turn to number 64 we gather at 64 64 shall we gather at 64 there on the fir
time will open with a word of prayer father we thank you for another day to
gather together to sing praises gather here that you would be with the seeds
planted and with the salvation that was had this evening also that you would be
with us that you would open our ears and our hearts to the message and fill
pasture with your spirit these things we pray in Jesus name amen for our next
hymn 258 Christ receiveth sinful men 258 258 Christ receiveth sinful men 258
there on the 1st
Timothy service times are listed Sunday morning at 10 Sunday evening at 4
Wednesday Bible study at 7 o'clock that we have of our soul winning times as
well as our year-to-date soul winning statistics pushing up on a thousand for
the year so great job and definitely excited to hit that number soon we do
have on the back our upcoming events this Saturday is the ladies tea meeting
here at the church building at 1 o'clock p.m. am I right on that 1 o'clock so
please do join us for that May 17th is the next men's preaching night that's
for the p.m. service there's still time to sign up if you'd like to participate
in that and then we'll have a potluck and just evening a fellowship afterward
join us for that please May 20th through the 24th coming right up is the anti
Israel conference at steadfast Baptist Church I did see there was a schedule
posted so if you're looking for that schedule find pastor Shelley's Facebook
band pastor and honey badger because he does not care right those are his two
handles there go find him and you could find that information I'll probably post
it in our signal group this week as well June 14th brother Ben Naim from steadfast
preaching both services for us please do join us for that weekend and be a
support to him and then June 17th through the 20th is the European soul
winning conference in Germany please do keep this in prayer we want to make sure
that we can get a lot of soul winners there fired up and be able to preach the
gospel in their home countries people are coming from all over Europe not just
Germany and so this is a great chance to inspire a new generation to be faithful
to soul winning in their countries so that the work of the gospel can go out
throughout this world so I'm really looking forward to that conference
pastor Shelley will be with me for that that's gonna be it for our upcoming
events we also have our prayer list there and so please do keep that in
prayer throughout the week if you have any requests or updates always email the
church be happy to update that for you well let's go ahead and go to the Lord
in prayer as a church family before we go to our next song Lord we thank you for
Anchor Baptist Church and the opportunity to be in your house tonight
Lord we thank you for good health and good fellowship and just all the things
that you do for us we don't take any of it for granted I pray that you would be
with those this evening that could not make it that you just bless their health
help them to feel better we pray for my wife that her surgery would go well next
week pray for sister-in-law Reagan that you just bless her pregnancy
we especially pray for the lemon family that you would just help baby Uriah to
be healed of its heart issue and that baby would be very strong upon birth the
surgery would go well and that you just help this child in any way possible Lord
also that you just strengthen their family through this difficult time pray
for brother to call for his health for Miss Jennifer or her mother's knee
recovery just that that knee would regain full strength and that you just
help her to have good mental health that you just give her comfort Lord during
her recovery that she would get full mobility and strength back or we also
pray for brother Eric pray that you be with him with his work that he's doing
in the Philippines that you keep him healthy that you would just give him
strength keep the door of opportunity open for him and fill him with the
spirit so he could continue to do a great work over there pray for brother
Fedor or his mother to be healed of cancer pray for brother Hiel or brother
Myles for his health that you just blessed miss Rhea as well and also that
she would be with the church members here who have loved ones that are unsaved
that you'd help us to be faithful witnesses for Christ and our families and
in this community we love you and you see me pray amen alright at this time
we'll go to our third song together Psalm 126 in your white handouts Psalm
126 126 in your white handouts Psalm 126 we'll sing there on the first
turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 6 Ecclesiastes chapter 6
"A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor so that he wanted nothing for his soul of all that he desireth; yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease. If a man beget a hundred children and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than a man's birth."
"For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. Moreover, he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing; this hath more rest than the other.
Yea, though he live a thousand years twice old, yet hath he seen no good. Do not all go to one place? All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
But what hath the wise more than the fool? What hath the poor than knoweth to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
That which hath been named already, it is known that it is man; neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow?
For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? Right? We're thankful for to be gathered at his house, thankful to have the word from him.
Go pass it on to the spirit, help him to sound the chapter of the earth, and the Lord will do that. Have you used it here? Pray now.
Man, Ecclesiastes chapter number two. And definitely a lot of themes that he's already brought up are going to be repeated.
But you know, sometimes God wants us to hear things multiple times. But I'm going to give you six lessons from this chapter this evening.
Number one is this, that wealth does not guarantee happiness. Look at verse number one.
It says there, "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun." And notice this, it says, "And it is common among men,
a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul, of all that he desireth.
Yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease."
When the Bible here is saying that this situation, this particular vanity, that it's common among men,
I don't think it's necessarily saying, "Oh, it's common for people to get rich, and common for people to have all their hearts desire."
But what it is saying is that when people do get rich, when they do get into that position in their life
where they could just give themselves whatever their hearts desire, this common state they find themselves in
where even though they have riches, they have all the things they "want," they still are empty and they still have problems.
Because notice the problem that they have, it says in verse 2, the latter part there,
"Yet God giveth them not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it."
This is vanity and it is an evil disease.
