Good morning, Watermark Church. So this morning, we will look at Ecclesiastes chapters 5 and 6.
So it's going to talk about possession and also contentment. Starting in chapter 5, verse 8, we read,
The oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness.
Do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.
But this is gain for a land in every way, a king committed to cultivated fields.
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.
This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them.
And what advantage has their owner but to see them with your eyes?
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich would not let him sleep.
There is a grievous evil that I have sinned under the sun.
Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture.
And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.
And he came from his mother's womb, he shall go again, naked as he came,
and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.
This also is a grievous evil.
Just as he came, so shall he go.
And what gain is there to him who toils for the win?
Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and anger.
Behold, what I have sinned to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil,
with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him.
For this is his lot.
Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them,
and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil.
This is the gift of God.
For he will not much remember the days of his life,
because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
There is an evil that I have sinned under the sun,
and it lies heavy on mankind.
A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor,
so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires,
yet God does not give him power to enjoy them,
but a stranger enjoys them.
This is vanity.
It is a grievous evil
if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years,
so that the days of his years are many,
but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things,
and he also has no burial.
I say that a stillborn child is better off than he,
for it comes in vanity and goes in darkness,
and in darkness its name is covered.
Moreover, it has not sent the sun or known anything,
yet it finds rest rather than he,
even though he should live a thousand years twice over,
yet enjoy no good.
Do not all go to the one place?
All the toil of man is for his mouth,
yet his appetite is not satisfied.
For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?
And what does the poor man have
who knows how to conduct himself before the living?
Better is the sight of the eyes
than the wondering of the appetite.
This also is vanity
and the striving after wind.
This is the word of God.
Thank you, Iris.
Let's pray together as we come to this passage.
Heavenly Father,
a sovereign Lord of all creation,
as we sang earlier,
all glory to you, God.
May you be glorified, God,
with the words of our mouths,
the attitude of our hearts,
the work of our hands.
God, we long to see you glorified.
And I pray, God,
even in the next 30 minutes,
as we look at your word,
may you be honored and glorified.
May we see you, Jesus.
God, as we pray,
we just consider some of the things in our world,
and as we consider our new chief executive
coming in to office this week,
we pray for John Lee.
Pray for your favor on him.
We pray that you give him
both wisdom and a heart of justice,
that he will serve the great people of this city.
God, we pray for a fear of God in him,
that he will make decisions
that are honest and just
and for the good of the people.
We really bring him before you.
We bring the ceremony on Friday before you.
And we ask for your blessing on his life, God.
Won't you protect him
and protect him from wickedness?
God, we pray, Lord, also for Amelia,
who's with us today,
but soon going back to Taiwan
and just her work with the Hakka people there.
God, we're so thankful for her life
and her faithfulness to you
and the way she serves you
and serves your people.
God, we pray today for your blessing
to rest upon her.
Strengthen her, God,
when it's tough.
God, encourage her with,
may she see some of the fruits of her labors.
God, we pray for your blessing
to rest on Amelia and her work in Taiwan.
God, we pray for those in our own community,
those that maybe are sick.
We know many of us have had COVID
or are currently struggling with it.
God, we pray just for your grace
and those that are at home and sick,
those that are distant from family
and are unable to see them soon.
Lord, we pray for those that are traveling
in the coming weeks and months.
Won't you be with our community
and keep us safe?
Lord, we bring all these things before you
in your great and your precious name.
Amen.
Well, I should have introduced myself earlier.
If you're new to Watermark,
my name's Kevin
and it's great to have you with us.
Welcome if you're new for the first time.
We are working through the book of Ecclesiastes
and today we come to chapter five and chapter six.
Now, Boris Becker was a star tennis player
at the very top of the tennis world.
He, in his lifetime,
won around 50 million US dollars of earnings.
He had houses all over the world
and was the star of the tennis world.
He, and yet he was on the brink of suicide.
He writes, he says,
I had won Wimbledon twice over,
once as the youngest player ever to do so.
I had all the material possessions I needed,
yet it's the old song of movie stars and pop stars.
They had everything and yet they are so unhappy.
I had no inner peace.
I was a puppet on a string.
Well, as we,
the Bible has lots to say about wealth and money.
Jesus talks about it in almost a third of his parables,
reference money,
and over 2,000 verses in the scripture
talk about the concept of wealth.
And so it's not surprising when our teacher
in the book of Ecclesiastes,
Kohelet,
the one who,
his words encompass most of the book of Ecclesiastes,
he's considering the world around him.
He's trying to make sense of life around him.
And he considers toil,
and he considers pleasure,
and he considers wisdom and education.
