Father we thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to gather together yet again and sing praises and hear worship in your name.
I pray that you'd be with the salvation that we had this evening and any other seeds that may have been planted.
Also pray that you would just be with us for this service, that you'd open our ears to the message and that you would fill pasture with your spirit.
These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
For our next hymn number 39, how beautiful heaven must be, hymn number 39.
Sing there starting on the 1st.
We pray.
We have our on the front there, 2nd Timothy 1, 5.
Call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee.
In thy grandmother Lois, Eunice, waited that in thee also.
On the inside we have our service times listed as well as our soul winning times.
Then we have our year to date statistics, which we got our first update from Brother Eric and Brother Zach as far as their soul winning that is done for Anchor.
Anything they're doing with Verity or with Setfast is not being counted, but things they're just doing on their own.
So we have the soul winning there for 2026 Philippines, local, our year to date, so we're excited to see that number grow each week.
And then we're going to go to our backside here, upcoming events, March 28th is the listeners pick soul winning marathon.
So next Saturday, yeah, the 14th, the upcoming Saturday, the 14th is when we'll decide what city we're going to be sending Brother Cameron to to lead the soul winning marathon.
And so we'll have a video release this Saturday with all the details and plan everything out this Saturday.
So looking forward to that. April 1st will be the Lord's Supper.
April 4th, we're going to do the mega marathon participating with steadfast and a lot of other churches are going to be doing this mega marathon right before Easter.
And so we're going to actually meet at early wine park, the playground area at early wine at nine o'clock a.m.
And we'll kind of do the structure that we had done it in times past where it's like 10 to 12 soul winning and have lunch and have a second round of soul winning for this Easter marathon.
So that's going to be on the fourth, April 25th, we're going to have a ladies fellowship event.
May 2nd, another soul winning marathon at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.
May 9th, Mother's Day tea. May 20th through the 24th, the anti-Israel conference at St. Fast Baptist Church.
And then June 17th through the 20th is the European soul winning conference in Frankfurt, Germany.
Then we have our online visitor card as well as our online giving information and our prayer list with a couple updates there.
One being to pray for Jennifer's mother's knee surgery recovery now because the surgery already happened and I think it went well so that's great to hear.
And then also keep brother Eric and brother Zach in your prayers as well as they're doing great work over in the Philippines.
Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer before we go to our next song.
Lord we thank you for Anchor Baptist Church for the opportunity to be in your house this evening to sing praises to your name.
I pray that you just answer all of our requests Lord according to your will.
I pray that you please bless Jennifer's mother and that you just help her with the healing process after this surgery.
That she would just regain full mobility in the future and that you just help as well for the pain to be minimal Lord.
Also we want to pray for brother Zach and brother Eric to just keep them safe over in the Philippines and help them to work hard and just to do a great work while they're over there.
Keep the door open for them to just get many people saved.
I also want to pray for soul winning Baptist Church and pastor Matthew Stuckey that you just greatly bless the work that he's doing and that you just enlarge his coasts Lord.
Allow him to do great works in the future for you there in the Philippines.
I also want to pray for Brother Theodore just that his mother's cancer would be fully healed and for Brother Miles that his health would be improved Lord that you'd strengthen the Houseburg family.
That you'd be with all the people in our church that have loved ones that are not saved.
Those people would be able to hear the gospel Lord and also want to pray a special blessing for my brother and that you bless his new marriage and bless the remainder of this service.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the earth.
Unto the north it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.
Under the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
All things are full of labor. Man cannot utter it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be.
And that which is done, is that which shall be done.
And there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new?
It hath been already of old time, which was before us.
There is no remembrance of former things, neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come for those that shall come after.
I the preacher was king over Israel and Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven.
This sort travaileth hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that had been before me in Jerusalem.
Yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.
I perceive that this also is vexation of spirit.
For in much wisdom is much grief, he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
Right? Gracious Lord, thankful to be here, and to have the first faithful have the word of the name of Jesus.
Very grateful for the speech that I am extracting from the book of the preaching of the word.
Amen. So we're starting a new Bible study this Wednesday in the book of Ecclesiastes.
The Bible says in verse one, the words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
So verse one gives us the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, which of course is Solomon.
And it's kind of interesting that Solomon here is like a preacher king.
He's described as being both of these, the king of the king in Jerusalem and also just a preacher.
And of course, the word Ecclesiastes literally just means the preacher.
So that's what this book is, this is the preacher.
And if you would keep your place there, go to 1 Kings chapter number four.
We know that Solomon is the wisest man, the Bible says, to have ever lived.
Of course, excluding the Lord Jesus Christ.
Solomon's a very wise man.
And this book really is Solomon's inner musing, his ideas, his thoughts.
And of course, it's a very deep psychological book.
But look what 1 Kings chapter four, verse 29 says.
It says, "And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding, exceeding much and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore."
So it sounds like this is a good man to learn from because the Bible just straight up says that God gave him wisdom exceeding much.
Just an extremely wise man.
And Solomon's wisdom, notice, excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East Country and all the wisdom of Egypt.
For he was wiser than all men.
Then, Ethan the Ezraite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahal, and his fame was in all nations round about.
You know, people today, psychology seems to be a kind of popular theme when it comes to books and movies and TV shows.
People like to think about psychology.
It's a very popular major at college, which has a very bad degree to get, don't get it.
And of course, worldly philosophy is vain.
We're told to avoid philosophy and vain deceits.
But, you know, this is actually a very wise person.
Solomon is the wisest. He was wiser than all men.
And so his musings and his philosophy kind of in Ecclesiastes, I think, will be a treat to learn from.
Look what it says in verse 32.
And he spake three thousand Proverbs and his songs were a thousand and five.
Now, of course, there's like twenty nine Proverbs that are inspired scripture preserved for us in his word.
But yet he spoke three thousand Proverbs and we have the song of Solomon.
But apparently he wrote a thousand and five songs.
I mean, that's got to be more than Michael Jackson and the Beatles and Elvis Presley probably all put together like this is a super wise person.
Right. And he and it says and he spake of trees from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that spring it out of the wall.
He spake also of beasts and a foul and of creeping things and of fishes.
