evening notation zero five sing they're starting on the first thank you for this
day for another opportunity as always to gather to sing praises in your name to
learn from your word Lord just thank you for all the souls that were saved this
evening and I just pray that you strengthen those children put them in a
position where they could get on the right path and get fired up for you with
their life and just be good servants unto you Lord and that you would just
protect them and have your hand of blessing and protection on them also
pray Lord for this service that you have your hand of blessing and protection on
us that you would open our ears to the message and fill pasture with your
spirit these things we pray in Jesus name amen for our next hymn number 216
surely goodness and mercy 216 216 remember that part that's and I shall
dwell is only after the third verse so all the days of my life and then into
verse 2 after the third verse then we do the and I shall dwell all the way
through to the end 216 216 surely goodness and mercy
there on the first
quote it word quickly on family member you will receive a prize on the inside
we have our service times listed there sunday morning at 10 30 sunday evening
at 4 30 and our wednesday bible study through ecclesiastes at seven
we have all of our soul winning times listed there below as well as our year
to date statistics plus an extra five for this
evening so praise god for the five that were saved tonight
so really we're at 3 10 for the month so great
results out soul winning we do have our visitor card there as well as our online
giving information if you'd like to do that
on the back is our upcoming events this saturday
is the listener's pick soul winning marathon that we put out several weeks
ago and so patterson new jersey is going
to be the city that brother cameron his wife are going to go to
i've already heard from many people that are going to be traveling to
this area to attend the soul winning marathon on top of the people that just
live there locally so please keep this in prayer we're
just hoping as many people can go out as possible
that way there could be a great harvest of souls and then next wednesday
we'll take a break in ecclesiastes and we'll be partaking of the lord's
supper for the wednesday service next week. April 4th
that's going to be the Oklahoma City soul winning marathon
there's another qr code there below if you want to sign up and register
so we can know how many people are coming to this but always
the eastern marathons are always really great receptive so great time to go soul
winning please do join us for that marathon
meeting at nine o'clock am for coffee and donuts at the early wine park
playground and then soul winning will start at 10 o'clock
that day we have another soul winning marathon on may 2nd
that's the oklahoma state university stillwater campus
soul winning marathons we're going to try out some college soul winning
may 9th we're having a mother's day tea activity
may 20th through the 24th is the anti-israel conference
steadfast baptist church june 17th through the 20th
is the european soul winning conference in frankfurt germany so lots of great
soul winning events coming up for sure keep those in
prayer and then we have our prayer list back on the inside of the bulletin on
the right side there was some in the last couple of
weeks there's been some updates miss jennifer's mom the
surgery went well for piper but we're still praying for her
recovery that you go to sleep well pain management go well and all of that
brother cameron praying for his upcoming appointments his health
also one that was texted to us today the lemon family
at first works baptist church i'm not sure if you know that family great
family there they're praying for their baby uriah's
heart condition and baby uriah is still in the womb
so twins in the womb and one of the baby babies has a really serious heart
condition and they're thinking that as soon as the baby is born
the baby's gonna immediately have to go into surgery so it's a pretty serious
matter and so just asking you to pray faithfully
for that family please so that's baby uriah like i said
so before we go to our next song and the rest of the service let's go ahead and
go to the lord in prayer tonight heavenly father we come before you this
evening humbly asking you to just refine your ear to us that you'd answer
these requests according to your will god we want to
lift up the lemon family in prayer to you that you'd please just heal the body
of baby uriah in the womb that you just help baby's heart
to work properly lord and that you just help them to get all the care necessary
for the best possible outcome here i just prayed that you would just work a miracle
and this baby's life would be saved not only would the baby's life be saved
but that the baby would go on to live a full and healthy life
pray that you just bless their family as well that you'd give them strength and
comfort during this difficult time help them
to hold on to their faith and lean into their walk with you lord i also want to
pray for brother cameron his upcoming health appointments that you bless him
that you just help him to get the best possible treatment and answers that you
can get lord i also want to pray for miss jennifer's mother piper that you
continue to bless for healing that you just have full range of motion after the
surgery that you help her with her pain help her to be able to sleep well we also
want to pray for the upcoming soul winning marathon
in patterson new jersey that travel for the halls would go well everything would
be smooth that as many people as possible would
hear about this event come out pray that new soul winners would come out
to this event lord that we'd be able to use this time to
equip new soul winners to learn how to preach the gospel
that our efforts can go forward even after we leave patterson
and we pray that you bless all the christians over on the east coast without
a new ifb church that you just help them to be faithful soul winners lord
i also want to pray for brother eric and brother zach that you just keep them
safe over in the philippines that you just
keep them healthy help them to be inspired to work hard
pray that you just keep the door of opportunity open for them
pray for evangelist tanner fir that you just bless his soul winning trip right
now lord that you keep him safe that you bring him back to the u.s safely
lord i also want to pray for pastor stuckey
evangelist urbanic that you bless all the great works that they're doing over
in the philippines that you bless the family members of
church members here who need prayer for sickness and salvation lord
i just pray that you just use anchor baptist church as a bright and shining
light here in the city to reach people with the gospel bless
the service now and you see me pray amen for our third song this evening go in
your white handouts to psalm 15 lord who shall abide in thy
tabernacle psalm 15 1 5 in your white handouts
psalm 15 we'll sing there starting on that first verse
lord who shall abide
plesiestes plesiestes chapter 2 said in mine heart go to now
i will prove thee with mirth therefore in your pleasure
and behold this also is vanity i said of laughter it is mad
and of mirth what doeth it sought in my heart to give myself unto wine
yet acquainting my heart with wisdom to lay and to lay hold on folly
till i might see what was that good for the sons of men which they should do
under the heaven all the days of their life
i made me great works i builded me houses i planted me vineyards
i made me gardens and orchards and planted trees in them
of all kinds of fruits i made me pools of water
to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees
i got me servants and maidens had servants born in my house
also i had great possessions of great and small cattle above
all that were in jerusalem before me i gathered me also
silver and gold and the peculiar treasures of king treasure of kings
and of the provinces i got me men singers and women singers
into the lights of the sons of men as musical instruments
and that of all sorts so i was great and increased
more than all that were before me in jerusalem
also my wisdom remained with me whatsoever mine eyes desired i kept not
from them i withheld not my heart from any joy
where my heart rejoiced in all my labor and this was my portion
of all my labor then i looked on all the works that my hands had wrought
and on the labor that i had labored to do
and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit
and there was no profit under the sun and i turned myself to behold wisdom
and madness and folly for what can the man
do that cometh after the king even that which
hath been already done then i saw that wisdom exceleth folly
as far as light exceleth darkness the wise man's eyes
are yet in his head but the fool walketh in darkness
and i myself perceived also that one event happenedeth to them all
then said i in my heart as it happenedeth to the fool
so happenedeth it happenedeth it happenedeth
even to me and why was i then more wise then i said in my heart that
this also is vanity for there is no remembrance
of the wise more than the fool forever seeing that
which is which now is in the days to come
shall all be forgotten how dyeth the wise man
as the fool therefore i hated life because the work
that is wrought under the sun is grievous
unto me for all is vanity and vexation of spirit
yeah i hated all my labor which i had taken under the sun
because i should leave it unto the man that shall be after me
who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool
shall he have rule over all my labor wherein i have labored
and wherein i have showed myself wise under the sun
this is also vanity therefore i went about to cause my heart to despair
of all the labor which i took under the sun for there
is a wise man whose labor is in wisdom and in knowledge
and in equity yet to a man that hath not labored therein
shall he leave it for his portion this also is vanity