And so it's not surprising that as he looks at the world around him,
he considers the role of wealth and money
in the pursuit of meaningness and happiness.
And he considers the subject of wealth.
And many of us in this room are very financially savvy.
Some of us have made a career out of wealth,
whether wealth creation or wealth preservation.
And the Bible says that,
never says that money or wealth or being wealthy is a bad thing,
or a wrong thing,
or a morally wrong thing,
or an unspiritual thing.
The Bible never says that wealth is a bad thing,
but what it does say is that it's a treacherous thing.
It's a dangerous thing in some ways.
And that's what our passage today is going to look at.
The teacher, Kohelet,
he's reflecting and grappling on the subject of wealth and money.
And as he does so,
he's grappling with the paradox of wealth.
And he comes to the conclusion,
he says,
wealth or money can be a great blessing in your life.
And you can thank God for it.
But it can also be a great curse in your life,
depending on how you relate to it.
The author says that wealth has the ability to control you or to serve you.
And so look to wealth to give you meaning or purpose,
sign over the power of attorney to wealth,
to the treasures of your heart.
And oh, it can be so disappointing.
It can embitter you.
It can rob you of joy.
Because wealth is the one treasure that has the power to make you poor.
But, he says,
on the other hand,
if you will master the love of money,
if you will regain over it so that it doesn't control your emotions and your affections,
your love and your joys,
your anxieties and your fears,
money can actually be a great blessing,
a great sense of joy.
Wealth, says the teacher,
is a terrible master,
but a great servant.
That's what we're going to look at today.
And so let's see how the teacher arrives at this point.
Firstly, consider, he says,
those who look to money or financial success for meaning and purpose in life,
he says,
consider how wealth has the ability to be a source of pain.
Look at how he says this in verse 13.
If you've got your bulletin,
you'll need to look at it.
He says,
chapter 5,
verse 13,
there is a grievous evil that I've seen.
Another translation says,
a sickening tragedy.
There's a tragedy that I've seen under the sun.
Riches were kept by their owner to his own hurt.
He says,
the gaining of wealth,
the increases of riches,
the growing portfolio,
rather than being a blessing,
in some instances,
has actually been a curse.
It's actually caused disappointment and pain.
Rather than enriching its owner,
it's ended up impoverishing them.
Well, how so?
Well, he gives us three examples of what he means.
Look at verse 13 and 14.
He says,
a man comes into some wealth.
Maybe he inherits something from his parents.
Maybe he pulls off a great deal at work
and gets paid a massive bonus.
However it is,
he comes into some great wealth.
And he's thinking what to do with this wealth.
And he's thinking,
if I invest this well,
this can work out for me.
He's got a son.
Recent,
he and his wife have just had a son.
And he hears about this thing called,
let's just say,
cryptocurrency, right?
And he hears it's on this massive rise.
And he thinks,
I've got to get in there quickly.
You know,
everyone,
I'm getting left behind.
All my friends are making tons of money.
And so he dives in
and he lies awake at night
and he's thinking,
if I played this thing right,
my son can go to the best school.
In fact,
he can go to the best Ivy League university.
And no one else in my family has gone there.
My son will be the first one in my family
to study abroad
and go to this Ivy League university.
I will be the envy of my family.
And as he lies awake at night,
he starts to think,
if this really works out,
actually maybe we can buy a holiday home
in the Maldives as well.
And he's thinking and speculating
and so he dives in.
And every day he's watching the price
and he's going up
and he's getting excited
until one day,
what happens?
The market crashes.
The Fed pulls some levers.
The shipment sinks off the Pacific.
His Arabian camels get hijacked
in the Arabian desert.
Something happens
and he loses it all.
And now not only is the son
not going to go to Ivy League university,
he's not going to go anywhere.
All is lost.
Look at verse 13 and 14.
There is a great evil I've seen under the sun.
Riches kept by the owner,
two is hurt.
And those riches were lost in a bad venture.
Though he is the father of a son,
he has nothing in his hand.
The love of money, he says,
has a way of getting into our hearts
and actually rather than enriching us,
impoverishing us.
But look at also, he says,
the love of money can destroy relationships.
Look at verse 11.
It says,
when goods increase,
they increase also who eat them.
And what advantage has the owner
but to see them with his eyes?
The teacher here is commenting on the fact
that those who get rich quickly
suddenly find themselves
with a whole lot of friends
that they didn't know that they had.
I'm sure you've read the stories online.
Somebody wins the lottery,
$50 million,
the Mark VI,
or somebody inherits a whole pile of money
from some long lost relative
they didn't know about.
And suddenly they are the talk of the town.
Right?