So someone could attain wealth, attain riches, attain access, all the things that they want,
but it still doesn't guarantee happiness because sometimes people have those things,
but even though they have them, they don't enjoy them.
Just think about the vanity of that, of someone chasing their whole life after something
and then when they get it, they can't even enjoy it.
They can't even have a good time or they get it and then immediately a stranger eats thereof.
Now I think there's a couple different reasons why it is that specifically the unsaved could
have all this money, could have everything that their heart "wants" but still be unhappy.
Go to Hebrews chapter number two.
Hebrews chapter number two, one reason why I think so many people in this world are unhappy,
they're unfulfilled, they can't even enjoy the things that they have.
Even people that are very rich that have a lot and they still can't enjoy the things
that they have, one reason I think that is is because they're unsaved.
You know what, you are not really going to enjoy life that much when you are unsaved,
at least like from an ultimate perspective.
Yeah, there's the pleasures of sin for a season.
But notice right here what the Bible says in Hebrews two, verse 14.
"For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise
took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver them," notice this, "who through fear of death were all
their lifetimes subject to bondage."
Right, so a lot of people are terrified of death, and you know what?
If you're not saved, kind of rightly so, you should be terrified of death.
Because what awaits people who are unsaved when they die is a literal fiery hell.
By the way, hell is not a metaphor, it is not an allegory, right?
I heard this guy who's getting really popular, Wes Huff.
Who's heard of this guy, Wes Huff?
Okay, I'm glad that many of you have not heard of him.
But he's getting super popular online.
And you know, I heard in some video today that he's saying that most of the fire and brimstone is really just an allegory.
No, let me tell you something.
The reason why Jesus went to hell for us was so that we don't have to go there.
It's a real place.
And you know, this whole world today, the Bible says that they have what?
The fear of death.
See, if someone is unsaved, that doesn't mean that they're happy even if they're rich,
because oftentimes people just have the fear of death, the fear of loss.
You know, what profit does it have if you gain the whole world and lose your soul, right?
Or you have all these material riches and all these material goods,
yet a lot of rich people are afraid of what?
Losing those goods.
What's going to happen to them?
You know, what's going to happen when I die?
So one reason I think people are unhappy, even if they have riches, is because of fear of death from being unsaved.
Also, if you would go ahead and go back to Ecclesiastes,
I think another reason why people can end up, even though they attain riches,
they still end up being miserable and suffering all these horrible things,
is because you reap what you sow.
And oftentimes, the reason people become very wealthy and have all these riches
is because they've done wicked, evil things to get there,
or at the very least, done vain, meaningless things to get there.
I'll read for you.
The Bible says in Proverbs 13 verse 11,
"Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished,
but he that gathereth by labor shall increase."
So notice in Ecclesiastes, he says,
"Hey, there's this evil that's common among man, a man who's really rich,
but he does not have power to eat thereof. A stranger comes and, you know,
takes his goods, eats up his substance. Why could that be?"
Well, the Bible says that wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished.
So, you know, getting yourself wealth by any means is not a long-term good strategy,
because even oftentimes when people attain wealth,
if it was gotten by ill-gotten means or vain means, you know,
God can just scatter that all away. God can make us lose those things.
Obviously one thing that comes to mind would be like playing the lottery.
Have you noticed that people who play the lottery don't stay rich?
They don't stay financially secure.
They are almost always bankrupt and in complete financial ruin.
Why? Because the Bible says wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished.
You know, if you want to make money, do something that provides value.
Go work hard. Go start a business. Go invent something.
You know what is a really stupid way that people make money these days?
It's like Bitcoin farming. Just setting up a computer to just farm this Bitcoin.
Let me tell you, talk about getting wealth by vanity. Literally nothing.
Let me tell you what, if you think you're going to get rich off this kind of stuff,
I wouldn't be surprised if even temporarily you got the money,
God just scattered it all away because it's a bunch of vanity.
You know, don't get involved in these Jewish tricks.
Alright, go make money like a man, go work hard,
don't try to make a bunch of money off of interest
or creating these weird nothing currency.
You know, that is something that is completely vain
and apparently needs to be preached because it's getting real quiet in here.
There's some real Bitcoin lovers in here.
Amen. How about some other things?
How about just like unforeseen life events, right?
Hey, someone gets super rich and then they get divorced.
Someone gets super rich and then they get a disease
and they could just lose everything. They could have money
and not be able to enjoy the things that they have.
What's the application for us? You know, we should thank God
for the blessings we have that we get to enjoy.
You know, thank God that if God gives you some sort of financial means
or God gives you a car, God gives you a house, God gives you children,
hey, if you actually get to enjoy the things that you have,
you know, you're richer than a lot of rich men.
Even if you have less money, less things, if you get to enjoy those things,
you're actually getting more out of life than Elon Musk,
than these rich guys in this world that don't even have joy.
Number two, worldly success is no replacement for joy.
Look at verse number three of Ecclesiastes 6.
It says, "If a man begat a hundred children and lived many years,
so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good,
and also that he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he."
You know, so on one hand, many people think that getting as much money and material goods as possible
is going to automatically give them some sort of happiness.
I think other people, they think like the goal in life is just living as long of a life as possible.
And again, the rich are often really just obsessed with living the longest life possible.
