WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.339 Well folks, wonderful to see you this morning. Let me encourage you to have Ecclesiastes chapter 12 open in front of you. 00:00:07.879 --> 00:00:15.800 Gary's already led us in prayer so helpfully. So we will just dive straight into Ecclesiastes chapter 12 this morning. 00:00:15.860 --> 00:00:21.420 Before we do, let me just encourage you to come on Wednesday evening to the Word 1-1 training evening. 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:26.900 It'll be 7.30 in the upstairs hall. It'll be great to see many of us there. 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:32.140 I've read John's Gospel, read it with my mate from football. We did it in four years. 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:39.659 So you're in it for the long haul if you kind of do it. But let me just tell you, it was just one of the most thrilling things I've been involved with. 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:47.159 So let me encourage you to come on Wednesday night and we'll together think about how we could get God's words open with our friends. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:53.560 But Ecclesiastes chapter 12, we're finishing this little series that we've been in over the last number of weeks in Ecclesiastes. 00:00:53.560 --> 00:01:07.060 And as I've perceived it, it's been a book that has helped us as a congregation to slow down and to think about life under the sun. 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:12.620 Now, just to kind of get us into this this morning, I don't know when the last time that you bought a book was. 00:01:12.620 --> 00:01:18.400 Some of us are into Kindle. Some of us, like me, a bit of a traditionalist, like a like a normal book. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.780 But every time I buy a book, I wonder if you're like me. 00:01:21.859 --> 00:01:26.080 Every time I buy a book, the first place that I go is to the back cover. 00:01:27.020 --> 00:01:36.439 Right, because it's in the back cover that you you hear snippets from people who've read this book before or snippets of people who know the author or something like that. 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:41.340 And the back of the book kind of tells you what you can expect if you're if you're going to pay for this book. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:46.900 They tell you kind of what you're in for. And we kind of do this with books. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:53.900 Now, I just picked up a random book on our shelf. I think this is one of one of Alex's, but she's on route, so she can't tell me. 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.039 And it's called A Thousand Splendid Sons. I've never read it. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.060 OK, but this is what A Thousand Splendid Sons says in the back. 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:04.579 It says, only the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved by this book. 00:02:05.320 --> 00:02:06.040 OK, that's pretty good. 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:12.920 Evening Standard, a masterful narrative. He is a storyteller of dizzying power. 00:02:13.640 --> 00:02:15.840 Nice. OK, Daily Telegraph. 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:24.819 Hossiani, I think that's the author, has that rare quality of being a Dickensian knack, having a Dickensian knack for storytelling. 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:25.539 There you go. 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:32.819 And in the Daily Mail, it said, it's a gripping tale. It is too, a powerful portrait of female suffering and endurance. 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:38.459 So I've never read this book before, but reading on the back, I'm actually quite intrigued as to see what that's about. 00:02:39.099 --> 00:02:42.239 Probably won't read it, but, you know, it's what we do with books, isn't it? 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:44.340 It's what we do with books. 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:48.899 So here's the one question I want to ask you with that kind of in mind. 00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:54.120 And if you've been here over the number of weeks that we've been in this book, you think about this question. 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:57.400 And if you haven't, maybe today's the first Sunday that you've come along. 00:02:57.740 --> 00:02:59.780 Ask somebody who's kind of been here over the last few weeks. 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:01.300 Here's the question I want you to think about. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.500 Ecclesiastes, imagine it's being published as a novel. 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.680 OK, you're being asked to write something on the back. 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:09.740 What would you write on the back? 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:12.740 What would you write on the back? 00:03:14.040 --> 00:03:16.920 How would you communicate to people what this book's been teaching you? 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:18.500 How would you tell people? 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:23.860 How would you help them understand what this book has made you do or made you feel in your life? 00:03:23.939 --> 00:03:25.479 What would you put in the back of Ecclesiastes? 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.879 Because the thing is, if you come with me to verse 9 of chapter 12, 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.400 actually we're given some words to put on the back of the book. 00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:40.000 Right? 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:42.180 Verse 9, we hear another voice. 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:43.680 It's not the teacher's voice anymore. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.020 It's the person who's put this book together, who's compiled it. 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:52.099 And they want us to know both what the purpose of all of it was, 00:03:52.200 --> 00:03:53.819 their hard work in doing it, 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:58.240 and they want us to know how we should feel now that we've read it. 