And they've got all these friends
that they didn't know
that they had before.
All these estranged family members
suddenly contact them
and want to get in touch
and rebuild the relationship.
Right?
You know that feeling?
You know what I'm talking about?
Or maybe their colleagues
and their neighbors
suddenly now recognize
how wealthy they are
and want to get in.
And they talk to them
and say,
oh, you know,
I've got some debt
and I wonder if you can help me.
And so they run into
all these friends and family members.
But what happens?
Invariably a year or two later,
the friends are gone.
The money's gone.
The relationships are broken down.
The family's a mess
and they're in more debt
than they ever had before.
I remember talking to a friend of mine
who pastored a church
in upstate New York
many years ago.
And the place where he pastored
was extremely, extremely wealthy people.
And he said to me,
he said,
one of the things
with extremely wealthy people
is they never know
who their real friends are.
Because they're always wondering,
the people in my life,
are you just here
because you want to be friends with me
because I've got money?
Or maybe because we move
in the same social circles.
But if I lost everything,
would you still be my friend?
And the problem
that the teacher notices there,
that thing,
he says,
when goods increase,
so do those who eat them.
Suddenly you've got
all these people around,
these hangers-on
that want to be friends with you
and get in your life
because of your wealth.
But the other problem
that the teacher notices,
he says that
when people's wealth increases,
so do their lifestyles.
He says,
when wealth increases,
so do the bills
who eat them up.
You're generally
very content
with what you have.
You get a nice bonus
and suddenly you drive
past the showroom
of the car that you drive
and you start recognizing
all the little things
in your car
that previously
you're very content with.
But now suddenly
an upgrade seems appropriate.
Or maybe you're very happy
with your laptop
and you get a bonus at work
and you walk past
the iStore
and suddenly there's a special.
And you realize,
oh yeah,
I think it would be
a good investment
to my career
for me to upgrade
my laptop, right?
When goods increase,
he says,
so do those bills
that eat them up.
Suddenly when wealth
masters you,
it has a life of its own.
You get a big check,
you make a big deal,
you get paid handsomely
and suddenly a few weeks
or months later
it's all gone.
Because either you find
you have new friends
that you didn't know
that you had before
or you find
you have new bills
and things in your house
that you find new things
that you need
that you didn't know
that you needed beforehand.
But here's another way
he says that
the money can hurt us.
He says it steals your peace.
Look at verse 12.
It says,
The sweet is the sleep
of the laborer,
whether he eats much
or little,
but the full stomach
of the rich
will not let him sleep.
The teacher's commenting
on what we all know
so well, right?
He says,
financial wealth
promises freedom,
but it so easily
ends up enslaving you.
It actually,
it's a peace thief.
It steals your rest.
He's saying,
who sleeps better
at night?
The laborer
that's worked hard,
had a good day's work,
and crashes on his bed,
or the person
that checks the opening
of the New York Stock Exchange
just before going to bed
and seeing that investment crash,
right?
Who's going to sleep better?
We all know.
Now,
some people say,
okay,
I know that money
doesn't buy you wealth,
but I'd rather be unhappy
in a Lamborghini
than unhappy on the streets,
right?
You ever heard somebody
say that?
If you're a high schooler here,
a youth,
maybe you've thought about that.
Look,
I know it doesn't buy me
happiness,
but rather let me be unhappy
with money
than unhappy without it.
But,
but look at what
the writer's saying.
He's saying,
it's true that
money and wealth
is not a bad thing.
It's not wrong
or immoral.
If God has blessed you
with wealth,
that's not a bad thing.
But it's also not
a neutral thing.
It has an ability
to get into your heart
and to change you.
Wealth has an ability
to take on a life
of its own
and to enslave you.
He says,
it's not bad,
but oh,
you need to be careful.
It has a unique power
to it.
It's not just that
it can make you happy.
It has a way
of owning you.
Unless you master it,
it will master you.
He says,
the apostle Paul
in the New Testament
writes this.
He says,
those who desire
to be rich
fall into a temptation,
into a snare,
a trap,
into many senseless
and harmful desires
that plunge people
into ruin
and destruction.
The teacher looks
at those around him
and he says,
here is a grievous evil,
a sickening tragedy.
I have seen
under the sun
riches kept
by the owner
to their own hurt,
to their own demise.
Look what else
he says here.
He says,
the desire to get rich
has the ability
to perpetuate injustice.
Look at verse 8 and 9.
It says,
if you see in a province
the oppression of the poor
and the violation
of justice and righteousness,
don't be amazed,
don't be surprised,
for the high official
is watched by a higher one
and there are yet higher ones
over them.
