WEBVTT 00:01:37.350 --> 00:01:43.760 church it's time to get started this evening you would grab a hymnal turn to our first song number 00:01:43.760 --> 00:02:03.820 56 when we all get to heaven hymn number 56 56 when we all get to heaven 56 there on the first 00:02:03.820 --> 00:05:02.750 this day opportunity together lord take that actually come with our whole heart 00:05:02.750 --> 00:05:09.210 for you ready and prepared to learn from your word to sing lift up our voices and praise you 00:05:09.210 --> 00:05:13.820 lord i pray that you'd be with the salvation this evening and the seeds that were planted 00:05:13.820 --> 00:05:17.460 also pray that you'd be with us for the service that you would soften our heart to the message 00:05:17.460 --> 00:05:23.900 and fill pastor with your spirit these things we pray in jesus name amen for our next hymn number 00:05:23.900 --> 00:05:47.440 102 102 he hideth my soul 102 he hideth my soul 102 there on the first 00:05:47.440 --> 00:10:55.990 to our work into his own purpose and grace which was given us in christ jesus for the world began 00:10:55.990 --> 00:11:00.690 on the inside you'll see our service times are listed there sunday morning at 10 30 00:11:00.690 --> 00:11:06.730 sunday evening 4 30 of course our wednesday service at seven below that we have our churchwide 00:11:06.730 --> 00:11:13.370 soul winning times with the leaders and respective times there and then we have an updated count of 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:19.230 salvations just from the big sunday we had some more philippines numbers so we have that reflected 00:11:19.230 --> 00:11:25.850 below also we have our online visitor card for visitors also there's an update to giving if 00:11:25.850 --> 00:11:32.470 you like to give online there's now a second option you can use zelle and it's just our church email 00:11:32.470 --> 00:11:35.810 address if you like to use zelle the only advantage for that is then you wouldn't have 00:11:35.810 --> 00:11:40.350 to pay a fee like you do with our other online giving platform so if you like to do that that's 00:11:40.350 --> 00:11:47.650 an option for you we do have on the back our upcoming events this upcoming sat sunday evening 00:11:47.650 --> 00:11:52.800 it's our men's preaching night if you would like to sign up there's still time if you have not yet 00:11:52.800 --> 00:11:58.610 put your topic on there please do fill that out as soon as possible and we'll have a couple guys 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:04.550 preaching on the sunday evening oh yeah also um for the potluck it'll be bring your own potluck 00:12:04.550 --> 00:12:10.660 night so please do help with that that'd be a great blessing may 2nd is the oklahoma state 00:12:10.660 --> 00:12:16.790 university still water soul winning marathon first time doing a college soul winning marathon 00:12:16.790 --> 00:12:23.160 so if you'd like to attend that you can scan that qr code and sign up godresource.com events 00:12:23.160 --> 00:12:31.560 and then let's see may 9th is the mother's day tea may 20th through the 24th anti-israel conference 00:12:31.560 --> 00:12:36.230 steadfast baptist church and it's always funny when people go online and accuse our church 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:41.130 you guys are zionists you baptists zionists you worship israel it's like we're going to the 00:12:41.130 --> 00:12:46.870 anti-israel conference folks it's crazy online you just get accused of everything on every end 00:12:46.870 --> 00:12:51.810 of the extreme so pretty funny but i'm looking forward to that conference i'll be preaching 00:12:51.810 --> 00:12:58.260 may 23rd that saturday so looking forward to that june 17th through the 20th is the european 00:12:58.260 --> 00:13:04.720 soul-winning conference in germany don't get the wrong idea i know it says anti-israel and then 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:11.020 germany these things are not related okay nazis bad we've preached on that don't get the wrong 00:13:11.020 --> 00:13:16.850 idea we do have our prayer list as well there's an update i'm going to be an uncle i'm excited 00:13:16.850 --> 00:13:23.200 for that so my brand new sister-in-law reagan is pregnant so if you keep her in prayer also 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:29.460 remember to please keep praying daily for baby uriah his heart condition of course remember we're 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:34.530 just praying that he'd be very strong because as soon as baby uriah is born he's supposed to go 00:13:34.530 --> 00:13:40.000 get a very major surgery so keep that in prayer the lemon family first works baptist church 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:45.740 those are the major updates i could see there of course all these we're keeping in prayer 00:13:45.740 --> 00:13:49.860 throughout the week but if you have anything new that you'd like us to add please do email the 00:13:49.860 --> 00:13:54.410 church at any time and we'll add that for you but before we go to our third song let's go ahead and 00:13:54.410 --> 00:13:59.350 go to the lord in prayer as a church family lord we thank you for the opportunity to be in your 00:13:59.350 --> 00:14:04.110 house tonight to open up our bibles and hear from your word i pray that you would just pour out your 00:14:04.110 --> 00:14:08.480 spirit upon this service that you'd greatly bless us this evening that you'd answer these prayer 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:15.070 requests according to your will i pray that you would bless my sister-in-law reagan brother i 00:14:15.070 --> 00:14:20.410 pray that you just bless the unborn baby womb that you'd help the pregnancy to be healthy 00:14:20.410 --> 00:14:24.730 and for everything to go well for them i pray for the lemons family that you would bless 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:30.660 their unborn twins in the womb especially baby uriah that you would just heal that baby's heart 00:14:30.660 --> 00:14:35.990 that your hand would just be upon that child that baby would grow strong be as strong as possible 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:41.210 and everything would go well with the surgery lord that you just majorly bless in this situation 00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:46.460 pray that you help this family during this time give them strength lord and please bless 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:51.750 first works baptist church as well we pray for brother hall that you bless his health and his 00:14:51.750 --> 00:14:57.750 upcoming health appointments that you just help him through his health issues lord we pray for 00:14:57.750 --> 00:15:02.510 piper that she would just be able to get sleep that you'd help her with her pain management 00:15:02.510 --> 00:15:06.820 and range of motion and everything that goes along with recovery i pray that you just help 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:13.300 her spirits to be high help her during a difficult time lord i also want to pray for the soul winning 00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:19.140 that's going on in the philippines brother eric jameson some other people that are over there 00:15:19.140 --> 00:15:24.960 pray that you bless them keep them safe door open to them that they can get many people saved of 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.950 course please continue to bless pastor stuckey evangelister bannock the great works that are 00:15:29.950 --> 00:15:35.370 being done over there what i pray that you just send more laborers into the harvest both the 00:15:35.370 --> 00:15:40.070 philippines here in oklahoma city all over the world we need more soul winners i pray that you 00:15:40.070 --> 00:15:45.420 would send us more people that have a heart to reach the lost lord we pray for brother theodore 00:15:45.420 --> 00:15:52.000 for his mother's cancer to be healed pray for brother miles that you bless him and miss rhea 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:57.560 that you help them during the health situation brother miles also pray for all the church members 00:15:57.560 --> 00:16:02.780 that we have here with unsaved loved ones that you would fill us with boldness to be good witnesses 00:16:02.780 --> 00:16:07.710 for christ to our family members that those people would be receptive lord that they'd soften their 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:12.530 hearts to the gospel i pray that you'd be with us for the remainder of this service and this week 00:16:12.530 --> 00:16:16.910 we love you in Jesus name we pray amen all right at this time we'll go and go to our third song 00:16:16.910 --> 00:16:38.980 for our third song this evening in your white handouts we psalm 150 psalm 150 150 in your white 00:16:38.980 --> 00:17:34.630 handouts psalm 150 there on that first verse 00:17:34.630 --> 00:19:05.070 if you would to ecclesiastes chapter ecclesiastes chapter three good evening 00:19:05.070 --> 00:19:11.150 ecclesiastes three the bible reads to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose 00:19:11.150 --> 00:19:17.260 under the heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up 00:19:17.260 --> 00:19:23.700 that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:30.590 up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away 00:19:30.590 --> 00:19:36.540 stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 00:19:36.540 --> 00:19:43.040 a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away, a time to rend 00:19:43.040 --> 00:19:49.370 and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, 00:19:49.370 --> 00:19:56.130 a time of war and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? 00:19:56.130 --> 00:20:03.990 I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made 00:20:03.990 --> 00:20:11.570 everything beautiful in his time. Also he hath set the world in their heart so that no man can find 00:20:11.570 --> 00:20:19.050 out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them but 00:20:19.050 --> 00:20:26.020 for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink and 00:20:26.020 --> 00:20:33.950 enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God. I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall 00:20:33.950 --> 00:20:41.220 be forever. Nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it. And God doeth it that men should 00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:49.070 fear before him. That which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been. And God 00:20:49.070 --> 00:20:56.390 requireth that which is past. And moreover I saw under the heaven and moreover I saw under the sun 00:20:56.390 --> 00:21:02.810 the place of judgment that wickedness was there and the place of righteousness that iniquity was 00:21:02.810 --> 00:21:09.810 there. I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time 00:21:09.810 --> 00:21:16.570 there for every purpose and for every work. I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of 00:21:16.570 --> 00:21:24.260 men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For 00:21:24.260 --> 00:21:32.090 that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts even one thing befalleth them as the one 00:21:32.090 --> 00:21:40.930 dieth so dieth the other. Yea they have all one breath so that a man hath no more so that a man 00:21:40.930 --> 00:21:48.790 hath no preeminence above a beast for all is vanity all go into one place all are of the dust 00:21:48.790 --> 00:21:54.900 and all turn to dust again who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward in the spirit of the 00:21:54.900 --> 00:22:01.100 beast that goeth downward to the earth wherefore i proceed that there is nothing better than that 00:22:01.100 --> 00:22:07.610 a man should rejoice in his own works for that is his portion