with a word of prayer to bow your hands with me heavenly father we thank you for
the staying and for all the salvations that were had this evening pray also
that you would be with us for the service this evening that you would just
have your hand of protection on us that you would open our ears to the message
and that you fill pastor with your spirit these things we pray in Jesus
name amen for our next him turn if you with the 125 125 the solid rock 25 125
they're on the first
please raise your hand and then usher will be glad to bring you we have on the
front of our bulletin our Bible memory passage of the week 2nd Timothy chapter
1 verse 11 remember if you can memorize this whole chapter then you can quote it
to an adult non-family member will receive a prize keep working hard on
that memory chapter on the inside you see our service times are listed there
Sunday morning at 1030 Sunday evening at 430 and our Wednesday Bible study
through Ecclesiastes at 7 o'clock below that is all of our soul winning
our organized soul winning statistics we are at 840 for the year not including
today so great job with that out we have our visitor
call and our online giving information there if you're a
first-time visitor you wouldn't mind getting that qr code and filling that
out as a record of your visit you'll create that
for our upcoming events if you go to the back of your bulletin
we have our next event is the osu stillwater
soul winning marathon at the osu campus our first ever college marathon so if
you want to participate in that you could scan that qr code
and sign up so we know how many people are going to be coming it'd be really
helpful may 9th is the ladies tea there's a
sign-up sheet in the back going to be at one o'clock p.m here at the
building on may 9th may 20th through the 24th is the anti israel
conference hosted by steadfast baptist church in cedar hill texas
june 14th is brother ben naeem preaching both services here on
sunday please do join us for that then june 17th through the 20th is the
european soul winning conference in germany um kind of going through
announcements quickly because we're going to have some baptisms this evening
before service so very glad to have our visitors with us this evening
so we're going to go ahead and have a word of prayer go through our
our weekly prayer list that's there in your bulletin we're going to sing
one more song and then we'll have our baptisms for this evening
so let's go ahead and have a word of prayer together as a church family
glory thank you for the opportunity to be in your house this wednesday night
thank you so much for the word of god for your son's sacrifice
for all the brethren that are here for our new visitors lord i pray that you
just bless this evening that everything would be done for your
honor and glory lord we want to lift up selena's
grandfather in prayer jonathan who's in the hospital with
kidney failure has been for some months lord i pray
that you would just heal his body that you perform a miracle
and just help him to fully recover lord and if he's not 100 sure that he's
going to heaven lord i pray that people would get an opportunity to preach the
gospel of jesus christ with him and also lord we want to pray for the
other requests that we have here pray for my sister-in-law reagan
that she would just bless her during her pregnancy that baby would be healthy
we want to lift up the lemons family that you would please again perform a
miracle on the baby in the womb that has the
heart condition uriah i pray that you just heal that baby's
heart completely and that that baby would be very strong upon birth
that if the baby needs to go into surgery maybe it would just be very
strong and that you just bless the surgeon and all of that going on i
pray that you'd also help their family that your spirit would just bless them
that you give them grace during a difficult time
i also want to pray for the halls pray for brother cameron and his health
pray for miss jennifer's mother piper that you just help her
with her emotional health lord please just lift up her spirit give her grace
help her to sleep well and fully recover from her knee surgery
i want to pray for brother eric in the philippines that you continue to
film with the holy spirit to do great works for you over there
which the door of opportunity would remain open for him
that you help him to work hard and just get many people saved
and someday bring him back safely to us lord we also want to pray for brother
theodore's mother that she would be fully healed of her
cancer also we want to pray for all of the church members
that we have with unsaved loved ones we just bless those individuals
that you would remind us to be bold to preach the gospel that they would have
soft hearts to hear lord i want to pray for brother myles health
that you please help him i just pray that you bless all the works
that we're attempting to do for you and we pray that you get all the glory
for it in jesus name we pray amen let's go ahead and go to our third
song together for our third song in your white handouts
should have one under your seat the seat next to you
your white handouts will be psalm 15 psalm number 15
one five in your white handouts psalm 15 we'll sing there starting on
the first
evening at this time we'll go to our baptisms
christian have you trusted jesus christ as your savior and i baptize you my
brother in the name of the father of the son of the holy ghost buried in the
likeness of his death walk in newness of life here for
baptism and nila have you trusted in jesus christ as your savior
and i baptize you my sister in the name of the father of the son and of the holy
ghost buried in likeness of his death praise to
law and newness of life a minute this time we'll go ahead and pass the
offering plates we'll also get ready for our bible reading
of ecclesiastes chapter 5 ecclesiastes chapter number five actually let's go
ahead and do another song prior to that song 64 song 64 in
your hymnals shall we gather at the river we'll do
all four verses there 64 hymns 64 there all four verses
starting on the first shall we gather at the river
where bright angel feet have drawed if it's crystal tied
FOREVER!
*tossity*
What is more important in this world than the word of God?
And it doesn't matter who's preaching it, it doesn't matter who's up here,
what matters is that the King James Bible is open, and this right here deserves our respect.
It deserves our attention, because you know what?
There's things in this book that we learn every single time that we open it,
no matter where you're at in life.
