WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 And now if you would please take those Bibles 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:10.080 and open them up. To the Old Testament book of. 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:19.940 Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 6 verse 10. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.140 And we're going to take it through about chapter 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:28.300 7 verse. 14 as we continue where we left off. 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:33.799 in this wonderful book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:38.700 6 verse 10. Please listen, for this is God's 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:45.719 word. Whatever has come to be has already been 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:50.679 named, and it is known what man is and that he 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.960 is not able to dispute with one stronger than 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:59.200 he. The more words, the more vanity. And what 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.600 is the advantage to man? For who knows what is 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.939 good for man while he lives the few days of his 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:10.180 vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:13.219 who can tell man what will be after him under 00:01:13.219 --> 00:01:17.540 the sun? A good name is better than precious 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:21.040 ointment, and the day of death than the day of 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:24.480 birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:28.400 than to go to the house of feasting. For this 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:32.159 is the end of all mankind, and the living will 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:36.359 lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:40.239 for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:43.719 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:47.599 but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:50.680 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:54.810 the wise than to hear the song of fools. For 00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:57.489 as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is 00:01:57.489 --> 00:02:01.189 the laughter of the fools. This also is vanity 00:02:01.189 --> 00:02:05.489 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness 00:02:05.489 --> 00:02:09.889 and a bribe corrupts the heart Better is the 00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:13.669 end of a thing Than its beginning and the patient 00:02:13.669 --> 00:02:16.969 in spirit is better than the proud in spirit 00:02:16.969 --> 00:02:21.250 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry for 00:02:21.250 --> 00:02:25.310 anger lodges in the heart of fools. Say not, 00:02:25.729 --> 00:02:28.930 why were the former days better than these? For 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:32.629 it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom 00:02:32.629 --> 00:02:36.169 is good with an inheritance, an advantage to 00:02:36.169 --> 00:02:39.469 those who see the sun. For the protection of 00:02:39.469 --> 00:02:42.770 wisdom is like the protection of money, and the 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:45.469 advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:49.210 the life of him who has it. Consider the work 00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:53.139 of God. who can make straight what he has made 00:02:53.139 --> 00:02:56.780 crooked. In the day of prosperity, be joyful. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.000 And in the day of adversity, consider God has 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.020 made the one as well as the other so that man 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:08.599 may not find out anything that will be after 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:12.240 him. The grass withers and the flower fades, 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:17.520 but God's word stands forever. Let's pray. Father, 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.840 we once again give you praise and thanks for 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:23.879 the book of Ecclesiastes, but Lord, there are 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:26.699 difficult statements in here, things that might 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:30.560 be confusing to us. And so Lord, would you give 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.439 us a spirit of understanding? Would you open 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.000 up our ears and our minds and our hearts to hear 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.960 from you now these things we ask in Christ's 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:48.000 name. Amen. Maybe you have heard of the ancient 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.139 philosopher Socrates. Socrates, ancient philosopher 00:03:53.139 --> 00:03:58.039 who taught Plato. Plato goes on to teach Aristotle. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:03.819 Socrates is known really for two big things. 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:06.740 And I think he would be known for more things 00:04:06.740 --> 00:04:09.240 if we had his writings, but we don't know really 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.900 what he wrote. We don't have his writings. Most 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:14.979 of the things we know about Socrates we learn 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:19.560 from his students. But Socrates said this statement 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:24.040 according to Plato. He said, the unexamined life 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:28.500 is not worth living. Have you heard that before? 