You have all these celebrities that did the, what is it called, cryogenic freezing?
Am I saying that right? Does anyone know? It's a cyrogenic or cryogenic cryo.
Alright, thank you, brother Cameron.
Walt Disney, he freezed his body in this cryogenic chamber,
hoping that someday some sort of technology comes to, you know, bring him back from the dead.
Rich people get into stuff like this, life enhancement technologies.
But you know what? The Bible says that even people who live many years and have,
what does it say there? A hundred children.
Solomon would know something about having lots of children with his, you know, 900 plus wives.
Even if you have lots of children and live many years, that does not guarantee happiness.
Right? Because he says, "And his soul be not filled with good."
So even if you have lots of kids, even if you live many years, but your soul is not filled with good,
and also that you have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he.
You know, there's something to be said about living a joyful life can be better.
Like, living a shorter, joyful life would be better than living a long, miserable life.
You know, living a shorter life with poverty, but joy and fulfillment would be better
than living a long life with riches, not being able to enjoy them.
Living a long life, having a hundred children, and you don't even have a proper burial.
No one even loves you. No one even cares about you. You have no joy in your life.
Worldly success does not guarantee happiness.
We have to renew our minds as Christians and realize we should seek joy from the things that the Bible tells us to seek joy from.
The Bible doesn't say, "Extend your life at all costs and you'll be happy."
I mean, in parts of the New Testament it says, "He that loses his life will find it." Right?
And so, we need to seek fulfillment God's way. What are some ways that we could do that?
Go to Proverbs, chapter number 28. Proverbs, chapter number 28. Now, here's the thing. These are going to be things that the world never tries, never does.
This never enters their mind, "Hey, you know, I want to be happy, so I'm going to do the things the Bible says."
No, it's like, "I want to be happy, so let's go to the party. Let's go drink alcohol. Let's go have fun."
Yeah, how did that work in Norman last week? You know, a bunch of stupid, foolish kids going to a drunken party,
a bunch of girls dressed like whores, dancing around, drinking alcohol.
You know, when you go to sinful places, sinful times with sinful people to do sinful things, bad stuff happens.
Oh, we're just going to have fun. It's not fun getting shot up, is it?
And look, I'm not saying like they deserve that or anything like that, but I could tell you,
you would have been much safer avoiding the sinful, stupid activity of drinking alcohol and doing this instead.
Proverbs 28 verse 14, happy, happy, right? That's what we're seeking for.
Happy is the man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
See, the world would never guess that. Hey, I want to be happy. What should I do? Should I drink?
Should I go pick up a girl? Should I do drugs? The Bible says you want to be happy? Fear God.
That actually will bring happiness. Why is that? Because by fearing God,
we're going to be led away from activities that will harm us.
You see, you want to know why I would never be at a stupid party like that? There's lots of reasons.
But one reason is that I fear God. And I think that if I went to some party
and started drinking alcohol and doing drugs and dancing with a bunch of girls,
you know what would probably happen? God would do something bad to me.
And you're like, wow, you fear God? Yeah, I fear God. That's why I'm happy at home with my wife and kids.
That's why I'm happy safe in my bed at home and not dealing with this horrible tragedy that happens in Norman.
Look, if these kids would have feared God would have never happened.
You see, I'm not saying like they deserved it. But here's the thing. They're also not blameless.
And here's the thing. If you are going to a bar, if you're going to go drink alcohol,
if you're going to go meet some person that's not your spouse, you are asking for trouble.
And if trouble finds you, you are partially at fault. That's just a fact.
Because God's commandments are given to you to keep you safe.
The Bible says that God's commandments are not grievous.
Oh, you're like those people that say when women get attacked that they deserved it.
I'm not saying they deserved it, but I'm saying that if you don't go around dressing like a whore,
it's going to be less likely that you're going to be attacked. How about that?
That's a fact, folks. You know, if you just fear God, keep His commandments,
you're going to live a happier life. Go to Galatians chapter number five.
Galatians chapter number five. One way to seek true happiness,
the Bible says, fear God. Happy is the man that feareth always.
Another way is to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5 verse 22.
Notice what it says. It says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love."
Here it is. Joy. Skip down to verse number 25.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Here's the cool thing about being a Christian is that since we have the new man,
since we have the Holy Spirit of God inside of us,
we have God's Word, we have the Spirit of God,
we can at any time in our life choose to walk in the Spirit and receive joy.
Think about that. The world, their joy is often determined by their circumstances.
And they get money and they're happy, and they lose money and they're sad.
And they get a relationship, they're happy, they lose it, they're sad.
But here's the thing. The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is what?
Love, joy. So if you are walking in the Spirit, you know what that tells me?
You can have joy during times of financial hardship.
You know what that tells me? You can have joy during times of loss,
during times of illness, during times of strife.
You could still have joy because you have the Holy Spirit of God.
But you want to know why Christians sometimes are often sad and depressed
just like the world is, is because you're so stinking backslidden
that you don't remember the last time you were actually in the Spirit.
You don't even remember the last time you were walking in the Spirit.
And you know, if you're a Christian and you're just living a life
that is not your default position, joy in the Lord,
let me tell you something, that's a life that's often in the flesh.
I'm not saying you've got to walk around life like the Joker or something
with some, you know, grin across your face or something.