and a great evil for that for what hath man
of all his labor and of the vexation of his heart
wherein he hath labored under the sun for all his days
are sorrows and his prevail grief yea his heart taketh no rest in the
night this is also vanity there is nothing better for a man
than that he should eat and drink and that he should
make his soul enjoy good in his labor this also i saw that it was from the
hand of god for who can eat who can or who else
can hasten thereunto more than i for god giveth to a man
that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy but to the
sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up that he may
give to him that is good before god this also is
vanity and vexation of spirit right gracious lord thankful to be gathered
in your house thankful that the son is going to save you do the preaching of your
word bring lord this will pass from spirit
with the clarity of mind to it down this chapter of the isis chapter two and if
you remember this book is a much more cerebral uh
philosophical type book where the man solomon he's basically
trying to figure out the meaning of life and spoiler alert in chapter 12 he says
fear god and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man but as we
go through ecclesiastes he's kind of like doing these
self-experiments where he's just giving himself over to different areas of life
and kind of just testing and trying things to see
what is life all about what is it that the sons of men are doing under the sun
and he really gives himself over to three different areas in this chapter
number one the vanity of self-indulgence notice what it says in verse one
he says i said in mine heart go to now i will prove thee with mirth therefore
enjoy pleasure behold this also is vanity now
in eclesiastes of course like any other book of the bible
we know that this is the inspired words of god holy men of god spake
as they were moved by the holy ghost so every single word that we find here
in eclesiastes is true in the sense that it was actually said
it actually happened but i want you to keep in context that
not every single thing that solomon says or thinks or does in eclesiastes
is necessarily good or the best wisdom or the best advice
because again what is he doing he's kind of going through life and just testing
these different areas and so the first thing he does is hey
i'm going to go prove my heart with what mirth what is mirth just means happiness
joy pleasure excitement he's like i'm just going to give myself over to as
much pleasure as possible as much happiness as much joy he says
therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is
vanity one of the areas of life where people try to seek meaning
is of course in pleasure that's what most of
this world is living for right people who are not serving god people who are
not dedicating their life to church soul winning things like that
what is it that they're living for they're living for pleasure
now that could look differently for a lot of different people right
for some people pleasure is sitting at home playing video games
for other people pleasure is taking a road trip on a motorcycle
or going sailing or traveling the world but you know this is what the world is
seeking today is pleasure and as we're going to see
in this chapter it does not end up satisfying him even the guy solomon who
is the richest man in the world who was able to give himself over to as
much pleasure as he totally wanted now go if you would
keep your place there to luke chapter 12 luke chapter number 12
and of course in man's pursuit of pleasure today
what that really means is the pursuit of money
i mean for most people let's be honest if they're just going to give themselves
over to pleasure what does that look like in a practical
sense it usually means giving themselves over to money
because a lot of people in this world whether they want to verbalize this or
not thinks that money can buy happiness and
if that's not the case then please tell me why
the american dream is chasing money to be rich why so many people would just
want to be rich today but you know what being rich is not
necessarily a blessing now it can be but not necessarily look at luke chapter
12 verse 16 it says and he spake a parable unto them
this is jesus saying the ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself saying what shall i do
because i have no room where to bestow my fruits
and he said this will i do i will pull down my barns and build
greater and there will i bestow all my fruits
and my goods so notice this rich man he's being blessed
in the sense that his ground is bringing forth plentifully
hey his crops are being blessed he's making lots of money
and even though he's making lots of money notice that he doesn't necessarily
have like an inner peace about this he's not really content in his life
because when he is making a bunch of money and things are going good
he's thinking like man what do i do what am i supposed to do right now
i have all this money all these goods i know what i'll do
hey i'm gonna tear down my barns and build
greater notice he says and there will i bestow
all my fruits and my goods and so like you know he
builds these new barns in his mind at least he's planning on doing this
and what's their ultimate purpose to just store stuff
to just keep stuff in a room right isn't there a lot of people like this today
where they just want to accumulate so much stuff but at the end of the day
how much stuff can you really enjoy at one time i mean a lot of people today
have to buy like a storage unit to keep all their stuff
that they can't fit in their house and it's like they don't use it
they don't go to it they just keep this extra stuff in a storage unit and it
just sits there and it's like that is vanity
vanity of vanity say it the preachers you know makes me think of j leno
and j leno has a collection of just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of
cars and it's like bro you can only drive one
at a time and how many of those cars sitting in his garage
has he driven one time maybe or has he maybe even never driven
i bet you there'd be some of those right at the end of the day if you're just
chasing after money even if you're successful you're just
going to end up with a building full of stuff
and that's it and it's not going to be satisfying and it doesn't last
because look what it says in verse 19 i will say to my soul
soul thou hast much goods laid up many years
take thine ease eat drink and be merry what is that mirth
pleasure oh people want to get rich so that they could be you know having
pleasure eat whatever they want drink whatever
they want be happy be merry and some people they spend
their entire life chasing after this they sacrifice you know crazy amounts
of time with their family they sacrifice all these
things they sacrifice going to church oftentimes
they sacrifice reading their bible they sacrifice going to church serving god
being around god's people but notice verse 20 but god said unto
him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee
then whose shall those things be which thou has provided
so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward god
so notice someone who's just seeking money seeking pleasure
first of all even if you succeed you're just going to end up with a bunch of
stuff in a barn that's just going to sit there
then when you think man i'm going to finally make it next week things will
calm down when i'm rich and when i'm famous and when i can have
mirth and pleasure and joy and i can just take ease and enjoy my
life and then god says you're going to die and then it's just over
and you know for a lot of rich people you know rich people don't often get
saved right jesus said that it's easier for
a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved
because why rich men are not really willing to trust someone else they think
that they have built everything in their life
and so this man he's rich he's built this business he's
made all this money he finally achieves it and then his soul is required of him
and he dies and he probably went to hell that's the
reality that's the reality for a lot of rich men today
they make it and then they die and go to hell that's vanity
vanity of vanity say it the preacher go back to ecclesiastes chapter two
you know it doesn't make sense to just chase after self-indulgence
number one you might not even make it you might not even achieve all your
goals number two if you do you might find that it's unsatisfying
and your life can end any moment and it could just all be over
verse two i said of laughter it is mad and if mirth
what do with it right so other people you know some people want to
find pleasure and meaning in life by just seeking pleasure
other people they want to find meaning by laughter
right comedy is a huge genre today in our world and some people they're
just constantly seeking to laugh right isn't that why a lot of
people just scroll endlessly on tiktok just watching funny videos
they just want that quick dopamine hit that quick laugh
ha ha this person hurt themselves ha ha look at this ai cat
ha ha look at these funny videos but do you think like after they've scrolled a
hundred videos do you think that they've been satisfied
or do you think they want to keep scrolling when they've watched all those
funny videos so they're like oh man that really hit the spot i'm really
satisfied or do they just want to keep scrolling right it's called doom
scrolling for a reason because you just keep going you keep going it sucks you
in he says of laughter it is mad and of mirth
what do with it go to proverbs if you would proverbs
proverbs chapter number 14 proverbs 14 the bible describes how there's some
people who they seek laughter they seek joy
and even in the midst of their laughter inwardly they're actually miserable
so you can't just assume because you see someone smiling or you see someone
laughing that that means that they're actually content or actually happy
inside because look at verse 12 it says