for who shall bring him to see 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:12.520 what shall be after him let's bow our heads for prayer father in heaven thank you for this day 00:22:12.520 --> 00:22:31.320 man well we are in ecclesiastes three this is a very poetic part of the book and of course 00:22:31.320 --> 00:22:36.990 ecclesiastes is a very philosophical book and he's been talking about the vanity of life under the 00:22:36.990 --> 00:22:42.300 sun now he's going to go on to explain kind of the seasons of life that we go through it says 00:22:42.300 --> 00:22:50.700 in verse number one to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:57.410 what's interesting is when it comes to righteousness and sin one of the things believe it or not that 00:22:57.410 --> 00:23:02.920 could divide something being right and wrong and simply doing something at the right time right for 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:09.060 example you know there's a time to say the name of god right in prayer if i say the name of god 00:23:09.060 --> 00:23:13.610 that would be an appropriate time to say god's name when we stub our toe that would be an 00:23:13.610 --> 00:23:18.630 inappropriate time to say god's name right hey you know the physical relationship between husband 00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:22.540 and wife that's a good time to do that when you're married it's a bad time to do that when you're 00:23:22.540 --> 00:23:27.970 not married right so really time can be one of the defining factors in our life that determines 00:23:27.970 --> 00:23:32.840 what's right what's wrong what's appropriate god's given us these different times it says in verse 00:23:32.840 --> 00:23:42.520 number two a time to be born and a time to die a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which 00:23:42.520 --> 00:23:48.180 is planted and of course you know we don't believe in evolution or the big bang theory 00:23:48.180 --> 00:23:53.750 or anything like that we believe that the lord opens and closes the womb and if you exist today 00:23:53.750 --> 00:24:00.830 it's because god created you and god had a time appointed for you to be born we're not here by 00:24:00.830 --> 00:24:06.490 accident we're not some sort of cosmic accident there was a date there was a time that god said 00:24:06.490 --> 00:24:13.980 you know be born you're you're here today right for me may 23rd 1997 that was my time to be born 00:24:13.980 --> 00:24:19.880 and i have no clue when my time to die is i believe that there is a time that god's will is for each 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:26.100 of us to die now we could do stupid things to kind of override god's will in that sense right 00:24:26.100 --> 00:24:30.970 people commit suicide people do terrible things but you know i do believe that god has appointed 00:24:30.970 --> 00:24:36.150 time for me to die that his will would be for me to die and so what should we do look what it says 00:24:36.150 --> 00:24:45.440 and a time to or sorry a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted so the time that 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:52.090 we find ourselves right now hey we've been born we are alive someday there's going to be a time 00:24:52.090 --> 00:24:58.780 to pluck up that which is planted but right now is our time to plant right now is our time to sow 00:24:58.780 --> 00:25:03.640 while we're alive while we have breath in our lungs we should be using this time of life that 00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:10.250 god has given to us to serve him to win souls to do things for christ why because everything 00:25:10.250 --> 00:25:15.530 else under the sun is vanity everything else under the sun is going to be burned up someday 00:25:15.530 --> 00:25:19.500 and you know what you're going to stand before christ at the at the judgment seat of christ 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:24.670 and you know everything that's wood hay and stubble is going to be burned up but that silver that gold 00:25:24.670 --> 00:25:31.490 those precious things is are going to remain and so now is the time to plant look at verse number 00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:39.680 three a time to kill now again there's a there's a time differentiation here that would make it 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:45.790 appropriate to kill or would make it sinful wicked the sin of murder some people would say that it's 00:25:45.790 --> 00:25:51.250 always wrong to kill no matter what because a lot of people just take a really shallow understanding 00:25:51.250 --> 00:25:57.060 of the bible they go to exodus 20 oh thou shalt not kill therefore you know capital punishment is 00:25:57.060 --> 00:26:02.360 off the table therefore self-defense is off the table but here's the thing when jesus quoted that 00:26:02.360 --> 00:26:08.760 he quoted it as thou shalt do no murder so according to the bible there is a time to kill 00:26:08.760 --> 00:26:15.250 there are times where it would be appropriate even just and righteous to kill what would be one of 00:26:15.250 --> 00:26:22.420 those times well the government has been entrusted with the duty of punishing evil doers right so if 00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:28.250 someone has committed a capital crime i believe that god wants that person to go through the 00:26:28.250 --> 00:26:34.210 proper channels of our government to have a trial to face their charges to be convicted 00:26:34.210 --> 00:26:38.750 and eventually to be executed that would be a righteous thing that would be one of those 00:26:38.750 --> 00:26:45.060 times where hey it's good it's righteous to kill you know also defending your life would be a time 00:26:45.060 --> 00:26:49.970 where it would be righteous where it would be acceptable to kill now the bible talks about how 00:26:49.970 --> 00:26:55.720 hey if a thief is breaking your into your house and the sun has risen up upon him that would be 00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:59.920 an inappropriate time because you don't want to kill someone just for stealing what's the spirit 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.420 though of that law is hey if someone's trying to hurt you if it's night or you don't know if they're 00:27:03.420 --> 00:27:07.880 going to hurt you or if you do know that they're going to hurt you you could even use lethal force 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:11.780 and that would be appropriate you know thank god we live in a country where the laws reflect 00:27:11.780 --> 00:27:16.720 those biblical values where in oklahoma you're not going to be punished for defending your life 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:21.540 for using lethal force when someone's trying to kill you or something like that and it says and 00:27:21.540 --> 00:27:29.400 a time to heal time to break down and a time to build up right so you could look at these seasons 00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:36.330 of life from the perspective of your personal life you know your church your family sometimes 00:27:36.330 --> 00:27:42.210 churches families can go through cycles like this and i think like in the last couple years it seems 00:27:42.210 --> 00:27:48.370 like there's been a lot of breaking down in like our new ifb friends and just like a lot of fighting 00:27:48.370 --> 00:27:54.690 and drama and just having all these issues but then there's also a time to build up and for me 00:27:54.690 --> 00:28:01.310 i'm really focusing and purposing in 2026 my motto for 2026 is ignore the haters haven't looked at 00:28:01.310 --> 00:28:06.970 the haters one single time all year and i'm feeling great because i want this to just be a time of 00:28:06.970 --> 00:28:11.750 building up you know i'm trying to spend just a lot of extra time in my bible and just really 00:28:11.750 --> 00:28:15.570 get into god's word serving god as hard as i can because i feel like our church kind of gone 00:28:15.570 --> 00:28:21.400 through that cycle of breaking down and now we're kind of in that season of building up it says 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:30.010 verse number four a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance so 00:28:30.010 --> 00:28:36.040 obviously you know we should as christians have good discretion and one of the great ways you can 00:28:36.040 --> 00:28:41.570 get discretion by the way is reading the word of god proverbs chapter one talks about how these 00:28:41.570 --> 00:28:47.270 things are written to give the young man wisdom and discretion right there's an appropriate time 00:28:47.270 --> 00:28:52.370 to be laughing and there's an inappropriate time to be laughing you know there's an appropriate 00:28:52.370 --> 00:28:58.850 time to be mourning and if you would go to roman's chapter number 12 roman's chapter number 12 00:28:58.850 --> 00:29:15.980 notice what it says let's see here looking for weep with them that we rejoice with those that 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:23.540 rejoice 18 you said 15 notice what it says rejoice with them that do rejoice so what would be an 00:29:23.540 --> 00:29:29.670 appropriate time to laugh or rejoice when your brother or sister in christ is rejoicing or 00:29:29.670 --> 00:29:35.080 laughing right someone buys a new house someone gets a promotion someone has a baby someone has 00:29:35.080 --> 00:29:41.210 something good happen toward them you know the right response to that is rejoicing and you know 00:29:41.210 --> 00:29:45.410 it's weird how some people they don't want to do this they want to be envious and when their 00:29:45.410 --> 00:29:50.340 brother and sister in christ has something good happen to them they're kind of angry about that 00:29:50.340 --> 00:29:54.800 they kind of back up or don't want to say congratulations but look as christians part 00:29:54.800 --> 00:30:01.160 of loving your neighbor loving your brother esteeming others better than yourself is considering 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:06.350 how other people are feeling and saying hey you know my brother my sister they're having a really 00:30:06.350 --> 00:30:10.220 important moment in their life maybe you're having a bad week maybe you're having a bad day 00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:15.350 you put those things aside you do what a mature spiritual christian does you put those things 00:30:15.350 --> 00:30:20.950 aside and you rejoice with your brother you are excited with your brother for things that are 00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:26.210 going well in their life and on the other side the bible says to weep with those that weep you 00:30:26.210 --> 00:30:30.370 know what if you're just having a great week things are going great for you and you know you 00:30:30.370 --> 00:30:35.210 get a call from someone and they're having a terrible week they had some sort of tragedy 00:30:35.210 --> 00:30:38.620 you know you want to have like this wicked attitude creep up where it's like well i don't 00:30:38.620 --> 00:30:43.560 want to deal with this i'm having a good day you know you're killing my mood you're killing my vibe 00:30:43.560 --> 00:30:50.170 no no there's a time to weep there's a time to laugh and you know what weep with those that weep 00:30:50.170 --> 00:30:56.190 have your heart break with people when their heart breaks that would be having discretion 00:30:56.190 --> 00:31:04.610 go back to ecclesiastes chapter number three ecclesiastes chapter number three it says a time 00:31:04.610 --> 00:31:09.890 to mourn and a time to dance now i don't know if the old ifb likes that verse because they'll just 00:31:09.890 --> 00:31:15.300 say it's always sinful to dance no matter what in any context but the bible says there's a time to 00:31:15.300 --> 