But here's what I'm telling you, your default position in life should be joy.
The Apostle Paul said this, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am,
therewith to be content."
See, that's cool as Christians, that whether we're thriving financially,
whether we're being attacked, persecuted, health issues,
thorn in the flesh, no matter what position he was in, he was content.
Why? Because he was filled with the Spirit of God.
And the Spirit of God yields joy in our lives.
Go to Psalm 37, Psalm chapter number 37.
You know, another great way to derive joy, we talk about fearing God,
we talk about walking in the Spirit.
You know, we should also derive joy in our lives from God himself.
That we're just excited and joyous and happy about God himself.
Look at Psalm 37, verse 3.
"Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed."
Notice this, "Delight thyself also in the Lord,
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
That's a command right there.
"Delight thyself also in the Lord."
You know, you should be happy about the things of God.
You should find joy in reading the Bible.
You should find joy in getting around God's people,
going to church, hearing preaching, singing hymns.
That is delighting yourself in the Lord.
This is something that you should be doing in your life.
And look, sometimes in life there's things
that you have to do more often to start to enjoy, right?
There's people who like exercise, and it's probably the same people that exercise a lot, right?
And then there's people that don't exercise at all because they don't like it.
But let me tell you why you don't like it, because you don't do it.
And it's like, you know what I've noticed?
People who read the Bible a lot love the Bible.
People who go to church a lot love church, love God, love souls, love the Spirit of God, love the Word of God.
But then people who don't do spiritual things often, they're really not as into it, right?
These things are connected, right? So you want to delight yourself in the Lord.
You want to get to the point in your life where you can actually find joy just from the things of God.
Well, you got to put work into those things.
You have to put time and effort and energy into those things.
Go back to Ecclesiastes 6.
Let me read another verse for you, Proverbs 27 verse 7.
The Bible says, "The full soul loatheth in honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet."
If you ever go on a missions trip, this verse will pop into your mind a lot.
Because here in America, people are so full of the world.
They're so full of entertainment, and they're so full of the professional sports and the college sports,
and going to the movies, just all the things you could do in America is just endless.
But you know what? You'll find some really hungry people in other countries.
You go to the Bahamas and you find some people that are hungry for the Word of God.
And it seems like when you're soul winning in the Bahamas that every person you stop wants to listen to the Gospel.
Those who have been there know what I'm saying is true.
Just about everyone you talk to wants to hear. Why?
Because to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
And if you're in a position in your life where you just feel like you don't find joy or delight from the things of God,
let me help you, you're too full on other things.
You are way too full on the things of this world to where no longer can you get joy from the things of God.
Ecclesiastes 6, lesson number 3, most people will be forgotten.
Look what the Bible says in verse 4, "For he cometh in with vanity and departeth in darkness,
and his name shall be covered with darkness."
Boy, isn't that encouraging. Isn't that just wonderful, Solomon?
Most people will be forgotten, which again just goes to show why just caring about your life under the sun
and only worrying about the riches and only worrying about living long days is eventually vain
because most people are just going to be forgotten.
Now, not everyone. I'll read for you Proverbs 10 verse 7.
The Bible says, "The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot."
Right? So, you know, you can be remembered by doing what?
Living a spiritual life, going soul-winning, winning people to Christ.
Hey, every person you ever win to Christ, guess what?
They're going to be in heaven for all of eternity, and so are you, so your name isn't going to be forgotten.
But this world that's just chasing after prestige, riches, power, fame, parties, you know, their life is ultimately meaningless.
And the atheists, you know, the way that they look at the world, the way these biologists look at the world, you know what?
From a carnal perspective, they are right, their life is completely meaningless because they're going to be forgotten someday.
But thank God that's not that way for us.
Number four, now this is going to seem like we're totally switching gears.
But number four lesson we can learn from this chapter is that all babies go to heaven.
All babies go to heaven.
Why do I say that?
Look at verse number three.
It says, "If a man beget in hundred children and live many years so that the days of his years be many and his soul be not filled with good and also that he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he."
So he's comparing two people.
One person is a guy who lives many years, has many children, but he has a terrible life.
He's being compared to an untimely birth, right?
This could be like a miscarriage or a stillborn or something like that.
And he's saying, "Hey, at the end of the day, the stillborn is better than this other guy."
Why? Verse four, "For he cometh in with vanity and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
Moreover, he hath not seen the sun, nor known anything; this hath more rest than the other."
Right? So if someone gets all the money in the world, but they have no joy.
They live many years, but they don't even have a burial.
They have a hundred kids, but their name is just forgotten and they depart in vanity.
You know, the stillborn, the untimely birth is better because that person at least has what? Rest.
Meaning what? That person at least went to heaven.
And you know what? If a stillborn or an untimely birth, they never saw the sun, right?
They never saw this world. They never got to enjoy any of those things that the rich man did.
But ultimately, that stillbirth is way better off because that stillbirth is in heaven resting.
Whereas a rich man who's unsaved dies, he goes straight to hell.
In eyes, he lifts his, he lifts his eyes up being in torments.
Now go to Romans chapter number seven, let's prove this doctrinally that babies go to heaven.
Because I guess I kind of took it for granted that I thought most people believed this.