there's a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of
death verse 13 notice even in laughter
the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth
is heaviness see i believe that real fulfillment you could actually find real
fulfillment and real contentment in serving god hey paul said i've learned
in whatsoever state i am therewith to be content that's the
inspired words of god he's not just putting on a show
the apostle paul is actually content he knows how to
be abased he knows how to abound he suffers persecution
he rejoices he goes through all these terrible things he's still content
now on the outside there could be times where the apostle paul stoic
maybe even crying maybe and having a sad countenance but there's an
inward peace in being in god's will there's an inward peace
in keeping god's commandments whereas for the world even times when they're
laughing even at times when you think they look
joyful when they're laughing when they're giggling when they're having a
good time inwardly there's this deep spiritual
darkness and rot in their soul and they know it
deep down inside you know don't let the life of sin deceive you today
when you see the videos of the college parties and people are at the college
parties everyone's dancing and swaying and
drinking alcohol and hanging out just having a good time so it seems
because oftentimes inwardly those people are completely sad and miserable
because a lot of times the reason why people have to go to parties
where they take drugs and they drink alcohol is so that they could just
numb the pain of their crappy life that's the reality today
a lot of people take drugs and alcohol just because their life actually really
sucks you know if you have such a great life
why do you have to inebriate yourself why do you have to just dull all your
senses why isn't sobriety fun to you because your life obviously sucks okay
and that's what the bible's saying here it's like hey even in laughter the heart
is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness
hebrews 11 i'll read for you verse 12 verse 24 says by faith moses
when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season
so the bible describes that sin does have a certain pleasure aspect to it
which is obviously why people sin but notice it's a pleasure that lasts for a
season but you want to know what comes after
that season is over pain sorrow i mean the bible says
that the way of transgressors is hard right hey they are they they that are of
a merry heart or merry countenance have a
continual feast the bible says serving god keeping his commandments
every day is joyful every day could be a party serving god
but you know people going out and for example wasting their youth committing
fornication you know outwardly it could seem like
they're bragging about it you know they think they're so cool
you know the the athletes think they're so cool because they're getting all the
pretty girls and they they seem so happy
but you know what afterwards there's shame afterwards there's emptiness
afterwards there's sorrow it's the pleasures of sin for a season
people go out and sow their wild oats commit fornication oh we're just having
a good time until the bastard child comes the child
outside of wedlock oh we're having so much fun we're
having such a good time until the sdd comes hey let's go out and
get drunk we'll have a good time until your friend dies in a car
accident from a drunk driving accident hey it's just the pleasures of sin
for a season so we as christians we should not just like envy this world's
mirth envy this world's revelings and partyings
and think like man those guys look like they're having so much fun
but we're just you know independent fundamental baptist it's like look
young people don't have the wisdom to realize that they are not
missing anything by missing out on the party scene
you are not missing out on anything you know i
thank god by his grace i got saved at a pretty young age i got saved in my teens
and you know what thank god because of the good influences i had
the good preaching that i was under you know i've spent my entire 20s
three to thrive soul winning reading the bible i have zero regrets about that
i have zero regrets about getting married at 21 years old i have
zero regrets about having a bunch of kids as soon as me and my wife got
married i have zero regrets about not missing the party scene and the drunk
you know drunkenness college see all that stuff
i have no regrets and missing that stuff but a lot of teenagers today think
that they're gonna miss out on something by not enjoying this world's mirth
but you know what solomon said he said hey mirth it's mad
laughter it's mad it's empty it's meaningless
go back to ecclesiastes chapter number two ecclesiastes chapter number two
now similar topic here it says this in verse three i sought in my heart
to give myself unto wine yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom and to lay hold
on folly what does folly mean stupidity
being stupid being dumb and to lay hold on folly till i might see
what was that good for the sons of men which they should do unto the heaven
all the days of their life right so he gives himself over to mirth
to pleasure to laughter he's like now i'm just going to give myself
over to wine right now wine can mean several different things in the bible
it can mean pure fruit juice it can mean luxury
and it can mean alcoholic wine i think we could pull some of those
from this but the primary thing i think he's given himself to is alcohol
why do i say that because he says he's going to lay hold on folly
i mean he literally says hey i'm going to try this experiment
i'm just going to try to be as stupid as possible i'm just going to be try to be
the biggest moron ever hey maybe ignorance is blessed maybe
i'll have a happier life if i just become a raging idiot and you
know the fastest way to become a raging idiot is to drink booze
you know to drink alcohol because wine is a mocker
strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby
is not wise so he's like hey i'm just going to give myself over to folly i'm
just going to become a complete idiot and give myself over to wine now how do
people act when they're drunk they act like idiots don't they they say
all sorts of perverse things slurring their words we've all seen
those you know man on the street videos where
they're like interviewing drunk people it's like
why do those things get views because people are saying dumb entertaining
stuff because they're drunk but they're saying stupid foolish stuff
aren't they and not only they're saying dumb things they're doing dumb things
they're getting behind the wheel drunken they're going up and
ruining their marriage by being with some other woman they're doing all
sorts of stupidity i mean i've told this story before i
remember seeing uh in this law enforcement class i took in high school
we were doing um trauma first aid learning and they
showed us like this incident where this drunk guy was trying to
play fruit ninja in real life does anyone
remember the phone game fruit ninja where it's like you got the sword yeah
and you gotta like as the fruit's coming down on your screen you gotta like top
it before it hits the ground or whatever
well someone was doing this with a drunk guy and he ended up like taking the
sword and just like putting it into his own
hand and like almost cut his hand off and it's like why does that happen
because of alcohol that's why because you know what you wouldn't sit there
play fruit ninja if you're sober and if you were you would at least have
better hand-eye coordination than you when you were drunk
right it's like i'm just going to give myself over to stupidity now
go if you would to isaiah 65 because this is a bible study tonight i want to
real quick look at some verses in the bible
that use the word wine because some people make the mistake
of thinking every single time they see the word wine
that that is talking about an alcoholic beverage but like i said there are
multiple different types of wine in the bible
one of those is pure fruit juice like i said look at isaiah 65 verse 8
the bible says thus saith the lord notice as the new
wine is found in the cluster all right so this is a beverage the new wine
that is found what in the cluster of the grapes what is that
that's juice and notice what the bible says and one sayeth destroy it not
for a blessing is in it for so will i do for my servant's sake that i may not
destroy them all so here wine is described as something
being still in the cluster there's no way possible this is talking about
alcohol right that happens in fermentation after it's taken out of
the cluster it's talking about juice and the bible
speaks positively of it saying hey it's a blessing right so when you're trying
to figure out in a verse hey is this is this alcohol or is
this a different type of wine i can just help you with this rule if
it's mentioned positively it's not alcohol if the bible is saying
hey all tables are full of vomit and filthiness and there's no place
clean that's talking about alcohol if it's talking about hey
you know you're gonna be behold strange women you're gonna utter perverse things
you're gonna pervert judgment in your heart that's talking about alcohol
positive mention like jesus turning water into wine
that's talking about juice okay now go to joseph for
also wine i believe can picture luxury giving yourself over to as much
pleasure as possible which again kind of fits
this self experiment that solomon is going through here
in isaiah chapter number four verse 11 the bible says this
whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart now is there
anything wrong with juice in and of itself no but
especially in the ancient world juice is a very very rare treat that
you would get because it's super expensive
it's super hard to make it's not a common thing that we have here like you
could find on every street corner every gas station every store will
have juice not then if you're drinking juice it's very
