31:27.339 --> 00:31:28.099 again. 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:30.799 Then comes 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:31.380 another letter 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:32.200 from the thenardiers 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:32.599 who demand 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:33.460 40 francs 00:31:33.460 --> 00:31:34.120 to buy medicine 00:31:34.120 --> 00:31:34.799 for Cosette 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:35.259 claiming that 00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:36.200 she has fallen ill 00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:37.839 in order to make 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:38.240 the money 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:38.960 Fantine has her 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:40.000 two front teeth 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:41.180 removed and sold 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:42.799 and her woes 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:43.920 still don't end 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:44.380 and in order 00:31:44.380 --> 00:31:44.860 to keep up 00:31:44.860 --> 00:31:45.560 with the thenardiers 00:31:45.560 --> 00:31:46.340 ever increasing 00:31:46.340 --> 00:31:46.800 demands 00:31:46.800 --> 00:31:47.480 she eventually 00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:48.720 prostitutes herself 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.100 sacrificing her 00:31:51.100 --> 00:31:52.300 dignity and self-worth 00:31:52.300 --> 00:31:53.540 and hitting rock bottom 00:31:53.540 --> 00:31:55.060 and in that role 00:31:55.060 --> 00:31:55.740 she is still 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:56.760 again harassed 00:31:56.760 --> 00:31:57.300 by a man 00:31:57.300 --> 00:31:58.440 and when she retaliates 00:31:58.440 --> 00:31:59.180 she's the one 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.840 who is arrested. 00:32:01.720 --> 00:32:02.860 With John Valjean's 00:32:02.860 --> 00:32:03.440 interpretation 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:04.400 she's freed 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:05.380 but still in the end 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:06.220 Fantine dies 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:07.020 of tuberculosis 00:32:07.020 --> 00:32:08.580 not knowing 00:32:08.580 --> 00:32:09.960 whether Cosette 00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:10.700 is going to be 00:32:10.700 --> 00:32:11.420 taken care of 00:32:11.420 --> 00:32:12.240 after she dies. 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:15.200 and then her body 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:16.380 is unceremoniously 00:32:16.380 --> 00:32:17.259 tossed into 00:32:17.259 --> 00:32:18.039 a public grave. 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:20.839 Can anyone 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:21.819 tell Fantine 00:32:21.819 --> 00:32:22.339 it was better 00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:22.660 for her 00:32:22.660 --> 00:32:23.099 to live 00:32:23.099 --> 00:32:23.640 than to die? 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:28.579 And I thought 00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:29.039 the dead 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:29.900 who are already dead 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:30.539 more fortunate 00:32:30.539 --> 00:32:31.099 than the living 00:32:31.099 --> 00:32:31.960 who are still 00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:32.519 alive. 00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:34.339 Yes, 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:35.019 she's a fictional 00:32:35.019 --> 00:32:35.500 character 00:32:35.500 --> 00:32:36.339 but things like this 00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:37.559 happen to real people 00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:38.779 in real life. 00:32:38.779 --> 00:32:41.619 Why is power 00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:42.319 so often 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:43.399 found on the side 00:32:43.399 --> 00:32:44.139 of the oppressors? 00:32:47.299 --> 00:32:48.119 There's some people 00:32:48.119 --> 00:32:48.559 in the world 00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:49.000 who have known 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:50.279 such deep suffering 00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:50.920 and injustice 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:52.000 that they think 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:53.220 death more fortunate 00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:53.879 than life. 