But I've been shocked to find out that many people do not believe this.
Which is just sickening and gross to think that God would just create babies and send them to hell.
Super evil, but let me prove doctrinally why we believe that all babies will go to heaven.
Romans 7 verse 8, the Apostle Paul says, "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, for without the law sin was dead.
For I was alive." Notice those four words right there.
"For I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died."
What is that? "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
For the wages of sin is what? Death.
So when someone sins, when they have the law of God exposed to them,
when they sin, the Bible says that sin revived and he died.
There was a time though that the Apostle Paul was alive.
When was that? It was before he sinned.
Look at verse 10.
"And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me.
Notice, and by it slew me."
Obviously not a physical death here.
It is a death of the spirit.
He needs to be revived.
He needs to be born again.
He needs to get saved.
Go, if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter number 12.
2 Samuel chapter number 12.
So, you know, I believe that I don't know exactly the age.
I think that the age is kind of irrelevant.
I think it's probably different for all sorts of different kids
as to how they develop mentally.
The age could be well into adulthood if someone's extremely mentally handicapped,
people who are literally mentally retarded.
You know, if you can't understand sin, if you can't understand the law,
you know, a small child, a baby for sure, you know, a baby is not thinking like,
"Man, I'm going to covet. Man, I'm going to go steal."
The baby is not blaspheming the name of the Lord.
The baby is not murdering. The baby is not committing adultery.
Like, that's impossible, okay?
So someone who has not done those things, they're not condemned.
Look at 2 Samuel 12 verse 15.
"And Nathan departed unto his house, and the Lord struck the child
that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick."
David here is being punished for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba
and having Uriah be murdered, and David's child is sick unto death.
Verse 16, "David therefore besought God for the child,
and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth."
David does not want his baby to die.
He's praying, he's forgoing food, he's begging that God would be merciful to the child.
Verse 17, "And the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth,
but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died.
And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead,
for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him,
and he would not hearken unto our voice.
How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead?
But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead.
Therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead?
And they said, He is dead.
Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself,
and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshiped.
Then he came to his own house, and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
So notice, why is it that David is beseeching God for his child?
Why is it that David is praying, he's on his face, he is fasting,
he's just beseeching and begging God for this child to live?
Why is that? Because he loves his kid, obviously, right?
He loves his child, he does not want to see his child die,
he does not want to see his child be in any type of pain.
Now, the baby dies. Now, let's just pretend for some moment that babies go to hell, okay?
Why would all of a sudden he be cool and chill?
Like he cares about his child, that he's begging God to help his child,
and then the baby goes to hell and he's like, "Oh, let's eat, no big deal."
That would be ridiculous. Why is he kind of like, "All right, there's nothing more I could do.
Hey, you know what? The Lord gave, the Lord take away.
I'm going to worship God right now, I'm going to wash my face, I'm going to eat."
Why? Because his baby is now in heaven.
Because here's the thing, if his baby went to hell, if babies went to hell or something like that,
he was already distressed, distraught, upset before the baby died.
Imagine how wildly inconsolable he would be if the baby went to hell, right?
Now here's the thing, I lost a loved one that went to hell and it was the worst pain ever.
It was terrible, I was in tears, I was sobbing, not because, oh, you know, someone died,
but because someone I loved went to hell and they're going to be there forever and ever
and there's no hope for that person.
And let me tell you what, that is a deep pain right there.
But here's the good news about babies is that every baby goes to heaven because no baby has sinned.
No baby is condemned.
It's not even right to say that babies are saved because, you know, they're not saved from hell.
They were never deserving of hell to begin with.
If a child, you know, a young child dies, that child is going to heaven.
The baby, that baby is going to heaven.
That's why he's able to pick himself up.
And then notice what he says.
He says in verse number 22, and he said, "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept.
For I said, 'Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live?'
But now he is dead. Wherefore should I fast?
Can I bring him back again?
Notice, I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
Hey, I can't bring this baby back.
The baby's not going to come back to life.
But here's the thing, I'm going to go to him someday.
Why? Because David is saved.
Obviously, David himself is saved.
And he knows, hey, this baby is in heaven.
When David dies, he knows he's going to be reunited with his child someday.
So that brings him comfort.
Now, I showed you all that. I showed you the doctrine.
Why I would believe that.
Now, not all people believe this, okay?
I want to read to you a little bit out of the Catholic Catechism,
which is the official doctrine of the Catholic Church.
It was created in response to the Protestant Reformation.
And let me read to you a little bit about baptism.
It says in the Catholic Catechism,
"The Lord Himself affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation."
By the way, don't ever let Catholics lie to you
and tell you that they believe salvation is by faith alone.
Read a little bit of their Catechism,
and it's just thing after thing after thing
that they say you have to do to be saved.
You got to do confession. You got to do penance.
You got to do baptism. You got to do the Eucharist.
All these things to obtain salvation.
So right off the bat they tell you you need to be baptized to be saved.
Makes you question about babies, right?
He also commands his disciples to proclaim the gospel to all nations
and to baptize them.
Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the gospel has been proclaimed
and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.
Boy, is that a convenient doctrine.
Basically, you need to be baptized to be saved if the gospel has been preached unto you
and you can get baptized.