Notice what it says in verse number 2.
It says, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God.
For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth. Therefore, let thy words be few."
So notice we're going to have a healthy fear of God.
We're supposed to keep things in the right perspective.
And remember, God's in heaven, we're upon earth, God is almighty, we're dust on this earth.
And notice it says, "Let thy words be few."
You know, that kind of flies in the face of this teaching that says when you pray,
the only legitimate prayer is when you're on your face for 8 hours straight.
I mean, right here, the Bible's saying not to be rash with your mouth,
and in fact, let your words be few, right?
We ought to remember who it is that we're talking to.
You know, when you're praying, it should never be this vain repetition, right?
How Jesus said the heathen think they're going to be heard for their much speaking.
Hey, long prayers are great if in that prayer you're asking things.
You're thanking God for things.
You're bringing up, you know, things that you desire in your heart.
But what would be annoying is if you're just repeating the same thing over and over and over and over and over again.
That's vain repetition.
And, you know, the Catholics, of course, are the most notorious offenders of this.
But I feel like even some Baptist, I've been in some Baptist churches where the prayer was really long and really repetitive.
Have you ever, you know, been in one of those churches where when they're praying, they say, Lord, like every other word, it's like he hears you.
You know, he got his attention. He knows his name. It's like, and Lord, we thank you, Lord, and we ask you, Lord, and we want you, Lord, and we see you, Lord, and we want, you know, this sermon to be blessed, Lord, and Lord, please hear us, and Lord, this, Lord, this, it's like he knows you said his name, right?
And look, we should speak his name reverently, invoke the name of the Lord, call upon the name of the Lord, starting off your prayers like that.
But, you know, you don't have to get super repetitive and all that. You know, we should be very intentional with what we pray, right?
We should be asking specific things from him. It's the sacrifice of fools that's just aimlessly speaking.
Verse 3, "For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words."
So the Bible is kind of comparing these two things, talking about a dream.
And some people would say maybe this is like a vision of the future, like I have dreams for my life.
Other people would say this is more like what you're thinking about, you know, in bed at night.
And I think that's probably what it's talking about, saying that a dream comes through the multitude of business.
We've all been there where we've had dreams related to things we do throughout the day.
Dreams about our job, dreams about church maybe or stuff like that.
I don't think necessarily every single dream you ever have is, you know, instigated by whatever business you're doing.
Because, you know, if you ever had like the Walmart melatonin, you've probably had some weird dreams that have nothing to do with anything you've ever done.
Right, it's like spaghetti monsters, I don't know, the Walmart melatonin, watch out for that stuff.
But in general, right, a dream comes through the multitude of business, and notice this, a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
You know, you would think that someone who's just speaking the most has the most wisdom, but that is not always the case.
You want to see my proof on that? It's called podcasters.
You know, the majority of podcasters are just idiots.
You know, how about Candace Owens? Like, this woman is a moron. She gets up, she says, you know, space is fake and gay,
and just every conspiracy you could possibly think of, you know, the honeybee cult in Utah is responsible for Charlie Kirk's death,
and also Egypt, and also Israel, and also Erika Kirk, and also everyone, right? It's just everyone's responsible for his death.
You know, people like her, fools. But man, there's a lot of words, right? A lot of words coming out of her mouth.
And you know, it's kind of a blessing and a curse that in the day and age that we live in,
we have so much access to get good information out there,
but also bozos have a lot of access to get bad information out there.
You know, which is why we need to make sure that we're getting good content out in this world.
You know, I don't believe in this mentality that the old IFB says, that says, "Hey, let's not live stream,"
which I don't even know, are we live streaming? It's fixed now? Okay.
We almost had an old IFB evening, but that was because of technical difficulties.
It's not because of this mentality that many of them have.
Well, just like, well, some people might, you know, skip church if we live stream,
therefore don't live stream. Hey, that's their problem.
You know, that's a hard problem if someone skips church because there's a live stream.
But here's the thing, there's lots of people that will never come to church,
and we might as well try to get them the Word of God.
There's lots of people that live in countries where they'll never have a great church to go to.
We might as well get them some good preaching.
We ought not to hide from the internet and these things just because there's bad things on there.
And you know, God bless people like Pastor Bruce Mejia, who's making a huge impact.
I mean, he's got hundreds of thousands of people following him.
It's nice when a good man of God is actually putting the truth out there.
Because there's so much stupidity and so much lies online, especially in the realm of religion.
Why? Because of what verse number one says.
It says, "And be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil."
You know what's annoying about the topic of religion is everyone thinks they're an expert.
And it is so annoying.
It's just like all the Christian influencers, if you've actually read your Bible cover to cover,
not to mention if you've done it 10 times, 12 times, 20 times, 50 times,
you're going to immediately be like, "This person's an idiot."
They have no idea what they're saying.
But yet, these simple people, they hear that and they get sucked in, right?
That's why, hey, we need good stuff out there.
We need after the tribulation out there.
We need marching design out there.
We need the preserved Bible.
We need the sodomite deception.
It's because we want to counter all these things with the truth.
So we're not going to be afraid of technology.