00:31:19.120 dance and you know when i see my little toddlers dancing i don't think it's anything sinful about 00:31:19.120 --> 00:31:23.020 what they're doing they're just you know having a great little time there's a time to dance the 00:31:23.020 --> 00:31:32.020 bible says it says a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together time to embrace 00:31:32.020 --> 00:31:40.150 and a time to refrain from embracing now sometimes in different bibles that you have do any of you 00:31:40.150 --> 00:31:44.450 have like little numbers that like to cross reference you to a different verse this one 00:31:44.450 --> 00:31:48.040 doesn't have that but i have another bible that does and it's interesting here where it talks 00:31:48.040 --> 00:31:53.700 about how there's a time to embrace there's a time to refrain from embracing you know when i saw 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:57.920 that i immediately thought of what i mentioned in verse one like you know the physical relationship 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:03.750 between husband and wife there's a time for that it's in marriage there's a time to refrain from 00:32:03.750 --> 00:32:10.220 embracing before you're married now look that is a hard thing to do obviously man has that 00:32:10.220 --> 00:32:16.340 natural desire inside of him but guess what it's time to refrain from embracing when you are not 00:32:16.340 --> 00:32:22.130 married now go if you would to joel chapter number two joel chapter number two because one 00:32:22.130 --> 00:32:27.160 of my other bibles had this cross reference i just thought this was kind of interesting joel 00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:39.750 chapter number two joel chapter two look at verse number 12 it says therefore also now sayeth the 00:32:39.750 --> 00:32:48.020 lord turn ye even to me with all your heart and with notice this word fasting and with weeping 00:32:48.020 --> 00:32:54.320 and with mourning and rend your heart and knot your garments and turn unto the lord your god for he 00:32:54.320 --> 00:33:01.000 is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil so 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:07.720 notice this in the context here is about people who had done wrong right their hearts were far 00:33:07.720 --> 00:33:12.530 from god and they're kind of going through the process of getting right with god that's why it 00:33:12.530 --> 00:33:17.870 mentions things like fasting right one of the reasons people often fast is you know maybe they 00:33:17.870 --> 00:33:22.310 have a sin or they just want to feel close to god they want god's power back on their life 00:33:22.310 --> 00:33:27.190 and they're saying you know god i'm gonna withhold myself from this what physical pleasure 00:33:27.190 --> 00:33:32.400 this you know physical appetite that i have so that i could draw near to you i could give you 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:37.240 all my attention i could give you all my heart and that's what's happening here and it says notice 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:43.210 who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him even a meat offering and a 00:33:43.210 --> 00:33:50.210 drink offering unto the lord blow the trumpet in xion sanctify a fast call a solemn assembly 00:33:50.210 --> 00:33:56.960 gather the people sanctify the congregation assemble the elders gather the children and those 00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:03.210 that suck the breasts and then notice this let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride 00:34:03.210 --> 00:34:07.900 out of her closet so you know it's talking about just all these different groups of people what 00:34:07.900 --> 00:34:11.800 are they they're fasting they're mourning they're turning from their evil ways they're getting right 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:16.900 with God and specifically it mentions who the bridegroom and the bride it's saying hey bride 00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:21.440 bridegroom come forth out of your chamber right that's like a room a bedroom or something bride 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:26.300 out of your closet and this reminded me if you would go to first corinthians chapter number seven 00:34:26.300 --> 00:34:31.590 first corinthians chapter number seven ecclesiastes three is talking about hey there's a time to 00:34:31.590 --> 00:34:37.770 embrace there's a time to refrain from embracing what's one of those times where you should refrain 00:34:37.770 --> 00:34:42.030 from embracing well when you're not married that's one of those times but actually the bible talks 00:34:42.030 --> 00:34:48.220 about there's like one specific instance if you have consent to refrain even within the marriage 00:34:48.220 --> 00:34:53.810 covenant notice what it says in first corinthian seven verse one now concerning things whereof you 00:34:53.810 --> 00:35:00.270 wrote unto me it is good for a man not to touch a woman nevertheless to avoid fornication let every 00:35:00.270 --> 00:35:06.710 man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband so hey time to refrain from embracing 00:35:06.710 --> 00:35:11.270 when you're not married so hey you don't want to commit fornication so what do you need you need a 00:35:11.270 --> 00:35:17.220 wife ladies what do you need you need a husband and it says let the husband render unto the wife 00:35:17.220 --> 00:35:22.880 due benevolence and likewise also the wife unto the husband so the bible says this physical 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:27.880 relationship is something that's due to the other party it's something that is owed to the other 00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:35.630 party it says in verse four the wife hath not power of her own body but the husband and likewise 00:35:35.630 --> 00:35:41.530 also the husband hath not power of his own body but the wife so when it comes to within the bounds 00:35:41.530 --> 00:35:47.230 of marriage you know time to refrain a time not to refrain it's whenever the other spouse wants it 00:35:47.230 --> 00:35:51.910 that person has to yield their body in the physical relationship that's what the bible says 00:35:51.910 --> 00:35:57.400 the wife has no power over her own body do you hear that ex-new wifey the wife has no power 00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:03.440 over her own body right my body my choice no no no my wife's body my choice ladies your husband's 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:10.170 body your choice that is why it's due benevolence it's something that is due unto the other now but 00:36:10.170 --> 00:36:14.030 notice what i what i'm really focusing on because i've preached a lot on those other verses but 00:36:14.030 --> 00:36:22.120 notice verse five it says defraud ye not one the other except it be with consent for a time why 00:36:22.120 --> 00:36:28.420 that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again that satan satan tempts 00:36:28.420 --> 00:36:33.030 you not for your incontinency so first of all notice how if you are withholding this relationship 00:36:33.030 --> 00:36:38.110 in marriage when one party wants this relationship and the other is not giving that up to the other 00:36:38.110 --> 00:36:44.320 partner what does the bible say that is fraud that's why it says defraud ye not one the other 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:51.280 notice it says accept it be with consent for a time so if this part of your marriage is not 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:57.060 happening there has to be some boundaries it has to be by consent right some people will teach oh 00:36:57.060 --> 00:37:04.680 you have to get consent to have this activity no that's the world's philosophy that's feminism 00:37:04.680 --> 00:37:12.230 the bible actually says you have to get consent to not have this relationship it says why that you 00:37:12.230 --> 00:37:17.840 may give yourselves to fasting and prayer isn't that interesting and Joel too he's like saying hey 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:22.940 you know you're fasting you're praying you're getting things right with me and then you're 00:37:22.940 --> 00:37:28.040 saying hey bridegroom out of the out of the chamber bride out of the closet why because 00:37:28.040 --> 00:37:33.530 this would even be one of those rare times in marriage where there's a time to embrace there's 00:37:33.530 --> 00:37:39.670 a time to refrain from embracing if something major is happening all in your life you know let's say 00:37:39.670 --> 00:37:45.380 god forbid you have a child in the hospital and this child is on life support i mean this is just 00:37:45.380 --> 00:37:49.490 a really serious situation you might be losing your child you know a lot of people are going to 00:37:49.490 --> 00:37:54.990 be fasting in that situation i know i would be right you know your child's about to die i'd be 00:37:54.990 --> 00:38:00.650 fasting i'd be praying i'd be calling every one of you please pray for my child right that's what 00:38:00.650 --> 00:38:05.830 we all would do right and so this would be a time obviously where it'd be kind of weird if you're 00:38:05.830 --> 00:38:10.140 fasting you're crying out to god you're praying but then you know you're partaking of the physical 00:38:10.140 --> 00:38:14.360 relationship with your spouse like that doesn't really match like the severity of the situation 00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:19.310 that you're in right so if something is going on where you're fasting for any reason you just hey 00:38:19.310 --> 00:38:23.620 hey sorry you know speak now if ever hold your peace as i've heard it said right hey i'm gonna 00:38:23.620 --> 00:38:28.930 fast speak now if ever hold your your peace and if you get that consent then it's okay to refrain 00:38:28.930 --> 00:38:34.740 of course during that time so the bible says there's a time to embrace there's a time to refrain from 00:38:34.740 --> 00:38:39.790 embracing when you're single you gotta refrain you say i don't want to that sucks okay well then get 00:38:39.790 --> 00:38:49.550 married talk to girls put on deodorant get a job have a car wear nice clothes okay get a girl okay 00:38:49.550 --> 00:38:53.510 but then when you're married obviously you get a partake of that whenever you want but there's 00:38:53.510 --> 00:38:57.960 even an appropriate time to refrain from that relationship during times of fasting let's go 00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:05.530 back to uh Ecclesiastes chapter number three Ecclesiastes chapter number three by the way 00:39:05.530 --> 00:39:10.300 this is not a new ifb doctrine because you know my bible publisher had those verses as cross 00:39:10.300 --> 00:39:14.830 references you know that wasn't that wasn't the steven anderson commentary or something like that 00:39:14.830 --> 00:39:19.680 that wasn't the anchor baptist church commentary that was just some random bible company putting 00:39:19.680 --> 00:39:28.410 that there so let's see where are we at we are on verse number uh the six a time to get and a time 00:39:28.410 --> 00:39:36.190 to lose a time to keep and a time to cast away hey the seasons of life sometimes you know things 00:39:36.190 --> 00:39:41.580 are going great financially and you're making good money and things are going well other times it 00:39:41.580 --> 00:39:47.920 might just be a time to lose other times it might just be a time to cast away you know we ought to 00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:53.710 trust god in whatever season of life we're in and not always trying to fight against whatever 00:39:53.710 --> 00:39:57.830 season god is having us go through because of the fact that all things work together for good to 00:39:57.830 --> 00:40:02.420 