WEBVTT 00:00:06.750 --> 00:00:11.810 Ecclesiastes chapter 11. That's in the Old Testament, 00:00:12.009 --> 00:00:17.670 Ecclesiastes. If you can find Psalms and Proverbs, 00:00:17.750 --> 00:00:20.109 just keep on turning a little further past that 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:23.190 and you will come across Ecclesiastes chapter 00:00:23.190 --> 00:00:29.789 11. We're going to start in verse 9. We'll read 00:00:29.789 --> 00:00:32.929 that and pray, but we're going to dip on over 00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:39.039 into Ecclesiastes 12. as well. Ecclesiastes chapter 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:57.359 11 verse 9 We'll read through this verse, then 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:04.099 we'll pray. Rejoice, young man, while you are 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:07.950 young. And let your heart be glad in the days 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:11.890 of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart 00:01:11.890 --> 00:01:16.189 and in the sight of your eyes. But know that 00:01:16.189 --> 00:01:20.409 for all of these things, God will bring you to 00:01:20.409 --> 00:01:23.450 judgment. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We 00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:26.069 thank you for your good word. And I pray, God, 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:27.829 that in these few moments that you would help 00:01:27.829 --> 00:01:31.530 us to be free of the distractions and the worries 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:35.319 of the world. I pray that your Holy Spirit would 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:37.340 be with us this morning, that we would hear from 00:01:37.340 --> 00:01:40.359 you, that you would meet us where we are. You 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:42.420 know what our struggles are and our sins are 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:44.599 and our worries are and our pains are, and I 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.500 pray, God, that we would just bring those before 00:01:48.500 --> 00:01:51.700 you this morning. I pray, God, that you would 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:53.500 be with me, that I would preach and teach in 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.620 a way that brings glory and honor to you, God. 00:01:55.739 --> 00:01:57.879 There are no words that I can say that are any 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.920 good if they do not come from you. So I pray 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.200 that you take away any pride or fear that is 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:06.579 within me and let your Holy Spirit lead us this 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:09.800 morning. All for your kingdom and all for your 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:15.780 glory. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. If you've 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:18.280 never read the book of Ecclesiastes, I would 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:21.159 encourage you to do it. Be prepared, though. 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:24.000 It doesn't really read like a lot of the other 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.710 books in Scripture. And it can seem... Quite 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:29.990 depressing as you read through the book because 00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:33.430 what the author of Ecclesiastes, probably Solomon, 00:02:33.590 --> 00:02:37.870 points out is really there's not a whole lot 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:41.289 in this life that matters. Everything we do is 00:02:41.289 --> 00:02:44.150 vanity is a phrase that we see often in the book 00:02:44.150 --> 00:02:48.490 of Ecclesiastes. It's all vanity. It's all worthless. 00:02:48.629 --> 00:02:52.250 It's all useless in some sense. We work hard 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:56.439 and we... build up a bunch of wealth or we obtain 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:59.759 a lot of land or we buy a nice home or or whatever 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.639 it is not not necessarily that all those things 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.439 are bad some things are some things aren't but 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.719 at the end of the day everything's going to be 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:10.340 gone we're going to be gone everything we have 00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:13.479 is going to be gone and what's the purpose of 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:16.469 life that's kind of the That's kind of the idea 00:03:16.469 --> 00:03:19.650 here. Is there something more than what we see 00:03:19.650 --> 00:03:22.409 with just all of the materialistic and the worldly 00:03:22.409 --> 00:03:25.810 things that we see? Well, by the end of the book, 00:03:25.849 --> 00:03:28.650 we do see his main point at the end of chapter 00:03:28.650 --> 00:03:32.770 12. And that is when all is said and done, we 00:03:32.770 --> 00:03:35.919 are called to fear God. and keep his commands. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:38.659 That's ultimately what matters. That's ultimately 00:03:38.659 --> 00:03:41.719 what the book of Ecclesiastes is leading us to. 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:42.960 And you're saying, well, good, I don't have to 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:44.580 read it now. You just told me the whole book 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:46.740 in about two minutes. But you need to read it 00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:50.479 because you'll probably relate with a lot of 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:52.840 those things. You'll probably relate with a lot 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:55.719 of the difficulties about how hard life is and 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:59.479 how frustrating it is and how sometimes you just 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.199 want to give up. But we have to remember as we 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:04.379 go through this life is that there's... More 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:07.740 to it maybe than just what we see in a worldly 00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:12.159 sense. That we serve a God who created us. And 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.000 that's who we need to remember and that's who 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.699 we need to focus on. And that's the point here 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:20.600 as we look at Ecclesiastes 11 and Ecclesiastes 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:25.259 12. He gives us a good command. He says rejoice 00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:31.220 young man while you are young. Now how many in 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:34.240 here are young? What is young? I don't know what 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:36.879 young is. I guess it depends on who you ask. 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:39.240 It's all relative. Mr. Fred, he just turned 97 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.540 this week. I expect to him probably 75 seems 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.680 young. Those of you who are 75, you might think 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:49.319 60 seems young. And so it goes down the list. 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.319 But what's the call right here for us? He says 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:58.519 rejoice, young man, while you are young. Now 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:03.069 why is that? Well, the fact is real simple. As 00:05:03.069 --> 00:05:05.029 you get older, there are just things that you 00:05:05.029 --> 00:05:07.170 can't do that you used to do when you were young. 00:05:07.529 --> 00:05:10.290 It's going to happen. Now, I'm only 42. I think 00:05:10.290 --> 00:05:12.750 that that's young. But there are some things 00:05:12.750 --> 00:05:16.310 that I do now that used to not bother me, and 00:05:16.310 --> 00:05:18.810 now they do bother me. Now, I don't run very 00:05:18.810 --> 00:05:21.870 much these days, but I used to run when I was 00:05:21.870 --> 00:05:24.310 younger. And now when I try to run, I run like 00:05:24.310 --> 00:05:28.220 an old man. And somehow, between like... 35, 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:31.779 which was probably the last time I ran any decent 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:35.779 amount of time. And 42, it's like I've forgotten 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:38.180 how to run. You know, here's something else. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.879 When you're young, y 'all don't even appreciate 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.540 this yet. When you're young, you can just get 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:45.379 up and go do what you want to do. If you want 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:47.439 to get up and go play baseball, football, basketball, 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:49.420 whatever, you ain't even got to stretch. You 00:05:49.420 --> 00:05:51.000 can just jump out of the bed in the morning and 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.699 you can go. And you're not going to pull nothing. 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:56.509 But you try that when you turn 40. If you don't 00:05:56.509 --> 00:05:58.649 stretch, you're going to be in trouble. That's 00:05:58.649 --> 00:06:01.009 just part of it. You've got to stretch a little 00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:05.230 bit. And so while we are young, we have a lot 00:06:05.230 --> 00:06:09.990 more ability to do things. Our eyesight is good. 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:13.449 We can hear better. We're stronger. Our balance 00:06:13.449 --> 00:06:16.910 is good. All of these things go as we begin to 00:06:16.910 --> 00:06:19.110 get older. Those things begin to go, and they 00:06:19.110 --> 00:06:22.470 begin to go quickly. And so what does he say? 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.939 His point is... I'll sum it up as we get into 00:06:25.939 --> 00:06:32.120 it, is that life is short. Life is short, and 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:33.980 you're only going to have a limited amount of 00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:35.699 time that you're really going to be able to do 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:38.000 things. At some point, you're not going to be 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.300 able to do the things you used to do. So what 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:43.579 does he say? He says, Rejoice, young man, while 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:46.740 you are young, and let your heart be glad in 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:50.079 the days of your youth, and walk in the ways 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.120 of your heart and in the sight of your eyes. 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:56.300 Okay, we need to be glad in the days of our youth. 00:06:56.379 --> 00:06:58.819 Now, a lot of times we're not glad in the days 00:06:58.819 --> 00:07:00.480 of our youth because there's a lot of things 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:02.959 we can do in our youth that we're not glad about. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.899 I'll give you an example. Yesterday, beautiful. 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:08.420 I love the fall. I don't want to do anything 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:10.660 in the summer. I hate the summer. It's my least 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:13.639 favorite time of year, but I love the fall. Boy, 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.060 it's cool because it's all kind of yard work 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:18.279 and stuff that I like to do, and I like to do 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:20.199 it when it's cool. And so I got out there yesterday 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:22.439 morning, and weeding is not as bad when it's 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:25.009 cool. it's still bad but it ain't as bad i get 00:07:25.009 --> 00:07:26.930 out there and you weed eat and you gotta you 00:07:26.930 --> 00:07:29.850 gotta trim your shrubs back and i cut grass all 00:07:29.850 --> 00:07:33.610 day yesterday from 8 30 till about 4 30. i cut 00:07:33.610 --> 00:07:36.949 grass a lot of grass just cut grass and cut grass 00:07:36.949 --> 00:07:39.149 and cut grass and i had to pick up limbs and 00:07:39.149 --> 00:07:41.470 some big limbs and big pieces of trees that had 00:07:41.470 --> 00:07:43.649 fell and i had to cut limbs and i had to pile 00:07:43.649 --> 00:07:46.370 limbs up and i had to do all this stuff and we 00:07:46.370 --> 00:07:49.730 may be tempted when we're younger to complain 00:07:49.730 --> 00:07:52.259 about that I don't want to do all that. I'm tired 00:07:52.259 --> 00:07:54.100 of cutting grass. I'm tired of picking up limbs. 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:56.500 I'm tired of cleaning the house. I'm tired of 00:07:56.500 --> 00:07:58.319 washing clothes. I'm tired of washing dishes. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:02.920 But there's a lot of people that as they've gotten 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:06.379 older, guess what they do every day? They lay 00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:09.660 in the bed. They sit in their chair. And you 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:11.040 know what they do? They look outside and they 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:12.839 say, boy, I wish I could get out there and work 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:16.639 in the yard. So we need to think about that before 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:18.800 we complain. Now, I understand it's hard work. 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:21.970 I understand. But we need to realize that in 00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:24.889 some way that hard work is a blessing. That I 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:26.629 can be able to go out there and pick up those 00:08:26.629 --> 00:08:28.889 limbs. I don't enjoy it. That's not my favorite 00:08:28.889 --> 00:08:30.870 thing to do. Like I don't just say every week, 00:08:30.930 --> 00:08:33.210 man, Lord, please blow a good wind because I 00:08:33.210 --> 00:08:36.549 want to pick up some more limbs. I don't enjoy 00:08:36.549 --> 00:08:39.909 it that much. But there needs to be some enjoyment. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:42.840 When we're having to work hard and we're having 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:44.740 to really put in overtime. That we're having 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:47.559 to make that extra money so we can pay our bills. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:51.220 So we can put shoes on our kids' feet. And it's 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:55.419 hard work. And you sacrifice sleep. All of those 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:58.659 things are tough. But you need to rejoice in 00:08:58.659 --> 00:09:01.580 those things. That you've got a kid you can provide 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:05.840 for. And a wife you can take care of. And a husband 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.529 you can be there for. It's not always easy, and 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:11.690 sometimes we complain about these things, but 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:14.830 maybe there is some rejoicing that needs to take 00:09:14.830 --> 00:09:18.009 place. Maybe he's not just saying rejoice that 00:09:18.009 --> 00:09:19.610 you can play football without stretching and 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:22.250 pulling a hamstring. Maybe he's saying enjoy 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:24.549 some of the things that we don't enjoy. Realize 00:09:24.549 --> 00:09:26.889 that one day you're not going to be able to do 00:09:26.889 --> 00:09:29.230 these things. One day you're not even going to 00:09:29.230 --> 00:09:31.409 be able to dress yourself. One day you're not 00:09:31.409 --> 00:09:32.970 going to be able to make it to the bathroom on 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:37.460 time. These things are coming for us. We need 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:39.639 to rejoice in the things that we're able to do 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.639 while we're young. Even the things that we may 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:45.240 not realize are good now, they are better than 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.240 we think. And so the author of Ecclesiastes says, 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.139 