You know, A.I. isn't the antichrist.
A.I. is not the mark of the beast.
You know, let's use A.I. for God's glory, if we can.
Look at verse number four, it says, "When thou vowest of vow unto God,
defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools.
Pay that which thou hast vowed.
Better it is that thou shouldest not vow,
than that thou shouldest vow and not pay."
So notice, when it comes to not being hasty with your words before God,
we can think of that in prayer.
We can also think about that when it comes to vows.
You know, often times people make really hasty vows.
You know, we've probably all heard like war veterans who made some sort of vow in the foxhole, right?
Where I'm just going to dedicate my whole life to you if you save me from this situation.
Or I've heard of people who are drunk, and while they're drunk, they're making vows to God.
That's a scary place to be when you're not even in your right mind.
Hey, here's a good reason not to get drunk is you might say things that you regret.
Because I've heard of people while they're drunk saying, "God, I swear to you this will be the last time I ever drink."
Boy, that's scary for a drunk to say.
I wonder how many drunks have died from breaking their vow to God in their drunken stupor.
But guess what? You don't get to say, "Oh, it was a mistake. Oh, it was an error."
Because notice what it says in verse 6, "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin.
Neither say thou before the angel that it was an error.
Wherefore should God be angry at thy voice and destroy the work of thy hands?"
So you don't get to say, "Oopsie, didn't mean that. Oh, that was a mistake. That was an error."
No, the Bible says it's better that you don't even vow than to vow and not pay.
So hey, number one, be very careful about making vows to God.
And you know what? I would just avoid it. Let your yay be yay.
Why would it be that you have to stand before God and say,
"God, I swear I'm going to go soul winning for the rest of my life."
Who's requiring you to make that vow? That's stupid.
It's foolish because you don't know what a day will bring forth.
You're not in control of the destiny of your life completely in that sense.
It's just foolish to make a vow like that.
When you make foolish vows, you end up getting yourself oftentimes in a no-win situation.
What's a Bible story that comes to mind about Jephthah?
He makes a vow, "Whatever comes through the gate here after the victory,
I'm going to sacrifice it unto the Lord."
Of course, what comes through the gate? His daughter.
And it's like, well, what should Jephthah have done?
He's in a lose-lose situation.
No matter what he does, it's a bad outcome.
Well, he shouldn't murder his daughter.
Absolutely, he shouldn't murder his daughter.
Well, he shouldn't break his vow to God.
Exactly. He's just screwed. He's just in a bad situation.
And you know, when you vow, when you make vows,
when you blow off your mouth foolishly,
you can often get yourself in a lose-lose situation
where there's no good option, no good outcome.
Now, of course, I think it was right that he followed through
with sacrificing his daughter because of the fact
that it's a picture of the gospel, right?
Because God gave his only begotten son.
And notice in the story how it was his only child, right?
So his daughter is his only child,
and she was kind of cut off from life in her prime
because she had to go upon the mountains
and bewail her virginity, right?
So she's a young woman, and she's kind of bewailing the fact
that she gave, you know, she's going to lose her best years,
she's going to lose all the things that she could have had in life.
Kind of like how Jesus gave his life, right?
Jesus gave his life in the prime of his life,
and he never had children, he never had a wife or anything like that.
So there's a lot of beautiful pictures in that story,
but I say all that to say this, don't make stupid vows, right?
Don't find yourself in one of these positions.
And notice again, it says, "Wherefore should God be angry at thy voice
and destroy the work of thine hands?"
You know, the number one important thing in your life
is that God is pleased with you.
Because it doesn't matter how much money you have, strength, wisdom, intellect,
if God is angry at you, he could destroy the work of your hands.
And oftentimes, what does it take?
It takes the things that we say.
You know, something coming out of your mouth for God to be angry at you
and destroy the works of your hands.
You know, we ought to fear God.
And of course, that's the conclusion of this whole book,
is that the whole duty of man is what?
To fear God.
You know, we need to push back against the modern,
new evangelical, love everything movement
that says that we shouldn't fear God.
Because you know what most Christians today teach?
That you should not fear God.
Even though there's an entire book of the Bible
where it says here's the whole duty of man
to fear God and keep his commandments,
we need to bring back the fear of God in America.
We need to bring back action.
When I say fear, here's what I mean.
Being scared of him.
Being terrified of him.
Thinking in your mind, hey, if I do this, God will mess me up.
Because you know what?
By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil.
You want to know why some people don't even care
if they go and cheat on their wife?
Why some women don't even care
if they go commit adultery on their husband?
It's because they have no fear of God.
But you know, if you're a Christian, you should be terrified
that if you hear the truth of God's word,
if you know what the Bible says on these things,
if you go outside of marriage,
you should be scared that God would kill you.
You should be.
You know, God killed people who brought in
the strange fire into the house of the Lord
that were drinking alcohol in the house of God.
You know what?
I am terrified to drink alcohol.
I would be afraid that God would kill me.
I'm serious.
Now look, here's the thing.
Why?
Because of whom much is given,
to him much shall be required, right?
So I don't think that, you know,
some Christian who's never read the Bible much,
they haven't really heard good preaching,
they don't know these things.