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:55.000 Take the example 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:55.480 of Job 00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:56.240 from the Bible. 00:32:56.819 --> 00:32:57.319 Job 3, 00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:57.920 3-5 00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:58.440 he says this 00:32:58.440 --> 00:32:59.379 Let the day 00:32:59.379 --> 00:33:00.019 perish 00:33:00.019 --> 00:33:01.240 on which I was born 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:02.519 and the night 00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:03.119 that said 00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:04.200 a man is conceived 00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:05.599 let that day 00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:06.259 be darkness. 00:33:06.980 --> 00:33:07.819 May God above 00:33:07.819 --> 00:33:08.679 not seek it 00:33:08.679 --> 00:33:09.599 nor light shine 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:10.039 upon it 00:33:10.039 --> 00:33:10.899 let gloom 00:33:10.899 --> 00:33:11.500 and deep 00:33:11.500 --> 00:33:12.500 darkness claim it 00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:13.159 let clouds 00:33:13.159 --> 00:33:14.019 dwell upon it 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:15.359 let the blackness 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:15.980 of the day 00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:17.039 terrify it. 00:33:18.339 --> 00:33:19.399 How bleak 00:33:19.399 --> 00:33:20.119 does your life 00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:20.679 have to be 00:33:20.679 --> 00:33:21.139 for a man 00:33:21.139 --> 00:33:21.980 to say something 00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:22.559 like that? 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:26.579 Jeremiah 20 00:33:26.579 --> 00:33:27.539 14-17 00:33:27.539 --> 00:33:28.919 Cursed be the day 00:33:28.919 --> 00:33:30.179 on which I was born 00:33:30.179 --> 00:33:31.559 the day when my mother 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:32.139 bore me 00:33:32.139 --> 00:33:33.419 let it not be blessed 00:33:33.419 --> 00:33:34.700 cursed be the man 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:35.500 who brought the news 00:33:35.500 --> 00:33:36.220 to my father 00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:37.659 a son is born to you 00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:39.000 making him very glad 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:39.920 let that man 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:40.740 be like the cities 00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:41.300 that the Lord 00:33:41.300 --> 00:33:42.560 overthrew without pity 00:33:42.560 --> 00:33:43.960 let him hear a cry 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:44.500 in the morning 00:33:44.500 --> 00:33:45.600 and an alarm at noon 00:33:45.600 --> 00:33:46.640 because he did not 00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:47.600 kill me in the womb 00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:49.080 so my mother 00:33:49.080 --> 00:33:50.180 would have been my grave 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:51.040 and her womb 00:33:51.040 --> 00:33:51.980 forever great 00:33:51.980 --> 00:33:53.840 why did I come out 00:33:53.840 --> 00:33:54.360 from the womb 00:33:54.360 --> 00:33:55.240 to see toil 00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:55.860 and sorrow 00:33:55.860 --> 00:33:56.880 and spend my days 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:57.500 in shame? 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:00.440 Most of us 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:01.180 are desperate 00:34:01.180 --> 00:34:02.360 to live another day 00:34:02.360 --> 00:34:02.820 longer 00:34:02.820 --> 00:34:03.920 because we haven't 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:04.440 experienced 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:05.220 such suffering 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:09.079 is anyone 00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:10.099 in our society 00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:10.800 more weak 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:11.500 and vulnerable 00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:12.800 more than children? 