So when you look at the life of Solomon, he kind of just gave himself to every area of study.
It's not like he was just specialized in music, like he's a really wise musician and could tell you all about it.
No, I mean, he's writing literature, proverbs. He's writing music. He's studying trees.
He's studying everything. And Ecclesiastes talks about that, how he just he gave himself to no knowledge.
He gave himself over to wisdom. And so there's definitely gonna be a lot we can learn from this chapter.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter number one. And it really starts off in verse two just giving us the main thesis of the book of Ecclesiastes.
Number one, I want to say this, the vanity of life. Look what it says in verse two.
Vanity of vanities sayeth the preacher. Vanity of vanities all is vanity.
And that is like one of the biggest points that he wants to drive home throughout this book is, you know, the preacher, the wisest man who ever lived,
the guy who's writing all this music and literature and studying all these things, he's like, let me tell you about the nature of our world.
Everything is vain. And at first that could seem kind of blackpilling, like, wow, the wisest man, he's going to drop his wisdom on us.
What's he going to tell us? Just everything is empty, meaningless, without value. He's saying all is vanity.
But there's a qualifier there, notice it says, what profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh, notice this phrase, under the sun.
And that is another really key phrase in Ecclesiastes, you're going to see that phrase 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Because the main thing he's trying to drive home to us is that when it comes to our carnal lives, when it comes to that which is done under the sun,
just our carnal life in this world, work and play and entertainment and all these things, at the end of the day when you really boil it down,
it's all completely meaningless and it's all completely empty, our life under the sun.
What profit hath a man of all his labor, which he taketh under the sun?
So if you would, keep your place there and go to Psalm 39. So he says, "Hey, everything is vain, just all, all is vanity."
So if Solomon says, "Hey, everything is vain, everything is meaningless,"
I would expect to be able to find a lot of Bible backing this up, of this idea of just everything being meaningless.
What are some things that the Bible says is just vain?
And again, if you don't know that word, it just means empty, meaningless, without profit, without value.
Here's one thing that the Bible says is just vain, and you know what that is?
Mankind in general, me and you and all of us, and just humanity, the Bible describes as being vain.
Notice what it says in Psalm 39 verse 5, it says, "Behold, thou hast made my days as in hand breath."
Just saying like, man, I'm living this life, and God, you've made my days like a little hand breath.
I mean, think about like a hands width in just comparison to the space in this room, right?
It's like nothing.
But then you just think about our lives in the scope of eternity and in this world and in, you know, God's just eternal state.
It's just like a little hand breath, right?
So small.
He says, "And my age is as nothing before thee."
I mean, I don't care if you're the oldest man on earth, when you're comparing it to eternity, our age is like nothing.
So hey, you know, if you ever get insecure about aging, you can turn to Psalm 39 and say, "Hey, my age is nothing before you," right?
Get this, verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity.
Hey, be careful about being too impressed by certain people or getting too impressed with yourself
and thinking you're so great and thinking you've arrived and you're so spiritual and you're so much better than everyone else.
The Bible says every man at his best state is vanity.
You know what? Solomon was kind of at his best state, wasn't he?
I mean, he was the king in Jerusalem. He had just read a ton. He had learned a ton.
He was richer than anyone on earth. He had more wisdom than anyone on earth.
I mean, he's just giving himself to understand this world, to understand the nature of things.
You know what the Bible says about Solomon at his best state? Vanity.
What does that say? Just, you know, our carnal lives under the sun.
And when people just choose to live life for this temporal world, for carnality, for self,
it doesn't matter how far you go in life, at the end of the day it's totally vain.
I mean, let's just think, let's say someone just dedicates their life to being successful in business.
And they make a ton of money. And they have a real successful company.
And let's say they become the most successful businessman in the world.
You become Elon Musk. You have the most, you know, net worth in the world.
But it's like, okay, but if you go to hell, what does that mean?
Absolutely nothing. And you know what?
Even if you are saved, God has given us a mission in this world.
He's given us a purpose after he has saved us, right?
And if we just decide to not live in that purpose, it's like, what are we doing?
It's just empty and meaningless.
And so, hey, under the sun, if we're living under the sun,
every man, even in his best state, is vanity.
You know, that should cause us to be humble.
That should cause us to look at ourselves and think like,
you know what, I am nothing special.
I'm like a hand breath.
You know, my age before you, God, is nothing.
And you know what, even in my best moments of life,
even when I'm on top, even when I'm doing that, which is right,
you know what, it's still just vanity.
I'm still just nothing.
Notice what, let's keep reading there.
He says, "Surely every man walketh in a vain show.
Surely they are disquieted in vain.
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them."
You know, when it comes to mankind being vain,
first of all, even in his best state, he's vain.
But notice also, what is mankind's default setting is to walk in a vain show.
What does that mean?
Empty, meaningless, nothing of substance, but putting on a show.
This is the Pharisees, right?
Putting on a pretense, honoring God with their lips, with their mouth,
but their heart is far from Him.
The Bible says that every man walks in a vain show.
You know, it's interesting, someone recommended to me a book,
and it was about, it was like about moral psychology,
and basically the first point of this book,
this was written by an atheist, not a Christian,
but the first point of his book was this,
that how people come to moral judgments is they have an intuition,
and then they go seeking for a justification,
which I find that to be true, right?
People don't genuinely say, "Hey, you know what?
What's right and wrong is what the Bible says."
Now, that's how we should determine right and wrong.
We should be renewed in the spirit of our mind, right?
We should be transformed.
We should read the Word of God and decide what is right.
And then his second point was this,
is that basically people care more about looking virtuous than being virtuous.
People care more about looking moral than being moral.
That actually matches with what the Bible says,
because the Bible says, "Surely, every man walketh in a vain show."
And you know what most people are doing today in this world,
is most people in this world today are not considering,
are not concerning themselves with things like justice, things like virtue.
You know, people in the Justice Department in the United States,
you know what they really care about,
is getting a big hot shot job with the Justice Department in the United States.
Oftentimes, people want to become the Attorney General so they could be the AG,
so they could be the big shot, so they could have this title,
so they could have the praise of men,
and be close to the President, and be close to the inner circle.