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:34.680 The unexamined life is not worth living. We should 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.339 consider the time and the place in which Socrates 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:40.300 said this. He was in ancient Greece in and around 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:44.160 400 BC, and at that time there were many philosophers, 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:47.240 and there were many philosophies going around. 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:49.939 And it was confusing to the common man. The common 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:52.699 man said, well, if these ancient philosophers, 00:04:52.980 --> 00:04:56.100 if they can't come to a consensus on what is 00:04:56.100 --> 00:05:00.720 true, how can I? And so people seemed to give 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:09.310 up the pursuit. truth, but not Socrates. Socrates 00:05:09.310 --> 00:05:12.529 used what is commonly called today the Socratic 00:05:12.529 --> 00:05:16.430 method. He asked good questions of people that 00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:19.970 they would examine themselves to see what truth 00:05:19.970 --> 00:05:27.370 really is. Well, before Socrates, there was a 00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:32.490 greater prophet, a greater philosopher, And this 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:35.529 is Solomon, the person that we believe wrote 00:05:35.529 --> 00:05:38.430 Ecclesiastes. And Solomon is doing something 00:05:38.430 --> 00:05:41.490 the same as Socrates, and that he is trying to 00:05:41.490 --> 00:05:46.209 get us to consider life, to consider death, to 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:50.129 consider what true wisdom is. And I actually 00:05:50.129 --> 00:05:54.689 think that we live in a similar time as Socrates. 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:58.779 As in Socrates' day, many people gave up the 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:01.079 pursuit of truth. I find today that people are 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:04.199 not so concerned about truth, are they? People 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:07.939 are not so very much engaged with the deep things 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:11.060 of God. People actually aren't engaged with the 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:16.759 shallow things of life. You ever stop and talk 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:20.040 to somebody about Jesus and they look at you 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:23.160 like, how dare you talk to me about such a strange 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:28.470 topic, right? We need to consider who Christ 00:06:28.470 --> 00:06:31.470 is. We need to consider the deep things of God. 00:06:31.509 --> 00:06:35.550 We need to use our minds better. Coming to the 00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:39.750 rescue is this wonderful book of Ecclesiastes 00:06:39.750 --> 00:06:43.170 and this wonderful passage that we have just 00:06:43.170 --> 00:06:47.610 read. This passage helps us to consider that 00:06:47.610 --> 00:06:52.990 which has eternal consequences. So look at verse 00:06:52.990 --> 00:06:59.110 10. Whatever has come to be has already been 00:06:59.110 --> 00:07:04.529 named and it is known what man is. As we look 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:07.509 at this you may find yourself transported back 00:07:07.509 --> 00:07:10.689 to chapter 3. We've made this remark several 00:07:10.689 --> 00:07:13.889 times in this book that so many things that we're 00:07:13.889 --> 00:07:16.509 reading about in Ecclesiastes seem to take us 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:20.930 back to Ecclesiastes 3 because I believe that 00:07:20.930 --> 00:07:24.360 verse 10 actually sounds a good bit like verse 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:29.959 14 of chapter three. For there it says, I perceived 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:34.579 that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:37.720 can be added to it, nothing or anything taken 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:40.500 from it. God has done it so that people fear 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:44.120 before him. There is this understanding as we 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.399 look at Ecclesiastes that there are things that 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.139 are high above us, things that we can't quite 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:57.160 understand, right? But as our passage says, who 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.959 can understand these things? Who is governing 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:03.300 these things? The implied answer is it's obvious, 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.180 right? It's God. Once again, we are confronted 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:10.740 with the reality of the very sovereignty of God, 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:16.180 that he is foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:20.339 So when we come upon statements in this passage 00:08:20.339 --> 00:08:23.120 that might be difficult or when we come upon 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.399 things in life that are very very hard for us 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.980 