Where is that in the Bible?
Then it says this, "The church does not know of any means other than baptism
that assures entry into the eternal beatitude."
Hey, I know another way.
It's called believing on Jesus Christ.
Hey, what must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
The Catholic Church knows of no other way to have assurance that you'll enter beatitude
then by baptism, wicked.
This is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord
to see that all who can be baptized are reborn of water and the Spirit.
God has bound salvation to the sacrament of baptism,
but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.
So they're saying, hey, Jesus wasn't getting saved when he got baptized.
But everyone else, if the gospel's been preached to you,
if you can get baptized, the church knows of no other way of salvation.
And that begs the question, what about babies?
What about infants?
What about someone who dies before they can be baptized?
Well, here's the Catholic Church's answer.
As regards children who have died without baptism,
the church can only entrust them to the mercy of God
as she does in her funeral rites for them.
Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved
and Jesus's tenderness toward children which caused him to say,
"Let the children come to me, do not hinder him,"
allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children
who have died without baptism.
Hey, we don't know. What about babies?
We don't really know, man, but we hope, we know God is merciful,
so we hope that there's some way to provide salvation
to babies who died without being baptized.
Let me help you out.
Babies don't need salvation because they were never damned to begin with,
like Catholics are.
You know, this is why this idea of original sin is dangerous.
This Catholic idea that you are born sinful,
that you are born guilty before God,
it leads to these vain, stupid, evil questions of what about a baby that dies?
Here's the thing, a baby has no sin.
So you don't have to think about, well, hopefully God provides a way of salvation.
No, no, no.
They don't need salvation because they're not damned.
They're not condemned.
They just go straight to heaven.
They say this, all the more urgent is the church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy baptism.
So they say, hey, we don't know.
We hope they go to heaven.
But, hey, this is why it's really important for us to baptize your baby.
This is why it's really important for us to baptize infants so that if they die, you could be assured that they have salvation.
What a false religion Catholicism is.
Go to Acts chapter number eight, Acts chapter number eight.
You know, let me tell you what though, there is one great thing about the majority of Catholics,
and that's to our advantage when we're out evangelizing,
is that the vast majority of Catholics have no clue what the Catholic Church teaches.
No clue.
Read the comments on my videos, Catholics are completely clueless about their own doctrine.
You know, I've seen so many Catholics say, "We don't teach that you have to be baptized to be saved."
It's from the catechism, my friend, that you claim to be authoritative.
Yes, you do teach that.
Okay, what does the Bible say?
Acts chapter number eight, verse 36, "And they went on their way and came unto a certain
water, and the eunuch said, 'See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?'
And Philip said, 'Notice, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.'
He answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'"
What is stopping people from getting baptized?
They have to have faith in Jesus Christ, which is why I say that no Catholic has ever been
scripturally baptized, zero Catholics have ever been scripturally baptized.
Why?
Because to be baptized, you have to first be saved.
And guess what?
Catholics are not saved.
They believe in works, salvation.
They are not our brothers in Christ.
And so when they get sprinkled, they might as well be playing with their kids in the
front yard with a water gun or something because it has the exact same spiritual effect.
It's none, zip, zilch, nothing.
And this goes to show why it's so stupid to baptize babies.
What are you going to do, ask an infant?
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Hey, little infant, do you know that you're a sinner?
Which you're not, so I don't even know why I'm asking you this.
And, you know, do you believe you're deserving of help?
Which you're not, so again, why am I asking you?
Like, you're not going through the gospel presentation with an infant,
getting them saved, having them profess faith in Jesus Christ.
No, children should not be baptized because they have not believed the gospel.
They don't need to believe the gospel because they're not yet unsaved.
And also, here's another reason why no Catholic has ever been scripturally baptized.
Verse 38, "And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him."
Notice, the baptism is what? In the water.
So, pouring a spoonful of water on a baby's head is not baptism.
Sprinkling water in your face is not baptism.
And, like the Catholic Church literally did during COVID,
squirting someone in the face with a water gun is not baptism.
You think I'm kidding.
The Catholic Church, during COVID, to do social distancing,
sprayed people with a water gun and called it baptism.
Guess what?
This many Catholics have ever been baptized.
Zero.
None.
Which, hey, that's real ironic.
You've got to be baptized to go to heaven.
Well, none of you have been baptized.
So, good luck with that.
Then it gets worse.
So, that's Catholics.
Then there's the Calvinists.
Boy, oh boy.
Who's ever heard of Jonathan Edwards?
If you went to public school, you probably heard about Jonathan Edwards in history.
You learned about the religious history of the United States.
Jonathan Edwards is a real big name.
And there's all the lore about Jonathan Edwards that he's preaching so hard.
People are holding onto the pillars and they're shaking for fear of God.
Okay, this was not a man of God.
This guy was super evil.
He wrote a bunch of essays, if you will.
And he has a section called "The Damnation of Infants."
Wow, this sounds like it's going to be a great read, right?
Okay, listen to this reprobate.
Here's what he says, "One of these two things are certainly true, and self-evidently so.
Either that it is most just, exceeding just, that God should take the soul of a newborn infant
and cast it into eternal torments, or else that those infants that are saved are not saved
by the death of Christ."
He's saying one of these things is true.