But you know what?
It's rare today to find someone that wants to be in that position,
because they actually care about justice.
Why? Because what's the default position for man?
Vanity, vanity of vanity, say the preacher, all is vanity.
Hey, every man, even in his best state, he's vain.
Oh, and by the way, every man, he's just walking in a vain show,
just putting on a show.
Now, look, here's the thing, it's not hopeless because we have the Holy Spirit of God.
Now, here's the thing, if we did not have the Holy Spirit,
every single person in this room would be this verse 100% of the time.
Now, here's the thing, if we walk in the Spirit,
we actually have the power to transcend the default state of human nature.
I mean, God has just made human beings, right?
And of course, because Adam and Eve sinned, there's that sinful nature that comes on.
And hey, there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man.
What do people struggle with? We all struggle with the exact same things.
Unless you're a reprobate and you're given over to a reprobate mind or something.
But it's like, what do people struggle with? Pride.
What do people struggle with? Envy, lust, covetousness, adultery.
Like all of these things that people struggle with,
it's the same thing that the world struggles with.
But how can you overcome that? You could actually walk in the Spirit, right?
Become the new man, put off the old man, be renewed in the Spirit of your mind.
So you know, we have to be careful and not get this idea that we think like because we're a Christian,
like we're automatically just better than the world.
Because here's the thing, if you're not reading your Bible, you're not going to church,
you're not praying, you're not humbling yourself before God saying like, God, I know I'm vain.
God, I know I'm sinful. God, I know these are my tendencies.
Like will you please fill me with the Spirit? Will you please help me?
You too will walk in a vain show. And guess what? There's not a person in this room that has not been this person.
Because doesn't the Bible say every man walketh in a vain show?
And guess what? You know, there's going to be times in the future in our lives.
We're not going to be like the Lord Jesus Christ where he's just always anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows.
He's just always filled to the Holy Spirit with the max.
Like we're going to have low moments, right?
And there's going to be times that you're going to walk in a vain show.
You know, at those times is when you need to check yourself and say, "Hey, I don't want to go down that path.
I don't want to be the default state.
Hey, I'm saved. I have the Spirit of God.
I need to actually not just have the Spirit.
I need to live in the Spirit.
I need to walk in the Spirit so that I'm not just a person walking in a vain show.
Surely they are disquieted in vain.
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them."
But look at the next verse, "And now, Lord, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee."
That's the only hope, that's the only hope that you have to not be vain.
Go to Psalm 12.
So what's vain?
Well, everything's vain.
More specifically, what's vain?
You, me, mankind, everyone is vain.
What else is vain?
You know, man's words are vain.
Man's words are vain.
Look at Psalm 12 verse 1.
It says, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men."
Notice, they speak vanity, everyone with his neighbor, with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
So notice, Solomon's noticing just the nature of this world.
He's noticing that everything is vain.
But is the Bible painting a positive picture of vanity, of being vain?
Absolutely not.
You know, someone that would just speak vanity with his neighbor is also someone who's flattering and has a double heart.
Right? And what is this world like? What's the default position?
Is people just speaking vanity?
You know, when people talk to you at work and it's like the water cooler talk, are they like,
"Hey, you know, I was reading here, like I got a message today.
Hey, you know, the Bible says that sin is the transgression of the law.
But how did that work before the law existed?" Right?
Like, that's like a substantive question that I got today.
That's not happening at the workplace. Okay?
That's not happening, you know, at the clubs that this world goes to, the bowling club,
the book club, stuff like that.
You know what people are talking about today?
It's like, "Did you watch the football game, buddy?"
"Yeah, I saw it. Did you see that tackle?"
"Oh man, that was a great tackle."
"Hey, how you hanging in there after that tornado? You guys good? Everything good?"
Right? It's just the world today.
It's just speaking, vanity, no substance, just a bunch of nonsense.
That's how the world is today.
And it says, notice it's connected with flattering lips and with a double heart.
Do they speak? So what's vain today?
Man, what's vain today? Man's words.
Man, just talking about random nonsense.
The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things.
Who have said with our tongue, will we prevail?
Our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us?
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I rise, sayeth the Lord.
I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Just contrasted with man's words, which is what?
Vain, flattering, of a double heart, not sincere.
What's the answer to that? Hey, the words of the Lord.
The words of the Lord are pure words.
So hey, if you don't want to be a vain person, if you don't want to stick in that default position,
and you just think like the world, and you talk like the world, and you act like the world,
what's the only option we have is going to the Word of God.
And you know, people who are ingesting the most Bible into their hearts
are going to be the people that speak the least amount of vanity.
You know, they're not as concerned with just the vain things of this world
because you read the Bible and you get wisdom, the fear of the Lord,
like good wisdom that actually can affect your life.
Go to Psalm 62. Psalm 62.
You know, a lot of people today just get impressed with themselves.
Oh, I'm a, people have this idea, oh, I'm a good speaker.
Oh, I'm, you know, I'm wise. I'm a good teacher.
And it's like, no, man's words are vain.
You know, the psychologists of this world today are vain.
You know, Jordan Peterson,
just listening all day to these podcasts,
these worldly influencer,
you're just going to be filling your mind and heart with vanity.
Look what the Bible says in Psalm 62, verse 8,
"Trust in him at all times, ye people.
Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us, see law."
Notice this, surely men of low degree are vanity.
So people of low degree,
they don't have power or authority or riches.
Maybe they're servants, maybe they're poor.
You know what the Bible says they are?
Vanity, emptiness, nothingness.
What do a lot of people care about today, even the poor?
Their next cigarette, their next drink of alcohol,
their next party, their next hookup.
Their life's just completely vain.
Men of low degree, vain, empty.
But it doesn't stop there, because it also says,
"And men of high degree are a lie."
What's that? That's that vain show, right?
Don't get this idea just like,
"Oh man, I know we're all sinners,
but this person is just above everyone else,
and they don't struggle with anything,
they don't have any issues, they don't have any problems,
because they're of high degree."
If someone's putting off that persona,
or if someone's telling you that that's how they are,
you know what that is? A lie.