Look, God's still going to punish that person
and chastise that person,
but someone who knows the Bible really well
and just says, "Forget you, God, I don't care what you say,"
that person's going to get messed up.
Case in point, Roger Jimenez.
I'm not going to stop bringing it up
because I want us to fear God.
And when you lose the fear of God,
you are going down a path of destruction.
Because let me tell you
how someone could get up behind a pulpit
three times a week for years
while being addicted to pornography,
while not kicking people out of church
that are slanderers and railers,
here's how someone could do that.
No fear of God.
We need to fear God.
And we need to remember that every single thing
that we have in life that we're succeeding in,
it is by God's grace.
It is by God's power.
It is by God's spirit.
You know, it's not by the flesh.
It's not by might.
And you know what?
Preachers sometimes could be in danger of this
because preachers can kind of learn
to do God's work in the flesh, right?
Some preachers,
they may have really good speaking ability
from a natural carnal perspective.
And you know what?
That's a dangerous place to be
if you lose the fear of God
because you think,
man, I'm still preaching good sermons, right?
Man, I'm still administering well.
Our numbers are still up.
The money is still up.
But you know, you end up being like Samson
where you try to shake yourself again,
but then you realize one day
that the spirit of the Lord has departed from you.
And so I don't care how successful you get.
I don't care how big a preacher's church ever gets.
I don't care how much money you ever make.
I don't care how popular you are.
You need to every single day get on your face
and beg God for mercy.
You need to beg God for power.
You need to beg God for help from the spirit of God
to serve God and to do the things that we do.
Because man, if God gets angry at you,
he can destroy the work of your hands.
It doesn't matter how long you've built something.
It doesn't matter how long you've been on the top.
If God wants to destroy you, he will.
And so we need to fear God.
It says in verse number seven,
"For in the multitude of dreams and many words,
there are also divers' vanities."
There it is.
"But fear thou God."
See, that's a good reason not to vow.
It's because you fear God.
Because you know what?
I don't trust myself enough to make a swear to the Lord saying,
"I will always do this," or "I will never do this,"
because I know my flesh.
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good things.
You know, I fear God,
so why would I want to make a vow like that?
Go, if you would, to Matthew chapter number five.
Matthew chapter number five.
Jesus, of course, taught on this in the Beatitudes.
Matthew chapter number five.
Verse number 33.
So there's one type of swear where you're swearing to God, right?
You're saying, "God, I swear I'm going to do this."
"God, I make a vow unto you that I will do this."
There's also swear where you're, like, swearing on some sort of object,
or you're invoking the power of something else.
You've probably heard this on the playground,
like, "I swear by my mama," or something like that.
"I swear by my dead granny."
Don't say stuff like that, okay?
That's not appropriate, that's not a right thing to say.
Don't swear by heaven, don't swear by the throne,
don't swear by Jerusalem, don't swear by America,
don't swear by Oklahoma, don't swear by any of these things.
Notice what it says in verse number 36,
"Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
because thou canst not make one hair white or black."
Notice you can't swear these things
because you're not really in control, right?
You can't affect these things, but what should we do?
"But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay,
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
So hey, when it comes to will you do this?
Are you going to do this?
Yes or no is sufficient.
Now here's the thing.
Just because let's say that you say yes or no,
you haven't sworn, you shouldn't look at that as an excuse
or a way to get off the hook for what you said to do.
We should be people of our word.
That's something else that needs to come back in America today.
When someone says, "I will do this," actually do it.
And especially if you vow, especially if you swear.
I mean, we just sang the song.
"He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not."
Meaning if you do make a vow, if you do swear, if you do promise,
even if it puts you back, even if it's at your own personal detriment,
you better fulfill what you said because that's the right thing to do.
It's especially the right thing to do when you vow.
But you know what, even when you don't vow, if you just say yes,
if you just say no, be someone that can be counted on.
Be someone that is faithful.
That's who God wants to use today is people that are faithful.
Paul thanked Jesus Christ.
Why was it that Paul was put into the ministry?
Because he said that he was found faithful, right?
So God's looking for faithful people today.
What does that mean?
When you say yes and you say you're going to do something, you actually do it.
And when you say you're not going to do something, you don't do it, right?
Hey, you know, you did make some vows when you got married.
You said you're going to be forever only to this one person,
so long as you both shall live.
Fulfill that vow.
Keep your vow.
You know, husband, you said you would love your wife.
You said you'd actually love her, not be her roommate,
not just tolerate her, not crap talk about her to your family.
You said that you would love her.
You know, the Bible says to love your wives as Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it.
You better fulfill that vow.
Ladies, if you got married in a church that fears God,
you said that you would love, cherish, and obey your husband.
And you know what? You better fulfill that vow.
And even if you didn't promise that, the Bible tells you to do it anyways,
so you better obey your husband.
But you know, we need to get back to this today.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
Now let's look at verse number eight.
The Bible says, he's kind of shifting gears here.
He says, "If thou seest the oppression of the poor
and violent perverting of judgment and justice in the province,
marvel not at the matter,
for he that is higher than the highest regardeth,
and there be higher than they."