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:02.879 So let me just make a beeline for the metaphor that's right at the heart of verse 11. 00:04:03.640 --> 00:04:04.200 Got it there. 00:04:05.100 --> 00:04:07.500 So the question is, the wisdom of this book, 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:09.700 what is it like? 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:12.319 What is it like? 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:16.519 Is it like sweet nectar for the soul? 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:19.300 No, it's not like sweet nectar for the soul. 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:24.519 Is it like a cup of warm cocoa when you've been outside in the freezing cold 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.500 and you come into the warmth and you get that feeling in your gullet thinking, 00:04:27.719 --> 00:04:28.860 oh, it's warm. 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:30.339 No, it's not like that. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.600 Is it like taking a herbal bath with classic FM on in the background 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:36.719 and a little scented candle to make you feel all nice? 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:38.600 Is that what this book is like? 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:40.659 No, do you see the metaphor here? 00:04:40.660 --> 00:04:42.500 What is this book like? 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:46.000 It is like a goad. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.560 So there is the line in the back of the book. 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:51.540 This book is like a cattle prod. 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:52.480 Now, would you read that? 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:55.720 This book is like a cattle prod. 00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:00.680 So this book is meant to come at us like a sharp pointed stick, 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:04.319 the kind of one that the shepherd would use to keep his sheep from wandering off 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:07.160 and drive them where he wanted them to go. 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:08.980 That is what this book is like. 00:05:10.840 --> 00:05:13.680 And I'll put my hand up and say, wrestled with this text all week, 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.960 that is not the metaphor that I want to hear. 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:20.300 It's not the kind of metaphor that I want to hear. 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:23.420 Nobody is putting that verse on the side of a coffee cup. 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:30.160 Okay, no one is finding that verse and that image on their 2020 wall calendar. 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:30.860 There's January. 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:32.080 Oh no, what is it? 00:05:32.580 --> 00:05:34.100 It's a shepherd with his goad. 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:39.060 Somebody asks you in small group, what is your favourite Bible verse? 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:41.000 Nobody is coming up with this one. 00:05:41.060 --> 00:05:42.980 This is not the metaphor that we want, 00:05:43.200 --> 00:05:46.939 but let's stop and think about the fact that it is the metaphor that we need. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:48.680 Isn't it? 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.280 It's the metaphor that we need. 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:55.360 So the wisdom that's in this book of Ecclesiastes, 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:59.160 every single nugget given, every single observation made, 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:03.420 every single question raised, every single frustration aired 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:05.759 as it's resonated with us over the weeks 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.060 about what life under the sun is like, 00:06:08.379 --> 00:06:12.600 is meant to be for us like the goads on a shepherd's stick. 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:21.200 And the aim is that we would feel the goads 00:06:21.200 --> 00:06:24.140 and that we would go with the goads. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.680 Okay, that we would go with the goads. 00:06:29.379 --> 00:06:31.760 And with that in mind, let's wrap up today. 00:06:31.900 --> 00:06:34.040 Let's take two things from these verses today 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:35.760 and take them away from this book 00:06:35.760 --> 00:06:39.379 as the kind of writer sums up what he's been all about, 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:40.660 what he's been trying to tell us. 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:41.260 Two things. 00:06:41.259 --> 00:06:42.839 Okay, here's the first thing he's been telling us. 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:44.319 He's been telling us to face facts. 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:47.439 Verse 9, come with me. 00:06:48.699 --> 00:06:50.259 Not only was the teacher wise, 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:53.800 but he also imparted knowledge to the people. 00:06:54.699 --> 00:07:00.719 He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:02.860 So the guy that's brought this together 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:05.199 is letting us know that Solomon really wrestled 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:07.899 with the big questions of life, really wrestled with it. 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:09.699 And the two verbs kind of take us there. 00:07:09.779 --> 00:07:10.439 They help us see it. 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:11.060 What did he do? 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:12.639 Firstly, he pondered. 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:14.219 You see it? 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:15.459 He applied his mind. 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:17.279 He chewed it over in his brain. 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:18.379 He wrestled. 00:07:18.779 --> 00:07:19.759 He considered. 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:21.680 He sat and he stood on it. 