00:34:15.139 --> 00:34:16.220 Earlier this year 00:34:16.220 --> 00:34:18.119 a 16 month old 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:18.659 toddler 00:34:18.659 --> 00:34:19.659 named Jalen 00:34:19.659 --> 00:34:20.780 died in Ohio 00:34:20.780 --> 00:34:22.480 because her mom 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:23.940 left her in the crib 00:34:23.940 --> 00:34:25.320 and took a 10 day 00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:26.099 beach vacation 00:34:26.099 --> 00:34:26.840 with her boyfriend 00:34:26.840 --> 00:34:32.380 in that jail cell 00:34:32.380 --> 00:34:32.920 of a crib 00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:34.120 she was dehydrated 00:34:34.120 --> 00:34:36.260 she died of dehydration 00:34:36.260 --> 00:34:36.900 and starvation 00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:38.420 she whimpered 00:34:38.420 --> 00:34:39.220 and howled 00:34:39.220 --> 00:34:39.820 through the night 00:34:39.820 --> 00:34:41.079 but nobody heard her cry 00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:42.100 there was no one 00:34:42.100 --> 00:34:43.019 to comfort her 00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:45.360 she was found 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:46.059 emaciated 00:34:46.059 --> 00:34:47.100 with sunken eyes 00:34:47.100 --> 00:34:47.960 with fecal matter 00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:49.120 smeared all over her 00:34:49.120 --> 00:34:50.160 dry lips 00:34:50.160 --> 00:34:51.680 and between her fingertips 00:34:51.680 --> 00:34:54.100 physical pain 00:34:54.100 --> 00:34:54.740 is one thing 00:34:54.740 --> 00:34:55.740 but can you imagine 00:34:55.739 --> 00:34:56.639 the psychological 00:34:56.639 --> 00:34:57.859 and emotional pain 00:34:57.859 --> 00:34:58.979 of a child 00:34:58.979 --> 00:34:59.639 a toddler 00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:00.500 at the peak 00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:01.739 of separation anxiety 00:35:01.739 --> 00:35:03.519 being abandoned 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:04.139 like that? 00:35:08.859 --> 00:35:09.899 According to 00:35:09.899 --> 00:35:11.139 the Guttmacher Institute 00:35:11.139 --> 00:35:13.500 66 million children 00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:15.139 have been aborted 00:35:15.139 --> 00:35:16.159 in the United States 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:17.559 since 1973 00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:19.019 Roe v. Wade 00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:21.139 66 million 00:35:21.139 --> 00:35:25.379 and we like 00:35:25.379 --> 00:35:25.980 to pretend 00:35:25.980 --> 00:35:27.019 that we are 00:35:27.019 --> 00:35:27.900 civilized 00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:29.659 that we're better 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:30.420 than those people 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:30.839 who lived 00:35:30.839 --> 00:35:31.659 in the ancient world 00:35:31.659 --> 00:35:36.779 behold 00:35:36.779 --> 00:35:37.739 the tears 00:35:37.739 --> 00:35:38.659 of the oppressed 00:35:38.659 --> 00:35:40.900 and they had 00:35:40.900 --> 00:35:41.440 no one 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:42.400 to comfort them 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:44.000 on the side 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:44.900 of their oppressors 00:35:44.900 --> 00:35:45.719 there was power 00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:46.639 and there was 00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:47.219 no one 00:35:47.219 --> 00:35:48.039 to comfort them 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:49.339 who comforts 00:35:49.339 --> 00:35:50.259 those unborn children 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:52.820 who are aborted 00:35:52.820 --> 00:35:53.760 by their own parents 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:54.520 who are meant 00:35:54.520 --> 00:35:55.160 to care for them 00:35:55.160 --> 00:35:57.040 who wipes away 00:35:57.040 --> 00:35:57.760 their tears 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:01.340 did you know 00:36:01.340 --> 00:36:02.400 that infants 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:02.780 in the womb 00:36:02.780 --> 00:36:03.480 babies in the womb 00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:03.860 cry? 00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:05.240 I learned this 00:36:05.240 --> 00:36:05.660 this week 00:36:05.660 --> 00:36:08.240 they don't have air 00:36:08.240 --> 00:36:08.740 in their lungs 00:36:08.740 --> 00:36:09.360 so they can't make 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:09.800 sound 00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:10.260 but apparently 00:36:10.260 --> 00:36:10.740 they mimic 00:36:10.740 --> 00:36:11.340 everything 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:12.540 that a born infant 00:36:12.540 --> 00:36:13.000 does 00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:14.480 when they are 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:15.260 subjected to 00:36:15.260 --> 00:36:15.960 certain stimuli 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:17.140 they cry 00:36:17.140 --> 00:36:17.640 in the womb 00:36:17.639 --> 00:36:22.359 but even 00:36:22.359 --> 00:36:22.799 they are better 00:36:22.799 --> 00:36:23.500 off than Jalen 00:36:23.500 --> 00:36:25.159 because they 00:36:25.159 --> 00:36:25.679 were never born 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:28.460 and I thought 