So what's he saying?
He's saying somebody
in the land,
they want to try
and get some money quickly
and so they cut some corners,
but there's someone
watching them
so they need to pay them off.
But that person
is being watched
by someone else
so maybe they need to pay off
the person above them.
And that person
needs to cover their tracks
so the person above them
doesn't get in trouble.
And the whole system
of oppression
and injustice
continues.
He's warning us here
saying,
it's very easy
for us to say,
it's just a little shortcut.
Nobody will notice.
It won't make any difference.
They're saying,
oh,
you get into a system
and the system
gets hold of you.
You think you've got
a control of it,
but actually,
it can soon
control you.
I don't know
if this is inappropriate
to say this,
but coming from South Africa,
I could tell you
lots of stories
of bribery
and corruption
and how it gets hold
of the system.
One quick story,
a few years ago,
the deputy finance minister
got called into
the private house
of a private citizen.
And this private citizen
says,
I happen to know
that the finance minister
is going to get fired
from his job
in a few weeks' time
and we have selected you
to take his place.
Here is a briefcase
with 50 million Hong Kong dollars.
It's the first
of five installments
as an introductory gift
just to help you
on your way.
The gift wasn't
an act of generosity.
It was the first installment
of bribery and corruption.
And thankfully,
that man turned around
and said,
no thank you,
I don't do business
with private citizens
like that.
And he lost his job
very soon after that.
The point is that,
maybe you say this,
one of the things
as a pastor
that I've been very interested
in by in recent years
is the multiple falls
that pastors
and people in ministry have.
You have these pastors
that have affairs
or steal money
or are controlling
and manipulative
or abusive
and pretty soon
they lose their job.
And one of the things
that's interesting
is almost no pastor
goes into ministry
with that goal in mind.
They always start off
with the best of intentions.
Everyone goes into ministry
saying,
I want to serve people
and love and serve God.
Right?
But somewhere along the line,
the power
and the authority
gets to the head
and changes you.
And the author is saying
the same thing
with money here.
The love of money
has a power,
it has an ability
to change you.
Nobody starts off
in their 20
and says,
I want to be corrupt
and steal
and I want to,
you know,
be a corrupt person.
But when you get to 60
and you find yourself
like there,
how did you get there?
It started with small decisions.
Okay, look at,
look at another thing
he says here.
Ultimately,
he says,
wealth gives no guarantee
of the satisfied soul.
It doesn't satisfy.
Now,
last week I mentioned
the song by the birds,
Turn, Turn, Turn.
And I asked if anyone knew it
and much to my disappointment,
very few of you knew it.
Henry knew it
and Ayush knew it.
There we go.
Ayush, thank you.
And Oscar nodded his head.
Well,
let's see if anyone's heard
of the Rolling Stones.
Anyone heard of them?
Okay,
still nobody.
Ed?
Okay,
thank you.
Florence?
Great.
Well,
they came up with a song.
I think we should come up
with a song each week,
right,
in Ecclesiastes.
Last week was the birds.
This week the Rolling Stones.
You know this song?
You can't get no satisfaction.
I can't get no satisfaction.
Well,
that's what he's saying here.
Look at verse 10.
He says,
He who loves money
will not be satisfied with money,
nor he who loves wealth
with his income.
This also is a vanity,
a tragedy,
he says.
Someone makes all sorts
of sacrifices.
They sacrifice relationships.
They sacrifice community.
They sacrifice their spiritual disciplines,
their Bible reading
and their prayer.
They pass by
on some of the most powerful moments
in their children's lives.
Maybe they miss
their children's birth.
They miss birthday parties.
They miss their children's plays
at school
in the pursuit of that goal
to get that career advancement,
to gain a treasure.
And when they get there,
what do they find?
It doesn't satisfy.
Two weeks ago,
Neils gave you that quote
by Jim Carrey.
He says,
I think everybody
should get rich and famous
and do everything
they ever wanted
just to see
that that is not the answer.
There are many stories like this.
Jack Higgins,
one of the most successful authors
of all time,
1970s,
he wrote that book,
The Eagle Has Landed,
sold 50 million copies alone.
All his books have sold
a quarter of a billion copies.
That's a lot of books to sell.
One of the wealthiest,
richest men,
authors of all time.
He lived in Jersey,
tax haven,
so even his wealth
wasn't taxed.
He died earlier this year.
In the interview,
someone asked him,
what do you wish
that you had known
as a boy?
And without skipping a beat,
he straight away answered,
I wish somebody had told me
that when you get to the top,
there's nothing there.
There's nothing there.
And this is what the teacher,
Kohelet,
is trying to tell us.