look, life is short. That's the title of this 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:56.039 sermon. Life is short and then you die. You say, 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.100 boy, that's kind of depressing. Well, that's 00:09:58.100 --> 00:10:00.700 kind of the book of Ecclesiastes. That's kind 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.240 of life. I hate to break it to you. If you come 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:05.600 in here today and you didn't know that, That's 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.519 life, okay? So what are you going to do in that 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:11.159 time period? Life is short. One day you're going 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:14.460 to die. So what are you going to do? The author 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:16.720 of Ecclesiastes says make the most of it. He 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.360 says, and walk in the ways of your heart and 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.179 in the sight of your eyes. Now we've got to be 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:23.980 careful with that right there. What I don't think 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.080 he's saying is that's a blank check to do what 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.259 you want. Look, you're young. You only live once. 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:30.120 You're going to die. So go out whatever your 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.200 eyes see that you just go do what your heart 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.720 desires. I know that's what it says, but we got 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.519 to be careful how we take that. Because I don't 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.340 think what he's saying is just go party and throw 00:10:41.340 --> 00:10:43.480 caution to the wind and not care about anything 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:46.580 else in the world other than what you want. I 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:48.220 don't think that that's what he's saying there. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.799 I think that there are some things in life that 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:54.860 really matter, that are important. And we need 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:57.960 to understand what those things are. And when 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:00.440 our mind is right and when our heart is right 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.879 and when we are seeking God, our desires change. 00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:07.440 Now when we live for ourself and we live for 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.500 the world, there are certain worldly things we 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:12.220 desire. But we don't want to follow after those 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:14.899 desires of the world. If we only took this one 00:11:14.899 --> 00:11:17.600 little verse out of context, then maybe you could 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.220 make the argument that it says, YOLO, you only 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:22.559 live once, do what you want to do. But we have 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.860 to look at passages like these in light of all 00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:27.820 the other scripture. And certainly that's not 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:30.899 the message of all of Scripture, is do what you 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:34.840 want to do. We're called to serve God. We're 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:38.259 called to live in obedience to Him. When we live 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:41.480 for ourself, then we have a certain set of desires 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:44.740 and things that our eyes see that we long for. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:47.759 But there's something that happens in our life 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:51.100 once we begin to trust in the Lord. Once we begin 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:53.580 to put our faith in God, guess what? Our desires 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:57.440 change. The things that our eyes used to be drawn 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:02.600 to are not appealing to us anymore. And so we 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.279 do want to follow the desires of our heart and 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.399 the desires of our eyes, but if those desires 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:12.240 aren't founded on God and his word and his instruction, 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:14.620 then we're going to get ourselves in trouble. 00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:17.940 I do think throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.740 the author is telling us, look, you need to enjoy 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:23.519 life, not in a wild and crazy and sinful way. 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:26.500 But God has been good to us and he's blessed 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:29.480 us with a beautiful world. And I think it's okay 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:33.379 to enjoy that. I think God wants us to enjoy 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:36.799 this world and enjoy the people of this world 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:40.379 and enjoy the nature of this world. To go to 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:43.100 the lake. To sit on the cabin in the mountains 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:45.159 and look at the beauty of God and just reflect 00:12:45.159 --> 00:12:48.179 in nature and enjoy the things that he blesses 00:12:48.179 --> 00:12:50.980 you with and enjoy your family and enjoy your 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:53.360 church. And there are beautiful things that God 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:55.259 gives us. And I believe that God wants us to 00:12:55.259 --> 00:12:59.740 have enjoyment in this life. It's pretty tough 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:02.080 when we don't have enjoyment. It's pretty tough 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.440 in seasons of difficulty. And sometimes we have 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:07.399 those seasons in life. They may last a week or 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:10.080 a month or... Maybe even a year or maybe longer. 00:13:10.139 --> 00:13:12.879 Sometimes there's seasons where there's not too 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:15.039 much enjoyment. Or there's things that are really 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:16.860 tough and there's seasons that are really hard. 00:13:18.379 --> 00:13:21.259 But when we can, when we're able to, we need 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.620 to enjoy the beauty of what God has blessed us 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:28.919 with. And we need to rejoice in it while we are 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:32.679 still young. Because one day, we're not going 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:36.200 to be young anymore. So he says, look. Go after 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:38.080 the desires of the heart, the thing that your 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:40.759 eyes see, the good things, not the sinful things. 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:43.820 And here's what we need to pay attention to. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.240 But know that for all these things, God will 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:54.840 bring you to judgment. Now here's the good news. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:57.919 We are free to do whatever we want to do. God 00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:59.860 gives us free will. Praise the Lord. He does 00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:03.370 not force us to do a single thing. You weren't 00:14:03.370 --> 00:14:05.289 forced to come to this church today. You chose 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:07.230 to come. Well, I say that. Hopefully none of 00:14:07.230 --> 00:14:08.909 you were forced to come. Hopefully you all come 00:14:08.909 --> 00:14:12.570 with your free will. But we have free will to 00:14:12.570 --> 00:14:15.590 do what we want. If you want to lie, cheat, and 00:14:15.590 --> 00:14:17.909 steal, you've got free will to do that. If that's 00:14:17.909 --> 00:14:20.590 what you want to do, you have the ability to 00:14:20.590 --> 00:14:23.169 do that. If you want to help people and love 00:14:23.169 --> 00:14:24.870 people and be gracious to people and meet the 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:28.269 needs of others, you're free to do that. You 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.029 can do whatever you choose to do. I can't make 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:34.250 you do anything. I guess the Lord could, but 00:14:34.250 --> 00:14:37.509 he does not. He chooses to allow us to make our 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:40.490 own choices. You can do what you want to do, 00:14:40.570 --> 00:14:46.110 but know this. Whatever you do, one day you're 00:14:46.110 --> 00:14:48.889 going to stand before the Lord. But know that 00:14:48.889 --> 00:14:51.389 in all these things, God will bring you to judgment. 00:14:53.629 --> 00:14:56.250 Now that should impact our choices that we make. 00:14:57.230 --> 00:15:01.070 You're free to choose anything. But you need 00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:03.029 to know if you choose the wrong things that you're 00:15:03.029 --> 00:15:04.830 going to have to answer to God for that one day. 00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:11.370 And that should grab a hold of us. That should 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:14.750 get our attention. Perhaps this verse should 00:15:14.750 --> 00:15:16.870 be a verse that we need to ask God to bring to 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:20.070 our minds as we are making decisions in our daily 00:15:20.070 --> 00:15:24.029 life. And the things that we're about to say, 00:15:24.070 --> 00:15:25.929 the words that are about to come out of our mouth, 00:15:26.009 --> 00:15:27.750 maybe we need to think about this verse. Okay. 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:30.639 I can say whatever I want to say to this person. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.519 But just know the words that are coming out of 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.240 my mouth. I'm going to have to answer to God 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:39.620 for those words. Maybe we'd think twice before 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:43.340 we said the things that we say or do the things 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:46.740 that we do. Knowing that I can do this thing. 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:49.440 I can punch this guy in the nose right now. He 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:50.980 said something to me. I didn't like I can bust 00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:52.799 him in the nose. I can beat him down. I can do 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.879 that right now. But one day I'm going to have 00:15:55.879 --> 00:16:01.299 to stand before God. That should guide our decisions. 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:04.600 That should help us to think twice before we 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.860 do what we want to do. So we follow the desires 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:11.620 of our heart. But you better be careful what 00:16:11.620 --> 00:16:14.779 desires that you follow. For one day you will 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:19.700 have to stand in judgment before God. He continues 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:22.679 on in verse 10. Remove sorrow from your heart 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:25.679 and put away pain from your flesh. Because youth 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:30.240 and the prime of life are fleeting. That's kind 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:32.360 of an encouraging verse, right? Life is tough, 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:35.000 life is sad, life is hard. But what does he say? 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.279 Remove sorrow from your heart and put away pain 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:42.240 from your flesh. Because you're young. You've 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:43.820 got to live, you've got to go, you've got to 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.000 do while you're able to do. You don't have time 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:49.360 to lay around and feel sorry for yourself. You 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.600 have to get up and you have to keep going and 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:56.639 life goes on. Don't be depressed. You're young. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.029 Life is short. You've got to make the most of 00:17:00.029 --> 00:17:03.529 the time that you have. Because one day you're 00:17:03.529 --> 00:17:06.369 going to wake up and you're going to be old. 00:17:06.430 --> 00:17:10.329 It is unbelievable how fast life goes. When you're 00:17:10.329 --> 00:17:11.869 young, you don't realize it. When you're young, 00:17:11.950 --> 00:17:15.009 life goes so slow. And I'm still not terribly 00:17:15.009 --> 00:17:18.430 old, but even at 42, you look back one day and 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:21.569 you say, where have the years gone? It just doesn't 00:17:21.569 --> 00:17:24.740 seem right. I see parents sometimes with small 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.640 children and I'll hear them tell other, or grown 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:29.359 children, I'll hear them tell other parents with 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.640 small children, hey, you better cherish these 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:34.779 moments because they're in kindergarten today 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:37.480 and they'll be in college tomorrow. It goes so 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:40.259 quickly. Everything in life goes so quickly. 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:43.480 And you don't realize that when you're younger, 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:46.200 but that's why we need books like Ecclesiastes 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:50.720 to call this to our attention. That life is short. 00:17:51.790 --> 00:17:53.890 You got to make decisions and you got to make 00:17:53.890 --> 00:17:57.730 memories and you got to live for people and love 00:17:57.730 --> 00:18:00.109 people and help people and make an impact for 00:18:00.109 --> 00:18:04.730 the kingdom of God while you can. Because you 00:18:04.730 --> 00:18:09.769 don't have forever. One day you're not going 00:18:09.769 --> 00:18:11.609 to be able to get up and go and do what you want 00:18:11.609 --> 00:18:15.609 to do. Praise the Lord, every one of you can 00:18:15.609 --> 00:18:17.930 today. Every one of you was able to get here 00:18:17.930 --> 00:18:19.670 today, praise the Lord, so we can still get up 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:21.309 and do a little bit. Not as much maybe as you 00:18:21.309 --> 00:18:23.849 want to. Maybe not as much as you could do five 00:18:23.849 --> 00:18:27.549 years ago. But we've got to make the most of 00:18:27.549 --> 00:18:30.990 the time that the Lord gives us. Now flip over 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:34.329 to Ecclesiastes chapter 12. I love this section 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:40.349 of Scripture. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. We'll 00:18:40.349 --> 00:18:48.259 start in verse 1. This is another call to the 00:18:48.259 --> 00:18:53.519 young person. He says in Ecclesiastes 12, verse 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:58.259 1, So remember your Creator in the days of your 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:02.420 youth, before the days of adversity come, and 00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:05.259 the years approach when you will say, I have 00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:09.200 no delight in them. All right, this is a good 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.019 command for us, that we need to learn who God 00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:15.769 is, that we need to know who God is. That God 00:19:15.769 --> 00:19:17.670 is the creator of the heavens and the earth. 