00:36:28.460 --> 00:36:28.879 the dead 00:36:28.879 --> 00:36:29.539 who are already 00:36:29.539 --> 00:36:29.799 dead 00:36:29.799 --> 00:36:30.379 more fortunate 00:36:30.379 --> 00:36:30.920 than the living 00:36:30.920 --> 00:36:31.819 who are still alive 00:36:31.819 --> 00:36:32.739 but better 00:36:32.739 --> 00:36:33.319 than both 00:36:33.319 --> 00:36:33.719 is he 00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:34.239 who has not 00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:34.779 yet been 00:36:34.779 --> 00:36:35.379 and has not 00:36:35.379 --> 00:36:36.119 seen the evil 00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:36.639 deeds 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:37.500 that are done 00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:38.619 under the sun 00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:42.279 as the English 00:36:42.279 --> 00:36:42.759 philosopher 00:36:42.759 --> 00:36:43.619 Thomas Hobbes 00:36:43.619 --> 00:36:44.440 famously said 00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:45.679 life is nasty 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:46.800 brutish 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:48.340 and short 00:36:48.340 --> 00:36:51.720 this is the condition 00:36:51.720 --> 00:36:53.659 of this fallen world 00:36:53.659 --> 00:36:55.000 ravaged by sin 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.019 we work in a cursed ground 00:36:59.019 --> 00:37:00.380 that produces thorns 00:37:00.380 --> 00:37:01.340 and thistles 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:03.159 reducing all of our labor 00:37:03.159 --> 00:37:03.980 to futility 00:37:03.980 --> 00:37:05.539 Genesis 3.18 says 00:37:05.539 --> 00:37:07.519 as Romans 8.20 says 00:37:07.519 --> 00:37:08.940 the creation was subjected 00:37:08.940 --> 00:37:10.119 to futility 00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:13.039 so that it presently 00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:13.900 groaning together 00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:14.480 in the pains 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:15.159 of childbirth 00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:16.259 that word futility 00:37:16.259 --> 00:37:17.400 in Romans 8.20 00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:18.799 is the Greek equivalent 00:37:18.799 --> 00:37:19.799 of the Hebrew word 00:37:19.799 --> 00:37:20.460 hevo 00:37:20.460 --> 00:37:22.779 the same word 00:37:22.779 --> 00:37:23.319 that's translated 00:37:23.319 --> 00:37:23.980 vanity 00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:25.079 vanity 00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:26.000 of vanities 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:27.119 all is vanity 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:27.880 in Ecclesiastes 00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:28.539 chapter 1 00:37:28.539 --> 00:37:29.019 verse 2 00:37:29.019 --> 00:37:30.839 and the new 00:37:30.839 --> 00:37:31.559 obituaries 00:37:31.559 --> 00:37:32.219 that get written 00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:33.400 every single day 00:37:33.400 --> 00:37:34.279 remind us 00:37:34.279 --> 00:37:35.400 that we still live 00:37:35.400 --> 00:37:37.139 under this futility 00:37:37.139 --> 00:37:39.440 all of us 00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:40.579 who live under the sun 00:37:40.579 --> 00:37:42.019 experience this futility 00:37:42.019 --> 00:37:42.880 whether you're a Christian 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:43.559 or not 00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:47.159 and in this kind 00:37:47.159 --> 00:37:48.179 of unjust world 00:37:48.179 --> 00:37:49.619 life is breath 00:37:49.619 --> 00:37:51.460 and death is gain 00:37:51.460 --> 00:37:58.300 but is there an end 00:37:58.300 --> 00:37:58.860 to this? 00:38:02.860 --> 00:38:04.139 is there any hope 00:38:04.139 --> 00:38:04.800 for us? 00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:08.000 by God's gracious 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:08.699 intervention 00:38:08.699 --> 00:38:09.739 this seemingly 00:38:09.739 --> 00:38:11.260 endless cycle 00:38:11.260 --> 00:38:12.239 of life and death 00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:14.159 will come to a decisive end 00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:16.599 when God brings 00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:17.880 the new heaven 00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:18.599 and a new earth 00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:19.860 when God redeems 00:38:19.860 --> 00:38:21.260 our mortal bodies 00:38:21.260 --> 00:38:22.980 in the resurrection life 00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:24.679 and that's when 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:25.519 this cycle 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:26.619 will finally end 