special it's a luxury item it's an item that
represents riches right so these things take away
our heart what whoredom that makes sense right
if you're committing fornication if you're committing adultery that's
going to take away your heart from the things of god
wine drinking alcohol absolutely right and
new wine giving yourself just fully over to luxury and pleasure
you know that also is going to take away your heart from the things of
god i'll just read for you proverbs 23 verse 29 says who hath woe who hath sorrow
who hath contentions who hath babbling who hath wounds without cause who hath
redness of eyes they that tarry long at the wine
i wonder what kind of wine that's talking about the one that makes your
eyes red that makes you babble that make you have
contention that makes you have wounds without cause from fruit ninja
that's alcohol right they that tarry long at the wine they that go to seek
mixed wine look not thou upon the wine when it is
red when it give it its color in the cup when it
moveth itself aright so notice isaiah 65 you have wine
in the cluster the bible says it's a blessing then here there's a wine
that we're not even supposed to look at what it's the wine that's red
that moves itself in the cup right what is that fermented
alcoholic wine look the bible condemns christians drinking alcohol
the bible condemns christians drinking any amount of alcohol
how do you how can you say that because the bible says not to look at alcohol
how am i supposed to partake of alcohol if i'm not supposed to look at it
right i mean doesn't the bible say that about you know married men to other
women lust not after her beauty in thine
heart are you gonna tell me it's like okay to partake of a little bit of
cheating on your wife like that's ridiculous right
no it's wrong drinking alcohol is completely wrong
we believe in abstinence here from alcohol go if you would to
first simothy 3 first simothy 3 now i bring up those different
versions of wine because one of the qualifications of a bishop
is that they are not given over to wine as you'll see here in first simothy 3
verse number two it says a bishop then must be blameless
the husband of one wife vigilant sober of good behavior
given to hospitality apt to teach notice not given to
wine not greedy a filthy lucre but patient
not a brawler not covetous so here i believe that the primary application of
what this pastoral qualification is is talking about
being someone who's given to luxury that's given to just this world's good
and just this world's pleasure why because it says not given to wine
no striker not greedy a filthy lucre but patient
right so you don't want to you know we don't want to have a pastor that's just
obsessed with the things of this world they just have to have the best and
newest of everything and they're just they're waking up
thinking about what's the new toy i could buy and they're just excited about
every model of every new thing you know that's not someone who really
has their heart on the things of god as you can see by solomon's self
experiment when he's putting his heart on the things of this world
he's putting his heart on pleasure and mirth and wine
and at the end he just says hey all this is vanity and vexation of spirit
so you know it would be inappropriate for a pastor's life to just be mainly
characterized by vanity and vexation of spirit
it's not to say that it's wrong for a pastor to make good money
especially if it takes time to build because notice it says
not greedy of filthy lucre but patient it's like if a pastor already built a
business already had great income he built that
over time there's nothing wrong with pastor making good money
there's nothing wrong with the pastor being paid well by the church but there
is something wrong with the pastor that's just
given to wine given to luxury every meal has to be the ribeye
every trip has to be the most extravagant thing ever that would be
wrong go back to ecclesiastes 2 ecclesiastes chapter number 2
so remember we're just walking through his self-experiment here of him trying
to find meaning it's not found in laughter it's not found in mirth it's
dead sure not found at the bottom of a bottle it's not found in luxury
what about building projects look at verse four i made me great works
i builded me houses i planted me vineyards right
some people they're just obsessed with the next building project the retiree
right they're just out in the vineyard they're out in the garden that's all
they care about that's their life i made me gardens
and orchards and i planted trees in them of all kind of fruits i made me
pools of water to water there with the wood that bring it forth trees
i got me servants and maidens and had servants born in my house
also i had great possessions of great and small cattle
above all that were in jerusalem before me i mean
this is a very very rich man i mean those of us who
have houses whether you own or rent it's like if you
do any addition to your house it's like super expensive
you have to plan it out for a really long time could you imagine just like
endless building projects pools vineyards
gardens trees all these crazy things that he's got going on
not only that he's got servants he's got servants and maidens
i mean his thousand women his wives and concubines
you know i don't even know are they even doing the dishes because they have
servants and maidens here i mean is is solomon even mowing the lawn i
highly doubt it right because he's got all these servants and maidens i mean he
can just kick up his feet and enjoy his little pool enjoy the
vineyard oh i want a pomegranate today he said of all fruits right oh i want a
pomegranate i want strawberries i want oranges i want apples i mean
look if earthly possessions could get you happiness
surely solomon would have been happy surely solomon would have achieved
joy and happiness and contentment if money could buy those things
but guess what he didn't because it can't it can't i mean look at his riches
servants maidens servants born in my house also had great possessions of
great and small cattle above all that were in jerusalem before me
i mean this is the best cattleman who's ever lived in jerusalem
he's like no one has succeeded in the cattle business
more than me in all of history here in jerusalem i mean this guy has just
maidens but as we'll see he's still not happy but that's not it look
verse eight i gathered me also silver and gold
and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces
you know so some people they're into building projects some people they want
a pool they want a garden they want a pond they want trees they want
fruit right other people they just want to collect
money or collect items right and he's like i just gathered me also silver and
gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and
of the provinces who even knows what that is i mean it's
obviously something rare strange peculiar the bible says
peculiar treasure you know these are your antique collectors
oh man i'll be happy if i just get one more world war ii gun now that might be
true it's close to being true right if i just get one more world war ii gun
if i just get one more you know old original book copy if i just get one
more really cool collectible item but none of these
things satisfied him he says i got me men singers and women singers no
notice just endless entertainment entertainment all day all night he's
going to the fancy restaurant where they're playing for him as he's eating
right they've got the stringed instruments they're playing
they're singing men women you know some people really like
male voices singing some people like women he gets both whatever he wants
men singers women singers and the delights of the sons of men
as musical instruments and that of all sorts right
so he just keeps unto himself delights people things that people like
like what musical instruments what kind just all of them
just every sort right and hey a lot of people are into music
they think it'd be really cool to have all these different you know types of
instruments but yet still he wasn't happy yet still
he was not satisfied he says so i was great
and increased more than all that were before me
in jerusalem also my wisdom remained with me and whatsoever mine eyes desired
i kept not from them i withheld not my heart
from any joy for my heart rejoiced in all my labor
and this was my portion of all my labor now look
i think a lot of people think in their heart
that they would love to have this man's life right a lot of people were what
waking up super early in the morning working hard all day
getting home late cooking dinner you know feeding the kids helping the kids
doing doing yard work doing all these things
and a lot of people they read this and they're like this sounds like paradise
right sitting around your pool enjoy the
garden you got men and women singing to you playing it
you want to tell them to go away play an instrument yourself you could do that
whatsoever his eyes desired the bible says he withheld not from them
i mean could you imagine that level of wealth and power and access
where you just you see something you think something
and boom you can get your hands on it a lot of people would
love to have that life or they think that they would have love to have that
life a lot of people are seeking that type of life that type of power but
i'm telling you you do not want to have this type of a life
go if you would to proverbs chapter number 30 you do not
want to have this type of a life this type of a life would become
so boring so meaningless so monotonous i mean even a lot of
people when they retire just feel like their
life sucks and they miss going to work i mean you spend 30 40 years going to the
job and then you retire and oftentimes it
doesn't take people six months to be like i'm gonna go get a part-time job at
cabela's or something because i'm just bored
i'm gonna go to lowes i'm gonna go to home depot whatever because i'm just