00:19:17.829 --> 00:19:20.809 That God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. 00:19:20.950 --> 00:19:23.769 That whosoever believeth in him shall not perish 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:26.509 but have everlasting life. That our sins are 00:19:26.509 --> 00:19:29.210 forgiven through Jesus Christ. That he was nailed 00:19:29.210 --> 00:19:31.710 to a cross. That he was raised from the grave. 00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:36.190 And by the price that he's paid, we can be healed 00:19:36.190 --> 00:19:40.470 through Jesus Christ. The author of Ecclesiastes, 00:19:40.609 --> 00:19:42.829 you need to know who God is when you're young. 00:19:43.089 --> 00:19:45.829 You need to learn who God is. You need to know 00:19:45.829 --> 00:19:48.890 the commands of God, the word of God, the instructions 00:19:48.890 --> 00:19:51.690 of God. You need to trust in God and you need 00:19:51.690 --> 00:19:54.089 to follow God. He needs to be your foundation 00:19:54.089 --> 00:19:58.390 and he needs to be your strength. Why? Because 00:19:58.390 --> 00:20:01.690 one day life's going to get tough. And when life 00:20:01.690 --> 00:20:05.569 gets tough, who are you going to call on? And 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:08.180 praise the Lord if we follow. the Lord from a 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:10.039 youth and we're growing in him and seeking him 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:12.359 and looking at his word, then praise the Lord. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:14.480 That's going to be our foundation. That's going 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:17.640 to be who we call to and who we hold on to and 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.140 who we pray to and who we seek in our times of 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:23.700 trouble. But if you don't know the Lord, who 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:25.220 are you going to seek? What are you going to 00:20:25.220 --> 00:20:29.759 seek? Well, whatever it is, it's not going to 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.319 be able to give you the strength that you need. 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:33.539 Only the Lord can do that. I can guarantee you. 00:20:34.069 --> 00:20:36.210 Only the Lord can give you the strength you need 00:20:36.210 --> 00:20:37.730 today to get through what you're going through 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:40.049 today and what you'll go through in the future. 00:20:40.289 --> 00:20:43.369 And the quicker we learn that, the better off 00:20:43.369 --> 00:20:47.250 we're going to be. So remember the Creator in 00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:49.630 the days of your youth. The quicker you learn 00:20:49.630 --> 00:20:52.309 who God is and trust Him, the better you'll be. 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:56.049 And why? He says before the days of adversity 00:20:56.049 --> 00:20:59.990 come. Days of adversity are coming. We face them 00:20:59.990 --> 00:21:02.220 all the time. We face them when we're young. 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:04.119 We face them when we're old. Now, in the context 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.480 here, he's talking about old age. That's what 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.779 he's talking about. He's talking about here's 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:11.319 some advice to the young man because one day 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:13.839 days of adversity are going to come. That is, 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:15.960 you're going to get old, and when you get old, 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:18.279 life's going to be a lot harder than it is right 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:21.819 now. And the years approach when you will say, 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:28.839 I have no delight in them. Boy, that's a... That's 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:30.700 kind of a scary thing to think about, but it's 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:35.359 true. We all know it's true. Sadly, we have friends 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:39.660 and family. If you don't believe that those words 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:42.460 are true, then after service today, you need 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:44.960 to go over to any nursing home of your choice 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:48.000 and you need to walk down those halls and you 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.019 need to look at all those people. So many of 00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:53.160 them in the bed can't move. Some of them can't 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:56.180 communicate. Some of them don't know who they 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:59.460 are. Where they're at, what's going on in the 00:21:59.460 --> 00:22:03.440 world. I believe that those people would probably 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.319 say if they could communicate that they are living 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:10.799 in days that they have no delight in them. I 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:13.059 go see people sometimes, people in no shape. 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:17.400 It's not uncommon to hear older people say, I'm 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:22.440 just ready to go. I'm ready to go. Why? Because 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.460 they are saying exactly what this verse is saying. 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:28.740 They've got to a point in life where they have 00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:31.740 no delight in their days. They had delight in 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:34.500 their days when they were younger, when they 00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:37.539 could go and do and work and raise a family and 00:22:37.539 --> 00:22:41.440 things were good. But as you get older, you can't 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.940 do those things. You have to depend on other 00:22:44.940 --> 00:22:48.880 people. You become a bother or a burden. Those 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.119 are the biggest two words I usually hear from 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.160 older folks. I wish the Lord would take me home. 00:22:54.279 --> 00:22:57.819 I'm just a bother to everybody. I'm a burden 00:22:57.819 --> 00:23:00.279 to everybody. And do you know why they say that? 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:05.299 Because as we get older, we can't do the things 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:08.980 that we used to do. So we need to think twice 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:12.279 before we complain. We need to rejoice in the 00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:16.420 days of our youth. Because one day, Should the 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:18.839 Lord permit, we're going to live long enough 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:21.279 that we're not going to be able to do those things. 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:26.279 It continues on in verse 2. Before the sun and 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:28.299 the light are darkened, and the moon and the 00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:32.880 stars and the clouds return after the rain. Now 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.859 he's using a lot of symbolism here, a lot of 00:23:35.859 --> 00:23:39.500 imagery to get his point across. Now as we read 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:42.410 these next few verses, What he's really talking 00:23:42.410 --> 00:23:46.309 about is the decline of our bodies in old age. 00:23:46.950 --> 00:23:50.410 But he uses different language to describe things 00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:53.289 that we'll talk about. But here we see a good 00:23:53.289 --> 00:23:57.089 example. The days are darkened, right? Days that 00:23:57.089 --> 00:23:59.250 are bright and sunny are usually a lot happier 00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:01.450 days for you than days that are dark. When it's 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:04.170 dark and it's cloudy and it's gloomy, that makes 00:24:04.170 --> 00:24:06.170 you feel more depressed, even when you're young. 