Friends we are to trust God Because he is in 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:34.059 control of our every moment of life. He knows 00:08:34.059 --> 00:08:39.279 what is good But thankfully he does clue us in 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.590 to things about himself and about this life And 00:08:43.590 --> 00:08:46.370 that's really what chapter 14 is doing. It's 00:08:46.370 --> 00:08:49.110 giving us a number of things for us to consider 00:08:49.110 --> 00:08:53.570 in this life. And the way that it does this is 00:08:53.570 --> 00:08:56.169 these better than statements. Look at your text 00:08:56.169 --> 00:09:00.350 here. You can see these better than, these good 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:04.769 statements in verse one, two, three, five, eight, 00:09:04.909 --> 00:09:09.629 and 11. And the way that it goes about doing 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:12.230 this is quite literally in the Hebrew, it just 00:09:12.230 --> 00:09:14.710 uses the word good over and over again. It uses 00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:19.629 the Hebrew word of tov. But saying something 00:09:19.629 --> 00:09:23.690 is gooder is not good grammar today, so we use 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:26.509 the statement better than. It's a little bit 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:29.230 like children in school. Have you learned about 00:09:29.230 --> 00:09:33.389 those greater than, less than, equal to statements? 00:09:33.629 --> 00:09:37.289 I see heads nodding, right? 10 is greater than 00:09:37.289 --> 00:09:40.710 five, where the kind of sideways V is pointed 00:09:40.710 --> 00:09:43.250 towards the larger number. That's a little bit 00:09:43.250 --> 00:09:46.429 about like what's going on in the first half 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:49.789 of chapter seven here. And so let's look at some 00:09:49.789 --> 00:09:52.549 of these greater than, better than statements. 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.529 I won't be able to cover them all, but look in 00:09:55.529 --> 00:10:01.110 verse one. A good name is better than precious 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:04.559 ointment. Now, you might say, well, in what way? 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:06.980 I think we are to understand that this precious 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:11.100 ointment is something that's costly. It's expensive. 00:10:11.419 --> 00:10:13.919 And so we should consider how a good name is 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:17.659 better than that. Well, we already saw last Sunday 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:21.460 this discussion on wealth. And sometimes wealth 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:25.620 is just not all it's cracked up to be. But what 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:28.580 Solomon wants us to see here is that a good name 00:10:28.580 --> 00:10:32.840 is what it's cracked up. to be, our reputation, 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:36.559 right? Now, I know some of you women have been 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:39.899 wearing the same perfume for years or even decades, 00:10:40.179 --> 00:10:44.320 and sometimes we get to know the women in our 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:48.159 lives by their scent, right? You smell their 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:50.539 perfume on somebody else and you say, hold up 00:10:50.539 --> 00:10:52.879 a second, that's my wife's perfume, right? Or 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.039 that's what my mother used to wear. Well, guess 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:57.299 what sticks with you longer than your scent? 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:02.889 It's your name. It's your reputation. And so 00:11:02.889 --> 00:11:08.769 consider this. How are you known? When people 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:13.490 say your name out loud, what do they think of? 00:11:14.470 --> 00:11:17.830 What is your reputation? Now be careful with 00:11:17.830 --> 00:11:20.769 this a little bit because people's opinions are 00:11:20.769 --> 00:11:25.580 fallible, but how are you known? And if there 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:30.500 be ways in you that maybe are not the most wonderful 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:35.399 ways, remember that the Lord is sanctifying us, 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:39.100 right? And so as we look at these further better 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:41.740 than statements, if you see some that describe 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:45.799 you a little bit, take those things to the Lord. 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:49.220 Be humble enough to pray about them. Be humble 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:52.259 enough even to talk with a brother or sister 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:58.070 in Christ for help. on these things, right? Because 00:11:58.070 --> 00:12:01.289 we can see something like this in the next statement. 00:12:01.870 --> 00:12:06.029 Look in verse five. It is better for a man to 00:12:06.029 --> 00:12:09.149 hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the 00:12:09.149 --> 00:12:14.129 song of fools. Solomon says something similar 00:12:14.129 --> 00:12:18.509 to this in Proverbs chapter 12 verse one. Whoever 00:12:18.509 --> 00:12:22.669 loves discipline loves knowledge. But he who 00:12:22.669 --> 00:12:27.570 hates reproof is stupid. Friends, are you humble 00:12:27.570 --> 00:12:32.190 enough to receive reproof, correction, even discipline? 