bored i've got nothing to do i mean look what the bible says in
proverbs chapter 30 verse 8 it says remove far from me vanity and lies
notice this give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient
for me so notice his prayer is god don't give me poverty right no one
is like oh i want to be poor i want to be destitute i want to be
starving i want to not have enough clothes and shelter
he says hey give me neither poverty nor riches
everyone can understand why you don't want poverty but a lot of people are
puzzled when they say what why are we praying
that we don't have riches why is it that we would not want to be rich this is
why verse 9 lest i be full
and deny thee and say who is the lord or lest i be poor and steal and take
the name of my god in vain let's talk about being poor first why
don't you want to be poor it's obvious right it's just hardship it's struggle
and you might be tempted to do things that are immoral to make ends meet
you might be tempted to lie about your time you might be tempted
to steal something because it's really hard for you to obtain anything
right and we understand that that's a natural temptation people would have and
he's saying i don't want to be poor because i don't want to be tempted to be
that type of a person why doesn't he want to be rich he says
lest i be full and people think of course we want to be full of course we
want to have everything but notice he says lest i be full and
deny thee and say who is the lord you know what's scarier than
getting to a point in your life where you're tempted to steal
is getting up to a point in your life where you completely forget about god
where you go days months years of your life without reading your bible
without caring about church without preaching the gospel to someone
without getting on your face and begging god for mercy
and asking for his provision in your life and saying god
i acknowledge you i know i need you please be with me please give me
strength please give me power you know you
never want to get to a point in your life
where you're comfortable with forgetting god and you know i think it's better for
us too if we have to choose one or the other
for us to be more on the side of running a little bit scared
running a little bit lean in our life if that's what keeps us right with god
you know i would love for our church to grow but i would not want our church to
grow at the expense of me just feeling so
comfortable and so hands-off that i no longer get on my face and ask
for god's blessing on this church because you know what i do i get on my
face and i beg god to bless this church to give us more
laborers to bless you guys to help us why because i'm not obsessed with the
things of this world i'm not obsessed with my pool and my
orchard and my servants and my you know all these things
because i don't have them right now what if i did have all those
things you say oh pastor aus you could never be that type of person
sure i could we all have all the same flesh right you know if i just had
unlimited money unlimited assets access to anything i ever wanted
could that change me as a person it potentially could it potentially could
it could potentially for you and so like what should our prayer be god don't give
me poverty but don't give me riches either and you
know what god just give me whatever is going to make it to where i
still depend on you right hey you know i bet you a lot of these
mega pastors where they're just bringing in millions and millions of
dollars into their church you know i wonder how often they get on
their face and ask for god's power and ask for wisdom
and ask for help to lead the church and ask for god's power and blessing to be
on the church i wonder how often it happens with those guys
probably never probably never whereas like hey
if you're just starting a business or you're just taking off in your career
i bet you you pray a lot don't you you're asking god for your provision
i bet you if things are tight financially i bet you you're constantly
saying god please help me god help me to get a raise god help
things to last longer in my family god please take care of us god please help
trump to stop starting world war three and i ran
so we could fill up our gas tanks again right you know these things that we pray
but you know what would you do that if you were just completely full
had everything that you wanted you know anything that your eyes desired
you could just not withhold your heart that would you be the same person
i doubt it i doubt it and you know what i've seen it time and time again
where someone you know starts a business and their business gets blessed by god
and they take off and they start making tons of money and before they were a soul winner
before they were three to thrive like before they cared so much about doctrine and reading the bible
and then they just go through long periods of time where there's just nowhere to be found
and like i've seen some people where they were never found again where they just stopped serving
god completely and i don't know what happened to them other people kind of see them go back
and forth a little bit it's like look there are more important things under the sun than your
stupid pool then your instruments then the delights of the sons of men then your silver then your gold
what's more important is living a life giving honor to god acknowledging the lord and you know
what i would never trade that for any amount of money in the world if i could push that button
and have a life where anything my eyes desired i could be given that i would not push that button
because i've read the bible and i see what happens and i'm telling you there's a lot of people they
would press that button don't press this mystical button that doesn't exist okay don't press it
because it would ruin your life go if you would back to ecclesiastes ecclesiastes chapter number
two so man he's living everyone's dream you would think but verse 11 he says then i looked on all
the works that my hands had wrought and on the labor that i had labored to do and behold all was
vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the sun you know he had everything
people could want but when he looked at it once he actually finally attained it and he said you
know what i'm looking at all the labor that my hands had wrought and you know what i'm seeing
it's all vanity what does that mean emptiness not profitable not only just vain but he says and it's
vexation it's actually annoying him he actually is not happy you know you don't want to be one of
these people that envy the rich and famous don't envy the hollywood actors and actresses because
you know what they have such high rates of suicide drug abuse sexual abuse you know alcohol abuse
why because they they climb the rat ladder and they get there and they realize it's all vain it's
all meaningless and not only is it meaningless it's actually vexation of spirit it's actually
not what it's portrayed to be i mean i think it was jim carrey several years ago was just talking
about how hollywood is so evil and wicked and it's like the illuminati and his pedophilia and all
that stuff it's like the guy is like broken he's like a broken person a lot of these celebrities
end up just being broken people having mental breakdowns drug addictions i mean heath ledger
right couldn't sleep he's constantly popping sleeping pills until he dies robin williams oh
there's so much laughter with robin williams right i mean boy he was smiling a lot he was laughing a
lot inside he's miserable he's miserable he's sad he is what ended up committing suicide ended up
killing himself so don't sit here and daydream right oh if only if only i could be rich if only
i could be famous if only i could make it to hollywood or something like that don't daydream
like that because it's not what it's cracked up to be i'll read for you hebrews 13 five the bible
says let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as he have for he
hath said i will never leave thee nor forsake thee hey the grass is not always greener on the other
side be content with the things that you have be content with the wife that you have don't be like
solomon and get 999 more okay be content with the house that you have hey if you need a bigger space
work hard pray to god to bless you but don't sit here and just covet i have to have a bigger house
i have to have more pools have to have more orchards have to have more servants you'll never
be satisfied you'll just have you'll just be vexed so number one the vanity of self-indulgment number
two the vanity of living wisely verse 12 he shifts gears here in ecclesiastes 2 12 he says and i turn
myself to behold wisdom and madness and folly for what can the man do that cometh after the king
even that which hath been already done he's like man sucks for whoever comes after me because i've
already done it all what are you going to do have great cattle what are you going to do build pools
build all these things i've already done it all what's going to happen after me that which has
already been done verse 13 then i saw that wisdom exceleth folly as far as light exceleth darkness
so keep in mind he's kind of walking us through his self-experiment here one of the things he
already told us about was that he gave himself over to wine and to lay hold on folly he's like
i'm going to be as stupid as i can i'm just going to live a really foolish and stupid life
then he turns and he beholds wisdom madness and folly and he's considering these things and he
kind of comes to his first good conclusion all right it says in verse 13 then i saw that wisdom
exceleth folly as far as light exceleth darkness it's like we're glad that that experiment panned
out that way we're glad you figured that out hey being wise is better than being stupid lay hold
on wisdom rather than laying hold on folly and it's like yeah do you even have to say that like
isn't that common sense but there's people in this world that glorify stupidity there are churches
there are preachers that get up and it's part of their persona it's part of their personality