That when we think that
wealth and money
and possessions
are the key to our happiness,
the key to meaning,
the key to satisfaction in life,
when you hand over
the keys of your life,
when you sign over
the power of attorney,
to possessions
to give you meaning
and satisfaction,
you allow that thing
to master you,
to own you,
to control you.
But the problem is
that when you master it,
you become its slave.
And ultimately,
it does not satisfy.
And so look at chapter 6,
verse 2 with me.
This is,
he summarizes his point here.
He says,
there is an evil
that I've seen under the sun.
It's like a burden
that's heavy
on mankind's hearts.
A man to whom God
gives great wealth
and possessions
and honor
so that he lacks
nothing of all he desires.
He sees that Lamborghini
and he says,
I'll take one.
Sees that house
in the Maldives,
I'll have one of those.
He lacks nothing
of all he desires.
Yet God does not give him
the ability
to enjoy it.
Man has everything
he could possibly want,
but he is not happy.
He is not content.
This is futile,
a sickening tragedy,
says the teacher.
Money is a terrible master.
But did you notice
when Iris read to us
this morning,
there is one place
in this passage
where he talks about
what is positive.
He says,
behold,
I've seen what is good
and fitting.
Four times he says to us,
there is a grievous evil,
a sickening tragedy.
But one time he says,
behold,
there's something good
and fitting in this world.
He says,
behold,
verse 18,
I have seen,
what I have seen
to be good and fitting
is to eat and drink
to find enjoyment
in all the toil
with which one toils
under the sun
these few days
of his life
that God has given him.
For this is his lot.
But there's something else
going on here
because compare
chapter 5,
verse 19
with chapter 6,
verse 2.
These two sentences
are almost identical,
almost word for word
the same,
except one is positive,
one is negative.
Look at chapter 5,
verse 19.
He says,
everyone to whom God
has given wealth
and possessions
and power to enjoy them
and to accept his lot
and to rejoice in his toil,
this is the gift of God.
But then in 6,
verse 2,
he says almost the same thing.
A man to whom God
gives wealth
and possessions
and honor
so that he lacks
nothing of all
that he desires,
but God does not
give him the power
to enjoy them,
but a stranger
enjoys them.
So here are two sentences,
almost identical,
one positive,
one negative.
So what's going on here?
If you,
by the way,
if you're new to church
and new to the Bible,
the biblical authors
want us to take note
of things like this.
This is no coincidence.
It's the way
the Bible writers
want us to sit up
and to ask questions.
And their point in doing this
is to ask,
what's going on here?
So what is going on here?
What does the author
want to tell us?
Well,
there's two things.
The first thing
is he's telling us
that our lives
are under the hands
of the sovereign God.
We tend to think
that we are the captains
of our faith,
the masters
of our own happiness,
right?
But he says,
don't you believe it?
One person
builds their dream house
and fills it
with children
and grandchildren.
Another couple
builds their dream house
and dies in a car accident
before they get
to possess it.
One person
has everything,
they get to enjoy it.
One person
has everything,
they don't enjoy it.
And notice,
he doesn't attribute this
to fate
or to chance
or to karma.
Who does he attribute it to?
The hand
of the sovereign God.
God.
The author here
says,
God gives
and God takes away.
Now the point
of Ecclesiastes
is not to make us
pessimistic cynics,
right?
The point is to
lift your eyes
off of what you can see.
See God,
consider God,
consider the sovereign God.
Your life is in his hands.
You are not the captain
of your faith,
the master of your destiny,
the sovereign God is.
But there's something else
he wants us to see here.
He's wanting to contrast
wealth
and possessions
with contentment.
He's comparing
and contrasting
possessions
with contentment.
Look at what he says here.
He says in effect,
have much money
doesn't mean anything.
Be very wealthy
doesn't mean
you're going to be satisfied.
Wealth and contentment
says the author
are not synonymous
nor are they causally linked.
having one
doesn't mean
you have the other.
Wealth is not
the determinant
of a contented life.
One person gets rich
and enjoys wealth.
Another person gets rich
and loses the ability
to enjoy it.
And the lesson
for both is this.
Don't set your heart
on riches.
Don't set your heart
on wealth.
It is a fragile
and an unstable base
for your contentment,
your joy
or your satisfaction
in life.
That's his point
in verse 6-3.
He says,
okay,
let's consider something else.
Let's park money
for a while.
Let's consider
the blessed life.
In the ancient world,
how was somebody
considered blessed?
Well,
what is the signs
of a blessed life?
You lived a long life.
You had many children.
You had a good
and decent burial.
Right?
Three signs
of a prosperous life.
Well,
look at what he says.