00:12:32.870 --> 00:12:35.250 The fool wants nothing to do with this. The fool 00:12:35.250 --> 00:12:37.629 says, I don't want to hear it. You're wrong. 00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:42.990 I'm right. But a truly wise person can receive 00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:47.389 gentle and loving criticism and correction. And 00:12:47.389 --> 00:12:51.429 so ask yourself, am I able to receive this kind 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:57.259 of correction because a fool cannot, right? And 00:12:57.259 --> 00:13:01.820 so once again, if you are coming short in this 00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:06.279 area, take it to the Lord and ask for his humbling 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:10.799 work upon you such that you could receive reproof 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:14.220 in order that you would continue to look more 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:18.899 and more like Christ Jesus. Because you see what 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:22.740 it says next. It uses this description here. 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:27.100 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:30.399 is the laughter of the fools. This also is vanity. 00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:33.440 What this is showing us here is that there are 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.320 people who are foolish, who would rather not 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.620 hear any kind of correction, but instead would 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:43.659 rather surround themselves with foolish laughter 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:47.649 and talk and chatter, right? And the way that 00:13:47.649 --> 00:13:50.610 it expresses this I think is important. The crackling 00:13:50.610 --> 00:13:53.789 of thorns. Have you ever tried to make a fire 00:13:53.789 --> 00:13:58.429 out of thorns? How long does that fire last? 00:13:59.710 --> 00:14:02.950 Usually not very long, right? But it can make 00:14:02.950 --> 00:14:06.750 a lot of noise here. And so that's the fool who 00:14:06.750 --> 00:14:10.549 makes a lot of noise but without a lot of substance. 00:14:11.110 --> 00:14:14.730 Those thorns will not keep the fire going. but 00:14:14.730 --> 00:14:17.529 the correction of the Lord will be good for the 00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:23.649 soul here. But also we need to be careful with 00:14:23.649 --> 00:14:26.690 how we address the fool. Proverbs does this again 00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:29.210 and again. Do you ever try and correct a fool? 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:33.850 Sometimes it's a fool's errand to correct a fool, 00:14:33.950 --> 00:14:36.990 right? And so before we go correcting anybody, 00:14:37.070 --> 00:14:41.860 we need to ask ourselves, am I humble? Can I 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:45.639 receive this kind of correction? Or, when somebody 00:14:45.639 --> 00:14:49.000 seeks to correct me in a gentle way, do I just 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:54.460 get angry? Look at verses 8 through 10, especially 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:58.360 verse 9. Be not quick in your spirit to become 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:02.759 angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:06.279 A fool cannot receive correction because anger 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:11.090 is in his very core. James 119 says, know this, 00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:14.950 my beloved brothers, let every person be quick 00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:20.230 to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the 00:15:20.230 --> 00:15:23.169 anger of a man does not produce the righteousness 00:15:23.169 --> 00:15:27.470 of God. And so friends, let's ask ourselves here, 00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:31.429 are we angry people? And specifically, are we 00:15:31.429 --> 00:15:36.559 angered over selfish things? Or are we angered 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:39.740 over the things that God is angry about? I would 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:42.879 say that most of our anger is not righteous anger. 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:46.139 Most of our anger comes from, you disappointed 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:50.299 me. You did this to me or that to me. We don't 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:53.399 get our way. And in this way, we're actually 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:55.539 starting to see something else that's in here. 00:15:56.220 --> 00:15:59.879 We are not patient. Look there in verse eight. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.799 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. 00:16:04.169 --> 00:16:07.009 And the patient in spirit is better than the 00:16:07.009 --> 00:16:11.070 proud in spirit. When we are inconvenienced, 00:16:11.629 --> 00:16:14.309 when people don't get things done according to 00:16:14.309 --> 00:16:18.629 our timeline, then we get angry here. But a wise 00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:23.350 person looks beyond himself. A wise person considers 00:16:23.350 --> 00:16:27.370 others, right? For to be angry and impatient 00:16:27.370 --> 00:16:30.610 all the time, this is not a virtue, friends. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:34.100 It is not a virtue to be angry and impatient 00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:39.299 all the time. Why is that? Because of who the 00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:45.779 Lord is. God is slow to anger and abounding in 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:50.000 steadfast love. And those who have the Holy Spirit 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.440 dwelling inside, those who are receiving his 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.840 sanctification are being made more and more into 00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:01.389 the image of Christ, right? And so when we exhibit 00:17:01.389 --> 00:17:06.109 patience, when we exhibit gentleness, what are 00:17:06.109 --> 00:17:11.289 we really doing? We're modeling our savior, the 00:17:11.289 --> 00:17:17.170 one who is gentle and lowly, right? God is long 00:17:17.170 --> 00:17:21.690 suffering with us. Aren't we not also to be long 00:17:21.690 --> 00:17:28.519 suffering with one another? And so again, If 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.539 you're struggling with anger or you're struggling 00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:34.660 with impatience, take it to the Lord in prayer 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:37.079 and also speak to one another. Have somebody 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:40.720 that you can confide in who can pray along with 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:44.440 you. You see, these are some of the traps of 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:49.799 this life, the life of vanity. But perhaps the 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:52.559 greatest trap that we see within this passage 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:57.059 is avoiding the reality of death. Look at verses 00:17:57.059 --> 00:17:58.960 one through four, and this is where I'm going 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:04.059 to focus most of my attention. The trap of avoiding 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:07.599 the reality of death. It says in the second line 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.779 of verse one, and the day of death than the day 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:14.240 of birth. It's using that better than statement 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.559 once again. And so we need to consider how is 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.700 the day of death better than the day of birth? 00:18:21.900 --> 00:18:25.019 That sounds perplexing, doesn't it? Right? And 00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:27.920 so let's consider how a number of different ways 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.819 have been proposed to understand this. Some will 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:33.539 say, well, the day of death is better than the 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:35.900 day of birth because the day of birth is really 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:38.200 just a day of potential. We don't know what's 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.140 going to happen with this baby. Right. But at 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:44.079 the end of life at death, we know what has happened. 00:18:44.819 --> 00:18:46.980 And so people will say this is talking about 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:50.220 potential and the end of life and all that somebody 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:54.460 has done. The second view on this. has to do 00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:57.740 with our reward to glory. People will say it's 00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:00.380 better to die than to be born because when you 00:19:00.380 --> 00:19:03.480 die in Christ, you go to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:08.720 Now, obviously that is correct. But is that what 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.299 Solomon is talking about here? I would say he's 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:14.440 not talking about either one of those things. 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:17.940 Instead, what Solomon is talking about when he 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:20.779 says this is that the day of death is better. 00:19:21.679 --> 00:19:24.740 because the day of death is a better teacher. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:31.539 We learn so much through death. Death, the death 00:19:31.539 --> 00:19:36.920 of others causes us to consider who we are, our 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:40.619 need for Christ, and in that way, death acts 00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:44.859 as an evangelist, pointing us to the reason that 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:48.339 there is death. for the wages of sin is death. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.220 And even more than that, what death does is it 00:19:51.220 --> 00:19:54.579 teaches us to look to the one who conquered death 00:19:54.579 --> 00:20:02.180 on the cross. Death is a better teacher. Have 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:06.099 you ever noticed how when a popular musician 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:11.279 dies, their music becomes popular again? Even 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.839 if it's just for a matter of days or weeks, suddenly 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.400 their songs and their albums top the charts, 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:20.579 right? We go back and listen to them. Death does 00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:23.960 something like that within us. It causes us to 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:27.519 remember. It causes us to ponder. And really 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.960 what's going on within this section is this is 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:33.460 telling us we need to take all of this to heart. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.480 Look at verse two. It's better to go to the house 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:41.869 of mourning than to go to the house. feasting 00:20:41.869 --> 00:20:45.730 why because it says the living will lay it to 00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:51.670 heart a wise person really thinks about death 00:20:51.670 --> 00:20:55.970 a wise person goes to the house of mourning what 00:20:55.970 --> 00:20:59.390 does a fool do though a fool wants nothing to 00:20:59.390 --> 00:21:02.509 do with it the fool ignores death but do you 00:21:02.509 --> 00:21:06.170 want to know why it's foolish to do that I think 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:10.480 Hebrews 927 says it best It is appointed once 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:15.640 for man to die and then the judgment. It is appointed 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:19.400 once for man to die and then the judgment. And 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:23.039 so the point is this, friends, unless Jesus comes 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.740 back in our lifetime, we will all die, right? 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:31.859 You cannot ignore that fact. It is foolish to 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:34.720 do so. And so the point Solomon is making is 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:38.289 that sorrow is the point. He wants us to embrace 00:21:38.289 --> 00:21:41.410 this sorrow, not because sorrow in and of itself 00:21:41.410 --> 00:21:44.690 is good, but because sorrow does something within 00:21:44.690 --> 00:21:50.230 us. Sorrow causes us to examine life and death. 00:21:50.609 --> 00:21:53.430 Jeff Wint said that sometimes trying to cheer 00:21:53.430 --> 00:21:56.809 someone up is the last thing that they need. 00:21:57.869 --> 00:22:01.829 Sometimes we need to simply sit in the sorrow. 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:06.950 I can't remember who it was. that said this, 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:10.930 and I mentioned it a few weeks ago, who said, 00:22:11.450 --> 00:22:15.490 man's greatest problem is that sometimes we have 00:22:15.490 --> 00:22:19.430 failed to sit in our room quietly. We need to 00:22:19.430 --> 00:22:22.569 ponder on these things. We need to examine these 00:22:22.569 --> 00:22:26.650 things. We need to take it to heart. David Gibson 00:22:26.650 --> 00:22:33.679 writes, when life ends or is about to end, Absolutely 00:22:33.679 --> 00:22:37.119 everything comes into focus. The things which 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:40.640 don't really matter, but which we gave so much 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:45.019 time to, seem so empty and pointless. The lives 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:48.839 we touch, the generosity we showed, and the love 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:53.980 that we gave or received now means so much more. 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:58.940 Friends, we need to take it to heart. Now, does 00:22:58.940 --> 00:23:01.099 this mean it's wrong to be in the house of feasting? 00:23:01.099 --> 00:23:04.140 Of course not. You've seen it so far in this 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:06.599 book. The thing that Solomon talks about just 00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:10.059 as much as death is joy, right? And so it is 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.160 good to be in the house of feasting. It's just 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.400 that death and funerals and graveside gatherings 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:20.200 cause us to ponder things that you don't really 00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:24.599 ponder at parties. If you go to that graduation 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:29.039 party, If you go to that birthday party and you 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.519 just look sad and you just want to talk about 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.480 death the whole time, you're not going to get 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.059 invited back to another party. You're not the 00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:40.319 life of the party. You're the death of the party. 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:43.940 But that sort of behavior is totally appropriate 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:47.180 at the graveside. It's totally appropriate at 00:23:47.180 --> 00:23:50.460 the funeral, right? And sometimes that's just 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:54.259 where we need to be. Theodore Bezos said, it 00:23:54.259 --> 00:23:59.079 is better To have some sorrow of mind and to 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:02.579 be grieved for things done amiss Than to be much 00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:05.599 given to rejoicing and laughter for of that sadness 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:13.119 at length grows true gladness of mind Friends 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:18.980 isn't it true that after a death After a tragedy 00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:22.240 so many of us pray these words that we find at 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:26.920 the end of the Bible come Lord Jesus. Death causes 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:31.759 us to say, come Lord Jesus, right? And speaking 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:35.039 of Jesus, this section right