Men of high degree are a lie.
And again, people have sometimes this over-exaltation
of the position of a pastor.
And of course, you should respect the pastor.
The Bible teaches that.
But you also don't want to go to this weird extreme
where people start worshipping the pastor
or thinking the pastor can do nothing wrong.
And it also should not be something where pastors are putting off
that they can never do anything wrong and never do anything wrong.
That's ridiculous. That's going to build a weird culture.
And it's just like, here's the thing.
Men of high degree are a lie.
Don't be so impressed with man.
You know who you should be impressed with?
God.
That's who you should be impressed with.
I mean, it's like, we don't go to church because of a man.
You know, we don't listen even to our favorite preacher, whoever that is, because of a man.
It's because of the words of God.
And look, if the words of God are being preached, I'm happy to be there.
I'm happy to listen to anyone preach the word of God.
You know, it's not like when a pastor gets up and preaches a really good sermon based off the word of God,
that that's somehow more magical or special than a layman who gets up and preaches a really good sermon from the word of God.
It's about the word of God.
And you know what?
We just need to stop having this idea where we just start getting too impressed with men, too impressed with ourselves.
You know, we just need to realize we're vanity.
Our words are vanity.
Our thoughts are vanity.
Your status is vanity.
And you know what?
The only way that you're not going to be a vain person is when you're actually saying what the Bible says.
There's a lot of vain preachers in this world, isn't there?
You go to churches and it's just like jokes, haha jokes, and just constant news articles and constant poems and constant fluff.
And it's just so vain.
It's like where's the Bible?
You know, I've had people say to me like they think I put a little too much Bible in my sermons.
I'd rather that be the criticism than I'm just getting up here and just emptying my thoughts, my heart, my idea to you guys.
No, because that's completely vain.
You know, it annoys me when I visit a church and the Bible is not being preached.
It annoys me.
I mean, I'll tell you about one of the maddest times I've ever been in church is in 2016.
We had this winter in Idaho that we called Snowmageddon where we had snow on the ground for over 100 consecutive days.
And here's the thing.
The city doesn't shut down because you can't shut down things for 100 days.
We're going to school.
We're going to work.
We're going to church.
Nothing shutting down because that's just life in Idaho.
And I get off work at like, I don't know, 4 p.m. services at 7.
But because of the snow, it takes a long time just to get a short distance.
So I'm in the car for three hours.
I show up to church in my work uniform.
I didn't have time to go home and change or anything like that.
I show up to church and the preacher just gets up, and I think he got to Matthew 10.
And he's just like, all right, let's read right here.
I am not sent but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
God came for Israel.
Amen.
Let's pray, literally close the sermon.
I'm just like, why did I come here?
Like, I want you to preach the word of God.
God just give one verse, call it good.
It's like, and even one verse is more than some versus some churches.
You know, I saw this this freak in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Someone tell me the name of that church that the black guy with the dreadlocks who has all the fire and smoke and swinging and all that crazy stuff.
What's what am I talking about?
No one knows of this guy.
Praise God.
All right.
But he's he's getting up from behind the pulpit.
Talk about vanity.
He's like, ladies, you know, before you find you a Boaz, make sure you don't marry a Poe ass.
And it's just like, wow.
Talk about a vain sermon.
It's like, really?
This is the house of God.
Like, this is your sermon.
Yeah, you're going to get some chuckles.
You're going to get some ha ha's.
But it's like people actually think they're being spiritually fed by going to that.
What's the name of the transformation church?
Don't ever go to a church that starts with trans.
That's a bad idea.
It starts with trans and go to a different church.
But man, that's a vain guy right there.
I mean, it's a smoke and light show.
It's, you know, the Gangnam style popping up out of the stage and jumping.
Oh, everyone's going crazy.
It's like, that's vain.
It's like, hey, I'd rather go to a country Baptist church with a leather lung old man preacher
that's just going to preach the word of God than to go to some show.
I'm not going to church to get entertainment, to get free food, to get free events.
It's like, I go to hear the word of God preached and to serve Him.
Go back to Ecclesiastes 1.
So we're just talking about, hey, what are some things that are vain?
Man, you, me, everyone are words.
Men of low degree, men of high degree, I mean, truly everything.
Here's another thing, generations.
Notice in verse 4, "One generation passeth away and another generation cometh,
but the earth abideth forever."
You know, sometimes people love to, like, exalt certain generations and say, like,
"Oh, you don't understand, like, this generation was just different than all others,
and they were just superhumans compared to others."
And it's like, no, one generation passes away, and another generation cometh.
It's like, hey, the greatest generation, the baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, Gen Z.
Here's what they all have in common, is that they're born, and they will live, and they will die.
One generation comes, one, you know, generation goes, that's just how it is.
And it's like, oh man, you understand, you know, the greatest generation, they fought World War II,
they beat the Nazis, they beat the Japanese, you know, they made America a great superpower,
and it's like, and they're almost all dead and in the grave.
It's just gone. That period of history is just gone. Great exploits of the past, gone.
I was in Pennsylvania this weekend, and I'm standing on the ground where the Civil War was fought,
and where parts of the revolution was fought, and it's like, but those people are just gone.
That generation's gone. Yeah, sure, we know of these things. We know of the Civil War.
We know of the Revolutionary War. But you know what? They came, they lived, they died.
We were born, we're gonna live, and we're all going to die, unless the Lord comes, right?
You know, one thing in common, though, it says, "But the earth abideth forever."
And I think that's a picture of the fact that though generations come and go,
here's one thing that is constant, is that God is faithful to all generations.
I'll read for you Psalm 119, verse 90. The Bible says, "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations."
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
So, you know, even though one generation passes away, and even though another generation comes,
God's faithfulness has just remained constant throughout all of human history, right?
The Gospel has remained the same. Even though all these crazy things have happened throughout history,
and different generations have faced, you know, more extreme challenges, less extreme challenges,
it's like they're still all sinners deserving of hell.
And they still all have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
You know what? God's saving grace was there for all generations, right?
God's just been faithful to all generations. Go to Psalm 8, Psalm chapter 8.