What's he saying?
When you see just how messed up some things in this world can be,
when you see people being oppressed,
when you see judgment being perverted,
he's saying, "Marvel not at the matter."
Now, I don't think he's saying, "Don't be upset by it."
I think he's saying, "Don't be shocked that this is happening.
Don't be surprised that we live in a fallen world."
But here's the thing, we don't need to get black-filled
because of the fact that the highest of the highest sees,
and he is going to recompense, he is going to repay.
And you know, today I saw something on the news
that was the perfect example of this.
Everyone's probably heard about the fraud that's going on in Minnesota
with the Somalians, how they're setting up these fake daycares.
You know, the Learing Center,
where they're getting millions and millions of taxpayer dollars
to start these daycares, but then there's no kids in them,
no one's enrolled, they're just stealing money from the taxpayer, right?
And the governor of Minnesota is that loser Tim Walz, right?
And Tim Walz, he hasn't done anything about it.
The guy is just corrupt as all get out.
But today he passed the law.
He's ready to make Minnesota a better place.
You know what law he passed today?
He passed a law that would allow seniors in assisted living facilities drink alcohol.
Make America great again.
I mean, that's really going to help Minnesota.
That's really going to help our country.
Hey, you know, there's fraud, there's abuse, there's lying, there's murder, there's all this evil going on.
But hey, at least the adults, you know, seniors can get drunk in the nursing home.
You know what? It's wicked as hell. It is perversion.
It is oppression because these old people are often what? Being filled with drugs.
Like these old people are at the end of their lives and they usually have a list this long of the drugs they're taking every single day.
And you mix that with alcohol, you know what it's going to do? It's going to kill people.
It is literally going to kill people.
There are seniors that are going to go to the grave earlier than they would have because of Tim Walz's wicked law that he passed into effect.
And he shares it all over X like it's some great news. It's so exciting.
You know what? That guy's wicked as hell. I hope that guy dies.
Evil piece of trash. You know, I'm praying for your demise because there's all these people are already a group of people that is very easily taken advantage of.
And you know, we've all seen the videos. We've all heard the horror stories of staff abusing these elderly folks.
You don't think some of these wicked staff might find it funny to get some old people drunk and to mess with them.
I guarantee you this stuff is going to happen. And you know who's responsible for it? Tim Walz.
But here's the thing. There's a governor higher than Tim Walz. His name is Jesus Christ.
And he sees and he hears and he knows and he's going to recompense that wickedness.
So, you know, I read this verse today and I'm like, wow, that explains what I saw today in Minnesota.
I'm seeing violent perverting of judgment. If you would keep your place there, go to Proverbs 31.
You know, what's funny is the Bible actually describes what happens to you when you drink alcohol and it says that you pervert judgment.
I mean, it just fits like a glove tonight. Notice what it says in verse number four of Proverbs 31.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink.
Why? Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
You know, a drunk person, they are perverted in their judgment.
And they won't be considering people that are afflicted and making right judgment.
No, they pervert the judgment of the afflicted.
It's not a coincidence that these wicked politicians love alcohol.
Why is it that they have such perverted judgment?
Because they're a bunch of drunks, that's why.
Because they drink this poison that perverts their judgment and they love to have it so.
They love to be perverted in their mind.
It says give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that have heavy hearts.
Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more.
Basically saying hey alcohol is for losers.
It's for those who are poor and miserable and have nothing to live for.
Let those people drink but it's not for kings.
It's not for princes.
You know I believe that any form of alcohol consumption is a sin.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
Now he's going to shift gears here kind of just the vanity of life he says in verse nine.
Moreover the prophet of the earth is for all the king himself is served by the field.
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.
Nor he that loveth abundance with increase.
This is also vanity.
So he's getting back to his lamentation of all the vanity under the sun.
And he's noticing hey someone that loves silver.
Hey here's something that really sucks for you to hear.
You'll never be satisfied with silver.
Boy that's a vain thing.
Imagine like the one thing you love in life.
You'll never be satisfied with it.
You'll never be happy.
You know this is why we should not love money.
There's nothing wrong with money.
But there is something wrong with the love of money.
And you know what?
It is shooting yourself in the foot to live a life that loves money.
That loves silver.
Because the Bible says you'll never be satisfied with silver.
And really you can just apply this to covetousness in general.
Someone who is covetous they are not satisfied.
They will never be happy.
Right?
So it does not matter how much money you make.
You'll never achieve happiness.
It does not matter what kind of house you live in.
You'll never like the house you live in.
It does not matter how good of a spouse you have.
You'll never be happy with your spouse.
And when you go to someone else you won't be happy with them.
You know we need to learn to be content in all things that we have to be content.
Nor he that loveth abundance with increase.
This is also vanity.
Right?
So some people they love money.
Some people they love just the accumulation of more stuff.
Right?
Some people their whole life is shopping.
Shopping is just their whole life and buying something new.
And the excitement and the dopamine hit of buying something new.
But here's the thing.
You never are actually satisfied.
There is no woman who's ever gone shopping and said I'm done for the rest of my life.
I'm happy now.