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:24.279 And what else did he do? 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:25.800 He searched out. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:29.759 So he went looking for his answers to his big questions. 00:07:29.860 --> 00:07:33.259 He turned over every stone in his pursuit of meaning. 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:38.120 So he both sat still and thought and he went out and he found. 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:41.319 Sat still and thought, went out and found. 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:45.259 And I think that is why, as I've journeyed with this guy over the last eight weeks, nine weeks, 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:46.259 I love him. 00:07:46.259 --> 00:07:46.500 I love him. 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:47.399 I love him. 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:48.480 I love him. 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:51.680 Because he embodies biblical faith, doesn't he? 00:07:52.539 --> 00:07:54.099 He embodies biblical faith. 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.779 This is not leave your mind at the door. 00:07:57.779 --> 00:08:11.159 However, this is trust grounded and based on the thought through evidence as we apply our God-given reason to the world in which we live. 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:12.779 That's biblical faith, isn't it? 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:13.639 It's biblical faith. 00:08:13.719 --> 00:08:14.759 That's what this guy is doing. 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.060 And what has he concluded after his pondering and his searching? 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:22.199 He's concluded, end of verse 10, that what he's saying is truth. 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:32.360 Now, it was author Herman Melville, the guy who wrote Moby Dick, who called Ecclesiastes by far the truest of all books. 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:36.200 It's the truth about life. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:38.980 What we've seen is that it's a gift from God, isn't it? 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:49.940 Life is a good thing given to us by a gracious and good God to enjoy and to use the things that he has given us for his glory, 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.680 knowing that one day we will have to give an account for what we've done with his stuff. 00:08:55.539 --> 00:09:01.600 But the dominant theme, the dominant thing about this book, the dominant word is that word vanity. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:03.879 Vanity. 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:05.279 Vanity. 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:08.539 We are mortal and finite human beings. 00:09:08.539 --> 00:09:09.480 That's what he's been saying. 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:13.120 You know, I'm reminded of this every Saturday, especially at this time of year. 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:20.079 Because two o'clock comes into my sport, right, into my football, and the team news comes in. 00:09:20.579 --> 00:09:23.360 But the teams, who's making the three o'clock games? 00:09:23.819 --> 00:09:24.759 Get the team news in. 00:09:25.579 --> 00:09:27.699 And you hear that such and such isn't playing. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:29.860 And you think to yourself, what's happened? 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:31.159 Have they pulled a muscle? 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:32.799 Have they torn a groin? 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:34.179 Have they broken a leg? 00:09:34.459 --> 00:09:35.339 What has gone on? 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:37.219 And then the commentator tells you why they're not playing. 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:38.439 They're not playing. 00:09:38.959 --> 00:09:40.559 Because they've got a dose of the flu. 00:09:42.199 --> 00:09:42.419 Right? 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:49.539 Now this is some of the fittest and the strongest human beings that are alive on the planet today. 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:53.379 These are some of the athletes who are at the pinnacle of their career. 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:55.159 And what are they floored by? 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.659 They are floored by a little bug in their system. 00:09:57.659 --> 00:09:59.519 Isn't it? 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:00.719 It makes you feel, doesn't it? 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:04.279 Your humanity, doesn't it? 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:09.019 When you get floored by a tiny little bug, it kind of shrinks you down to size. 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:12.340 And this is what this guy's been saying, that life is vanity. 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:14.460 It's like the smoke coming off a candle. 00:10:14.579 --> 00:10:16.179 It's here one minute, it's gone the next. 00:10:16.199 --> 00:10:20.039 Just when you think you've got it sussed, when you think you've got life tamed in your pocket, 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:21.799 it somehow eludes you. 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.059 Life is but a breath. 00:10:26.339 --> 00:10:28.019 It's but a breath. 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:34.759 From our little girl Chloe, we take our little girls to nursery every morning. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:38.359 Chloe's favorite game at the minute is, can I see my breath? 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:41.019 Can I see my breath? 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:42.340 She goes, daddy, daddy, daddy, look. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:45.879 Can you see my breath? 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:47.580 She says, yes, I can see my breath. 00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:48.600 We've turned it into a little game. 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:51.120 A little game is whose breath can last the longest. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:51.759 Right? 