There's a lot of Psalms tonight, Psalms tonight that definitely relate.
And even though man is vain, think about this humbling thought, even though man is vain,
our words are vain, we're putting on a show, we're doing all these things, mankind in general,
even though man is like that, it's still just amazing to think that God loved the whole world.
All humanity, all people who have ever existed, just unknown multitudes of people,
even though they're vain, even though they're selfish, even though they're wicked, he still loved them.
And he still sent his son to die on the cross for them, that's a humbling thought right there.
Psalm 8 verse 3, "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which thou hast ordain,
what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?"
You think about all the generations that have ever lived, all the events in history that have taken place.
You look up and you look at the beautiful moon, God's creation, and the beautiful stars, and the galaxies,
and the Milky Way, and the concept of time, and just all these amazing things to think about.
And you think about how God cares about you, and God cares about me, and God died on the cross for me,
and He died on the cross for every single person, and He has the number of hairs on our head counted.
And not only did He love the world, but He loves us still. He cares about us still.
He wants us to sing praises to Him. It's like, "Who am I that you would listen to my praise?"
"Who am I that you say to me, 'Hey, come boldly to the throne of grace.'"
"That you can obtain help in time of need." That's a humbling thought.
And you know what? We need to stop puffing ourselves up thinking we're so great.
This generation thinks they're so great. They're so wise.
You know, we're nothing. God's great. God's wise. God is all-powerful.
You know, I try to teach this to my kids to just help them understand that God just loves them.
And you know, if we see the stars, if it's a really dark night and we see the stars,
sometimes my kids will point it out to me. And I'll say, "Yeah, God put those all there for you."
You know, and it's true. It is true. God gave us His creation that we would what? Praise Him.
That would have been glory and honor to Him. And when you actually stop and consider
and every once in a while stop spending every waking second of your life scrolling on social media
and being distracted by every smartwatch notification and every ding and every buzz and every email and every text,
you know, sometimes it's just good to look up at the stars and be like, "Wow, God made that for us."
Wow, God cared about us. Wow, God sent His Son to die for us.
Wow, even though I am vain, even though I am nothing, even though I am sinful, God still loves me.
It's an amazing thought. I'll read for you Psalm 37 verse 25.
"I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor a seed begging bread."
One generation comes, another, you know, is born, another dies, another goes.
But one thing that has remained constant, God has always taken care of His people.
God has remained faithful throughout all generations.
God has preserved His Word for all generations.
You know, that's an amazing thought.
Go back to Ecclesiastes 1, Ecclesiastes chapter number 1, look at verse 5.
It says, "The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose."
Now, obviously we know that the earth rotates, okay?
Please don't look at a verse like this and be like, "Oh, you know, geocentricity," or something like that.
What's the whole point of this book is that it's describing life under the sun.
And, you know, from an earthbound perspective, what do we see?
We see man is vain. We see a generation come. We see a generation go.
And from our perspective, we see the sun come up. We see it go down.
Obviously, the earth is spinning. But what is it describing?
It's just describing this monotonous, cyclical nature in the universe.
Oh, born, die. Work, get off work. Do stuff. Next generation does stuff, too.
And then they die. And then the sun goes up. And then the sun goes down.
This is the wisest man. And he's just like, "Wow, you know, one thing has stayed constant.
The sun has gone up and gone down to every generation.
Hey, the wind goeth toward the south and turneth about unto the north.
It whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits."
It's just that cyclical nature of life. Sun's going up. Sun's going down.
Wind's going north. Wind's going south. Just constantly going back and forth.
"All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.
Unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again."
It's like, how vain. How vain for all of this water to travel all the way down this river.
All the way to the mouth in the ocean.
Oh, just to evaporate in the clouds, just to go through the water cycle again.
It's like all that work, all those miles traveled.
You know, it made it all the way just to go through the same cycle again.
And it's like, that's our life, right? That is our life.
And you know what? There's no satisfaction.
There's no filling, a void of meaning in our life when you live under the sun.
Because you chase something, you chase after something.
Oh, I want to get that career, you get it, it's not fulfilling.
It's the next promotion, right? Oh, I want to learn this skill.
I want to learn this language. I want to learn this instrument.
You learn it, it's just, it doesn't fulfill.
Because life under the sun doesn't fulfill.
You just have these cycles going on and on and on.
People live, people die. People come, people go.
You start things, you finish things.
It's just how life is. Verse 8.
All things are full of labor, man cannot utter it.
Notice, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
See, I'm not making that up there.
Whatever you do, it doesn't satisfy man.
All things are full of labor.
You will never run out of these cycles of things to do.
There will always be another work day.
There will always be another meal.
There will always be another thing to do, right?
Hey, there's always going to be, you know, Lord willing another church service, right?
Unless the Lord comes, you know, tribulation.
Alright, I already precessed for it. You know what I'm saying.
And, hey, there's no, things will calm down, right?
That's something you always see the memes about, next week things will calm down.
No, it will never calm down. There is no discharge in this war.
Things will never calm down. Things will, your finances will never be perfect.
Your health will never be perfect. You will never be fully content.
You will never, oh man, next week, you know, my eyes are going to be satisfied with seeing.
And my ears are going to be satisfied with hearing.
Nope, that's not going to happen. It's just going to keep going on and on and on.
It's just teaching us, hey, that everything temporal in life will disappoint you.
If there's anything in this life that is temporal that you could seek, education, fitness, money, relationships, romance, academics, whatever it is, if it's temporal, it will not satisfy you.
And you know what? People today, the reason why so many people are depressed is because they just feel like their life lacks meaning.
Let me tell you something, it does! Like if you're not serving God, your life is meaningless.
Now I'm not saying you're without value, because God loves you, God died on the cross for you, he wants you to be saved.
But I'm just saying like, you know, the monotonous cycle of our life is just completely meaningless.
Go to Ecclesiastes 5, if you will, Ecclesiastes 5.
You know, think about this, when you hit a PR in the gym, you don't think like, I'm done working out, I never need to work out again, I mean I hit it.
You know, when you get your best mile time, you're like, oh, I'm never going to run again. I mean, I'm satisfied, I'm now satisfied with that.