He says,
you can have all three
of those things.
You can live a thousand years.
You can live twice
a thousand years.
You can have a hundred children.
Doesn't mean anything.
If you don't find
contentment and satisfaction
in all those things,
what's the point?
Meaningless,
meaningless.
A vanity,
a grasping
after the wind.
Look at verse 9.
He says,
better is the sight
of the eyes
than the wondering
of the appetite.
What does he mean?
He says,
better to be content
with what you have
in your hands
than always lying awake
in bed thinking
about the next thing
to buy and consume.
If only I can get
that upgraded laptop.
If only I can get
the new iPhone.
If only I can
get a new house.
If only this.
Better to be content
with what you have
than always longing
and lusting
for the next
greatest thing.
This too
is a vanity,
a striving
after the wind.
And this is the point
that the teacher
wants to come to.
He's got this long passage
and in the middle
of his passage
he says,
vanity, vanity, vanity, vanity.
But in the middle
he says this,
here is something good.
Here is something worthwhile.
The climax
of his passage
is this,
seek contentment,
not possessions.
If your goal
is possessions,
your possessions
will possess you.
They will own you.
Wealth is a terrible
master
but a decent
servant.
Look at how
the Apostle Paul
writes it in the New Testament.
He says,
those who desire
to be rich
easily fall
into a temptation,
a snare,
a trap
into many senseless
and harmful desires
that plunge people
into ruin
and destruction.
For the love
of money
is a root
of all kinds
of evil
and it is through
this craving
that some
have even
shipwrecked
their faith,
wandered from
their faith
and pierced
themselves
with many
pangs.
This is what
the teacher
sees and observes,
a futility
and meaninglessness,
wealth and possessions
and honor,
so that he has
it all that
but he lacks
contentment,
a vanity,
a chasing
after the wind.
Now,
the message
of Ecclesiastes
is pretty clear
and straightforward.
You don't need
to be a rocket
scientist
or a nuclear physicist
to work it out,
right?
He says,
make sure
that money
is your servant,
not your master.
But the challenge
is,
how do we do
that?
The challenge
is not understanding
the message,
it's actually
applying it
or obeying it.
Ask any addict,
it is one thing
to know that
something is dangerous,
it's another thing
to walk away
from it.
And so the question
is,
how do you keep
yourself from being
mastered by the
love of money?
And that could look
like either being
incessant spending
or incessant saving,
right?
How do we keep
ourselves from being
mastered by the
love of money?
That's a great
question.
200 years ago,
there was a
Scottish pastor
by the name
of Thomas
Chalmers,
and he preached
an amazing sermon
called,
The Expulsive
Power of a
New Affection.
Listen to
what he says.
He says,
A man's desire
is not to be
gotten rid of
simply by
destroying it.
It must be
gotten rid of
by substituting it
with another desire
in its place.
The most effective
way of withdrawing
the heart
from one object
of desire
is not by
turning it to
nothingness,
but by presenting
to it
another object
which is more
alluring.
The heart
is so
constituted,
so built,
that the only
way to
dispossess it
of an old
affection
is by the
expulsive
power
of a new
one.
You see what
Chalmers is
saying?
He's saying,
if you want to
be free
from being
mastered by
the love
of something,
you can't
just tell
yourself,
don't love
it,
don't love
it,
don't love
it.
Your heart
has to
form more
in love
with something
else.
You can't
just turn
away from
what you
love to
nothingness,
you've got
to fall
more in
love with
something
else.
And so
the question
is,
something
else has
to become
more precious,
more beautiful,
more reassuring,
more delightful
to you,
otherwise you'll
always be
enslaved by
the thing
that you
love the
most.
And so
the question
is this,
where do
you find
something
to master
you without
destroying
you?
Where do
you find
a master
that you
can hand
over the
controls of
your life
to,
and yet
that master
won't enslave
you,
won't oppress
you,
won't commit
injustice
against you,
but will
actually set
you free?
Where are we
going to find
a master,
a Lord,
that will
own us
and control
us,
but also
love us?
Where will
we find a
master who
will capture
our hearts
attention,
that we can
so love,
that we can
be free
from false
masters in
love?
Friends,
where will
we find a
master whose
promises are
not illusionary,
but will keep
his promises
even at the
cost of
his own
life?
Where will
we find a
master who
will set
us free
from the
mastery of
wealth so
that we
can enjoy
it and be
content with
it without
being controlled
by it?