here reminds me 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:38.079 of another section of scripture. It reminds me 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.200 of the Beatitudes that we can find in the Sermon 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:43.720 on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain. Phrases 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:46.680 that Jesus taught like, blessed are those who 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:50.460 mourn for they will be comforted. Blessed are 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:54.920 you who weep now, for you will laugh. Friends, 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.759 if you just try to avoid and minimize pain and 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:02.279 minimize heartache and sorrow, you will miss 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:05.420 the fact that Jesus meets us there in that sorrow. 00:25:05.779 --> 00:25:08.460 You will miss the comfort that the Spirit gives 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:12.660 to us. And you know what? Jesus doesn't just 00:25:12.660 --> 00:25:17.309 meet us there. No, he endured it himself. This 00:25:17.309 --> 00:25:20.529 is actually how Jesus redeems us by suffering 00:25:20.529 --> 00:25:24.329 in our place. He shows us then that the miseries 00:25:24.329 --> 00:25:28.950 of this life cannot be fixed by us. They are 00:25:28.950 --> 00:25:33.430 fixed by the suffering of Christ himself. And 00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:38.829 because of Christ, friends, we can mourn as people 00:25:38.829 --> 00:25:44.029 with hope. And so when you go through that loss, 00:25:44.940 --> 00:25:49.299 When you go through that sorrow When you go through 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:53.220 that time of depression Friends, you can trust 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:56.000 that Jesus knows exactly what you were going 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:01.160 through He suffered through it He he sorrowed 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:04.259 over his friend Lazarus and ultimately he who 00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:07.000 is called the man of sorrows went to the cross 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.599 for you and By doing so Jesus does something 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:16.819 we could not do Jesus make things right. Look 00:26:16.819 --> 00:26:21.279 at verse 13. Consider the work of God who can 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:25.039 make straight what he has made crooked. Maybe 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.099 to our minds, it would have sounded better if 00:26:27.099 --> 00:26:32.180 the text says that he makes straight what we 00:26:32.180 --> 00:26:34.559 make crooked. But again, this is showing us the 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:38.480 very sovereignty of God. You cannot fix the problems 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:41.819 of this life. You cannot fix the vanity, the 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:44.559 hevel, the folly, the sorrow, and the death. 00:26:45.779 --> 00:26:49.039 But you must run in faith to the one who can. 00:26:49.339 --> 00:26:52.420 Jesus died on the cross to put death to death. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:56.160 He died on the cross and arose to remove death's 00:26:56.160 --> 00:27:02.500 sting. That through Christ, we would have everlasting 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:06.140 life. You see friends in Christ, the grave is 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:10.650 not the end. In Christ, The house of mourning 00:27:10.650 --> 00:27:17.910 gets turned into the house of feasting. Well, 00:27:17.910 --> 00:27:21.009 friends, as I conclude, let me take it back to 00:27:21.009 --> 00:27:24.349 Socrates. I mentioned that Socratic method. Let 00:27:24.349 --> 00:27:27.890 me ask you two important questions. You've maybe 00:27:27.890 --> 00:27:30.750 heard of evangelism explosion, the two diagnostic 00:27:30.750 --> 00:27:34.490 questions that people sometimes ask to do evangelism 00:27:34.490 --> 00:27:37.859 are the questions I ask you now. Have you come 00:27:37.859 --> 00:27:41.799 to a place in your spiritual life? Where do you 00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:44.880 know for certain that if you died today? you 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:49.000 would go to heaven and Secondly suppose you were 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:51.680 to die today and stand before God and he were 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:54.359 to ask you Why should I let you into heaven? 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:58.460 What would you say? If your answers to those 00:27:58.460 --> 00:28:03.799 questions are yes and Christ alone then Alleluia 00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:09.170 and Amen But if not, friends, I want you to remember 00:28:09.170 --> 00:28:13.109 how I began this sermon. The unexamined life 00:28:13.109 --> 00:28:16.529 is not worth living. Friends, you must examine 00:28:16.529 --> 00:28:18.609 your lives. If you are not sure what to make 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:22.750 of Christ, examine who you are. And examine who 00:28:22.750 --> 00:28:26.809 Christ Jesus is. Because he is the only way to 00:28:26.809 --> 00:28:31.130 be lifted above the Hevel, the vanity of this 00:28:31.130 --> 00:28:34.670 life. Because he said it himself, I am the way, 00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:38.400 and the truth and the life. No one comes to the 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:43.039 Father but through me. Amen. Let's pray.