I've reached that, you know, oh, I got this job, it's like, hey, you know, perfect, oh, I finished this project at work, there'll never be a project again.
I did it, I made it. It's like, no, it never is like that.
Then look at this, he that loveth silver should not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase, this is also vanity.
So a lot of those other things I was talking about, you know, PRs, getting a good job, like those things aren't even sinful to desire.
But they still won't satisfy you. But of course, the Bible talks about how we should not desire to be rich, labor not to be rich.
The love of money is the root of all evil. A lot of people, they're not even like desiring good things and then attaining it and realizing that it's vain.
But they're just loving money. I mean, that's got to be one of the biggest drivers of people in America today.
What gets them up in the morning is chasing after money, wanting more money, wanting more riches, wanting, getting more wealth.
The Bible says, "If you love that, he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver."
What a sad life, right? To just love something and you're chasing after something.
And then if you don't get it, you're going to be discontent. You're going to be angry. You're going to be sad.
"Oh man, I want to be rich. I'm not rich." And if you do get it, you'll still hate your life.
You'll still be unsatisfied. I mean, that sounds like a horrible way to live your life, right?
Just living under the sun. "Nor he that loveth abundance with increase, this is also vanity."
Notice, people that love abundance, when they increase, when they get more, it's not like, "Alright,
I finally got the perfect amount of cars, perfect amount of motorcycles, perfect amount of guns,
you know, perfect square footage in the house." We finally, no, what does the foolish rich man do?
He's like, "Oh man, you know, I don't have place to bestow all my goods. That's okay, I'm content.
Thank God for everything he's given." No, he says, "You know, I'm just going to tear down and build greater.
I'm just going to tear down and just try to build bigger stuff." Notice, go back to Ecclesiastes 1 verse 9,
"The thing that hath been is that which shall be. That which is done is that which shall be done,
and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, 'See, this is new?
It hath been already of old time, which was before us.'" Now, some people go way too literal in this verse,
and you know, they'll just act like there's never been a new invention, there's never been a new product,
and it's like, "Look, they didn't have fighter jets in Tartaria, okay?
They didn't have AI in your little magic kingdom Tartaria. No, no, no. There's new inventions, stuff like that."
But what this is, is that this is just a summary of everything that he's talked about.
There's no new thing under the sun. Guess what? The sun comes up, it goes down. Man is vain.
One generation comes, another goes. Rivers go into the sea. The wind goes about continually, right?
There's no new thing. It's just like life is the same for every generation.
The temptations we have, our human nature, the struggles we all face is the same in every generation.
That is just the default state of man.
But here's the good news is even though, you know, we're kind of stuck in a default state that way,
God also never changes and God is the same in every generation.
Of course, the Bible says Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.
So, hey, nothing changes. This Bible will never need an update.
You know, it's never going to be like, well, you know, Ecclesiastes is kind of outdated.
Let's put in Maccabees. Maccabees is better for the times.
It's like, no, for every generation that will ever live, Ecclesiastes will be applicable to them.
For every generation that will ever live, the Romans road will be how people get saved
by calling upon the name of the Lord. And so, you know, nothing changes.
Let's make sure we're not changing the Bible, right?
Hey, everything's the same. There's no new thing under the sun.
Try to update the Bible keep the Bible with the times
Look at verse 11 Ecclesiastes 1
Here's another thing that's vain your legacy is vain. It says there is no
Remembrance of former things neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after
Notice like hey someday in the future your life will be forgotten under the Sun now
Hey, if you're saved you're gonna be alive still you're gonna be in heaven. You're gonna be with the Saints
You're gonna be with God. You're not gonna be forgotten then but I'm just saying your earthly legacy. You're under the Sun legacy someday
There will be people that don't remember you no one will remember you and look even if you achieve great things
Even if you become a man of high degree
Even if you become wealthy you will be forgotten by future generations as well because like who could tell me who was the richest person?
In the year
1308 does anyone know but someone on this earth was the greatest man financially in 1308
Someone was it was probably the Pope if I have to guess, you know, maybe I got that one, right?
I don't know. But you know, how about this? I wrote down this example here. What president like what order, you know?
George Washington was the first what number was president James Garfield. Can anyone tell me can anyone tell me?
This was the president of the United States. I mean, this was the
President folks. No one can tell me can anyone tell me what year he was in office
Can anyone tell me anything about him? Can anyone tell me anything that he did? Can anyone tell me how he died?
He was assassinated even famous presidents that were assassinated. None of you even know why because hey, there'll be no remembrance, right?
So it's like how foolish would it be to just sit here and obsess about your legacy? Oh, I gotta get a street named after me
Oh, I gotta get a plaque. Oh, I gotta go down in history. I gotta be remembered
You know for the future you won't be remembered stop caring so much about yourself and your life
I love what the Apostle Paul said neither count on my life dear unto myself. It's not about my dear little life
It's not about my dear little name. It's not about my dear little legacy because even if I build one
It'll all be forgotten someday
That's the truth and you think about like people today like Donald Trump Elon Musk and you'll think there's no way history
We'll forget those history will forget those people if the Lord tarries and we go on for a long time
History will completely forget those people and that's kind of in fab unfathomable for us
But that's true because you didn't even know what happened to the president. It was assassinated
I mean, and that's a big deal right crazy. Please. Yes. He's one number two the vanity of wisdom
So we talked about just the vanity of life the vanity of everything now the vanity of wisdom
He says in verse 12
I the preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem and I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
Concerning all things that are done under heaven this sore travail has God given to the sons of man to be exercised
Therewith so he just fully gave his heart to seek out
Wisdom and he says concerning all things that are done under heaven like Solomon just wants to understand the nature of everything
You know, he just wants to understand how this world works
He's one of those guys that's just interested in every topic like he likes the book about every subject
Like he just really wants to just figure everything out and he says this sore travail. So this exercise he's doing it's not like fun
It's not like enjoyable necessarily
Like in its end state because it says this sort travail have God given to the sons of men to be exercised there with
So, you know one of the things that that separates us from animals that like evolutionists will never get is like we as human beings
You know, we have been created by God, of course
We're all his offspring and we have a conscience where God has imprinted his law
You know, there's certain things just default inside of man and and we're made after God's image
So we can have a lot of characteristics of God and you know
One of the things that we could do the animals can't is we could think about thoughts think about that
We could think about thoughts and we could we could like look at ourselves and say like why am I thinking this right now?