them that love god to those who are the called according to his purpose and sometimes you're 00:40:02.420 --> 00:40:08.450 going through leanness maybe as a test maybe as a trial all these different seasons of life you 00:40:08.450 --> 00:40:13.000 know people just struggle with being content and people always think the grass is greener on the 00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:18.090 other side right if they don't have they want to have if they have they want to have more you know 00:40:18.090 --> 00:40:22.150 a time of sowing it's always a time of sowing or it's always a time of reaping that they need 00:40:22.150 --> 00:40:25.960 but really we just got to be content with such things as we have hey you know if you go through 00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:31.770 a time of leanness trust in the lord don't stop serving him during those times don't stop doing 00:40:31.770 --> 00:40:38.370 what's right you might just be going through a time to lose a time to keep and a time to cast 00:40:38.370 --> 00:40:43.650 away now in my house it's always a time to cast away i'm trying to throw everything away i mean i 00:40:43.650 --> 00:40:48.610 just wanted to cast it's just that is the time in my house just throwing things away i hate 00:40:48.610 --> 00:40:55.160 accumulation hoarders need to get right with god it is a time to cast away some dang things 00:40:55.160 --> 00:41:00.280 we as americans we just have too much stuff that's just why it's crazy you know the storage unit 00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:04.730 boom in america not because people are moving or anything like that it's just like permanent 00:41:04.730 --> 00:41:09.500 storage because of how much stuff we have it's crazy some for some of you guys it might be a 00:41:09.500 --> 00:41:18.460 time to cast away then it says in verse number seven a time to rend and a time to sew you know 00:41:18.460 --> 00:41:24.170 i can think about this in many different contexts one of those could be relationships right i mean 00:41:24.170 --> 00:41:28.380 the lord talks about in first gradients five how there's certain types of christians that we 00:41:28.380 --> 00:41:33.580 shouldn't have fellowship with people who are railers drunkards extortioners you know these 00:41:33.580 --> 00:41:38.660 type of people fornicators and sometimes for people it's really easy to let those people go 00:41:38.660 --> 00:41:41.980 it's like i didn't really like them anyways sometimes that's going to be people close in 00:41:41.980 --> 00:41:47.040 your life and it's going to take some faith it's going to take some you know character 00:41:47.040 --> 00:41:52.990 to realize hey this is a time to rend this is a time to cut things off and hey that's the lord's 00:41:52.990 --> 00:41:59.160 will sometime other times it's a time to sew maybe something's been rent in the past you know you 00:41:59.160 --> 00:42:04.240 never want to have this attitude if you've ever had some sort of relationship severed unless it's 00:42:04.240 --> 00:42:10.510 a reprobate of just like things can never be fixed things can never be restored you know it really 00:42:10.510 --> 00:42:15.590 bothered me just to speak frankly when roger jimenez got up at verity baptist church and was 00:42:15.590 --> 00:42:21.320 just trashing the new ifb and he said you know things have changed with me with the new ifb and 00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:27.710 then he said and it's never going back well why that's an unchristian attitude to say like hey 00:42:27.710 --> 00:42:32.060 things are wrong with my brother and sister in christ and they're never going to go back they're 00:42:32.060 --> 00:42:38.370 never going to be better that's a wicked attitude like why would you ever ever have an idea in your 00:42:38.370 --> 00:42:44.030 mind that there's any christian on this earth that just i don't care what happens i don't care if they 00:42:44.030 --> 00:42:49.520 apologize i don't care if they mature i don't care what they do you know i'm just never going to sew 00:42:49.520 --> 00:42:53.820 that back together that's wicked folks and let me tell you i'm preaching this because there's a 00:42:53.820 --> 00:43:00.480 danger with being unforgiving being bitter and here's the thing what does jesus say he says that 00:43:00.480 --> 00:43:06.500 if you don't forgive men their trespasses neither will your heavenly father forgive you of your 00:43:06.500 --> 00:43:14.170 trespasses and how you treat others is often how god treats you now i don't think that god liked 00:43:14.170 --> 00:43:18.750 it you know god looking down from heaven seeing roger jimenez saying oh yeah all my brothers in 00:43:18.750 --> 00:43:24.310 christ that have supported me and loved me over the years yeah never will get right with them i'll 00:43:24.310 --> 00:43:30.230 never you know be friends with them again that's a bad attitude the only people in this world that 00:43:30.230 --> 00:43:34.630 you should look at and say hey i will never have anything to do with those person is someone that 00:43:34.630 --> 00:43:41.030 is a reprobate look even your unsaved family members even if they've said mean things to you 00:43:41.030 --> 00:43:46.570 even if they've said that you're in a cult look even if they're drunk even if they're a railer 00:43:46.570 --> 00:43:51.030 shouldn't you hope that someday they won't be a drunk i mean shouldn't you hope and pray that 00:43:51.030 --> 00:43:55.620 someday they won't be a railer oh you don't understand they they've blasphemed god they've 00:43:55.620 --> 00:44:00.590 said our church is so terrible don't you hope that they get saved someday and don't you hope 00:44:00.590 --> 00:44:05.100 that they get right with god and look i understand there's some family dynamics where you just think 00:44:05.100 --> 00:44:10.290 in your mind like i can't ever see this person serving god like i can't ever see this person 00:44:10.290 --> 00:44:15.200 getting saved much much more like imagining them getting saved and like getting plugged in 00:44:15.200 --> 00:44:19.240 becoming a soul winner but look you should never lose hope for those type of things 00:44:19.240 --> 00:44:24.030 you should always pray for those types of things you should always wish for the best for those 00:44:24.030 --> 00:44:28.560 types of things and if there's anything rent in your life you know your desire in your heart 00:44:28.560 --> 00:44:32.300 would would be that that is sewn back together someday now here's the thing we don't want to 00:44:32.300 --> 00:44:37.590 just sew it back together contrary to god's word there's some people the bible says to separate 00:44:37.590 --> 00:44:43.740 from right there's some christians the bible says to separate from until they repent until they get 00:44:43.740 --> 00:44:48.510 things right with god but you know just having this attitude of i'll never fix things with this 00:44:48.510 --> 00:44:53.200 person i'll never love them again that is a wicked carnal attitude we got to make sure we don't have 00:44:53.200 --> 00:45:03.810 that in our hearts it says uh a time to rend and a time to sew a time to keep silence and a time 00:45:03.810 --> 00:45:11.730 to speak go if you would to amos chapter number five amos chapter number five there's a time to 00:45:11.730 --> 00:45:22.320 keep silence and there's a time to speak let's talk first about time to keep silence amos chapter 00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:32.670 number five look at verse number 10 it says they hate him that rebukeeth in the gate and they abhor 00:45:32.670 --> 00:45:40.240 him that speaketh uprightly you know there's some people there's some apartment complexes there's 00:45:40.240 --> 00:45:47.440 some whole nations that just hate men of god hate soul winners despise the doctrine of the bible 00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:52.140 just want christianity to be very far from them right you know a lot of eastern countries are 00:45:52.140 --> 00:45:56.760 like this a lot of these asian countries are like this definitely not the philippines but you know 00:45:56.760 --> 00:46:01.620 china and japan by and large they're not christian places you know in general they kind of just 00:46:01.620 --> 00:46:07.040 despise and hate him that you know rebukes and him that speaks in the gate notice verse 11 is 00:46:07.040 --> 00:46:13.440 for as much therefore as your treading is upon the poor and you take from him burdens of wheat 00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:18.270 you have built houses of hewn stone but you shall not dwell in them you have planted pleasant 00:46:18.270 --> 00:46:23.250 vineyards but you shall not drink wine of them for i know your manifold transgressions 00:46:23.250 --> 00:46:30.260 and your mighty sins they afflict the just they take a bribe and they turn aside the poor in the 00:46:30.260 --> 00:46:39.940 gate from their right therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time for it is an evil time 00:46:39.940 --> 00:46:46.720 will be a time to keep silence you know let's say you're out soul winning and you knock on 00:46:46.720 --> 00:46:53.040 someone's door and that person hates the one who's rebuking with god's word that person hates him 00:46:53.040 --> 00:46:58.130 that's speaking in the gates literally right someone just despises you they don't like you 00:46:58.130 --> 00:47:02.590 they don't want to hear from you you know that's not a time to try to just shove the bible down 00:47:02.590 --> 00:47:08.920 someone's throat the bible says after the first and second admonition reject right so when you're 00:47:08.920 --> 00:47:13.860 out soul winning hey we're there in general for what a time to speak i mean we're there to speak 00:47:13.860 --> 00:47:18.450 we're there to preach god's word but you know what that could quickly change to a time to keep 00:47:18.450 --> 00:47:23.120 silence if you're preaching to someone you give them the first admonition you give them the second 00:47:23.120 --> 00:47:28.430 admonition they reject you okay well it's time to keep silent with that person and move on right 00:47:28.430 --> 00:47:33.170 don't just sit here beating your head against the wall with people that don't want to hear the truth 00:47:33.170 --> 00:47:38.320 even the bible talks about reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee right you know there might be 00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:43.450 other times in life where you keep silence around the scorner you know there's some people that just 00:47:43.450 --> 00:47:48.760 scorn truth there's some people that just hate truth that you try to instruct them they don't 00:47:48.760 --> 00:47:54.910 have a desire to learn they don't want facts they don't want to see the truth would it really be 00:47:54.910 --> 00:48:01.070 profitable for me to just spend all my time trying to fix that person all my time trying to help that 00:48:01.070 --> 00:48:05.810 person see the truth no because there's a time to keep silence you know we're not going to have a 00:48:05.810 --> 00:48:11.280 ministry to the flat earthers trying to convince them of the globe that would be a waste of time 00:48:11.280 --> 00:48:16.000 why because these people are evil and wicked and they're scorners and they don't want to see the 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:20.680 truth and you can present them with evidence you can present them with facts and it's not going to 00:48:20.680 --> 00:48:26.020 help anything and so it's like why waste our time why speak in the ears of a fool you know there's 00:48:26.020 --> 00:48:32.270 this guy i think his name is like yan or or jan schultz he's in germany and he was trying to like 00:48:32.270 --> 00:48:38.500 glob on to this soul winning club and he's a big time flat earther and so he decided to go online 00:48:38.500 --> 00:48:45.010 and say that we are a babylonian sun cult anchor baptist