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:52.580 So she's doing this. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:52.960 She goes, ha. 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:54.159 Grace doesn't quite get it. 00:10:54.180 --> 00:10:55.600 She goes, we're working on that. 00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:57.639 But she's going, ha. 00:10:57.680 --> 00:10:59.759 So the two of us go, one, two, three, ha. 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:04.539 And the thing about whose breath can last the longest, the thing about the game, 00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:05.500 it's extremely frustrating. 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:06.039 Do you know why? 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:07.060 Because nobody wins. 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:10.579 Because you can't tell whose breath lasts the longest. 00:11:10.939 --> 00:11:11.839 I'll let her have the victory. 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:14.899 But you can't tell whose breath lasts the longest. 00:11:14.979 --> 00:11:16.419 A little exercise for you this week. 00:11:16.479 --> 00:11:18.299 Let's make the most of the freezing cold. 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:21.799 That's what he's saying, isn't it? 00:11:23.479 --> 00:11:26.659 Life is but a breath. 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:30.119 And he's used that word 38 times in this book. 00:11:30.199 --> 00:11:32.059 In other words, you say it and you forget about it. 00:11:32.099 --> 00:11:33.359 He says, no, no, no, no, you come back. 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:35.359 Life is but a breath. 00:11:35.479 --> 00:11:35.979 The way you go. 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:37.200 No, no, no, no, no, you come back. 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.340 Life is but a breath. 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:42.820 That's the truth about life. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:43.700 It's but a breath. 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:46.360 And it's the truth he's trying to be telling us about death. 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:51.879 No matter what you've accomplished in life, the same fate awaits us all. 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:53.159 The truth about life. 00:11:53.300 --> 00:11:54.320 The truth about death. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:12:00.640 And when you bring those twin truths together, friends, you understand that this is like a shepherd's goat. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:01.819 Leading us. 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:02.960 Leading us. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:03.799 Driving us. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.600 And these truths are, these sayings are meant to be, verse 11, like nails firmly fixed. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:10.759 Get that image in your head. 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:11.860 Right? 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:13.960 In other words, these truths about life and about death. 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:19.860 They're meant to be nailed in our minds as we navigate our way through this life under the sun existence. 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:21.300 There's the truth about life. 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:23.019 And there's the truth about death. 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:26.360 He's saying face up to the facts. 00:12:26.439 --> 00:12:30.000 The second thing I've been trying to do is help you fall down and fear God. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.139 Because here's what he's aware of. 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:39.100 He's conscious that there are tons of other ways out there of understanding the world. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.159 And I think that's what he means when he says, verse 12, that there is no end of making books. 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:48.019 No end of making books. 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:49.299 There's a book theme here in this one. 00:12:49.340 --> 00:12:50.419 You might have sussed that. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.159 No end of making books. 00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:54.819 I remember my best friend at university. 00:12:54.939 --> 00:12:56.439 I lived with him for five years. 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:57.759 Four years. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.279 After university, he moved down to Oxford. 00:13:01.539 --> 00:13:03.500 I remember Alex and I going to visit him and his wife. 00:13:03.699 --> 00:13:05.439 And they showed us around Oxford. 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.699 And I remember them taking us to Oxford University. 00:13:08.819 --> 00:13:10.779 And he pointed over there and he says, there's the library. 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:11.879 Right? 00:13:11.939 --> 00:13:12.360 What was it? 00:13:12.419 --> 00:13:14.799 The Baudelian Library or something like that, isn't it? 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:19.819 And that library has been the legal deposit library for the last 400 years, 00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:23.780 which means legally every book that's published in the UK is in that library. 00:13:24.780 --> 00:13:25.180 Right? 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:31.300 And given that in 2014, looked it up this week, UK publishers released more than 20 new books every hour. 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:35.799 You'll appreciate there's a lot of books in the Baudelian Library. 00:13:37.979 --> 00:13:40.979 Mind boggles, isn't it, the insurance premium on that place. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:43.740 That is a niche search on comparethemarket.com, isn't it? 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:45.439 But that is a lot of books. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:45.480 A lot of books. 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:48.440 A lot of facts and figures. 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:49.940 A lot of research. 