It's obvious.
I mean, it's self-evident.
Either God takes the soul of a newborn baby and burns it in eternal torments forever,
or they somehow got saved some other way other than Jesus.
No, no, no.
This is a false equivalency right here.
Okay, where's that retard?
Equivocate, equivocate if you watched the Pastor Shelley debate the other day.
Sorry if you don't understand that.
Let me keep reading.
He says, "For none are saved by the death of Christ from damnation that have not deserved
damnation."
So he's saying that babies deserve damnation.
That's what he's saying.
"Wherefore, if it be very just, it is but a foolish piece of nonsense to cry out it
as being blasphemous, to suppose that it ever is just because they say it is contrary to
His mercy."
He's saying, "Hey, God's burning babies in hell.
You know what?
That's just."
And anyone saying otherwise is blasphemous.
He says, "Now, such I ask, whether it is contrary to His mercy to inflict punishment
upon any according to their deserts."
He's saying, "Hey, you're saying this isn't merciful.
I say, if the babies deserve damnation, how are you saying that it's unmerciful?
Yeah, they're getting their just deserts."
And whether it was contrary to God's mercy to damn the fallen angels.
You know, fallen angels infants, right?
You know how God damned the fallen angels in rebellion?
That's just like newborn infants, right?
Perfect comparison.
There was no mercy showed to them at all.
And why is it blasphemous to suppose that God should inflict upon infants
so much as they have deserved without mercy as well as upon them?
What a psychopath.
I might be shaking listening to this guy preach too in anger.
What a psycho.
Wow.
They certainly have deserved what they have deserved.
They deserved as much as the fallen angels.
Demons?
Infants?
They deserve hell.
Burn them all.
Kill them all.
Wow.
Don't you want to become a Calvinist?
Five-point Calvinist right here.
Tulip.
Wow.
He says, "Because their sin is not accompanied with such aggravating circumstances, so neither
shall their punishment be so aggravated, so that the punishment of one is every wit is
contrary to God's mercy as that of the other."
Well, since infants haven't been as bad as demons, they won't be getting as bad of a
punishment in hell.
Who shall determine just now how much sin is sufficient to make damnation agreeable
to the divine perfections?
And how can they determine that infants have not so much sin?
For we know that they have enough to make their damnation very just.
Wow, folks.
This is a psychopath.
See, don't ever let Calvinists make you feel bad for being an independent fundamental
Baptist or act like you're stupid for rejecting their stupid tulip false doctrine.
This idea of just predestination, unconditional election, God just picks and chooses babies
to go to hell before they're even born.
Look, when we preach stuff like that against Calvinists, that's not a straw man, folks.
This is a famous real Calvinist pastor that Calvinists adore and idolize and look up to.
And he's comparing infants to demons and saying that they both deserve their damnation in
hell.
Look, Calvinism is super wicked.
You know, the Bible talks about how false prophets, that by reason of their false doctrine,
it causes the way of truth to be evil spoken of.
What do you think people think about Christianity when they read stuff like this?
That God is just creating little baby infants and he's just endamming them to hell.
That is wicked and blasphemous trash.
So that's our little break on Ecclesiastes 6.
Let's go back to it, Ecclesiastes chapter number 6.
But you know, I just saw that how hey, that baby that died has more rest than the other,
showing that the baby went to heaven.
Babies go to heaven.
Number 5.
Number 5, contentment beats cravings.
Contentment beats cravings.
Look at verse number 7.
It says, "All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet his appetite is not filled.
For what hath the wise more than the fool?
What hath the poor that knoweth to walk before the living?"
Because this better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire.
This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Let me help you find some joy in your life.
You will be a happier person when you learn to enjoy, take pleasure in, be content with
things that you actually have rather than daydreaming about things that you don't.
Why?
Because better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire.
It's better just to enjoy the house you have and thank God for the dwelling place you have
and actually get to enjoy that house than to constantly be on Zillow or being on whatever
the real estate app, just constantly looking at houses, lusting after other houses because
here's what sucks about that.
You're probably not getting those houses.
You're probably never going to get to enjoy those.
So here you are in a house and you're sad and you're miserable and you're wanting something
that you can never have.
Why do that?
Why live like that?
Why not just learn to be content?
You know, the car you have, I don't care what car it is, even Brother Theodore's car, alright?
Whatever car you have, it's better than the car you don't have because you have it.
So why don't you just learn to like the things that you have?
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire.
You know, men need this preaching.
The wife you have, why don't you just learn to enjoy her and desire her and be happy with
her rather than the wandering of your desire, lusting after other women, being obsessed
with other women?
That's the thing, likely you're not going to have them, are you?
And if you did, it'd be wicked as hell, but let's just be honest, you're probably not
even going to have them.
So why, why sit here and just torture yourself?
Like you're not getting any pleasure from this.
You're not getting any enjoyment from this.
You're just sitting here lusting after another woman.
It's like, why don't you actually enjoy your wife?
How about that?
Why don't you actually love your wife?
Why don't you, what the Bible says, rejoice with the wife of your youth.
Don't fall into this trap of just becoming obsessed and lusting after other women because
really you're just torturing yourself.
You're harming your marriage.