church that that i am a catholic that i am 00:48:45.010 --> 00:48:50.990 an idolater you know just going online and railing against me and you know i gave him one rebuke i 00:48:50.990 --> 00:48:55.600 gave him two rebukes and then i just publicly marked the guy like hey everyone in germany watch 00:48:55.600 --> 00:49:01.020 out for this moron this flat earther this guy who denies reality and because here's the thing 00:49:01.020 --> 00:49:07.750 you know jesus is the way the truth and the life it is a red flag when someone hates truth let's 00:49:07.750 --> 00:49:13.250 just take a little commercial break all right it is a red flag when someone hates truth and you know 00:49:13.250 --> 00:49:18.590 this might be a hot take i think the vast majority of flat earthers and these mood landing deniers 00:49:18.590 --> 00:49:23.690 especially the artemis program are going to split hell wide open when they die because they hate 00:49:23.690 --> 00:49:28.390 truth it's like when you just can't acknowledge truth when you're just rejecting truth it makes 00:49:28.390 --> 00:49:33.110 me wonder what types of truth what other types of truth do you hate it's like there's literally a 00:49:33.110 --> 00:49:39.500 guy i'm not gonna say his name but there's a guy at spring crest baptist church who works in the 00:49:39.500 --> 00:49:45.720 johnson space center as a software engineer and he was sending me pictures this week from inside 00:49:45.720 --> 00:49:51.220 of mission control during the artemis mission and it's employees only i'm just like that is so cool 00:49:51.220 --> 00:49:56.400 like you're there during the artemis mission and it's like is this whole guy this whole life a lie 00:49:57.820 --> 00:50:01.800 this guy doesn't even exist you know at spring crest baptist church this evening there is an 00:50:01.800 --> 00:50:07.450 apparition there's a government plant apparition pastor reyes is preaching to him right now they're 00:50:07.450 --> 00:50:12.910 going to shake hands he's not real he's a hologram he he doesn't work as a software developer he gets 00:50:12.910 --> 00:50:16.640 paid money to do nothing he wasn't actually there in mission control he didn't send me 00:50:16.640 --> 00:50:20.980 pictures of that this week like i literally sent this guy pictures he just he just laughs it like 00:50:20.980 --> 00:50:25.990 this is a moron actually there's not here's the thing there's not even words in the english 00:50:25.990 --> 00:50:31.870 language fitting to describe the stupidity and wickedness of these people like like words don't 00:50:31.870 --> 00:50:36.880 do justice how evil and wicked you are and it's like i want nothing to do with flat earthers and 00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:41.770 these freaks and like some of the comments i've seen because obviously this is in the news with 00:50:41.770 --> 00:50:45.720 the artemis mission this week some of the comments i've seen this week have really reassured me 00:50:45.720 --> 00:50:50.590 of my position because i've heard people say like you know i love the new ife preaching 00:50:50.590 --> 00:50:55.770 but you know they're wrong on on the space program they're wrong on nasa and someone's like well you 00:50:55.770 --> 00:51:00.620 just got to show them that nasa lies you got to show them all the evidence and they said no good 00:51:00.620 --> 00:51:05.000 luck you're never going to convince these pastors i just don't talk about it with them it's like 00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:11.810 praise god that's the goal is i want people to be scared to say such stupid evil wicked things 00:51:11.810 --> 00:51:16.210 i want people scared to come to anchor baptist church and admit that they believe something so 00:51:16.210 --> 00:51:20.880 ludicrous it's like i would have a hard time rebuking you because again i just don't have words 00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:26.110 that adequately described how stupid and evil you are so like please just stay away or repent and get 00:51:26.110 --> 00:51:31.850 right with god that's that's my feeling towards that okay that had nothing to do with ecclesiastes 00:51:31.850 --> 00:51:39.870 but it's very relevant for this week let's go back to ecclesiastes ecclesiastes a time to keep 00:51:39.870 --> 00:51:45.100 silence and a time to speak hey speak not in the ears of a fool the bible says hey one and two 00:51:45.100 --> 00:51:50.760 admonitions move on but then there's a time to speak right and we as christians hey we need to 00:51:50.760 --> 00:51:55.850 get our voice back and go preach the gospel too many christians are silent in this world today 00:51:55.850 --> 00:52:00.540 too many christians have gotten saved and they're just keeping their mouth shut we need to open our 00:52:00.540 --> 00:52:05.390 mouths boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel that's one thing that you need to open 00:52:05.390 --> 00:52:09.990 your mouth wide and speak and hey you know the bible says that it's not permitted for women 00:52:09.990 --> 00:52:14.820 to speak in the church ladies are not supposed to be pastors but please by all means go out and 00:52:14.820 --> 00:52:19.800 preach your heart out preaching the gospel of jesus christ please open your mouth boldly 00:52:19.800 --> 00:52:24.070 and you know let the words of life flow out of your mouth getting people saved 00:52:24.070 --> 00:52:29.720 we need more people to speak in that situation there's a time to keep your silence there's a 00:52:29.720 --> 00:52:36.020 time to speak look at uh john or i'm sorry ecclesiastes three verse eight the bible says a 00:52:36.020 --> 00:52:42.440 time to love here's one that a lot of people don't want to acknowledge and a time to hate a time of 00:52:42.440 --> 00:52:49.200 war and a time of peace you know the world says that it's always a time to love we should love 00:52:49.200 --> 00:52:55.260 everyone no matter what the bible says there is a time to hate you know there are some times where 00:52:55.260 --> 00:53:04.870 the appropriate godly spirit-filled emotion is hatred right in psalm 139 david says do not i 00:53:04.870 --> 00:53:10.780 hate them oh lord that hate thee i hate them with perfect hatred hey someone that is a reprobate 00:53:10.780 --> 00:53:15.780 the bible says they are a hater of god guess what you are free to hate that person you should hate 00:53:15.780 --> 00:53:21.830 that person you know child molesters it's so weird and unnatural how so many people are trying to 00:53:21.830 --> 00:53:28.680 tell you to love even the child molester oh forgive the child molester love the mass school 00:53:28.680 --> 00:53:34.730 shooter it's like that's unnatural that's bizarre that's weird no no no hate the child predator 00:53:34.730 --> 00:53:41.440 hate the sodomite hate the mass you know school shooter these trannies no these people are evil 00:53:41.440 --> 00:53:47.090 and wicked hate the false prophet how about that one hate people preaching a repent of your sins 00:53:47.090 --> 00:53:52.470 false gospel hate the pope today oh he's an american may he rot in hell i don't care if 00:53:52.470 --> 00:53:57.960 he's an american he's a false prophet you know hate billy graham may he he already is burning 00:53:57.960 --> 00:54:02.690 in hell i don't even have to hope for that right there's a time to hate but you know there's also 00:54:02.690 --> 00:54:09.150 a time to love go to john chapter number 15 you know there's also a time to love and i'll be honest 00:54:09.150 --> 00:54:15.850 when it comes to the state of this world i truly believe that the biggest need that this world has 00:54:15.850 --> 00:54:21.910 right now is true biblical christian love right we're living in a dark world we're living in a 00:54:21.910 --> 00:54:28.990 world that's waxing cold that's waxing hateful in an ungodly way right we're living in a world 00:54:28.990 --> 00:54:35.080 where some 30 year old father charlie kirk is just like the most mild political commentator ever 00:54:35.080 --> 00:54:40.280 and he gets shot in the neck live and half the country celebrates it like you know there's a 00:54:40.280 --> 00:54:44.800 time to love and you know the bible talks about there's lots of people that we should love we 00:54:44.800 --> 00:54:49.460 should love the lost in this world you know for god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 00:54:49.460 --> 00:54:54.880 son your default position in this life should be love people should have to change that like oh i 00:54:54.880 --> 00:54:59.370 found out you're a sodomite oh i found out you're a child molester but you know anyone we meet in 00:54:59.370 --> 00:55:04.070 life with our default position should be to love that person and look you should give people the 00:55:04.070 --> 00:55:07.820 benefit of the doubt too you don't want to be like well that that guy looks effeminate so i'm just 00:55:07.820 --> 00:55:13.040 going to assume he's a sodomite look if you don't know there's not points for finding out earlier 00:55:13.040 --> 00:55:18.050 Your default position is to love someone, let someone prove you wrong if they're a reprobate. 00:55:18.050 --> 00:55:21.010 But look, we need more love in this world for the lost in general. 00:55:21.010 --> 00:55:24.390 The Bible says to love your enemies, that's a lot of love. 00:55:24.390 --> 00:55:26.680 That's a lot of love that Jesus commands of us. 00:55:26.680 --> 00:55:29.650 And what does he say we have to do to love our enemies? 00:55:29.650 --> 00:55:32.610 What's the proof that you love your enemies? 00:55:32.610 --> 00:55:39.570 When you pray for your enemies, when you do good for your enemies, when you bless your enemies. 00:55:39.570 --> 00:55:41.830 So you can't just say, "Oh, I love my enemies." 00:55:41.830 --> 00:55:44.850 Do you pray for them? Do you do good to them? Do you bless them? 00:55:44.850 --> 00:55:48.020 If you're not doing those things, you don't love your enemies. 00:55:48.020 --> 00:55:52.150 And look, how you love your enemies sounds like a pretty good way to love your friends, too. 00:55:52.150 --> 00:55:57.320 To do good, to pray, and to bless. That sounds like a good way to love your friends. 00:55:57.320 --> 00:55:59.280 That sounds like a good way to love your wife. 00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:02.320 That sounds like a good way to love your brothers in Christ. 00:56:02.320 --> 00:56:04.280 Love should be our default position in this world. 00:56:04.280 --> 00:56:08.680 Especially when it comes to Christians, loving each other, 00:56:08.680 --> 00:56:11.640 loving your fellow brother and sister in Christ is so important. 00:56:11.640 --> 00:56:13.620 Look at John chapter number 15. 00:56:13.620 --> 00:56:18.570 Look at verse number 11. 00:56:18.570 --> 00:56:23.740 It says, "These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you 00:56:23.740 --> 00:56:27.030 and that your joy might be full. 00:56:27.030 --> 00:56:33.440 This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you." 00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:37.820 Jesus says, "Hey, I'm giving you these commandments so that I can have joy 00:56:37.820 --> 00:56:39.830 and so that you can have joy." 00:56:39.830 --> 00:56:41.870 The commandments of God are not grievous. 00:56:41.870 --> 00:56:45.990 The commandments of God help our lives and following the commandments of God, 00:56:45.990 --> 00:56:47.950 Jesus says, brings him joy too. 00:56:47.950 --> 00:56:49.140 Seems pretty important. 00:56:49.140 --> 00:56:50.480 What does he command? 00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:53.670 "That ye love one another as I have loved you." 00:56:53.670 --> 00:56:57.590 Not only does Jesus just say, "Hey, you need to love each other. 00:56:57.590 --> 00:56:59.670 You need to love your brothers and sisters in Christ." 00:56:59.670 --> 00:57:04.660 He says, "You need to love each other as I have loved you." 00:57:04.660 --> 00:57:08.050 That's an extremely high level of love, right? 