Is it right for me to be thinking this right now?
Is this the right way I'm viewing a situation and we could think about the nature of the world and we could think about the
Cyclical nature of humanity and we can think about what this water and the river is doing and what the wind is doing
And what the Sun is doing is like there's no animals that do that. There's no monkey that's doing that
There's no gorilla that's doing that. Oh human beings. We're so close to the monkeys
No folks
We did not evolve from monkeys because there's no animal that has the sore travail to be exercised with where they're you know
In their little cave thinking about like man was that right when I stole that banana from that other monkey
Did I do the right thing when I you know violently punched that other gorilla in the face?
How about how about animals just eat their own children?
I know I was hungry, but did I really have to eat my offspring like that's kind of that doesn't happen, right?
But you know humanity we actually think about our own thoughts our own actions
And it just goes to show how stupid evolution is we just this verse alone
I mean what animal comes even close to something like this. It just does not exist
You know we think about our own thoughts like verse 14
I have seen all the works that are done under the Sun behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit
I gave myself to wisdom
I wanted to figure out what life is all about and let me tell you it's vain and it's vexing. It's dark
It sucks life sucks life is hard life is violent
You know life under the Sun is negative in many ways. It's vexation of
Spirit he says that which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is wanting cannot be numbered some people
They try to find fulfillment and joy in in writing the wrongs of this world, right?
They want to they want to fix the injustice. They want to fix the issues. They see they see all it's vain
Oh, it's vexation of spirit and they want to try to fix that and you know what that which is crooked
Cannot be made straight. You cannot fix this world carnally
That's why this idea that we're gonna fix America from a political agenda is so foolish
Because you know what that which is crooked cannot be made straight
You know what? You're not supposed to just straighten out the old man and get the old man to go on the straight and narrow
It's like you're supposed to kill the old man and put on the new man
You have to get born again, right? There's no fixing your life. No, it's you're born again. No, you get a new man
No, you get a new spirit
It's like the only way to fix things in this world is for people to get saved and for people to walk in the spirit
But you know if you just set out in life like oh man, I just want to I want to make that straight
Which is crooked, you know, you may from time to time succeed in small ways
But at the end you're gonna find out all it's vain, right?
And there's a lot of people like this, you know, maybe not a lot, but there's some people that go into politics for this reason
For a truly altruistic reason they want to fix things in their government
They want to fix things in their country
But you know what those people will find that you cannot make it straight and if they do they're like
Let's get the Bible's in school as soon as they're gone up. It's crooked again. That's just done again
It's like oh, you know the police the FBI they're gonna go clean up the streets. They're gonna go round up the criminals
All right, we arrested him and the DA lets him go up catch and release. How about that guy that murdered Irina?
Zaruzka who he was multiple time convict for violent violent offenses. Just let go let go let go let go
Murders the girl and it's like oh, I'm sure the cops really thought they were fixing the world when they arrested that guy
No, he's just let go he just goes and murders some woman that which is crooked cannot be made straight
He says I communed with my own heart saying low
I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem
Yay, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. He's speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost
He's not just bragging on himself here. It's like hey, I'm a reliable source. I really checked all this stuff out
I really gave myself to wisdom. I really did get that wise
He says and I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly
I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit notice this for in much wisdom is much
Grief and he that increaseth knowledge
Increaseth sorrow so even wisdom especially wisdom under the Sun Oh like wisdom for the sake of wisdom
Eventually is just exposed as vanity as well
So it's like, you know the cyclical nature of the world man our words our thoughts. It's all vain. Oh, that's okay
I'm gonna I'm gonna seek wisdom. I'm gonna get really smart
I'm gonna read all the books. I'm gonna get all the degrees
I'm gonna watch all the podcasts and learn all the things and you know what you're gonna find out
If you actually get wisdom if you actually get knowledge, you're gonna feel this thing called grief
That's strange, right? Because you would think like I'm gonna be fulfilled in this
But you know what in some ways and please hear me right on this in some ways
Ignorance can be bliss now. I'm not talking about God's commandments because what you don't know can hurt you
Okay
Hey, if you're saved God is your father and he will punish you for your sin. And so, you know what?
You should know what the Bible says because ignorance is not bliss in that case. But in some things in this world
Ignorance is bliss. I mean when the
Epstein files were going around they were going viral things were just popping up on my feet. I'm like I wish I never saw that
I didn't I didn't ask for this. I didn't seek this out like what even even though it's blurred even though it's blurred
It was so horrific. I'm just like I wish I never saw that ignorance would have been bliss
I felt grief. I felt SARS like get as much wisdom in all areas. No, no, no
Let's be simple concerning evil like I don't want to be wise and all those things
But here's the thing. I'm not glorifying stupidity because the Bible says in Proverbs 4 7 wisdom is the principal thing
Therefore get wisdom with all that getting get understanding Proverbs 1 7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools
despise wisdom and instruction so even though
Wisdom under the Sun is not perfect. It's definitely better than being a fool and you should seek wisdom
You should seek knowledge, but I'm just telling you even if you do don't expect that to fully fulfill your life
Because you will still find an emptiness and a sorrow and a grief associated with that wisdom. What's some examples of this?
Well, how about this the more wise you are the more knowledge you have the more you read the Bible in some ways
It could bring grief and sadness because you know your own sinfulness
You know your own
Vanity, you know, you know this world can sometimes be like oh happy like oh a pretty good person
And it's just like I am chief of sinners, you know, this world's like oh, I'm good. I'm a good person
Meanwhile Paul like the greatest Christian is just like I am chief of sinners think about that, right?
There's a level of grief and vanity that comes with that, you know
How about the more you see the evil in this world for what it really is, right?
the world has kind of like this this non-spiritual vision where they look at things and
They don't necessarily understand the depth of depravity that we do like for example, how about the fags, right for the world?