of being stupid and they glorify it and they act like it's cool i'm just an old country boy i can't
even read half the words on this here page but i believe in my faith hey man i don't know if the
earth is a globe or a turtle or flat i just trust god amen it's just like don't glorify stupidity
okay that is dumb that is foolish he says hey i saw that wisdom exceleth folly as far as light
selleth darkness now look he's going to go on to explain that wisdom in its ultimate form still is
vain in some ways still to some extent is vain because he talks about hey if i'm wise i've noticed
that some of the things that happen to foolish people still happen to me and i could be wise i
could build something great and i could hand it over to a fool so it's like trying to find your
ultimate fulfillment in wisdom is also vain but here's the thing it's better than being foolish
so pick your point there's there's still some vanity involved but you know what the vanity of
wisdom is way better than the vanity of being foolish i'll read for you a couple verses proverbs
24 verse 9 the bible says the thought of foolishness is sin and the scornor is an
abomination to men we need to remind people that being stupid is a sin you know what that means
you should be being corrected by the word of god and by the preaching of god's word there should
be preaching against stupidity not stupid preaching not getting up and glorifying stupidity no the
bible says that the thought of foolishness is sin it's breaking god's commandments it's offending
god being stupid is not cool pick up a book i don't care how long it's been since you've been
in school oh i just don't like reading why do you like being stupid how long oh you simple ones
well you love simple simplicity and fools hate knowledge right it's like saying hey you have a
choice to get wisdom and you have a choice to stay stupid and you know what shame on an adult man
that's stupid i mean i have i could not believe this this happened to me recently where i actually
encountered someone who was an adult who grew up in america who was illiterate spoke english as
their first language and was illiterate let me tell you what that is a shame you need to learn
you need to get some smarts and look hey if you're there you can't change it right this very moment
but it's like you better work on getting some wisdom because being illiterate in 2026 america
is a shame you should be embarrassed for that i'll read for you a couple more proverbs 3 13
happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that geteth understanding proverbs 4 5 get wisdom
get understanding forget it not neither decline from the words of my mouth hey we should be
seeking wisdom and of course what is the ultimate wisdom it's the bible it's the word of god you
need to be seeking that wisdom seek it as its buried treasure seek it with all your heart get
wisdom verse 14 of ecclesiastes 2 now this is probably my favorite verse in this chapter
it says this the wise man's eyes are in his head but the fool walketh in darkness and i myself
perceived also that one event happeneth to them all so the bible is contrasting two people the
wise man and the fool he says hey the wise man's eyes are in his head obviously this is not talking
about the geographical location of your eyeballs because whether you're a fool or whether you're
wise your eyes are located in the same place okay we get that but he's saying hey the wise
man's eyes are in his head but the fool walketh in darkness this is a verse that i quote to my
children all the time because if you have kids you know something about them and that is when
they walk they walk like this they walk with their head down right and i'm always telling them hey
eyes up the wise man's eyes are in his head right saying hey the wise person has awareness the
wise person is vigilant the wise person is taking the wisdom of god's word and looking around and
understanding the world and foreseeing the evil and hiding himself being prudent stuff like that
the wise man's eyes are in his head but the fool walks in what darkness meaning that they don't
have vision they can't see they got their head down they've got something covering their eyes
i'm always telling my kids hey the wise man's eyes are in his head they're always tripping they're
always falling why because they're walking in darkness it's like you got to be able to see
where you're going you got to have your eyes but here's the thing you know yeah toddlers do that
but there's a lot of people who are constantly tripping and falling in this life and constantly
hurting themselves and constantly damaging themselves because their eyes are not in their
head they're walking around in darkness see if you're walking through this life and you're not
reading the light of the king james bible you are walking in darkness if you are walking through
life just by the will i think will i feel will i just feel like you are walking in darkness you
got to get your eyes in your head by getting your eyes on the bible and finding out what it is that
god actually wants you to do with your life and guess what the word the will of god is not a
mystery okay go if you would to romans 12 keep your place there of course i am so tired of this
overly mystical you know this eastern pagan type mysticism that's constantly talking about the
mystical will of god i just want to find out the will of god i'm just praying for the will of god
in my life god has given you his will notice what it says in romans 12 it says i beseech you
therefore brethren by the mercies of god that ye present your body as a living sacrifice
wholly acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service here's one thing i know that god wants for
you is for you to present your body as a living sacrifice for you to live your life for christ for
you not to be selfish and only seek your own desires and pleasures of this life but to offer
yourself a living sacrifice i know that that is god's will for you why because the bible told me so
you know earlier this week i was releasing some videos about how salvation is not of repentance
and someone's on there saying wow we found someone with all the answers it's like i do
have the answer on salvation not because it came from my wisdom but because it came from the bible
yeah i do know how to get saved these things have i written unto you that believe on the name of the
son of god that you may know that you have everlasting yeah i know i do know jesus i do
know that i'm saved i know that from god's word hey i know that god wants you to be a living
sacrifice how because it's in god's word hey look at verse two and be not conformed to this world
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect what will of god right so we have to renew our minds we have to transform our minds
be renewed unto the what will of god how do you do that by reading your bible when you read your
bible you can know the will of god what does god want me to do in my marriage well he wants
wives to obey their husbands and for husbands to love their wives kids you know what does god want
me to do obey your parents workers what does he want you to do work hard as unto the lord
preachers what does he want you to do preach the word hey soul winners what does he want you to do
preach the gospel right god's will is not a mystery folks god's given us his word we know
what god's will is but you have to be that wise man that whose eyes are in his head walking in
wisdom not the fool who walks in darkness go back if you would to Ecclesiastes 2 so the wise man his
eyes are in his head he's using his god-given faculties he's observant alert prudent vigilant
he could foresee the evil i'll read for you proverbs 22 3 a prudent man foreseeeth the evil
and hideeth himself but the simple pass on and are punished so the wise man hey he's analyzing
situations he has insight into situations because of the wisdom he's been given to god's word he
could look at a situation and say hey this is going down a bad path this is doomed this is
dangerous let's hide ourselves from this evil that's the wise person the fool is what walking
in darkness they're not observant right the fool is either not observant or they're just willingly
blind they're just willingly not seeing signs that they should be seeing go if you go to verse 15 it
says then said i in my heart as it happenedeth to the fool so it happenedeth even to me and why was
i then more wise then i said in my heart that this is also vanity so notice wisdom better than folly
but still ultimately has some level of vanity because he's saying man i just gave myself over
to wisdom i became wise and i noticed something about this unfair life we live in hey one event
happens to the fool it also happens to the wise right don't we see just crazy you know acts of chance
time and chance happen into the mall the bible says where a really wise person just has something
crazy happen to them i mean hey you could do everything right in life you could grow up in
church you could serve god you can be on the soul winner you can become really skilled and educated
you can start making a lot of money and your child can still get cancer you could still get hit by a
car crossing the road you could still have just a random thing happen to you and you know what that
same random thing that happens the fool can happen to you and so he's just saying like man why did i
become so wise then you know if the same things are happening to the fool but again you shouldn't
have your ultimate fulfillment and what you're seeking out of life is just wisdom in and of
itself wisdom is better than folly but it still has a level of vanity to it he says verse 16 for
there's no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever seeing that which now is in the
days to come shall all be forgotten and how dyeth the wise man as the fool therefore i hated life
because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me for all is vanity and vexation