00:57:08.050 --> 00:57:12.180 Jesus is the most selfless person who's ever lived, right? 00:57:12.180 --> 00:57:15.130 He never did wrong to anyone. He's only suffering wrong, 00:57:15.130 --> 00:57:18.150 but he's returning good for the wrong that he's received. 00:57:18.150 --> 00:57:22.120 He's blessing. He's healing. He's ministering unto. 00:57:22.120 --> 00:57:26.080 He's spending time with. He's being kind to. 00:57:26.080 --> 00:57:31.360 And the Bible says, "Hey, you ought to love each other the way that Jesus loved the people that he was around." 00:57:31.360 --> 00:57:34.320 And so, you know, if you can't love your brother and sister in Christ, 00:57:34.320 --> 00:57:37.280 the Bible says, "How dwelleth the love of God in you?" 00:57:37.280 --> 00:57:39.810 You know, people just want to deceive themselves today. 00:57:39.810 --> 00:57:42.970 "Oh, I love my enemy," but you don't pray for them, 00:57:42.970 --> 00:57:45.940 you don't do good for them, you don't, you know, bless them. 00:57:45.940 --> 00:57:46.930 No, you don't love your enemy. 00:57:46.930 --> 00:57:51.960 Oh, it's like, "Oh, I love God," but you don't love your brother in Christ? 00:57:51.960 --> 00:57:52.880 It doesn't sound like you love God. 00:57:52.880 --> 00:57:55.240 "Oh, no, I really love God." 00:57:55.240 --> 00:57:57.150 Well, how do you treat your brother in Christ? 00:57:57.150 --> 00:57:59.380 How do you treat your sister in Christ? 00:57:59.380 --> 00:58:01.350 Because, you know, if you don't have love in your heart 00:58:01.350 --> 00:58:04.750 for your brother and sister in Christ, you don't love God. 00:58:04.750 --> 00:58:07.690 Now, look, does the Bible say, "Thou shalt be best friends 00:58:07.690 --> 00:58:10.740 with every single saved Christian on planet Earth"? 00:58:10.740 --> 00:58:12.920 No, that's not possible. 00:58:12.920 --> 00:58:14.910 Does the Bible even say, like, "Thou shalt be best friends 00:58:14.910 --> 00:58:16.890 with every single person in church"? 00:58:16.890 --> 00:58:19.860 No, that's not even possible for a lot of churches, right? 00:58:19.860 --> 00:58:21.850 But, like, for example, you know what the Bible does say 00:58:21.850 --> 00:58:24.060 is salute one another. 00:58:24.060 --> 00:58:26.200 It's like, can you say hello to your fellow brothers 00:58:26.200 --> 00:58:28.180 and sisters in Christ? 00:58:28.180 --> 00:58:30.160 Because, like, if you have such bitterness and anger 00:58:30.160 --> 00:58:32.140 in your heart that you can't even say hi 00:58:32.140 --> 00:58:34.120 to your brothers and sisters in Christ, 00:58:34.120 --> 00:58:36.480 how dwelleth the love of God in you? 00:58:36.480 --> 00:58:38.450 How is it that you're loving one another? 00:58:38.450 --> 00:58:40.410 Now, notice, that would be, like, baseline to me. 00:58:40.410 --> 00:58:42.720 Like, how easy is it to say hi? 00:58:42.720 --> 00:58:44.640 How easy is it to say, "Hey, good evening, brother. Good to see ya." 00:58:44.640 --> 00:58:46.690 "Hey, good evening, sister." Like, how easy is that? 00:58:46.690 --> 00:58:50.850 Jesus said to love each other as He loved you. 00:58:50.850 --> 00:58:53.140 That's a lot of love, right? 00:58:53.140 --> 00:58:55.090 His level of love is much higher. 00:58:55.090 --> 00:58:58.130 So that's why I say today, look, I think we got the hatred part down. 00:58:58.130 --> 00:59:01.390 I don't think there's any fag sympathizers in this room. 00:59:01.390 --> 00:59:03.360 I don't think there's anyone struggling right now, like, 00:59:03.360 --> 00:59:08.190 "Should I love this pedophile? Should I pray for this pedophile? 00:59:08.190 --> 00:59:10.180 Should I do good unto this pedophile?" 00:59:10.180 --> 00:59:12.160 I don't think anyone is struggling with that. 00:59:12.160 --> 00:59:14.150 I really hope no one's struggling with that. 00:59:14.150 --> 00:59:17.130 But what I guarantee you, every Christian at one point in their life 00:59:17.130 --> 00:59:20.110 will struggle with is feeling negative towards their brother, 00:59:20.110 --> 00:59:22.390 holding onto bitterness towards their brother. 00:59:22.390 --> 00:59:25.900 And look, that is a sin. 00:59:25.900 --> 00:59:28.840 It is something that you need to get your heart right with, 00:59:28.840 --> 00:59:31.910 and it does not matter what other people did to you. 00:59:31.910 --> 00:59:36.210 The Bible commands us not to be bitter one against another. 00:59:36.210 --> 00:59:37.180 That's just what the Bible says. 00:59:37.180 --> 00:59:40.550 It says, "Hey, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." 00:59:40.550 --> 00:59:42.520 Grieve the Holy Spirit of God when you're bitter, 00:59:42.520 --> 00:59:46.460 when you hate, when you despise someone for whom Christ died. 00:59:46.460 --> 00:59:49.920 And look, let's be honest, Christians can be annoying sometimes. 00:59:49.920 --> 00:59:53.070 Christians can do really stupid things sometimes. 00:59:53.070 --> 00:59:56.020 Christians can do things to hurt us sometimes, but you know what? 00:59:56.020 --> 00:59:59.230 Even just if it's for your own sake, just being like, 00:59:59.230 --> 01:00:02.250 "I want at least God to know that I'm merciful to my brothers, 01:00:02.250 --> 01:00:05.220 that I'm forgiving to my brothers, that I'm loving to my brothers, 01:00:05.220 --> 01:00:10.170 because when I mess up, I don't want God to come down on me like a ton of bricks." 01:00:10.170 --> 01:00:13.300 But if you're that person where you're just like, "I'm going to hold on to bitterness. 01:00:13.300 --> 01:00:15.290 I'm not going to love my brother. I'm not going to be kind. 01:00:15.290 --> 01:00:17.270 I'm not going to show the fruits of the Spirit to this person." 01:00:17.270 --> 01:00:20.250 Well, you better watch out when you sin, when you mess up. 01:00:20.250 --> 01:00:23.230 That's when God's going to come down hard on you. 01:00:23.230 --> 01:00:27.770 Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number 3. Ecclesiastes chapter number 3. 01:00:27.770 --> 01:00:29.870 So there's a time to love. There's a time to hate. 01:00:29.870 --> 01:00:34.120 If someone's saved, you always got to love that person. 01:00:34.120 --> 01:00:36.470 There's always a time to love in that situation. 01:00:36.470 --> 01:00:41.100 Now notice what it says in verse 9. 01:00:41.100 --> 01:00:46.820 "What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?" 01:00:46.820 --> 01:00:50.760 So now he's kind of switching gears and he's getting back to just the carnal work of man, 01:00:50.760 --> 01:00:52.810 the vanity under the sun. 01:00:52.810 --> 01:01:00.100 He says, "I have seen the travail which God have given to the sons of men to be exercised in it." 01:01:00.100 --> 01:01:06.050 Right? So, you know, exercise, like doing, I think of like doing a training exercise, right? 01:01:06.050 --> 01:01:09.030 You're doing like the fire drill at school as a kid. 01:01:09.030 --> 01:01:11.010 It's like you're not actually escaping the flames. 01:01:11.010 --> 01:01:12.010 You're not actually doing anything. 01:01:12.010 --> 01:01:15.980 You're kind of just practicing, kind of just like going through an exercise. 01:01:15.980 --> 01:01:22.000 Well, it's like our carnal earth in this world is kind of like a vain, pointless exercise. 01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:24.980 We're just like doing these meaningless things under the sun. 01:01:24.980 --> 01:01:33.930 And God has given us this travail, this hardship, these problems, kind of just to be exercised with, like as a test. 01:01:33.930 --> 01:01:36.430 Look what it says in verse number 11. 01:01:36.430 --> 01:01:40.940 "He hath made everything beautiful in His time." 01:01:40.940 --> 01:01:46.040 So when you're doing things according to God's time, it's going to be beautiful, it's going to be fitting, it's going to be right. 01:01:46.040 --> 01:01:47.020 This is interesting. 01:01:47.020 --> 01:01:57.450 "Also, He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." 01:01:57.450 --> 01:02:08.490 When it says that God has set the world in their heart, I think that mankind just kind of has like a natural love for this world. 01:02:08.490 --> 01:02:12.460 Of course, the Bible says, "Love not the world, neither the things in the world." 01:02:12.460 --> 01:02:16.440 Whoever loves the world doesn't love God, I'm paraphrasing that a little bit. 01:02:16.440 --> 01:02:19.420 But let's just be honest, God kind of has set the world in our heart. 01:02:19.420 --> 01:02:23.400 And what is the purpose that God has set the world in our heart? 01:02:23.400 --> 01:02:30.950 He says there, "so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." 01:02:30.950 --> 01:02:38.960 So here's the thing, God, He is unsearchable. How unsearchable are His ways and His ways past finding out, Romans chapter 11 says. 01:02:38.960 --> 01:02:48.930 The more that we study about this world, learn about this world, the more we kind of realize the greatness and power and magnificence of God and how much we don't really know. 01:02:48.930 --> 01:02:56.140 God's kind of set the world in our heart and we're interested in things like space travel, things that are happening this week. 01:02:56.140 --> 01:03:03.120 And we see like these amazing pictures of the moon and the solar eclipse that happened and pictures of the earth coming up. 01:03:03.120 --> 01:03:06.110 You know, we find it striking. We find it amazing. 01:03:06.110 --> 01:03:09.100 We find it just awesome in the purest sense of the word. 01:03:09.100 --> 01:03:12.090 And God's kind of put that desire in our heart. 01:03:12.090 --> 01:03:21.060 And the more that we learn about these things, the more we learn how great God is and how unsearchable his ways are, how his ways are past finding out. 01:03:21.060 --> 01:03:31.150 But we're kind of just as human beings going through this exercise, going through this travail of learning, working, discovering, always on the brink of, 01:03:31.150 --> 01:03:35.220 "Oh, scientists, they almost have everything figured out." That's what they always say, right? 01:03:35.220 --> 01:03:42.290 And then they realize, "Oh, there's another milestone down the way." And we're just going to be chasing that forever, as long as mankind exists, right? 01:03:42.290 --> 01:03:45.230 Because here, think, God is just not fully knowable to us. 01:03:45.230 --> 01:03:48.690 Now, we have the mind of Christ. We have the words of God. 01:03:48.690 --> 01:03:54.670 But you know what? I would be lying if I stood up here and said, "I understand everything about the nature of the creator of the universe." 01:03:54.670 --> 01:03:59.650 I'm kind of glad that I don't fully understand the creator of the universe. 01:03:59.650 --> 01:04:03.630 How weird would that be? It's just like, yeah, the creator, I get everything about him. 01:04:03.630 --> 01:04:06.620 I agree with him on all subjects. It's like that's very convenient, right? 01:04:06.620 --> 01:04:10.790 But you know what? That's not the case. We're always learning. We're always growing. 01:04:10.790 --> 01:04:14.710 We're never going to fully figure it out. But that's our exercise in this world. 01:04:14.710 --> 01:04:24.930 It says, "I know," verse 12, "that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life." 01:04:24.930 --> 01:04:28.880 You know, strictly speaking from a carnal perspective, what is this life good for? 01:04:28.880 --> 01:04:35.190 Hey, it's doing that exercise. It's enjoying good. It's rejoicing. It says in verse number 13, 01:04:35.190 --> 01:04:42.810 "And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good, all his labor. It is the gift of God." 01:04:42.810 --> 01:04:49.390 You have some people that are like ascetic, where they don't want to give themselves any worldly pleasure at all. 01:04:49.390 --> 01:04:52.410 And they don't want to even eat good food. They don't want to drink a drink. 01:04:52.410 --> 01:04:56.350 Then you have people who are like hedonists and they live for pleasure. 