00:13:50.640 --> 00:13:53.220 A lot of different ways of understanding the world. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:58.620 And what Solomon's doing here is that he's applying that loving, fatherly concern. 00:13:58.780 --> 00:13:59.540 I think we get that. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.020 If you see it, it's conveyed in that word son here. 00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:03.600 Son, I love you. 00:14:03.680 --> 00:14:03.940 Listen. 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:09.280 He's pleading with his listeners to understand that they can study, study, study, study, study. 00:14:09.380 --> 00:14:10.660 That they can read, read, read, read, read. 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.360 That they can search, search, search, search, search. 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:20.600 But what he's pleading with them to see is that true wisdom is found in this verse 13. 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:21.779 Here's the starting point. 00:14:23.180 --> 00:14:24.800 To fear God and keep his commandments. 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:28.360 Fear God. 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:30.399 It's been a big theme of the second half of this book. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:36.960 The word that describes the disposition of the hearts who have understood rightly and responded rightly to who God is. 00:14:38.659 --> 00:14:39.920 Words like awe. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:42.819 You're speechless before him. 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:44.240 We saw that in chapter 5. 00:14:45.199 --> 00:14:45.599 Humility. 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:48.339 We realize that he is big and that we are small. 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:49.139 Reverence. 00:14:49.339 --> 00:14:51.519 We just bow before him. 00:14:51.579 --> 00:14:53.219 The holy, holy, holy God. 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:53.959 Devotion. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:55.219 We love him. 00:14:55.479 --> 00:14:55.919 Adoration. 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:56.939 We want to serve him. 00:14:57.179 --> 00:14:57.620 Dedication. 00:14:58.339 --> 00:14:59.740 We are his and obedience. 00:14:59.979 --> 00:15:01.240 Tell me what to do, dear father. 00:15:03.319 --> 00:15:05.480 There's one pastor I heard recently describe it. 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:12.039 To fear God means that his frown is your biggest dread and his smile is your greatest delight. 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.060 What does the compiler of this call that? 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.220 He calls that, do you see it? 00:15:18.560 --> 00:15:20.460 For this is the duty of all mankind. 00:15:20.680 --> 00:15:22.980 In other words, this is the reason that you and I were created. 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:29.360 Life lived in relationship with this God is where life is to be found. 00:15:31.060 --> 00:15:33.539 He says these words are like goads. 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.399 Ecclesiastes is like being led by a shepherd's goad. 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:45.060 And so the question that comes at us as we finish this today, whoever we are, whatever you think about this Christianity business, is, 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:48.339 is, are you going with the goads? 00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:51.379 Are you going with the goads? 00:15:54.039 --> 00:16:04.979 It's interesting because central to the New Testament is a man by his own admission who was kicking against the goads. 00:16:06.819 --> 00:16:10.119 Before he became a follower of Jesus, he was kicking against the goads. 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.779 Paul is he stands before King Agrippa in Rome. 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.580 And you can read about this in the later chapters of Acts. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.120 Paul is standing before King Agrippa. 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:21.159 It's not in Rome, rather, sorry. 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:21.759 King Agrippa. 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:25.700 And he's telling King Agrippa why he does what he does. 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:29.200 And he's telling them why he lives like he lives. 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.100 And he says this about the moment when Jesus burst into his life. 00:16:32.179 --> 00:16:32.919 Acts 26. 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:34.479 We all fell to the ground. 00:16:34.939 --> 00:16:40.240 And I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:41.379 Amazing. 00:16:41.459 --> 00:16:43.899 That's how closely Jesus identifies with his people. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.360 Is it hard for you to kick against the goads? 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:53.259 So Paul's life mission up until this point is to kill Christians. 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:55.139 That is his purpose in life. 00:16:56.439 --> 00:16:58.099 But Jesus is in his mind. 00:16:58.939 --> 00:16:59.879 He's in his mind. 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.099 I don't know how that has happened. 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:04.700 Maybe it's happened as he's been persecuting these Christians. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:07.640 Dragging them off to kill them. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:08.900 Seeing Stephen Stone. 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:13.980 That he's seen the reality of the risen Jesus in the lives of his followers. 00:17:14.360 --> 00:17:16.599 But whatever's happened, Jesus is in his mind. 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.380 He's a roadblock that he can't get past. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:21.500 He's a song in his head that he can't get out. 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:24.120 But he's refusing to act on it. 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:24.900 That's what Saul's doing. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.759 It's like he's suppressing the truth. 