I'm content.
No they want to go next Friday.
They want to go Friday after that.
You'll never be happy.
But contrasted, look at verse 12.
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet.
Whether he eat little or much.
But the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
You know, oftentimes people envy the rich and wish that you had that lifestyle.
But you know, in some ways, being poor or being middle class is its own type of wealth.
Because the sleep of a laboring man is sweet.
You know, here's some currency, being able to sleep.
If you lost the ability to sleep, you would immediately recognize that.
And you would immediately long for the ability to sleep.
And even if you've ever gone through like seasons of life where it's hard to sleep.
Maybe had some sort of health issue or some just major tragedy in your life.
When you're not sleeping, I don't know about you, when I'm sleep deprived.
I'm just like, that is what I'm seeking in life is to get some dang sleep.
Well, you'd say, oh, I want to be rich. I want to have all these things.
Yeah, but what about if you could just never sleep?
What if you couldn't have the riches of a good night's sleep?
Why is it that the rich can't sleep?
It says that their abundance suffers them not to sleep.
It's like, how does that make any sense? I don't know.
But some people that just have so much stuff that it's constantly on their mind and they never sleep.
Sounds terrible. Sounds like hell. I don't want that.
You know, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet.
Notice whether he eat little or much.
The rich, they're never in the little phase.
Like the rich, they're always eating much.
They're always having a good meal.
They're always having quality food.
But yet still sometimes they can't sleep.
Whereas the poor, sometimes he's eating good.
Sometimes he's not eating at all, but at least he's sleeping, right?
So don't take those things for granted.
It says in verse number 11, when goods increase,
when goods increase, they are increased that eat them.
And what good is there to the owners thereof, save the beholding of them with their eyes.
So for many people, the more riches they get, the more bills they have.
The more riches you get, the more expenses that you have.
And you know, like even just having a family is kind of like a microcosm of this.
I don't think anyone in here is rich by any means.
But you know, most of us, we're working our job, and you know, there's raises,
there's cost of living raises.
Most of us, if you compare what you were making five years ago,
you're probably making a little bit more now.
Or when you compare what you were making ten years ago,
you're probably making more than you were ten years ago.
But do you think that your expenses have stayed the same?
No.
It's like to me, I feel like, you know, I make a little bit more money every year of my life,
but the expenses keep going up big time as well, right?
Whether that's, you know, Biden and Trump's economy,
or whether that's my daughter's bellies,
or whether that's my vehicle breaking down,
or whatever that is, you know, things just get more expensive.
And it's like, this is on a much greater scale for the rich.
And it can just be really stressful for them.
They get more money, but they have more people that increase,
that need to spend that money.
And they got people coming after them, right?
They got people who are wanting to take advantage of them,
take their money, steal from them.
It says in verse 13, "There is a sore evil, which I have seen unto the sun,
namely," notice this, "riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt."
Some people are just chasing money their whole life.
Other people, they get tons of riches, but those riches end up hurting them.
And think about, again, like I said, people coming after them.
You know, there's people that have riches, and now they're a target.
Now they're a victim of some sort of violent crime.
It's like, oh, you heaped up all these riches to your own hurt.
Oh, you heaped up all these riches, and now you have no real friends,
only people trying to slither into your bank account.
Oh, you have all these riches, and now you can't date anyone
because you don't know if anyone's sincere or anyone actually likes you.
Right, so there's people that they have money, but they don't have happiness.
They have riches, but they don't have happiness.
Go, if you would, to 1 Timothy 6, 1 Timothy chapter number 6,
1 Timothy chapter number 6, verse 8, the Bible says,
"And having food and raiment, let us be there with content."
What's the line of contentment in our life when we have food and clothing?
Now, let's be honest, we all have more than that in America.
We should be thankful for that.
But you know what, if that's all you had, you should be thankful.
You should be content, you should be happy.
Notice it says, "But they that will be rich," meaning they want to be rich,
"they fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition."
So notice the desire to be rich, the Bible likens that unto what?
A snare, which is a trap.
Now, you know, living in Idaho and being around hunting,
there was people that they wouldn't go hunting, they would go trapping.
You had to get your own, you know, separate permit for trapping.
And they would set up these traps in the wilderness for mountain lions,
for bears or whatever.
And how is it that they trap these animals?
They put something that looks alluring in the trap.
Oh, it smells good.
It's a big piece of meat.
Boy, that looks really good.
But, you know, as soon as that mountain lion steps in,
now it's destruction and perdition, right?
Now it's pain, now it's agony, now it's death.
This is what it is also to desire to be rich.
Riches in and of themselves, not sinful.
God has blessed rich people before.
If you get rich by diligent, hard work, not cutting corners,
you know, putting God first, and you get riches,
there's nothing wrong with that.
But usually what happens is people desire to be rich,
and so they walk into the trap.
They walk into the trap of sin,
which leads them down a path of destruction, misery, perdition.
Let's keep reading.
It says, "For the love of money is the root of all evil,
"which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith
"and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
"But thou, O man of God," notice, "flee these things
"and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."
Right, so righteousness should be the goal and the focus of our life, not money.