01:04:56.350 --> 01:04:59.620 You know, Solomon, he kind of tried out that hedonist life. 01:04:59.620 --> 01:05:06.770 And obviously if you get into covetousness, gluttony, hedonism, you could go way far wrong direction. 01:05:06.770 --> 01:05:09.700 But the Bible also says to not be righteous over much. 01:05:09.700 --> 01:05:14.150 And you know what, it is the gift of God to enjoy some of the things of this world. 01:05:14.150 --> 01:05:18.120 The Bible says that God's, you know, given us the world in our hearts. 01:05:18.120 --> 01:05:21.100 And I'm not talking about enjoying a little bit of sinful things, okay? 01:05:21.100 --> 01:05:24.080 I'm not saying, yeah, you know, just enjoy a little bit of sin. 01:05:24.080 --> 01:05:27.060 But it's like, you know, there's nothing wrong with having a big, juicy steak. 01:05:27.060 --> 01:05:30.720 Hey, if you like coffee, there's nothing wrong with having a coffee. 01:05:30.720 --> 01:05:35.950 There's nothing wrong with working hard in this earth and enjoying the fruit of your labor. 01:05:35.950 --> 01:05:37.900 The Bible says that that is the gift of God. 01:05:37.900 --> 01:05:40.100 Now look, you're a fool if that's all you live for. 01:05:40.100 --> 01:05:44.460 If all you live for is just what can my money buy? 01:05:44.460 --> 01:05:45.440 What's the best food I could eat? 01:05:45.440 --> 01:05:47.490 What's the best vacation I could take? 01:05:47.490 --> 01:05:49.480 What's the most entertainment? 01:05:49.480 --> 01:05:51.460 You know, the most amount of time I could spend entertaining myself. 01:05:51.460 --> 01:05:52.460 You're a fool. 01:05:52.460 --> 01:05:53.450 You're not a wise person. 01:05:53.450 --> 01:05:57.430 You're not walking circumspectly redeeming the time. 01:05:57.430 --> 01:06:00.410 You're walking as a fool of all you care about as the things of this world. 01:06:00.410 --> 01:06:01.410 But you know what? 01:06:01.410 --> 01:06:05.660 You also don't want to be a holier than now where you could just never enjoy anything good. 01:06:05.660 --> 01:06:07.010 Don't be a holier than now. 01:06:07.010 --> 01:06:09.930 You know, for example, people could be like this on missions trips. 01:06:09.930 --> 01:06:15.440 A lot of people, they go on missions trips, they spend their own money, they're paying their own way. 01:06:15.440 --> 01:06:20.400 And a lot of times when new IFB churches do missions trips, you know, we have a lot of soul winning. 01:06:20.400 --> 01:06:21.390 We're there to work. 01:06:21.390 --> 01:06:23.380 We're there primarily to get people saved. 01:06:23.380 --> 01:06:31.550 But sometimes it's like, you know, an hour in the evening of scheduled leisure or there's a Saturday of a couple hours of scheduled fun. 01:06:31.550 --> 01:06:39.620 You know, don't like discourage people or make fun of people or try to look down on people if they actually want to go do those fun things and you don't. 01:06:39.620 --> 01:06:47.010 Look, praise God. If you just want to go super hard and you just want to go pedal to the metal and just work the whole time and soul win the whole time. 01:06:47.010 --> 01:06:53.190 Praise God for you. That's great. But you know what? Don't try to act like you're better than people because they want to have a good meal, too. 01:06:53.190 --> 01:06:58.430 They don't they don't want to sleep on the floor. You know, they want to have a bed. They want to have a hotel or something like that. 01:06:58.430 --> 01:07:04.700 Oh, maybe they even want a place of the swimming pool and have some fun. You know, there's nothing wrong with enjoying the good of this life. 01:07:04.700 --> 01:07:10.920 You know, we should just always put the Lord first, make sure that we're loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength. 01:07:10.920 --> 01:07:13.880 You know, and then if there's things in this world that we can enjoy, praise God. 01:07:13.880 --> 01:07:18.290 The Apostle Paul said, "I've learned how to be abased and I've learned how to abound." 01:07:18.290 --> 01:07:24.640 In all places, he was content. You know, if he had nice luxury lodging, he was happy. 01:07:24.640 --> 01:07:27.630 If he didn't, he was happy. That's how we should be as well. 01:07:27.630 --> 01:07:33.220 He says in verse number 14, "I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. 01:07:33.220 --> 01:07:36.280 Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it. 01:07:36.280 --> 01:07:39.260 And God doeth it that men should fear before Him." 01:07:39.260 --> 01:07:45.210 So in contrast with man's work, which is vanity, it doesn't last, it has no meaning, 01:07:45.210 --> 01:07:50.340 whatever God does, the Bible says that it shall be forever. 01:07:50.340 --> 01:07:53.310 No man can put anything to it or take away. 01:07:53.310 --> 01:07:56.280 And so obviously primarily in this life that we have, while we're alive, 01:07:56.280 --> 01:08:01.240 what should we be doing? We should be spending our time doing things of eternal value. 01:08:01.240 --> 01:08:04.270 Why? Because you know what? Your business that you're building, 01:08:04.270 --> 01:08:09.340 you know the electrical wire that you're running, the computers that you're working on, 01:08:09.340 --> 01:08:14.280 whatever your job is, all the things that you are doing will all be burned up someday. 01:08:14.280 --> 01:08:18.840 Every single thing you're doing in your carnal life is not going to last. 01:08:18.840 --> 01:08:21.790 It has an end. It's vanity under the sun. 01:08:21.790 --> 01:08:24.730 But whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. 01:08:24.730 --> 01:08:28.390 Every soul that you win to Christ, that's eternal. 01:08:28.390 --> 01:08:32.350 People could spend 50 years, 60 years on the job, 01:08:32.350 --> 01:08:35.310 investing so much of their life just caring only about their career, 01:08:35.310 --> 01:08:38.440 and then one day it's gone, never to be returned. 01:08:38.440 --> 01:08:39.480 It's just over. 01:08:39.480 --> 01:08:42.400 But you know what? Every single soul you win to Christ, it's eternal. 01:08:42.400 --> 01:08:46.070 And every single thing that you do for the Lord, 01:08:46.070 --> 01:08:49.020 the Bible says no one could put to nor take away. 01:08:49.020 --> 01:08:51.000 I don't believe you could lose your rewards. 01:08:51.000 --> 01:08:54.310 I believe if you serve God and you're gaining rewards in heaven, 01:08:54.310 --> 01:08:57.280 I don't think you could ever lose those rewards for any reason. 01:08:57.280 --> 01:09:00.650 Those things are things of eternal value. 01:09:00.650 --> 01:09:03.950 He says, "That which hath been is now, 01:09:03.950 --> 01:09:07.270 and that which is to be hath already been." 01:09:07.270 --> 01:09:09.550 Right? Hey, there's no new thing under the sun. 01:09:09.550 --> 01:09:11.650 Ecclesiastes 1 talks about. 01:09:11.650 --> 01:09:16.730 I like this last phrase, "And God requireth that which is past." 01:09:16.730 --> 01:09:19.100 What should we do with our lives? 01:09:19.100 --> 01:09:21.050 How is it that we please God? 01:09:21.050 --> 01:09:24.100 That which is past, that which we've already done. 01:09:24.100 --> 01:09:27.050 You know, the Bible says, "I am the Lord, I change not." 01:09:27.050 --> 01:09:30.300 Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. 01:09:30.300 --> 01:09:31.280 How do we please God? 01:09:31.280 --> 01:09:33.250 You know, the same things that pleased him yesterday. 01:09:33.250 --> 01:09:37.630 Winning souls to Christ, what does he require of you tomorrow? 01:09:37.630 --> 01:09:39.580 That which is past, that which you've already done, right? 01:09:39.580 --> 01:09:43.840 Hey, we had a big weekend, soul winning marathon, great day soul winning, 01:09:43.840 --> 01:09:47.780 39 total salvations, you know what God requires of us next weekend? 01:09:47.780 --> 01:09:48.760 More soul winning. 01:09:48.760 --> 01:09:51.080 You know what he requires of us the weekend after that? 01:09:51.080 --> 01:09:52.080 More soul winning. 01:09:52.080 --> 01:09:54.220 You know what he requires you to do? 01:09:54.220 --> 01:09:57.270 Next week is to be in the house of God, to read your Bible, 01:09:57.270 --> 01:10:00.300 to pray to him, to love your neighbor, to love your brother, 01:10:00.300 --> 01:10:02.270 to serve him with all of your heart. 01:10:02.270 --> 01:10:05.640 What God requires of you is nothing new, right? 01:10:05.640 --> 01:10:07.550 He's just requiring that which is past. 01:10:07.550 --> 01:10:10.680 That which pleased him in times past is that which pleases him now. 01:10:10.680 --> 01:10:13.650 You know, as a Christian, I love Pastor Schell. 01:10:13.650 --> 01:10:17.610 He always would use to say this, is that it's not hard to know what to do. 01:10:17.610 --> 01:10:19.710 It's just hard to do it. 01:10:19.710 --> 01:10:23.130 You know, pleasing God and serving him, it is simple, right? 01:10:23.130 --> 01:10:25.690 Fear God and keep his commandments. 01:10:25.690 --> 01:10:26.670 This is the whole duty of man. 01:10:26.670 --> 01:10:28.650 That's the end of this book, right? 01:10:28.650 --> 01:10:30.620 It's simple, but it's not necessarily easy. 01:10:30.620 --> 01:10:32.900 But look, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. 01:10:32.900 --> 01:10:35.100 You don't have to sit here thinking, like, I've got to find the 01:10:35.100 --> 01:10:38.050 mystical, magical will of God for my life. 01:10:38.050 --> 01:10:40.030 No, he just requires that which is past. 01:10:40.030 --> 01:10:42.240 Hey, what you've already done that pleased him in the past, 01:10:42.240 --> 01:10:44.190 that's what he requires of you again. 01:10:44.190 --> 01:10:49.130 Verse 16, "And moreover I saw under the sun, the place of judgment, 01:10:49.130 --> 01:10:51.290 that wickedness was there. 01:10:51.290 --> 01:10:55.900 And the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there." 01:10:55.900 --> 01:10:59.060 And this could obviously be very frustrating. 01:10:59.060 --> 01:11:03.040 It could be very blackpilling when you look to institutions like, 01:11:03.040 --> 01:11:07.020 I don't know, the Supreme Court or to, you know, district judges 01:11:07.020 --> 01:11:10.000 or just places where judgment should be coming forth, 01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:11.990 righteousness should be coming forth, 01:11:11.990 --> 01:11:14.980 and then you see iniquity, you see corruption, 01:11:14.980 --> 01:11:16.970 you see all these terrible things going on. 01:11:16.970 --> 01:11:21.030 That could be kind of blackpilling if you're only thinking about under the sun. 01:11:21.030 --> 01:11:26.390 Right? Psalm 73 and Psalm 37 talks about the psalmist. 01:11:26.390 --> 01:11:29.370 He's just kind of losing his mind a little bit because he's seeing the wicked prosper. 01:11:29.370 --> 01:11:32.350 He's seeing the rich live out long days. 01:11:32.350 --> 01:11:35.330 He's seeing their children grow up in health. 01:11:35.330 --> 01:11:37.320 He's seeing them not have all these issues. 01:11:37.320 --> 01:11:40.400 And then finally, you know, he's like, I almost, you know, 01:11:40.400 --> 01:11:44.340 my steps almost slipped until I went to the house of God. 01:11:44.340 --> 01:11:46.310 Then I considered their end. 01:11:46.310 --> 01:11:48.350 Right? And that's what this is saying. 01:11:48.350 --> 01:11:54.700 It says in verse 17, I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. 01:11:54.700 --> 01:12:00.370 For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 01:12:00.370 --> 01:12:03.280 You know, we got to remind ourselves that God will judge. 01:12:03.280 --> 01:12:07.940 It just blows my mind in the day and age that we live in, 01:12:07.940 --> 01:12:10.880 that it seems like so many people just have no fear of God. 01:12:10.880 --> 01:12:16.140 And it's like the Bible says that God is going to judge the righteous and the wicked. 