00:17:27.819 --> 00:17:30.099 It's like that time when you go on holiday and you've got a swimming. 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:34.459 You're in the swimming pool and you've got the beach ball and you're trying to press it under the water. 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:36.619 Trying to keep it under the water. 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:37.939 That's what suppressing means. 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.959 Keep it under the water only for it to burst back in your face. 00:17:43.899 --> 00:17:45.679 And Jesus stops him in his tracks. 00:17:45.959 --> 00:17:48.959 And he says, Saul, how long are you going to keep going against the goads? 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:54.180 And that's the point where Paul waves the white flag of surrender. 00:17:54.700 --> 00:17:58.140 That Jesus, you are the risen king. 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:02.600 Of course, we'd read later on, Paul, he's writing to the church in Philippi from prison. 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:05.880 And he would say, and get this, he would say, for me to live is Christ. 00:18:06.740 --> 00:18:09.319 And for me to die is gain. 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:16.480 Which, as somebody pointed out to me, must have made him the most frustrating prisoner to have under your command. 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:19.159 Imagine you're a guard. 00:18:19.419 --> 00:18:21.379 And you say to Paul, stop talking about Jesus. 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:22.259 And he says, I can't. 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:23.159 For me to live is Christ. 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:24.879 And you say, well, if you don't stop talking, we'll kill you. 00:18:24.899 --> 00:18:25.419 And he says, great. 00:18:25.500 --> 00:18:26.779 Well, for me to die is gain. 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:27.419 Right? 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:32.019 Which, of course, is the most freeing place to be in life, isn't it? 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:35.759 Knowing that Jesus is everything. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:43.099 Maybe you're here and you're saying to yourself, well, listen, if only I could have one of those moments, then maybe I'd believe as well. 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:47.019 Well, let me just ask you, whose words are these? 00:18:48.879 --> 00:18:50.160 Ecclesiastes, whose words are these? 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:52.139 He said, there's Solomon shanks. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:53.240 Come on, we've done that before. 00:18:53.740 --> 00:18:54.059 No, no, no. 00:18:54.059 --> 00:18:54.420 But wait a minute. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:55.299 Whose words are these? 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:57.379 Look at verse 11. 00:18:57.379 --> 00:19:00.059 The words of the wise are like gourds. 00:19:00.059 --> 00:19:06.159 They're collected sayings like firmly embedded nails given by one shepherd. 00:19:08.099 --> 00:19:14.619 So God often refers to himself throughout the Old Testament that he is like a shepherd to his people, Israel. 00:19:14.779 --> 00:19:17.919 So it's God's way here of saying that, yes, these are human words. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:19.579 But these are my words. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:22.539 These are my words. 00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:31.399 Of course, words that would reach their crescendo when Jesus, God, and the flesh would arrive in the scene and declare about himself in John chapter 10. 00:19:31.879 --> 00:19:34.819 Words loaded with historical and poignant meaning. 00:19:35.379 --> 00:19:39.139 I am the good shepherd. 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:41.659 Good what he is. 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:44.379 And shepherd what he does. 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:49.480 So important, isn't it, in our Christian lives that we know both of those truths about Jesus. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:51.760 That we grasp both of them. 00:19:51.780 --> 00:19:57.180 Because if he is good, but he's passive, right, that is no comfort for lost sheep. 00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:03.340 And if he's bad and he's active, then that's even worse news for lost sheep. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:08.640 But praise God that Jesus comes in the scene and declares, I am the good shepherd. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:13.420 The one who came seeking the sheep. 00:20:13.520 --> 00:20:21.920 The one who knows his sheep as God incarnate and knows what each of his sheep are going through. 00:20:22.060 --> 00:20:23.620 He stood in our place. 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:31.540 The shepherd who rose to win his sheep and the shepherd who lives to intercede and walk with his sheep through every dark valley, 00:20:31.540 --> 00:20:38.259 through every waking moment of their under the sun existence until he calls us home. 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:39.960 That's what makes him the good shepherd. 00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:44.319 Oh, how the Father has loved us. 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:48.160 What kindness he has shown in giving us his son. 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:59.059 He's poured out his love lavishly in giving his son in whom are found all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. 00:21:01.099 --> 00:21:03.980 He's the shepherd king who will one day jump to the earth. 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:06.519 This is at the verse 14 here. 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:08.299 And do what it says. 00:21:08.379 --> 00:21:10.240 Be the just judge of every human being. 00:21:10.379 --> 00:21:16.960 Divide them into sheep and to goats, to eternal life and to eternal judgment, depending on how we have responded to him. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:27.140 And the shepherd king who declares to all those who would hear and respond to his voice that he has come, that they may have life and life in all its fullness. 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:34.519 As Gary was praying earlier, forgiveness, adoption into the family of God, that we are sons and daughters. 