00:38:26.619 --> 00:38:28.559 and that's why 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:29.059 for us 00:38:29.059 --> 00:38:30.000 those who have repented 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:30.699 of their sins 00:38:30.699 --> 00:38:31.659 and trusted in Jesus 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:32.460 for salvation 00:38:32.460 --> 00:38:34.260 to live is Christ 00:38:34.260 --> 00:38:35.800 and to die is gain 00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:37.100 in a far deeper 00:38:37.100 --> 00:38:38.380 and greater sense 00:38:38.380 --> 00:38:41.900 in this world 00:38:41.900 --> 00:38:43.280 where in the place 00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:43.940 of justice 00:38:43.940 --> 00:38:44.900 there is wickedness 00:38:44.900 --> 00:38:45.500 and in the place 00:38:45.500 --> 00:38:46.240 of righteousness 00:38:46.240 --> 00:38:47.800 there is wickedness 00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:50.220 that is true 00:38:50.220 --> 00:38:52.580 but there was one time 00:38:52.580 --> 00:38:54.720 and only one time 00:38:54.720 --> 00:38:56.320 in human history 00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:57.539 all of human history 00:38:57.539 --> 00:38:59.160 when in the place 00:38:59.160 --> 00:39:00.060 of wickedness 00:39:00.060 --> 00:39:00.980 there was justice 00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:02.760 and in the place 00:39:02.760 --> 00:39:03.599 of wickedness 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:04.619 there was righteousness 00:39:04.619 --> 00:39:06.519 and that's on the cross 00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:07.480 of Jesus Christ 00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:11.820 for the Greeks 00:39:11.820 --> 00:39:12.500 and the Romans 00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:13.480 crucifixion 00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:14.559 was torture 00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:15.360 and execution 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:16.320 wrapped in one 00:39:16.320 --> 00:39:18.320 reserved for the lowliest 00:39:18.320 --> 00:39:19.000 of slaves 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:19.760 and criminals 00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:20.880 the most shameful 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:21.639 kind of death 00:39:21.639 --> 00:39:22.800 you can die 00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:26.940 and that's where 00:39:26.940 --> 00:39:27.400 Jesus 00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:28.440 the son of God 00:39:28.440 --> 00:39:30.199 the holy one 00:39:30.199 --> 00:39:32.339 the righteous one 00:39:32.339 --> 00:39:34.219 the perfect one 00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:36.039 the unblemished 00:39:36.039 --> 00:39:37.179 lamb of God 00:39:37.179 --> 00:39:39.039 died on that cross 00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:44.039 in the place 00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:44.859 of wickedness 00:39:44.859 --> 00:39:46.239 there was righteousness 00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:47.059 hanging there 00:39:47.059 --> 00:39:48.599 there was justice 00:39:48.599 --> 00:39:49.939 hanging there 00:39:49.939 --> 00:39:51.599 why? 00:39:52.299 --> 00:39:53.539 he did not deserve 00:39:53.539 --> 00:39:54.179 to be there 00:39:54.179 --> 00:39:55.539 I deserve 00:39:55.539 --> 00:39:56.139 to be there 00:39:56.139 --> 00:40:01.679 he's the only man 00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:03.219 who did not deserve 00:40:03.219 --> 00:40:03.739 to be 00:40:03.739 --> 00:40:04.940 on that cross 00:40:04.940 --> 00:40:06.339 every single one 00:40:06.339 --> 00:40:06.639 of us 00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:07.480 deserve to be there 00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:09.219 that's what Romans 3 says 00:40:09.219 --> 00:40:09.559 no 00:40:09.559 --> 00:40:10.619 there's no one 00:40:10.619 --> 00:40:11.219 righteous 00:40:11.219 --> 00:40:12.920 not even one 00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:15.400 because if you're 00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:16.279 honest with yourself 00:40:16.279 --> 00:40:17.119 and you examine 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:18.019 your own heart 00:40:18.019 --> 00:40:23.039 in all of us 00:40:23.039 --> 00:40:23.539 there is this 00:40:23.539 --> 00:40:24.480 heart of darkness 00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:27.820 there is this 00:40:27.820 --> 00:40:29.820 thing that the Bible 00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:30.920 calls pride 00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:32.940 of self glory 00:40:32.940 --> 00:40:34.579 and self love 00:40:34.579 --> 00:40:36.280 and self righteousness 00:40:36.280 --> 00:40:38.039 and self centeredness 00:40:38.039 --> 00:40:39.500 which is at the