You think that that's going to give you joy, but it's actually sucking the joy away from
your life because happy people have happy marriages and you know, adulterers are not
happy people.
Fornicators are not happy people, right?
I mean, the Bible is very clear about this.
Go to back to Ecclesiastes six.
I think you're still there.
Number six, God defines what is good for us, not man.
Verse number 10.
The Bible says that which hath been is named already and it is known that it is man.
Neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
Notice this.
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?
All the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow, for who can tell a man what shall
be after him under the sun?
Hey, who really knows what is actually good for a man in this life?
You know, if Ecclesiastes has shown us anything so far, it's that man left to his own devices
really sucks at figuring out meaning in life, really sucks at finding true happiness and joy in life because man by himself does not know what is right. Man by himself is not going to be able to navigate through life and put all the puzzle pieces together to do what's right. I mean, if you're just letting the flesh lead your life, it's going to lead you astray. It's going to lead you to sorrow. It's going to lead you to misery. So, you know, the world has its own definition of success.
But, so does God. God gave us his word to guide us. It's a light unto our path.
It is a lamp to our feet. Go, if you will, to Psalm 119, Psalm 119.
You know, this is why we need the Bible. Get your place in Psalm 119 and Jeremiah 6.
Those will be the last two places we go there. You know, we need a guide in this life.
We need to be humble enough to realize that we don't have all the answers.
And if you could just sit down and orchestrate your life according to your own carnal will,
you would mess it up. I would mess it up.
That's why what we need right here is Psalm 119 verse 9.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Hey, how are you going to get things right? How are you going to cleanse your way, especially young men, right?
Hey, if young men are being led by the flesh, they're definitely going to mess up their life.
How is a young man going to go the right way? How is he going to clean up his way?
It's by taking heed according to the Word of God. You know what that means?
It means you're reading the Word of God. And every day, you choose to not read the Word of God,
you're missing instruction and admonition and rebuke and reproof that you need to stay on the right path.
And the longer you go in between reading your Bible, the more likely you're going to mess up your life.
And it's not just reading the Bible, it's taking heed to it.
You know, some people, I feel like they're just doing a vain exercise.
You know, we're not Catholics here, we don't believe in vain exercises, vain repetitions.
I don't read the Bible just so that words can flash across my eyeballs, okay?
We want to take heed to the things that the Bible says.
Verse 10, "With my whole heart have I sought thee, O, let me not wander from thy commandments.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes."
See, this is a recipe for success right here.
Rather than letting your own devices choose how you're going to find happiness,
how you're going to find joy, how about you read the Bible and apply it?
How about you go beyond that? How about you memorize the Bible?
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
And notice what he's doing in verse 12.
He's praying, he says, "Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes."
You know, if you are reading the Bible every day,
and every time you read something in the Bible, you're applying that to your life,
and you're memorizing scripture, you're hiding God's word deep in your heart,
and you're praying to the Lord in sincerity,
"Lord, teach me thy statutes."
You know what you're probably going to find out?
How to live a purposeful, joyful, content life.
Because you know what? God wants what's best for us.
God wants us to know his statutes.
God wants us to know his commandments.
God does not want us to destroy our life with sin.
So if he sees you reading the Bible, caring, wanting the truth,
memorizing the Bible, asking God for wisdom, you know what?
He's going to give it to you.
The Bible says that when you ask for wisdom,
he's going to give it to you liberally in a braid knot.
Hey, this is the way to find real happiness.
Go to Jeremiah chapter number six.
Jeremiah chapter number six, last place we'll look at.
You know, how do we find true joy?
How do you find an actual fulfilled, content life?
Jeremiah chapter number six, look at verse 16.
"Thus saith the Lord, 'Stand ye in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.'
But they said, 'We will not walk therein.'"
Notice the pattern again, right?
You're standing in the way, you're doing what?
You're asking for the old paths.
You're saying, "God, please show me the truth.
Show me your word."
And by the way, it says the old paths, wherein is the good way, right?
So you find out what is the good way,
but that's not enough to just find out what is good.
It says, "And walk therein," right?
That's actually applying the things that you hear.
And notice the results of that.
"And ye shall find rest for your souls."
You know, if you actually live a Christian life,
and Christianity isn't your side gig,
but you actually love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, strength,
you know, you really read the Bible with purpose,
wanting to get something from Him,
and you apply those things to your life,
and you pray and you ask God for wisdom,
you know, you might just find that He actually will teach you how to have a good marriage,
and if you actually walk in those things, you might find this amazing thing called contentment.
You know, you might actually find that rather than, you know, mining Bitcoin all day,
you actually go and work a hard day's job,
and you might find contentment.
You know what you might find is that you obey God's commandments,
and it actually brings you safety and peace and joy.
Look, God's commandments are not grievous,
He wants what's best for us, but what do we have to do?
We have to actually trust Him. Let's pray.
Lord, thank You for this chapter, for the lessons You gave us.
I pray that You would just continue to illuminate Ecclesiastes for us,
help us to get the lessons that we need from Your Word,
and help us to make application in our lives.
I pray that You'd help us all to get home safely and bring us back again on Sunday.
We love You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
As Tim, this evening, turn if you would to 314, hymn number 314-314, "More Love to Thee."
314 there, on the 1st.