00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:41.860 And to a life of denying self, taking up cross and following and knowing Jesus. 00:21:41.859 --> 00:21:47.059 And paradoxically, Jesus is saying that is where life will be found. 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:54.259 Friends, just as we close, let me just tell you one guy's story about how this is real for him. 00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:57.259 His name is Sam. 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:02.160 Sam is a member down at Nidrae Community Church. 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:03.740 And some of you might have seen it. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:05.700 His story appeared online this week. 00:22:05.779 --> 00:22:10.660 And in it, he talks about how he used to be really high up in a gang down in Wales. 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:13.140 Down in Newport, I think. 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:13.680 Down in Wales. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:18.320 And one evening, this lady just came up to him and just told him about Jesus. 00:22:18.560 --> 00:22:20.580 And they were in a nightclub of all places, right? 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.019 She just came up, told him about Jesus. 00:22:22.340 --> 00:22:26.039 And he thought she was on something and offered to sell her some drugs. 00:22:27.100 --> 00:22:33.279 But for the next few months, as that message resonated in his mind, he just could not shrug it off. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.380 And in his own words, and you can read it online, Jesus nagged him. 00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:39.400 Jesus nagged him. 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:41.720 And here's what he says happened one night. 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:47.860 He said, the night I broke down crying in front of my boys, I think I'd realized that I was a sinner. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:54.440 I understood, even in a very clouded kind of way, that Jesus went to the cross for my sins. 00:22:55.360 --> 00:22:58.339 So he breaks down in front of his gang members. 00:22:59.100 --> 00:23:00.140 He leaves the gang. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:01.360 He finds his way up to Edinburgh. 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:04.819 Now he's a youth worker at the church there in Nidrae. 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:05.940 And here's what he does now. 00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:06.799 Here's what he says. 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:08.299 He's a youth worker. 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:11.420 And he says, talking about the kids that he looks after. 00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:13.220 I need to tell them the gospel. 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:15.279 I can't not do that. 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:18.299 It's like I've got the cure for cancer, you know. 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:24.600 If one of my people had cancer and I'm sitting on the cure, how unloving would it be for me to keep that from them? 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:26.440 Well, we've got the cure. 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:28.120 The cure for death. 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:29.059 The cure for sin. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:31.400 How could we not tell people? 00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:34.220 So that's what I do with these young lads. 00:23:34.800 --> 00:23:38.040 I spend time with them and tell them about Jesus. 00:23:39.540 --> 00:23:43.880 Now, I don't know about you, but that is why I do what I do. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.880 And that is why I follow this shepherd. 00:23:48.800 --> 00:23:50.320 Because he is this kind of saviour. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:56.240 He's in the business of seeking and finding and saving sinners. 00:23:56.779 --> 00:24:00.359 And of transforming lives from the inside out. 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:07.639 So reading Ecclesiastes, it's like being led by a shepherd's goat. 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:09.319 That's the phrase, isn't it? 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:10.859 It's like being led by a shepherd's goat. 00:24:10.859 --> 00:24:14.899 But thank goodness that that shepherd, his name is Jesus. 00:24:16.019 --> 00:24:18.939 And thank goodness that he calls himself the good shepherd of his sheep. 00:24:19.899 --> 00:24:20.599 Let's pray. 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:34.339 And maybe in the quietness of your own heart, maybe you want to offer your own prayer to God this morning, this afternoon. 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:38.419 Asking that you would know Jesus more as your good shepherd. 00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:45.000 And Paul would write this in Ephesians chapter 1. 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:55.759 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. 00:24:57.419 --> 00:25:00.679 And so, dear Father, we ask that you would do just that in our lives. 00:25:01.139 --> 00:25:06.179 Lord, whatever is going on here today in our lives, whatever is worrying us, whatever is burdening us. 00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:12.140 Father, whatever weight we're carrying around, we pray, Lord, that you would help us fix our eyes on Jesus. 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:16.920 Thank you that he is the good shepherd of his sheep. 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:24.400 And I pray that you would open our eyes, that we would be enlightened, 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:30.300 and that you would give us that spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. 00:25:31.600 --> 00:25:34.660 Lord, thank you that you hear us and that you love us outrageously. 00:25:35.500 --> 00:25:37.860 And I pray these things in Jesus' precious name. 00:25:38.360 --> 00:25:38.680 Amen. 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:38.780 Amen. 00:25:38.780 --> 00:25:38.820 Amen. 00:25:38.820 --> 00:25:38.860 Amen.