root 00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:41.059 of every evil 00:40:41.059 --> 00:40:42.240 and every injustice 00:40:42.240 --> 00:40:42.960 in this world 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:43.920 and so 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:45.519 in every single one 00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:45.840 of us 00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:47.579 resides in seed form 00:40:47.579 --> 00:40:49.480 the very thing 00:40:49.480 --> 00:40:50.519 that grew into 00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:52.199 Hitler and Nazi Germany 00:40:52.199 --> 00:40:56.480 that's us 00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:57.619 we deserve 00:40:57.619 --> 00:40:58.419 to be on the cross 00:40:58.419 --> 00:40:59.699 but Jesus 00:40:59.699 --> 00:41:00.579 died 00:41:00.579 --> 00:41:01.500 on the cross 00:41:01.500 --> 00:41:02.259 he took 00:41:02.259 --> 00:41:03.419 our place 00:41:03.419 --> 00:41:04.439 to pay 00:41:04.439 --> 00:41:05.059 the penalty 00:41:05.059 --> 00:41:06.219 for our sin 00:41:06.219 --> 00:41:07.319 because God 00:41:07.319 --> 00:41:08.379 loves us 00:41:08.379 --> 00:41:09.559 and he wanted 00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:10.719 to save us 00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:12.879 that's the one 00:41:12.879 --> 00:41:13.439 place 00:41:13.439 --> 00:41:14.579 in history 00:41:14.579 --> 00:41:15.799 where righteousness 00:41:15.799 --> 00:41:17.319 took the place 00:41:17.319 --> 00:41:18.159 of wickedness 00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:22.719 and that's why 00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:23.179 we read 00:41:23.179 --> 00:41:23.779 in our assurance 00:41:23.779 --> 00:41:24.500 of pardon today 00:41:24.500 --> 00:41:25.579 in 2 Corinthians 5 00:41:25.579 --> 00:41:26.000 21 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:28.059 for our sake 00:41:28.059 --> 00:41:29.639 God made him 00:41:29.639 --> 00:41:30.139 Jesus 00:41:30.139 --> 00:41:31.659 to be sin 00:41:31.659 --> 00:41:32.739 who knew 00:41:32.739 --> 00:41:33.659 no sin 00:41:33.659 --> 00:41:35.039 so that in him 00:41:35.039 --> 00:41:36.379 we might become 00:41:36.379 --> 00:41:37.440 the righteousness 00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:38.399 of God 00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:44.900 so now 00:41:44.900 --> 00:41:45.900 if you renounce 00:41:45.900 --> 00:41:46.680 yourself 00:41:46.680 --> 00:41:47.740 you repent 00:41:47.740 --> 00:41:48.280 of your sins 00:41:48.280 --> 00:41:48.780 you turn 00:41:48.780 --> 00:41:49.420 from your sins 00:41:49.420 --> 00:41:50.320 you renounce 00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:50.680 yourself 00:41:50.680 --> 00:41:51.019 and you 00:41:51.019 --> 00:41:52.119 pledge allegiance 00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:53.079 to Jesus Christ 00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:53.700 as your Lord 00:41:53.700 --> 00:41:54.260 and Savior 00:41:54.260 --> 00:41:55.599 then here 00:41:55.599 --> 00:41:56.680 in our hearts 00:41:56.680 --> 00:41:58.260 in the place 00:41:58.260 --> 00:41:59.019 of wickedness 00:41:59.019 --> 00:42:00.160 now there is 00:42:00.160 --> 00:42:00.780 justice 00:42:00.780 --> 00:42:03.200 and here 00:42:03.200 --> 00:42:04.160 upon our lives 00:42:04.160 --> 00:42:05.000 where there is 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:05.720 wickedness 00:42:05.720 --> 00:42:06.599 in the place 00:42:06.599 --> 00:42:07.180 of wickedness 00:42:07.179 --> 00:42:08.379 now we are clothed 00:42:08.379 --> 00:42:09.639 with the righteousness 00:42:09.639 --> 00:42:10.339 of Christ 00:42:10.339 --> 00:42:13.339 that's what we were 00:42:13.339 --> 00:42:14.159 singing about today 00:42:14.159 --> 00:42:15.619 our sins 00:42:15.619 --> 00:42:16.299 they are many 00:42:16.299 --> 00:42:18.539 his mercy 00:42:18.539 --> 00:42:19.119 is more 00:42:19.119 --> 00:42:21.179 praise the Lord 00:42:21.179 --> 00:42:22.159 his mercy 00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:22.739 is more 00:42:22.739 --> 00:42:24.440 stronger than 00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:25.059 darkness 00:42:25.059 --> 00:42:25.699 new 00:42:25.699 --> 00:42:26.739 every morn 00:42:26.739 --> 00:42:27.940 our sins 00:42:27.940 --> 00:42:28.679 they are many 00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:30.059 his mercy 00:42:30.059 --> 00:42:30.599 is more 00:42:30.599 --> 00:42:32.399 that's mercy 00:42:32.399 --> 00:42:35.879 only people 00:42:35.879 --> 00:42:36.539 who have received 00:42:36.539 --> 00:42:37.000 mercy 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:38.559 can rejoice 00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:39.840 in the work 00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:41.000 of doing justice 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:42.280 in this unjust world 00:42:42.280 --> 00:42:44.280 so