of spirit what a sad place to come into your life where you just hate your life but look a lot of
people have been there where they just hate their life and you think well pastor you don't understand
i hate my life because i'm poor because i need this because i'm having a terrible time no no no
he was rich he had everything he could possibly want he gave himself over to every possible
pleasure every mirth hey he's giving himself over to wine he's giving himself over to folly
he's giving himself over to wisdom and he still at the end of it says you know what i hated life
because i realized that all the works under the sun are vanity and vexation of spirit and notice
what he's mad about he's like there's no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever seeing
that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten how dyeth the wise man as the fool
right so he's obviously has some level of care in his mind of his status and his legacy right
here's the thing if you're just living for this world if you're if you're really a worldly person
i could see why you'd care about your legacy but you know what if you are a dedicated christian
and you realize that your life is just about getting other people into heaven and edifying
other people and serving other people it doesn't matter if your work's so forgotten on this earth
it doesn't matter if anchor baptist church someday is forgotten under the sun if there's
going to be souls in heaven for all of eternity that are there because of the works of anchor
baptist church hey who cares if i'm ever remembered as a pastor under the sun if i can be remembered
as a servant of god up in heaven who cares if i'm remembered of being oh he was just you know such
a good leader i don't care it's like are there people that i'm gonna meet in heaven that i got
there by preaching the gospel that's what matters notice what it says uh go if you would verse number
18 now this would be the third category he gives himself over to number three the vanity of toil
verse 18 says yay i hated all my labor which i'd taken under the sun because i should leave it
unto the man that shall be after me now again if you're working for the lord if what whatsoever
you're doing you're doing as unto the lord you know it shouldn't matter in your mind who it's
handed to when you're gone right who's gonna you know receive these things like in my opinion
that just seems like a pretty vain thing to worry about like i'm being wise i'm building all these
things i'm building this pool this orchard who's gonna inhabit this house when i'm gone it's like
who cares you'll be gone it doesn't matter right stay there colossus 3 23 says and whatsoever you
do do it heartily as to the lord and not unto men so hey who cares about the man that's going to
come after you and take your works verse 19 and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a
fool yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I've labored and wherein
I've showed myself wise under the Sun this is also vanity I would say it's a
vain thing to care about like who cares just live your life singularly unto
Christ you walk your Christian life you serve God you know that's all you can
control you cannot control other people you cannot just control every per every
successor every church plant every you know successor in business every
successor in the presidency like these things cannot be controlled you just
worry about yourself you know there's enough that you have to worry about of
your own life to worry about what's gonna happen when I die it's like hey
tomorrow we'll take care of itself serve God today he says in verse 20 therefore
I went about to cause my heart to despair of all my labor which I took
under the Sun but there's a man whose labor is in wisdom and in knowledge and
in equity yet to a man that if not labor therein shall he leave it for his
portion this also is vanity and a great evil so I mean he is describing a true
fact the reality of this world that yes indeed there are a lot of people who
they labor in wisdom they work super hard they're knowledgeable they're
equitable and when they die or when they retire they turn things over to a jerk
that runs everything into the ground right we've seen those examples in
business where a man works super super hard he builds the company and then
someone's just handed this you know entity that's been built by hard work
and connecting with the customers and treating people well and someone walks
in and they just see the bottom line and that's all they care about and they
could run that business into the ground right there's businesses all the time
they're just running the ground it could be the same thing in churches where a
pastor works really hard builds a church dies gets sick retires and just some
rando comes in it didn't work hard they didn't prove himself that person could
just run things into the ground destroy it right nepotism this happens all the
time oh I'm a boss I own a company therefore my son will for sure run this
company whether he's cut out for it or not it's like I'm a pastor my son will
take over as a passer whether he's cut out for it or not hey that's just a
reality of this world he's saying there's people that work in wisdom they
give it someone who's a fool and it gets destroyed verse 22 for what hath man of
all his labor and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath labored under the
Sun for all his days are sorrow and his travail grief yea his heart take if not
rest in the night this is also vanity you see where you get brought to in life
where all you do is care for and live for the things under the Sun the things
of this world I mean does this describe your life tonight
reverse 23 again does this describe your life that all your days are sorrows I
mean I know we have troubles don't we there's times over sorrowful but are
just all your days sorrows and your travail grief yay his heart take if not
rest in the night can you never get a good night's sleep can you never go to
bed when it's time to go to bed I mean hey folks don't envy these people that
seem to have it all because Solomon saying that all of his days are sorrow
just man in general all of his days of sorrow was travail great grief yay his
heart taking not rest in the night you know that is not how it should be for us
as Christians go to Philippians for Philippians chapter number four now
here's the thing this can be what your life is like unfortunately this can be
what your life is like even as a Christian if you are living your life
just quenching the spirit being selfish caring about money giving yourself over
to wine giving yourself over to folly you could reach a point in your life
where all of your days are grief where you just hate every day you hate life
you hate being alive you can't even go to sleep can't even enjoy sleep can't
enjoy anything in your life I don't want to get there that's a bad place to be
and look we go through ups and downs as people some of us trials bigger than
others but every single day having no joy that's intense that's extreme right
there but what does the Bible command us Philippians chapter 4 verse 4 rejoice
in the Lord always and again I say rejoice hey we have the option as
Christians to rejoice and you know when rejoicing is gonna come natural to you
is when you're walking in the spirit when you actually how do you have the
joy of the Lord is when you're actually walking in the spirit and when you
realize like hey you know my finances can be shot my house could be falling
apart my servants suck cuz they don't even exist I mean I'm just thinking of
music but I don't hear any of my ears it's like that's okay because I'm saved
I mean that's one good thing to be happy about the fact that you're not gonna
spend eternity in hell because you've trusted in Christ can you not rejoice
about that and then you know you should do beyond that is you should actually
strive to be a living sacrifice to serve God and go be a soul winner be a
servant of God you know what if you do that there is gonna be rejoicing he that
goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with
what rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him hey you know life can be hard there
can be trials there can be sorrows but you know what brings joy how about
getting someone saved that brings joy you know I think most of you probably
already heard about the story of me and brother Warren soul winning this week
one of the coolest things ever out soul winning I'm not gonna be able to make
it to this upcoming Saturday soul winning time so I just said hey can
someone go soul winning with me this Monday I just want to make up the time that way
I'm not just like missing that time completely brother Warren went out with
me we just started knocking a random apartment that was knocked pretty
recently actually and we're knocking knocking we get this young teenage boy
saved praise God we got this young teenage boy saved it was great then we're
just knocking and no one's answering no one's want to talk to us just like for
the rest of the time then like the very last door that we talked to knock on the
door woman answers there's all these sweet kids in the background and she's
nice I asked her hey you know more importantly than church because she
said her kids go to church but she doesn't but she's a Christian hey more
importantly than going to church if you were to die today are you 100% sure that
you're going to heaven this woman just immediately started crying immediately
just started bawling and I'm just like okay what's going on and she goes you
know it's funny you said that because just on Saturday my nephew was murdered
here in OKC and I knew exactly what she was talking about because I follow the
news for our SWAT soul winning time but this kid when we go to our SWAT soul
winning time our soul winning action team we purposely go to the sites of
homicides to minister to families there and the neighbors but this homicide
happened way far away from her home didn't know this person didn't know that