You know, if you wake up every day and your first thought is,
"How can I make a bunch of money?"
Like, you are far from God.
You're on the wrong path in life.
You need to be seeking after righteousness, faith, charity,
soul winning, being in the house of God, reading the Bible.
And hey, if you put him first and he blesses you, great.
But don't be one that seeks to be rich because that's how you destroy your life.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
Then it says in verse number 14, he says,
"But those riches perish by evil travail.
And he begeteth a son, and there's nothing in his hand."
So notice just the vanity here of riches.
If you desire silver, you won't be satisfied.
If you desire increase, you won't be satisfied.
Then if you get it, there could be all these dangers that come to you.
There could be all this evil that befalls you, even if you do get it.
Then if you get it, you could just lose it all by some sort of evil travail,
and you could have just worked your whole life chasing money,
and you could have had it for a moment, and it could just all be taken from you,
and you've got nothing to give to your kids, nothing to pass on to them.
Whereas like, at least if you're serving God,
there's always that spiritual heritage that you could pass down.
There's always those spiritual blessings that you've modeled and showed in your life
that your kids could follow in that footpath and be blessed by God.
But you know, if you're just one that just is obsessed with money
and obsessed with becoming rich, that's what your kids are going to see as the model,
and they're going to go down the same destructive path as you.
They have nothing to give to their children.
It makes me think honestly of my grandfather, believe it or not,
because my grandfather was a man of riches, had a lot of money,
and his father, even more so, his father started a grocery store
in Southern California called Lucky's Food Company
that ended up being merged with Whole Foods.
So like, this guy was crazy rich.
You know how much I solve it? Zero.
You know how much my father solved it? Zero.
Because riches just have a way of flying away.
And it's like, you know, oh, I'm going to get my family set up for life.
I'm going to make all this money. I'm going to be super rich.
You don't even know if that's true.
Even if you are successful, even if you make it, that's not a guarantee.
And let's be honest, most people don't become rich.
And usually the people that are desiring to be rich, especially as a Christian,
usually God's going to be hindering you.
God doesn't want you to destroy your life.
Maybe that's why I didn't get passed down to me.
Because God didn't want me to have it. Praise God for that.
I'm very content with where I am.
Ecclesiastes 5, look at verse number, let's see here, verse number 15.
"And he came forth of his mother's womb, as he came forth of his mother's womb,
naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor,
which he may carry away in his hands." See, Job recognized this, he had riches,
he had everything, and he realized, hey, naked came I out of my mother's womb,
naked shall I return, thither the Lord is given, the Lord's taken away,
blessed be the name of the Lord. That's the right attitude to have.
Verse 16, "And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came,
so shall he go. And what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?"
At the end of it all, all the money someone could chase,
what profit does it really have at the end?
Is anyone really on their deathbed thinking,
"Man, I wish I had more stocks. I wish I had sold more cars.
I wish I had made more money. I wish I had flown more airplanes.
I wish I had started more businesses. I wish I had done all these things."
No one's thinking that on their deathbed.
The boomers are really thinking, "Why didn't I have any kids?
Why am I in the nursing home, and why is Tim Walz feeding me alcohol?
Why is Tim Walz getting me drunk in the nursing home?"
That's really what they're thinking nowadays in Minnesota.
But they're not thinking, "Man, I wish I had worked more.
I wish I had more money. I wish I had these things."
Nope, it's just the wind. It's vanity.
Notice this, verse 17, "All his days also he eateth in darkness,
and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness."
Oh yeah, being rich would be so great. Oh, but you don't get to sleep at all.
You have no sleep. Oh, being rich would be so great.
But you're miserable, and you're sad, and all your days you're eating in darkness,
and you have misery with your sickness.
Look, a lot of rich people are completely miserable.
A lot of rich people would give all their money away to be happy,
to have someone in their life that's real, to have health, right?
Riches are not everything.
And notice what it says in verse 18.
"Behold, that which I have seen, it is good and comely for one to eat,
and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he hath taken under the sun,
all the days of his life, which God giveth him, for it is his portion."
So some people, they have riches, they have everything, but they don't get to enjoy it.
What's being blessed?
Whatever amount you have, being able to actually enjoy the fruit of your labor,
that's a great blessing of God.
That's a great blessing that not even the rich often can buy with money,
is having a wife that loves you, having peace in your home,
having children that are there around your table.
These are the blessings of God.
When you're, even if you're poor, you could choose to have a feast.
You could choose to have gladness.
Go to Proverbs chapter 15, Proverbs chapter number 15.
I don't think it's saying, well, some rich people, they're eating in sorrow,
and other rich people, they're getting to enjoy those things.
We actually have a choice.
Look what it says in Proverbs chapter 15, verse 15.
It says, "All the days of the afflicted are evil,
but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast."
Right?
So, you know, you could actually choose to be happy.
You could actually choose to be content.
You could actually choose to be thankful
to God for the things that you have.
And there could be people in big mansions
with billions of dollars that hate their meals,
and they hate their sleep, and they hate their wife,
and they hate their life.