01:12:16.140 --> 01:12:21.610 You know what God is even going to judge? The Saved, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteth, 01:12:21.610 --> 01:12:23.600 and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 01:12:23.600 --> 01:12:26.570 And look, we as Christians, we need to, every once in a while, 01:12:26.570 --> 01:12:29.550 make sure we remind ourselves that God is the judge. 01:12:29.550 --> 01:12:32.530 He still sees. He still hears. He still knows what's going on. 01:12:32.530 --> 01:12:35.740 And we should, what? Fear God. 01:12:35.740 --> 01:12:38.970 We shouldn't constantly be living our lives thinking about what other people do. 01:12:38.970 --> 01:12:41.230 What did she do? What did he do? 01:12:41.230 --> 01:12:44.390 You know, what are you doing? Are you fearing God? 01:12:44.390 --> 01:12:47.430 Are you remembering that he is going to judge? 01:12:47.430 --> 01:12:51.370 Are you asking him for mercy? Because God will judge. 01:12:51.370 --> 01:12:55.880 He says in verse 18, "I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, 01:12:55.880 --> 01:13:02.260 that they might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 01:13:02.260 --> 01:13:05.410 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts. 01:13:05.410 --> 01:13:09.440 Even one thing befalleth them, as the one dieth, so dieth the other. 01:13:09.440 --> 01:13:18.590 Yea, they have all one breath, so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast, for all is vanity. 01:13:18.590 --> 01:13:21.530 Now remember, you don't want to take these verses out of context. 01:13:21.530 --> 01:13:28.030 In Ecclesiastes, he's explaining the fruitlessness and vanity of life under the sun. 01:13:28.030 --> 01:13:32.020 And you know, if you only looked at life through a biological perspective, 01:13:32.020 --> 01:13:37.090 you could come away with this idea that what's the difference between man and beast. 01:13:37.090 --> 01:13:39.020 Oh yeah, isn't that what a lot of people believe? 01:13:39.020 --> 01:13:43.200 That we're just beasts? That we're just evolved creatures? 01:13:43.200 --> 01:13:48.180 Well here's the thing, if you just look at things, strictly carnally speaking, 01:13:48.180 --> 01:13:51.160 you're living life and you're looking through the lens of under the sun, 01:13:51.160 --> 01:13:55.130 you know, our biological processes, the way we live our life, 01:13:55.130 --> 01:13:59.100 you know, there is no difference between us and a beast if you look at things only carnally. 01:13:59.100 --> 01:14:02.160 Why? Because look, he's like, man, one thing befalleth, 01:14:02.160 --> 01:14:06.680 he says, for that which befalleth beasts, the sons of men befalleth beasts. 01:14:06.680 --> 01:14:09.600 Even one thing befalleth them, as the one dyeth, so dyeth the other. 01:14:09.600 --> 01:14:12.770 It's like, man, this gazelle, he gets killed. 01:14:12.770 --> 01:14:15.290 Oh, look, this guy in the ghetto got killed. 01:14:15.290 --> 01:14:18.390 Oh, look, this animal got a disease and died. 01:14:18.390 --> 01:14:20.370 Oh, look, this human got a disease and died. 01:14:20.370 --> 01:14:23.340 Oh, look, this animal died in childbirth. 01:14:23.340 --> 01:14:25.320 Oh, look, this woman died in childbirth. 01:14:25.320 --> 01:14:29.520 And it's like, man, these animals are just dying, and they're just being buried, 01:14:29.520 --> 01:14:32.440 and they're returning to dust, and human beings, 01:14:32.440 --> 01:14:34.460 if you're not looking at the spiritual, are just dying, 01:14:34.460 --> 01:14:36.490 they're being put in the earth, they're returning to dust. 01:14:36.490 --> 01:14:39.410 You know, what a black-feeling way to live your life, by the way, 01:14:39.410 --> 01:14:43.640 and which is so crazy how atheists actually live their day-to-day 01:14:43.640 --> 01:14:46.700 thinking that we're all just cosmic accidents, 01:14:46.700 --> 01:14:50.820 that there's no meaning to life, there's no purpose in anything that we're doing, 01:14:50.820 --> 01:14:54.850 we're just beasts, everything that we do is just completely pointless. 01:14:54.850 --> 01:15:02.050 It says verse 20, "All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." 01:15:02.050 --> 01:15:05.660 I had someone one time at an old IFB church show me this verse 01:15:05.660 --> 01:15:08.610 to try to prove that people don't go to heaven when they die. 01:15:08.610 --> 01:15:12.270 And I'm just like, oh snap, you're not saved. 01:15:12.270 --> 01:15:16.360 I'm just like, I thought you were saved, like we're in an IFB church 01:15:16.360 --> 01:15:19.320 and you don't believe that people go to heaven when they die. 01:15:19.320 --> 01:15:23.290 It's like, folks, he's just talking about life under the sun. 01:15:23.290 --> 01:15:25.350 You got to read things in context. 01:15:25.350 --> 01:15:30.300 He's talking like strictly, carnally speaking, what happens to our bodies. 01:15:30.300 --> 01:15:33.270 Hey, we go to one place, we go to the earth, we turn into dust. 01:15:33.270 --> 01:15:39.150 dust. Now thankfully if you're saved, that's not where the story ends, right? Because one of these 01:15:39.150 --> 01:15:44.770 days God's gonna raise the dead in Christ, you know, the Lord is going to return and we actually 01:15:44.770 --> 01:15:50.460 will rise again even after we die. We're not gonna just end up being dust and ceasing to exist. No, 01:15:50.460 --> 01:15:57.070 our bodies will rise again someday. We just had Easter and you know just as sure as Jesus rose again 01:15:57.070 --> 01:16:02.400 from the dead, I will rise again from the dead. You will rise again from the dead someday. Don't 01:16:02.400 --> 01:16:08.370 have this hopeless black pilling thing. Oh life just sucks. You pay taxes. Everything's terrible 01:16:08.370 --> 01:16:12.620 and then you get buried in the ground. The end. It's like no there is heaven coming and you know 01:16:12.620 --> 01:16:17.980 what there's hell coming for the unsaved and you know what it should terrify a lost person 01:16:17.980 --> 01:16:23.280 that there's a real hell and there's such fools today walking according to this course of the 01:16:23.280 --> 01:16:28.700 world not thinking about things like heaven and hell saying things like oh I'm good. I don't need 01:16:28.700 --> 01:16:32.640 Christianity. I don't need the Bible. It's like look you're not just going in a hole someday and 01:16:32.640 --> 01:16:37.320 ceasing to exist. There's a real heaven. There's a real hell in the life we live under the sun. 01:16:37.320 --> 01:16:42.410 You know we're fighting for the spiritual life of people. We're fighting for people's souls, 01:16:42.410 --> 01:16:47.930 people's eternity. It says wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man 01:16:47.930 --> 01:16:54.380 should rejoice in his own works for that is his proportion for who shall bring him to see what 01:16:54.380 --> 01:17:00.610 shall be after him. So okay under the sun what's the ultimate you know benefit you can get out of 01:17:00.610 --> 01:17:08.460 this life strictly carnally speaking well it's just enjoying your own works how excited are you 01:17:08.460 --> 01:17:15.820 like this is the meaning of life enjoy your work enjoy your job men enjoy being a plumber enjoy 01:17:15.820 --> 01:17:21.380 turning the screwdriver ladies enjoy changing diapers enjoy the laundry and then you're going 01:17:21.380 --> 01:17:25.880 in the hole someday and then the end right he says for that is his portion for who shall bring him 01:17:25.880 --> 01:17:30.820 to see what shall be after him here's the thing living life under the sun there are some benefits 01:17:30.820 --> 01:17:36.230 there are some pleasures there are some joys that are gifts from god let us enjoy those things but 01:17:36.230 --> 01:17:42.150 let's not be like the atheist and like the evolutionist that has you know this earthly 01:17:42.150 --> 01:17:46.520 vision where you're just seeing bodies and you're oh these people just die someday they'll go in the 01:17:46.520 --> 01:17:51.640 ground it'll all be over no you need to have the heavenly vision that we are in a spiritual battle 01:17:51.640 --> 01:17:58.320 klesiastes is trying to get it through your head that looking just under the sun yeah life is vain 01:17:58.320 --> 01:18:03.770 yeah things are pointless but of course we know it's not just the things under the sun that exist 01:18:03.770 --> 01:18:08.600 we live in a spiritual time there's spiritual battle going on there's people's souls that are 01:18:08.600 --> 01:18:15.290 at stake and you know what if our gospel is hid it is hid to those that are lost what did klesiastes 01:18:15.290 --> 01:18:21.380 three say there's a time to keep silence there's a time to speak you know we need to be people that 01:18:21.380 --> 01:18:27.550 are out speaking the gospel of jesus christ because if we don't it is hid to those that are lost and 01:18:27.550 --> 01:18:32.790 you know this world may think that they're just working their job enjoying their vacations and 01:18:32.790 --> 01:18:37.200 someday they're just going to die and cease to exist but there is a real hell coming for people 01:18:37.200 --> 01:18:43.520 i think about my grandfather who unfortunately i'm almost 100 certain is in hell right now 01:18:43.520 --> 01:18:48.000 and will be for all of eternity that's a horrible thought is the saddest loss i've ever had in my 01:18:48.000 --> 01:18:54.290 life because i know for sure that he wasn't saved but man he just lived under this son i mean he had 01:18:54.290 --> 01:18:59.990 so much money he had the boats he had airplanes he really just enjoyed this life and you know i'm 01:18:59.990 --> 01:19:03.940 sure he just thought hey you know let's live it up now because soon you know i'm just going to 01:19:03.940 --> 01:19:09.520 cease to exist someday and you know it hurts me to say but you know what i i need the truth i need 01:19:09.520 --> 01:19:14.110 to say the truth that i believe that he's in hell right now and you know what it didn't really go 01:19:14.110 --> 01:19:18.930 according to his plan did it and there's a lot of people in this world that are just like my 01:19:18.930 --> 01:19:24.630 grandfather where they think it's all about golf it's all about baseball it's all about money it's 01:19:24.630 --> 01:19:28.910 all about the next vacation but you know what when they die when they breathe their last if 01:19:28.910 --> 01:19:34.230 they are not saved they will spend an eternity in hell let us wake up let us have some spiritual 01:19:34.230 --> 01:19:39.780 vision let us you know not live for the things under the sun let us get a care and a love in 01:19:39.780 --> 01:19:44.140 our heart for the lost so that other people don't have to lose their grandpa like that 01:19:44.140 --> 01:19:49.090 you know let's be soul winners like hey i had to lose my grandpa my grandpa's not saved but you 01:19:49.090 --> 01:19:54.160 know i can go and knock on some random person's door and get their grandpa saved and there's some 01:19:54.160 --> 01:19:59.550 guy out there who's grandpa i just got saved like that happens right that is actually important 01:19:59.550 --> 01:20:04.180 that is actually living a life of meaning that is actually you know not just living under the sun 01:20:04.180 --> 01:20:09.840 actually having meaning to your life let's pray lord thank you for ecclesiastes i pray that 01:20:09.840 --> 01:20:14.640 everyone in here would not have such a earthly mindset that we'd only care about the things in 01:20:14.640 --> 01:20:19.780 this world pray that you would just bless us with things and help us to enjoy the carnal pleasures 01:20:19.780 --> 01:20:25.350 that you do give us in this life but help us not to worship those things be consumed or obsessed 01:20:25.350 --> 01:20:30.120 over those things help us always to remember to view life through a spiritual lens and most 01:20:30.120 --> 01:20:44.870 importantly to be a soul winner in jesus name we pray amen last hymn this evening if you would turn 01:20:44.870 --> 01:23:49.790 to number 119 hymn number 119 119 till the storm passes by 119 they're on the first