It's just like oh, it's love love wins. Isn't it so great that they just love each other
Oh, how sweet you know, they this fag couple adopted a little child
How wonderful and we're just like these pedophiles have a child, you know, I mean, it's like that's grieving that's vexing to our souls
It's like no we know that they're not just loving we know that they're not just a little different
We know that they're predators that they're haters of God now
I want to know that because I want to be safe with my kids to be safe
I want to warn people but there comes a cost with knowing that right when you see
The them being promoted by your society and you're just like we're just begging for God to destroy our nation brings a little bit of
Sadness to this world, you know
You another thing is that could bring grief and sorrows the more, you know
the more you could just watch people in real time destroy themselves destroy their life and destroy everything around them and
It's like, you know that and they don't you know, what's an example the college parties, right? Oh doesn't look so fun
Look, they're all smiling. They're all jumping around. They're all dancing. They're all listening to music. They're all drinking alcohol
They're smiling and it's like but we know when they get on the road they could die
We know, you know, they could have a bad child. They could have an STD
They can you know die and I shall behold strange women. Oh doesn't drinking look so fun
Yeah until the crime scene, right and it's like we know that and this world can sometimes look at things like hell
We're just having fun. Oh, they just love each other
Oh, it's just a drink and we're just kind of have that grief of like wow
This person's going down a wrong
I kind of think of it like this as Christians the more wise you are the more knowledge you have the more Bible you read
You know you are viewing life like when you actually go to visit the house that you're looking at the rental
You're looking at the house you go to buy
It's like it looks one way on Zillow the world looks at life through the Zillow pictures
And it's got the filter and it's been edited on Photoshop, and it's like wow this looks so great
But it's like you're showing up to the house with a flashlight in broad daylight
It's like you see the mold and you see the cracks and you hear the creaky doors
And you see the cracks in the foundation and you see that fence that's broken and the tree that's leaning over and the mailbox is leaning over
And your neighbors there's gunshots going off all of a sudden right? It's like you don't see that in Zillow, but it's like okay
There comes some grief with seeing like hey life really isn't as great as you know the drunk party crowd the marijuana bros the surfer bros
Make it out to be but it's like but I still want the wisdom. I still want the knowledge
I still want to be able to avoid you know the gunshot neighborhood and not just pretend like everything is good
But you know, that's how this life is go to Matthew 6. Well, we're almost finished here vanity of entities all is vanity
What is the solution to this? Well, what is he showing us under the Sun in this carnal life? It's all vain
It's all show. It's all meaningless. So hey, we have to look beyond life just under the Sun
There's more to life than just the carnal life that we're in look at Matthew 6 verse 16
Moreover when you fast be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance
For they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily I say unto you they have their reward
Hey, every man walketh in a vain show, right? Oh, I'm so sad. I'm so afflicted this
Oh this fasting hurts so bad, but you see how godly I am, right? Don't you see what a wonderful person?
I am. What is that? Just a vain show just all his vanity under the Sun
He says but Thou when Thou fastest anoint thine head and wash thy face that thou appear not undemand to fast
But unto thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly
Hey, every man walks in a vain show, but we what we need to do is transcend the flesh and say, okay
This is how people are but Christ said to be this way. Let's walk in the spirit, right?
Hey instead of fasting telling everyone how much pain you're in how hungry you are
How long you've been fasting. It's like how about this? How about you? Just don't tell someone you're fasting
What are the hippie hypocrites do they blow a trumpet when they give their alms? Look how much money I'm giving
Look how godly I am. It's like why don't you just give don't let your right hand know. What's your left hand does?
Hey wash thy face anoint thine head Catholics on Ash Friday
Ridiculous, you know, we should endeavor to be godly not just endeavor to try to look godly
Hey look, that's that's for all of us because you know what we all have the same flesh and we need to check ourselves
We need to say hey, you know, I don't want to walk in a vain show
I don't want to just be in this default state. We should endeavor to be godly not just look godly
We should endeavor to be truthful not just look truthful be a good person
Not just try to look like a good person be faithful not just try to look faithful
Look at verse 19 lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rusteth corrupt and where thieves
Break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rusteth corrupt
And where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be?
Also last place first Corinthians 15 says hey don't lay up all this money all these goods that at the end of the day
You know moths and rust and just the hand of time is just going to destroy these things
Thieves can break through and steal because what would the result be vanity?
Oh, I got this really cool collection stolen vain. Oh, I got all this money inflation gone vain
It's like what should we be doing we should be endeavoring to live spiritual lives laying laying up
You know treasures in heaven where thieves can't break through a steel where moth and rust cannot corrupt and then you know what?
That's not vain anymore. Then that actually has meaning when you get a soul saved
Hey, no one can take that out of his hand once someone saved. Hey, they can never lose that salvation
Hey, you know just serving people loving your brothers in Christ being faithful to the house of God reading God's Word praying
So winning look these are things that will earn you eternal rewards in heaven that no matter what happens
Your life can never be taken away from you
And you know what then you won't have this black pill mentality that the world has when they realize that all is vain
But you know what?
It's all vain under the Sun because look at 1st Corinthians 15 58 therefore my beloved brethren be ye steadfast
unmovable always
Abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord
That's the only thing that's not vain is the work that we do for God and look we live under the Sun
Don't we so you know what we're gonna have some level of vanity in our lives. We got to work
We got to provide we got to go to the grocery store, and you know we got some fun, too
We got to live our lives. Hey, you got to stay healthy
You got to exercise you got to do these things
But make sure while you're living your vain life that you're also abounding in the work of the Lord and not just worrying about life
Under the Sun know what no matter what you're doing. You're chasing your career great still abound in the work of the Lord you're chasing relationships
Hey, whatever goals you're chasing chase those goals, but don't try to find meaning in those goals try to abound in your work for God
Let's pray Lord. Thank you so much for this chapter
I pray that you just bless the upcoming study in
Ecclesiastes that you would reveal truths to us that we need to hear and help us all to apply these to our lives
We love you. And thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name. We pray. Amen last him this evening
Turn if you would to number 15 him number 15
Lead me to Calvary him 15 will sing there starting right on the first