00:24:06.789 --> 00:24:09.789 And especially maybe as we get older, those dark 00:24:09.789 --> 00:24:12.690 days. That's the illustration. That's the symbolism 00:24:12.690 --> 00:24:15.890 here. We understand what it means during dark 00:24:15.890 --> 00:24:18.730 days. And as we get older, he says there's going 00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:21.009 to be dark days. What's the best part about rain? 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:23.549 It's dark, it's cloudy, it's windy, it's stormy. 00:24:23.569 --> 00:24:26.089 But at some point, the clouds clear and the storm 00:24:26.089 --> 00:24:29.410 passes and the sun comes out. But he's saying 00:24:29.410 --> 00:24:33.329 that as we approach our old age, that the clouds 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:36.640 return after the rain. No sooner than you get 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.720 through one dark day, it seems like there's one 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:42.519 dark day after another after another as we begin 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:46.920 to grow old. We have a lot more dark days than 00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:53.359 we do bright days. He says in verse 3, On that 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:57.099 day when the guardians of the house tremble and 00:24:57.099 --> 00:25:01.099 the strong men stoop. Now what's he talking about 00:25:01.099 --> 00:25:03.440 here? The guardians of the house and the strong 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:06.549 men stoop. He's using symbolic language. He's 00:25:06.549 --> 00:25:10.130 talking about our arms, our strength, the guardians 00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:12.210 of the house. It's our arms that's been able 00:25:12.210 --> 00:25:15.430 to protect us and provide for us so that we can 00:25:15.430 --> 00:25:18.829 work hard and our strength begins to fail. The 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:22.509 strong men stoop. Our backs begin to give out. 00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:24.910 Our legs begin to give out. We don't walk straight. 00:25:25.049 --> 00:25:26.630 When you're young, you can walk straight with 00:25:26.630 --> 00:25:29.680 your shoulders up. You watch some older people. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:31.299 We don't have any in here, so don't look when 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:32.980 we leave today. But you watch some older people 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:34.700 when they get up and start walking. They kind 00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:37.160 of stoop a little bit, right? We don't have the 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:40.380 strength we used to have. We can't stand up straight 00:25:40.380 --> 00:25:43.140 like we used to. And that's what the author of 00:25:43.140 --> 00:25:46.619 Ecclesiastes is pointing out. The women who grind 00:25:46.619 --> 00:25:51.400 because they are few. Now, what's he talking 00:25:51.400 --> 00:25:53.720 about there? Women who grind. He's talking about 00:25:53.720 --> 00:25:57.150 our teeth. When we're young, we got teeth. We 00:25:57.150 --> 00:25:59.910 can chew. We can eat. What happens as we get 00:25:59.910 --> 00:26:02.589 older? Our teeth fall out. Now, praise the Lord, 00:26:02.670 --> 00:26:05.430 modern technology, we can get new teeth. I don't 00:26:05.430 --> 00:26:06.849 know if they could get new teeth back when he 00:26:06.849 --> 00:26:10.210 wrote this. As we get older, our teeth begin 00:26:10.210 --> 00:26:14.490 to fall out. The ones who watch through the windows 00:26:14.490 --> 00:26:19.910 see dimly. What about our eyesight? Everything 00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:22.190 seems a little dimmer in my eyes as I get a little 00:26:22.190 --> 00:26:24.269 older. Anybody else ever experienced that before? 00:26:24.509 --> 00:26:27.069 A few years ago, it could be almost pitch black 00:26:27.069 --> 00:26:31.750 dark and I could read. Not anymore. I got this 00:26:31.750 --> 00:26:33.289 thing that I'm reading this iPad. It's bright. 00:26:33.369 --> 00:26:35.589 I got it bright because I can't see it if I don't. 00:26:35.589 --> 00:26:37.950 Even with this light over me. Because everything's 00:26:37.950 --> 00:26:40.509 a little dimmer. Everything that I see is a little 00:26:40.509 --> 00:26:43.250 dimmer. And that's what he's talking about. Our 00:26:43.250 --> 00:26:46.329 strength begins to go. Our teeth fall out. Our 00:26:46.329 --> 00:26:49.529 eyes begin to grow dim. We can't see as good 00:26:49.529 --> 00:26:55.009 as we used to. Verse 4. The doors at the street 00:26:55.009 --> 00:27:01.250 are shut while the sound of the mill fades. Anybody 00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:04.250 in here can't hear as good as you used to? Some 00:27:04.250 --> 00:27:07.170 of you say, huh? Yeah, it's a lot of you out 00:27:07.170 --> 00:27:09.950 there that's got hearing aids. Why? Because your 00:27:09.950 --> 00:27:13.190 doors of the street, your ears are shut. The 00:27:13.190 --> 00:27:16.970 sound of the meal fades. Things that used to 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:19.210 be loud that you could hear from a long way away, 00:27:19.269 --> 00:27:22.150 now you can't hear anything. You can't even hear 00:27:22.150 --> 00:27:24.029 your wife and she's sitting in the recliner next 00:27:24.029 --> 00:27:27.410 to you. Or maybe you can. You just pretend like 00:27:27.410 --> 00:27:31.970 you can. I don't know. But this is part of life. 00:27:32.170 --> 00:27:35.450 It's not a fun part of life. Nobody likes to 00:27:35.450 --> 00:27:37.369 lose their strength. Nobody likes to lose their 00:27:37.369 --> 00:27:39.609 teeth. Nobody likes to not be able to see and 00:27:39.609 --> 00:27:43.410 to be able to hear. But it's life. It's coming. 00:27:44.210 --> 00:27:46.390 It's coming to all of us sooner or later if we 00:27:46.390 --> 00:27:49.630 live long enough. When one rises at the sound 00:27:49.630 --> 00:27:53.930 of a bird, it's hard to sleep when you get older. 00:27:54.509 --> 00:27:56.269 The least little thing wakes you up. You just 00:27:56.269 --> 00:27:59.650 can't rest as good as you used to rest. Sleep's 00:27:59.650 --> 00:28:02.930 not as good as it used to be. The least little 00:28:02.930 --> 00:28:07.190 thing will wake you up. And the daughters of 00:28:07.190 --> 00:28:13.710 song grow faint. Same idea. Hear as good as you 00:28:13.710 --> 00:28:17.130 used to. All the beautiful songs and the things 00:28:17.130 --> 00:28:20.390 you used to hear, those things begin to grow 00:28:20.390 --> 00:28:25.250 faint in your life. Also, verse 5, also they 00:28:25.250 --> 00:28:28.170 are afraid of heights and dangers on the road. 00:28:29.170 --> 00:28:32.609 Well, that happens, right? It should happen more 00:28:32.609 --> 00:28:34.009 than it does. There's some people, they're 100 00:28:34.009 --> 00:28:35.650 years old. They're out there. They can't see. 00:28:35.710 --> 00:28:37.250 They can't hear. They can't do nothing. They're 00:28:37.250 --> 00:28:38.809 just going full speed ahead. They say, I can 00:28:38.809 --> 00:28:41.230 drive as good as I always could. And they were 00:28:41.230 --> 00:28:43.589 running over stuff. I remember my grandma, one 00:28:43.589 --> 00:28:45.269 day we were at the hospital with somebody, and 00:28:45.269 --> 00:28:47.410 she had drove over there. She'd come up in the 00:28:47.410 --> 00:28:49.769 room. She was like, well, I hit a truck in the 00:28:49.769 --> 00:28:51.750 parking lot. And I was like, what? We were looking 00:28:51.750 --> 00:28:53.210 at her. She was like, yeah, it's fine. I looked 00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:54.789 at it. It wasn't no problem. Everything's fine. 00:28:55.710 --> 00:29:02.950 I was like, you hit a truck? Yeah. She was probably 00:29:02.950 --> 00:29:05.089 in her 80s at this point. Shouldn't have been 00:29:05.089 --> 00:29:08.259 driving. So I said, we've got to go down there 00:29:08.259 --> 00:29:09.940 and see what's going on. I went down there. She's 00:29:09.940 --> 00:29:11.519 like, I barely touched it. It wasn't enough to 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:14.019 do nothing. So I go down there. I find her car. 