On one
Thursday night,
2,000 years
ago, it was
Passover weekend,
and Jesus
Christ is
celebrating
Passover with
his disciples,
and that
night he's
going to be
betrayed,
he's going
to go to
the cross
and die
on the
cross,
but while
he's
celebrating
Passover,
at the end
of the
Passover
meal,
he gets
up and
he takes
off his
cloak and
he puts
on the
attire of
a servant,
and he
gets a
bowl of
water and
he puts
a towel
around his
hand,
and he
does the
one thing
that no
respectable
rabbi,
no respectable
human being
would do in
the ancient
world.
He does
the one
thing that
even servants
in the
ancient
world were
not required
to do.
He washes
the feet
of his
disciples,
and Peter,
the one
disciple,
says,
no,
Lord,
you can't
do this,
this is
inappropriate,
and Jesus
says,
if I don't
wash you,
you'll never
be clean.
Jesus is
talking about
the fact that
the next day
he's going
to go to
the cross
and shed
his blood,
and then
at the end
of washing
his disciples
feet,
he says,
you call
me Lord
and Master,
and you
write,
for that
is what
I am.
See what
Jesus is
saying?
Jesus is
saying,
I am the
Lord and
the Master
of the
universe.
I am the
King of
all creation.
I am the
sovereign God.
I am Lord
and Master.
But what
kind of
Master is
he?
He's not
the kind
of Master
that's going
to control
you and
oppress
you and
commit
injustice
against
you.
He's not
the kind
of Master
that's going
to impoverish
you.
He's the
one Master
who will
get on
his knees
and serve
you and
set you
free.
Jesus
Christ says,
you call
me Lord
and Master
and you're
right,
for that
is what
I am.
But look
at what
kind of
Master
I am.
I'm the
Master
that will
set you
free.
Later on,
Jesus says,
if you want
true rest,
if you want
true grace,
if you want
to experience
my rest,
you've got
to come
to me as
Master.
You've got
to let
me control.
You've got
to hand
over the
controls of
your life
to me.
But if
you come
to me,
I won't
oppress
you.
I'll
truly set
you free.
Do you
remember
Jesus'
famous words
in Matthew
11?
Come to
me,
all you
who are
weary
and heavy
laden,
and I
will give
you rest.
Take
my yoke
upon me.
Do you
know what
that means?
In the
first century,
to take
someone's
yoke upon
you means
to come
under the
authority,
to submit
your life
to them,
to surrender
to them.
Jesus
says,
take my
authority
upon you.
Take my
lordship,
come under
me.
Take my
yoke
upon me.
Learn from
me,
for I am
gentle and
lowly of
heart,
and you
will find
rest for
your souls.
Come to
me,
you who
are frantic
and anxious,
worried and
frustrated
about life.
Those of
you who
are frigidly
and heavily
burdened,
come to
me and
submit to
me,
and I
will give
you rest.
Jesus
Christ says
he's the
one lord
and master.
He says
he's the
sovereign
God.
Remember
how Colossians
says he
is the
one by
whom and
through
whom and
for whom
all things
are made.
Jesus
Christ is
the one
who sits
on the
thrones of
the heaven.
He's the
one before
whom angels
will bow
down and
cry,
worthy,
worthy are
you,
our lord
and king,
to receive
glory and
honor and
praise.
Jesus
Christ is
the one
person before
whom every
knee is
going to
bow down
and every
tongue is
one day
going to
confess,
it is
true,
you are
God.
He's
lord and
master.
master,
but he's
the lord and
master who
did not
come to
be served,
but to
serve and
to lay
down his
life as
a ransom
to save
us from
our sins.
Do you
remember how the
apostle Paul
writes it?
He's writing in
prison.
Paul is in
Rome, he's
got a collar
around his
neck, he's
got chains
on his
hands, he's
suffering in a
Roman prison,
and he
writes a
letter to
some
Christians in
the city of
Philippi and
this is what
he says,
I have
learned to
be content
in whatever
circumstances I
am.
I have
learned to
be content
whether I
have little
or content
whether I
have much.
In all and
any circumstances
I have
learned the
secret of
contentment,
whether I'm
well fed or
whether I'm
hungry,
whether I'm
in abundance
or whether I
am in need.
Well what is
the secret?
How did
Paul learn
that?
Do you
remember what
he writes
earlier in
Philippians?
For to me
to live is
Christ and
to die is
gain.
What did he
write in
chapter 3?
He says,
All my life
I've pursued
these certain
things,
credentials.
Now I
consider them
rubbish, I
consider them
loss compared
to the all
surpassing worth
of knowing
Christ Jesus
my Lord.
Friend, do you
want to know
the secret to
contentment?
It's knowing
Christ Jesus
is Lord.
To live is
Christ and
to die is
gain because
you get to
be with him.