she would be there but yet I believe that God led us to that woman you know I
believe that maybe God made my schedule all busy on Saturday so that I had to go
soul winning on Monday to find that woman and you know what her nephew was
murdered she was sad she was heartbroken but you know what we preach the Word of
God unto her we preach the gospel unto her you know what she believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ and got saved you know what so a horrible tragedy this
horrific situation losing a loved one to murder a young teenage boy lost to
murder but you know what happened as a result of that is that she ended up
getting saved you know what that brings me joy that brings angels in heaven joy
hey that should bring you joy right there it's like what would you rather do
waste your life chasing money oh just living for nothing but your video games
or your motorcycle trip or your boat trip or your next vacation and just
serving yourself pleasing yourself but really hating your life really not
being able to sleep really not being able to content or just like hey you
know maybe things aren't perfect in your life maybe you're strapped
financially maybe your health isn't great but it's like why don't you be a
soul winner and get that joy because no matter what else is happening in your
life you know if you're serving God you're on the right side don't look at
your finances to see if you're right with God look at your actions hey am I
in church am I loving God's people am I preaching the gospel am I reading his
word am I getting on my face and praying to God asking him to bless me you know
then you know you're on the right side and that could actually bring you joy
that could bring you peace I'll read for you Psalm 122 verse 1 I was glad when
they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord you know makes me
happy going to church makes me happy it makes me happy seeing God's people
seeing God's house be full of people you know being around other like-minded
Christians that should bring you joy in your life people who are not going to
church they are missing out I'm telling you you really think that people in this
area who are saved who have new IFB doctrine who know the truth that just
aren't going to church you think that they're living happy lives I'm telling
you they're not I would love for them to change that and get right with God
Psalm 119 verse 11 says thy testimonies have I taken as in heritage forever for
they are the rejoicing of my heart you know what else makes someone happy
reading the Bible reading God's commandments the Bible says it's the
rejoicing of my heart we live in a sinful stupid world and it's nice to
just get a reality check from God's Word you know you're out in this world and
you hear a man could be a woman a woman could be a man
sodomites can adopt kids you just read the Bible and it makes me happy to
bring me back to normal land look at Ecclesiastes 2 verse 24 notice he says
there's nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he
should make his soul enjoy good in his labor this also I saw that it was from
the hand of God now here's the thing I do believe that it is a blessing of God
for us to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor I'm not one of these people
that believes in being a static aesthetic excuse me where just don't
enjoy food eat only peanut butter and jellies eat old canned expired food you
know eat ketchup mixed with whatever weird expired food I believe in eating
well enjoying your life eating good hey have a juice have a sparkling juice
have sparkling water whatever soda whatever you're into right but ask
yourself this verse 24 is this really true there is nothing better really
Solomon there's nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink
there's nothing better in this life than to eat and drink that's that's too far
folks hey I do believe these blessings are from the hand of God and you know
what enjoy your life enjoy your life enjoy the food enjoy the thing the
pleasures of this life but you know what it shouldn't be the ultimate thing
you're living for verse 25 for who can eat or who else can hasten here into
more than I he's like hey if I want to give myself fully over to food and
eating who could do it better than me who could do it faster than me he's like
I could do it right now anything I want period verse 26 for God giveth to a man
that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge joy but to the sinner he
giveth travail to gather and to heap up that he may give to him that is good
before God this also is vanity vexation of spirit last place we'll go to his
first Corinthians seven so a little bit of a downer of a chapter when you're
just walking through Solomon's you know self experiment here and you know the
results are in on his experiment it's like all right self-indulgence vanity
failed didn't bring him happiness at all right wisdom well it's better than
folly as far as light excel at darkness it's better than folly but still
ultimately vanity because bad things that happen to fools also happen to us
also happen to him okay his labor his toil under the Sun vanity won't last
forever probably will give in to a fool who hasn't labored in those things right
you know eating good food drinking good drink enjoying your life hey you know
that is a blessing from God but is it really just nothing better than those
things right look at first Corinthians 7 verse 29 it says but this I say
brethren the time is short he remaineth that both they that have wives be as
though they had none you know that your life is short the Bible says the Bible
says that our life is like a vapor it appears for a little time and then it
vanishes away time is short pretty soon this life will be over pretty soon we'll
be in heaven all the works and stuff that we've done under the Sun will be
forgotten the vanity of this life will be forgotten look at verse 30 and they
that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoice as though they rejoice
not and they that buy as though they possess not they that use this world as
not abusing it for the fashion of this world pass it away let's assume that the
people I'm gonna talk about right now are all saved okay you know if you're
married you don't get a special reward in heaven just for being married if all
you ever did was get saved and get married pretty soon in heaven it's gonna
be as if you were never married okay let's say that you didn't do anything for
God but you built a huge business and you made all this money you know when you
get to heaven it's gonna be as if you never made money it's gonna be as if you
never built anything great because becoming great in the kingdom of God is
not by making money on earth it's not by building a business on earth it's by
serving God serving others winning people to Christ keeping God's
commandments and you know what conversely hey if your life is full of
poverty sorrow lack want pretty soon it's gonna be like you never lacked
pretty soon it's gonna be like you were never poor hey you got a bunch of health
problems in this life pretty soon it's gonna be like you never had any health
problems right I mean just think about just all the different situations people
are in one day it's gonna become so clear to everyone that this life is
meaningless that this life is vain and I'm talking the good and the bad and
pretty soon all the bad that you constantly struggle with and that you
constantly complain about and the things that keep you from serving God pretty
soon it's gonna be like none of those things ever happened and you're just
gonna be living in eternity with the fruits of your spiritual labor and you
know what I would rather be poor in this world have issues in this world have
conflict have health issues I'm not begging for those things don't hear me
wrong I'm just saying I would rather have those things but instead of
laboring under the Sun labor for heavenly rewards and then I get there
someday and it's like hey is as if I never had any of those problems and now
I'm enjoying joy now I'm happy now it's mirth now it's party time now it's
riches now it's a mansion hey now it's gold now it's those things then then
waste my life building the gold and the silver and the trinkets and the musical
instruments and the servants and the pools and the origin all these things
and getting to heaven being like well it's as if I never had any of those
things and now I'm dirt broke in heaven for all of eternity someday I'm telling
you it's gonna become very very clear to people and you know what Solomon he
ends up getting there in this book of course fear God to keep his
commandments this is the whole duty of man but you know what I like that we're
kind of walking through this experiment with him so that you don't have to do
this yourself you don't have to go through your lay hold on folly phase you
don't have to go through your let's drink wine phase you don't have to go
through your let's love money phase let's you know just obsess about wisdom
and obsess about toil and obsess over food and beverages hey let's use this
world but not abuse it God gives us blessings you enjoy those blessings if
God's giving you money hey praise God thank him for that recognize he gave you
the power to get wealth recognize he's the source of that and hey if you enjoy
your life you enjoy giving praise and honor to God while you serve him and you
know what if you don't have any riches you don't have any of these things you
thank God for your life and you give him honor and glory while you serve him
anyways let's pray Lord thank you so much for this chapter I pray that you
just continue to reveal truths that we need to hear from Ecclesiastes Lord that
you just fill us with wisdom and please bless the remainder of our time together
and bring us home safely tonight we love you and you see me pray amen
asked him this evening will be number 100 him number 100 day by day him number
100 100 day by day 100 there on the first
missed