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.440 There's no truck beside her car. They'd already 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:18.400 left just in that five minutes it took me to 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:20.640 get there. The front bumper of her car, the front 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:22.880 fender of her car, was, I'm talking about, all 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.000 caved in with green paint all down it. I barely 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:32.480 touched it. As we get older, we can't see as 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:34.980 good as we used to. We can't drive as good as 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:38.329 we used to. For the wiser ones, they realize 00:29:38.329 --> 00:29:41.490 that, and they turn the keys over. For the unwise 00:29:41.490 --> 00:29:43.390 ones, they argue about it, and the kids have 00:29:43.390 --> 00:29:45.450 to take the keys, and it turns into a horrible 00:29:45.450 --> 00:29:49.569 situation. But oftentimes you see, and probably 00:29:49.569 --> 00:29:53.069 some of you experience this, you can't see good. 00:29:53.349 --> 00:29:56.150 You can't drive good. First thing that happens, 00:29:56.250 --> 00:29:58.289 you don't drive at night. Quit driving at night. 00:29:58.450 --> 00:30:02.289 Why? Because we're afraid of the heights and 00:30:02.289 --> 00:30:05.519 the dangers of the road. We know that we just 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:09.799 can't get around as good as we used to. The author 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:12.220 of Ecclesiastes points out a truth that we're 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:15.500 all familiar with. The almond tree blossoms. 00:30:15.740 --> 00:30:17.539 Has anybody ever seen an almond tree blossom 00:30:17.539 --> 00:30:20.019 before? You know what color it is? It's kind 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:23.240 of a white color. Anybody in here got any white 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:27.220 hair? Yep. That's right. The almond tree blossoms. 00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:30.140 We get old. Our hair begins to turn white, and 00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:33.559 our beards begin to turn gray and begin to turn 00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:35.140 white. I was in the store the other day, and 00:30:35.140 --> 00:30:37.740 I walked by a dude, and I was looking at something, 00:30:38.019 --> 00:30:39.720 and he was looking at something, and then a second 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:42.440 later, he turned to me, and he says, Oh, I didn't 00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:44.619 recognize that was you, Shannon. He said, I didn't 00:30:44.619 --> 00:30:49.180 know you had that much white in your beard. All 00:30:49.180 --> 00:30:55.059 right. Nice to see you, too. It happens, right? 00:30:55.599 --> 00:31:01.240 We begin to get white as we get older. The grasshopper 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:04.299 loses its spring. Well, you see a grasshopper, 00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:08.319 what? They get their legs the way they spring 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:10.680 up. They can fly a long way. And that's how we 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:12.299 can do them when we're young. We can spring up. 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:14.559 When you're young, you can get on the floor and 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.319 you can spring up. When you get old, you can't 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:18.539 do that so much. I get on the floor just about 00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:21.329 every night and play with our puppy. And some 00:31:21.329 --> 00:31:23.450 nights I don't get up as fast as I used to get 00:31:23.450 --> 00:31:24.809 up. I'll turn the wrong way and be like, oh, 00:31:25.009 --> 00:31:27.329 got something in my knee or in my side. Used 00:31:27.329 --> 00:31:29.589 to, you could just spring up. When you're young, 00:31:29.730 --> 00:31:31.829 your legs work good. You can spring up, you can 00:31:31.829 --> 00:31:34.789 go, and you can do. But when you get old, he 00:31:34.789 --> 00:31:40.190 says, the grasshopper loses his spring. The caperberry 00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:43.089 has no effect. Now, caperberry is used, it's 00:31:43.089 --> 00:31:44.930 like medicine. It's used for a lot of medical 00:31:44.930 --> 00:31:48.109 purposes. At some point, even the medicines don't 00:31:48.109 --> 00:31:52.069 help. Some of you take 15, 20 pills a day. You 00:31:52.069 --> 00:31:54.849 still feel bad. And you say, I just don't know 00:31:54.849 --> 00:31:56.390 what's wrong. I've got to find a new doctor. 00:31:56.470 --> 00:31:57.829 I just don't know what's wrong. I know what's 00:31:57.829 --> 00:32:01.230 wrong. You're over 80 years old. I know you don't 00:32:01.230 --> 00:32:04.049 want to hear it, and I'm sorry. But the book 00:32:04.049 --> 00:32:06.630 of Ecclesiastes tells us this way back then that 00:32:06.630 --> 00:32:08.450 as we get older, even the medicines ain't going 00:32:08.450 --> 00:32:16.089 to help. For man is headed to his eternal home. 00:32:18.059 --> 00:32:21.720 He says when you start seeing these things, when 00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:23.940 your eyes ain't working and your ears ain't working 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:26.240 and you got no teeth and your hair is white and 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:28.259 you can barely get up and move and your medicines 00:32:28.259 --> 00:32:32.000 don't help and you still feel bad, he says man 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.700 is headed to his eternal home. Life is coming 00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:39.039 to a close. Maybe it's a few weeks, maybe it's 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:43.359 a few years. But at some point in our life, these 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:46.240 bodies, as they begin to fail, we're going to 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:52.059 go. To our eternal home. Now what that eternal 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:57.960 home is. Well that's up to you. That's up to 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:04.740 you. The choices you make. Did you choose Jesus 00:33:04.740 --> 00:33:10.539 Christ? Did you reject Jesus Christ? All those 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:13.380 things that he said. Follow the desires of your 00:33:13.380 --> 00:33:16.819 heart. And the things that your eyes see. But 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:19.000 know that in all these things you'll stand in 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:23.519 judgment before God. He's talking to the young 00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:26.519 people. He's saying, pay attention young people. 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:29.519 Pay attention. You can go and you can do and 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:31.980 you rejoice in that. But you better make good 00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:34.480 choices in what you do. And you better know God. 00:33:34.539 --> 00:33:36.140 And you better come to know Him and trust Him 00:33:36.140 --> 00:33:39.059 while you're still young. Because one day here's 00:33:39.059 --> 00:33:40.400 what's going to happen. And He goes through and 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:42.119 He tells us all the things. You're going to get 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:43.799 old and here's all the things that's going to 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:46.910 happen. And then you're going to die. Life is 00:33:46.910 --> 00:33:49.430 short and then you die. And then you're going 00:33:49.430 --> 00:33:53.789 to an eternal hole. You're either going to spend 00:33:53.789 --> 00:33:57.089 an eternity with God or you're going to spend 00:33:57.089 --> 00:34:03.529 an eternity in hell. One day, this life's coming 00:34:03.529 --> 00:34:08.710 to an end. He says in the next verse, verse 6, 00:34:09.289 --> 00:34:12.630 before the silver cord is snapped and the gold 00:34:12.630 --> 00:34:15.230 bowl is broken. Now this is probably a reference 00:34:15.230 --> 00:34:19.349 to, the spinal cord and the brain. It's hard 00:34:19.349 --> 00:34:21.730 to know exactly what these are. Those are the 00:34:21.730 --> 00:34:24.909 two most popular thoughts as to what he's speaking 00:34:24.909 --> 00:34:27.489 of here. And the jar is shattered at the spring 00:34:27.489 --> 00:34:30.389 and the wheel is broken into the well. Probably 00:34:30.389 --> 00:34:32.489 talking about our heart. Our heart beginning 00:34:32.489 --> 00:34:38.130 to fail. That's the wheel that spins the spring 00:34:38.130 --> 00:34:41.389 that puts our blood all the way through us. Eventually 00:34:41.389 --> 00:34:46.119 all of our body is going to shut down. Our brains 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:48.639 are going to shut down. Our hearts are going 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:53.460 to shut down. And then he says in verse 7, And 00:34:53.460 --> 00:34:57.179 the dust returns to the earth as it once was, 00:34:57.400 --> 00:35:07.239 and the spirit returns to God who gave it. One 00:35:07.239 --> 00:35:11.920 day every single one of us is going to die. If 00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:17.869 Jesus does not return, We're going to die. Life 00:35:17.869 --> 00:35:22.530 is so short, men and women and children. Life 00:35:22.530 --> 00:35:26.110 is so short. If you don't believe me, if you 00:35:26.110 --> 00:35:28.269 don't believe that coming from a 42 -year -old, 00:35:28.289 --> 00:35:30.170 you find you somebody that's lived into their 00:35:30.170 --> 00:35:32.369 80s and their 90s, if you can find somebody 100, 00:35:32.690 --> 00:35:35.070 and I want you to ask them if life is short or 00:35:35.070 --> 00:35:41.409 not. Life is so short. What kind of decisions 00:35:41.409 --> 00:35:47.090 are you making? Are you taking care of your wife? 00:35:47.170 --> 00:35:50.469 Are you taking care of your husband? Are you 00:35:50.469 --> 00:35:53.949 taking care of your kids? Are you helping people 00:35:53.949 --> 00:35:57.489 around you that you can help? Are you being a 00:35:57.489 --> 00:36:01.530 light to the world? Are you trusting in the Lord? 00:36:03.369 --> 00:36:06.590 Do you know who God is? Have you trusted in the 00:36:06.590 --> 00:36:10.469 creator of the heavens and the earth? Is he your 00:36:10.469 --> 00:36:14.039 foundation? Is he your strength? Have you trusted 00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:17.260 in Jesus Christ? Do you know that your sins are 00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:20.320 forgiven today? Do you know that God loves you? 00:36:21.079 --> 00:36:23.559 Do you know that there are dark days ahead, but 00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:26.239 we serve a God who can strengthen you and be 00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:31.280 with you? Even if you make it to 100 years old 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:33.480 and the days are dark and your body is shut down, 00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:37.800 did you know that God still cares for you? That 00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:40.849 He has not left you? and that one day this old 00:36:40.849 --> 00:36:42.610 world's going to come to an end, and when it 00:36:42.610 --> 00:36:46.210 does, God's going to take you home to be with 00:36:46.210 --> 00:36:52.170 him if you've trusted in Jesus Christ. There's 00:36:52.170 --> 00:36:55.170 a lot of things that we do and that we waste 00:36:55.170 --> 00:36:58.809 our time on that don't amount to a hill of beans, 00:36:59.090 --> 00:37:02.630 that ain't going to make any difference in this 00:37:02.630 --> 00:37:07.250 world. The author of Ecclesiastes says we need 00:37:07.250 --> 00:37:12.059 to do things that will. Make a difference. And 00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:15.219 you need to do them while you can. Because one 00:37:15.219 --> 00:37:21.280 day you will not be able to. So rejoice in the 00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:25.019 Lord while you are still young. Next time you 00:37:25.019 --> 00:37:27.239 want to complain about something you're able 00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:32.320 to do. Maybe you need to think twice. Maybe while 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:33.780 you're doing something that you would rather 00:37:33.780 --> 00:37:36.559 not do. And you rejoice in the Lord. Maybe you 00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:39.199 think about a brother or sister in Christ. got 00:37:39.199 --> 00:37:41.880 a home that's grown up with weeds or limbs that 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:44.719 need picking up and maybe their day has passed 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:48.000 and they're no longer able to do it. Well, rejoice, 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:52.099 man and woman in your youth. You can go help 00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:55.340 them. Those are the things that make a difference. 00:37:56.059 --> 00:38:00.000 That's what makes the world go round. Even those 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.280 who are older, they still have something to contribute 00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:06.449 to society. They still... are important. They 00:38:06.449 --> 00:38:08.989 still have wisdom that they can impart to those 00:38:08.989 --> 00:38:13.650 of us who are young. Let us love those who are 00:38:13.650 --> 00:38:16.750 older. Let us provide for those who are older. 00:38:16.909 --> 00:38:20.250 Let us seek the wisdom of those who are older. 00:38:22.110 --> 00:38:24.110 Rejoice, young man, while you are young because 00:38:24.110 --> 00:38:28.050 one day every one of us will have to stand before 00:38:28.050 --> 00:38:32.750 the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your 00:38:32.750 --> 00:38:37.719 good word. I pray, God, that you would just help 00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:42.039 us if we're younger to seek you and to try to 00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:44.039 make the most of the days that you give us, God, 00:38:44.139 --> 00:38:47.300 that we would rejoice in our strength and our 00:38:47.300 --> 00:38:50.300 abilities and our blessings that you put before 00:38:50.300 --> 00:38:53.900 us. I pray for those, God, who may be a little 00:38:53.900 --> 00:38:58.940 older and maybe there is discouragement there 00:38:58.940 --> 00:39:02.320 for not being able to do the things that they 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:06.659 once did. Maybe there's frustration and maybe 00:39:06.659 --> 00:39:08.719 there's dark days and maybe there's sadness. 00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:11.940 I pray that you would strengthen them today, 00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:14.719 God. I pray that they would call out to you and 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:17.420 that they would seek you. God, that you would 00:39:17.420 --> 00:39:19.579 be their strength until the day comes that you 00:39:19.579 --> 00:39:25.980 would take them home, God. I pray that as your 00:39:25.980 --> 00:39:31.139 people, that you would help us to take care of 00:39:31.139 --> 00:39:33.849 those, dear Lord, who... who may not be able 00:39:33.849 --> 00:39:36.869 to take care of themselves in the same way that 00:39:36.869 --> 00:39:40.409 they once did, that we would use our strength 00:39:40.409 --> 00:39:43.989 to strengthen them, and that, God, they would 00:39:43.989 --> 00:39:48.409 use their wisdom to strengthen us. I thank you 00:39:48.409 --> 00:39:50.050 for this church. I thank you for these folks 00:39:50.050 --> 00:39:52.710 that are here, dear Lord. You know where everybody's 00:39:52.710 --> 00:39:54.349 at today. You know their hearts. You know their 00:39:54.349 --> 00:39:56.030 struggles. You know what's going on in their 00:39:56.030 --> 00:39:59.250 life, and I pray, God, that if there's one here 00:39:59.250 --> 00:40:02.579 today that does not know Jesus Christ, That maybe 00:40:02.579 --> 00:40:05.619 today through your word, their eyes have been 00:40:05.619 --> 00:40:08.440 opened. Maybe today they know that there are 00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:10.519 some things in their life that should not be 00:40:10.519 --> 00:40:12.679 there that they need to repent of, God. You call 00:40:12.679 --> 00:40:15.840 us to repent, to turn away, to stop doing what 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:17.760 we've been doing, to ask you to forgive us, dear 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:20.860 Lord, to stop living for ourself and to start 00:40:20.860 --> 00:40:22.920 living for you, God. I pray that if there are 00:40:22.920 --> 00:40:25.840 any that came into this building today that do 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:28.300 not know Jesus Christ, that maybe the Holy Spirit 00:40:28.300 --> 00:40:31.820 now is convicting them. And even now, God, that 00:40:31.820 --> 00:40:33.380 they would pray to you and ask you to forgive 00:40:33.380 --> 00:40:38.019 them, that they would follow Jesus Christ. God, 00:40:38.079 --> 00:40:40.659 maybe there are some here today and they're yours, 00:40:40.820 --> 00:40:43.639 but maybe they just see areas that they need 00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:47.099 to do a little better. I pray that you would 00:40:47.099 --> 00:40:49.920 help us to see those things and to grow in you, 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:52.619 dear Lord, that we would do the things that you 00:40:52.619 --> 00:40:56.519 desire for us to do. And I ask these things in 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:58.199 Jesus' name. Amen.