That's the
secret to
contentment.
Remember the
words of that
old hymn?
Were the
whole realm
of nature
mine that
were an
offering far
too small.
Love so
amazing, so
divine, demands
my life, my
soul, my
all.
Robert Murray
McShane was
a disciple of
Thomas
Chalmers.
I don't
know why I
love these
old Scottish
guys, but
there's
something nice
about them.
Robert Murray
McShane was a
disciple of
Thomas Chalmers
and he
famously wrote
this.
For every
one look at
yourself, take
ten looks at
the person of
Christ.
He is
altogether
lovely, such
infinite majesty,
and yet such
meekness and
grace, and
all for
sinners, even
the chief of
sinners like
me.
Friends, can I
urge you for
every one look
at your bank
account, for
every one look
at your stock
portfolio, for
every one look
at your retirement
fund, for
every one look
at that online
shopping website,
take ten looks
at Christ.
He is
altogether
lovely, altogether
precious, such
meekness, such
majesty, and
such grace, and
all for sinners
like us.
Friends, Jesus
Christ is the
one Lord, who
if you allow
him to master
you, if you
hand over your
life to
completely, if
you're willing
to completely
surrender to
him, to have
your way in
my life, you'll
find that he'll
not only save
you, he'll
completely
satisfy you.
Jesus will
out-satisfy
every other
master in your
life.
Jesus will
out-fulfill
every other
idol in your
life.
Jesus will
out-satisfy
every other
idol that you
tempted to
serve.
Jesus Christ
is the one
Lord, the
one master, the
one king, who
will both save
you from your
sin and your
shame, but also
satisfy your
hearts.
Let's come to
him.
Let's learn from
the teacher of
Ecclesiastes.
Money is a
great servant, but
a terrible
master.
Let Jesus
Christ be your
master and your
king, and be
free from the
lure of money.
Let's pray
together.
Lord Jesus
Christ, as we
hear every week,
you are the
answer.
You are the
king.
You are the
one that we
come to.
Father, it's
so easy to
know the
words of the
scriptures and
to know the
lesson, but it's
so much more
trickier to
obey it and
apply it.
Christ, I
pray for my
friends.
I pray for
myself.
God, I pray
for us as a
church.
Won't you, by
your spirit, come
and get hold of
our hearts?
Won't you
open the eyes
of our hearts
that we may
see you and
be in awe of
you, that we
may be enamored
by you?
Jesus, I pray,
come and take
your place.
Christ, come
and have your
way in our
lives.
Christ, come
and be our
Lord and our
king and our
master.
friends, we're
going to go to
communion in a
few minutes
time, but
maybe just
before that, I
want to just
give us an
opportunity to
respond.
Friends, maybe
you're here this
morning and you
are not a
follower of
Jesus.
You've been
mastered by all
sorts of other
things.
Why don't you
come to Jesus
this morning?
Why don't you
surrender to
him?
Why don't you
hand over your
life to him?
Why don't you
hand over your
life to him?
Friends, why don't
you come to
Christ and ask
him to be your
king, your
master, your
Lord?
The way to do
that is just to
pray a very
simple prayer.
To admit that
you're a sinner,
that Jesus
Christ died on
the cross to
save you of
your sins, to
take your
unrighteousness
and to give
you his
righteousness in
your place, to
credit your
account, his
goodness.
Why don't you
come to him
and say,
Jesus, I
need your
grace.
I can't do
it on my
own.
I need you
to forgive
me.
Why don't you
come to him
this morning
and say,
God, I
want to live
for you.
I want you
to be my
master and
my king.
I want you
to have your
way.
I will
follow you.
I will
trust you.
I will
obey you.
I will
love you
supremely.
Why don't
you do
that now?
Friends, maybe
for some of us
we are
Christians already.
Maybe we've
been Christians
for many
years or
maybe a few
weeks.
But if you're
honest, something
else has
mastered you.
It might not
be wealth or
money.
It might be
something else.
maybe what
people think
of you.
Maybe some
other desire.
Maybe you
mastered by
porn or
something else.
Why don't
you come and
ask Christ to
be your king
and your
master.
Ask him to
come and be
the most
beautiful and
attractive
desire of
your heart.
To be the
expulsive
power that
drives those
other masters.
God, come
and do that
for all of
us, Lord.
For all of
us, come and
be our king.
Lord, I pray
that this week
as we go into
the marketplace,
as we go to
work, as we
go to school,
as we go to
university, as
we travel and
we see family
and friends,
God, won't
you come and
be our king
and our master?
Won't you be
first in our
heart?
We pray this
in your
wonderful and
your gracious
name.
Amen.