And there could be people living in Oklahoma
in a trailer or something, living in an apartment,
living in a small house, not have much means,
not have the greatest food, not have all the riches,
but every single day could be a continual feast.
You know, being a Christian, it's awesome.
You can kind of just supersede the rules of this world,
where it's like the rules of this world, it's like,
you've got to have money to be happy.
You have to have money to enjoy these things.
You have to have access to be special or something like that.
But you could just totally bypass all that by being a Christian
and having the Holy Spirit of God inside of you.
You could bypass all of that by keeping God's commandments,
by going to church, by being around good people,
having fellowship with like-minded believers.
I mean, if you have one friend in this world,
you're doing better than a lot of rich people.
If you have a spouse that loves you,
you're doing better than a lot of rich people.
If you have a spouse that is not defecated on your bed,
you're doing better than Johnny Depp, literally.
How would you like to be married to Amber Heard?
Some guy, "Oh, she's so beautiful.
I would just love to be married to Amber Heard."
No, thank you.
No, thanks, I'm good.
It's just like, you don't want that, right?
Oh, man, if I could only have as much money as Elon Musk.
Bro has like a bunch of satanic ex-wives.
One of his kids is named like X59ER127.3.
It's like, you don't want that life.
He says, you know, he sleeps at his office, works 24 hours oftentimes.
I mean, he's hated.
He's got to have bodyguards with him everywhere he goes.
I'm good.
I'd rather my life than Elon Musk's life.
You are a fool if you would rather have the lives of these people.
No, no, no, you could have a continual feast every single day,
serving God, singing the hymns, reading the Bible,
reminding yourself that you're saved, going to church, going soul winning.
You know, those are the true riches in life.
You work hard and you have a good night's sleep.
And hey, whether you eat much or whether you eat little,
you enjoy that night's sleep, right?
You enjoy the wife of your youth.
You enjoy living with your children.
Even if it's not in riches, you could choose to be happy.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
Notice verse 19, kind of going back to the rich here.
It says, "Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,
and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion,
peace in his labor, this is the gift of God.
For he shall not much remember the days of his life,
because God answereth him in the joy of his heart."
Last place we'll go to is Acts chapter number 20.
Acts chapter number 20.
He's saying, hey, you know, if you are rich and you get to enjoy those riches,
I mean, that's really a gift from God right there.
You know, having material blessings and having people not try to kill you for them,
not steal them, you know, having a family,
not having these type of issues, man, that's really, really great.
Look at Acts chapter number 20, verse 24.
I like what the Apostle Paul said here.
He said, "But none of these things move me, neither count on my life dear unto myself."
This is what I want to focus on so that I might finish my course with joy
and the ministry which I have received the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
At the end of Ecclesiastes 5, he's saying,
"Man, if you have riches and joy with those riches, that's really a gift from God."
If you have riches and you get to enjoy those things,
well then that's not the sore evil, the sore travail that he's seeing with all the other rich people.
Man, you get to be rich and you get to enjoy it.
And notice the desire of the Apostle Paul of how he wanted to end his life was that he would finish the work with joy.
Now here's the thing, you read Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and you're like,
"Oh man, that must be nice to be rich and to get to enjoy those riches."
I mean, isn't that what people want, to have money and things and to get to enjoy those things?
But let me tell you tonight, I am rich and I do get to enjoy my life and so are you.
You are that rich person. You are that person who has the great gift from God,
where you actually are very rich and you get to enjoy those things. Why?
Because we're saved. Because we have eternal life.
I mean, I am so rich, I am literally going to walk on streets of gold someday. And so are you.
I am so rich, I'm going to be living in my father's mansions that he has prepared for me.
I am so rich that I actually do get to enjoy a family. And I do get to enjoy good food.
And I do get to enjoy living in Oklahoma, living in the United States, having a car, having air conditioning,
having a building, having a bed, having these things. Hey, I am rich tonight. You are rich tonight.
And you know what? You'd be a fool to look at people who Americans consider rich and think like,
"Oh, that's riches. That's what I want." No, no, no. You know, we have a great gift from God tonight.
We are that person at the end of Ecclesiastes where we are rich and we have the power to enjoy those things.
Let us be thankful in our life. Let us not take things for granted.
Let us not become envious at the wicked, at the foolish, people who if you actually traded lives with them, you would hate your life.
You are rich beyond your wildest imaginations. And you know what? Someday that's going to become a bigger reality to you.
Like I said, when you're walking on streets of gold. But you know what? Right now, don't sit here and desire to be rich.
Don't get the love of money infected in your heart. It will destroy you.
Why don't you just enjoy being rich spiritually right now?
Let's pray, Lord. Thank you so much for your word. And thank you for making us rich spiritually in Christ.
The Bible teaches us that in all things we are enriched by him. And we thank you for that.
I pray that no one in here would be infected with the love of money.
That you'd help us to be content with such things as we have.
And we love you and thank you for all that you do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Last hymn this evening. Turn if you would to number 135 in your hymnal.
Hymn number 135. 135. I know I am saved.
We'll sing this twice through.
135. I know I am saved.
Sing it twice.
135 there on that first and only verse.
♫ I know I'm like this ♫